Snake is a codename given to several characters in the Metal Gear franchise, including the original Snake, his body double, his cloned sons, and a Patriots operative, the third of whom being the products of Les Enfants Terribles, a top-secret government project to artificially create soldiers:
Big Boss / Naked Snake, real name John (sometimes referred to as Jack), an American Special Forces Operator and decorated war hero/mercenary Solid Snake, real name David, a cloned son of the original Snake and the first Snake introduced in the franchise, who is a former Green Beret and highly skilled special operations soldier/mercenary Liquid Snake, real name Eli, a cloned son of the original Snake, and the head of a rogue FOXHOUND unit Solidus Snake, a cloned son of the original Snake, who served as the President of the United States under the alias George Sears Raiden, real name Jack, an operative of The Patriots turned mercenary and former child soldier from Liberia, who briefly holds the codename Snake during the start of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Punished "Venom" Snake, the body double of Snake (Big Boss), retroactively considered the Big Boss featured in the 1987 Metal Gear in place of the primary Big Boss/Snake