7 Most Badass Women in the Metal Gear Solid Series

Highlights

Metal Gear Solid features iconic, badass female characters with unique abilities and strong personalities.
Characters like Olga, Fortune, Meryl, Quiet, EVA, Sniper Wolf, and The Boss exhibit strength, combat skills, and resilience.
Each character, from experienced soldiers to supernatural sharpshooters, contributes significantly to the overall narrative and gameplay.

The Metal Gear Solid series has always done well in representing the real-life badass women of the world. Many of the series’ most iconic and beloved characters have been women, and naturally, given the tactical espionage and highfalutin military Action themes of the Metal Gear saga, most have been badass, right down to their genetic (and memetic) code.

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Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, Chun-Li from Street Fighter, and Jill Valentine from Resident Evil

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From highly-trained killers to master manipulators and inscrutable covert agents, only a fool would step against these ladies without carrying a heavy arsenal of guns along and obtaining a high-ranking code name in some clandestine unit first, lest they risk getting sent home in a box (and not the tactical sneaking kind).

Helena Dolph Jackson / Fortune

Turning Tragedy Into Legendary Luck

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Patriots
Abilities: Rendering explosives inert, diverting the path of bullets

Born Helena Dolph Jackson, Fortune was the head member of Dead Cell, a unit responsible for executing anti-terrorist operations under President Sears, AKA Solidus Snake. After a series of profound personal tragedies, one of which involved the death of her husband during the Tanker Incident at the hands of Solid Snake (or so it seemed), Helena joined the military before discovering her unique ability and gaining the nickname “Fortune,” “Queen,” and “Lady Luck.”

Fortune’s passive ability to nullify explosives and bend a bullet’s trajectory isn’t her defining badass feature. That would be her penchant for lugging around a gigantic rail gun, which, because of its tendency to backfire and damage, only she can use because of her “good luck.” This massive weapon has a long reload cycle and a tremendous recoil, but in Fortune’s hands, it had the power to bring calamity to all in its scope.

Olga Gurlukovich

Daughter Of War And Conquest

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Patriots
Abilities: Mastery of command, knifeplay, explosives, acrobatics

Olga once expressed that “conflict and victory” were her parents, but it seems that “conflict” had a greater role to play in her life than the other. She was raised by the leader of a mercenary company and learned the soldier’s trade by living and serving among them, even after conceiving a child and becoming pregnant. She is a tough woman to be reckoned with, as demonstrated by her familiarity with explosives, Spetsnaz scout knife, the muffled muzzle of her PSS pistol, and expert military command tactics.

After the Tanker incident during Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Patriots, Olga was manipulated by the Patriots into working against her own unit or risk endangering her child, whom the Patriots had captured. She appears to Raiden as a familiar-looking ninja with an exoskeleton suit, helping him go against her own soldiers. In the end, Olga takes a bullet to the head to give Raiden time to escape in the hope that he can ultimately find her missing child.

Meryl Silverburgh

From Rookie To Rat-Catching Badass

Meryl in front of communication tower MGS 1

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Abilities: High level of strength, leadership, squad co-ordination

As she appears in Metal Gear Solid, Meryl is green behind the ears, at least in comparison to Solid Snake. However, as the events at Shadow Moses unfolded, she demonstrated an instinct for infiltration and a level head for combat. Years later, having become a seasoned soldier on the battlefield and attaining the rank of commander, Meryl crosses paths with an aged Solid Snake in the Middle East and then Eastern Europe, even saving his skin and aiding him on his mission to take down Liquid Ocelot.

Metal Gear Solid Meryl and Naked Snake split image

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Meryl’s weapon of choice is the desert eagle, which she can use one-handed, seemingly shrugging off its powerful recoil. Perhaps due to a regimented exercise routine, Meryl is physically built. In Guns of the Patriots, she is able to take down even the strongest of her teammates in Rat Patrol Team 1. She led the charge against Liquid Ocelot and his “Outer Haven” battleship and was instrumental in taking down the Patriot’s AI.

Sniper Wolf

The Deadly Sniper In The Snow

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid
Abilities: Extreme survival skills, animal affinity, deadly sharpshooting

Not every badass has to explode into battle and defeat her enemy head-on. Sniper Wolf is deadly because of her patience and extreme survival abilities. During the Shadow Moses incident, she commented that “women make better soldiers and assassins” than men. Caught in her crosshairs, be it man, woman, soldier, or civilian, it would be hard (and stupid) to argue with her or her and her sharpshooting skill.

Sniper Wolf was born into a life of violence, living from one hiding hole to the next in a warzone as she did whatever she had to do to survive. Big Boss took her in, and her instincts for long-range shooting were put to use under his mentorship, where she developed her affinity for painstakingly profiling her victims and using poisoned ammunition to guarantee her kills. Sniper Wolf hardly ever let her conscience stop her from landing a shot, but on the battlefield, she reserved mercy for children, women, and other wolves.

Quiet

The Supernatural Sharpshooter

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Abilities: Supernatural senses, strength, agility, invisibility, and sharpshooting

This former XOF assassin first appeared in the Cyprian hospital ward where “V” was “coming to.” It was only because of the quick thinking of a bandaged stranger that Venom Snake survived her attack. However, it took two attempts to light her on fire before putting her off her mission. Although she was badly burned, she survived thanks to a special treatment of parasites that also granted her supernatural powers, including heightened senses, inhuman speed and strength, and the ability to breathe through her skin.

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Quiet is more of the “silent badass” type, but not out of choice. Her powers come at the cost of being able to speak, at least in most cases. Her powers make her nearly impossible to take down, but she is also a formidable combatant, even when fighting fairly. However, her main talent is shooting from afar, her capacity for infiltration, and ruthless murder. Her accuracy with a sniper rifle is so acute that she is able to shoot between rotating helicopter blades while the helicopter is in flight.

EVA / Big Mama

From Cold War Double Agent To Big Mama

Weird Metal Gear Content MGS4 Snake Big Mama

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Abilities: Master of social stealth, motorcycle riding, and handguns

If Snake is the ultimate infiltrator and master of stealth, then EVA would have to be considered one of the greatest social stealth operatives in history, as evidenced by her success during Operation Snake Eater. Masterfully playing both sides, she blended in and managed to survive amid Colonel Volgen’s command, and she later (ostensibly) recovered the Philosopher’s Legacy from Snake (the immense fortune of a shadowy group that preceded the Patriots). EVA reveals that she only allowed Snake to live out of her respect for The Boss.

Having the guts to act out a mission deep in enemy territory isn’t her only skill. EVA is a daring motorcycle rider and a crack shot with her Chinese Type 17 pistol. Even at the age of 78, during the events of Guns of the Patriots, EVA, now known as “Big Mama,” is seen taking part in combat and motorcycle chases in an effort to protect Big Boss’s legacy.

The Boss

A Legendary Soldier Forged In An Endless Battle

Appeared In: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Abilities: Immense strength, supreme battle presence, master of CQC, command, and firearms

There’s hardly a more important character at the heart of the Metal Gear Solid saga. The Boss, AKA The Joy, is hard-faced, conscientious, and loyal to her country “to the end.” Although her fealty may spell the ruin of her name and legacy and even take her life, she remains steadfastly committed to the cause. Her fierce devotion to the United States is matched only by her love for her unit and soldiers the world over.

The Boss is a master of CQC and effortlessly defeats, disables, and disarms any opponent, armed or otherwise, without breaking a sweat, including the gigantic Colonel Volgin. What makes The Boss so impressive is that in addition to her tremendous instincts, prowess, and strength, she embodies positive feminine and maternal qualities in her own way: compassion, protectiveness, and nurturing, even demonstrating their great virtues on the battlefield. For example, she broke Snake’s arm and rib and threw him off a bridge, but by doing so, she ultimately allowed him to succeed in the mission.