History VideoGame / MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain

* BusCrash: In addition to Chico dying in the helicopter crash at the end of ''Ground Zeroes,'' [[spoiler: Strangelove died saving her son Hal, aka Otacon from becoming a guinea pig for Cipher and his own father. With Strangelove's corpse discovered inside the recovered AI Pod.]]

* BusCrash: In addition to Chico dying in the helicopter crash at the end of ''Ground Zeroes,'' Strangelove died [[spoiler:saving her son Hal, aka Otacon from becoming a guinea pig for Cipher and his own father. With Strangelove's corpse discovered inside the recovered AI Pod.]]

!![[Music/DavidBowie You're face...to face...with the Man Who Troped the World]]'':

!!Tropes present in ''Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'':

* MobySchtick: There are a lot of ''Literature/MobyDick'' references: Ahab, Ishmael, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a giant whale on fire.]] Interestingly, [[spoiler:Big Boss's quest for revenge actually ''succeeds'', since they kill Skull Face. Things only get real bad after that happens, partly because the ''real'' Big Boss' need for revenge means he never learns the truth about Zero.]]

* {{Determinator}}: ''Nothing'' will stop Snake and the Diamond Dogs from getting revenge against XOF, and if all the homages to ''Literature/MobyDick'' are of any indication, ''[[DeconstructedTrope this is a very, very bad thing]]''.

** [[ArcWords "You're pretty good!"]], said by Ishmael to Snake, [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 who should be more than familiar with that phrase]]. [[spoiler:It's a clue to Ishmael's true identity.]] Ocelot also repeats the phrase near the end of the game.

** An incredibly significant instance, acting as the final part in Big Boss' StartOfDarkness. [[spoiler:As an added series twist, ''The Phantom Pain'' is actually the origin story of the Big Boss from ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'', who is revealed to be a separate entity in the ending: the PlayerCharacter is actually the Medic from the conclusion of ''Ground Zeroes''. Grievously injured shielding Big Boss from Paz's detonation, he awoke without any memory and was made into doppelgänger "Venom Snake" as a protective measure for Big Boss. Following the hospital escape, Big Boss takes the medic's identity, doing so to create Outer Haven under the radar whilst everyone was looking at Venom Snake and Diamond Dogs. As such, Venom Snake is the "Big Boss" killed in the finale of ''Metal Gear 1'', with the real Big Boss acting as the final boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' and secondary antagonist in the ''Solid'' games.]]

** [[AntiFrustrationFeatures If you consistently get a game over at the same part of the game,]] you can opt to have Snake wear the [[EasyModeMockery Chicken Hat.]] Like the [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 Crocodile Cap]] before it, having Snake wear it will cause guards at a distance mistake you for a chicken. This is, of course, at the expense of your sense of accomplishment and Snake's otherwise-badass look.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:When a second outbreak of VOcal Cord Parasites ravages Mother Base, Big Boss takes it upon himself to enter the quarantine zone and deal with the situation. While most of the infected have lost their minds, some, realizing what Big Boss must do to contain the outbreak, stand at attention and salute him as he prepares to MercyKill them.]]

* UnstableEquilibrium: If a player spends GMP on supply drops, airstrikes, or an expensive loadout, it's gone for good – even upon reverting to a checkpoint, restarting the mission, or returning to the ACC. This can lead to a situation where a struggling player goes further and further into debt after every death – it's possible to lose money after completing a mission because the support costs were so high. Then, of course, any new money will automatically go towards the deficit instead of upgrading weapons, meaning the player is less prepared for the next mission, and so on. Of course, good players will consistently get the most GMP to buy the weapons they don't really need.

* KeystoneArmy: Averted. [[spoiler:Skull Face's death]] does nothing to stop the XOF - and Cipher in general from continuing its operations in time becoming incorporated into the Patriots' system.

*** D-Dog, when his buddy bond is maxed out, can be customized to look like the dog from the FOXHOUND logo, and can even carry a knife in his mouth when wearing his sneaking suit.

* DecoyBackstory: The game depicts how the disillusioned hero Naked Snake became the villainous Big Boss. Here, he goes by the code name Venom Snake and the True Ending cutscene reveals that [[spoiler:Venom isn't Naked Snake at all, but a body double implanted with Naked's memories. The real Naked Snake (and real future Big Boss) is a mysterious figure just known as Ishmael.]][[note]]Of course, the ''Metal Gear'' franchise can't do anything the easy way, and this twist retcons the old games to say there were actually two Big Bosses. Venom Snake becomes the Big Boss who dies at the end of the original ''VideoGame/MetalGear1''. And Naked Snake / "Ishmael" goes on to become the much more iconic Big Boss of ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' and its sequels.[[/note]]

** Constant holding will make the enemy commit fake surrender and slash you with their knives. Keep that up still and they'll eventually start an alert phase automatically even if you do hold them up successfully. [[note]]Knocking an enemy on the ground and holding them up will prevent any of the former from triggering, though.[[/note]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** They don't know it at the time but [[spoiler:all the mistreatment Huey receives is very much deserved when you find out all the moral lines he's been crossing in the interval]].
** If you're one of those people who hated what XOF did in the prologue, episode 30 will be very therapeutic for you and will let you go in guns blazing if you so choose. Beware of an attack chopper as you slip by.

* EmbarrassingHospitalGown: In the intro sequence, as Snake makes his escape from the hospital alongside Ishmael, the latter is, due to being undercover as a patient, only dressed in a gown and precious little else. Since Snake only way of moving at this point is crawling on his belly, due to being severely physically weakened from his years-long coma, Ishmael sneaks ahead of him and looks out for threats. Due to the resulting camera angle, Ishmael's butt is full display through the opening in his cown at several point, lending quite a bit of {{Bathos}} to an otherwise tense scene.

* PreOrderBonus
** The "Day One Edition" of the game came with a blue urban camo fatigues, a wetlands cardboard box, a silver ballistic shield and the [[MythologyGag Adam-Ska]] [[CoolGuns Special]], an [[{{AKA47}} AKA47'ed]] version of the Custom 1911 from the previous games, as well as bonus XP for multiplayer. The [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Collector's Edition]], which is [=PS4=] and Xbox One exclusive, comes with several weapons, boxes, camos and shields as well as the multiplayer bonus XP, a physical game map, [[BlingBlingBang golden guns for multiplayer use]], an emblem of Venom Snake's face from the boxart and a replica of his mechanical arm.
** Additionally, pre-ordering the game in Japan would've gotten players bonus staff members for their Mother Base, which varied depending on the retailer. These consisted of four pairs (a male and a female), each distinguished by a wild hair color (green, yellow, white and red) and a face tattoo of a special forces organizations from the series (namely FOXHOUND, FOX, MSF and Diamond Dogs).

* LeaveBehindAPistol: [[spoiler:In the cut mission Lord of the Flies, Snake does this to Eli after destroying Sahelanthropus and leaving him on the island about to be [[KillItWithFire napalmed]] to destroy the vocal parasite. Eli first aims it at Snake, but can't go through with it, and almost shoots himself before Tretij removes the parasite from him.]]

* RedSkyTakeWarning: Sahelanthropus can toss an explosive charge that turns the sky an extremely deep red. This makes it difficult to see far distances, but Night Vison Goggles help with this immensely.

* WhipItGood: Sahelanthropus is equipped with plasma whip.

* BlamedForBeingRailroaded: Most of the player character's allies are too understanding to call him out when he has to make a tough call, but the Jerkass Huey Emmerich will always make sure to vilify the protagonist, even in situations like Episode 43 where the player character has only one option: [[spoiler:kill every single one of his soldiers stationed on the Quarantine platform]]. Since the whole thing [[spoiler:turns out to be Huey's fault]], his criticism of you comes across rather flatly. Even as you exile him from the station, he still blames you for everything even though [[spoiler:he was lucky you didn't let everyone else kill him]].