Line #23 YMMV/MetalGear


1	* {{Anvilicious}}:
2	** While a lot of video games are content to simply let players have fun and let them learn something from the experience if they so choose, this series hammers its players over the head with complex philosophy and hard-hitting messages about the way war works. And it doesn't stop. The repetition may seem a bit like overkill, but it's exactly what makes each game's message so unforgettable.
3	** ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' is an excellent example. It constantly drives the point that enemies are not enemies in absolute terms and that enemies today may be friends tomorrow and vice versa. The game's ending makes this point all the more poignant.
4	** Also, Nukes are bad. [[RunningGag You're gonna hear that one A LOT.]]
5	* BrokenBase:
6	** Some fan have debated as to what Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov's actual fate was, as well as whether recruiting him in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' is canon. Heck, there are even some who wonder if Raikov was actually related to Raiden due to their likeness.
7	** Similar to other franchises, the fandom seems to have its divisions regarding the sequels and prequels. To simplify, there are the fans that are still sticking by the series and then there are those that feel the "Solid Snake Saga" should've just ended with ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' and the "Big Boss Saga" with ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', and that anything released afterwards is unnecessary.
8	* CatharsisFactor: No matter the game, the stealth camo turns everything into the player's personal playground since practically no-one can see you. Made doubly so if unlocking the thing required a lot of skill in itself.
9	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/MetalGear here]].
10	* CrazyIsCool:
11	** A badass soldier with a strange affection and reliance on [[CompanionCube cardboard boxes]] is this. ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' upped the ante with the drum barrel which had much of the same functionality plus it could be used to literally barrel over multiple enemies. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' takes the crazy awesomeness to even greater heights with a tank-shaped cardboard box (with a working gun turret), an ambulance-shaped box (complete with siren) that can heal people dragged into it, and a "Love Box" that has room for two. There is no implications there at all.
12	** The entire franchise is covered in a thick layer of crazy awesome. From "poisonous Zanzibar Hamsters" to guns with infinite ammo HandWaved by the magazine being shaped like an infinity symbol, to a SuperSoldier who's covered in bees.
13	* DiagnosedByTheAudience:
14	** Otacon is socially awkward, rather LiteralMinded (see the Chinese Proverbs in ''Metal Gear Solid 2''), alternates between losing himself in work and retreating into fantasy, has tenuous control over his emotions, and often doesn't seem to have much understanding of other people's motivations. It's not clear how much of this might be some kind of underlying [[UsefulNotes/{{Autism}} Autism Spectrum Disorder]] and how much is stunted development from his troubled childhood.
15	** There's also a notable portion of fans who interpret Solid Snake and Big Boss as autistic. Big Boss's in-depth knowledge of firearms is seen as reminiscent of a special interest, and as Naked Snake he is depicted with NoSocialSkills. Solid Snake is similarly well-informed on various military-related subjects, and the way he spent most of his life socially isolated with few real friends is an all-too-familiar struggle for many autistic people. Both also have the habit of repeating things other people say in conversation, which has been seen as akin to either asking for clarification due to auditory processing issues or displaying echolalia [[note]][[SelfDemonstratingArticle Echolalia?!]][[/note]].
16	* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: Lots of people who aren't too fond of the gameplay still ''absolutely love'' this series because of the setting and story.
17	%%* EnsembleDarkhorse: Quite a few:
18	%%** Gray Fox and Raiden in their Cyborg Ninja forms.
19	%%** Psycho Mantis for having one of the most ingenuous boss fights in the series.
20	%%** The End for the many was to defeat him.
21	%%** Raikov, whose main reason for existing was to make fun of Raiden.
22	%%** Steven Armstrong.
23	* EstrogenBrigade: The series is extremely popular with women considering it's basically a crazy RatedMForManly action movie in video game form. Yes, even the [[HoYay strong male bonding]] is verbatim action movie. The plan for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' states that Raiden was designed to appeal to a female audience.
24	* FanNickname:
25	** Some fans of the franchise like to divide it into two so-called sagas: the "Solid Snake Saga"[[note]]consisting of ''Metal Gear'', ''Metal Gear 2'', ''Solid'', ''Sons of Liberty'', and ''Guns of the Patriots''[[/note]] which centers on Snake's efforts to save the world from terrorists and political conspiracies alike, and the "Big Boss Saga" [[note]]consisting of ''Snake Eater'', ''Portable Ops'', ''Peace Walker'', ''Ground Zeroes'' and ''The Phantom Pain''[[/note]] which centers on Naked Snake/Big Boss's ProtagonistJourneyToVillain and growing desire to throw the world into chaos. A few fans additionally classify a few of the games into a "Raiden Saga"[[note]]consisting of ''Sons of Liberty'', ''Guns of the Patriots'', and ''Revengeance''[[/note]] centering on Raiden's desire to grow past both his history as a child soldier and his fantasies as a "Snake wannabe", despite it mostly overlapping with Solid Snake's own saga and him not even being playable in one of the games they consider part of it.
26	** As of the late 2010s, there have been several fans who refer to Solid Snake as "Snavid" (a portmanteau of Snake and David, his real name), both as a term of affection and to differentiate him from the other Snakes.
27	* FanonDiscontinuity: It’s surprisingly rare for fans to accept every single installment of the series as canon. The majority of this comes down to how much a fan is attached to Creator/HideoKojima’s own specific vision of the series. There are even multiple common approaches to this:
28	** The overwhelming majority of fans don’t count ''VideoGame/MetalGearSurvive'' as canon, [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight due to it being made]] after Kojima left the series, not to mention how [[InNameOnly extremely different it is]] from every other Metal Gear game.
29	** Despite being officially counted as canon, there are many fans who don’t count ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' as canon entries due to Kojima’s lack of involvement with those games as well. They aren’t included in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes''’s “Deja Vu” recap of the series because of this, which some fans take as a sign that Kojima doesn’t want the games to be canon. However, there are just as many fans who do like to keep them in the canon due to them both having clear spots in the series’ timeline (Portable Ops taking place between ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', Revengeance taking place after ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' and currently at the end of the series’ timeline), adding to the stories of characters like Raiden, Sunny, Big Boss, and Gray Fox in ways that most fans agree are in-character and done well, being considered fun games in their own right, fitting in well with the tone of the Metal Gear universe, and not causing any major conflict with the rest of the canon.
30	** There are also some fans who do not consider ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' canon, due to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' giving such a definitive ending to the series, leading to a feeling of FranchiseZombie with such major stories being retroactively added into the timeline (''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' doesn’t tend to get this same feeling despite also being released afterward because it is a side story and not a full-fledged numbered title). It also doesn’t help that Creator/DavidHayter got replaced as Snake’s voice actor (which Hayter himself was quite upset about), and Hideo Kojima himself left the project partway through as well, leading to a game that felt like its vision was not fulfilled. Still, there are many fans who enjoyed it enough to want to keep it in the timeline despite all of the TroubledProduction elements.
31	** Some fans go even further back and don’t count ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' as canon due to their dissatisfaction with the way it ended Solid Snake’s story, along with all of the HandWave explanations to previous games’ plot threads being seen as unsatisfactory. Some will cite Kojima himself not wanting to make the game in the first place as a reason to put it in discontinuity.
32	** While the story is almost the exact same, fans usually consider either ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' or ''[[UpdatedRerelease Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes]]'' the definitive telling of the Shadow Moses incident and disregard the other version as non-canon, despite both versions being considered official canon. The majority prefer the original version of the game due to FirstInstallmentWins in general, not to mention the cutscenes being more grounded in reality and the voice acting having a much more enthusiastic energy to it. However, ''The Twin Snakes'' has its own fans and is the preferred version to many due to its much better graphics, more varied soundtrack (though many also prefer the original tunes), improved gameplay from adding several ''[=MGS2=]'' mechanics, and a few cool additions such as Creator/RobPaulsen joining the cast as Gray Fox. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' gave credence to both sets of fans by using the visuals of the original version with the audio of the ''Twin Snakes'' in its flashbacks, including a room in Act 4 with posters from both games on the wall (a ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders: The 2nd Runner'' poster as in ''TTS'', but which is peeling off to reveal a ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'' poster underneath it as in the original).
33	* FirstInstallmentWins: The original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' easily has the most famous story and gameplay, followed by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' which is both the first game to feature Naked Snake as a playable character and is chronologically the first game in the series.
34	* FranchiseOriginalSin:
35	** The series has always had female characters that were [[TheSmurfettePrinciple vastly outnumbered by the males]], often [[MsFanservice made to titillate the player]] and/or [[CollateralAngst die for the purposes of a male character's angst]], but it wasn't too much of a problem in the earlier games because ''some'' effort was put into giving them interesting characterization and some importance to the plot, not to mention that many of the males [[MrFanservice were given the same treatment]] as far as fanservice went. ''[=MGS4=]'' was where things suddenly and quickly shifted: although the primary boss squadron consists entirely of women, they barely act as characters, speaking very little other than [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry reminding everyone of their primary emotion]] every couple of words; the player only even gets their backstory because another character tells it after the fact. ''Peace Walker'' has a major boss battle which starts with several lingering chest and butt shots of a woman in her underwear, and the same character [[spoiler:is killed off in the most gratuitously-sexual manner possible]] in ''Ground Zeroes'' to establish the BigBad's villainy. This culminated in ''The Phantom Pain'', where the only prominent female character [[TheVoiceless says nothing]], has almost no plot importance, wears a ridiculously-skimpy outfit (unless you go out of your way to unlock something more sensible) with an even more ridiculous justification for it, and has multiple scenes that [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment come out of nowhere]] and exist solely for her to pose sensually for the player.
36	** The series' plot has always been [[KudzuPlot intricate and confusing]], with several [[AssPull sudden swerves]], [[{{Retcon}} inconsistencies]], and allegiances [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor never quite being set in stone]]. Much of this can be laid at the feet of series creator Hideo Kojima, who loves creating big setpieces and emulating the Hollywood movies he's such a fan of, including [[ShoutOut direct references to them]] as often as possible [[RuleOfCool regardless of if it makes sense within his story]]. This was considered part of the series' charm early on: the 2D games came out at a time where we were lucky if a game even ''had'' a plot that was relevant past [[ExcusePlot the half of a page in the manual that explained it]], and even a decade later by the time of ''Metal Gear Solid'' it was still innovative that a game even ''could'' emulate films. The problem was that the series continued to add onto an increasingly-complex narrative while still relying on the Rule of Cool, which inevitably took its toll as players invested in the running plot became much less forgiving of the issues this caused. Act 3 of ''[=MGS4=]'' is typically agreed to be the lowest point, where it's revealed that the true identities of the Patriots are [[spoiler:Naked Snake and all his support contacts from ''[=MGS3=]'']], which brought all the series' worst excesses to light - it had become so obsessed with its own continuity that [[OneDegreeOfSeparation every single minor detail had to be connected]] so that they could CallBack to even minor background details from previous games, regardless of the damage to the characters in question.[[labelnote:e.g.]]Dr. Clark couldn't just be some unrelated scientist performing horrific experiments, it ''had'' to be [[spoiler:Para-Medic having apparently abandoned all her morality]][[/labelnote]] This continued as well by having characters throw themselves under the bus just to go through the motions of redoing previous plot elements, such as Naomi's antics involving her changing sides literally every act, revealing herself to have cancer [[PlotHole despite nanomachines clearly making this a non-issue]], and then [[spoiler:killing herself for no reason other than so that [[CartwrightCurse Otacon can cry over a dead love interest yet again]]]], then ending with [[spoiler:Big Boss coming back from the dead just to explain all the dangling plot threads before dying again]] - in addition to introducing [[VoodooShark more new questions than answers for existing ones]], it ends up making all the events over half a century revolve around [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything the perfect manipulations of a small group of people]]. Not helping as well is that it's been said that Kojima didn't want to continue the series beyond ''[=MGS2=]'', expecting every game after that to be the last and thus [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants never having a concrete idea of where to go next]].
37	* FriendlyFandoms: The ''Franchise/{{Drakengard}}'' series, particularly the ''Nier'' sub-series, is often considered a kindred spirit of ''Metal Gear'' despite the different gameplay genre. This is because the two franchises are known for convoluted weirdness and being [[DeconstructorFleet wide-reaching deconstructions]] of many genre conventions. The two series are further united by Creator/PlatinumGames being involved in both at one point thanks to ''Revengeance'' and ''VideoGame/NierAutomata''.
38	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
39	** Filipinos really love the ''Metal Gear'' franchise. Even when Konami all but killed off ''Metal Gear'', Filipino fans were determined to keep the memory and legacy of the series alive for newer generations to discover. Even younger generations in the Philippines are familiar with ''Metal Gear'' through being passed through by past generations and watching playthroughs and cutscenes on [=YouTube=], Snake’s return in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' just gave another boost to ''Metal Gear''’s popularity in the country. This also overlaps with AmericansHateTingle, as Filipino fans have deeply hated ''VideoGame/MetalGearSurvive'', seeing it as disrespectful to the fans of ''Metal Gear'', Creator/HideoKojima’s fans, and Kojima himself.
40	** The franchise also seems to be very popular in Latin America to this day. Many of the most high profile Kojima-centered content creators on [=YouTube=] are from Latin America.
41	** Of all the countries outside Japan with sizable ''Metal Gear'' fanbases, the United States has the largest. While the original [=MSX2=] games were largely obscure (and still are to all but the more dedicated fans), the first ''Metal Gear Solid'' was so beloved in America it sold close to 5 million copies in the US (combined with Europe) -- notably, [=MGS1=] only sold a million in its home country -- and several of the subsequent mainline installments and rereleases were released earlier in North America than Japan by at least a couple days. This almost certainly owes to Hideo Kojima's love for Hollywood movies, leading to such an inverse case of CreatorProvincialism that an American fan might forget they weren't made in the States.
42	* GoodBadTranslation: The NES ''VideoGame/MetalGear1''. "The truck have started to move" and "I feel asleep", for instance.
43	* HarsherInHindsight: In ''Metal Gear Solid'', Meryl manages to smuggle something past enemy guards who were searching her, because "women have more hiding spaces than men." Come ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Ground Zeroes]]'', [[spoiler: Paz has a bomb hidden in her stomach (which is removed without anesthetic whilst she's screaming in pain), and a backup hidden in her vagina which kills her and puts Big Boss into a coma for 9 years.]]
44	* HilariousInHindsight: In 2020, a Q-anon conspiracy theory that claimed the notorious terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots was still alive]] and [[VideoGame/MetalGear1 that the one killed]] in 2011 [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain was actually just]] a BodyDouble was made infamous after it was endorsed by the then-current [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump POTUS]]. One must wonder how much of the conspiracy theory is based on this series.
45	* HoYay: [[HoYay/MetalGear So much.]]
46	* ItWasHisSled:
47	** Solid Snake is Liquid's twin brother. The remake gave this away in its subtitle.
48	** Naked Snake is Big Boss. The sequels have turned it into a LateArrivalSpoiler.
49	* IronWoobie: Snake and Roy Campbell. Big Boss as well, considering how many times he gets blown up.
50	* JerkassWoobie: Liquid, Naomi Hunter, and Psycho Mantis.
51	* LGBTFanbase:
52	** The series overall has an ''intensely'' homoerotic tone, with multiple heroic male characters who are TheNotLoveInterest to each other, but also with camera angles and visuals that imply a romantic or erotic reading to these interactions anyway. While many of the villains in the series are DepravedBisexual types, the series usually makes their romantic attractions sympathetic even if their other actions are less so.
53	** Solid Snake is the character most often held up as a gay icon by gamers, in that he's the great hero of the series and very easy to read as gay or bisexual. Otacon's words to Solid Snake - "do you believe love can bloom anywhere, even on a battlefield?" - and Snake's response - "Yeah, I do - I think that at any time, any place, people can fall in love with each other" - are extremely easy to interpret as Otacon and Snake implying that they've fallen for each other, rather than about their female love interests (Wolf and Meryl), especially since Snake says "people" rather than "men and women". Snake gets a female TemporaryLoveInterest and an ImpliedLoveInterest or two, but his most prominent and long-term emotional storyline is his partnership with Otacon, with whom he raises a child; the ending of his storyline has a scene where Otacon promises to stay at his side until death and remember him after, in a way paralleled to the heterosexual wedding that had taken place a little earlier. In ''2'', he has a memorable exchange where he righteously trashes Raiden for displaying some ''extremely'' mild biphobia, with Raiden later insulting Snake by calling him "[[CampGay mincing]]", and a couple of gameplay Easter eggs that reveal Snake's interest in sexy male posters and a crush on the hunky Marine Commandant. Also, he's one of the few masculine characters in games who is designed to look [[MrFanservice sexual]] rather than just attractive, with a leather-strappy, corset-laced costume modelled after lingerie and an extremely prominent ass. When Solid Snake was announced for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' in June, a lot of gaymers delightedly pointed out that of course Solid Snake would be there for Pride Month.
54	** Ocelot is also highly important to the gay fanbase, in that, despite being introduced as a torturing sadist, he has the most sympathetic storyline of all the villains and is eventually revealed to be very much on the right side of history. His actions to destroy an oppressive social order are motivated by him having fallen in love for Big Boss, giving the impression that he's so monumentally gay he was able to ''destroy the world'' with it. Plus, he's also a fun EvilIsHammy GayCowboy who steals the scene in all of his appearances.
55	** The Boss is held up as the most virtuous hero in the backstory, is presented as a huge badass, and is considered very attractive among lesbian and bisexual women both in-universe (in the case of Strangelove's canonical love for her) and out.
56	** Nearly all female characters in the series are popular among lesbians and bi women: Strangelove, Meryl, Olga, Paz, Fortune, Cecile, Sniper Wolf, [=EVA=] and Mei Ling being the most notable. Even Quiet, despite her outfit being criticized for being too {{Stripperific}} and ridiculous, has her lesbian/bi women following, mostly due to her strange behavior and bizarre nature. Lesbians and bi women like these characters because they're varied in both looks and professions, and all of them have their own individual personalities, often with a lot of pathos, which makes them very human and interesting. They're also capable, intelligent and tough, and are either able to go toe-to-toe with Solid Snake or Big Boss, or are straight up better, smarter or more powerful than them. Some of them also look in a way that appeals to lesbians and bi women (Meryl's tomboyishness, Olga's short hair and unshaven armpits, Strangelove's ButchLesbian look and The Boss's crow's feet and musculature).
57	** Raiden is pretty important to trans fans. He's an androgynous man who by necessity is in an artificial body, and he embraces the strength given to him by that. He has a wife and a kid and is presented as being masculine and cool, but is also gender variant, wearing high heels, long hair, eye makeup and using stripper moves in combat. The fact that two of his most mortal enemies are an attractive but evil sexual predator and a bigoted, KillThePoor senator with beliefs reminiscent of many real-life politicians known for their opposition to LGBT rights, is also extremely cathartic and satisfying for many people in the LGBT community.
58	* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/MetalGear here]].
59	* MemeticBadass:
60	** Solid Snake, naturally.
61	** Big Boss is one to a ''slightly'' lesser extent.
62	** Cyborg Raiden. ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' only seems to turn this up to eleven with the insane stunts he pulls off in the game.
63	* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/MetalGear Has its own page.]]
64	* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales:
65	** Despite being a DepravedBisexual, Vamp has a following within the LGBTFanbase. A large part of it owes to the [[FairForItsDay historical factor]] of him being among the first openly bisexual male characters in mainstream video games, not to mention possibly the first male character in a mainstream game to be explicitly called "bisexual" ''ever''.
66	** To a lesser extent, fellow Depraved Bisexual Volgin and his DepravedHomosexual partner Raikov also have their own share of gay/bi fans. Not only are they one of the few explicitly canon same-gender couples in the franchise, but [[HateSink Volgin's]] love for Raikov is played as one of his very few [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes humanizing]] traits. In Raikov's case, his existence as an {{Expy}} of Raiden meant to poke fun at his PrettyBoy appearance has also ironically endeared him to some of the LGBT fans drawn to Raiden for that exact reason.
67	* MoralEventHorizon:
68	** Each one of the Patriots crosses it at one point or another, and that's just with [[spoiler: 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 Big Shell 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.]]
69	** Vamp's pointlessly cruel murder of poor [[spoiler:Emma Emmerich, Otacon's adorable little sister]].
70	** [[spoiler: Major Zero. He had Paz Ortega Andrade attempt to get Big Boss to rejoin Cipher (a.k.a. the Patriots). Snake refused, so what did Zero do? He also ordered Paz that, should Big Boss refuse, she frame him and MSF by having her launch a nuke via a hijacked [=ZEKE=] at the East Coast, and then pinning them as an extremist cult]].
71	** Solidus Snake revealing [[spoiler:that he was the one who murdered Raiden's parents and took him in to train him as a ChildSoldier, condemning him to a life of trauma and ensuring he'll never have a normal life]] certainly counts as well.
72	** Come ''Ground Zeroes'' and ''The Phantom Pain'', Skull Face went flying over it
73	* {{Narm}}: The series makes heavy use of {{Bathos}} to contrast its melodramatic moments with comedy, but it has plenty of unintentional drama killers too, to the point where it has its [[Narm/MetalGear own page]].
74	* NarmCharm: That being said, a not-insignificant number of fans love ''Metal Gear'' precisely because of the melodramatic acting, insane plot twists, stilted exposition and heavy-handed messages.
75	* NeverLiveItDown:
76	** Rose's very memorable Codec conversation.
77	** Major Zero's radio calls about tea and James Bond.
78	** Sigint's nightmare about a tank (Metal Gear) made out of shit that fired shit that turned anything it hit into shit.
79	* NintendoHard: "Extreme" and "European Extreme" mode. The difficulty varies depending on the title, with ''Snake Eater'' on the low end, and ''Sons of Liberty'' on the "Holy-Shit-Twenty-Metal-Gears-Are-You-Serious" end.
80	* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: The games that Hideo Kojima had no direct involvement with (''Snake's Revenge'', ''Portable Ops'', the ''Acid'' games, ''Metal Gear Rising'') aren't considered to be as good as the ones he has directed himself, with some of them being CanonDiscontinuity or are BroadStrokes canon at best. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3hjRKGrC40 This is best shown by the reception]] of the first ''Metal Gear'' announced after Kojima left Konami: ''Metal Gear Survive''.
81	* PeripheryDemographic:
82	** Plenty of kids like the series, helped by the fact that ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' referenced it and a large part of the brony demographic grew up with the early ''Metal Gear'' games. Some part of it is also due to Snake's status as a veteran of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', exposing him and ''Metal Gear'' to a much younger fanbase in the process.
83	** There is also a pretty large amount of women into the series, mainly due to the [[MrFanservice male characters]].
84	* PlayerPunch: [[spoiler: E.E, The Boss]], the list goes on.
85	* PortingDisaster: While the CompilationRerelease ''Master Collection'' has seen praise for the sheer amount of content included (such as every regional version of [=MGS=], behind the scenes stuff such as full scripts for each game and more) and for finally bringing [=MGS3=] to PC, the games themselves have been criticized for being extremely barebone ports; [=MGS1=] is running on an emulator that just upscales the image (leaving the whole thing looking blurry, in addition to other problems [=PS1=] emulation brings), while the rest have clearly been ported over from the now decade-old ''HD Collection'', to the point where 2 and 3 are still running on 720p. Even worse, while the [=PS5=] version is at least an upgrade over earlier releases, the texturing on the Xbox Series X version of [=MGS2=] and 3 manages to look ''worse'' than running them through background compatibility does, the Switch port has issues with frame rates, and the PC port shares some of the visual issues of the last two consoles but also lacks any way to change the visuals (all versions of the release lack graphics options, but PC games without visual settings is already considered a big no-no).
86	* RecycledScript:
87	** Several plot elements and set pieces used ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' reappear in ''Metal Gear Solid'', with no comment from anybody. ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' returns the favor and cribs off of ''Metal Gear Solid''. 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 (then) low profile of ''Metal Gear 2'' and the megahit status of ''Metal Gear Solid''.
88	** This is done purposely across the entire series; There are similarities between Big Boss and Solid Snake's entries into the series that are done to emphasise their similarities and show that Big Boss took the wrong path.
89	* TheScrappy:
90	** Raiden, before his cybernization.
91	** According to the director's commentary, the English localization team apparently did not like EVA due to some parts of her behavior. It doesn't help that the player has to assist her in the most tedious part of ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' and that she appears only in one act in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' which is considered [[http://thesnakesoup.org/editorial-articles/the-5-dumbest-moments-in-metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots/ one of the worst parts of the series]].
92	** Raiden's girlfriend, Rose, who's received hatred largely for her relationship drama with Raiden, [[{{Narm}} some of which wasn't written well]], as well as a mixture of DieForOurShip and AnnoyingVideoGameHelper feelings. Not to mention the fact that people rarely take kindly to anyone that actually waits until her lover is off at a safe distance - trying very hard not to get killed - before steam-barraging him via digital communication with everything that's bugging her about their relationship. Granted, such an idea could work out with ensuing hilarity. It's mitigated in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', where her romantic relationship with Raiden is downplayed and she doesn't show up too often, but that doesn't ''quite'' count as RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.
93	* SignatureScene: The notorious moment when Psycho Mantis actually checks the gaming console memory card and knows what games the player has been playing.
94	* SoBadItsGood: The serious dialogue at times.
95	* StoicWoobie: The Boss.
96	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme" is a more heroic-sounding rendition of Georgy Sviridov's classical piece "Winter Road". The "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme" was first composed by Tappi "TAPPY" Iwase and later remixed in by Harry Gregson-Williams for ''Metal Gear Solid 2''. ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' was the last game to use it; after that came out, someone connected with Sviridov's estate made the infringement known, and Konami got cold feet, at least enough so as to have Gregson-Williams file the serial numbers a little further off in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'''s incarnation of the theme.
97	* TaintedByThePreview: ''VideoGame/MetalGearSurvive'''s announcement turned the Internet ablaze, mainly because the trailer made it look more akin to ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' or ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' with the ''Metal Gear'' title slapped on it rather than an actual ''Metal Gear'' game. On top of that, the fact that it's a four player co-op game with generic Militaires Sans Frontières soldiers as opposed to a single-player game like the rest of the series. This game's announcement was compared to ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeFederationForce'', a game that pulled a similar trick in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' franchise and also got a highly negative response because of it. As a result, many believe that [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight the series is doomed without]] Creator/HideoKojima, especially after the controversy with Creator/{{Konami}}.
98	* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler: Gray Fox and The Boss. And Big Boss. [[MadeOfIron Eventually.]]]]
99	* UnconventionalLearningExperience: How often do you learn about nuclear weapons, [=ICBMs=], gun mechanics, genetics, psychology, philosophy, Cold War politics, PTSD, etc., all in one video game franchise? Even better: how often do you even become ''interested'' in and curious about these concepts?
100	* ViewerGenderConfusion:
101	** Meta example. The teaser site before E3 2009 showed [[http://kotaku.com/5272382/kojima-updates-site-yet-again-with-familiar-face-hidden-mystery-mask this image]], and many fans wondered who the hot chick in Raiden's armor was. Turns out it was Raiden. In addition, a lot of fans believed it was Sunny, due to the eyes and hair.
102	** What is [[http://img209.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=95344_Dr.Strangelove_122_169lo.jpg Dr. Strangelove]] [[AmbiguousGender supposed to be]]?
103	* ViewerNameConfusion: Due to the abundance of characters named Snake and the existence of clones in-universe, this was bound to happen. There are ''six'' separate characters who all take up the name of Snake: Solid Snake (David), Liquid Snake (Eli), Solidus Snake (George), Naked Snake (John), and Venom Snake (Ahab) - then Raiden also has the Snake codename for a while. When Oscar Isaac was officially cast as Solid Snake for the upcoming film adaptation, can you really blame news outlets for mistakenly using pictures of the other Snakes in their articles?
104	* VocalMinority: There is a sect of ''Metal Gear'' fans who, in the wake of the Konami and Kojima controversy, have begun to violently shout down anyone who criticizes either the series or Hideo Kojima, regardless if said criticism is legitimate or not.
105	* {{Wangst}}:
106	** How Old Snake (and quite a few players) sees the predicaments of the Beauty and the Beast Unit. 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.
107	** Fortune. Ocelot awesomely calls her out on it, saying that she was "[[HypocriticalHumor hamming it up]] as the tragic heroine".
108	* TheWoobie:
109	** With the amount of times he gets repeatedly shoved through the wringer head first, Otacon may as well be ''the'' Woobie of the series. In chronological order, [[spoiler:Otacon's father nearly used him as a power source for a machine that resulted in his mother's death while he was ''2 years old'', which led to him becoming estranged with his father]]. His father would eventually be DrivenToSuicide when Otacon [[ParentalIncest was seduced by his stepmother]]. His stepsister is almost killed from this as well, which results in him not seeing her again for 10 years. Then, when he finally finds some form of friendship in Sniper Wolf and Snake, the latter mortally kills the former all while Otacon can only watch as she bleeds to death. When he finally meets his stepsister again, [[spoiler:she gets fatally wounded ''meters'' away from him, and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in his arms]] right before he has a complete breakdown]]. Then, he finally falls in love with [[spoiler:Naomi, a woman who happens to be terminally ill and is only kept alive by the very technology they were trying to destroy. Naomi proceeds to inject herself with a drug that shuts down the nanomachines in her body in a video call, all while Otacon could do nothing but watch]]. To hammer one final nail in the coffin, [[spoiler:it is revealed that Snake, his best friend and partner since Shadow Moses, [[CloneDegeneration has only six months left to live]]]]. To put simply, [[{{Understatement}} Otacon's life sucks]].

Context YMMV / MetalGear