Sam Fisher and Solid Snake are often compared due to the similarity between their respective franchises; Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid. However, the two are wildly different when looking beyond the core idea of stealth. Still, both characters are hardened soldiers who have accomplished more incredible feats than most people could ever dream of.
At the end of the day, however, the question remains; who would win in a fight? It is the differences between their series and details regarding their backstories that ultimately determine who would reign victorious, since based on raw skill they are both evenly matched.
10 Sam Fisher: He Has Family To Fight For
Solid Snake has a family, but anyone who played the Metal Gear games knows they are not close and have some issues to work through. Sam Fisher, on the other hand, has a daughter who he loves dearly. She was even thought to be dead for a while, throttling sam into a deep depression, which shows just how much she means to him.
9 Solid Snake: A Clone Of The Greatest Soldier To Ever Live
The Metal Gear series mixes numerous science fiction elements into its story, including human cloning. Solid Snake himself is a recreation of Big Boss, the greatest soldier to ever live. In this way, he was born with a natural advantage. He certainly does not rest on his birthright, either. His numerous missions and extensive training honed those raw skills within his DNA to the point of absolute perfection.
8 Sam Fisher: Was Not Built With An Expiration Date
Sam Fisher, being a normal human being, ages the way most people do, only he no doubt slows the process through extensive physical training and a healthy diet. Snake was built with an expiration date, which is the reason for his advanced aging in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Take Snake and Sam both in their mid-40s, and Fisher has an obvious upper hand.
7 Solid Snake: He Was Built For The Purpose Of Fighting
While violence is intrinsic to some humans, nobody is built with the sole purpose of being a killing machine. Solid Snake and his brothers are of a different breed, however, and were created to become soldiers by Cypher, the group which would eventually become the Patriots. While players never see Solid Snake as a child, Liquid Snake shows up in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, where he is already a skilled hand in the field.
6 Sam Fisher: He Has More Maneuvers In His Skill Set
Part of Metal Gear Solid's genius is the relative simplicity in its stealth mechanics. This shines particularly well in Metal Gear Solid 4 and afterwards, where most maneuvers are accomplished with the press of a button.
Sam Fisher, however, has more abilities in his skill set, such as the ability to suspend himself in a corridor using only his legs propped against the wall. With this in mind, he perhaps would have an easier time sneaking around Snake.
5 Solid Snake: He Has Destroyed Metal Gears
Sam Fisher has dealt with some nasty menaces, but he has never had to single-handedly destroy giant bipedal walking battle tanks. Seriously, even he would probably run to the hills if Metal Gear Rex showed up. After taking out these giant machines, a soldier like Sam Fisher would be simple canon fodder for Solid Snake. Sam Fisher inside a Metal Gear, on the other hand, would probably provide more of a challenge.
4 Sam Fisher: He Has The U.S. Government As Backup
In Splinter Cell, players are taking black ops missions on behalf of the United States government. Most of the time, the United States would have to deny any involvement were Sam to find himself caught by the enemy. However, in this case the fight would probably be sanctioned by all parties involved, meaning Sam could call on the help of the biggest military in the world if he was in a real bind. All Snake has is Otacon and his gadgets, which are no small thing, but still less of an advantage than a whole army.
3 Solid Snake: He Killed His Own Dad
Every soldier has to go through some tough trials in order to survive, but few of them ever have to kill their own father. Solid Snake essentially did this twice, though the first time around it turned out to be someone who looked like and believed himself to be Big Boss. At the end of Metal Gear Solid 4 he has to see him die again, though at least here they were on better terms. Sam Fisher has had to do some messed up stuff too, but never kill direct family.
2 Sam Fisher: He Would Do Anything To Accomplish The Mission
Sam Fisher has indeed done some terrible things for the sake of ensuring a successful mission. In Splinter Cell: Double Agent, he even potentially kills his best friend, Irving Lambert, to keep his cover intact.
After putting a bullet through a beloved colleague without so much as being able to say sorry, he would no doubt do anything within his power to put down Solid Snake if it were his mission.
1 Solid Snake: He Literally Crawled Through A Microwave
Like Sylvester Stallone says in Rocky Balboa, "It's not about how hard you can hit. It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep on going." Solid Snake literally walks through a microwave hallway in act five of Metal Gear Solid 4, and then engages in a hand to hand fight to the death with Liquid Ocelot shortly after. Sam Fisher has been through some scrapes, but has never taken that kind of damage and then continued on.