Meryl

* Current
* First Appearance

**Meryl Silverburgh** is a mercenary taking missions from Colonel Campbell. She made her first appearance in gm\_Ashpit. She frequently follows Solid Snake, whom she has a complicated history with, and his Weekday Clones around in her spare time. She is played by Somberstarr and has godawful acting (I'm so sorry Meryl).

## Biography

### Early Life

Born in the 1960s, Meryl was born into a life of loneliness. Abandoned by her birth parents at a young age, Meryl was forced to live her early days of her childhood on the streets, gathering scraps for food and selling newspapers to get by. Eventually, she was taken in by the Rats and lived amongst them as one of their own. After years of living with the Rats, her uncle, Colonel Campbell, was able to locate her and invite her to live with him, which she accepted wistfully. This would be the last time she saw her Rat brethren again.

Raised in a house of military traditions, Meryl trained herself throughout her childhood in the arts of soldiery. She admired the FOXHOUND unit, wanting to join the agency since she was young. She was trained by the Colonel himself and became a sufficient soldier in FOXHOUND's Rat Patrol Unit 01, having her first encounter with Solid Snake there. The two were new recruits at the time and did not interact often, but knew of each other's existence due to the high status their guardians had within the unit.

### Cleanup Operations (1985-1988)

Rat Patrol's main task during the Cleanup Operations was to assist in the evacuation and search and rescue of the numerous cities destroyed by the conflict. Due to her young age, she was only allowed to assist in the Operations near the tail-end of their duration. They would work stealthily to search for civilians beneath the crumbling rubble, using their specialized skillset to weave through the wreckage and extract people. Because they specialized in rescue missions, they were very apparent to the destruction and cruelty of the conflicts, which affected Meryl by turning her into a hardened soldier. Although her skills would not be comparable to that of Solid Snake's or the cybernetic soldiers on the frontlines, she was proven to be an effective fighter.

During her time spent in FOXHOUND, she was unaware of the massacre of her former family, The Rats, which occurred during the Operations. The Rats, by the end of the Cleanup Operations, were determined to be extinct, thus ending the reign of the giant rodents.

She continued to work for FOXHOUND after the Cleanup Operation's conclusion; However, Rat Patrol Unit 01 was split up, and the members each went their separate ways within the unit.

### Shadow Moses Incident (1992)

In the late winter of 1992, Meryl was sent to a nuclear research facility on Shadow Moses Island to cover for five soldiers who had been reported missing a few days prior. Along with this, she was set to oversee a new recruit that was present on the island with her. Shortly after her arrival, the Genome Soldiers stationed there started a revolt as part of Liquid Snake's plan to fulfill Venom Snake's wish. After being captured and placed in a cell, she was able to escape by stealing a genome soldier's uniform (which turned out to be old Rat Patrol member Johnny Sasaki) and codec to disguise herself. During this moment, she had her first notable encounter with Solid Snake, aiding him in gunning down a few soldiers who thwarted their escape.

After being shot and wounded by Silver Husky, Meryl tells Snake to leave her behind, which he does. She didn't know how to feel about that, but before she could see him again, she is dragged away by some grunts and placed in a cell to await torture. She is brutally tortured, but remained strong and persevered through it cause she's a girlboss like that. But even with that girlboss power, she was knocked unconscious, only awakening after Snake's epic fistfight with Liquid.

### Post-Shadow Moses (1992-1996)

After the incident, Snake and Meryl ended up starting a relationship with each other. The two would go on numerous dates for a few years and generally had a good bond with one another.

### Ashpit (1996)

While stuck in Gm\_Ashpit, she reunited with Solid Snake, much to his initial displeasure. Snake was accompanied by Raiden and Silly Snake, his vacation buddies. Meryl was a bit upset to find that she was left in the dark regarding her partner's return but was more focused on navigating the strange and eerie landscape of Ashpit. The four devised a plan to escape from the place, being lured by a mysterious voice to use a radio tower as a beacon of escape. Before they were able to make it there, night fell. In the distance, the cries of demons were heard, causing a blanket of panic to fall upon the quartet. Raiden proposed that they continue their search of the tower, but Meryl, unsure if it was safe or not to go, hesitated. Eventually, the group decided it best to go forward with the plan but were separated from Snake when a demon came too near. Snake, saying that he would fair alright on his own, urged the others to escape while he distracted the demon. Meryl trusted Snake, assuming he would quickly find his way out of the realm, and promised she would find a way to return for him if he didn't.

After about an hour of wandering through the barren wasteland, the three came upon the eerie sight of an abandoned radio tower. This was what they had been searching for. The three climbed the rickety ladder to the summit, where they found nothing. Initially, Meryl was distraught; she wondered if Snake had sacrificed for nothing. Not a moment later, a bright light illuminated the surroundings as a door of light leading to the outside world materialized before the trio. After walking through, she was temporarily blinded before realizing she was back in her hometown, separated from the other two. At first, she wondered if everything that had just happened was some sort of delusion, but upon seeing herself covered in the ash that littered the realm, she knew it had to have been real.

### Shaggy's Message and Atlantis Plan (1996)

After Shaggy's warning, Meryl was offered by Snake to travel with him in search of Atlantis. Meryl, believing that Atlantis isn't real, tells Snake that the idea seems like a waste of time and a lost cause. However, she eventually was convinced to join him when the suggestion of finding Atlantis caused the future to change from no hope of rebellion to a fighting chance.

### Yellow Submarine (1996)

After being given only a few days to prepare, Meryl, along with Raiden, Snake, and Otacon, were set to go beneath the waves in their search to find the sunken city of Atlantis. Initially meeting up at Snake and Otacon's apartment, she was later driven to the pier by Raiden, to who she gave a lecture about road safety after he blitzed through traffic to make it to the location in time. From the first day, it was clear putting the four in one living space would be a challenge. Meryl's rivalry and distaste for Otacon were made apparent when a fight broke out between the two in the first hours of their being together. The two remained in a bitter stalemate for many weeks. It was there that it was revealed that Meryl had a certain affinity for chocolate whiskey.

After a fight between Raiden and Snake had broken out, Meryl went to reassure the cyborg.

## Personality and Traits

Meryl is feisty and typically straightforward in her approach to things. Her most defining feature is her ruthless honesty, which has led others to perceive her as sarcastic or inconsiderate, when in fact, she merely holds honesty to be a noble trait that should be expressed at all times. She is not afraid to voice her discomfort or comment on matters. Although she values honesty, she is shown to be a bit of a hypocrite, having shown mild offense when people are honest about their opinions of her and having been shown to not practice what she preaches. She frequently teases her comrades showing that she has a playful nature under her exterior and enjoys the company of her friends. At certain times she is perceived to be naïve or even unqualified by her superiors (most notably Solid Snake), which oftentimes irks her.

Her time as a search and rescue operative during the Cleanup Operations made her skilled in evasion and slinking through tight spaces. Her time spent with the rats enhanced these abilities as well, allowing her to effortlessly find areas of escape and locate where certain things may be hiding. Her scouting capabilities were to not be contested. Her training with Campbell had allowed her to be skilled in several firearms, however, she is most fluent with her skills wielding a Desert Eagle. She can resist the intense recoil of the weapon and has great arm strength, as she can dual-wield the guns with little difficulty. She has even said that she is more comfortable holding a gun than wearing a bra. Although she does not mind fighting and taking down those that hurt her or people she is close to, she has her gripes on killing and chooses not to do so when possible.

## Trivia

* Her increase in polygons compared to her first appearance is commented on by Solid Snake, further implying that the characters are in some way aware that they are 3D models.
* Her favorite snake is Whisky Chocolate. She seems to be somewhat addicted to them, as she claims to eat "only three boxes a day"
* Her favorite bands are Crush and CAKE.
	+ The names both start with C and are about food/beverages