Characters make mention of the "almost overwhelming charisma" that The Boss held about her. She was an incredible leader, so much so that a majority of the franchise's plot revolves around her various followers interpreting her will differently.
As her disciple, Big Boss inherited that overwhelming charisma, and that's a trait I find really interesting about the character, because it's not something you'd expect from character archetype Big Boss follows. You would expect these typical badass antiheroes to be men of few words, but it turns out Big Boss is anything but. He's so goofy and has a genuine sense of humor to him, making him likable, but then when he gets serious, he just leaves his men in awe of his wisdom and spirit. Big Boss might have obsessively followed The Boss and succumbed to her charisma, but for people who never met The Boss or who didn't know her well, like Ocelot, Kaz, and even Solid Snake, Big Boss was the one who filled that role for them. For as much as Big Boss admires The Boss, he was an equally amazing leader, and I don't think he ever even realized it. It takes a special kind of man to raise a private army of men all willing to die for the cause.
And although this trait of leadership is more prominent with Big Boss, I really like how Solid Snake inherited the same trait, but in a way so subtle it's easy to not even notice. Unlike Big Boss, Snake is a loner, he doesn't have as big a mouth as Big Boss did, and he's not nearly as friendly and only opens up to people after getting used to them. Initially he comes off as fairly cliche and even vapid, with his flirtations of Naomi and Mei Ling. But when you get to know the guy, and he opens up, it turns out he is just as compelling as Big Boss is. But instead of using his charisma to raise an entire army like Big Boss did, Snake specializes in more personal, one-on-one relationships, particularly with Otacon, Meryl, and Raiden. They revere and follow Snake just as Big Boss's followers did him, but it comes across as a much more genuine love rather than the creepy obsession/worship a lot of people had for Big Boss. Solid Snake and Raiden, just as an example, are friends. Raiden follows Snake, but it is of his own choice, Snake doesn't act like Raiden's leader, he outright tells Raiden to find his own thing to believe in. Big Boss will push his own beliefs on people and make them join him, whereas Snake, much more selflessly (although ironically coming off as more cold in the process) tells Raiden to find what he wants to believe in on his own. This leads to Raiden making the choice to follow Snake on his own, and coming to believe in Snake's ideologies naturally, making their relationship more genuine and bonding, whereas since Big Boss influences people to his ideologies without giving them a choice (he kidnaps enemy soldiers and holds them hostage until they agree to join him) that results in the creepy dependence everybody has on him. Big Boss took in war orphans and conditioned them to his ideologies. Snake took care of Sunny, but never forced any beliefs on her, he probably encouraged her to find her own ideologies just as he did Raiden.
This is a very subtle dichotomy between the two characters, and I find it absolutely fascinating. Both possess overwhelming charisma to get people to join them, but they use their charisma differently. Since Snake is a loner, he focuses on a select few individual relationships and making them more personal, while Big Boss has to lead hundreds or thousands of individuals at once and can't possibly connect with each of them individually.
As her disciple, Big Boss inherited that overwhelming charisma, and that's a trait I find really interesting about the character, because it's not something you'd expect from character archetype Big Boss follows. You would expect these typical badass antiheroes to be men of few words, but it turns out Big Boss is anything but. He's so goofy and has a genuine sense of humor to him, making him likable, but then when he gets serious, he just leaves his men in awe of his wisdom and spirit. Big Boss might have obsessively followed The Boss and succumbed to her charisma, but for people who never met The Boss or who didn't know her well, like Ocelot, Kaz, and even Solid Snake, Big Boss was the one who filled that role for them. For as much as Big Boss admires The Boss, he was an equally amazing leader, and I don't think he ever even realized it. It takes a special kind of man to raise a private army of men all willing to die for the cause.
And although this trait of leadership is more prominent with Big Boss, I really like how Solid Snake inherited the same trait, but in a way so subtle it's easy to not even notice. Unlike Big Boss, Snake is a loner, he doesn't have as big a mouth as Big Boss did, and he's not nearly as friendly and only opens up to people after getting used to them. Initially he comes off as fairly cliche and even vapid, with his flirtations of Naomi and Mei Ling. But when you get to know the guy, and he opens up, it turns out he is just as compelling as Big Boss is. But instead of using his charisma to raise an entire army like Big Boss did, Snake specializes in more personal, one-on-one relationships, particularly with Otacon, Meryl, and Raiden. They revere and follow Snake just as Big Boss's followers did him, but it comes across as a much more genuine love rather than the creepy obsession/worship a lot of people had for Big Boss. Solid Snake and Raiden, just as an example, are friends. Raiden follows Snake, but it is of his own choice, Snake doesn't act like Raiden's leader, he outright tells Raiden to find his own thing to believe in. Big Boss will push his own beliefs on people and make them join him, whereas Snake, much more selflessly (although ironically coming off as more cold in the process) tells Raiden to find what he wants to believe in on his own. This leads to Raiden making the choice to follow Snake on his own, and coming to believe in Snake's ideologies naturally, making their relationship more genuine and bonding, whereas since Big Boss influences people to his ideologies without giving them a choice (he kidnaps enemy soldiers and holds them hostage until they agree to join him) that results in the creepy dependence everybody has on him. Big Boss took in war orphans and conditioned them to his ideologies. Snake took care of Sunny, but never forced any beliefs on her, he probably encouraged her to find her own ideologies just as he did Raiden.
This is a very subtle dichotomy between the two characters, and I find it absolutely fascinating. Both possess overwhelming charisma to get people to join them, but they use their charisma differently. Since Snake is a loner, he focuses on a select few individual relationships and making them more personal, while Big Boss has to lead hundreds or thousands of individuals at once and can't possibly connect with each of them individually.