The End

The End is a character from the Metal Gear franchise.

The End was the legendary "Ancient Sniper" of the Cobra Unit. He was over 100 years old when he was defeated by Naked Snake in 1964.

Appearance
The End is a short old man with a thick white beard and bald head.

His uniform was a special ghillie suit with a form of natural moss that added more camouflage to himself, and the sniping positions he chose to conceal himself well, The moss would also react to his health state such as turning brown when he was close to death implying a deeper connection with his powers. It also seemed that he had some sort of control over plant-life, as Sokrovenno's exit was blocked by a small weave of thick branches that only strangely withdrew after his death. When in a prone position, he became "one" with the area; his body temperature lowered so that it was close to that of the surrounding foliage.

Personality
As with the other members of the Cobra Unit, The End's codename signified the emotion he felt while on the battlefield; in his case, total oblivion. In battle, he blocked out everything except his targets, allowing himself to focus on his "hunt." Because he was very old and incredibly close to death, he would often fall asleep during battle. His closest companion, a parrot, acted as his spotter and would wake him up when he fell asleep, referring to him as "Grandpa."

Abilities
Due to being infected with a unique type of parasite strain, The End was given supernatural abilities that enhanced his performance during combat operations. The parasites gave him an increased life span as well as allowing him to remain active for days without food through the process of photosynthesis. Apart from these abilities, the parasites gave The End a heightened sense of perception that allowed him to operate on an elite level without the aid of a spotter, making him a deadly opponent.

The End was also an expert on camouflage. Additionally, when The End's stamina dropped dangerously low, he would absorb the sun's rays and recover his stamina quickly. While doing so, the liver spots on his head would disappear and he became rejuvenated, gaining a slightly younger appearance. Despite his geriatric body and need for care outside of battle, he was able to run at advanced speed when it came to running from position to position and was even capable of knocking back Snake easily when confronted physically. The End was armed with a M1891/30 Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle, a Russian-made bolt-action rifle used during both World Wars. His model was modified to fire special tranquilizer rounds. His Mosin-Nagant also had a folding paratrooper's stock and a pistol grip. Although he could easily have handled a Dragunov SVD, The End opted to use the Mosin-Nagant instead because of his gentle nature and unwillingness to kill. He would also use stun grenades, should an enemy get too close to him, in order to escape and find a new sniping location.

Trivia

 * Whenever he absorbed sunlight to restore his strength, the End's liver spots would disappear.
 * His parrot calls him "Grandpa".
 * As the End was dying, his suit changed from green to orange, like leaves dying.
 * He has false teeth and can make his eyes bulge out of his sockets.
 * The fight with the End is considered by some to be one of the best boss battles in video games, due to the fact that it forces the player to use all of their stealth and detection skills, there is a great amount of realism, and there are numerous variables involved, such as various methods the player can use to track him. Other examples include the fact that End can be sniped and killed while he is asleep earlier in the game and he can die of old age if the player does not play Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for a whole week.
 * The End is one of three bosses, the other two being Volgin and The Boss, in Metal Gear Solid 3 that the player can acquire two items from during the boss battle. In The End's case, if the player manages to sneak behind The End and hold-up The End for a certain amount of time; The End will give you the Moss Camo. And if the player defeats him non-lethally, the player will acquire the Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle.
 * In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the player can eventually return to Sokrovenno. If the player uses the Codec and input the radio frequency 000.00, Snake can hear the spirit of The End.
 * He is the only boss who never drains Snake's health.