Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin

Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin was a Soviet weapons scientist, the former director of the OKB-812 Granin Design Bureau, and the creator of the Metal Gear concept.

Granin was born sometime during the mid-1890s to early 1900s. An engineering genius, Granin created the basic design for the mobile ballistic missile system SS-1C, and made countless other contributions to the Soviet weapons program ever since the Eastern Front during World War II. His government recognized his patriotism, hard work, and dedication by twice awarding him with the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Medal, which he wore proudly on his suit jacket. At some point, he met American researcher Dr. Emmerich, which also had them appearing in a newspaper article.

Granin later developed the concept for a bipedal walking tank that he believed would provide the "missing link" between infantry and artillery. Though his theories had support from Emmerich, they both were widely criticized by the general scientific community. Harboring an intense rivalry with fellow scientist Nikolai Sokolov, Granin allied himself with the anti-Khrushchev faction in the GRU, solely due to the Soviet Premier's support of Sokolov.

In 1964, Granin's Metal Gear concept was passed over in favor of Sokolov's Shagohod as Colonel Volgin believed it to be a more worthwhile project; a decision that left Granin greatly embittered. He planned to send all of his research and blueprints to Dr. Emmerich in the United States, as he suspected that he would end up dead sooner or later, and predicted that his creation would one day be used. During this time, he also began heavily drinking to take his mind off his ideas being rejected. At some point, Granin accepted a pair of shoes as a gift from Volgin's lover Tatyana, which housed a hidden transmitter.

In September 1964, Granin was confronted by Naked Snake in Graniny Gorki. After telling Snake to put down the gun as it will "spoil" his drinking, he decided to assist in the CIA agent's mission to rescue Sokolov. He wished for Sokolov to be taken back to the United States, thereby eliminating his research rival and hopefully having the Shagohod destroyed in the process. He described his Metal Gear concept to Snake, showing blueprints for the bipedal walking tank, and told of the Philosophers' Legacy, which Volgin had illegally inherited from his own father, and was using to fund the Shagohod's development. In gratitude for complimenting him on his shoes, an intoxicated Granin gave Snake a key that would provide passage to Groznyj Grad. However, Granin may have given the key to and told of the location to Snake because he was drunk.

As Volgin suspected him of being the spy that was aiding Snake, or at best was being manipulated by said spy, Volgin had Granin moved to Groznyj Grad for interrogation. Feeling that Granin served no further use, Volgin had him placed inside a large metal drum, and derived great satisfaction in sadistically pounding away at it with several brutal electrically-charged punches, eventually killing the scientist before he could reveal anything. The beatings and shocks were severe enough for an ample amount of Granin's blood to leak out of the drum. Shortly afterwards, his corpse was sent flying out of the drum can by Volgin after the latter proceeded to punch the can into a stack of similar containers.

After Granin's savage botched torture, Volgin was able to find the transmitter planted in his shoe, confirming that there was indeed a spy, that was later revealed to be EVA. This transmitter ended up destroyed via a burst of electricity from Volgin.

Triple spy Ocelot stole and submitted some of Granin's Metal Gear designs to the DCI for the Philosophers' American branch to use as a possible future weapon.

In 1970, Big Boss initially suspected that Prividyenie was Granin due to having a detailed knowledge of Metal Gear. However, he quickly ruled out that possibility after recalling that Granin had been killed by Volgin six years earlier.

In 1974, Huey Emmerich used Granin's Metal Gear blueprints for the AI weapons, including Granin's copy of the Shagohod blueprints for the unmanned Pupaweapon.

While he never lived to see if his Metal Gear designs would come to fruition, Granin's prediction that Metal Gear would be of use in the future eventually came to pass as variations of the weapon system would be developed and used throughout the world; Metal Gear ZEKE in the 1970s, Metal Gear Sahelanthropus in the 1980s, TX-55 Metal Gear and Metal Gear D in the 1990s, and Metal Gear REX and Metal Gear RAY in the 2000s.