1. Big Boss
Did you see this coming? You should have. Big Boss is the only undefeated sniper in the entirety of the Metal Gear franchise. Big Boss killed The End on his home turf through a protracted sniper battle, the Father of Sniping was just no match for the greatest soldier who ever lived. In fact, the only person to ever defeat Big Boss at anything was his own genetically enhanced super clone that he personally trained, when he was well past his prime. Even then he got the better of Solid Snake at the end of MGS4.
No matter the metric, Big Boss comes out on top. He had amazing feats of sniping prowess and far reaching effects on snipers for years to come. Big Boss is at least indirectly responsible for creating three out of the other four snipers on this list. Quiet wouldn't have been nearly as formidable if she weren't scorched on her Big Boss assassination attempt and subsequently “upgraded.” Sniper Wolf was taken in and personally trained by the man himself, becoming the world's greatest sniper for a time, and the only reason Crying Wolf was even made into a sniper was to be Sniper Wolf's replacement.
Big Boss, legendary soldier, greatest Metal Gear sniper.
That's the list, so what do you think? Feel free to take a few pot shots at it and give us your list of MGS snipers.
2. Quiet
The standout new addition to the MGS lineup, Quiet has been surrounded by a bit of controversy about her appearance. That's another article though, today we're looking at what makes he an amazing sniper.
Quiet was originally an assassin sent to eliminate Big Boss in in the Cyprus hospital, before being set alight and burnt to a crisp by Ishmael. This would normally be the end of a person's story, but this was just the beginning for Quiet. In order to survive her injuries, XOF had her treated with the next evolution of the parasites that gave The End his photosynthesis abilities, and endowed her with all of the abilities seen in members of the Skulls.
On top of her photosynthetic capabilities, Quiet has greatly enhanced speed and strength, can camouflage herself to the point of being invisible to the naked eye, can perceive time at such a slow pace that she can see each rotor blade of a helicopter in motion, and can use each eye as a master eye when sniping, allowing her to use one eye for aiming while using the other to select her next target. That's not all though, Quiet is extremely intelligent, capable of performing advanced physics calculations nigh instantaneously. This allows her to pull off feats like head-shotting the pilot of a fighter jet that's traveling at mach two, while riding on a helicopter engaging in evasive maneuvers.
Quiet may be the closest thing you can get to perfection when it comes to building a better Sniper, but even she has weaknesses. She breathes exclusively through her skin, so she cannot be submerged in water, and excessive salt water will kill the parasites that live on her skin, suffocating her.
3. The End
The “Father of Sniping” is the man responsible for bringing us arguably the greatest single battle in the entirety of the Metal Gear series: A protracted sniper battle in a jungle environment, against an opponent even stealthier than Naked Snake himself.
The End was so good that he didn't even feel the need to use live ammo against Snake in their encounter. You'd probably be that confident too if you had over a century of experience, survived both Great Wars, could lower your body temperature to match your surroundings, had a ghillie suit made of living moss that worked in symbiosis with your body to camouflage you, and could subsist solely off of photosynthesis.
The End was virtually the perfect sniper, and his code name alludes to that. When on the hunt he became oblivious to all but the task at hand: eliminating his target. This single minded focus, honed to perfection over the course of more than a century, paired with his impressive abilities gives him the skillset needed to earn that title.
However, even the Father of Sniping had a weakness, and that sole weakness was that Father Time wasn't on friendly terms with him. Despite being a relatively spry old man at over 140 years of age, The End was on the verge of death when he fought Naked Snake. In fact, the old man can pass away from natural causes if the player takes too long a break during their battle. If he had been a bit younger or a little less merciful, perhaps he would have made it a little higher on this list.
4. Sniper Wolf
Sniper Wolf was the greatest sniper of her time, trained under the Gurkhas of Nepal and the legendary Big Boss himself. With her trusty PSG1 in hand, she was capable of stalking a victim and lying in wait without moving or eating for weeks on end. After the death of Big Boss, she would join FOXHOUND in an attempt to have her revenge on the world.
As a member of the FOXHOUND unit that became the Sons of Big Boss and rebelled at Shadow Moses in MGS1, Sniper Wolf is the person that Crying Wolf was modeled after. She even shares a somewhat similar back story in that she lost all of her family as well, though she didn't kill her own brother and develop a pathological need to murder babies. Instead, Sniper Wolf became a bit of a misandrist, looking down on all men that don't live up to the standard of Big Boss, whom she idolized. She also prefers to avoid hurting women and children, which may be the sole reason Meryl Silverburgh left Alaska alive.
Sniper Wolf also had two major weaknesses. The first of which was her addiction to the muscle relaxer Diazepam, which she used to steady her hand and lower her metabolism for long operations were she could not move or eat. The second was her extreme case of Lima Syndrome, which means that she falls in love with all of her victims and captives. Poor Otacon was nothing special after all.
5. Crying Wolf
Crying Wolf, a member of MGS4's B&B Corps, is the most technologically advanced Sniper on our list. Housed in cybernetic armor boasting olfactory sensors that allow her to track her enemies even in blinding conditions, does not radiate heat and makes her virtually invisible to infrared and night vision, and comes equipped with a modified version of Fortune's rail gun that can be used for sniping.
Unfortunately, Crying Wolf has a pair of flaws that are ultimately her undoing. First, she must expose herself from her armor to take a shot. This utter failure of design makes for her only true vulnerability. Second, Crying Wolf is irrevocably insane.
Due to the psychological damage that arose from smothering her infant brother to avoid detection from enemy forces, she often sobs hysterically and cannot think rationally. Not very good traits to have as a sniper, where silence and cool headed precision trump everything.
Not to mention, she has a thing for murdering babies. No really, she cannot help but literally murder babies. She hallucinates about wolves silencing the cries of infants, that remind her of her brother, while she murders them herself. That earns Crying Wolf the dubious honor of “Darkest MGS Character Background Ever.”
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has brought the series yet another amazing character in the form of Quiet. Her popularity had a bit of an explosion after the game's release, and we can only assume this popularity arises from her best assets: she's a badass sniper.
Now, snipers have long had the reputation of being total badasses in the Metal Gear Solid, so this isn't too surprising. No matter what, they always leave their mark on players. They either have the best battles in their respective games, or some of the most memorable stories/scenes in gaming period.
In honor of Quiet's new star status, we've put together a list of five other badass snipers in Metal Gear Solid. Needless to say there will be some spoilers for the MGS series, so please read on at your own discretion.
