The Metal Gear series is renowned for stealth-based games centered around multiple military agents bearing the codename "Snake." The protagonists/anti-heroes that carry the 'Snake' moniker bear a remarkable amount of strength throughout Metal Gear's depiction of nuclear deterrence and war.
Over the course of Metal Gear's 54-year chronology, there have been six individuals titled "Snake" all existing as separate entities. Their individual physical and mental strengths are shown many times through in-game evidence, which makes it easier to determine who is truly worthy of the iconic codename.
Since Metal Gear lore infamously changes between games, all characters named Snake and their alternate versions have been considered. In the interest of fairness, both gameplay and cutscene content has been used to compare each Snake's respective strength. As a result, this list will contain series-wide spoilers, so reader discretion is advised for those who have not played all canon entries in the Metal Gear series.
8 Raiden
Fans of the series may contest Raiden's presence being on this list at all, but he is given the codename "Snake" since before the start of his debut appearance in Metal Gear Solid 2. Unfortunately, his character arc was deliberately designed by Hideo Kojima to be weaker than Solid Snake, and this comes across both in-game and based on fan reaction. The infamous controversy surrounding MGS2 back in 2001 focused on the protagonist (Solid Snake) being switched out for an imitator (Raiden) early on, and many players were disappointed by this decision.
In-game, Raiden fights and moves similarly to Solid Snake, right down to the amount of health and damage taken. What differs from the previous protagonist is the mental nature used to train Raiden: virtual reality. Raiden is effectively a programmed soldier that lacks real-world experience, so despite similar physical ability, he is unprepared for the mission.
Raiden's relative lack of preparation is emphasized many times throughout MGS2, from mission control deliberately hiding information to being ill-equipped for boss battles. For example, in the sword battle with Solidus, Raiden (and the players) are at the mercy of split-second attacks and rapid-fire sword clashes with barely any margin for error.
This character concept was designed as social commentary by Hideo Kojima to point at the players demanding a superior sequel that would never be satisfied with anything new. This meta-narrative is unfortunately lost on many new players and tangential fans, resulting in Raiden becoming one of the series' most infamous jokes.
7 (Not) Cyborg Raiden
Raiden would go on to re-appear in Metal Gear Solid 4 and the memetic Metal Gear Rising spin-off as the protagonist again, but with a notably different playstyle and visual design. He also ditches the 'Snake' moniker at the end of MGS2, meaning his future "Cyborg Raiden" status has to be discounted from this list.
This doesn't mean that the future incarnations of Raiden are still weak. In fact, Cyborg Raiden could be considered the strongest player character over the entire series, made evident by the myriad of Metal Gears and other robots that get decimated by his HF blade in Rising.
His strength is also displayed in Metal Gear Solid 4, managing to hold back the Outer Haven battleship just with his body, and continuing to fight in the final act despite missing both his arms. These displays of strength and agility rival all the other Snakes across the series put together, making Cyborg Raiden a serious contender for the strongest protagonist, but sadly not the strongest "Snake."
6 Old Snake
Old Snake and Solid Snake are technically the same person, but it is worth separating the use of these code names. Since his decaying genetic state is actually a plot point in Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake's physical status between Metal Gear Solid 1 and Metal Gear Solid 4 has changed so much that physically they can be considered two separate fighters. However, this accelerated aging does little to slow Old Snake down during his final mission.
The biggest display of strength that Old Snake shows is arguably not one of physical ability, but determination. During the final act of MGS4, Old Snake risks his life by crawling through a hallway full of microwave radiation in order to shut down the enemy's AI system. This powerful scene compliments Metal Gear's emotional tones, forcing the player to keep on walking forward as Old Snake succumbs to the intense heat, eventually mashing the X button to force him forwards even after his life bar has completely drained.
Old Snake is naturally one of the weakest Snakes in the series, but his placement on the list does not mean he is a weak character. His combination of strengths while up against the global war machine serves as a good closer to the Metal Gear chronology.
5 Solid Snake
Solid Snake is portrayed as the force for good against Metal Gear's universe of thematic villains. As the leading protagonist of the series since Metal Gear's debut in 1987, Solid Snake is easily the most recognizable character from the series. Thanks to numerous cameo appearances in spin-off titles such as the Super Smash Bros series, there is no question as to Solid Snake's physical strength with other fighters.
A clone brother of Solid Snake named Liquid Snake is revealed in Metal Gear Solid 1, but casual fans may also remember the claims that Solid is the dominant clone of the two. This plot point is meant to unveil how one brother was deliberately engineered with all the dominant genes and the other received the leftover recessive genes.
However, this claim is not true (a point which is fully explained at the end of MGS1), and is in fact proven during certain gameplay segments. Notably, during Metal Gear Solid's climactic hand-to-hand confrontation with Liquid atop Metal Gear Rex, players may notice that Liquid does 3 times the damage that Solid does with his bare hands. This becomes confusing in hindsight if Solid is meant to be a stronger fighter, unless Liquid Snake actually possesses more strength than the series' protagonist.
Therefore, despite the iconic strength and determination that Solid Snake displays, there are stronger Snakes still lurking throughout the series. Despite these differences, it can be argued that Solid Snake's ability to survive to the chronological series' end is even more empowering, and ties into Metal Gear's themes of not simply letting genes decide your fate.
4 Solidus Snake
Solidus Snake is first revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2, with an impressive presence as the ex-president of the United States and the third Big Boss clone. This backstory doesn't supersede Solidus's presence, as he is also the one behind the game's Metal Gear usage, using them as deterrence for his sinister terrorism plot against a global conspiracy.
Not only is this Big Boss clone an identical copy of the original, but Solidus Snake's intelligence and fighting ability also rival that of Big Boss. Thanks to his genetic structure making him an even match for the other two clones, Solidus also pilots an armored suit with robotic appendages that gets a lot of use in cutscenes, including suffocating several characters and even destroying a Metal Gear prototype.
Solidus is a difficult adversary in boss battles too. The first has Solidus piloting a Harrier and continuing to fight despite losing an eye in the battle with Raiden, while the second (final) battle is a difficult sword fight dripping in iconic Metal Gear symbolism. Solidus can even knock Raiden to the ground by launching his elbow into the latter's torso, in addition to breaking through Raiden's block stance.
Solidus is constantly proving his physical ability and battle mindset throughout Metal Gear Solid 2, and he would have succeeded if not for Ocelot's betrayal. Despite being vanquished by Raiden at the end of MGS2, Solidus is definitely a memorable villain and one of the stronger fighters worthy of taking on both the heroes and villains of the series.
3 Liquid Snake
As Solid Snake (and the player) discovers the truth about Liquid's origin, Liquid Snake is eventually revealed as the dominant brother at the end of MGS1. The reason for this is down to the "Les Enfant Terrible" cloning project deliberately hiding these details to make Liquid Snake fight harder than Solid Snake.
Furthermore, Liquid Snake suffers a lot of punishment throughout MGS1. This includes being inside a Hind D as it gets shot down, falling off the eponymous Metal Gear REX after losing a fight (something that Liquid states will kill Solid Snake if he falls instead), getting shot by a motorized turret gun and a car crash in the final action sequence.
The only thing that successfully kills Liquid Snake is a gene-specific virus, one which is coded for Big Boss's clones. Even this death is rendered moot in Metal Gear Solid 2, as Liquid's strength lives on through another host body similar to a parasite. This combined strength and determination makes it clear that Liquid Snake is definitely the strongest of Big Boss' clones.
2 Venom Snake
This character's very existence is one of Metal Gear's biggest walking spoilers due to his pivotal role in Metal Gear Solid 5 and retroactively in the MSX Metal Gear releases. Venom Snake exists as a body double for Big Boss to confuse and distract the enemies who want the latter dead.
His origin stems from being one of Big Boss' most loyal soldiers from the MSF days witnessed in Peace Walker, where the player can recruit soldiers from the battlefields and take them on missions in place of Big Boss. It is heavily implied that the player's custom character from Peace Walker becomes the support chopper medic in cutscenes from MGSV: Ground Zeroes.
The net result is that Venom Snake went through almost the same punishment as Big Boss did in the previous game's non-story missions, up to and including several bouts of torture, stronghold infiltration, and even lifting the robotic leg of Peace Walker to avoid getting crushed. He also loses an arm in the "Ground Zeroes" incident and is stuck in a coma for nine years before The Phantom Pain takes place.
The way Venom's saga ends is very bittersweet in hindsight, having lost his identity and past just for Big Boss's survival, only to be killed by Solid Snake in the latter's first mission. This revelation means that Venom Snake's impact on the series is not forgotten, thanks to his displays of mental fortitude and physical strength that are second only to Big Boss himself.
1 Big Boss
Big Boss started from somewhat humble beginnings as the affable and charming "Naked Snake," an under-equipped soldier thrown into a political conflict that threatens nuclear war. His character arc is incredibly tragic from beginning to end across 50 years of military service, managing to destroy no less than SIX Metal Gears and their prototypes during that time, while also engineering two of them after his villainous descent.
Metal Gear Solid 3 features Big Boss' debut, surviving the wilderness's many natural dangers, vicious electroshock torture, the COBRA Unit's attacks, and destroying the Shagohod prototype before having to kill his mentor "The Boss." In addition to all the physical punishment, MGS3's ending also reveals that "Naked Snake" was betrayed by his potential love interests and the government he was working for to fund various military operations, leading to the start of his villainous pursuits under the title "Big Boss."
Big Boss gets many chances throughout the rest of his Metal Gear saga to prove his physical strength, including undergoing electric torture a second time, bench-pressing a Metal Gear, countless betrayals, getting burnt alive in Metal Gear 2 by Solid Snake, and still surviving all the way to Metal Gear Solid 4's climax.
In the epilogue, Big Boss manages to impart a final apology and goodbye speech to his last surviving clone, which proves a secondary type of strength that imparts more wisdom than the typical brute force shown by all other Snake soldiers. Big Boss has every chance to continue living as the villain of the Metal Gear series but decides to atone for his previous sins by freeing Old Snake from his fated genetic death and die as the misguided hero the players prefer to remember.