[[quoteright:485:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/485px-Sons_big_boss.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:485:From top to bottom: Big Boss, Liquid Snake, Solid Snake.]]
->''"[[MetalGearing Metal Gear!?]]"''

The ''Metal Gear'' series was created by HideoKojima in 1987, and popularized the StealthBasedGame. The idea came when the creator realized that the hardware (the MSX) couldn't show more than a few enemies at a time without flashing epileptically and generally breaking - so why not make a game where avoiding your enemies is the theme? This concept received a lot of criticism - one famous quote from Kojima's boss is, [[ItWillNeverCatchOn "Hiding from your enemies? That's not a game!"]]. But then they started playing it. And it became quite a hit, spawning a great many sequels (with countless ports and editions):

* ''Metal Gear'' (1987)
* ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'' (1990)
* ''Metal Gear Solid'' (1998)
* ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' (2001)
* ''Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'' (2004)
* ''Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' (2008)

Plus a bunch of spin-offs:

* ''Snake's Revenge'' (1990, an NES sequel to the first ''Metal Gear'' that was "decanonized" by ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'')
* ''Metal Gear: Ghost Babel'' (released outside Japan as ''Metal Gear Solid'' for Game Boy Color, much to everybody's confusion) (2000)
* ''Metal Gear Acid'' (2004)
* ''Metal Gear Acid 2'' (2005)
* ''Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel'' (2006)
* ''Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops'' (2006)
* ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinee'' (2008, Japan-only sequel to the ''Digital Graphic Novel'')
* ''Metal Gear Online'' (2008. Included with ''Metal Gear Solid 4'')
* ''Metal Gear Solid Mobile'' (2008)
* ''Metal Gear Solid Touch'' (2008-2009)
* ''Metal Gear Solid Rising'' (upcoming)
* ''Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker'' (upcoming)

The chronological order of the series is:
* ''Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'' - 1964
* ''Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops'' - 1970
* ''Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker'' - 1974
* ''Metal Gear'' - 1995
* ''Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'' - 1999
* ''Metal Gear Solid'' - 2005
* ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' - 2007/2009
* ''Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' - 2014
* ''Metal Gear Solid Rising'' - Speculated to be an interquel between ''[=MGS2=]'' and ''[=MGS4=]''.

The plot is [[KudzuPlot far too complicated]] (and occasionally [[MindScrew batshit crazy]]) to write here in any detail beyond the vaguest - besides, it would spoil it all - but the general plot centres around the main character, Solid Snake, his family and the titular Metal Gears - [[HumongousMecha walking battle tanks]] capable of launching nuclear strikes from anywhere in the globe.

''MetalGear'' and ''MetalGear 2: Solid Snake'' were the first two games in the series, and quite openly pastiches of action movies and spy movies. Tropes were gleefully obeyed, and the action hero archetype was responsible for defining the iconic main character - Solid Snake.

Upon the advent of the [=PlayStation=], the series took a brand new turn - it decided to take itself seriously, to startlingly good results. ''Metal Gear Solid'' became a huge hit for both its melodramatic and somehow incredibly juicy plot, and its wonderfully satisfying gameplay.

The third game, ''MetalGear Solid'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of the CloningBlues plot. The [[WarriorPoet oddly philosophical]] Solid Snake, a [[SuperSoldier legendary soldier]], is called out of retirement to prevent a group of terrorists launching a nuclear missile. The demand, though, is for the dead body of Big Boss, the greatest soldier ever, who Snake killed. Worse yet, the terrorist's leader is a [[EvilTwin dead ringer]] for Snake. Enlisting the help of an inexperienced young FauxActionGirl who is well aware of her own limitations, and a very kind [[{{Otaku}} Otakuish]] scientist, he proceeds in an attempt to save the world and get some answers from his doppelganger...

''MetalGear Solid 2'' was not quite as popular, but was hugely anticipated. While the storyline was despised by [[ViewersAreMorons the general population]] for its controversial, [[ViewersAreGeniuses extremely complicated]] plot-twists and [[NeverTrustATrailer debilitating main character switcheroo]] (Solid Snake had become a true meme by then, with his shamelessly badass personality and distinctive, growling voice), it sold extremely well and became a cult success amongst the sort of people who enjoyed the ending of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' - and is even used to explain meme theory in some serious institutions. Despite the polarizing nature of the storyline, the game received critical acclaim for its groundbreaking gameplay and graphics which heavily utilized the then new Playstation 2's capabilities.

This one is a surreal NoFourthWall postmodernist rampage through the relationship between game and player, which is, depending on who you ask, a landmark in gaming and hugely ahead of its time, or a self-absorbed rant which made no sense and cried for an editor. Perhaps both. On a more basic level, it centred around Raiden, a {{Deconstruction}} of the YouSuck character type, as well as the {{Bishonen}} stereotype, and his attempt to prevent a group of terrorists from blowing up a cleaning plant on the ocean. But everything gets eerily similar to Raiden's VR training, based on Snake's previous missions, and increasingly surreal, until he's forced to question how much of what he's experiencing is real. And then it gets [[MindScrew more complicated]]. Warning - it has such a doozy of a GainaxEnding, it needed [[MGS2Ending its own page]].

The third was considered a return to form - again, there was a main character switcheroo, but this time for Solid Snake's [[IdenticalGrandson identical progenitor]], Naked Snake, which helped ease the pain. Taking place in the defining years of the ColdWar, it played out like a spy movie, and quite happily used every spy movie trope in the book - including a James Bond-esque musical intro sequence - without ending up feeling too campy or vapid, and had a gut-wrenchingly sad TwistEnding.

A prequel set in TheSixties, showing one of the most basic tropes, the FakeDefector, for the absolute maddening tragedy it would be in real life. Naked Snake, a very gifted soldier in the ColdWar, is sent over the border to rescue a Soviet scientist who had attempted to defect to the West - but is prevented from doing so by his mentor, The Boss, who is quite easily the person he loves most in the world, and seems to be defecting to the Russians. With the help of a Bond Girl pastiche with a dark secret, and the (occasional) help of a young version of the most glorious villain of the Solid Snake timeline, he takes down her unit one by one, well aware of what he must do when he finally catches up to her...

The fourth features a new camera and aiming system along with a high-tech camouflage suit for Snake and the ability to pick up enemies' weapons. The story, which takes place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (or rather, the only one in the series that is ''still'' set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture,) follows a prematurely aging Snake on his final mission- he is hired to kill Liqud Ocelot, the resident {{Chessmaster}} now possessed by Snake's "brother", who owns the prominent Private Military Companies and is trying to take over the Sons of the Patriots system (essentially a form of nanotech-induced low-grade mind control that happens to make soldiers vastly more effective on the battlefield and- theoretically at least- minimizes civilian casualties) that regulates all soldiers. On his mission, Old Snake encounters a few surviving characters from the previous games, and a few of the dead ones. In the process, it {{RetCon}}s much of the confusing ending from [=MGS2=], and has a TearJerker of an ending.

Unusually for a MetalGear game, [=MGS4=] doesn't introduce a "true" Metal Gear at any point; the Gekkos are explicitly ''not'' called Metal Gears, and there's no nuclear threat against the United States for Snake to avert. [[spoiler:The nuclear threat is against the Patriots.]] Like the genetics of [=MGS1=] and memetics of [=MGS2=], a major theme of [=MGS4=] is the unique sense a given human being has about the world around them and how it's lost forever when they die, such as with [[spoiler: the Boss and her ideas being grossly misinterpreted by several different groups without her around to set them right]].

[=MGS4=] is either considered an epic landmark in gaming and storytelling and that nothing comes close to it in those regards, or it is considered a camp game with a story that has been going downwards since [[MGS2Ending MGS2]] because of {{Author Filibuster}}. Both sides, however, agree on one thing: [=MGS4=] [[GrandFinale absolutely ended the saga]].

The games love [[NoFourthWall breaking the fourth wall]] and have a distinct quirky sense of humour - running jokes involve the iconic use of a cardboard box to sneak around a base (wait until he's not looking, run to a new location, and repeat). Hideo Kojima's irreverence is such that he's been trying to kill the series off since ''[=MGS2=]'' made its protagonist switch, so he can get on with more interesting things, but a rabidly devoted fanbase simply won't let him.

One of the most engaging parts of the games is the huge focus on multiple uses for items, with the pictured pack of cigarettes a great example. While they seem like a pointless gag item, the player soon discovers that by equipping them they can see laser beams with the smoke, although they suffer a cost as the cigarettes sap your health little by little (they're bad for you, you know). They also calm the main character's nerves, making him aim straighter. And if that isn't enough, there's always at least one character who will give you a long lecture about the dangers of smoking if you contact them.

Each game is intended as a {{Deconstruction}} of action movies and video games, playing tropes so painfully straight they curve right back in on themselves. Very few tropes are invoked without logically following them through, especially those of spy movies - we see exactly what kind of mind and complete control of a situation would be needed to pull off the absurdly complex [[XanatosRoulette Xanatos Roulettes]] that happen once per game, exactly what happens to a {{Tykebomb}} forced to take up a normal life, and there's a female on male sexual abuse subplot which is [[RapeIsOkWhenItIsFemaleOnMale not at all okay]], to name just a handful.

They're hugely acclaimed for a lot of good reasons - stellar gameplay, very complex plots with pitch-perfect [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructions]], excellent direction, intelligent character development and weird stylised dialogue. Just prepare for a lot of cutscenes. I mean, a ''lot'' of cutscenes. No, more than that. Honestly, you play the game for two-fifths of the time, watch a full-length movie the other three-fifths. If you like the plot, though, you'll probably love the cutscenes.

There is also TheLastDaysOfFoxhound, a webcomic based off Metal Gear Solid which parodies certain aspects of the games as well as discussing some questions that were unanswered before ''[=MGS4=]''. As well as another webcomic titled {{The Cobra Days}} chronicling the {{World War II}} adventures of a similar {{Quirky Miniboss Squad}} from [=MGS3=].

It is ''very'' [[CrowningMoment/MetalGear awesome]].

Oh, there's also HoYay. But no-one would play a game just for that, right?

...Right?
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Come check the [[Characters/MetalGear character sheet]].
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!!This franchise provides examples of:
*AbsoluteCleavage: (EVA, even as [[spoiler:a much older woman]]). Naomi in the fourth game, where she leaves her labcoat unbuttoned and is obviously wearing no bra.
*ActionGirl: Meryl, EVA, Olga, The Boss, Sniper Wolf, The BNB Corps.
*AfraidOfNeedles: [[spoiler:The explanation Johnny gives when revealing why he doesn't have any nanomachines in his body]].
*AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler:The reason why the Patriots are gunning for world domination]]
*AirVentEscape: Handy to escape guards. At least half-invented this trope, at least in the world of video game publishing.
*AllThereInTheManual: Many of the characters' back-stories are only revealed in supplemental materials or in optional Codec within the game. The most notable is the true identity of The Boss and The Sorrow's son, who is only revealed if you trigger a radio call between Snake and EVA in ''MetalGear Solid 3''. It's [[spoiler:Ocelot]].
*AlmostDeadGuy
*AlternateContinuity: ''Snake's Revenge'' and ''Ghost Babel'' are both alternate sequels to the original ''Metal Gear''; the first ''AC!D'' game follows a different story (though Snake is still a legendary soldier) and the second goes further.
** ''Substance'' included "Snake Tales", a series of five missions that featured Snake going through stages from ''Sons of Liberty'', but with different plot point (there's no mention of the Patriots, and Snake's backstory is subject to changes). The first features Snake trying to save the President from Fatman, which turns out to be a [[XanatosGambit plot by a third party]]. The second features Snake saving Emma Emmerich from [[TheMafiya Russian drug traffickers]], while another [[XanatosGambit third party is planning another plot]]. The third features Snake facing off against Sergei Gurlukovich and [[FaceHeelTurn Meryl]] aboard the Tanker, and serves as a direct sequel to the first game. The fourth features Snake trying to save the Colonel Dolph from Vamp, with another conspiracy transpiring in the background. The final mission involves an alternate-universe Solidus planning on wrecking the multiverse by having Solid Snake destroy a fifty foot tall guard with death ray eyes.
*AlternateUniverse: Cloning was perfected extremely early, and apparently, so were exo-skeletons and mecha and [[spoiler:gigantic BigBrother ships.]] Oh, and [[spoiler:batshit AI.]]
**The first game, made in 1987, takes place sometime in 1990's (later established o 1995 or 1996). The second game, made in 1990, takes place in 1999 and has the Soviet Union survive past 1991. Metal Gear Solid, made in 1998, takes place in 2005 and contains the line [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZYMxe1USdI&feature=related "The nuclear age ended with the turn of the millenium."]] ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', released in 2001, took place in 2007 and 2009. So it takes place in the future, which is now the past, but the next game takes place in the future anyway, which won't happen because the past didn't happen because it was just a theory about what the future would be, This makes for one of the most confusing timelines in the history of fiction. Only the addition of time travel could it make it more confusing.
***ZeerustCanon at its finest.
***Not to mention their use of [[{{Ruritania}} Ruritanian]] settings like Outer Heaven, Zanzibarland, and ''Snake Eater'' which takes place in "the jungles of the Soviet Union"
****There's a potential fanfic-salvation for Zanzibarland's name, despite Zanzibar being a small partly-island country off the coast of East Africa, and Zanzibar''land'' being a place basically located right where Tselinoyarsk apparently was/is: something interesting happened with Big Boss in Zanzibar in the late '70s~'80s that somehow directly led to Outer Heaven's creation, and thus the second one was named after it for whatever assumed, [[CashCowFranchise possibly to someday be explained]], reasons. Any other explanation would not be possible to make the remotest sense of.
*AmateurPhotographer: Each ''Metal Gear Solid'' features a digital camera that allows the player to take screenshots of the game and save them to the memory card.
*AncientConspiracy: Subverted in ''Portable Ops'' and further in ''[=MGS4=]''. The ''actual'' conspiracy, [[spoiler:The Patriots]], were formed fairly recently, in the 1970s, and only use the ancient conspiracy, [[spoiler:The Philosophers]], as a disguise to hide behind. The only link between the two is that [[spoiler:the Patriots were founded with the money that the Philosophers left behind when they split.]]
*AnyoneCanDie: In fact, 95% of the named all characters in any game, bar the MissionControl and the PlayerCharacter, WILL end up dead.
*ArrowCam: ''Nikita'' Remote Controlled Missiles - First Person Mode.
*ArthurDent: Sigint in ''Snake Eater.'' He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it at one point.
*AudioAdaptation: There was a two-volume ''Metal Gear Solid'' Drama CD in Japan (titled ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Drama CD Metal Gear Solid]]'') that basically served as a continuation to the PS game, while the [[ShowWithinAShow fictional radio drama]] ''Idea Spy 2.5'' in ''Metal Gear: Ghost Babel'' became an actual radio drama starring HideoKojima as the title character.
*AxCrazy: Half the freaking cast.
*{{Badass}}: Well, yeah.
**BackToBackBadasses: [=MGS4=] [[spoiler: Johnny and Meryl]] get one of these during their CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
** BadassBookworm: Otacon, eventually.
**{{Badass Grandpa}}: Several. There's Big Boss, Revolver Ocelot, and The End. Solid Snake becomes one in ''Guns of the Patriots'', and [[spoiler:EVA is a Badass Grandma in 4 as well]].
*** Snake's case is arguably that of a deconstruction, as Snake fighting in spite of his condition isn't solely treated as being heroic or inspiring. Rather, it's occasionally treated as being foolish and suicidal by the other characters at the minimum, and said characters aren't above patronizing and treating him like a burden.
**BadassLongcoat: Ocelot
**BadassMustache: Old Snake
**BadassNormal: Snake, at least when compared to the majority of his [[spoiler:not so]] supernaturally-gifted or crazy-equipped foes. He does have enormous willpower and is MadeOfIron, but he can't carry an M61 vulcan cannon and doesn't [[spoiler: usually]] have kickass battle armor to help him.
*** Oddly enough, Johnny qualifies for this trope. He's patently useless in the majority of appearances, but his actions at the end of [=MGS4=] cement his status (considering he was justa normal completely unmodified human soldier).
* BananaRepublic: Outer Heaven and Zanzibarland in the original [=MSX2=] games. Oddly enough, the ''MGS'' games mostly avert this, with the exception of "Army's Heaven" in ''MPO''. The side-story installments also have Gindra in ''Metal Gear: Ghost Babel'' and the Moloni Republic in ''Metal Gear Acid''.
*BattleCouple: [[spoiler: Johnny and Meryl]] by the end of ''Metal Gear Solid 4''.
*BeardOfSorrow: Snake in the Briefing to Act 4, [[spoiler: having had half his face toasted off.]]
*BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Sniper Wolf and then Crying Wolf... the matching second names are not a coincidence, right down to a similar location for the boss fight, both in a Snowfield and Communications Tower on Shadow Moses Island.
**It's not impossible to take down Sniper Wolf with Nikita missiles at the final confrontation.
*{{BFG}}: Lots and lots of them, especially in Metal Gear Solid 4. Remember the railgun Snake takes from [[spoiler: Crying Wolf]]?
** In Metal Gear Solid, Vulcan Raven uses a M61-A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling gun that he ripped out of an F-16.
**Fortune used the same railgun as Crying Wolf.
* BigBad: One per game, and also one for the entire series. [[spoiler:The Patriots.]]
*{{Bishonen Line}}: With a twist, [[spoiler:the person going through the line is Ocelot during the final battle on Outer Haven, and the changes are mental rather than physical due to Oceoet shifting personas.]]
*TheBlank: Decoy Octopus and Laughing Octopus.
**And, by extension, [[spoiler:Old Snake, after he gets Laughing Octopus's mask]]
*BossRush: Very often a bonus mode, seen in [=MGS2=] and individual boss battles of 3, and an extra treat in the AC!D series and Portable Ops Plus.
*BookEnds: [[spoiler:Saluting the Boss at her grave.]]
*BottledHeroicResolve
*ButtMonkey - Johnny Sasaki, who gets knocked out a lot and keeps getting bad diarhea problems, and is TheScrappy of Rat Patrol 01... up until he gets [[TookALevelInBadass some badass points]] and [[spoiler:steals Meryl from our lovable, crotchety old clone.]]
**Raiden has it pretty rough as well. In [=MGS2=] he is nagged by his girlfriend, is urinated on, he gets [[spoiler:beaten up and used as bait for certain people]], it is revealed that his [[spoiler:parents were murdered by Solidus]], and that's just his first appearance. In [=MGS3=] he was parodied by Volgin's gay lover Raikov, a usable face mask that Major Zero and Sokolov both apparently dislike, and ''Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser'' where he travels back in time to kill Big Boss so that he could become the main character of [=MGS=]. To say he failed miserably there would be a understatement. In between [=MGS2=] and [=MGS4=] he is told by Rose that [[spoiler:she suffered a miscarriage, don't worry Rose was lying]] after which [[spoiler:he is tortured by the Patriots and used as a guinea pig for their experiments, his head is severed from his body at the jaw and transplanted to an entirely synthetic body, which is later upgraded to the exoskeleton we see him wearing in [=MGS4=]]].
*ByThePowerOfGreyskull - The Solar Gun in ''[=MGS4=]. '''"SUNLIGHT!!"'''
*CanonDiscontinuity - ''Snake's Revenge'', a sequel to the original NES version of ''Metal Gear'' which Konami produced for the international market. Although Kojima claimed that he thought ''Snake's Revenge'' was "faithful to the ''Metal Gear'' concept", he still went ahead and produce the real sequel, ''Metal Gear 2'' for the MSX, which ignores ''Snake's Revenge''.
*CaptainObvious - There are a whole lot of these. Some examples:
--->Otacon: "Snake, this a war zone, so you have to be on your toes."
--->Snake: "A surveillance camera?!"
*CaramelldansenVid
*CartwrightCurse - Poor Otacon...
*CharmPerson - Gene's ability in ''Portable Ops.'' So much that he convinces [[spoiler:all his soldiers to commit suicide by telling them about an EnemyWithin, and does the same to the scientists over their conscience of abusing Null.]]
*ChildSoldiers - [[spoiler: Null/Gray Fox, Raiden, Drebin.]]
*ChronicBackstabbingDisorder - The name comes from ''TheLastDaysOfFoxhound'', a webcomic based upon the game, which is used to describe Revolver Ocelot's habit of betraying anyone and everyone. [[spoiler:Including his own soldiers.]]
*CodeName - Speaks for itself.
*ColdWar - The background of [=MGS3=], Peace Walker, and Portable Ops.
*CommLinks - The codec.
*CompanionCube - The cardboard fricking box. Both Solid and Naked Snake apparently have some sort of sexual fetish with it, and the latter believes that not only is his being in the box his destiny, but it is also the true key to happiness. The former finds it relaxing to sit in the box - or, y'know, barrel.
** Solid Snake doesn't just find the box relaxing, to him, it's the most important thing he has on him. He even lectures Raiden about it, giving the famous "Take care of your cardboard box, and it'll take care of you" comment.
** Sigh... okay, for those of you who aren't familiar with the series, it goes like this: Solid and Naked Snake are both professional soldiers. Due to the gameplay mechanics, being inside the box renders them invisible to people trying to find them and kill them. The box is therefore their equivalent of a security blanket. NOW do you get it?
*CompleteMonster - Col. Volgin and Vamp the [[strike:child]] teen-murderer.
*ConspicuouslySelectivePerception - AI can only see in front of them in the earlier games. Of course, [[RuleOfFun an enemy spotting you right away would piss off many]].
*ContinuityNod - The entire fourth act of ''MetalGear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots'', including a playable flashback of an area from the first [=MGS=] game [with Playstation One graphics, no less] and too many callbacks to mention.
**The final battle deserves a mention, as the entire battle consists of a battle atop [[spoiler: a wrecked Metal Gear of sorts -- Outer Haven being a nuke delivery platform, if not quite wrecked]] -- complete with flashback segments, background music and health meters that change as the fight changes which game it's referencing, and [[spoiler: Liquid Ocelot's final line]] as a callback to ''MetalGear Solid 3''.
***"You're pretty good", which itself is a callback to Ocelot's immediate line to Solid Snake after their first boss battle in the original ''MetalGear Solid''.
*ContrivedCoincidence - The Raikov mask in [=MGS3=]. Radio conversations reveal that it would have been destroyed had it not been for SIGINT insisting they keep it, and it served no real purpose for Snake when he first got it (the Virtuous Mission). Conveniently, Raikov was Colonel Volgin's lover and the mask allowed Snake access to the high security wing of Groznyj Grad.
*CopyProtection - Metal Gear Solid had an important character's Codec number on the back of the CD that you needed to call in order to advance. While it certainly stalled the game for anyone who didn't buy it new in its box, this probably wasn't intentional copy protection, more likely another example of what the series likes doing to the fourth wall.
** MetalGear 2 had a radio frequency on the box, and a table to decipher TAP codes in the manual.
*CreditsGag - Hideo Kojima as Voice of God, Richard Doyle as [[spoiler:Big Boss]]
** Being a Metal Gear game, neither of those are really gags...
*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.]] ''In the middle of a damn firefight.''
** 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]].
*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.
*CuffsOffRubWrists - A minor gag in [=MGS2=].
*CutScene - Let's just say there are two types of people in the Metal Gear fandom: those who hate Metal Gear because of the cutscenes, and people who don't.
*CutscenePowerToTheMax - the remake of [=MGS1=] is particularly bad at this, where Snake can BulletTime.
* CyberCyclops - The Ninja in [=MGS1=] and Metal Gear Ray are both cyclopes.
** Only the mass production models of Metal Gear RAY are Cyclopes. The prototype has two optical sensors.
** Also, although Gray Fox's mask affects the appearance of a cyclops, if you look closely the eye holes are actually two slits immediately next to the giant red scanner. However, the aesthetic remains similar.
* DarkSkinnedBlond: Fortune, Drebin.
* DeathbringerTheAdorable: The chickens on the Nomad, who do little besides hang out in their cages and lay eggs for Sunny to [[strike: try to]] cook, are named Solid, Liquid and Solidus. Possibly subverted; it's conceivable, maybe even likely, that Sunny named them after the states of matter, not after three of the most deadly men to ever walk the Earth.
* DeathByDisfigurement: [[spoiler: Gray Fox]]
* DeathGlare: [[TwoWordsObviousTrope One word]]: Gene.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Lots of it.
* DeconstructorFleet: ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' is, amongst other things, one giant deconstruction of sequels and the expectations that fans (especially the UnpleasableFanbase) will have of them.
* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler: Snake in [=MGS2=].]]
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: This is just like one of my Japanese animes!
** If I may be a prick and attempt to justify this, this is probably a context based translation error. In Japan, anime is shorthand for any type of animation; give Otacon's status as a foreigner, they probably felt the need to establish a context so the Japanese audience wouldn't think he's talking about western animation in the original script. The translation didn't realize that the context required for the Japanese audience was implicitly shown by the use of the word 'anime'. This is just me theorizing, of course.
*** Hey, it could have been French anime too, if they didn't explain it...
*DepravedBisexual: Both Volgin from [=MGS3=] and Vamp from [=MGS2=] & 4.
*DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: Things don't work out for Snake and Meryl, what with Snake being an IneffectualLoner and Meryl falling in love with, then marrying the series' "perennial loser." Although some would say it's for [[http://binaryfractal.blogspot.com/2008/06/solid-snake-has-no-penis.html a very different reason altogether]].]]
** Also same for [[spoiler: Raiden and Rose in ''MetalGear Solid 2'', although they end up together in number 4, and Big Boss and EVA in #3 - though technically subverted as she got pregnant with Big Boss' "child" clones.]]
*** And lest we forget that there were two full games before the Solid Series, Snake obviously does not end up with Ellen Madnar ([=MG1=]), nor does he end up with Holly White ([=MG2=]).
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Big Boss.]]
*DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
--> Ocelot: "There's nothing like the feeling of slamming a long, silver bullet into a well greased chamber."
*DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Subverted so hard]] in ''MetalGear Solid 4''. [[spoiler:First, America and the world are freed for the first time in decades from the Patriots, ''and'' Sunny saved modern civilization at that. Second, the MissionController Campbell makes up with his estranged daughter Meryl and gives her away to her new husband, with a big wedding attended by all except Snake, Raiden, and Rosemary -- who's reconciling with Raiden and introducing him to their young son. Finally, after we're told early on that Snake will ''have'' to kill himself to prevent a potentially world-ending epidemic, he returns to the graveyard seen at the beginning of the game, stops at The Boss and Big Boss' graves, then puts his 'signature' Operator handgun's muzzle to his mouth, trembles, and the camera pans up as a very loud gunshot is heard. Just after the credits begin to roll, however, we cut ''back'' to the graveyard, where Snake chickened out at the last second, and in a cutscene that defies words, he learns that he will not cause an epidemic after all, that he won't be a victim of that epidemic himself as he was originally fated to, and he is free to live the remainder of his albeit-shortened life... not as a soldier, but for the first time in his life as a man. As the last line of dialogue in ''MetalGear Solid 4'' puts it: "Sorta like the sun... It's rising again."]]
** Though [[spoiler:played [[{{Tearjerker}} heartbreakingly straight]]]] in the finale of Metal Gear Solid 3, the chronologically first game in the Metal Gear saga.
*DownTheDrain
*DyeOrDie: Inverted in [=MGS2=]; played straight in the first game.
*DyingAsYourself: Defeating the Beauty and Beast Corps members with nonlethal weapons allows them to overcome their madness, accept their sins, and die peacefully.
*DysfunctionJunction: The games go to lengths to point out just how incredibly screwed up almost every single character is, and the tragic consequences of such.
*EarnYourHappyEnding: And ''how!''
*EasterEgg: Tons of 'em.
*EdgeGravity
*EliteMooks: The Hi-Tech Soldiers, Arsenal Tengu in [=MGS2=], the Rocket-men and FROG units in [=MGS4=].
*EnemyChatter: Only during Alert, EVAsion, and Caution phases. However, there is some chatter to be found in most games, if you look hard enough.
*EnemyCivilWar: The first few chapters take place during an armed insurrection in unnamed countries, and you can use distractions to move unnoticed. However, PMCs are hostile at all times, but helping the [[strike:terrorists]] rebels nets you some items and ammo. [[spoiler: And the original Patriots fighting among themselves is the real reason behind the events of the entire series. ]]
*EnigmaticMinion: Revolver Ocelot.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: The ranks of the various Quirky Miniboss Squads tend to be quite diverse. [[spoiler: And then there're The Patriots.]]
*EscortMission: Raiden and Emma; Big Boss and EVA; Old Snake and Drebin's Stryker; Old Snake and the Van.
*EvenTheGuysWantHim: Big Boss.
*EverythingFades: Subverted - except for the first [=MGS=], dead bodies don't go and need to be hidden.
** However, enemies killed in alert mode or action sequences will disappear (flicker out more like it), and occasionally in normal status if one waits long enough.
** As a possible reference to this, [[spoiler:Liquid Ocelot's elite FROG units immolate themselves once they're dead, and if Snake touches the bodies, they crumble to dust]].
*EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Drebin's pet, Little Gray.
*EvilBrit: Two of the most influential villains in the entire series are British: [[spoiler: Zero, founder of the Patriots, and Liquid Snake, one of the only men in the world who can face Solid Snake in equal combat.]]
*EvilIsDumb: Johnny Sasaki and, arguably, Fortune.
*ExplodingBarrels: In ''[=MGS4=]'', on the streets of a ''European city'' -- and not five minutes after a character claimed that "oil and fuel are as precious as diamonds."
** The setting as it's [[FridgeLogic been explored]] up to this point gives this a justification; it's not that oil and fuel have hit Hubbert's Peak, but that the world devolving into constant conflict in the name of the war economy has simply made it hard to ''get,'' along with anything else we take for granted. After all, there hardly seems to be an energy crisis, what with all the stuff requiring fuel working fine, and the [=PMCs=] holding down martial law in [[strike:Prague]] the Eastern European town would surely need to cart some fuel around for themselves to keep their [=APCs=] running.
*ExpositionBreak: Utterly infamous for these.
** The [=CODEC=] seems to [[NoFourthWall stop time]], so Snake and his VoiceWithAnInternetConnection can carry on [[TalkingIsAFreeAction long conversations]] during a firefight.
*ExtremeOmnivore: Naked Snake wants to taste everything that moves.
*EyepatchOfPower: Subverted slightly in that Big Boss' eyepatch really is an eyepatch, while Old Snake's Solid Eye simply provides optical enhancements... as well as 'radar,' of sorts. Well, then there's also Solidus.
*FallenHero: Big Boss, along with [[spoiler:Major Zero, Para-Medic, and Sigint]].
*FamousLastWords: see FinalSpeech below.
* FanDisservice: See trope entry.
* AFatherToHisMen: (Big Boss, Gene.)
** Arguably The Boss in reference to the Cobra Unit.
*{{Feelies}}
* FemmeFatale: Sniper Wolf, EVA, Naomi.
*FinalFirstHug: [[spoiler: Big Boss hugs Snake like a father before his death.]]
*FinalSpeech: Every single character death includes one of these. No exceptions.
*FissionMailed: TropeNamer.
*FisticuffsBoss: At least twice.
*FiveBadBand: Several.
*AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: One of Psycho Mantis' many problems.

**''MetalGearSolid's'' Fox-Hound:
** The BigBad: Liquid Snake
** TheDragon: Revolver Ocelot
** The EvilGenius: Psycho Mantis
** TheBrute: Vulcan Raven
** The DarkChick: Sniper Wolf (FemmeFatale DarkActionGirl)
** The SixthRanger: Decoy Octopus

''MetalGearSolid 2'''s Sons Of Liberty:
** The BigBad: Solidus Snake (PresidentEvil)
** TheDragon: Revolver Ocelot (MagnificentBastard-slash-{{Chessmaster}})
** The EvilGenius: Fatman (MadBomber)
** TheBrute: Vamp (male twist on the LesbianVampire)
** The DarkChick: Fortune ([[DeusAngstMachina grieving]] DeathSeeker)
** The SixthRanger: Olga Gurlukovich (does a HeelFaceTurn, to put it in its simplest possible way)

''MetalGearSolid 4'''s B&B Corp A.K.A. Snakehound:
** The BigBad: Liquid Ocelot (MagnificentBastard)
** TheDragon: Screaming Mantis (leader of the [[FourIsDeath four]] B&B Corps members; [[spoiler: [[DemonicPossesion controlled by Psycho Mantis]]]])
** The EvilGenius: Laughing Octopus (EvilLaugh-prone stealth expert)
** TheBrute: Crying Wolf (Snipes with a BFG and has enough strength to stop ''and flip over by charging it a bulldozer'')
** The DarkChick: Raging Raven ([[UnstoppableRage ANGRY]])
** The SixthRanger: [[ThEVAmp Vamp]] [[spoiler: Turns out he just wanted someone to [[DeathSeeker kill him]]]].
*FoeYay: "Adamska" and "John".
* FlawedPrototype
*ForgottenSuperweapon: REX was more or less abandoned at Shadow Moses.
*{{Foreshadowing}}: In ''SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. Yes, Hideo Kojima snuck in hints about MSG4 on the KillerApp of a competing company in an IntercontinuityCrossover. [[RefugeInAudacity It's really not out of place]].
*FormFittingWardrobe: Especially Snake's suit in 4.
*FreudianExcuse: Every one of the "beauties" in [=MGS4=].
*FrodoMoments: Snake in [=MGS4=].
*FutureBadass: Raiden in [=MGS4=], Null [[spoiler:to Gray Fox]]. Additionally, Portable Ops can count - the remaining survivors of the San Herionymo incident later become part of Big Boss's mercenaries.
*GainaxEnding: Probably the other reason why [=MGS2=] isn't well liked.
*GameShark: Mentioned, but not actually used.
*GangstaStyle: Justified - the model of gun it's used with is for a tactical purpose!
*GaussianGirl: In [=MGS3=], Ocelot sees Naked Snake like this when Snake knocks him out and he's about to lose consciousness. Ever since then, Ocelot has become his StalkerWithACrush. Also, it is played with jokingly in the [=MGS3=] Secret Theater, "He's Still Got It," where The End sees EVA like this.
* {{Generation Xerox}}
*GetOnWithItAlready: Many cutscenes and conversations throughout the series. But none compare to all of [=MGS4=]. (Fortunately, almost all of the [=MGS4=] cutscenes are skippable. Unfortunately, the exceptions include [[spoiler:Big Boss' death]], the awfully long credits, and the post-credits ending.)
* GoodBadTranslation: The NES ''MetalGear''. "The truck have started to move" and "I feel asleep", for instance.
* GoneHorriblyRight
* GrandFinale: ''MetalGear Solid 4'' neatly wraps up 25 years of plot in an epic and conclusive manner.
*GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: EVA, Old Snake, Ocelot.
*GroinAttack: In [=MGS2=] and [=MGS3=], shooting an enemy in the family jewels was a one hit kill. In [=MGS4=], you can knock out a male enemy by crushing their balls. Performing it on a FROG-Trooper, however, turns it into a grope and a very angry FROG trooper.
*GunTwirling: Ocelot.
*[[HasTwoMommies Has Two Daddies]]: Sunny, with Snake and "Uncle Hal".
*HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: Made into an art form.
*HealThyself: Resting in hidden areas in [=MGS3=] and [=MGS4=] restores health, not to mention the fast-regenerating camouflage given to you by one of the bosses in [=MGS3=]. (In [=MGS4=] there are at least two iPod songs that specifically increase Old Snake's recovery rate.)
* HeyItsThatGuy: David Hayter, the voice of Solid and Naked Snake, wrote (among other things) the first two ''X-Men'' movies.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Considering the size of the cast, it's not surprising.
** [[JenniferHale Naomi Hunter is Emma Emmerich, and both]] are [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Bastila]], [[MassEffect Shepard]], [[StarWarsTheCloneWars Aayla Secura]], [[{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]], and can also be found... well pretty much everywhere.
** Liquid Snake was [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Leonardo]]. The turtle, not the painter.
** Colonel Campbell is [[{{Ben10}} Grandpa Max]], [[{{Transformers}} Perceptor]] and [[{{Fallout}} pretty much every old man in the Capital Wasteland]].
** Mei Ling is [[SyphonFilter Lian Xing]], [[DeadRising Isabella Keyes]] and [[DotHack Subaru]].
** Revolver Ocelot, I am not kidding here, also was Elroy Jetson.
** Solidus Snake was [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Canderous]] and [[MarvelUltimateAlliance Iron Man]]
** Vamp was [[JusticeLeague Green Lantern]] and [[SamuraiJack Samurai Jack]].
** Solid Snake was also CaptainAmerica on the 1990s SpiderMan cartoon.
*HonorBeforeReason: Bitterly commented on by Solid Snake.
*HopelessBossFight: In ''[=MGS4=]'', [[spoiler:Vamp ''would'' be unless you use the Syringe to end his nanomachine-enhanced regeneration]].
** Fortune in [=MGS2=] is truly a hopeless fight; all you can do is dodge her shots until events force her to leave.
*HospitalHottie: Rose.
** Paramedic, too.
*** Elisa in Portable Ops.
** Naomi
*HotAmazon: Meryl, Olga, The Boss, Sniper Wolf.
*[[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake How Much More Can They Take]]: The final battle between Snake and Ocelot in ''Guns of the Patriots.''
*HoYay: People keep pairing Otacon and Solid Snake. Kojima keeps encouraging them. Not to mention the weird relationship between Revolver Ocelot and Big Boss. Not to mention Vamp, a canon bisexual, and Raiden, the bishonen. Not to mention - okay, let's put it like this: the Metal Gear Solid series is possibly ''the'' most subtext-laden video game series in existence, and must be witnessed to be understood.
** I'm not sure witnessing it makes it any more comprehensible, but it sure is fun!
*HyperspaceArsenal: Unabashedly. You can carry about fifty weapons in [=MGS4=], but only five at a time that you can wield in your menu. You can also carry an oil drum.
*ICannotSelfTerminate
*IdenticalGrandson
*IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn: Big Boss probably didn't expect Ocelot to get turned on by his torture session.
*IJustWantToBeBadass: [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] with Solid Snake, and even more savagely deconstructed with Raiden.
*IKnewIt: [[spoiler:Big boss is alive.]]
*IKnowThatGun: The Patriot, which is an M231 FPW with a Beta C-Mag. FPW stands for 'firing port weapon' and the gun was designed to be used in the hull gun ports of Bradley armoured personnel carriers. Lord only knows why The Boss has one a decade and a half before it was designed.
*ILetYouWin: Young Ocelot's excuse every time. [[spoiler: Or maybe not an excuse, since he's your CIA contact.]]
*ImplausibleFencingPowers: Justified in the fact that A) the blades are meant to deflect bullets, and B) The suits they wear increase reflexes.
*IndestructibleEdible: [=CalorieMates=](TM)
*InAWorld: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_Ppi1v6wM&feature=fvst Courage is Solid]] trailer.
*InLoveWithYourCarnage: Ocelot's pseudo-romantic admiration for Big Boss when he hears about Big Boss managing to kill people so easily (and his firsthand experience watching Big Boss neutralize the Ocelot Unit).
*InTheBlood: Solid Snake is a [[GattacaBabies designer baby]] made with the DNA of "the greatest soldier ever."
*InstantAIJustAddWater
*InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha: The Metal Gears themselves.
**Seriously, though...[[spoiler:piloting REX]] in [=MGS4=] proves why Otacon's design was ''the'' most badass weapon ever developed in a semi-realistic setting.
* InstantHomeDelivery: Drebin offers Instant Battlefield Delivery in [=MGS4=].
* InstantSedation: Subverted and played straight. Shooting a guard (with no vest) in the chest or heart does this; but it'll take anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes, depending on the difficulty level, to knock out a guard in any other zone.
* IntercontinuityCrossOver: ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl''.
* ItGetsEasier: Snake gives this speech to Meryl.
* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler: Solid Snake is Liquid's twin brother.]]
* KikukoInoue: Japanese voice of Rosemary, The Boss, and Sunny.
* KillItWithFire: Pyro Bison, Fire Trooper, The Fury, Incendiary Grenades and Molotovs in MGS4, and flamethrower units in MetalGearAcid2.
* KudzuPlot: Starts off mild in the early games. Taken UpToEleven with [=MGS2=].
* LampshadeHanging: Taken to an art form.
* {{Large Ham}}: Liquid Snake and his wacky arm gestures, Revolver Ocelot, and {{Death Seeker}} Fortune are guilty of this. And when [[spoiler:Liquid's arm possesses Ocelot]], the hamminess can barely be described.
*LaserHallway: Hell, Microwave Hallway.
*LaserSight: Useful. Since you don't use iron sights in [=MGS2=], it's the only way to aim; and in [=MGS4=], you'll need it if you use third person a lot.
*LatexPerfection: Somewhat subverted; the mask's lips don't move, Snake's facial structure is roughly recognizable beneath the mask, and the [=FaceCamo=] used by Laughing Octopus and Snake is MUCH more advanced than current technology.
*LoadBearingBoss: Golab in AC!D2, Fatman in [=MGS2=].
*LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Snake, Liquid, and Big Boss]]; [[spoiler:Raiden and Solidus]].
*MagicBullets: Quite literally with some bosses.
*MagnificentBastard: Revolver Ocelot, [[spoiler:Big Boss]], [[spoiler:The Boss]], [[spoiler:Solidus and Liquid]], Hideo Kojima.
*TheManBehindTheMan: Like you wouldn't believe.
**[[spoiler:The Patriots could be more accurately described as the ''computer'' behind the man.]]
*ManlyTears: [[spoiler:In ''Snake Eater'', after Naked Snake is promoted to the rank of Big Boss, having killed his mentor, The Boss, he visits her grave, and salutes her one last time as a single tear roll down his cheek.]]
*MaskPower: Subverted with [[spoiler: Johnny Sasaki]].
*{{Memetic Mutation}}: It deserves it's own page.
*MemeticNumber: "I hear its amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hari Kiri Rock. ''I need scissors! '''61'''!"'' Said by [[spoiler:fake Colonel]].
* MedalOfDishonor: Awarded to Big Boss by the American government for murdering The Boss.
*MissionControl
*MindScrew: The last few hours of [[MGS2Ending [=MGS2=]]].
** Also anything involving Psycho Mantis and Screaming Mantis, who sometimes attacks [[NoFourthWall the ''player'']]. Screaming Mantis even can [[spoiler:fake the game resetting to the title screen]].
* MindScrewdriver: [=MGS4=], which makes sense out of pretty much everything in the second game.
*MinovskyParticle (in the form of a rather blatant shout-out).
*[[MobileShrubbery Mobile]]: [[strike:Shrubbery]] [[MobileShrubbery Cardboard Box]]
*MrExposition: Happens at the start of every game with the Colonel, Otacon, Major Zero, et cetera.
*MysteriousInformant
*{{Nanomachines}}: [[spoiler: Everything that happens? It's caused by these buggers in one way or another (with the possible exceptions of The Sarrow, Psycho Mantis, and Vulcan Raven)!]]
*NewGamePlus: You start out with goodies in games before [=MGS4=]. [=MGS4=], you get all your weapons and earned gear, plus goodies.
*NewMediaAreEvil: [[spoiler:The Patriot [=AIs=] in [=MGS2=] plans to take control of world media in order to "purify" it. How good or bad this is depends on you. Oh, and in [=MGS4=], they're also all for constant war.]]
*NightmareFuel: Show a video of The Sorrow to a soft-hearted person.
*NinjaButterfly: Your support crew in each game.
*NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The cover artwork of the original ''Metal Gear'' is blatantly traced from a well-known publicity still of Michael Biehn in ''{{Terminator}}'', while the character designs in the [=MSX2=] version of ''Metal Gear 2'' are clearly modified photographs of actual celebrities such as Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Tom Berenger, Richard Crenna, and Albert Einstein. In the cellphone and [=PS2=] ports of ''Metal Gear 2'', the character designs were rEVAmped to resemble Shinkawa's designs from the later ''MGS'' games.
*NoCommunitiesWereHarmed - In ''[=MGS4=]'', "Middle East" is somewhere in Maghreb (possibly Morocco, as seen in the credits), "Eastern Europe" is quite obviously Prague, Czech Republic and "South America" is somewhat less obviously Peru, but the countries are never named.
*NoFourthWall: One of the trademarks of the series. Characters explicitly describe the game's controls with a straight face; the CopyProtection involves a character asking you to look at the back of the game package; one of your [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Voices With An Internet Connection]] provides constant real-world advice on how to play your video game properly and healthily; a JackBauerInterrogationTechnique scene involves the resident MagnificentBastard warning you not to try to use autofire to beat the MiniGame; and ''everything'' involving Psycho Mantis, who used your save game content to "read your mind," the rumble feature on your controller to move it with "telekinesis," had a special move that caused your screen to turn black, and could only be defeated by unplugging your controller and plugging it into the second port (or by already having a second controller in the second port, and picking it up). And that's only what the first game does; the second, which explicitly aims to break the fourth wall, was [[MindScrew worse]].
** It got to the point of LampshadeHanging: during Act 4 of [=MGS4=], Otacon calls Snake and tells him to put in disc 2. Then he remembers that, because the game is on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc, there ''is'' no disc 2. (Snake tells Otacon to stop fooling around, while players freak out due to the exact location of this conversation.) Then, [[spoiler:when Psycho Mantis shows up ''again'', he tries to pull the same tricks. However, he can't read your memory since the PS3 doesn't ''have'' a memory card, and he can only make the controller vibrate if the player is using the Dualshock 3. And again in the previous boss fight, where the Colonel recommends using the same tricks against a different psychic boss, only to have them all shot down.]] Oh, and in ''Metal Gear AC!D2'', when General Wiseman explains bits of the COST and CARD system to Snake, "Agent" Dalton hears all of this and confusedly says, "That just went right over my head."
*NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Volgin to Snake in ''Snake Eater,'' and even worse, Ocelot to Snake in ''Guns of the Patriots.''
*NonLinearSequel: Has one of the most messy chronologies known to man - ''Metal Gear Solid Mobile'' is a good example. It seems to clearly fit in to the main timeline between ''[=MGS=]'' and ''[=MGS2=]'', but the game's ending apparently makes it CanonDiscontinuity..)
** Also, you might wonder why a lot of characters like to talk to you through the Codec screen rather than to your face or with Codec real-time. This is because time stands still during the process, [[NoFourthWall because it's a video game]], and [=MGS2=] went and injected {{Postmodernism}} through where the fourth wall was supposed to be, [[MindScrew which is why you're so confused right now]].
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup (subverted)
* NostalgiaLevel: The entire fourth act of [=MGS4=], plus at least one Nostalgia Boss Fight in act 5.
* NoticeThis
*{{Novelization}}
*NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Avoided in every game.
*OldSaveBonus: Almost!
* OminousSavePrompt: Two of them. In [=MGS2=], [[spoiler: immediately after being captured and brought onboard Arsenal Gear,]] and in [=MGS3=], [[spoiler: after taking a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from the BigBad]].
** [=MGS3=] actually kind of inverts it. [[spoiler:When fighting The End, Para-Medic]] says that she has a bad feeling about saving. If you save and reload the game, [[spoiler:The End sneaks up behind you and tranqs you in the head.]]
*OneBulletClips: (subverted and played straight. Portable Ops does this, and so does the R2-tapping strategy.)
*OnlySaneMan: Sigint seems to think everyone else on Fox Unit are nuts. He may be right.
*{{Our Vampires Are Different}}: Vamp apparently only drinks blood due to a neurosis, and [[spoiler: his running on water as well as straight up high walls is apparently due to wearing special footwear. Gets back into familiar territory with his {{Healing Factor}}; while nanomachines enhance it and allow him to revive from mortal wounds in seconds without a scratch, it's stated that he always had this trait to a lesser degree.]]
*PacifistRun: You receive a lower score at the end if you kill everything. Also, in [=MGS3=] and [=MGS4=], you get good bonus items from the bosses if you tranquilize them into submission instead of kill them. In [=MGS3=], [[spoiler:The Sorrow, a sub-boss that can't be killed, tries to kill you with guilt, sending the ghosts of your fallen (but not tranquilized) enemies stumbling towards you. The other bosses show up regardless of their ultimate demise, since even if you sedate them, they still use bombs to self-destruct.]] In ''[=MGS4=]'' [[spoiler:beating the Beast forms of the Beauty & the Beast Corps allows the player to acquire their statue (collect them and the FROG statue for the Solar Gun), and beating the Beauty forms allows the player to collect their FaceCamo]]. As before, some of the Emblems (ranks) require a certain amount of kills (less than or more than) to acquire; the Pigeon and Big Boss Emblems for example require no kills.
* ParrotExposition: David Hayter has joked in interviews that most of the dialogue he has to record consists of repeating the last couple words the other person said, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSJVSNhqa-s adding a question mark]] to it.
** {{Lampshaded}} in ''MetalGear AC!D2'', when Snake hears General Wiseman describe what [[BigBad Doctor Koppelthorn]] did hi-jack: Metal Gear.
---> ''Snake: Metal Gear?!''
---> ''Dalton: Huh? You're familiar with it?''
---> ''Snake: No. Had to blurt it out...''
*** Originally, the title for ParrotExposition was ''Metal Gearing''.
*PeripheryDemographic: It's rather odd that women like this series so much, considering it's basically a crazy action movie in video game form. Yes, even the [[HoYay strong male bonding]] is verbatim action movie.
*PetTheDog: Pointed out by Otacon in ''Metal Gear Solid'', when he believes Sniper Wolf isn't evil because she loves dogs. Snake doesn't like it.
*PlayingWithSyringes: Les Enfants Terribles, the experiments that made Gray Fox.
**Ironically in [=MGS4=], used by Old Snake to restore Psyche until his body builds up a tolerance ([[spoiler:in both gameplay and a cutscene near the end of the playable part of the game]]), as well as [[spoiler:to make Vamp mortal and to free himself and Meryl from Screaming Mantis' nanomachine control]].
*{{Powerwalk}}
*PlayerPunch: [[spoiler: E.E, The Boss...the list goes on.]]
*PsychoElectro: Volgin.
*QuirkyMinibossSquad: And ''how.''
*PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Slasher Hawk from the AlternateContinuity game ''Ghost Babel'' carries a pair of ''six-foot long, bladed, metal'' boomerangs, one of which has a aerodynamically improbable zigzag trajectory.
*RareGuns: You have D-Eagles (and the long-barreled version, which is widely available), muskets, the Bizon, Chinese copies of Mausers, DSR-9s, and so on.
*RecurringBoss: Vamp.
*RecycledScript: Several plot elements and set pieces used in ''MetalGear 2'' reappear in ''MetalGear Solid'', with no comment from anybody. ''MetalGear 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 Metal Gear 2 and the megahit status of ''Solid''.
*RedshirtArmy: The [=SEALs=] sent in to deliver the Nuclear Football in ''[=MGS2=]'' (to be fair, they're up against a vampire and an unkillable woman with a railgun), the US Army/Marine Corps task force in ''[=MGS4=]'' (though they later fend off a horde of FROG units).
*ReplacementScrappy: Raiden
*RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: If [[spoiler: Raiden's]] actions during the 4th game don't qualify him for this, then ''nothing will''.
* RetCon: And ''how!'' It came in time and time again to patch up the increasing number of PlotHoles, and ''what'' was [[spoiler:Big Boss]] up to again?
* ReverseMole: [[spoiler:Ocelot]] is arguably the true hero.
* ReVision: The MindScrew, BigBrother plot of [=MGS2=] is successfully disarmed and explained in [=MGS4=].
* RingOutBoss: Liquid Snake could only be defeated by being kicked off the ''MetalGear'' in one of the games.
* RockPaperScissors: Spoofed in one of [=MGS3=]'s Secret Theater segments
* {{Ruritania}}: The settings of the first two games are countries which don't exist.
*SayMyName: Every single ''MetalGearSolid'' has this, with both enemies and allies screaming "SNAAAAAAAAKKKEEEE!!!"
** The series' use of it is inverted near the end of ''Guns of the Patriots'' when the [[spoiler:Scarabs start piling on Snake:]] "OOOTACOOOOOOON!" Inverted both for Snake being the one to use it, and it being a genuinely tense and dramatic moment instead of meme-fuel.
** Snake screamed Otacon's name again earlier in ''Guns of the Patriots'' when [[spoiler:he got half of his face burned very badly.]]
** This almost qualifies as a CMOA during the final duel when [[spoiler:after Snake takes an absolutely brutal beating at the hands of Liquid Ocelot he turns the fight around by breaking his enemy's fingers. As Snake rises he screams his rival's name with a cry of rage and frustration, to be answered in kind as the camera spins.]] And they they really start beating the hell out of each other.
*ScareChord: '''[[color:#cc0000:!]]'''
*TheScrappy: Raiden, before his [[spoiler: cyborgification]]. Even in Japan, where the [[{{Bishonen}} pretty boys are liked a lot]], they hated him.
*SeeTheSailboat: The codec in 3.
*SequentialBoss
*ShirtlessScene: ''At least one per game.''
** ''MetalGearSolid'' had both Snakes shirtless when they fight: Liquid takes your shirt off before the fight for ''absolutely no reason''.
** ''MetalGearSolid 2'' had Raiden completely naked at one point.
** ''MetalGearSolid 3'' allows you take off all your clothes (except your pants, to Naked Snake's disappointment and SIGINT's anger/bemusement).
** ''MetalGearSolid 4'' had [[spoiler:Liquid Ocelot]] take his shirt off before his climactic duel with Snake.
*{{Shocking Swerve}}: [[spoiler: Liquid never came {{back from the dead}} and that Ocelot was using a combination of nanomachines and hypnotherapy to make himself think he was Liquid]].
*ShoutOut: Vietnam War-era jungle setting of the game aside, Snake of ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' is a shout-out to JamesBond AND [[{{Rambo}} John Rambo.]] The former is paid tribute to in the music of the alert phases, whereas the latter happens when Snake roars Sylvester Stallone's trademark battle-cry when firing an M60 machine gun. Solid 'Old' Snake '''also''' roars like this when firing the M60E4 in ''Guns of the Patriots'', signifying how much he has become like his father.
** There's many others as well. For example, Raiden's real name is Jack, and [[{{Titanic}} his girlfriend is named Rose]].
** Drebin and his "naked guns" is a shout out to a [[PoliceSquad rather unexpected franchise]].
** Of course, Hideo Kojima has shoutouts to his own work as well, with ''Policenaut'' posters and Snake can actually use the Gun De Sol from ''{{Boktai}}'' as a bonus weapon, the Solar Gun, [[spoiler:by acquiring the FROG statue and the B&B Corps statues, by defeating them (for the B&B Corps their Beast forms) all nonlethally]].
*** Metal Gear Mk. 2 originally appeared in Kojima's ''{{Snatcher}}''. Except that one was a reference to the original Metal Gear. A reference is even made to the "Metal Gear Menace" of the late 20th century.
** The freight ElEVAtor in [=MGS=] is a near exact duplicate of the one in ''{{Akira}}'',and even leads down to a sub-zero area.
** Solid Snake's name is a shoutout to Snake Plissken from ''EscapeFromNewYork''. The film is one of Kojima's favourites, and was a large influence on the series (particularly notable is the theme of [[spoiler:an uncaring government sacrificing heroes for minor or personal gain]]).
*ShroudedInMyth: It seems like everyone who meets Snake for the first time has some sort of MemeticBadass picture of him.
*SignLanguage: The Sorrow helps you out a couple times with this - at one point even holding up a ''digital countdown'' of when the C3 you've just planted is going to detonate. That's some impressive signage right there.
*SignificantBirthDate: Otacon's father was born on the day of the Hiroshima bombing.
*SinisterSilhouettes: Fox Hound in the first [=MGS=] game is first seen as this.
*SinisterSurveillance: Part of the Patriots' plans.
*SkippableBoss: [=MGS3=]'s The End - using two methods! [[spoiler:Either set the clock ahead so that he dies of old age, or snipe him when he appears in his wheelchair -- albeit the latter will lead to the boss fight areas being instead patrolled by 20 enemy soldiers.]] In [=MGS4=] there are no truly skippable bosses, but [[spoiler:any damage to her Life or Psyche that Raging Raven takes during the motorcycle chase sequence will carry over to the 'true' boss fight, so go fire on her with whichever bar of hers you wish to damage later]].
*TheSlowWalk: Gray Fox in the remake of [=MGS=].
*SnipingMission: Raiden must protect Emma this way in ''MetalGear Solid 2''. The battle with Sniper Wolf in ''MetalGear Solid'', The End in ''MetalGear Solid 3'', and Crying Wolf in ''MetalGear Solid 4''
*SoBadItsGood: The dialog.
*SoulBrotha: Drebin, the gun dealer in [=MGS4=]. SIGINT can also be considered one, but he's more nerdy...
*SpellMyNameWithAThe: The entire Cobra Unit from [=MGS3=].
* SpiderLimbs: Laughing Octopus and Solidus Snake.
* SpottingTheThread: The fact that the DARPA Chief refers to the terroist act as a revolution is a major hint that he might not be who he claims to be. Yet no one picks up on this, despite the fact that they know for a fact a master of disguise is among the Fox Hound renegades.
*SpyCatsuit: Ssubverted - only the MEN get them. And look damn [[FanService Fan Servicey]] in them, too.
** Don't forget the FROG ladies.
** [[spoiler: The Beauties get some ''very'' form fitting suits. When facing off against Raging Raven, after she sheds her suit and turns away, still quite insane, ''Snake stares at her butt''.]]
*StandBackHello: ''Who's there?!'' In addition, the Alert/Caution/EVAsion calls to HQ.
*StartOfDarkness: ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' and its sequel ''Portable Ops'' detail the events behind [[spoiler:Big Boss' transformation from a young, patriotic soldier into a war hero disillusioned with the modern world's treatment of soldiers.]]
*StealthBasedGame: TropeMaker.
*SuperlativeDubbing: David Hayter as Snake. That's saying something when you are competing with AkioOhtsuka.
*SupervillainLair: Shadow Moses, Gronzyj Grad, Arsenal Gear, Outer Haven (and its later incarnation), you name it...
*SympathyForTheDevil: Most villains in the series can be sympathized with to a certain extent. [[CompleteMonster Volgin]] averts this with extreme prejudice.
*TankGoodness: Vulcan Raven uses a tank during his first boss fight.
*TearJerker: The ending to the third game. The fourth game as well, but to a [[EarnYourHappyEnding lesser extent]]. There are probably no games that made more grown men cry so much.
*TemporalParadox: The game over screens for [=MGS3=], a prequel, showed the words 'TIME PARADOX' if the player waited at the game over screen too long.
*TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou - Ocelot from ''MetalGearSolid 3'' felt this way about Naked Snake.
*ThirtyXanatosPileup
*TimedMission: Parodied in [=MGS2=], when the Colonel doesn't end his speech when he's supposed to. Played straight with the bomb on the submarine in the Plant Chapter.
*TitleDrop: The terrorists in 2 are the Sons of Liberty, Snake's second mission in 3 is Operation Snake Eater, and Ocelot calls his master plan Guns of the Patriots. Metal Gear is first introduced this way in the first game.
*TookALevelInBadass: Raiden in the fourth game, and [[spoiler:Johnny at the very end]].
* {{Transplant}}: Very few people knew that Meryl Silverberg was originally from the Japan-only ''{{Policenauts}}'' (her fake tattoo is the logo from the team in that game), and a verison of Metal Gear Mk. II from ''Snatcher'' appears in the 4th game. However, they are very different verisons of those characters.
* TranslationConvention: "Your Russian is excellent."
** Though reversed almost immediately when Snake doesn't know what 'Shagohod' means and hears it in Russian, and accepts Sokolov's rather flowery translation of 'the treading behemoth' when it's more literally something along the lines of 'great step' or 'step-walker.' Which is ironic considering the Shagohod doesn't have legs like Metal Gear.
*** The player finds out about ''one scene later'' that Sokolov is a somewhat eccentric BunnyEarsLawyer. [[FanWank If Snake has any idea who he's rescuing, he knows that already]].
** It's also used to hand-wave the less than synchronized dubbing.
* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler:Liquid disguised as Master Miller in ''MetalGear Solid'', The Colonel/AI in ''MetalGear Solid 2'', The Boss in ''MetalGear Solid 3'', General Wiseman in Metal Gear AC!D2.]]
* TriggerHappy: Revolver Ocelot. "There's nothing like the feeling of slamming a long, silver bullet into a well greased chamber" indeed.
* TryEverything: The codec frequency, if you miss the hint.
*UnexpectedGenreChange: [[spoiler:The Shagohod chase in [=MGS3=] is an on-rails shooter, escaping from South America in ''MetalGear Solid 4'' mixes ZombieApocalypse and turret gunplay, there's more on-rails shooter stuff with EVA again in Eastern Europe (albeit you're limited to one-handed firearms), and finally, mecha combat in Shadow Moses - REX versus RAY. 'Nuff said.]]
** [[spoiler:And as if that wasn't enough, the final battle with Ocelot in [=MGS4=] is an arcade-style fighting game.]]
*UnusableEnemyEquipment: Though [=MGS2=] managed to partially subvert this by having one CODEC conversation that explained that the weapons had an ID system that recognized a specific person...it's odd though how they didn't explain this more directly. Also [[spoiler:FINALLY averted in [=MGS4=] by Snake getting a "hack" into the system... as a result, weapon pickups are a notable part of gameplay, and in Screaming Mantis's case it's necessary to pick up her Mantis Doll to defeat her]].
*{{Utsuge}}: A rare non-Bishoujo, non-dating-sim example. Anyone who does not cry at least ''once'' playing this series is not a human being.
*VaderBreath: Psycho Mantis from [=MGS=].
*VariableMix: Quite stunningly good in this instance.
*VideoGameCaringPotential: It's entirely possible (And [[OneHundredPercentCompletion encouraged]]) to beat Twin Snakes, 2 and 4 without killing a single enemy. 3 also falls into this, [[spoiler: as you are only required to kill a single enemy: The Boss]]. In fact, the fewer enemies you kill in 3, the easier time you will have with one of the miniboss fights.
*VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Lots of [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=48 awful things you can do to guards]]... although in ''[=MGS4=]'', [[spoiler:touch a FROG the wrong way, and ''she'' will fight back.]]
** It gets worse in ''Metal Gear AC!D2.'' Setting them on fire, throwing them off trains or into the path of trains, dropping things on them,
*VideoGameRemake: ''The Twin Snakes''
*ViewersAreGeniuses
*ViewerGenderConfusion: Meta example. The teaser site before E3 09 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 armour was. Turns out it was Raiden.
** A lot of people believed it was Sunny, due to the eyes and hair. Then again...
*VoiceOfTheLegion: The Beauty and Beast unit all speak with two voices overlapped, one female, one male - but only when they're in their suits.
*VoiceWithAnInternetConnection
*TheWarSequence: Raiden fights [[spoiler:up to twenty mass-produced Metal Gears in [=MGS2=].]]
*WarriorHeaven: Big Boss and Liquid Snake try to make this ideal ''on Earth'' by making the world into "Outer Heaven," a world where warriors will ''always'' be needed, honored and respected, although [[spoiler:in [=MGS4=], it appears that Big Boss' motive may have been to create a world free from the Patriots... that was certainly why Liquid Ocelot claimed to have had Outer Haven, at least]].
* [=~What The Hell, Player?~=]
*WhereIWasBornAndRazed (Psycho Mantis, and all of the B&B Corps)
*WhyWereBummedCommunismFell: Kicks off the Solid games (save for the 3rd game)
*WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: In MSG3 (Naked) Snake is given the order to meet with his contacts Adam and Eva. Eva goes so far to ask him if he has come to seduce her.
** In MSG4 an apple falls from (Old) Snakes pocket and rolls towards Eva, who picks it up. Later she hands the same apple to Adam (aka [[spoiler:Ocelot]]), who crushet it and throws it away.
*WithThisHerring: Justified as weapons and equipment being [=OSP=], On-Site Procured. In ''MetalGear Solid 3'', we learn that Big Boss' original codename, Naked Snake, is taken in part from this.
**In a neat twist on previous games' weapons progression, the first weapon pickup in ''[=MGS4=]'' is the [[spoiler:AK-102 assault rifle]] found right next to Old Snake after one of the first cutscenes, and it's the [[spoiler:Mk.II suppressed tranquilizer pistol and suppressable lethal Operator pistol]] which are received next, instead of the other way around as in the past. It's markedly inferior though to the M4 Custom which you pick up not long after [[spoiler:the pistols]].
* Woobie: Nine tenths of the major characters in the series. Where do we start?
** Big Boss
** The Boss
** Solid Snake
** Raiden
** The entire B&B Corps (try listening to their bios and tell me you aren't prepared to forgive them for being murdering psycho nutcases...)
** Otacon
*XanatosFuneral: [[spoiler:The Boss.]]
*YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler: Naked Snake gains the title of "Boss" (or rather, Big Boss), after killing The Boss (though this ''probably'' isn't the standard procedure for the promotion).]]
*YouShouldKnowThisAlready: [[spoiler:Big Boss is the terrorist leader in the first game, Big Boss is still alive in the second game, Naked Snake is Big Boss, Solid Snake is his clone.]]
*YouMonster: EVA says this to Volgin [[spoiler:during his torture of Sokolov]].
* YoungGun: Major Ocelot in ''Metal Gear Solid 3''.
* [[WMG/MetalGear Wild Mass Guessing]]: Worth mentioning because some of the WMG theories are ''less'' crazy than what's canon.
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