The Metal Gear Solid series is mostly about the adventures of Solid Snake and Big Boss. Although those heroes wouldn’t be as great if they didn’t have a wide selection of interesting rogues to fight, Hideo Kojima and his team deserve credit for how varied the series main bad guys are from one another. Yet, some of the villains are perhaps a little too different.
While the best antagonists are really cool, some of the others either look strange, do bizarre things or have weird motives. Some antagonists even have quite a few funny moments (although it does take away from its dramatic story). This all begs the question, out of each main villain in the series, which ones are the most laughable? And which are the coolest?
LAUGHABLE: Zadornov – Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Vladimir Zadornov infiltrates Big Boss’s MSF as a member of the KGB and later helps Paz activate Metal Gear ZEKE. His accomplishments are pretty good, yet sometimes his methods are silly. For instance, his contribution to the theft of Metal Gear ZEKE consists of playing hide-and-seek.
The man keeps escaping his cell at Mother Base with help from Paz, forcing Snake to go and find him. Big Boss locates him easily each time, but it works as a way of distracting the hero. Eventually, the protagonist guns Zadornov down as the villain fails to hit Snake with his inaccurate shots.
Skull Face – Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes And Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid is filled with iconic characters, and in Ground Zeroes, Skull Face seems to be another one. In that first game, the villain is really menacing as he is able to manipulate all of the people around him. However, in Phantom Pain, the man is not very successful.
He has some small victories early on, but Big Boss kills him at the end of the first act. His downfall comes because the future Mantis betrays him to ally with a child instead. The manner of the defeat is pretty embarrassing for him. To make matters worse, throughout Phantom Pain, the villain is wearing a hat and mask combo that makes him look like the McDonald’s Hamburglar.
Vamp – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty And Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
It’s fair to say that Vamp becomes one of the most hated characters in the series after he kills Emma Emmerich. He’s also the perfect example of an MGS villain because, throughout the games, he constantly rides the line between cool and laughable.
When he is using his agility and sword skills in battle, he looks awesome. Although, when he’s swimming like a dolphin or showing vampire tendencies, he’s more funny than menacing. However, he is still an exciting guy to watch.
Colonel Volgin – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater And Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain (As Man On Fire)
MGS3 might be the best game in the series, and it certainly has one of the most physically intimidating villains in Colonel Volgin. The brute is not only huge, but he can conjure lightning to give his blows even more sting. Yet, the man is let down by his inability to detect spies.
Throughout the game, he believes there to be a traitor amongst his group. But he doesn’t realize that Tatyana, The Boss, and even Ocelot are all working against him. Once the other individuals’ real allegiances are revealed, it’s hard not to laugh at the big, clueless villain.
Zero – Metal Gear Solid 3 And Metal Gear Solid 4
During the games, Zero is never a direct antagonist. In fact, the most screen time he gets is in MGS3 as part of one of the best Codec teams in the series. While he’s helpful during Operation Snake Eater, he’s a significant villain overall as he’s the creator and leader of The Patriots.
Due to his lack of appearances in the games, it’s hard to call Zero laughable or cool. Despite running the most influential organization in the world, the man is quite ordinary.
Solidus Snake – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
Only Metal Gear would have a character like Solidus Snake. The man is a former US President, who uses mechanical tentacles as a weapon, plus he’s a clone of the legendary Big Boss. However, despite sounding ridiculous, Solidus is one of the series most compelling villains.
A big part of his appeal is his understandable motivations as he wants to take down the manipulative Patriots one by one. Moreover, he looks like a badass in his signature armor. And his combat abilities are no joke either, as shown when he destroys multiple Metal Gear Rays.
Liquid Snake – Metal Gear Solid And Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain
There are plenty of great characters introduced in the following titles, but the first game arguably has the best group. And as the main antagonist, Liquid Snake is one of the most important people in the story.
He is very similar to his clone brother, Solid Snake, in terms of combat ability. However, the villain is a lot more cocky and arrogant than Big Boss’s other sons. The character is easy to hate, but it’s hard to deny his charisma. There’s an aura to Liquid that few others in the series possess.
COOL: Revolver Ocelot – Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, And More
Ocelot appears in almost all Metal Gear Solid games as he operates in both Naked and Solid Snakes’ respective eras. As the character ages, his personality changes a little, but he always remains one of the coolest characters in the series.
His revolver tricks alone make him a special individual as the man can juggle multiple guns while periodically firing them. Yet, his most badass trait is his incredible ability to be one step ahead of everyone around him. The villain almost always knows more about any given situation because he’s usually working for more than one organization. And the scenes in which he reveals his true intentions tend to be some of MGS’s best.
