History YMMV / MetalGear

** So much it [[CrowningMusic/MetalGear has its own page]]!

** Big Boss (IronWoobie --> WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds)
** The Boss (StoicWoobie)
** Solid Snake, especially as Old Snake (IronWoobie)
** Raiden (IronWoobie)

** Otacon
* ThatOneBoss: Leone

** Solid Snake, especially as an old man (IronWoobie)

** Big Boss
** The Boss
** Solid Snake/Old Snake (Especially Old Snake)
** Raiden

* DracoInLeatherPants - Vamp, Volgin

** PsychoMantis, for having one of the most ingenuous boss fights in the series.

* FirstInstallmentWins: The original ''Metal Gear Solid'' easily has the most famous story and gameplay, followed by ''Metal Gear Solid 3''. In this case, it's more a case of [[SequelDisplacement third]] [[EvenBetterSequel instalment]] wins... twice.

* FirstInstalmentWins: The original ''Metal Gear Solid'' easily has the most famous story and gameplay, followed by ''Metal Gear Solid 3''. In this case, it's more a case of [[SequelDisplacement third]] [[EvenBetterSequel instalment]] wins... twice.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Raikov. Liquid Snake counts when looking at the series as a whole - he was only alive in one game and its remake, but is easily one of the most beloved villains.

* MemeticBadass: Solid Snake, natch.
* MemeticSexGod: EVERYONE is gay for Big Boss!

** Major Zero's Codec calls about tea and James Bond.

* RecycledScript: Several plot elements and set pieces used in ''Metal Gear'' and ''Metal Gear 2'' reappear in ''Metal Gear Solid'', with no comment from anybody. ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' returns the favor and cribs off of ''Metal Gear Solid'' - but this time, the lead character is well aware of this and won't let the player forget as the storyline spirals inexorably towards its MindScrew GainaxEnding. Part of this has to do with the low profile of the [=MSX2=] games and the megahit status of ''[=MGS1=]''.

** Rosemary

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Raikov

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler: Solid Snake is Liquid's twin brother.]]
** [[spoiler:And Naked Snake is Big Boss.]]

* MoralEventHorizon [[spoiler:- Each one of the them Patriots it at one point or another, and that's just with the human founders. Going by the AIs, the AIs probably were already on the other side in a very short time, especially given the fact that not only were they the ones who masterminded the Manhattan Incident as well as the mess that was the War Economy, but the Head AI also implied to Raiden that they viewed humanity as nothing more than tools and weapons for them to discard once they no longer serve a use.]]

* NightmareFuel: Show a video of The Sorrow to a soft-hearted person.
** Additionally, the Patriot's use of [[spoiler: a quadruple amputee with nanomachine-induced Locked-In Syndrome as the key to their network. Who is then thrown into a fire when he has served Ocelot's purpose. The fact that it is actually Solidus in the fire does little to ease the creeps.]]

* TooCoolToLive - Grey Fox, The Boss

* ItWasHisSled: Thanks to the [[SequelDisplacement sequels]], pretty much everybody knows the identity of the enemy leader.

*** Conversely, the fact that it was stripped of lyrics (supposedly over some inane copyright detail) in its appearance in [[SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. Brawl]] qualifies as a MissedMomentOfAwesome.

!!The series as a whole:

!! The first game:

** To be fair, the manuals for pretty much every NES game (and some of the early Game Boy and SNES games) published by Konami of America were written by jokers that didn't take their job very seriously. The parents of planet Zelos from the ''Salander'' are "Ma & Pa Deltoid" if the manual for the NES version of ''Life Force'' is meant to be taken seriously.

** Fortune. Ocelot aweomely calls her out on it.

* {{Wangst}} - How Old Snake (and quite a few players) see their predicament (See SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped). It's part of the reason why he doesn't really give a crap and why he's annoyed whenever Drebin comes in to explain their origins.
** Fortune

** To be fair, the manuals for pretty much every NES game (and some of the early Game Boy and SNES games) published by Konami of America were written by jokers that didn't take their job very seriously. The parents of planet Zelos from the ''Salander'' are "Ma & Pa Deltoid" if the manual for the NES version of ''Life Force'' is meant to be taken seriously.
* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass - Raiden

* ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch: One of the most common claims by the {{Hatedom}} is that Hideo Kojima takes his world of carboard boxes, cyborg ninjas, and bisexual vampires "too seriously". This instantly marks them out as not having played any significant portion of any Metal Gear game, ever.
* CompleteMonster - Col. Volgin and Vamp.

** Even Vamp gets ''[[PetTheDog some]]'' [[PetTheDog sympathetic qualities]]; Volgin, on the other hand, is a sadist (and possibly a rapist) who gets off on [[ColdBloodedTorture brutally torturing people]] in the most horrific ways (severely beating and electrocuting them), and has taken part in war crimes, not to mention that his sole motivation is to elevate the faction he supports to power, and setting off WorldWarIII.

* MagnificentBastard: Revolver Ocelot, [[spoiler:Big Boss]], [[spoiler:The Boss]], [[spoiler:Zero]], Solidus and Liquid.

** To be fair, the manuals for pretty much every NES game (and some of the early Game Boy and SNES games) published by Konami of America were written by jokers that didn't take their job very seriously. The parents of planet Zelos from the ''Salander'' are "Ma & Pa Deltoid" if the manual for the NES version of ''Life Force'' is meant to be taken seriously.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Sniper Wolf's theme in ''[=MGS=]''. This led to a case of TooMuchOfAGoodThing in ''The Twin Snakes'' however, as the porting team noticed the popularity of this song and so chopped out huge sections of the original soundtrack, plastering Sniper Wolf's theme over all the key events.

** To be fair, the manuals for pretty much every NES game (and some of the early Game Boy and SNES games) published by Konami of America were written by jokers that didn't take their job very seriously. The parts of planet Zelos from the ''Salander'' are "Ma & Pa Deltoid" if the manual for the NES version of ''Life Force'' is meant to be taken seriously.

* {{Woolseyism}}: The American manual for the NES version notably gives a completely different account towards the events of the story than what is actually shown in-game. This also acts as one of the few instances where fans actually hated the concept of Woosleyization.

** Otacon

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome - So very many; in ''[=MGS4=]'' [[spoiler: Metal Gear REX vs. Metal Gear RAY. And it's PLAYABLE.]]
** ''[=MGS4=]'' actually had several, including [[spoiler:the Raiden/Vamp battle, the aforementioned HumongousMecha battle, and the final battle against Liquid]], which devolves awesomely from [[spoiler:two skilled and powerful fighters with incredibly fluid attacks]] to [[spoiler:two old men slugging each other because that's all they have left]]. Oh, and [[spoiler: the microwave hallway.]]
*** And one can't forget Raiden [[spoiler:fighting off a legion of Liquid Ocelot's elite troopers '''''after he lost both his arms'''''.]]
*** And the one where Johnny and Meryl [[spoiler:take turns proposing to each other and discuss their wedding plans.]] ''[[WackyMarriageProposal In the middle of a damn firefight.]]''
*** The motorcycle scene in Eastern Europe. Mixed with the voice acting and awesome music by Harry Gregson-Williams, it gives me chills every time.
** From the first game, Fox's fight with Rex, Snake rappelling down a tower to escape the Hind, Vulcan Raven, etc. Seriously, the series has a roughly one-to-one ratio between [=CMOAs=] and [[MindScrew mindscrews]].
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: The codec calls can yield alot of this, especially in Snake Eater. Also, the cardboard boxes are this as well - see CrazyAwesome above. The enemies are incredibly stupid for never getting suspicious over a cardboard box that appears out of nowhere for absolutely no reason!!
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: [[spoiler:Big Boss's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5qV4GRpNdM CQC hug]] with Snake towards the end of ''[=MGS4=]''.]] The rest of the scene qualifies as both this and a decent TearJerker.
** [[spoiler: Additionally, plays with WellDoneSonGuy, by having Big Boss tell Snake point-blank that he never considered him his son, but held him in high regard as a soldier. [[ItMakesSenseInContext In the context of the series]], it is rather touching.]]