Aleksandr Leonidovitch Granin is the director of OKB-812, the Granin Design Bureau. He is the man who originally came up with the concept of bipedal walking tanks (the blueprints for Metal Gear D and Metal Gear REX can be seen on his desk).
His idea is rejected by Volgin in favor of Sokolov's Shagohod, causing a rivalry between the two in Granin's mind. He meets Snake in his office while in a drunken stupor and threatens to send his plans to his American friend; the grandfather of Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich. Tatyana a.k.a. EVA gives him a pair of prototype K.G.B. transmitter shoes, which are discovered by Volgin and Ocelot after he is later beaten to death by Volgin, who suspected Granin of being a mole. At the end of the game Ocelot tells the head of the CIA that he found the plans for Metal Gear and that it could prove to be a useful weapon one day soon. Ironically, his rival Sokolov would go on to help build one of the first Metal Gear prototypes.
In the game, Granin assists Snake because of the compliment made about his shoes. He gives Snake the key to progress farther into the game by opening a locked warehouse door. Later, EVA contacts Snake and wonders how he has gotten past the locked door. He admits that Granin gave him the key. This leads EVA to wonder why Granin assisted him, with Snake leaving it to Granin's drunkenness.
Granin is later killed by Volgin, as Snake watches through binoculars from a cliff above Groznyj Grad.
