Due to the amount of time he spends on the battlefield,Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain’s Venom Snake doesn’t have the luxury of looking after his outward appearance. Much of his body is covered in scars and injuries from his previous battles, and he hides most of his physique under his battle outfit. Because of this,Snake’s defining features are found on his face.
Much like the rest of his body, Venom Snake’s mug is also covered in scars and injuries. His left eye is completely blind, requiring him to cover it with his trademark eyepatch. His facial hair is grown out, leaving a messy beard that connects with his likewise unkempt hair which he ties in a short ponytail. But what setsMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain’s Venom Snake apart from other Snakes is the black “horn” that protrudes from the upper right-hand side of his skull.
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It Isn’t A Horn
Those who haven’t playedMetal Gear Solid 5; Ground Zeroesmay not know thatSnake’s “horn” isn’t actually a horn. It’s a piece of shrapnel stuck to Snake’s skull after a bomb failed to kill him at the end ofMetal Gear Solid 5’s lengthy prologue. The bomb was implanted in Paz Ortega Andrade - a former friend of Snake whom he rescued from Guantanamo Bay. Thanks to Paz’s quick thinking she was able to distance herself from the helicopter that held Snake and a few of his allies. However, Paz wasn’t able to get far enough, and the bomb rocked a nearby helicopter which crashed into Snake’s chopper. The resulting crash led Snake to undergo extensive surgery, and while most of his injuries were patched up, his most life-threatening ones were the loss of his left arm and the irremovable bits of shrapnel near his heart and skull.
What Is The Horn For?
Aesthetics and story-wise, the protruding piece of shrapnel in Snake’s head serves as nothing but a reminder of the failed attempt on his life. Players cannot remove the horn onSnake’s default modelnor can they use it as a tool on their missions. The “horn” is simply there to look cool.
The “horn” does have a hidden gameplay aspect to it, however. Demon Points - a hidden mechanic inMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, are used to determine Snake’s morality level. Completely separate from the game’s Heroism stat, Demon Points can be increased by performing immoral actions. Killing animals and soldiers, critically wounding allies, and developing nuclear weapons are a few immoral actions that award varying numbers of Demon Points to players. Likewise,players can also decrease their total Demon Pointsby performing moral acts like rescuing prisoners, extracting rare animals, and disarming other players' nuclear weapons (all of which reduce players' Demon Points by different amounts).
Reaching certain thresholds in the Demon Points system causes Snake to change his appearance. There is his default appearance, which makes the “horn” look like the piece of shrapnel it really is. His second form shows the “horn” growing bigger and more horn-like, and can be attained by accumulating a total of 20,000 Demon Points. Lastly, garnering a total of 50,000 Demon Points or higherturns Snake into “Demon Snake”- an appearance that makes his horn even bigger and sharper. To add to this, Snake’s entire body is permanently covered in blood and cannot be washed off in the Mother Base portable showers.
Even though players cannot completely remove the shrapnel on Venom Snake’s face, they can change its appearance slightly by accumulating Demon Points. They have to be extremely dedicated to being bad or good, however, as Demon Points are usually acquired in increments of 10s and 100s. This does not count the development or disarming of nukes, which can net playersthousands of positive or negative Demon Pointsrespectively. Even so, the number of resources needed to develop a nuke and the effort required to disable player nukes are both high and time-consuming. Venom Snake’s horn may be a permanent fixture on his face, but this doesn’t mean players can’t tweak it to suit their tastes and play styles.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painis available now for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It is also playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility.
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