The Joy | Before Metal Gear Solid 3

In 1941, during World War II, The Boss was invited to the SAS as a special adviser, which resulted in the creation of Layforce and the original L Detachment. There she met David Oh, with whom she later formed the 22nd SAS Regiment. She also planned the dummy raids on Heliopolis and the bombings of German air bases during the North African Campaign.[4] In addition to this she participated in many "snatch" missions, in which she had to capture important officers without killing them; the incidents later served as the basis for her development of CQC.[5] According to Major Zero, the SAS motto, "Who Dares, Wins," was a tribute to The Boss.

On December 30, 1941, she and Zero lost a close friend who had served under her in Layforce (likely during Operation Crusader in Egypt). Zero delivered his SAS winged dagger pin to her after his death and she continued to keep it with her right up until her death.

In 1942, The Boss (then known as The Joy) founded the Cobra Unit, which consisted of herself, The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and The Sorrow. They participated in many special operations during World War II, contributing heavily to the Allied forces' victory. Likewise, she was also trained in sniping by The End. The entire Cobra Unit looked up to her as their mother and leader, and she formed a close relationship with The Sorrow. The Boss became a legendary soldier, and was considered by many to be the "Mother" of America's special forces.

In 1943, The Boss was ordered to infiltrate Los Alamos and assassinate one of the Manhattan Project scientists, John von Neumann, under the belief that he was a Nazi spy, and make it seem like his death was accidental. But just before the operation, she found out that she was pregnant by The Sorrow. She proceeded with the mission as planned, though she ended up blowing her cover due to being distracted by her pregnancy. Though she avoided a bullet aimed for her gut, she received a graze to the side of her brain and would enter a coma for three months. After six months, The Boss made a complete recovery, theorizing that her body may have willed her to live for her child. She grew to regret failing the mission, even after it transpired that Neumann being a spy was actually Soviet misinformation to sabotage the Manhattan Project. The Boss felt that his living resulted in the Cold War, which made her partially responsible as well.

The Boss, as her original codename suggested, found joy in battle. However, when she went to space, her view on war changed. She believed that there was more to life than the Cold War, recognizing the pointlessness of the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. As such, she longed for a world that would be united in which people would respect each other as human beings, as opposed to remaining in constant conflict. This was despite the fact that she herself was a soldier.

The Boss would go on to maintain this strong sense of loyalty to her country as a soldier; her loyalty was so great that she allowed the government to use her ruthlessly and knowingly had her killed by her apprentice Naked Snake. Despite this, she was not blinded by her loyalty to the extent that she didn't know how soldiers were used, as she mentioned to Naked Snake when they re-encountered each other after five years. Though she believed that the Philosophers had grown far too corrupt to be redeemed, she clung to what little hope she had that her sacrifice would somehow help in uniting the rest of the world. She also accurately predicted that America and Russia would no longer remain enemies in the 21st century.

Like her apprentice Big Boss and his son Solid Snake, she was a very strong-willed person and had a very strong charisma as she could take the burden of her country having her killed, turning her back on her Cobra Unit and having her reputation destroyed in order to complete her final mission. Her charisma was so strong that it influenced the very creation of the Patriots and was among the reasons she was killed. EVA herself had believed the 21st century could have been a very different place if she had survived Operation Snake Eater.

Possessing great wisdom in warfare, she was a fierce soldier that sparked fear and admiration among her enemies, colleagues, and allies. Although she held a calm and collected demeanor, she possessed such a strong and overbearing presence that even Volgin was intimidated by her, backing away when she questioned his mistrust towards her. Despite "The Joy" being her former codename, The Boss rarely smiled during the events of Operation Snake Eater. In contrast, her lover The Sorrow always smiled during his encounters with Naked Snake, with not one occasion where there was a frown on his face.

The Boss’s maternal instincts are a recurring motif, and as such she displays actions such as caring for and protecting EVA, knowing full well of her traitorous nature, and openly chastising her erstwhile son Ocelot for actions perceived as reckless or impulsive (for example after he inadvertently shoots Snake). She has deep care and affection for her finest disciple Naked Snake, and makes this clear many times during their final duel, commenting proudly on his personal growth.

As a subtle indicator of their blossoming relationship, The Boss engages Snake in CQC several times during their encounters, and each time he fares better and better. She initially subdues him effortlessly during the Virtuous Mission, and by the time of their final battle he is able to effectively counter her attacks and even successfully reverse them completely.

The Boss also had a lot of love and care for her apprentice Naked Snake, so much so that even after they went their separate ways and The Boss had found a new apprentice, she would often talk to Strangelove as if she was talking to Snake himself. She also protected Snake during Operation Snake Eater from Ocelot and EVA by making them promise not to kill him, and she instructed EVA to tell Snake the truth behind her final mission and death as she wanted him to know. The Boss knew that Snake would feel guilty for killing her so she told EVA to tell him to forgive himself and to let it go.

The Boss was a master of CQC, having helped found the techniques and principles with her apprentice Naked Snake. In her first fight with Snake, she disarmed and disassembled his gun before he could even react, then countered his knife attack, broke his arm, fractured a rib and threw him off the Tselinoyarsk bridge, and her second encounter with him at the start of Operation Snake Eater was won in a similarly dominant fashion, again disarming and destroying Snake’s gun. She was able to overpower Snake on two other occasions at Groznj Grad (albeit with Snake giving a much more competitive fight than last time) but was ultimately defeated by Snake in their final encounter. When scolding Ocelot for his Russian Roulette gun-play and his idea of luck, The Boss swiftly disassembled Ocelot’s revolver before handing it back to him, infuriating Ocelot. On one occasion, The Boss was able to swiftly disarm and knock down Colonel Volgin straight after subduing Naked Snake, despite Volgin, standing at 6 ft 7 with an extremely muscular build, dwarfing her in size . The Boss possessed a tremendous amount of physical strength, evidenced by her carrying the containers for the Davy Crockett launcher and the two Davy Crockett shells, which in combined weight would have exceeded 300 kg (nearly 700 pounds) late into the Virtuous Mission, and fire it by hand at Groznyj Grad and Graniny Gorki late into Operation Snake Eater. Aside from English, she was also implied to be fluent in Russian.[21]

Appearance: The Joy is tall, standing at an astonishing 5’10’’ tall. She has blue eyes, blonde hair that she always ties back with a loose and medium pony tail, she is Caucasian, and she has a few freckles scattered on her cheeks, just beneath her eyes. The Joy has the build of a soldier, and is incredibly muscular. She wears a skin-tight, white sneaking suit with accents of black on it. The sneaking suit is made out of fabric interwoven with bulletproof materials. She has a tactical knife in a holster on a strap just above her left breast. Despite being only 21, she seems to be battle hardened already.

A large American aircraft carrier, as well as the multiple different Atlantic and European theaters of WW2.