

His original identity (whose face is partially obscured when he's on-screen) was employed by Big Boss's Militaires Sans Frontières private forces. Venom Snake ( ヴェノム・スネーク, Venomu Sunēku) makes a minor appearance in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes as an unnamed combat medic and then throughout Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain as the player character also known as Punished Snake ( パニッシュド・スネーク, Panishudo Sunēku).

Main articles: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Sutherland's performance garnered praise from critics, although some were bemused by his relative lack of dialogue. Venom Snake and his role as a replacement for Big Boss in The Phantom Pain received mixed opinions from critics, with some finding the decision fitting in the context of the series, while others thought it negated the emotional crux of the game's story or failed to provide closure. It is ultimately revealed that he is actually a former physician and combat medic who underwent facial reconstruction and subliminal brainwashing to serve as Big Boss' body double Venom Snake is also revealed to be the man killed by Solid Snake at the end of the original 1987 game. While initially introduced in-game as a long-standing Metal Gear character Big Boss, hints of his true identity gradually emerge throughout the course of the story. Within the series, Venom Snake is the leader of a mercenary unit, Diamond Dogs, who returns to the battlefield after waking up from a nine-year coma in an incident that also resulted in the loss of his left arm and a piece of shrapnel embedded into the right side of his forehead. He is performed via voice acting and performance capture by Akio Ōtsuka in the Japanese version and by Kiefer Sutherland in the English version. Created by Hideo Kojima and designed by Yoji Shinkawa, he is most notably the protagonist in the 2015 game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Venom Snake ( ヴェノム・スネーク, Venomu Sunēku), also known as Punished Snake ( パニッシュド・スネーク, Panishudo Sunēku), is a fictional character from Konami's Metal Gear video game series.
