Death Battle Predictions: King Bradley vs Solidus Snake

 

(source of Solidus render, original artist unknown)

King Bradley, Fuhrer-President of Amestris and furious sin of Wrath.

Solidus Snake, 43rd President of the United States and leader of the Sons of Liberty.

In the decrepit wasteland that is modern civilization, it’s not terribly hard to believe that the leaders of our nations are mere puppets, dancing to the whims of the powers that be. From the depths of rotten, diseased countries come two men crafted for the sole purpose of leading the people like pawns to their positions on the board. They were made for this war. But what happens when you pit a man who defied his creators, desperate to leave behind his own legacy, against an inhuman, content with their glorious purpose? Brandishing bloodied blades, their sights are set on the future; and only one of them has humanity’s best interests in mind.

Kicking off the mid season break blogs, we have Homunculus VS Super Soldier, Fuhrer VS President, Amestris VS America. This is a battle that will decide the fate of nations, define the direction of society, and… was probably orchestrated by the Patriots all along. At the end of it all, will the Homunculus herald humanity’s wholesale homicide? Or will the Patriot-produced President prevail? Time to find out!

In case you were wondering…

As usual, we’ll primarily be analyzing the original canon material for both series involved here, the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and the mainline Metal Gear games. We’ll also be looking at the Brotherhood anime adaptation of FMA as well as several adjacent media for both series, like novels, movies, etc. Concerning non-canon sources, we’ll be including the 2003 anime adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist as supplementary material. In that version of the story, Bradley plays largely the same role as a Homunculus and as the Fuhrer of Amestris, and mostly has all of the same abilities and fighting style that he does in the manga and Brotherhood adaptation. However, there are some key differences contrary to the original story - namely the fact that he is the sin of Pride instead of Wrath, and that he possesses regeneration, while his canonical counterpart explicitly does not. 

It’s important to note that different people working on this blog have different stances on whether FMA 2003 should be used; its inclusion will only go as far as some feats, and will not change how we approach abilities and backgrounds - as noted, Bradley does not have regeneration in the original material, and so he will not have it for the purposes of this blog. We are primarily noting important information from 2003 as supporting evidence for manga information; rest assured that with or without ‘03, the verdict would remain the same regardless.

Unfortunately, if you’ve been dying to see Metal Gear Survive and Fullmetal Alchemist: Trading Card Game analyzed here, you’re out of luck. Now then, without further ado, it’s time to see which President got away with the votes in this battle!

Background

King Bradley

“Let me get this straight, you think surrendering, and offering yourself will stop the war? How arrogant. The life of each human is worth one, that's all. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The nameless man who would one day become known as Fuhrer of Amestris spent his early years training diligently in a secret military academy. Though all the subjects tried, only one would succeed (and survive) in becoming the host of a mysterious serum. This man would be given the name King Bradley, Fuhrer of Amestris and the embodiment of Father’s Wrath. Father, a Homunculus, had plans to obtain godhood by consuming the souls of an entire country, and thus founded the country to serve as that exact meal. 

As Father’s subordinate, Bradley carved a reputation out for himself on the battlefield, eventually becoming the Fuhrer-President of Amestris. In order to further Father’s goals, the Fuhrer ordered a military genocide on the Ishvalan people, who had rebelled against Amestris for indiscriminately killing an innocent Ishvalan child. Even when begged to stop by the Ishvalans’ religious leader, Bradley would only scoff at the notion. If there was a God, why had he not stopped Bradley from killing so many Ishvalans? Nothing mattered but the path he had been set upon by Father. The extermination would continue.

Eventually, the Promised Day of Father’s ascension arrived, and Bradley aided his master in securing the human sacrifices needed to reach God (it’s a long story). Even though he had to mow through a coup of his soldiers, foreign ninjas, and a fellow Homunculus to do so, Bradley’s old boomer body had enough gas in the tank for one final battle - and what better opponent than an Ishvalan, one he had personally ordered a manhunt against, no less? The Fuhrer and the man known only by his Scar faced off, and it seemed even this battle was Bradley’s to win. Scornfully, the Fuhrer of Amestris mocked the idea of a God that would forsake the Ishvalans, a “God” that could not possibly exist.

And yet, in what could only be described as a miracle - an act of God, perhaps - the Sun, eclipsed, let forth a shine so bright it reflected off Bradley’s own blade, blinding him in the heat of combat and leaving him vulnerable enough for Scar to land a decisive, fatal blow. In the end, though, it wasn’t the irony of his defeat or being unable to see Father’s plan succeed that hung in the fallen Fuhrer’s mind; it was satisfaction. He had lived out the life that had been planned for him, and had been able to experience it alongside humans. Whether it was the folly of worship, the stubborn will to rebel against oppression, or his own wife, the sole thing Bradley had ever chosen for himself in his life, humanity had proven to be more interesting than the Fuhrer had ever expected. Bradley may have been the embodiment of Wrath, but in his final moments, perhaps it was Pride he felt instead. 

Solidus Snake

“We’re all born with an expiration date. No one lasts forever. Life is nothing but a grace period for turning our genetic material into the next generation."

Les Enfants Terribles. This was the name designated for the United States government project to clone one of the greatest soldiers of their time: Big Boss, formerly known as Naked Snake. The Patriots, an underground organization bent on controlling the nation from behind the scenes, wanted the mark of such a legendary operative to be preserved, or even better, perfected. In 1972, an experiment was launched to create clones of him, and a total of eight embryos were created, with six being intentionally aborted to empower the final two: Solid Snake and Liquid Snake. These two, David and Eli respectively, were created specifically to express different genes, the dominant and recessive. But the third son, made later without such modifications, the perfected clone, would be the catalyst for absolute chaos. This was George Sears, better known as Solidus Snake.

Solidus was molded by the Patriots to become a fearsome soldier for his country, dispatched to the Liberian civil war in the 1980s as a teenager. Despite being sent to simply aid in the military effort, Solidus ended up finding something that would permanently alter the course of his life: a child. This young boy was the son of a couple Solidus had killed, and was adopted by the soldier, who gave him the name Jack. Solidus became the godfather of Jack, and taught him everything he knew about combat, particularly his skills with a sword. Jack was enlisted for the Small Boy Unit, a child soldier group led by Solidus in the Army of the Devil, where his outstanding kill record would earn him the nickname Jack the Ripper. From Solidus’s perspective though, Jack simply disappeared from his life after the war ended, leaving the relief center without a trace.

Decades passed, and the Patriots chose to entrust the presidency of the nation to Solidus, who had racked up an impressive list of accomplishments during his time with the CIA. As a result, in the early 2000s, George Sears officially became the 43rd President of the United States. Despite his various actions during his term, such as the creation of the Dead Cells unit, Solidus’ tenure would be most remembered for his involvement in the Shadow Moses incident of 2005. Unbeknownst to both the public and the Patriots at the time, Solidus had orchestrated this incident himself, aiming to hijack the walking tank Metal Gear Rex as a weapon against the Patriots. Solidus’s master plan ended up foiled by his older brother, Solid Snake, and the Patriots removed Solidus from office in the aftermath, disguising it to the public as a simple resignation.

Fearing for his life, Solidus went into hiding for years, and began building up his forces for the ultimate attack against the Patriots, the group which had controlled him all his life. Aptly dubbed the Sons of Liberty, Solidus’s group launched their biggest scheme yet in 2009, taking control of the Big Shell cleaning facility off the shore of New York and kidnapping the current president, all to seize the Patriots’ mobile fortress hidden in the plant, Arsenal Gear. Military operative Raiden was sent in to stop the invasion and recover the president, coming face-to-face with Solidus. Only upon capturing Raiden did Solidus realize the true identity of the young operative: his very own son, Jack.

As it turns out, unbeknownst to both Solidus and Raiden, the entire incident from step one had been orchestrated by the Patriots. The use of Solidus’s son, the similarities of the events to the Shadow Moses incident, it was all part of the Patriots’ S3 plan: the Selection for Societal Sanity. By manufacturing a complex recreation of the Shadow Moses incident, the Patriots could provide accurate data for the GW artificial intelligence aboard Arsenal Gear, allowing them to manipulate not only the information propagated about world events, but the lives of individual people. Raiden was nothing more than an unknowing pawn, engineered by the Patriots to become the new Solid Snake. Solidus’ ultimate goal was to use the GW AI to discover the identities of the Patriots and slay them one by one, freeing both himself and the world from their shadowy control. 

Arsenal Gear itself crashed into Manhattan during the chaos, and on top of the roof of the Federal Hall, Solidus confronted Raiden for a final time. He revealed his true desire: to leave a legacy, one untainted and uncontrolled by the Patriots. Raiden’s nanomachines contained the last available database on the Patriots’ identities, and so Solidus challenged him to one last duel, fighting for the fate of the nation itself. Solidus was struck down by his adopted son, his final words cut short, crawling out to the statue of George Washington as he died. Solidus Snake lived a life controlled by the Patriots, but in dying at the hands of his own child, a man just as much a victim as he was, a man who would go on to aid in the destruction of the Patriots, a man who would free the world… he might just have gotten his wish. He had created a legacy of his own.

Equipment

King Bradley

Swords

The Fuhrer’s weapon of choice is the blade. He comes strapped into battle with four swords at the ready, using two at a time. While he seems to prefer dual-wielding, he’s also proficient in single-bladed combat, and apparently, mouth-bladed as well. 

Bradley’s swords seem to most closely resemble the historical British Spadroon, but unlike the real thing, these swords are not useless and can inflict some serious damage. They’re tough and sharp enough to cut through people, artillery shells, tank tracks, Alchemy constructs, and Northern Automail without so much as a scratch. Not to mention, the blades make for effective projectiles that Bradley can launch with deadly force. They are still normal swords, though, and can be shattered with sufficient force… not that doing so would particularly slow Bradley down.

Knives

He may not be as proficient with dual-wielding knives as he is with swords, but Bradley’s still more than comfortable enough with them to body anyone in his way, including experienced ninjas. They work about how you’d expect, though Bradley has shown some remarkable skill in throwing knives from afar.

Hand Grenade

Bradley briefly carried around a single hand grenade in his storming of the Amestrian military. Specifically, this appears to be a Model 24 Stielhandgranate, which is a real weapon used by the Germans in World War 2. As you’d expect, it makes things go boom real good.

Eyepatch

Yes, really. Bradley’s eyepatch isn’t particularly special or unique, but it does have a functional use outside of just looking cool. Since Bradley’s left eye is important, he wears an eyepatch to protect it from, say, a flashbang grenade, and to keep his trump card close to his chest until the time is right to reveal it. Simply wearing his eyepatch has led Bradley’s opponents to assume certain strategies against him, such as staying on his covered-eye’s side in combat. Of course, they’re none the wiser to what Bradley has up his sleeves, and that’s all thanks to the eyepatch.

(No, seriously, that eye needs protecting more than you’d think)

Solidus Snake

Exoskeleton

Simultaneously protection, weapon, and transport, this state of the art combat exoskeleton is what makes Solidus such a deadly opponent. It was developed for the U.S. Army by DARPA, making use of artificial muscle tissue to increase its user’s motor skills and instantly reacting to defend from damage. This same artificial muscle technology is utilized in Metal Gear RAY and the suits worn by the Tengu Soldiers. Raiden’s skull suit, which uses similar technology, prevented Vamp from reading his movements, as the artificial muscles function differently from human ones. Solidus’ specialized suit has a deployable face shield, and several of the weapons below are built into its frame.

Accelerator

Solidus’s exoskeleton is equipped with a propulsion system that can launch Solidus into the air or send him sliding across the ground fast enough to blur, leaving a trail of fire behind him. This system gives him an impressive amount of mobility in combat, as well as an indirect offensive option through the lingering flame trails it leaves behind. The name “accelerator” comes from the game script included with The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2.

Snake Arms

Two mechanical tendrils mounted onto his combat exoskeleton. They can be used as battering or choking weapons or to climb walls, kind of like Doc Ock’s tentacles, but they’re also equipped with homing rocket launchers for some deadly long-range capability. The Snake Arms have some more niche uses as well: they can scan for nanomachines and inject people caught in their grip with Phenobarbital B, a hypnotic drug capable of knocking people out almost instantly (though it’s unclear in the game itself, the aforementioned script confirms he’s drugging Raiden in that scene, and it’s described as a kind of hypodermic in the novel). In the novelisation, it’s stated he can also fire “flaming blasts” from it, though it’s unclear if this is referring to the missile feature or if it’s a separate function. If Solidus needs a boost in speed, he can eject the Snake Arms from his body, leaving just the exoskeleton behind.

P90 Submachine Gun

A powerful submachine gun capable of dealing with Metal Gear RAYs, walking tanks designed to wipe the floor with all other preexisting Metal Gear models. The gun is repeatedly capable of taking RAYs down with just a number of shots to the head.

For reference, RAYs are equipped with ceramic-titanium alloy armor that’s resistant to almost all of Raiden’s weapons, even at the weakest point (the head), only able to be damaged by his Stinger missiles. Even then, it takes several direct missile hits to the weak point to take down a RAY.

Biparty Blades

Two high-frequency blades, one short and one long, kept in sheaths at his hip. In the novelisation, they’re described as a Wakizashi and a Katana. Like other HF blades in the Metal Gear series, they can weaken the molecular bonds of whatever they cut, by disrupting the atoms they come into contact with and electrically severing the bonds between them. They’re named Democrat and Republican, because you can always expect subtlety from Hideo Kojima.

Abilities

King Bradley

Combat Skill

As one of the candidates to become Fuhrer of Amestris, Bradley spent essentially his entire life training in swordplay, martial arts and military combat. As such, he’s one of the most skilled fighters in the entirety of Fullmetal Alchemist. His combat ability far outshines even soldiers who did nothing but train for battle for 60 years straight. Just looking at his own years of experience, Bradley became Fuhrer in his forties, which, when combined with what we know of him experiencing wars, would imply he spent at least 40 or so years in active military service.

Bradley’s combat ability has allowed him to fight off the combined might of Greed (Ling Yao version) and Fu at the same time. He has demonstrated superb adaptability to disadvantageous situations, able to disarm foes to gain a more favorable weapon or pin troublesome enemies down to buy himself time. He also wastes no time capitalizing on weapons he finds lying around.

With his preferred blades in hand, Bradley combines his speed and power to opt for an overwhelming combat style. He uses many rapid, piercing thrusts, mixing in powerful swipes to force his opponents to constantly remain on the defensive. When his swords aren’t available, Bradley resorts to CQC, particularly grapples and throws.

Intellect

As part of Bradley’s intense training to become Fuhrer, he studied academics, including political sciences and the humanities. Not only is he well-studied, Bradley has plenty of tactical knowledge when it comes to military strategy. He’s also a skilled manipulator, able to sway military generals and high-ranking officers into secretly doing his bidding for Father. Bradley was even able to read the subtle tactical plays made by Roy Mustang, and countered them by removing Roy’s subordinates from the Flame Alchemist’s direct command. 

Homunculus Physiology

After becoming the Homunculus Wrath, Bradley’s body became physically superior to that of any human. Indeed, Bradley’s domination in fights stems not just from his insane skill and efficiency, but his raw strength and unbelievable speed as well. 

However, Bradley’s body differs from that of his Homunculi brothers and sister in one key way; his body ages like a normal human being. While the superhuman strength, speed and endurance is certainly useful, Bradley himself has noted that these boons have waned with age, indicating that he is no longer in his prime.

Ultimate Eye

After becoming the host of Father’s Wrath, the Philosopher’s Stone granted Bradley the unique ability known as the Ultimate Eye. While it’s usually covered up by his eyepatch for cool reveal moments, Bradley’s left eye is capable of enhancing his perception beyond what is humanly possible.

Even with his eyepatch on, Bradley possesses keen observational skills and intuition, as shown when he was able to hone in on Roy Mustang amidst a crowd, and from a single glance, understand Roy’s ambitions to usurp him as Fuhrer. He also identified Riza Hawkeye (admittedly, not in the greatest disguise) within a brief moment as she was driving by, and was able to maneuver out of a falling train to safety by charting a path amidst the descending rubble (basically this).

Without the eyepatch, it’s hard to say exactly how much more Bradley benefits from the Ultimate Eye, but he’s relied on it for important battles to dominate the likes of Greed (both versions). It’s likely the Eye simply makes him ultra-aware and perceptive of his opponent’s movements, which, when paired with his unbelievable combat skill, makes him a frightening foe to face.

Solidus Snake

Combat Skill

Solidus’ name is a reference to the origin of the word soldier, so it’s only fitting that he’s seen combat. In particular, he participated in the brutal civil war in Liberia, where he would find a young boy named Jack, and teach the kid everything he knew, including his impressive knowledge of swordplay.  Solidus later matched his adopted son, now going by Raiden, in combat, even when the latter had the experience of over 300 VR missions and the training of the US military behind him. 

Solidus’ experience is reflected in how he fights. He utilizes heavy overhead slashes to break the guard of his opponent, and quick sharp thrusts to knock them back, ensuring he’s in an advantageous position. He doesn’t just use his swords alone though, as he also favors outright sweeping his opponent off balance with his tentacle arms, or roundhouse kicking them away, forcing them to dodge out of position if they don’t want to get hit. He even uses his accelerators to catch his opponent off guard with his speed and land balance-breaking hits. 

Enhanced Genetics

Solidus is a product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a top-secret process developed by the US government and the Patriots to clone the world’s greatest soldier, Big Boss. While the first two clones, Solid Snake and Liquid Snake, only received either the recessive or the dominant genes, Solidus was a perfect clone, receiving both sets of genes. As a result of the cloning process, Solidus boasts naturally superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, speed, and endurance. Even as a child, fellow clone Liquid Snake was capable of somewhat contending with the experienced soldier Venom Snake in physical combat, and Solid Snake was capable of enduring prolonged electrical torture without giving in, all with the help of their enhanced genes. Unfortunately for Solidus, the scientists behind the project implemented a failsafe to prevent the clones from posing a threat to the Patriots, resulting in permanent infertility and accelerated aging. This failsafe led to Solidus looking like he was in his 60s when he was really only 37.

Feats

King Bradley

Overall

• Defeated Roy Mustang, Lan Fan, and the Amestrian Military

• Killed Isaac McDougal, Roa, Dolcetto, Martel, Greed (many times), Fu, and Captain Buccaneer 

• Succeeded in maintaining a war of extermination against the Ishvalan people

• Partly responsible for forcing Roy Mustang to perform human transmutation, resulting in the final human sacrifice Father needed

• Came up with the title “Fullmetal Alchemist” in-universe

• Skilled enough to take on two experienced fighters at once and win

• Threw a knife with enough precision to throw off a gun aimed at him

• Sliced the fuses off of dynamite perfectly in order to safely diffuse them

• Survived many battlefields and conflicts over the years thanks to his Ultimate Eye

Power

• Severely injured and overpowered Scar in their fight

• Scar should be physically superior (or at least comparable) to his brother by the end of the series, who survived Kimblee’s Philosopher’s Stone blast (33.278 kilotons of TNT)

• Philosopher’s Stones are stated to be powerful enough to wipe towns “off the map” by Envy

• Could cut through Alchemy constructs

• According to Roy, Bradley seemed confident that he could defeat Edward, Alphonse and Roy himself all at once in a 1v3 fight with a single sword

• Roy could destroy giant ice walls created by Isaac McDougal (0.42 tons of TNT - 2.27 kilotons of TNT)

• Ed and Al could contend with Atlas, whose Alchemy could create giant ice structures 

• Ed could create a giant stone golem with Alchemy (9.17 kilotons of TNT)

• Pierced through Alphonse’s armor with his sword

• Alphonse was durable enough to (somewhat) withstand a blast from Father that destroyed part of a building (4.213 kilotons of TNT without accounting for surface area)

• Sliced through parts of a tank, as well as an artillery shell from that same tank

• Shattered Captain Buccaneer’s Northern Automail arm

• Kicked Greed through a brick wall

• Killed Roa the Chimera with ease

• Roa was able to fight Major Alex Louis Armstrong on even footing, who himself would later go on to fight and help defeat the Homunculus Sloth. 

• Sloth was so sturdy that tank shells literally just bounced off his body.

• Sloth could break through the ground of Fort Briggs (0.353 - 3.527 tons of TNT)

• In FMA 2003, dominated Roy Mustang in their fight

• ‘03 Roy scales to Edward, who created a massive wall surrounding an estate on a mountaintop (1.79 kilotons of TNT)

• Worth noting that in FMA 2003, Alchemy explicitly places a bodily strain on the Alchemist, indicating they physically scale to the energy of their Alchemy constructs to some degree

• ‘03 Roy should be comparable to Izumi Curtis, who triggered an earthquake, resulting in a fissure

Speed

• Speed-blitzed numerous soldiers before any of them could react (Mach 3.23 - 12.94)

• Sliced a polearm apart so quickly that a young Edward Elric didn’t even perceive him drawing his sword, and should still be comparable to or faster than Ed later on

• Ed could dodge and block electricity from Atlas, and fought Wolf Chimera who could do the same

• Ed reacted to Father’s weather-based attack, which could (very arguably) involve lightning

• Through his enhanced physiology, is likely faster than Hohenheim, who has admitted he’s not much of a fighter 

• Hohenheim reacted to and blocked a blast of electricity from Father

• In what looked like a single stroke, performed many sword strikes 

• Can parry and dodge gunfire with ease

• Was fast enough to escape an exploded, falling train mid-descent

• Sliced off Greed’s arm faster than he could react

• Dodged Roy’s Flame Alchemy

• In FMA 2003, appeared to move as fast as a blur

Durability

• Withstood the process of becoming Wrath, which involved having his body repeatedly deconstructed and reconstructed from the inside out

• Withstood his face and eye being slashed by an enraged Greed

• Withstood the impact of an Alchemy construct created by Scar

• Took physical blows from Scar

• Was stabbed through the torso by Captain Buccaneer’s sword and kept fighting

• Bradley’s body is superior to humans like Scar’s brother, who survived Kimblee’s Philosopher’s Stone-fuelled blast

• Scar’s brother died later, but as a result of transferring his arm to Scar after already having been severely wounded. He still survived the actual blast created by Kimblee.

• In FMA 2003, got blasted by Roy Mustang’s Flame Alchemy and mostly just had his clothes messed up

Solidus Snake

Overall

• Mastermind behind the Shadow Moses incident in 2005, and the Big Shell incident in 2009

• Participated in the Liberian Civil War, where he turned Jack from an orphan into a feared killer (also, was the one who made him an orphan in the first place)

• Battled evenly with Raiden

• Killed Olga Gurlukovich

• In the comic, dueled Solid Snake

• The digital graphic novel depiction of their battle is extended

• In the novelisation, kept fighting even after Raiden nearly severed his right arm

• Took down multiple Metal Gear RAYs

• Ultimately set Raiden down the path of defeating the GW AI for good

Power

• Dented a pipe just by landing on it

• His P90 submachine gun’s bullets pierced through the armor of a Metal Gear RAY

• Earlier walking tank models like Peace Walker boasted armor as strong as a bomb shelter, designed to withstand nuclear war

• Comparable to Big Boss, who held off the weight of the giant war machine Cocoon (0.828 tons of TNT)

• Likely comparable to an old Solid Snake, who knocked over a Gekko

• Four Gekkos could restrain Raiden in his cyborg body, who could hold back Outer Haven even while weakened (39.195 tons of TNT for each Gekko)

• Arsenal Gear, an inferior version of Outer Haven, crashed into and destroyed a sizable portion of the lower side of New York City, which could possibly apply to Outer Haven’s own crash (214.789 tons of TNT for each Gekko)

• Likely scales to Gray Fox, who could hold back the weight of Metal Gear REX

Speed

• Deflected bullets fired by a Metal Gear RAY

• The digital graphic novel version of this scene depicts him deflecting bullets for an extended period of time

• Can quickly dart away from Raiden with his thrusters

• Moved out of the path of rifle fire

• Ran past the bullets of a Metal Gear RAY

• Evaded the shot of a grenade launcher

• The comic version of this scene depicts him running from the explosion (animated clip)

• Comparable to Revolver Ocelot, who reacted to Volgin’s electricity (Mach 17.34)

• Kept up with MGS2 Raiden in combat, who: 

• Reacted to a shot from Fortune’s railgun (Mach 1.927 - 8.619)

• Can deflect bullets in-game

• Likely comparable to Gray Fox, who can react to bullet fire

Durability

• Defended from an up-close explosion

• In the novelisation, he withstood an explosive shockwave which knocked down Raiden

• Survived his aircraft crashing into the water

• Endured Raiden cutting his arm open

• His armor can deflect bullets with no visible damage

• Unharmed by a fall from Arsenal Gear

• Likely comparable to Big Boss, who survived multiple electric shocks from Volgin

• His armor can take repeated HF blade strikes from Raiden before taking major damage

Weaknesses

King Bradley

Unlike his fellow Homunculi, Bradley is uniquely disadvantaged in that he has no regenerative capabilities. His body is prone to age and deterioration like an ordinary person would be, so his physique isn’t necessarily always at its peak either. This basically means that for as much as an absolute beast Bradley is, he’s simply not immune to being worn down and damaged over time. Any fatal wounds landed on him may not immediately incapacitate him, but he will go down eventually.

Bradley’s Ultimate Eye also requires, y’know, sight. Any attack that inhibits his sight will also prevent him from putting the Ultimate Eye to use. Naturally, surprise attacks are also a problem for him, as demonstrated by Captain Buccaneer stabbing him through and from behind the body of Fu.

Additionally, Bradley’s equipment is all finite, of ordinary origin. Swords, knives, and grenades can all be destroyed or used up, and Bradley’s reserves on a good day go about as deep as two spare swords and that’s it. 

Solidus Snake

While the reactive armor in Solidus’ powered suit gives him an impressive amount of protection, the suit does have an “Achilles tendon,” that being the spine. The Art of Metal Gear Solid I-IV implies this is because of the “main system” of the suit being located there. If it’s heavily damaged, the suit could become totally non-functional.

Solidus also suffers from the unavoidable problem of age. As a result of the failsafe in his genes, he experiences super-accelerated aging, leading to the body of an old man when he was only in his 30s. As such, he’s physically not in his prime, and has been defeated by younger foes like Raiden.

Summary

King Bradley

“It’s an amazing feeling, embracing mortality… knowing that our fight won’t stop until one of us is dead. Rank. Class. Nationality. Race. Gender. Name. None of these things matter now. Nothing is holding us back. We fight only for ourselves. This is what it means to live. Yes… It’s been a long time coming.”

Advantages:

• Stronger and more durable

• More years of experience

• Ultimate Eye increases perception, and he is not actually missing one of his eyes, whereas Solidus is

• Could likely dodge or slice through most of Solidus’ projectiles

• Several specific tactics that he has shown, such as disarming an opponent and using their sword himself, would be beneficial against Solidus’ arsenal

• Has superior taste

• Has a sick mustache

Disadvantages:

• Slower, weirdly enough

• Inferior mobility

• Far more limited arsenal, with barely any sustainable ranged options

• Swords are inferior to Solidus’ HF blades and much more fragile

• Lacks armor

• Ultimate Eye may struggle against the Exoskeleton’s artificial muscles

Solidus Snake

“I want my memory, my existence to remain. Unlike an intron of history, I will be remembered as an exon. That will be my legacy, my mark on history. But the Patriots would deny us even that, I will triumph over the Patriots, and liberate us all. And we will become the Sons of Liberty!”

Advantages:

• Faster

• Much better arsenal, including plenty of ranged options and armor

• HF blades are superior to Bradley’s ordinary swords, and could likely break them

• Superior mobility with Accelerator and Snake Arms, though Bradley’s agility can somewhat keep up

• Exoskeleton’s artificial muscles could possibly counter Bradley’s enhanced perception

• Has a sick goatee

Disadvantages:

• Less durable and weaker

• HF blades take a long time to cut through sufficiently durable enemies

• Not as many years of experience

• Projectiles could simply be dodged and cut through

• Exoskeleton has a fairly obvious weak point to target

• Unlike Bradley, is actually missing an eye 

• His game is LITERALLY 1984

Verdicts

Team Bradley

Stats

We’ll go ahead and start off with speed, since there are many comparisons that can be made between FMA and Metal Gear here. For starters, both Bradley and Solidus can parry and deflect gunfire, and both men are known to utilize speed to overwhelm foes in their fights, making this particularly relevant to dissect.

Both FMA and Metal Gear have feats revolving around electricity, stemming from Father/Atlas and Volgin, respectively. Despite what Wizard Death Battle says, voltage, dampness, specific air conditions, currents, and many more factors play a critical role in how fast electricity can move in the air. The key difference between Father/Atlas and Volgin’s electricity is that the latter is explicitly shown moving in tandem with bullets, which offer a specific point of reference for speed that can be calculated. Unfortunately for FMA, none of their instances of electricity-based Alchemy are shown in-tandem with something comparable to a bullet. So, despite both series having seemingly comparable feats, only Metal Gear walks away with a quantifiable showing, which garners an impressive Mach 17 for Solidus Snake’s speed. 

As an aside, if you were to be generous to Metal Gear by considering Volgin’s electricity to be lightning speed, there’s no reason not to do the same for Atlas and Father’s electricity. This would benefit both characters, but Bradley moreso, as it would level the playing field.

Additionally, Solidus can compare to his adopted son Raiden, who can deflect bullets from four different angles at once. While certain calculations have gotten this feat as over Mach 80, this is reliant on assuming Raiden blocked each bullet individually, as opposed to deflecting multiple at the same time. The game’s own animations are unclear, so it’s difficult to assign a value that fast to Solidus.

So how fast is Bradley, then? Luckily, he has a good direct feat of his own involving the speed-blitzing of numerous soldiers. This one’s pretty straightforward; using a low-end, Bradley could be as slow as Mach 3, or as fast as Mach 12 with a high-end. Regardless, Solidus is holding down an advantage here, one that could have him anywhere from 1.4x - 5.6x faster than Bradley (give or take). But is that a dominating enough advantage to nail Solidus the win? Well, if it was, you wouldn’t be reading this verdict! 

While Solidus may be a bit faster than Bradley, that gap is nothing compared to the difference in their power and durability. To his credit, Solidus can scale to Old Solid Snake knocking around Gekkos, which could be capable of holding back up to 214.7 tons of TNT. Certainly impressive, but Bradley has it beat and then some. Alchemists have performed feats like destroying walls of ice (2.2 kilotons on the high-end), creating massive constructs like an encompassing wall around a manor (1.7 kilotons of TNT), or giant stone golems (9.17 kilotons of TNT). In addition, there are instances of Alchemists physically withstanding blasts created by Alchemy, like Al and Hohenheim taking 4.2 kilotons of TNT to the face from Father. FMA consistently has feats floating around the low kiloton range, which is already enough to overpower Solidus and then some. For comparison, a single kiloton of TNT is equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT, meaning that Bradley could be anywhere from 10.2x - 42.7x stronger than Solidus. But we’re not done quite yet.

Let’s talk about Scar, who just so happened to have been directly involved in one of FMA’s best showings of destructive power; Kimblee’s Philosopher Stone blast. Bradley’s Homunculus body is naturally superhuman and superior to both Scar and his brother, and we see this in action when (a very weakened and worn down) Bradley dominates Scar in their fight. Scar’s brother was able to shield Scar from the Kimblee blast, and seemed relatively (emphasis on “relatively”) fine afterward. And by the end of the manga, Scar should definitely be comparable to his brother, if not a lot tougher than him, given that he is more physically fit and has access to all of his brother’s alchemy/alkahestry. Long story short, Bradley is superior to guys that can withstand blasts worth 33.2 kilotons of TNT. Compared to Solidus, Bradley would be roughly 154.6x stronger. Even if Solidus could land some nasty blows with the Biparty Blades thanks to his speed, Bradley has been stabbed through the torso before and kept on fighting, barely slowing down at all. 

To summarize, while Solidus may be 1.4x - 5.6x faster than Bradley, this gap depends on which value you use for Bradley. On a high end, it’s a gap smaller than 2x, which is hardly impossible for someone like Bradley to work around; especially considering he holds the AP and durability advantage, being 154.6x more powerful than Solidus. Solidus will need to land many hits, whereas Bradley comparatively needs only one or two to do the job, and has the durability and endurance to power through any hits Solidus lands. 

Arsenal and Abilities

When it comes to their arsenal I don’t think there’s any doubt that Bradley is outmatched here. Solidus’ exoskeleton alone grants him superior ranged options and can allow him to control the fight, while Bradley’s ranged options consist of “chuck sword or grenade”. Though in fairness, given Bradley’s feats of being able to dodge bullets and slice tank shells, it's not likely he'd be too overwhelmed by Solidus' ranged attacks. And Bradley’s swords are deadly, sure, but they’re nothing compared to the high-frequency blades, weapons that are particularly useful here as a method of potentially getting around the aforementioned gap in strength.

The HF blades might not be as game-changing as they first seem though. While they are stated to function at a Planck scale, that same game also states that there are limits to what HF blades can cut. As Doktor himself says, material like thick ceramic and carbon nanotube armor doesn’t just split away under the stress of an HF blade, and must be chipped away at first before the blade can cut through them. This is seen in the game itself, Raiden doesn’t just cut clean through every enemy he comes across, and must wear them down over time. It’s stated Senator Armstrong is breaking all known laws of physics by snapping an HF blade with his bare hands, but don’t get too excited over that either. Looking at the wording closely, Doktor notes that it violates physics if it was done with Armstrong’s “bare hands”. Doktor uses this to support his assessment that Armstrong’s body isn’t entirely natural, and is being augmented. He’s simply saying that snapping an HF blade with just natural human hands is impossible, but could be done with augmentations, not that it’s impossible under any circumstance in general. Armstrong’s strength as-is violates physics, and there’s nothing stating he’s breaking the blade because he’s breaking physics. Similarly, Doktor later mentions that Armstrong is likely tanking the HF blade through his nanomachines adjusting their “binding force”, which indicates that resistance to HF blades is a matter of durability. Given Bradley is likely over 100x more durable than anything Solidus has cut, it would make sense that the HF blades could not cleave through him without a lengthy period of time. Hell, Solidus’ blades can’t even instantly cut through Raiden, an equal to him, and Bradley isn’t so much slower that Solidus can afford the time needed to cleave through and fatally injure him.

Ironically, even though Bradley’s weapons are mundane, they’re deadlier in his hands than Solidus with his Biparty Blades, simply by virtue of not (always) snapping when he swings them around with murderous intent. Easy to forget, but those swords can still pierce through things like Alphonse’s armor with no trouble at all. They’re mundane, but only in the context of Fullmetal Alchemist - after all, most actual normal swords probably aren’t going to be able to slice clean through a flying tank shell. And while it’s true that Bradley lacks versatility, he’s been known to commandeer other peoples’ weapons if it suits him better in combat, like he did to Fu. Solidus is extremely skilled in swordplay, but Bradley outshines fighters who have been training for combat nonstop for 60 whole years, not to mention Fu, who was also a very skilled swordsman in his own right. There’d be little Solidus could do to avoid being disarmed if Bradley got within grappling range with his vastly superior strength. In this bout, Solidus absolutely cannot afford losing his high-frequency blades, but he also can’t do very much to stop Bradley from disarming him, other than play the speed and distance game. A game that, as we’ve argued, wouldn’t amount to much, as Bradley can simply close the distance while cutting down any projectiles sent at him, and wouldn’t be Solidus’ go-to strategy anyway.

Similarly, Solidus’ Exoskeleton isn’t as huge an advantage as it seems at first glance. The suit has an obvious weak point to target, and someone as analytical and skilled as Bradley would be able to deduce its importance and target it in no time at all. The Snake Arms carry potentially incapacitating drugs, but they’d need to be able to constrict and immobilize Bradley first. That’s pretty hard to do when trying to hold down someone 154x stronger than anything you’ve ever gone up against. It’s more likely Bradley could just rip or slice those arms apart, just like the Exoskeleton itself. Ironically again, the Fuhrer of Amestris doesn’t really have any specific weakness comparable to the Exoskeleton’s spine. His Ultimate Eye being slashed out didn’t really slow him down in the slightest, after all. Sometimes simple is better, and Bradley proves that here in this comparison.

Both are obviously physically superior than the average human, but Bradley’s Homunculus physiology has allowed him to survive far greater punishment, such as getting stabbed or having his eye gouged out immediately after, and continue fighting on as if nothing happened. Not to say Solidus is a pushover, as he has had his eye shot out, his arm cut off in the novel, and could be compared to Snake and Big Boss who have endured prolonged torture, but when put up against what Bradley has been through like withstanding having his body "endlessly destroyed and regenerated" from the inside out during the process of becoming Wrath, it's clear George comes up short. 

Lastly, there’s Bradley's unique ability, his Ultimate Eye, which might seem useful here at first glance as a way of helping Bradley against Solidus' speed. However, it might not be as effective in this fight as one would think. Raiden's skull suit, which uses similar technology to Solidus' Exoskeleton, was able to prevent Vamp from reading his movements through the suit's artificial muscles. It’s hard to say exactly how the Ultimate Eye functions, since it’s never fully explained, but if Bradley did try to predict Solidus’ attacks through his body movements, then it's fair to say he’d struggle at best. However, that’s assuming Bradley operates that way in the first place; he more frequently overwhelms his opponents with raw skill, enhanced perception and speed, not by predicting their movements. And regardless, Bradley remains an incredibly dangerous opponent even with his Ultimate Eye slashed out, so while the Exoskeleton’s technology is interesting, it’s unlikely to be a game-changing factor here.

Overall, while Solidus' arsenal might give him a ton of advantages over Bradley, it's not as overwhelming as it may seem. As mentioned earlier, Bradley can handle Solidus' projectiles, and his survivability has allowed him to truck through countless fatal wounds back-to-back and keep going like it was nothing… while also mentioning how he's well past his prime. So even with Solidus’ superior arsenal, overwhelming and actually putting down Bradley is going to be a lot easier said than done.

Intellect and Experience

Solidus is an accomplished schemer, responsible for the Shadow Moses incident and for hatching a grand plan involving the kidnapping of the president. Bradley, on the other hand, is a skilled interpersonal manipulator and military tactician. Both Solidus and Bradley are capable of assessing individuals and gauging their strengths and weaknesses, as seen with the former’s leadership of Dead Cell and the latter’s instances of analyzing people like Ed and Roy. In a fight like this, neither combatant is going to be outsmarting the other, but their perceptive skills and analytical natures would still be of benefit to both of them.

With that said, Bradley edges out in years of experience. Despite only being 37 years old at the time of his death, Solidus still racked up an impressive military service record. As a teen, he participated in the Liberian Civil War, a conflict that lasted 8 years, and later became President of the United States in the early 2000s. Comparatively, Bradley became Fuhrer of Amestris in his forties, and we know he had distinguished himself on many battlefields before then. On top of this military record, we know Bradley trained constantly from childhood to young adulthood for (almost) nothing but combat. Clocking in at age 60 at his own death, Bradley would have served longer in the military and lived a fuller life than Solidus, accumulating much more experience. It also helps that the world of Fullmetal Alchemist is inherently more fantastical in nature, with a large variety of Alchemy applications, chimeras, Homunculi, etc. Not to discredit how insane Metal Gear is, of course; just that Bradley has both seen more in his life and probably seen crazier than Solidus.

While this category isn’t necessarily deciding this match, Bradley’s superior years of experience takes the point here. Not only is he older, with more years under his belt, we know he’s been in active military service longer than Solidus as well. 

Conclusion

So we come to the end of this Presidential-Punchout, and while it’s absolutely not a blowout by any means, the winner is still clear enough to call. Solidus’ superior arsenal of weapons, blistering speed and unique Exoskeleton give him a genuine chance to end the Fuhrer of Amestris, but more often than not, Bradley is answering Solidus’ options and hitting back tenfold. Speed varies a fair bit here, but even if you assume Solidus is 5.6x faster than Bradley, as opposed to 1.4x faster, it doesn’t spell immediate doom for the Fuhrer; Bradley is coming in 154x stronger than Solidus, with enough survivability and ridiculous endurance to weather through even the high-frequency blades. Swords that, if you recall, are known to struggle against foes much more durable than the user is strong. 

Solidus’ guns and missiles are great to have, but the Fuhrer is still fast enough to deflect gunfire and slice heavy artillery in mid-air. The Snake Arms are dangerous, but similarly prone to simply being sliced or ripped apart by Bradley’s raw strength. And really, that’s what this comes down to. Solidus might have more to throw at Bradley, but it’s nothing the Fuhrer can’t answer, even with his much more basic weaponry. Both combatants are incredibly skilled swordsmen, but Bradley has more varied experience, and has disarmed other skilled swordsmen to compensate for his lackluster arsenal, which Solidus isn’t exactly strong enough to prevent if Bradley gets within grappling range.

And so, the polls have closed, and the votes are tallied. Despite a convincing campaign effort, Solidus Snake’s best came up short. In this bout, King Bradley simply has the raw power, durability, tactics, endurance, experience and unbearable Pride (or was it Wrath?) to dispose of the Patriot’s perfect President.

Team Solidus

Stats

As previously mentioned, Solidus indeed holds a speed advantage in this bout. Ranging from 1.4x to 5.6x times faster depending on the value. While the stat gaps we are usually used to seeing in these battles are quite a bit more impressive than this, we must still not forget that being two to five times as fast as your opponent makes a significant difference, and should be more than enough to avoid a deadly blow and return the favor doubly. In any clash of blades, Solidus would end up with at least twice as much time to react as Bradley, and possibly more. Plus, Solidus has his accelerator, which gives him a massive boost in maneuverability over Bradley, and we know from his boss fight that he’s more than willing to utilize it in combat.

However it is also undeniable that Bradley's showing of strength and durability far exceed those of Solidus. Something like a 154.6x difference? That's no joke. By all means this should be a losing battle for him basing it just on the stats alone, but it might not be as clear-cut factoring in other aspects. 

Arsenal and Abilities

Personal arsenal is where Solidus can finally spread his wings (or Snake Arms rather) and absolutely dominate his adversary for a change. Long-range game, of which Bradley has effectively none, is the President's playing field completely. If Solidus ever feels overwhelmed, which he most likely will, he can always back up a bit and shower Bradely with a barrage of bullets and rockets. Sure, he can dodge or slice them away, he’s done so before, but with his inferior speed and inability to clap back even a stray shot might put a dent in his chances of winning. After all, he’s been shown to be hurt by bullets before, which certainly contributed to his downfall later in-part. And don’t judge that little P90 by its size, it can take out a Metal Gear RAY with one well-placed bullet. Given that the P90 is far more advanced and has better feats than the weapons used to damage Bradley, it seems likely they could indeed harm him, especially given the P90’s comparable muzzle velocity to the M14 rifles used in FMA. Its rate of fire is also superior to those particular rifles.

The situation at close range is no different really. There should be no doubt that the HF blades that the Sons of Liberty’s leader possesses leave the Fuhrer's swords in the dust. Quite literally too. As formidable as Bradley is with his blades, there's enough to say that they would break, something that’s happened in the series itself, which would eventually render Bradley armless (in a different meaning from his canonical demise).

More than that, Republican and Democrat are the key to killing Bradley for good, since Solidus can potentially wear the Homunculus down with the ability to weaken the molecular structure of his physically superior foe and finally seal the deal for himself. HF blades have really only completely failed against particular layered defenses like the reactive properties of the artificial muscles in Solidus’s bodysuit or Armstrong’s reactive, hyper dense nanomachines. It seems more like those kinds of defenses counter HF blades in a way rather than them just being too tough to cut, given the statements of how HF blades function, operating not just at a molecular scale, but the Planck scale. It’s likely that it’s more a matter of hardness and particular molecular structure, the nanomachines hardening someone like Armstrong’s skin to increase the rigidity of his molecules. Bradley’s tough, but he’s still human, with malleable and softer flesh and bones. Doktor even claims Armstrong was breaking the laws of physics by snapping Raiden’s HF blade like that, so it’s likely not something just any unaugmented person can do.

It seems probable that with a number of clean strikes, Solidus could take down Bradley - and again, his speed and mobility advantages will make that an achievable task. It would take an effort on his part, the difference in raw power is certainly notable, but then again, Wrath alone can't do much to stop it. Something similar already cost Bradley his life in canon, when Scar used Destruction Alchemy to sever his arms and destroy his swords.

We already discussed speed and range, but Solidus's advantages don't stop there. The Snake Arms grant Solidus two more limbs to attack, grab, outmaneuver and overwhelm his opponent. The accelerator, again, helps with this. And that's exactly how the heroes eventually managed to take Bradley out: by attacking him from so many directions he couldn't possibly see or defend from them all. In particular, the homing rockets the Snake Arms can launch can keep Bradley occupied with dodging or slicing them, while Solidus makes his way in for the kill.

Speaking of things Bradley would not be able to see, even with his borderline broken Ultimate Eye, he likely can’t predict Solidus' next move. His Exoskeleton prevents the all-seeing eye from reading his muscle movements, making it impossible for him to accurately calculate where his next attack would land, much like how Raiden’s suit (which employs the same tech) prevented Vamp from doing something similar. The Ultimate Eye also doesn’t exactly just magically point out weaknesses to Bradley without visual cues, so the idea that it could inform him of the suit’s spine-based weak point is mostly hypothetical.

And one more thing about the Snake Arms is their ability to drug Bradley with Phenobarbital B if he ever gets caught in their grips. Which should knock him out outright, considering it knocked unconscious the torture-enduring, nanomachines-enchanced Raiden. Remember that Bradley is still biologically human, with no regeneration, and he is still subject to the nasty things a mortal body is weak to like age and poison. Even giving Bradley due respect with his own insane endurance showings, it should still at the very least slow him down a peg, and he can't exactly afford a moment like that against an enemy as well-equipped as Solidus.

Intellect and Experience

Both characters are roughly similar in this field, and honestly there’s not much here that changes anything about the verdict. Solidus and Bradley are both tactical masterminds, but that doesn’t really apply to a straight fight. Bradley has more of a talent for military matters, and Solidus puts his intelligence more towards grand schemes. There’s a difference in skillset, but not one that really meaningfully affects the fight.

In regards to combat skill, it also ultimately doesn’t matter that much. They’re both skilled with swords, and Bradley has seen more direct combat than Solidus has. But really, any advantage here is marginal at best. The fight will likely always come to a swordfight, given Solidus’ stated preference for blades, and with the aforementioned HF blade advantage he should be able to cut up Bradley’s weapons. The Fuhrer will essentially be forced to fight hand to hand eventually, limiting the usefulness of his superior swordplay experience while exacerbating Solidus’s pre-existing advantages.

Conclusion

What we end up with is two characters rivaling each other in skill and intellect. One of them is tougher, but their opponent has speed and maneuverability to back him up, and the arsenal to put his adversary down.

Solidus would have to utilize his every advantage to snag out a win here, but fortunately for him, his battle plan for this fight is something he’s already well acquainted with. Outspeed and outmaneuver your opponent with superior speed and blazing rush attacks using the accelerator, keep him away if need be with a rain of Metal Gear killing bullets and rockets, confuse him by sweeping the legs, grabbing, throwing, hitting and poisoning with Snake Arms, then deliver the final blow with molecule-weakening high-frequency blades, leaving the Fuhrer of Amestris removed from office, permanently.

While HF Blades have been shown having trouble slicing through overly durable, hard opponent such as Armstrong, who Bradley may rival in the strength department, it’s inconsistent to say that Solidus’ blades would simply bounce off of him, considering that his portrayal in his home material clearly shows him being hurt by much lesser weaponry than just high-output alchemy, like knives and bullets, not to mention him being affected by (albeit more potent) durability negating forces before like Scar’s Destruction Alchemy. Even then, Solidus could always make things much easier for himself by simply drugging Bradley, utilizing his Snake Arms ability to inject truth serum. Not even the Homunculus of Wrath can defend himself if he is unconscious, or even just disoriented. There’s little doubt that with enough perseverance, Solidus would cut Bradley’s life short.

Final Tally

King Bradley (7): Clockboxxer, Rina Antiqua, T0m, Twicefold, Joshski, KF, Speedy

Solidus Snake (3): Mal, 76SUP, Purple_Bizzare

(art by zwollows)

Next Time…