A silent alarm flickers across a research facility in the middle of the night. Somewhere inside, a scientist is preparing to sell a stolen bioweapons drive. Two intruders have come to stop the deal. Neither knows the other is there.
Solid Snake has infiltrated fortified bases, outsmarted elite soldiers and faced weapons built to end wars. Agent 47 has made a career of walking into the world’s most secure places, becoming somebody else and leaving before anyone knows there was an assassin in the room.
One is a legendary soldier. The other is the world’s most dangerous professional killer. When their missions collide, who gets out?
Who do you think would win? Tell us in the comments before reading the fight!
The Rules
We’re using Solid Snake around the events of Metal Gear Solid and Agent 47 from Hitman: World of Assassination. Both are operating alone. Snake has a suppressed pistol, a combat knife, binoculars and a limited supply of stun grenades. 47 has his suppressed Silverballer, a fibre wire and a lockpick, and can acquire disguises and useful objects inside the facility. Neither has advance knowledge of the other or outside help once inside.
The scientist and the drive are the reason they cross paths, but the winner is the fighter who incapacitates the other or leaves them unable to continue. Both know how to avoid unnecessary casualties; guards are obstacles, not targets to rack up a score against. These scores and the battle are our interpretation, not a definitive calculation of fictional power.
Solid Snake vs Agent 47: The Stats
Each score is out of five. A high rating reflects how useful that skill is in this matchup, not an objective measurement of everything either character can do.
| Attribute | Solid Snake | Agent 47 |
|---|---|---|
| Stealth | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Close-quarters combat | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Marksmanship | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Intelligence and planning | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Improvisation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Disguise and deception | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Weapons and equipment | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Durability | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Battlefield experience | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Meet the Combatants
Solid Snake
Snake is a special-operations veteran who thrives behind enemy lines. He’s used to slipping past guards, making the most of limited supplies and continuing a mission after the plan has gone spectacularly wrong. His experience fighting dangerous opponents in hostile facilities gives him a strong case once the mission becomes a direct confrontation.
Strengths
- Experienced infiltrator and close-quarters fighter.
- Calm under pressure and quick to improvise.
- Stun grenades give him a way to create an opening without a lethal shot.
- Has endured prolonged missions against heavily armed enemies.
Weaknesses
- His sneaking suit makes him stand out in a populated facility.
- His limited equipment can be depleted or taken away.
- His instinct to protect the scientist may give 47 an opportunity to manipulate him.
Agent 47
47 is a meticulous assassin who turns crowded locations into hunting grounds. A uniform can take him past a checkpoint, a conversation can reveal a routine, and an ordinary object can become a distraction. He’s also a dangerous fighter and marksman when subtlety is no longer an option.
Strengths
- Exceptional at disguise, observation and exploiting routines.
- Precise with firearms and lethal at close range.
- Uses the environment creatively and adapts when opportunities change.
- Can approach from places an opponent might consider secure.
Weaknesses
- A disguise loses much of its value once Snake knows what to look for.
- His usual advantage of planning around a known target is missing here.
- In a prolonged open fight, Snake’s military experience and stun grenades may become decisive.
3… 2… 1… FIGHT!
Rain hammered the roof of the Helix research facility. Beyond its fences, the sea was black. Inside, a dozen security guards watched screens, checked doors and waited for the night shift to end.
Snake came in through a drainage channel beneath the perimeter. He lay still in ankle-deep water as a patrol passed overhead, then climbed into a maintenance shaft and pulled the grate shut behind him. His objective was Dr Elias Voss, a bioweapons researcher preparing to sell a drive full of stolen data. Get Voss and the drive out. Quietly, if possible.
At the front entrance, a security officer checked a visitor’s credentials. The visitor wore a grey contractor’s uniform and carried a maintenance case. His head was shaved; his expression gave nothing away. The guard waved him through.
Agent 47 had acquired the uniform, the credentials and the case from a real contractor who would wake up in a locked supply room with a headache. The contract was simple: retrieve the drive before Voss could sell it. The scientist was secondary.
On the second floor, Snake found a guard slumped behind a trolley. He checked for a pulse. Steady. The man’s radio was still clipped to his vest, but his access card was missing.
Snake frowned. Security hadn’t mentioned a second team.
Across the building, 47 paused at a terminal. A corridor camera had stopped transmitting for eleven seconds, then resumed. Its last clean frame showed a shadow moving low across the floor. Too deliberate for a fault. Too careful for a guard.
He closed the maintenance panel and changed direction.
A Ghost in the Machine
Snake reached the laboratory level to find the door already open. Inside, a technician crouched beside an electrical cabinet, his back to the entrance.
“Maintenance,” the man said without looking up.
Snake stayed by the door. The technician’s badge hung from his belt, turned backwards. A small detail, but the guard downstairs had lost his card. Snake kept one hand near his pistol.
“Then why’s the power still on?”
The technician rose. 47 turned just enough for Snake to see the suppressed pistol in his hand.
Snake threw himself sideways. The first shot struck the doorframe. He answered with a shot of his own, forcing 47 behind the cabinet. An alarm began to pulse as the door sealed between them and the corridor.
By the time Snake worked around the cabinet, the technician was gone. A ceiling panel rocked gently above an open vent.
“Great,” Snake muttered. “Another one.”
He followed the ventilation shaft until it split. One branch led towards Voss’s laboratory; the other ran above a security office. Snake stopped. A loose screw sat on the duct floor, placed where a crawling man would find it. He looked up. A thin length of wire stretched across the next junction, attached to a maintenance light.
47 hadn’t expected the wire to kill him. If Snake had blundered into it, the falling light would have told 47 which route he’d taken.
Snake carefully unhooked it. Then he rolled the screw down the other branch and went towards the laboratory.
The Wrong Man
Voss was waiting in a glass-walled lab, clutching a small black drive. A security guard stood beside him, pistol drawn. Snake stepped into view with his hands open.
“Doctor. I’m here to get you out.”
“Stay back,” Voss snapped. The guard shifted between them. His uniform was immaculate. His badge faced outwards this time.
Snake stopped. Behind the guard, a monitor displayed the live feed from the security office: an unconscious officer, stripped of his jacket. The man in front of Voss followed Snake’s glance.
47 moved first. He shoved Voss behind a workbench and fired at Snake’s cover. Glass burst across the floor. Snake ducked behind a steel cabinet, pulled the pin from a stun grenade and sent it skidding underneath the bench.
47 saw it coming. He kicked the grenade towards the far wall and turned away, but the flash still filled the room. Voss dropped the drive. Snake rushed for it, only for 47 to sweep his legs. The two hit the floor hard.
47 reached for his fibre wire. Snake caught his wrist before it could reach his neck, drove an elbow into his shoulder and broke free. Neither had room to bring a pistol to bear. They fought between overturned stools and broken glass, each looking for an opening that lasted less than a second.
47 drove Snake against the cabinet, then released him and snatched the drive. Instead of fleeing through the door, he threw it across the room. It bounced towards an open floor drain.
Snake lunged after it. 47 was already moving behind him.
But Snake hadn’t forgotten him. He caught the drive with one hand and rolled rather than standing. The suppressed shot passed over his shoulder and struck the floor. From his back, Snake hurled his last stun grenade at the overhead lights.
47 turned away from the flash. The darkness that followed gave Snake the moment he needed. He closed the distance, caught 47’s weapon arm and forced him against the lab wall. The pistol clattered away. 47 tried to reach for the wire again, but Snake trapped his arm and pulled him into a chokehold.
For several seconds 47 fought the grip, driving his heel into Snake’s shin and reaching for the edge of the bench. Snake held on. Eventually, the assassin’s hand slipped from the worktop and fell still.
Snake eased him to the floor and checked his breathing. Alive.
Voss emerged from behind the bench, staring at the wrecked lab. Snake held up the drive.
“You’re coming with me.”
“What about him?” Voss asked.
Snake looked at the unconscious assassin, then at the security lights flashing in the corridor. “Your guards can have him. If they can keep him.”
By the time the first security team reached the laboratory, Snake and the scientist were gone. The guards found a discarded uniform, a broken pair of restraints and an open maintenance hatch. Agent 47 had disappeared too.
Winner: Solid Snake
Snake takes this particular encounter because he identifies the disguise, survives the first ambush and forces the fight into close quarters. His final stun grenade creates an opening, but he still has to hold it against an opponent capable of turning a single mistake into a win.
Why Snake Wins
- Recognising the threat: The unconscious guard and missing credentials tell Snake that someone else is operating inside the facility.
- Close-quarters experience: Once the two are fighting in a confined room, Snake can use his training to neutralise 47’s pistol and wire.
- Equipment at the right moment: The last stun grenade disrupts 47 long enough for Snake to close the distance.
That doesn’t mean Snake wins every time. Give 47 a detailed briefing, a prepared disguise and more time to arrange an ambush, and Snake might never get close enough to fight. In this scenario, 47 nearly wins by using the drive as bait. Snake survives because he expects the trick and turns the resulting scramble to his advantage.
Have Your Say!
Did Snake earn the victory, or would Agent 47 have found a cleaner way to finish the job? Let us know who you think would win and how the fight would play out in the comments!
