History Awesome / MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain

** The next encounter takes place during the early-game mission "Where Do the Bees Sleep?" After being held up by Skull Face and what is later revealed to be Metal Gear Sahelanthropus, you are faced with not only the Skulls, but zombified Soviet soldiers killed fighting them. As the Skulls encroach with machetes, Ocelot radios in with advice, encouraging you to use the mission item, a portable rocket launcher called the Honey Bee, to home in on them and neutralize them. Yes, the Skulls are so dangerous you're encouraged to use a '''GOVERNMENT SECRET WEAPON''' to take them out.]]

* As shown in all the trailers, Big Boss is finally fed up. He's sick of being betrayed, exploited, and hurt by the world that, despite him saving it countless times, hates and reviles him and his men. He's done watching his men being brutally murdered. He's embracing the darkside, building his own nation, [[spoiler:and crafting his own personal phantom to take revenge on everyone who ruined his life.]]

* Ishmael is a walking talking CMOA. Feats of his ''utter badassery'' include, setting [[spoiler: '''Quiet''']] '''[[KillItWithFire on fire]]''' with a lighter, facing down the [[TheDreaded "Man on Fire"]] without [[SeenItAll any fear or hesitation]], gunning down [[ProfessionalKiller XOF soldiers]] [[OneManArmy left and right]], and pulling off a BigDamnHeroes moment saving Ahab by '''[[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming]]''' the above mentioned "Man on Fire" with an ambulance that he stole. [[spoiler:Fitting, since he's the real Big Boss.]]

** The next encounter takes place during the early-game mission "Where Do the Bees Sleep?" [[spoiler:After being held up by Skull Face and what is later revealed to be Metal Gear Sahelanthropus, you are faced with not only the Skulls, but zombified Soviet soldiers killed fighting them. As the Skulls encroach with machetes, Ocelot radios in with advice, encouraging you to use the mission item, a portable rocket launcher called the Honey Bee, to home in on them and neutralize them. Yes, the Skulls are so dangerous you're encouraged to use a '''GOVERNMENT SECRET WEAPON''' to take them out.]]

* The first time [[spoiler:Big Boss defeats the Skulls in combat during the Honey Bee mission. Despite being outnumbered and having no supernatural powers, Big Boss prevails because he's ''just that good of a soldier''. After Big Boss eliminates the skulls, Miller can't believe what just happened, and comments "You really are a living legend!"]]
** [[spoiler: Know what's even more awesome? With the knowledge of TheReveal, you realize that ''you'' '''''aren't''''' ''Big Boss.'' You're '''''YOU.''''']]

** Completing any of the missions that Snake can undertake. These missions include taking down super-powered snipers, destroying armored units [[OneManArmy single-handedly]], and even destroying [[spoiler: [[HumongousMecha Metal Gear Sahelanthropus]]]]

* Eli is certainly not a pushover just because he's a kid: [[spoiler: you can repeatedly slam and punch him around in his fight and he'll just get back up and keep coming for more while trying to catch you off-guard and hit you with surprise attacks. This makes it one of the few cases in the game where CQC isn't just an instant 'I win' button, forcing the player into pursuit and counter extensively - against what the cast ostensibly think is only a kid, at that.]] But that's to be expected considering he's [[spoiler: TheDeterminator of the series, Liquid Snake]].

* Quiet is not someone you want to mess with. [[spoiler: At one point in the game, she's captured by some soldiers, and put in a prison jumpsuit - as established in her introduction, [[KryptoniteFactor clothes suffocate her and severely weaken her.]] She looks pale, sickly, feeble, and helpless, and at one point tries to pathetically crawl away from the soldiers to escape. One of them proceeds to drag her to a water container and sinks her head in, attempting to drown her. [[DisneyDeath He seemingly succeeds]] and proceeds to [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil unzip her pants to rape her corpse]]. Unknown to him, Quiet breathes ''through her skin'' and as soon as her pants come off, [[HeroicSecondWind she gets part of her strength back.]] What follows is without a doubt the most [[CurbStompBattle visceral]], [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown violent]], and [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge brutal]] [[GroinAttack sequence]] [[KillItWithFire in]] [[ManBitesMan the]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath whole]] [[BloodierAndGorier game]], maybe even the whole franchise (and yes that includes ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''). And considering the already [[DarkerAndEdgier high amount of violence]] displayed elsewhere in this game, [[UpToEleven that's really saying something.]] Words can't really properly describe the whole sequence. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLmCSTFb-kk It has to be seen to be believed]]. [[PayEvilUntoEvil Not that they didn't deserve it mind you.]] Snake even tries to help her, but she'll have none of it, [[OneManArmy and dispatches over a dozen armed men by herself]], [[UnstoppableRage with nothing but her bare hands]], later a knife, and near the end a point-blank headshot with a 50cal sniper. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Fuck. With. Quiet]].]]

* There's a cutscene aboard Mother Base where Quiet attacks a soldier with a knife ([[spoiler:we later learn that the man was carrying the vocal cord parasite and Quiet was trying to silence him so he couldn't spread it]]). This quickly leads to a couple of other Mother Base soldiers attempting to stop her, but Quiet easily sends them flying before she continues her attack on her original target. Suddenly Venom Snake shows up and pulls Quiet off of the guy. Quiet turns and attacks Snake, but he easily subdues her. Even though Quiet has supernatural speed and strength, not even *she* is a match for Snake in hand-to-hand combat.
* The KickTheSonOfABitch revenge the Diamond Dogs take on [[spoiler: Huey]]. Despite leaving him alive and unharmed, [[spoiler: they purposely send him out on a leaky boat which can't take the weight of his precious robotic legs]] and force him to dump them in the ocean.
** And before that, we have [[spoiler: Huey's trial for his crimes]] presided over by the Diamond Dogs. In a superb double-act, [[spoiler: Ocelot and Kaz efficiently demolish Huey's protestations of innocence, leaving him a pathetically protesting wreck]] and the Mother Base personnel clamoring for [[spoiler: his death.]]
** Even Skull Face gets in on the act, [[spoiler: quite ruthlessly tossing Huey down a set of stairs and chewing him out for his complete and utter lack of loyalty to ''anyone'' when he finds out that Huey is planning on crawling back to Big Boss. Not only that, but Skull Face's team are able to complete the work on Sahelanthropus' fully-upright bipedal mode ''without him'', and have been able to use it as such since the game ''begins'']].

* The LaserGuidedKarma delivered unto [[spoiler: Skull Face. Already dying from Sahelenthropus' attack and pinned beneath a rubble, he's loomed over by Snake and Kaz, whom he begs to [[MercyKill just kill him]]. Snake picks up Skull Face's own rifle and, after hesitating for a moment, is helped by Kaz in blowing off the ''same limbs'' he's deprived them of, before Kaz bitterly tells Skull Face to [[CruelMercy finish the job himself]]. Of course, it's Huey who actually does the deed, and creepily gloats about it immediately afterwards.]]
** Even before this, the fact that [[spoiler:the normally inflappable Skull Face is utterly taken aback by Mantis turning against him and taking over Sahelanthropus]] gives a rather satisfying tinge to the ensuing VillainousBreakdown.

* In Mission 45 [[spoiler:Quiet and Venom Snake manage to defeat an entire Soviet mechanized unit ''by themselves''. The Soviets had no idea that they were going against a couple of the most dangerous soldiers in the world. BullyingADragon indeed.]]
* Who's the Boss? [[spoiler: '''''[[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre YOU ARE]]!]]'''''
** [[spoiler: Think about it on a Meta level: Venom Snake is simply a blank canvas; an empty figure whose actions will influence the way the world would come to view the greatest soldier of the 20th century. So every incredible rumor about Big Boss' abilities, the lengths that people like EVA and Revolver Ocelot went to reunite with him…the bulk of his heroics all come from ''you.'' [[Creator/HideoKojima Someone]] clearly loves the players of the Metal Gear series after all.]]

* There is a hidden ending available if you successfully dispose of nuclear weapons in [=FOBs=], [[spoiler: '''''as in ALL of them in known online space!!''''']] Since the ending is nigh-impossible to get unless [[spoiler: ''every single MGSV player across the world banded together'']] (Hell, Kojima even said that it's "Something that can only be done in video games", as if expecting the goal never to be reached or taken down a few seconds later), those who have seen it so far are either hacked the game files or watched it second-hand. If you are impatient, you can watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4uSkAACoHc from some of the YouTubers.]] Kojima's ultimate in storytelling.
** Then [[https://kotaku.com/the-metal-gear-solid-v-players-trying-to-do-the-impossi-1731490187 people in MGS reddit gets in on it!]]

* Ocelot's [[spoiler: interrogation of Huey in one of the cassette tapes has him delivering one hell of a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Huey. In the tape, Huey finally lets it slip that he attempted to have Hal (his son who would later become Otacon) pilot Sahelanthropus.]] The [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgust in Ocelot's voice]] is very obvious and the verbal beatdown he delivers is very satisfying. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8PZq5uCVaw Hear it here.]]
--> '''Ocelot:''' [[spoiler:(Mockingly) You're still happy now. Changing your lies to suit the listener, and getting by on slipping through the cracks. Building layer upon layer of convenient stories until nothing means anything to you anymore. You're happy all the time, because ''you don't even notice you're doing it.'' Think hard. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Who are you really?]] You're not a victim, and you're not the silent majority. You're a perpetrator. And a petty hypocrite. The real world doesn't make you suffer. ''It's the other way around!'']]

** Skull Face in general, for just being so infinitely confident. Big Boss approaches him with a gun drawn? ''He turns toward him and boasts.'' His men crowd around to shield him? ''He pushes them aside and looks Big Boss dead in the eye.'' [[spoiler: And that's not even getting into the casual way he got the upper hand on Zero, a man who had planned for almost everything and still lost his edge against Big Boss' darker half.]]
* Despite not even appearing in the game, Solid Snake's reputation as the biggest badass in the series feels truer than ever when you stop and consider that [[spoiler: he eventually kills every single surviving named character in this game (with the exception of Kaz, Huey, and Code Talker), at the very least, if not more (including the remaining Diamond Dogs personnel who go on to join Outer Heaven and Zanzibarland.)]]
** During the True Ending of the game, if you listen closely, you'll hear the brief sounds of rapid gunfire, then silence and a series of slow, echoing gunshots in the background during the beginning. Just who are they coming from? [[spoiler: [[DistantFinale A few hours ago]], [[VideoGame/MetalGear1 a rookie operative was deliberately sent on a suicide mission]], with nothing but his clothes and his cigarettes. And as you stare into the mirror, this rookie with only his Green Beret experience, special training, ingenuity and suppressed Beretta M9 to rely on is blasting his way through Outer Heaven and everything you can deploy to kill him - your beloved men, your elite squad of professional killers, even your precious giant mech - just to get to you, so he can take you down with his RPG-7. His name is Solid Snake, ''and he's winning.'']]
* That Kaz will go on to become a trainer for Foxhound after the events of this game; he goes from being a broken man filled with nothing but a desire for revenge, to a highly well-respected and beloved tutor. He made a promise to [[spoiler:train Solid Snake and [[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake help him defeat Big Boss]]]], and he actually did it - [[spoiler: to the point where Solid Snake would not be the man he is in the first Metal Gear Solid without him.]]
* The battle with [[spoiler: [[HumongousMecha Metal Gear Sahelanthropus.]]]] Throughout the entire game, as you further descend into villainy, you find out more about just how strong and dangerous this thing is. [[spoiler: When you finally face it, it is a long and grueling battle, culminating in an absolutely heart-stopping [[BulletTime Reflex Mode QTE]] where you have to ''shoot Tretij Rebenok as Sahelanthropus prepares to [[NoKillLikeOverkill UTTERLY ERASE YOU WITH ITS RAILGUN AT POINT-BLANK RANGE]]!'']] The entire fight also is amazingly atmospheric; not only does this fight truly capture the feeling of being an ordinary soldier [[spoiler: against the mechanical demons that are Metal Gears,]] but it also creates a feeling of a final act of heroism from a man-turned-demon. [[spoiler: And to top it all off, with the knowledge of TheReveal, [[TomatoInTheMirror you realize it wasn't]] [[RogueProtagonist Big Boss]] who defeated the biggest and most threatening Metal Gear in the series. [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre YOU DID, AS IN YOU, THE PLAYER,]] creating the very foundation of the legend that is Big Boss.]] What better way to end the series than [[spoiler: defeating the strongest of the titular Metal Gears?]]
** All in all, each final boss for all [[spoiler: four]] characters in the series tops every boss before them. [[spoiler: Old Snake and his fistfight with Liquid Ocelot, Naked Snake versus Metal Gear ZEKE/Paz, Raiden going against Metal Gear Excelsus and Senator Armstrong, and finally, Venom Snake fighting Sahelanthropus.]] Each of them face not only a very dangerous enemy, but an army's worth of soldiers and giant mechs, and they all end up winning anyway. Just goes to show that no matter who you play as, when you reach the end of their character arc, it will go out on a high note.

** Furthermore, throughout the fight, Miller keeps calling in support to ensure your survival and victory. Run out of rockets? No prob, Miller will call in a supply drop automatically. He might also send an attack chopper in to run interference, giving you some room to breathe and get a few shots in. It's not just Snake versus [[spoiler:Sahelanthropus]], but the Diamond Dogs fighting against insurmountable odds!

* There is a hidden ending available if you successfully dispose of nuclear weapons in [=FOBs=], [[spoiler: '''''as in ALL of them in known online space!!''''']] Since the ending is nigh-impossible to get unless [[spoiler: ''every single MGSV player across the world banded together'']] (Hell, Kojima even said that it's "Something that can only be done in video games", as if expecting the goal never to be reached or taken down a few seconds later), those who have seen it so far are either hacked the game files or watched it second-hand. If you are impatient, you can watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4uSkAACoHc from some of the YouTubers.]] Kojima's ultimate in storytelling and [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped anvil-dropping]] of EPIC proportions.

** Venom Snake's first encounter takes place shortly after rescuing Kaz from Da Wialo Kallai. He calls in Pequod for an evac, but a strange gas covers the area, preventing the chopper from landing. [[OhCrap Miller realizes what this means]]... and then the SKULLS appear in the mist, [[GlowingEyesOfDoom eyes glowing green]] as they leap through the air towards you. From there, you have to race on D-Horse as fast as you can to the new evac site, with the SKULLS in hot pursuit. All the while, they keep pace with your horse, and even run ahead in order to fire on you. A powerful introduction to one of the game's most dangerous enemies. (You actually '''CAN''' avoid encountering them when they're first introduced, but you must make sure that Miller is still on D-Horse, make sure that most, three, of the Mist Skulls slowly shamble onto the bridge and then, when they're about half-way across the bridge, sneak by them via crawling/rolling away from them on the right side of the lower area. If done correctly, you can gain some distance to make sure they won't detect you and then use D-Horse's '''very handy''' OffScreenTeleportation ability to warp him and Miller to your location, thus leaving you to avoid alerting them completely. TakeThat linear plotline!

** Venom Snake's first encounter takes place shortly after rescuing Kaz from Da Wialo Kallai. He calls in Pequod for an evac, but a strange gas covers the area, preventing the chopper from landing. [[OhCrap Miller realizes what this means]]... and then the SKULLS appear in the mist, [[GlowingEyesOfDoom eyes glowing green]] as they leap through the air towards you. From there, you have to race on D-Horse as fast as you can to the new evac site, with the SKULLS in hot pursuit. All the while, they keep pace with your horse, and even run ahead in order to fire on you. A powerful introduction to one of the game's most dangerous enemies.

* The launch trailer has given us our first real look at Metal Gear Sahelanthropus. Fittingly for its name, it looks like the missing link between Peace Walker and REX at first. Except if takes it a step further by '''transforming into a bipedal HumongousMecha''', stands (on bidpedal supports) 50 foot high, has weapons coming out of various areas of its form (with what appears to be a ''railgun'' attached to its crotch) and its primary weapon is a sort of gigantic whip that hardens into a nanosword, which is used to sprout tectonic shifts of land, destroying whatever is in its path. Utterly bad ass.

** On July 27, 2020, the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 players [[https://kotaku.com/metal-gear-solid-v-players-finally-destroyed-every-nuke-1844538205 have actually managed to disarm all nuclear weapons in that version of the game.]]

* As shown in all the trailers, Big Boss is finally fed up. He's sick of being betrayed, exploited, and hurt by the world that, despite him saving uncountable times, hates and reviles him and his men. He's done watching his men being brutally murdered. He's embracing the darkside, building his own nation, [[spoiler:and crafting his own personal phantom to take revenge on everyone who ruined his life.]]

** Then [[http://kotaku.com/the-metal-gear-solid-v-players-trying-to-do-the-impossi-1731490187 people in MGS reddit gets in on it!]]

* Skull Face gets an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome in his backstory. It's implied that he assassinated ''[[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Josef Stalin]]''.

--> '''Pequod''': Pequod coming in hot! Find cover!

--->'''Venom Snake''': [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech We don't draw weapons on comrades]]. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Look around you. This is your family]].

* The launch trailer has given us our first real look at Metal Gear Sahelanthropus. Fittingly for it's name, it looks like the missing link between Peace Walker and REX at first. Except if takes it a step further by '''transforming into a bipedal HumongousMecha''', stands (on bidpedal supports) 50 foot high, has weapons coming out of various areas of it's form (with what appears to be a ''railgun'' attached to its crotch) and it's primary weapon is a sort of gigantic whip that hardens into a nanosword, which is used to sprout tectonic shifts of land, destroying whatever is in its path. Utterly bad ass.
* Ishmael is a walking talking CMOA. Feats of his ''utter badassery'' include, setting [[spoiler: '''Quiet''']] '''[[KillItWithFire on fire]]''' with a lighter, facing down the [[TheDreaded "Man on Fire"]] without [[SeenItAll any fear or hesitation]], gunning down [[ProfessionalKiller XOF soldiers]] [[OneManArmy left and right]], and pulling off a BigDamnHeroes moment saving Ahab by '''[[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming]]''' the above mentioned "Man of Fire" with an ambulance that he stole. [[spoiler:Fitting, since he's the real Big Boss.]]

* Eli is certainly not a pushover just because he's a kid, [[spoiler: you can repeatedly slam and punch him around in his fight and he'll just get back up and keep coming for more while trying to catch you off-guard and hit you with surprise attacks. This makes it one of the few cases in the game where CQC isn't just an instant 'I win' button, forcing the player into pursuit and counter extensively - against what the cast ostensibly think is only a kid, at that.]] But that's to be expected considering he's [[spoiler: TheDeterminator of the series, Liquid Snake]].
* Quiet is not someone you want to mess with. [[spoiler: At one point in the game, she's captured by some soldiers, and put in a prison jumpsuit - as established in her introduction, [[KryptoniteFactor clothes suffocate her and severely weaken her.]] She looks pale, sickly, feeble, and helpless, and at one point tries to pathetically crawl away from the soldiers to escape. One of them proceeds to drag her to a water container and sinks her head in, attempting to drown her. [[DisneyDeath He seemingly succeeds]] and proceeds to [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil unzip her pants to rape her corpse]]. Unknown to him, Quiet breathes ''through her skin'' and as soon as her pants come off, [[HeroicSecondWind she gets part of her strength back.]] What follows is without a doubt the most [[CurbStompBattle visceral]], [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown violent]], and [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge brutal]] [[GroinAttack sequence]] [[KillItWithFire in]] [[ManBitesMan the]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath whole]] [[BloodierAndGorier game]], maybe even the whole franchise and yes that includes ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''. And considering the already [[DarkerAndEdgier high amount of violence]] displayed elsewhere in this game, [[UpToEleven that's really saying something.]] Words can't really properly describe the whole sequence. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLmCSTFb-kk It has to be seen to be believed]]. [[PayEvilUntoEvil Not that they didn't deserve it mind you.]] Snake even tries to help her, but she'll have none of it, [[OneManArmy and dispatches over a dozen armed men by herself]], [[UnstoppableRage with nothing but her bare hands]], later a knife, and near the end a point-blank headshot with a 50cal sniper. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Fuck. With. Quiet]].]]
** Even before this moment she proves her awesomeness in [[https://youtu.be/4jjAjWwgejo?t=48s this cutscene]]. Althought it's already been proven that she's a crack shot with a sniper rifle, it gets even better. Ocelot gives her a handgun and successfully shoots in between the spinning blades of a helicopter. '''That''' is how good of a shot she is.

* The KickTheSonOfABitch revenge the Diamond Dogs take on [[spoiler: Huey]]. Despite leaving him alive and unharmed [[spoiler: they purposely send him out on a leaky boat which can't take the weight of his precious robotic legs.]] and force him to dump them in the ocean.

--> '''Skull Face''': [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Doctor! You're as useless as I thought! This is the real Stahelenthropus. You and your friend will die here!]]

** During the True Ending of the game, if you listen closely, you'll hear the brief sounds of rapid gunfire, then silence and a series of slow, echoing gunshots in the background during the beginning. Just who are they coming from? [[spoiler: [[DistantFinale A few hours ago]], [[VideoGame/MetalGear1 a rookie operative was deliberately sent on a suicide mission]], with nothing but his clothes and his cigarettes. And as you stare into the mirror, this rookie with only his Green Beret experience, special training, ingenuity and suppressed Beretta M9 to rely on is blasting his way through Outer Heaven and everything you can deploy to kill him-your beloved men, your elite squad of professional killers, even your precious giant mech-just to get to you, so he can take you down with his RPG-7. His name is Solid Snake, ''and he's winning.'']]

--->'''Venom Snake''': [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech We don't draw weapons on comrades]]. [[HeartwarmingMoments Look around you. This is your family]].

** And overall, it leads to a hidden and [[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming heartwarming]] [[AnAesop aesop]] when you realize that in the end, all of them were [[BadAssNormal normal men]] (Save Raiden in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Metal Gear Rising]]''). They were pure humans, no supernatural powers, no extremely powerful robots, no crazy skill that lets them manipulate nature; they're just human beings against all of it, human beings that decided to pick up weapons to fight for what they think is right. [[HumansAreSpecial Even after seeing the depths of human depravity in this series, we see just what one or two men with willpower, training and a weapon can do, both good, and bad.]] Pretty awesome to realize at the end of the day, you're always just a normal human being against the most dangerous things the world has to offer, and you always come out on top.

* A meta one for Creator/HideoKojima, who, throughout the development of this game, strung us along as masterfully as Revolver Ocelot. When the game had its first trailer, we knew Kojima was working on something called "Project Ogre", but aside from speculation around the Internet, we had no concrete connection between that and Joakim Mogren's new IP from Moby Dick Studios called ''The Phantom Pain''. Most believed that this new IP would pass into history barely noticed, or if it did achieve fame, it would not be due to a connection with the ''Metal Gear'' name. Then Kojima proved us wrong. When the news of ''Metal Gear Solid V'' spread through the Internet, theories flew left and right about the scenario. Would we be playing as Solid Snake, Big Boss, or someone else entirely? Who were those soldiers invading the hospital? Why was everything on fire? Then it was revealed that those questions would indeed be answered, in the form of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes.'' We knew some things, thanks to ''Ground Zeroes'', but we didn't have the full story. Then, '''finally''', ''The Phantom Pain'' was released and, against all logic, '''''fucked our brains even harder.''''' Even two years later, we're still discussing the twist we were hit with and its ramifications for the series. Congratulations, Mr. Kojima. [[MemeticMutation You played us like a damn fiddle]].

* The scene near the end of the E3 2013 trailer, which shows Big Boss helping Kazuhira Miller, whom he had just saved from Afghanistan, who is now missing his right arm and left foot. Combined with [[AwesomeMusic the trailer's theme "Sins of the Father"]], this makes for an incredibly powerful scene.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7d74409848700730d52c0379cd30a51f.jpg]]

* A villanous one for sure, but [[ArtificialZombie the Skulls, AKA the Parasite Unit]] toe a fine line between [[NightmareFuel terrifying]] and badass:
** Miller's description of his first encounter with them paints an eerie picture: a mysterious mist obscuring the AO, and Miller sending out a scout to investigate...[[LudicrousGibs only to have chunks of his body rain from the sky]]. From there, the Skulls wipe out Miller's entire squad, only sparing Kaz to hand him over to the Soviets.
** Venom Snake's first encounter takes place shortly after rescuing Kaz from Da Wialo Kallai. He calls in Pequod for an evac, but a strange gas covers the area, preventing the chopper from landing. [[OhCrap Miller realizes what this means]]...and then the Skulls appear in the mist, [[GlowingEyesOfDoom eyes glowing green]] as they leap through the air towards you. From there, you have to race on D-Horse as fast as you can to the new evac site, with the Skulls in hot pursuit. All the while, they keep pace with your horse, and even run ahead in order to fire on you. A powerful introduction to one of the game's most dangerous enemies.
** The next encounter takes place during the early-game mission "Where Do the Bees Sleep?" [[spoiler:After being held up by Skull Face and what is later revealed to be Metal Gear Sahelanthropus, you are faced with not only the Skulls, but zombified Mother Base soldiers killed fighting them. As the Skulls encroach with machetes, Ocelot radios in with advice, encouraging you to use the mission item, a portable rocket launcher called the Honey Bee, to home in on them and neutralize them. Yes, the Skulls are so dangerous you're encouraged to use a '''GOVERNMENT SECRET WEAPON''' to take them out.]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61cqE53jbOc&src_vid=b_UG7loIZgM&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_600330707 From the co-op multiplayer trailer]] we have Snake rampaging around on a MiniMecha, some new features, such as a Fulton sentry turret and Ocelot striding through smoking wreckage, firing his revolvers.
* You can infiltrate [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4pi0y8-NOo other players' bases and steal all their shit.]]

--->'''Venom Snake''': We don't draw weapons on comrades. Look around you. This is your family.

** Punching people's helmets off their heads. This includes the helmets of [[GoddamnedBats soldiers wearing riot suits.]]

As the GrandFinale to the MetalGear series, you're damn right there's gonna be tons of awesome moments.

** Completing any of the missions that Snake undertakes.

* Any time you S-Rank a mission. Miller is, appropriately, very impressed by how well you did.
--> '''Miller:''' Mission complete... and how! They're gonna tell stories about this one, Boss.
--> '''Miller:''' Mission complete. Amazing! That right there is why you're the best, Boss. The one and only.

** In retrospect, it goes to show how Solid Snake is infinitely better than what his predecessors were. Big Boss and his allies, despite having an entire army at their disposal, chose to walk down a dark path that starts yet another cycle of destruction. Solid Snake instead chose to be genuinely good despite knowing that he is a mere pawn in the system who was massively outnumbered and manipulated at every turn. When he learned [[spoiler:he is about to become a walking bio-weapon]] in the ending of VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots, he chose to [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice blow his own brain out with a pistol]] before Big Boss interrupted him]] Solid may die cold and unremembered, but at least he understood the true importance of ''life'', and was willing to give away his own for the sake of billions without any compromise.

* If you S-rank a mission, Miller will sound like he's amazed by how well you did.