I’m not familiar with a lot of the people on the list, but between Solid Snake, and James Bond, Snake is SO much more of a badass it’s ridiculous that they would even be compared at all. They’re completely different kinds of characters. I don’t know if “Naked Snake” from Metal Gear Solid 3 is being included in this, though, but let’s say for the sake of argument that he is. (He was the protagonist of one of the games, probably the most intense one of all, and is virtually identical to Solid Snake in every way.)
Snake is a field soldier. His job is to directly infiltrate the enemy in his own territory, in environments that are entirely hostile (not the casinos, flashy cities and exotic locales that Bond operates in.) Everywhere that Snake goes, he is a target from every direction. Snake is expected to rough it one hundred percent of the time. There are no fancy hotel rooms for him, no luxury cars for him, no restaurants for him, no high-class women for him. Snake is all alone out there slogging through the mud and snow (literally catching colds and other illnesses which affect you in the game.) He has to contend with the elements, including wild animals and horrid weather, with no shelter but the clothes on his back. Snake has to hunt animals for his food, or scavenge for enemy rations. He has no medical facilities available to him; he has to stitch himself up in the field. If he gets shot, he has to pull the bullet out of his body with a knife and bandage the wound. If he gets his arm dislocated, he has to bite down on a stick and re-set the bone himself. If he is burned, infected, suffering from blood loss, etc, he has to find medicinal plants in the jungle that he can use, or steal medical supplies from the enemy if there even are any.
James Bond has his trusty superiors at MI6 who always guide him in the right direction, always supply him with the best stuff, and are always there for him in the end. Snake has to rely on faulty information from untrustworthy commanders (in one instance, the “commander” isn’t even a real man, but a computer simulation with the express purpose of misdirecting and confusing him.) His associates are constantly double-crossing and triple-crossing each other; it’s never clear whether the “patriots” are really in charge, or the “philosophers,” or whoever the hell Ocelot happens to be working for; Snake is a pawn being manipulated by a bunch of shady and conspiratorial elements.
James Bond is smarter. James Bond is smoother. He’s more articulate, more charming; he’s a suave secret agent. Snake is socially awkward, a loner, often inarticulate and confused; he stumbles over his words sometimes, is hesitant when talking to people, and sometimes fails to grasp the “big picture.” But you put Snake into the field and he WILL get shit done. No matter how tough the conditions are, he will keep fighting, and fighting, and fighting, and fighting. He is a true badass in every sense of the word. James Bond is a pansy-ass in comparison.
