Venom Snake (ヴェノム・スネーク Venomu Sunēku), also known as Punished Snake (パニッシュド・スネーク Panishudo Sunēku), is the protagonist in the 2015 video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. He is the leader of the mercenary unit Diamond Dogs, who returns to the battlefield after waking up from a nine-year coma following the end of the stand-alone prologue Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in an incident that also resulted in the loss of his left arm and a piece of shrapnel embedded into the right side of his forehead. Initially introduced as recurring Metal Gear prequel protagonist and series antagonist Big Boss, hints of Venom's true identity gradually emerge throughout the course of the story until it is ultimately revealed that he is not the original Big Boss, but a former combat medic who underw