Kain and Big Boss

For those who don’t know, Kain is a protagonist and antagonist of the Legacy of Kain series while Big Boss (AKA Naked Snake) is a protagonist and antagonist of the Metal Gear series.

This idea came to me in a moment of realization as I mulled over how many fans vilify Big Boss. It proceeded to cross my mind how another favorite character of mine is given the same treatment and that is the aforementioned Kain. As I thought of the two in this light of comparison, I noticed more and more similarities between their development.
I hope to show how the two are alike; how tragedy shaped their beings and made them into what they were. I don’t call either of them villains, madmen or monsters. Just men, or in Kain’s case vampire, who had every disadvantage in life and took the road they felt was the best one for their world and their people.

Note: I do not give accessory details of the plot for either series. If you're not familiar with the general storylines of LoK or Metal Gear, you might be a bit lost.

Genesis

Kain’s origin is explored in two games. The first is the original game of the LoK series, Blood Omen where we see Kain’s death and rebirth as a vampire.
YouTube - Blood Omen - Legacy of Kain: Kain morto

“I didn’t care if I was in Heaven or Hell. All I wanted was to kill my assassins. Sometimes you get what you wish for. The Necromancer Mortanius offered me a chance for vengeance and like a fool I jumped at his offer without considering the cost. Nothing is free, not even revenge.”

But it’s further expanded in Soul Reaver 2.
YouTube - Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, The Corruption Of The Pillars

“As Ariel dies, I am being born to take her place as Balance Guardian. Such is my destiny. At the moment of my first cry, Ariel’s beloved the guardian Nupraptor finds her corpse. Wracked with grief and tormented by suspicions of treachery, Nupraptor plunges into a madness which overflows and infects all of the Guardians who are symbiotically bound, including me. The repercussions of Ariel’s assassination were expertly calculated. The entire Circle descends into madness and I am tainted at the moment of my birth, instantly rendered incapable of fulfilling the role destiny has prepared for me.”

Kain’s very life is subverted before it really begins by malign forces looking out for their own interests. Not only that but his own assassination culminating in his vampirism is yet another plot to change his destiny. Or rather, to restore it.

Anacrothe: You had Kain killed and turned him into a monster. You set him upon us!
Raziel: I seek the Heart of Darkness.
Mortanius: The Heart has served its function. I have used it to set prophecy in motion. I created the champion foretold by my masters who is destined to be your destroyer.

As stated earlier, Kain was resurrected as a vampire and set upon the Circle of Nine. Why?
For him, it was to find a cure for his un-life and for the broader world it was to free the Pillars from corruption. However the most important point of this mission for a cure is kept from him.

Big Boss is not so dramatically altered but he too is deceived and used.
YouTube - Sokolov Gets Captured/ The Boss Defects

Boss: I’m defecting to the Soviet Union. Sokolov is a little gift for my new hosts.

This is the initial deception by a woman he regards as both “mother... and master” and it all culminates in the mission to kill her.

Which, the seemingly final deception, was the cause of.

EVA: The Boss’ defection was a ruse set up by the U.S. Government. It was all a bit drama staged by Washington so they could get their hands on the Philosopher’s Legacy. ...The authorities in Washington knew that in order to prove its innocence they’d have to get rid of The Boss....and that one of their own would have to do the job. The Boss wouldn’t be allowed to come back home alive. And she wouldn’t be allowed to kill herself. Her life would be ended by her most beloved disciple.”

Yes, all an act starring Naked Snake and The Boss that would end with the latter dead. The one who orchestrated the show was the government who The Boss devoted her life to and whom Naked Snake said of “ I follow the President and the top brass. I'm ready to die for them if necessary.”

Thus we see Kain’s and Big Boss’ beginnings. Both puppets who, to quote a certain someone, “thought [themselves] a king when in fact [they] were a pawn.” These manipulations and plots led to the...questionable lives the two characters led.

But as the title says, this was merely the beginning. Kain and Jack did not become what they were just from all this. The further tragedies and conspiracies that turned them will be illustrated in the next section.

Final Disillusionment

As mentioned earlier, Kain sought a cure for his vampiric unlife. Yet time passes and the now world-aware Kain sees how humanity is possibly no better than what he has become.
YouTube - (11)LoK: Blood Omen - Moebius Dies

“In my youth, I witnessed William’s rise to power and his transformation into The Nemesis who laid waste to Nosgoth. Years later I stumble upon a chance to journey back in history, unaware that the entire affair has been carefully orchestrated by Moebius. In my wisdom, I seize this opportunity to murder the young king before he can ravage Nosgoth and thereby provide the catalyst Moebius needs to ignite a genocidal war against our race. The Nemesis never becomes The Nemesis. William dies a martyred saint. I, the vampire assassin, become the author of my own species’ extinction - And Moebius profits from it all. I destroyed a tyrant only to create one far worse.”

Yes, he was led into exterminating his own face by a self-righteous human. He witnessed the deaths of his people and the viciousness of humanity. If this wasn’t enough, he soon arrives at the end of his journey and discovers his “cure”.

Only...it’s revealed again he was betrayed and used. He discovers Mortanius arranged his death and subsequent rebirth but that is not all. He learns the final, dreadful secret...
YouTube - (14)LoK: Blood Omen - Kain's Decision

“I am the last Pillar; the only survivor of the Circle of Nine. At my whim, the world will be healed, or damned. At my whim....”
“I am presented with a dilemma - let’s call it a two-sided coin. If the coin falls one way, I sacrifice myself and thus restore the Piillars. But as the last surviving vampire in Nosgoth, this would mean the annihilation of our species. Moebius made sure of that. If the coin lands on the reverse, I refuse the sacrifice and thus doom the Pillars to an eternity of collapse. Either way, the game is rigged.”

So, from the moment of his birth he was corrupted and at the most important moment in his world’s history he’s been forced to make a lose-lose choice.
With the sights and smells of his freshly murdered race and the knowledge that the beings who committed this crime would inherit the planet should he sacrifice himself, Kain decided to live.
YouTube - Legacy of Kain, Blood Omen 1, Futures End

Now the ultimate defining moment that transformed Big Boss the clear hero into the hero to some and villain to others character most know him as is not yet concrete. However, going on what we know, it was MGS: Portable Ops and the further dark secrets revealed there that did it.

First there’s Python....
YouTube - Metal Gear Solid:Portable Ops - Part 13 -

Snake: When The Boss vanished...and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, you were there to save me. ...But Python, why? You’re a good man. Why join Gene’s rebellion?
Python: It’s my salvation...Snake. Do you have any idea why the CIA let me live this long? They’re afraid of you, Snake....You’re a legend; a hero. You bested The Boss. The CIA knows it, so they searched for a soldier strong enough to take you down if you ever betrayed them. They chose me. I’m the anti-Snake and I’m the one man who can break you!

One of the few people Snake was close to saved and kept around for the sole purpose of being used to kill him. By the government and group who previously had applauded hima nd sent The Boss to die.

Then there’s what Cunningham reveals:

Cunningham: No, not that. The Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961... The covert ops in North Vietnam - the influence of the CIA in America's military affairs grows with each passing year. The Pentagon brass started to feel threatened. And then they found out about the Metal Gear project. They enlisted Gene, FOX Unit's commanding officer, and had him steal it before it could be handed over to the Russians. What do you think would happen if Gene were to launch Metal Gear into the Soviet Union? The CIA'd lose face, and the military's influence would immediately start to soar.
Snake: You were trying to get Gene to use the nukes on purpose? Are you out of your mind? You'd start an all-out nuclear war!

Cunningham: Wrong again, Snake. Gene is just a renegade. And the Russians are the ones who built this base. The fundamental design for Metal Gear and the nukes it carries are Russian-made. And you blame Washington? Besides, there'll be no evidence left behind, anyway. See this, Snake?

Snake: A Davy Crockett!?

Cunningham: Exactly. A miniature nuclear warhead. But this one is Soviet-made. After Gene launches Metal Gear, I'll obliterate this base. Not a single blade of grass will be left behind.

Snake: What are you going to do with the other soldiers?

Cunningham: Those Red Army rebels? What do you care? They're our enemies! But you're different, Snake. You carried out your mission well. You followed the script he and the Pentagon wrote for you to the letter.

Snake: Script?

Cunningham: Do you want to know the real reason you were sent here? Because we knew you'd throw a wrench into Gene's plans. We needed someone to sneak into enemy territory alone, recruit the rebels to his side, and leave Gene with no choice but to launch Metal Gear. The only soldier who could pull it off was you. The legendary hero, Big Boss. And sure enough, that's just what you've done. Now you've done quite enough. We still need Gene to launch Metal Gear. It's part of the Pentagon’s plan. And we can't have you disrupting that, too. There's a heliport on top of this base. Get on the chopper, Snake. Once Metal Gear has been launched as planned, we'll take you back to the States. After this place is nothing but cinders, you'll be a hero once again. It won't be the CIA congratulating you, but you'll get over it.

Yes, bureaucratic posturing by US agencies would result in two nuclear strikes and countless innocent deaths.
This is the country The Boss died for...and to Cunningham, Big Boss says his most defining line for me:

Snake: I'm doing this out of loyalty to myself. I'm not going to live my life the way The Boss did!

But the revelations and changes don’t stop there. There is one more; the one most fans think drove Big Boss to what he did.

Gene: So... You never knew. Six years ago, during Operation Snake Eater, Volgin launched an American nuclear missile at Sokolov's research lab. This caused a change in plans, and the U.S. government had to assassinate its own operative, The Boss, to prove its innocence. And you were the assassin, Snake. Do you really think Volgin committed that terrible crime of his own will?

Snake: What?

Gene: It was all a setup from the very beginning. Volgin launching the nuke... The Boss' death... Even your mission in Groznyj Grad, Snake! It was all the work of your country and a single, deviously cunning strategist.

Yep, the United States always intended to leave the “mother of their special forces” to die a traitor in a foreign land. There was no changing of plans halfway and she did it to prevent World War 3. She was always meant to be killed thanks to someone.

The government that his mother died for was planning nuclear holocaust on innocent soldiers and people due to political squabbles.

What They Became

YouTube - Soul Reaver - Opening - Intro

“Kain is deified. The Clans tell tales of him. Few know the truth. He was mortal once, as were we all. However his contempt for humanity drove him to create me and my brethren.”

1000 years after Kain refused the sacrifice, he has erected a worldwide empire of vampires. What remains of humanity is kept alive for the sole purpose of feeding their overlords. However, Kain’s long life taught him the fact he states earlier: “refuse the sacrifice and thus doom the Pillars to an eternity of collapse.” And hence Kain decides he’ll “challenge the fates” and find a third option where his death or life doesn’t result in such dire consequences.

Kain’s grand plan for changing his destiny can be seen starting in the video of this section. He threw him into the Abyss in a scheme to use Raziel’s free will. You see, as Wilhelm says, “everything follows the destined flow.” Raziel’s free will can disrupt that flow and thus make the third option a reality by changing the course of history.

Now Big Boss eventually founded the legendary Outer Heaven with the sole objective to make a “world where warriors like us are honored as we once were...as we should be.”

Big Boss has seen what the governments of the world do to soldiers. He has even seen self-proclaimed saviors exploit soldiers under the guise of liberation. He doesn’t want this and so he seeks to build a nation of soldiers and to make a world that they can live in. As Gray Fox said:
“"No, you've got it wrong. I hate war. Just like all the kids here. But...I need it. War is all we know. We can't make We can't make it in the normal world. We need the battlefield to survive.”

Big Boss seeks to give them this world; to help them survive.

Lesser Evils

The condemnation of Kain and Big Boss is odd. Moral relativism is a key point to both series and yet people look at the series in black and white.

For Kain, no one is innocent in Legacy of Kain. The Ancient Vampires were zealots who started a war because their rival race didn’t believe in their god. The rival race, The Hylden, responded by creating a weapon that could kill everything on the planet. Human beings spawned the Sarafan who murdered all who opposed them with self-righteous fury.

So, in a world where everything has been contaminated and corrupted for millennia, what chance did Kain have to be “good”? Exactly, he had no opportunity whatsoever. Yet some would label him as a vile despicable fiend.

The only thing that deserves that title in Legacy of Kain is The Elder God. All you need to know about the EG is what Raziel tells us:
“All the conflict and strife throughout history, all the fear and hatred, served but one purpose: to keep [The Elder God’s] Wheel turning. All souls were prisoners, trapped in the pointless round of existence, leading distracted, blunted lives. until death returned them, always in ignorance, to the Wheel.

The Elder God is responsible for the fanatic Ancient Vampires crusade which resulted in The Hylden being cast into another dimension only to return and oppress humans centuries later. It is also the origin of Moebius and the Sarafan whom brutally killed whole races.

Now Big Boss’ ambition to create war is always looked down upon. But what would war do? What would establishing his soldier nation as the sole superpower do? It would destabilize the following:

Wolf: I was born on the battlefield; raised on the battlefield. Gunfire, sirens and screams...They were my lullabies. Hunted like dogs day after day, driven from our ragged shelters... That was my life. Each morning I'd wake up and find a few more of my friends or family dead beside me.. The governments of the world turned a blind eye to our misery.

And...

Schneider: I was almost killed, but not by them. By you and your country. ...Snake, after you destroyed Metal Gear, NATO launched a massive bombing campaign against Outer Heaven. All of us Resistance fighters...and the children of Outer Heaven...they didn't care about any of us. There was no escape from teh flames....They died like animals in a cage. Think about it. The children of Outer Heaven were originally war orphans and refugees from all over the world. They were a liability...and NATO didn't want to deal with them....

These are the powers who reign over the world in Metal Gear Solid. Tally up those accounts with what Cunningham said, what we know of The Patriots and well, you get a gruesome picture of the Powers-That-Be in the series.

Conclusion

Big Boss and Kain never had a chance in life or a choice. Used by forces beyond their control from their early years, they struck out on courses not all in this world or theirs approve of. But I do not revile them. I try to find the line of grey and I feel anyone who sees this objectively can find it too. What Kain and Big Boss fought represented greater evils to the world and had done for years.

That was the point of this and if you don’t agree, apologies. All I can present is my ideas.