The Boss

The Boss, also known as The Joy, The Mother of Special Forces, Mercury Lady and Voyevoda is a character from the Metal Gear Solid franchise.

The Boss was a renowned American soldier, founder and leader of the Cobra Unit, the biological mother of Ocelot, and mentor and mother figure to Naked Snake. In June 1944, during World War II, she led the Cobra Unit to victory at the Battle of Normandy. Together with Naked Snake, she developed the technique of CQC.

Personality
The Boss, as her original codename suggested, found joy in battle. However, when she went to space, her view on war changed. She believed that there was more to life than the Cold War, recognizing the pointlessness of the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. As such, she longed for a world that would be united in which people would respect each other as human beings, as opposed to remaining in constant conflict. This was despite the fact that she herself was a soldier.

Ever since failing her mission in 1943, The Boss had decidedly blamed herself for the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and the rise of the Cold War; having thought in retrospect that if she had succeeded, the Cold War might never have started in the first place. Because of this, she would go on to dedicate her entire life to her country and its faults based on what she felt was a conflict that she had brought upon the world. The Boss would go on to maintain this strong sense of loyalty to her country as a soldier; her loyalty was so great that she allowed the government to use her ruthlessly and knowingly had her killed by her apprentice Naked Snake.

Despite this, she was not blinded by her loyalty to the extent that she didn't know how soldiers were used, as she mentioned to Naked Snake when they re-encountered each other after five years. Her unrelenting loyalty was ultimately what led to her death; having purposely suppressed her own ideals and personal feelings for many years as part of her penance. As her idealistic notions were condemned and feared by her superiors, she allowed herself to die hoping that Naked Snake would learn the truth of her tortured life so that he may learn from her mistakes and live a normal life dedicated only to himself. Though she believed that the Philosophers had grown far too corrupt to be redeemed, she clinged onto what little hope she had that her sacrifice would somehow help in uniting the rest of the world. She also accurately predicted that America and Russia would no longer remain enemies in the 21st century.

Like her apprentice Big Boss and his son Solid Snake, she was a very strong-willed person and had a very strong charisma as she could take the burden of her country having her killed, turning her back on her Cobra Unit and having her reputation destroyed in order to complete her final mission. Her charisma was so strong that it influenced the very creation of the Patriots and was among the reasons she was killed. EVA herself had believed the 21st century could have been a very different place if she had survived Operation Snake Eater.

Possessing great wisdom in warfare, she was a fierce soldier that sparked fear and admiration among her enemies, colleagues, and allies. Although she held a calm and collected demeanor, she possessed such a strong and overbearing presence that even Volgin was intimidated by her whenever she questioned his mistrust towards her. Despite "The Joy" being her former codename, The Boss rarely smiled during the events of Operation Snake Eater. In contrast, her lover The Sorrow always smiled during his encounters with Naked Snake, with not one occasion where there was a frown on his face.

The Boss also had a lot of love and care for her apprentice Naked Snake, so much so that even after they went their separate ways and The Boss had found a new apprentice, she would often talk to Strangelove as if she was talking to Snake himself. She also protected Snake during Operation Snake Eater from Ocelot and EVA by making them promise not to kill him, and she instructed EVA to tell Snake the truth behind her final mission and death as she wanted him to know. The Boss knew that Snake would feel guilty for killing her so she told EVA to tell him to forgive himself and to let it go.

The Boss was a proficient user of CQC, having helped found the techniques and principle with her apprentice Naked Snake. She was able to execute field-strips at fast speeds against her opponents, often disarming them in a matter of seconds. On one occasion, The Boss was able to disarm Colonel Volgin, towering at 6'7", and knock him to the floor without needing much effort or leverage over him. The Boss possessed a tremendous amount of physical strength, evidenced by her carrying the containers for the Davy Crockett launcher and the two Davy Crockett shells, which in combined weight would have exceeded 300 kg (nearly 700 pounds) late into the Virtuous Mission, and fire it by hand at Groznyj Grad and Graniny Gorki late into Operation Snake Eater.

The Boss used to smoke cigars, but quit sometime prior to the Virtuous Mission.[19] Although The Boss scolded Naked Snake for wearing her bandana during Operation Snake Eater, demonstrating his inability to let go of the past, she was really somewhat happy in her heart.[20] The Boss had a large snake-shaped scar that ran across her upper torso, as a result of giving birth via caesarean section on the battlefield. The Boss likened her remaining sense of pain to that of a snake slithering across her body.

Abilities
Powers and Abilities: Genius Intelligence, Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Master of Stealth, Infiltration and Espionage, Expert Pilot, Master of CQC, Expert Marksman, survival tactics, and demolitions. She has mayor knowledge of psychology and foreign languages.

Attack Potency: City Block level (Fought on par with Naked Snake for several minutes)

Speed: Supersonic+ with High Hypersonic+ combat speed and Massively Hypersonic reactions (Kept up with Snake)

Lifting Strength: Class M

Striking Strength: City Block Class

Durability: City Block level (Survived her spacecraft crashing into the sea)

Stamina: Very high (Survived being severely burned by both the cosmic radiation, and the heat of re-entry of the capsule in the Mercury Project)

Range: Standard melee range with CQC. Dozens of meters with several weapons, mostly the Patriot.

Standard Equipment: The Patriot (a modified assault rifle with infinite ammo), combat knife, white Sneaking Suit.

Intelligence: An extremely skilled and trained soldier, which learned from her father the most forbidden secrets of the Philosophers and always completed all her missions no matter the risks or the outcome. She also trained Naked Snake and taught him all of her knowledge in CQC, firearms, etc. Lastly, she made sure that he would carry out his mission by fighting her for the title of Big Boss and make the world one again.

Weaknesses: Can be stunned by flash/stun grenades if aimed correctly.

Notable Attacks/Techniques:
 * CQC: Unique and highly efficient martial arts allowing a soldier a variety of options while not denying them the use of weapons. It generally has the user taking a stance with a knife and a handgun thus he/she could grab/throw opponents in melee, threaten/execute people with the sharp blade or shoot down opponents who are otherwise outside the user's range. CQC mostly focuses on grabs, throws and other methods to disarm the target, allowing one to take down enemies without killing them or use them as a human shield. A skilled practitioner can even "chain" throws, allowing to rapidly neutralize an entire group of soldiers. The Boss was one of the creators of the technique and developed it while training with Naked Snake. She used these techniques in order to overcome several situations until she was surpassed by Naked Snake in their final confrontation.

Trivia

 * She is the only boss who will notice that Snake has used a fake death pill and will kick him out from unconsciousness.
 * However, she can be somewhat confused if the player puts on a Monkey Mask during the fight.
 * In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, a horse with a great resemblence to The Boss' horse, D-Horse, is available to Snake as a Buddy.