Due to the fact that Venom Snake from Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain spends a lot of time on the battlefield, he cannot afford the luxury of watching his appearance. Most of his body is covered with scars and injuries from his previous battles, and he hides most of his physique under his combat gear. Because of this, Snake’s distinctive features are visible on his face.
Like the rest of his body, Venom Snake’s face is also covered with scars and injuries. His left eye is completely blind, so he has to cover it with his trademark blindfold. His facial hair has grown out, leaving a dirty beard that connects with his equally unkempt hair, which he ties into a short ponytail. But what distinguishes the Venom Snake from Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain from other snakes is the black “horn” that protrudes from the upper right side of its skull.
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It’s not a horn
Those who have not played Metal Gear Solid 5; Ground Zeroes may not know that Snake’s “horn” is not actually a horn. This is a fragment stuck to Snake’s skull after the bomb failed to kill him at the end of the long prologue of Metal Gear Solid 5. The bomb was planted in Pace Ortega Andrade, a former friend of Snake, whom he rescued from Guantanamo Bay. Thanks to Paz’s quick wit, she was able to distance herself from the helicopter in which Snake and several of his allies were. However, Paz couldn’t get far enough away, and the bomb shook the nearest helicopter, which crashed into Snake’s helicopter. As a result of the accident, Snake underwent extensive surgery, and although most of his injuries were patched up, the most life-threatening were the loss of his left arm and incurable fragments near his heart and skull.
What is the horn for?
From the point of view of aesthetics and plot, the protruding fragment in Snake’s head serves as nothing more than a reminder of the failed attempt on his life. Players cannot remove the horn on the default Snake model and cannot use it as a tool in their missions. The “horn” is needed just to look cool.
However, the “horn” has a hidden gaming aspect. Demonic glasses are hidden mechanics in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, used to determine Snake’s morale level. Demon points, completely separated from the heroism characteristic in the game, can be increased by committing immoral actions. Killing animals and soldiers, critically injuring allies and developing nuclear weapons are a few immoral actions for which players receive varying amounts of Demon Points. Similarly, players can also reduce the total number of demon points by performing moral acts such as rescuing prisoners, retrieving rare animals, and neutralizing other players’ nuclear weapons (all of which reduces the number of players’ demon points by different amounts).
Reaching certain thresholds in the demon’s points system causes Snake to change his appearance. Its default appearance makes the “horn” look like the shard it actually is. His second form shows that the “horn” is becoming more and more like a horn, and it can be obtained by accumulating a total of 20,000 demon points. Finally, after scoring a total of 50,000 Demon Points or higher, Snake transforms into a “Demonic Snake”— an appearance that makes his horn even bigger and sharper. On top of that, Snake’s entire body is constantly covered in blood, and it cannot be washed off in a portable shower at the Mother Base.
A Bad Look Can make Players Feel Good
Despite the fact that players cannot completely remove the shard from the face of Venom Snake, they can slightly change its appearance by accumulating Demon Points. However, they must be extremely committed to being bad or good, as Demon Points are usually acquired in increments of 10 to 100. This does not take into account the development or neutralization of nuclear bombs, which can bring players thousands of positive or negative demon points, respectively. However, the amount of resources needed to develop a nuclear bomb and the effort required to disable a player’s nuclear bomb are high and time consuming. Snake’s Venom horn may be a permanent decoration of his face, but that doesn’t mean that players can’t customize it to suit their tastes and style of play.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is already available for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It can also be played on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S due to backward compatibility.
