John Snake, member of the legendary Fox unit of the CIA, trained by The Boss in infiltration, one-man stealth operations, and close-quarters combat (CQC). He was sent on a mission into the jungles of Russia to recover a defecting scientist named Sokolov, however he discovered that Sokolov Had been working on a next-generation weapon capable of launching a nuclear ICBM from any terrain. Before he could extract with Sokolov, He was confronted by The Boss who revealed that she had defected to the side of the Russians. After she recaptured Sokolov and attempted to kill Snake, he's sent back in on a mission to recover Sokolov, recover Intel on and destroy the weapon known as The Shagohod, and eliminate The Boss. He succeeded, discovering that The Boss was never a traitor in the first place and her very mission was to die without Snake ever knowing the truth. Afterwards, he was awarded the title of Big Boss, but he had lost his faith in the government. From that point on, he vowed to see her dream to fruition. A dream of a nation state controlled by soldiers, for soldiers, where they could feel welcome and belong outside of conflict. He called this dream Outer Heaven.