The Boss

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Boss's likeness was modelled on the English actress Charlotte Rampling. In the finished game, she wears a pale-colored combat outfit. The director, Hideo Kojima, originally planned to have her in a blue sneaking suit similar to Solid Snake for the finale, but this idea was cut. During the shooting of the final scene between the Boss and Naked Snake, Eriko Hirata (the Boss's motion capture actress), having read the script beforehand, was so moved by the scene that she broke down into tears. Kojima said in 2012, he would "love" to create a prequel game starring the Boss as the protagonist. The Boss appears as one of the main antagonists in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. She infiltrated Volgin's forces alongside the Cobra Unit under orders from the U.S. government as part of Operation Snake Eater. Throughout the game, Naked Snake repeatedly encounters the Boss to kill her as ordered by his superiors. Following Volgin's death, the Boss reveals she is not the daughter of The Sorrow; The Sorrow is the father of Ocelot, not her parent. After one final fight, Snake fights and kills the Boss; the Philosophers' Legacy is a microfilm hidden in the statue of the Philosophers, not in Volgin's body, and is retrieved by Snake after the fight, not given by The Boss. The whole mission is later revealed to be a coverup by the United States so that the Boss would steal Volgin's treasure and then die at his hands to avoid a conflict between America and the Soviet Union. EVA reveals in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker that the Boss infiltrated a sleeper agent into the USSR's OKB-1 from 1959 to 1961 to gather more information about the Sputnik program with a little help from the Philosophers. Claims that she was launched into space on April 12, 1961, as part of Project Mercury, or that she was airbrushed out of an official picture of the Mercury astronauts as the eighth member, are fan inventions not supported by canon. The Boss's entire personality is also reconstructed in a special AI system developed by Strangelove for the Peace Walker weapon. The Boss died on September 2, 1964, at Tselinoyarsk, USSR, at the age of 42.

In Their Own Story

The Boss is a legendary American soldier, founder and leader of the Cobra Unit, the biological mother of Ocelot, mentor and mother figure to Naked Snake, and is known as the mother of the U.S. special forces. In June 1944, during World War II, she led the Cobra unit to victory at the Battle of Normandy. She appears as one of the main antagonists in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. She defected to the Soviet Union with Colonel Volgin alongside the Cobra Unit. Throughout the game, Naked Snake repeatedly encounters the Boss to kill her as ordered by his superiors. Following Volgin's death, the Boss reveals she is the daughter of one of the original members of the Philosophers behind the Philosophers' Legacy. After one final fight, Snake fights and kills the Boss who gives him the Philosophers' Legacy hidden by Volgin. The whole mission is later revealed to be a coverup by the United States so that the Boss would steal Volgin's treasure and give it to Snake but then die at his hands to avoid a conflict between America and the Soviet Union.

Reader's Guide

The Boss is a legendary American soldier, founder and leader of the Cobra Unit, the biological mother of Ocelot, mentor and mother figure to Naked Snake, and is known as the mother of the U.S. special forces. In June 1944, during World War II, she led the Cobra unit to victory at the Battle of Normandy. She appears as one of the main antagonists in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. She defected to the Soviet Union with Colonel Volgin alongside the Cobra Unit. Throughout the game, Naked Snake repeatedly encounters the Boss to kill her as ordered by his superiors. Following Volgin's death, the Boss reveals she is the daughter of one of the original members of the Philosophers behind the Philosophers' Legacy. After one final fight, Snake fights and kills the Boss who gives him the Philosophers' Legacy hidden by Volgin. The whole mission is later revealed to be a coverup by the United States so that the Boss would steal Volgin's treasure and give it to Snake but then die at his hands to avoid a conflict between America and the Soviet Union. EVA reveals in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker that the Boss infiltrated a sleeper agent into the USSR's OKB-1 from 1959 to 1961 to gather more information about the Sputnik program with a little help from the Philosophers. She was eventually commissioned into Project Mercury to test the Mercury capsule and launched into space at roughly the same time as Yuri Gagarin's flight on April 12, 1961. However, the capsule suffered heavy damage upon reentry. The Boss, dubbed within the program as the "Mercury Lady", survived the crash but was rendered comatose for six months. All evidence of her role in the program was erased, including airbrushing her out of an official picture of the Mercury astronauts, of whom she was the eighth member. The Boss's entire personality is also reconstructed in a special AI system developed by Strangelove for the Peace Walker weapon. The Boss died on September 2, 1964, at Tselinoyarsk, USSR, at the age of 42.

Did You Know?

• The Boss's likeness was modelled on the English actress Charlotte Rampling.
• During the shooting of the final scene between the Boss and Naked Snake, motion capture actress Eriko Hirata broke down into tears after reading the script.
• The Boss is not the biological mother of Ocelot; Ocelot is the son of The Boss and The Sorrow.