History Headscratchers / MetalGearsolidVThePhantomPain

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* In Mission 18 "Blood Runs Deep", Miller wants you to eliminate the prisoners so they don't talk about... well, anything about Diamond Dogs. As soon as Big Boss discovers that the prisoners are children, why does Miller act like it's okay to follow through with the execution (if we can assume Miller knew that Snake wasn't going to kill the kids anyway)? How did he even know that these kids in particular were the prisoners that had information about D.Ds and yet not know who they were in the first place?
* Why does Quiet shoot you if you use the anime Paz cardboard box?
** Is this during or after her boss battle?
** After the boss fight. I just tried using the box to fool some mooks, then she shot me for God knows why.
** Quiet likes the Big Boss. Quiet sees Big Boss using a box bearing the image of another girl he knows. Quiet gets angry and jealous, can't say a thing, instead shoots Big Boss. It's supposed to be a silly detail, nothing more.
** (Original Poster) I don't mind, I think it's pretty funny. I just wish I had known that before trying to capture those A+ mooks.
* Why does Skull face wears a domino mask? To protect his identity, so nobody could discern a man with most his face burned down like a skull from another?
** To hide the fact that [[spoiler: he too is infected with the parasite, which manifests itself as dark patches around the eyes - like Quiet's. That it fits his cowboy theme is probably a plus]].
* Is it ever explained why in TPP The Eye and The Finger have reversed roles? In Ground Zeroes the black guy was the Eye and the white guy was The Finger. In TPP they are the opposite.
** I haven't played it in a while, but doesn't Kaz suggest that they alternate between the roles with one playing spotter and one playing shooter?
** That's how Marine scout sniper teams operated in Vietnam (and today). You have a two-man team who alternate being the sniper and the spotter, equally adept at both roles, who're supposed to trade off at set periods.
*** So it's more a case of them switching handles/codenames between operations, in addition to them trading roles.
*** Or, the handle/codename is associated with the role, not the person. So if it were real life, radioing for 'The Eye' will always get you the spotter, no matter which one that happens to be.
* At the beginning of the game, the assassin throws her knife at Ishmael and it hits him in the shoulder. He just [[WorstAid yanks it out]] and carries on as usual. The weird thing is there is no blood on him, and getting freaking stabbed in the shoulder doesn't slow him down at all. Minutes later, he gets torched by the Man on Fire and even though he puts it out quickly, his flimsy hospital gown has absolutely no damage on it. Later on, when the attack helicopter opens fire on your ambulance, Ishmael suddenly falls unconscious at the wheel, but there's no blood on him so he didn't take a bullet. What's going on here?
** Isn't it obvious? We're talking about someone that went through all of [[spoiler: Operation Snake Eater]] and all the damage and injury that entailed, he just [[spoiler: used the Cure menu.]]
* By the end of the game, it is revealed that Ishmael is [[spoiler:actually the real Big Boss]]. That's all fine and dandy, but if you look closely during the hospital sequence you'll notice [[spoiler: Big Boss is clean shaven whilst disguised as Ishmael]]. How is it possible that only minutes later [[spoiler: Big Boss suddenly has his trademark beard again when secretly meeting up with Ocelot?]]
** [[spoiler: Either Ahab is so out of it he can't see the beard, or the bandages are in fact an entire mask like the one Hideo was wearing to officially announce the game.]]
** [[spoiler: Not only does Ishmael lack a beard, he also has both of his eyes uncovered and seemingly undamaged. Either Big Boss had his eyes covered for the escape in a mask, or Ishmael isn't actually Big Boss.]]
*** [[spoiler: maybe he had the damaged eye replaced with a cosmetic prosthesis during the timeskip? its an Option for DD, so its not completely out of the question, and would help in blending in.]]
** This troper likes to believe the answer is a combination of Venom's hallucinations caused by his head injury and [[spoiler: the hypnosis he was subject to during his coma to convince himself he is the real Big Boss. He is hallucinating a generic, two-eyed, bald-faced man concealed by bandages while likely also thinking "This Big Boss-class soldier can't possibly be Big Boss, because I am Big Boss"]], further reinforcing the validity of his hallucinations.
** He was [[spoiler: subject to hypnosis severe enough to more or less destroy his memory of himself]]. A further [[spoiler: hypnotic suggestion implanted to distort the appearance of Big Boss (to protect the illusion in case he even sees him by mistake)]] doesn't seem like much of a stretch, especially coupled with the hallucinations mentioned above.
* In the prologue, why doesn't Ishmael just carry Ahab? And the dialogue about actual button controls just kills immersion.
** That would probably be a good way to get them both killed, and your opinion about immersion isn't really a headscratcher.[[note]]This is a series where a character will point to their bandana and explain that they have infinite ammo, talking about buttons on the controller is pretty tame in comparison. [[/note]]
** Ishmael is spending that time checking corners to make sure it's safe to move. Likewise the only way you'll both escape is if you're strong enough to move on your own which might take longer to happen if he's carrying you.
** There's also the fact that [[spoiler:Punished Snake has to believe that he's Big Boss, and by extension the player does.]] Would Big Boss let himself be carried by someone else? No, of course not. [[spoiler:If Punished Snake let himself be carried, he might realise it's something the real Big Boss wouldn't do, break the hypnotising, and the entire plan would fail.]]
** Fourth-wall breaking dialogue has been around since at least the first Metal Gear Solid.[[note]]e.g. "Press the Action button to climb the ladder" or "Can you see where his number of remaining bullets is displayed on the screen?"[[/note]] If anything, trying to avoid it at this point would be worse, because it wouldn't fit with the rest of the series.
* Why are the soldiers in the prologue so stupid? Seriously, they can't see two non-blood soaked men among piles of others, let alone while they are actually moving around under beds? Even Quiet makes some stupid moves for the sake of the plot.
** They likely just assumed the bullet wounds didn't fully penetrate at that range. Super Best Friends also brought up the point that when the two groups are double tapping corpses, they meet up when they both reach you and give each other thumbs up. They very likely could have both assumed that the other group already checked the center.
*** So it's a coincidence that both groups closing in on both Ismael and Ahab assumed the other group checked that they were all dead (even though they can clearly see that no blood is on either of them)?
*** Pretty much, if you rewatch the scene you can see that they both reach you at the same time, then give each other a thumbs up. They're both saying "My side's all clear" and they're both assuming that that includes the both of you. Though I'd say the point that Ahab clearly can't stop moving is even more jarring than the lack of blood.
** Okay, the hallway of dead bodies part is explained, but what about parts where Ahab and Ishamel are under the beds? Did the solders seriously not see them, or did they just assume our protagonists were dead? Didn't stop them from double-tapping other victims before, though.
*** They're wearing full-face gas masks, which doesn't give a lot of peripheral vision.
* During the game we learn that a certain psychic child is [[spoiler: able to control Sahelanthropus]] with his powers. If the psychic child is in fact the same character as Mantis from Metal Gear Solid 1 (as we are led to believe), why did he not utilise his abilities to control REX at Shadow Moses? Even if Mantis was dead by the time Ocelot and Liquid manipulate Solid Snake into activating it for them, the entire premise of their plan was ALREADY based upon relying on Solid to activate REX. Why rely on an elaborate gambit roulette when you already have someone with such a convinient ability on your side? To add to the confusion, Liquid already knows of ([[spoiler:and has already taken advantage of]]) Mantis's said abilities. Unless it's explained why Mantis is not using this ability by the time of the Shadow Moses incident, Kojima has inadvertantly punched a gaping plot hole into the narrative of MGS 1.
** Foxhound were all manipulated into their role during Shadow Moses at the behest of Ocelot, ostensibly doing it for George Sears/Solidus Snake, supposedly really doing it for the Patriots, but actually doing it to clean up shop and take down the Patriots. Given Foxhound's medical staff included Naomi 'I'm going to alter your nanomachines to kill you' Hunter and resulted in a project like that of the Cyborg Ninja, maybe Foxhound underwent extensive therapy/manipulation to limit the damage they would cause.
** REX also is fully designed to use a cockpit with a pilot while [[spoiler:Sahelanthropus had AI functions with the cockpit as a secondary feature. You could infer that Mantis was able to control it through the mind like AI but couldn't control REX's more manual systems easily.]]
** The dialogue between [[spoiler: Huey and Skull Face]] seemed to imply that it was specifically designed to be controlled that way. Note how much [[spoiler: Huey]] protests about the lack of control options and Skull Face just blows him off. It seems the cockpit was designed to be secondary.
* So, at the beginning of the MGSV trailer with "Not Your Kind Of People", there's a bit where we see Big Boss go into a coma with Miller next to him. As the doctors fail to completely resuscitate him, Miller (obviously in despair) glances at the camera (i.e. us) and says "What about him?", and the doctors all begin to look towards the viewer's direction. Was that scene supposed to be from the point of view of a character? Because the rest of trailer has similar scenes, but those are from the point of view of Big Boss himself.
** It's probably Ishmael's point of view, considering he says he'd been watching Big Boss for his whole comatose period.
** According to Hideo himself, it's Hideo himself. Since it's easy enough to recruit in Peace Walker he's no doubt on Mother Base during XOF's assault, and you can bet that Kaz and Snake are going to be rescuing the god of their world. Now to be a bit more serious here, both Ishmael and Big Boss share the same VO (Kiether Sutherland), so he might actually be a hallucination. I hate to be that guy but this isn't technically a headscratcher since the answer will be obvious once the game comes out (unless it's not).
** In actuality, it's [[spoiler: the Medic from Ground Zeroes. This sequence is part of the "Truth: The Man Who Sold The World" flashback/true ending, and explains why the Medic was transformed into Big Boss at the beginning of ''Phantom Pain'']].
* Can somebody please set the record straight on the whole Creator/DavidHayter deal? Some sources aren't clear, one says he took it poorly and lashed out at Konami; another says he took it with good humor; and another says he's acting suspicious about it (leading to some to theorize that it's all a troll).
** Hayter actually tweeted ''before'' the reveal of Sutherland as the new Big Boss voice, joking that he hoped he didn't ''lose his voice''. Therefore, once has to imagine that any surprise he's expressed over losing the Big Boss role must be taken with a pinch of salt. Plus, the ''New Coke'' references seem to suggest that he, Kojima, and presumably Sutherland are in on something that we're not, right now. At this point, could anyone really see Kojima letting go of Hayter, either?
** There really is no way to set the record straight since the only two people who would know for sure are Kojima and Hayter.
** Apparently his "bridge-burning attack" on Konami is that he threatened not to buy MGSV; which sounds rather silly for a threat. Even if he's not going to be in the game, it's most likely he's not bitter about it at all. Which is good.
** At any rate, at this point it's pretty safe to say that we're not going to know for sure if he's in the game or not until it actually comes out.
** Kind of hard to imagine that Kojima wouldn't be willing to let Hayter go, since his most recent MGS works (Peace Walker and the two digital graphic novels) weren't really met with a lot of positive criticism, yeah sure the game was fine and the novels were decent enough, but it was Hayter's voice that made all three a joke for a lot of people, and even Hayter himself said that that's the only Snake voice he's able to do (which is clear by the digital graphic novels since they're supposed to be [=MGS1=]/2 era Snake yet he's speaking with his Peace Walker era voice) so it's pretty much time to let someone else have a go at it, though IMO, Big Boss should've had his own voice actor from the start.
*** I've never actually heard anyone having much of an issue with Snake's voice in Peace Walker (quite the opposite, in fact; Hayter seems to have toned down the Snake's slight dumbass tendencies) and [=MGS4=] shows that he's not wholly inflexible.
*** Were you around when Peace Walker came out? Because his voice was one of the main complaints people had with it. If not then it's not a surprise you've never heard of people having an issue with it, quite a few people who did have an issue with it ended up backpedaling the second it was announced that Hayter wouldn't be voicing Big Boss anymore to the point where they outright denied having any sort of negative criticism of his Peace Walker performance. Make no mistake, a lot of the people saying his performance in Peace Walker was great are only doing so because he's no longer voicing Big Boss. It's the same situation with Resident Evil Code Veronica, first it was outright hated by a lot of people, now it's praised as being "The last great true RE game." by those very same people. And think about it, if Hayter was still Big Boss's voice actor, would any of the Big Boss body double theories exist? No because 99.9% of them exist because of the fact Hayter is no longer voicing him, nobody would've thought twice about Hayter voicing both Big Boss and Ishmael but with Sutherland doing it, all of a sudden there's a body double conspiracy going on with one of them being Decoy Octopus and the real Big Boss coming in later voiced by Hayter. (which wouldn't make any sense since Octopus copies everything up to and including the voice, so even if he was body doubling Big Boss, the real one would still be voiced by Sutherland) And how did [=MGS4=] show he wasn't completely inflexible? All he really did was reuse his [=MGS3=] voice and added a more phlegm in throat sound, which isn't exactly that difficult to do even for someone who's not a voice actor. To tell the truth a lot of people play up Hayter's abilities as a voice actor simply because "He voices the main playable character so he's got to be great right?" when he's really not all that great of a voice actor at all, especially compared to every other member of the cast, in a franchise full of A-list voice actors, Hayter was the black sheep.
*** The black sheep that somehow still stayed on the boat ride for this long. Especially noteworthy seeing as how most (like 99%) of [=VAs=] for [=PS1=]-era games are replaced by the time they reach the next generation. Also, if David was never really that good, then a lot of people must of had low standards during the [=PS2=] and [=PS3=] era, because I am sure there are people who legitimately thought David is really good at what he did, at least for MGS 3 and 4, where he clearly gave his full effort and had more experience since the OG MGS. I don't know, I just think David is a pretty good VA (at least for his most well known role), and maybe I'm crazy. Though his MGS PW work was more ehh.
** Hayter and Kojima are well known for tricking and pranking their fanbase, both for good humor and to keep people off guard for whatever twists and plans they have. While no one can obviously tell you what to expect, go in with the assumption Hayter is still involved somehow, and we will see him again.
*** This does appear increasingly unlikely given a recent interview where an aggravated Hayter declared Kojima ''"could go fuck himself"'' over what has happened with the game. He even goes as far as to state that he hopes the removal of Kojima from Konami's board of directors will result in him getting further work in their announced Metal Gear follow-ups after MGSV. Hayter also denied that the discovered sound clips in Ground Zeroes that ''seem'' to be his voice are something he knows nothing about. So either Hayter and Kojima are pulling no punches here in playing the trolling game, or he's definitely not involved.
*** Link please?
*** The interview can be found detailed [[http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=20415 here]]; while the part with Hayter stating Kojima 'can go fuck himself' is suggested to be joking, Hayter makes it clear that he had no involvement with MGSV and that he hopes he'll get more work now Kojima is gone; sure hope he likes ''pachinko''.
*** After reading through David's twitter (David seems to be trying to start a #PerformanceMatters campaign thing and referenced how Birdman felt too close to home for him the first time he saw it), I think this whole Konami "no more AAA" games thing can probably cause 1 or 2 things to happen to David. 1, he has a CreatorBreakdown in some form, knowing that he's only known as Snake, and will probably never will be Snake again. Or 2, he moves on from Metal Gear, knowing that he's probably done with the role for good, but takes it with stride. Whether he's successful with #PerformanceMatters is up in the air really. But a different question, how major is the animosity between David and Kojima, if there is any at all (and really, there seems to be some level of animosity)?

* During the Extra Ops missions (Deja Vu or Jamais Vu) you find titles of other Metal Gear games, and a rifle with a light that removes the paint. What does it mean!? What's it all for!?
** Um, it's an EasterEgg? I fail to see how this is a headscratcher.
* Why exactly did they go through the trouble of removing Paz's organs when they placed the bomb in her? Was it to hasten her death or would there simply not be room for it otherwise? And if so, why not just put a smaller bomb inside her? Deliberate cruelty?
** Yes, yes, and yes.
*** So what about [[spoiler: the additional one in her anus or vagina? That one couldn't possibly have been as big as the one in her stomach.]] Why not just go with that plan from the start? Skull Face notes it likely wouldn't be noticed, and he was right.
*** A double-blind. They don't find the stomach bomb, it goes off, kills Snake, mission accomplished. Snake finds first bomb, most likely assumes that's that and doesn't look for second bomb, which goes off, mission also accomplished. Hell, he probably intended the first bomb to be discovered, since it even has a peace symbol on it, mocking whoever found it.

* The XOF patches. Why dump them around the place where they can be found if you're appearing to be a black ops unit that doesn't exist?
** It's subtle, but there's some GameplayAndStorySegregation there - the cutscene where they're released shows the patches flying in roughly the same direction, falling into the ocean near the cliff Big Boss climbs. Their status as collectibles doesn't seem to tie in to the story - Miller even lampshades it the first few times you pick one up, berating Snake for not focusing on the mission. Alternatively, it could be GameplayAndStoryIntegration as part of Skull Face's mysterious XanatosGambit involving Big Boss and Chiper.
*** Well to be fair to Skull Face they were headed off to go destroy Mother Base, those patches having a resemblance to Big Boss's old unit would tip them off that something strange was about to happen. But of course that would raise an even bigger question of why a completely unofficial unit would even have identifying tags to begin with, especially if they don't want to hold onto them. One would want to assume that Skull Face dropped them off in his '''own facility''' so that Big Boss would find them, and that perhaps Big Boss finding and holding onto them has some significance.

* Chico has screws drilled into his heels to prevent him from walking, but he later manages to walk around on the helicopter. Unless, of course the medic on board managed to fix him up.
** He's clearly still struggling to stand up and walk around, as evidenced by Snake having to carry him around.
*** He also looks way smaller than he is in those instances, suggesting that he is walking on his knees.
*** The above troper is correct; on several scenes you do see him on his knees, and the way he moves around is consistent with that.

* What is the emphasis on some of these missions being "top secret"? It even gets to the point that in a few of them Kaz points out that stealth should be emphasized because it's a "top secret black op". But why? Unless Big Boss still works for the US Government they have no one to report to or answer to, so why do they need to keep things quiet? In fact since they're an unofficial unit no one would even know where to come looking for them if they were to be noticed in a mission.
** The undercover operative mission is stated to have been given to MSF by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff who Big Boss spoke with at the end of ''Peace Walker'' and that the MSF got a few U.S. government contracts thanks to preventing the nuclear launch. Since he's ordering Snake into a base staffed by U.S. Marines, it's understandable that he'd want as few of them killed as possible.
** Big Boss is still wearing two patches (MSF and FOX) that would identify exactly who he is, and while MSF is an independent organisation infiltrating a military base would put you on the top of the U.S. military's shit list.
** There's also the fact that the main mission and a few of the side ops are rescue missions. You never know what the enemy will do to any of the prisoners at the first sign of trouble in any situation. They have to go in thinking that if they are detected, their target will be killed. For gameplay reasons they aren't, but it can be easily seen once you rescue Paz. On one playthrough I was out of ammo for my sidearm and carrying her, so I was trying to run and what did they do? Instead of shooting me they shot her and mission failed. Even answering to no one, and even if the operative is a legendary soldier who can handle himself, none of that matters if the very reason you went on a mission in the first place is eliminated because that's morale breaker, a time waster, and a waste of resources. Stealth is best in these situations and the "top secret" part is just to help nail it in since it rarely shows up in gameplay.

* Has there ever been a justified reason as to why Big Boss has his knife back instead of the stun rod?
** Might boil down to censorship issues. Peace Walker was ''heavily'' bowdlerized in Japan because it was on a handheld ([[InsaneTrollLogic and thus]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids "for kids"]]) - most notably changing the electric torture scene to Snake ''being tickled with "laughing rods"'' - and some of those censors made it into international releases as well. It's possible that the stun rod was one of those censors, and that for all intents and purposes, Snake has been using a knife (or knife-like object) all along.
** Personally, the whole use of the stun rod to begin with was a headscratcher for me, as in ''Snake Eater'' (and even, to a lesser extent, ''Portable Ops''), the knife was integral to CQC (to the point where you couldn't use CQC when captured due to not having a knife). Going back to the knife makes a lot more sense especially when threatening someone with a stun rod in the same way as with a knife by use of the game mechanics, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard as it's a good way to electrocute yourself as well]].

* Regarding the CQC, would some of the slams Big Boss uses really be that effective in knocking an opponent out? I know slams and suplexes can be very incapacitating due to internal injuries to the brain and other organs. But a lot Big Boss's CQC take-downs resemble either particularly forceful tripping/sweeping maneuvers or even shoves. While I can buy these incapacitating an opponent in a "too injured/in pain to fight effectively" kind of way, I can't really see them knocking an opponent unconscious so that he is unable to call or radio for help, particularly as many of these attacks don't even seem to target the opponents head.
** The wind could be knocked out of them, temporarily cutting off oxygen to the brain, knocking them out. Big Boss is probably well aware how to do this reliably without damaging the head, thus reducing the risk of brain damage from blunt force trauma.
** Taking them out via CQC throws doesn't put them down for that long all things considered, so it's less them being knocked out and more they're knocked silly and unable to move until they regain their senses. That doesn't explain why they go completely still, but it would explain why some they're unable to take any kind of action.

* The whole "No anaesthetic surgery" scene could have been avoided if Big Boss just put a tranq round in Paz's head before the medic operated on her. Unless, canonically Big Boss used up all his tranq rounds during the mission.
** GameplayAndStorySegregation. Tranq rounds would not work like a magic "light's off" switch and you'd have to factor in things like Paz being smaller than the guards, being in worse health, and a whole heap of other things that make a soldier trying to play medic a terrible, terrible idea. Plus tranquilisers and anasthetics are not interchangeable, any medic worth his salt would see Big Boss pulling out his gun and immeditely get in the way and tell him what a stupid idea that is. And to add some FridgeHorror to it all if she had been Tranqed then she would have never regained consciousness before the bomb went off, killing Big Boss and ending the entire series.
** It strikes me as silly though that the medic would say that there was no time for anesthetic. Yes, the bomb could go off at any time, but field anesthetic is designed to be applied very rapidly and in an idiot-proof manner: small squeezable tubes of morphine (or similar pain-mitigating medical opiate) with a hypodermic needle on the end. The medic had forceps, suture, and other tools, they almost certainly had some drugs with them. The few seconds it takes to apply the anesthetic would seem to be a good trade off to prevent the patient thrashing when [[BombDisposal trying to remove something that could be set to explode if not delicately handled]]...
*** Even so, it wasn't worth the risk, and it's not like every chopper comes prepared with idiot-proof morphine injectors.
*** A medical graduate analyzes it [[https://www.reddit.com/r/metalgearsolid/comments/23byb2/a_thought_on_the_no_time_for_anesthetic_logic/ here]] and explains how they simply did not have a proper setup for applying an IV anesthesia, and that an inhaled anesthetic is impractical on a helicopter. As for tranquilizers, feasabilty and safety would depend on what type of tranquilizer Snake was using. Since a tranquilizer does not relieve pain or relax muscles, the combination of certain tranquilizers and the invasive surgery could send her body into severe shock. Plus, she likely already had tranquilizers and other compounds in her system, and there could be dangerous dosage issues because of that.

* A dumb/minor one. What would Raiden do with/need the XOF patches for?
** He knows how the FOX/XOF showdown ends and goes down in history, so he's looking to grab some historic merchandise and then sell them for massive profits in his own time.

* Okay, I was rewatching the trailers a couple of minutes ago, and I'm still baffled with the horn/rock on the side of Big Boss' forehead. What the flying fuck is it doing there? And why won't he take it out?
** It's ''shrapnel'', presumably from the helicopter we see incoming immediately in Ground Zeroes' ending or from the subsequent crash which will presumably be part of Phantom Pain's prologue. Chances are it can't be removed without damaging his skull further - although it's clearly removed by the time of Metal Gear/Metal Gear 2 - and it's stated that the shrapnel has essentially contributed to the bag-of-spilling nature of Big Boss losing some of his skills, particularly that of ''language'', implying it could have caused brain damage.
** Oh, so it's shrapnel. Is it also meant to symbolize Big Boss' descent into darkness? Considering that, at some angle, the really do resemble Devil horns.
*** '''"Kaz... I'm ''already'' a demon."''' along with those shots of Big Boss doused in blood and looking like he's spewing smoke in the 'Nuclear' trailer are your answer. So.. Yeah, pretty much. However much you consider Big Boss to be the lesser of two evils when he - much like his own children - has been prodded into the role he occupies is a real YMMV, but.. Absolutely. This game ends with Big Boss as the VillainProtagonist, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a neat CallForward to the Outer Heaven of the 90's, complete with old, white-haired, trench-coated Big Boss, for he epilogue.
** At the beginning of the game the doctor intends to provide plastic surgery for Big Boss for him to look like a different person. Now that would have to involve at least shaving down the shrapnel enough for it to not protrude since changing his face would be pointless with such an obvious distinguishing mark. So obviously they can take care of that shrapnel safely. Now the question is, why haven't they done that at any point during the previous nine years?
* I know the issue of Big Boss being a villain is a contentious issue among fans, but as far as the ambiguity goes why is MGS V being cited as an example? About the only morally ambiguous thing I see Big Boss doing in the game is the torture of people he wants information from. Wanting revenge by itself can't be why he's seen as evil, because losing 9 years of his life, his left arm, and the lives of his soldiers should be a perfectly valid reason for hunting down the bastards who did that to him; I'd challenge anyone to not want justice after having that done to them. And if it's the methods he uses to achieve that aim, then what method does he use to get revenge on Cipher and XOF that is so unforgivable? If we're talking serious war crimes of the kind you'd equate with Stalin and Hitler, I honestly cannot imagine Big Boss doing that; sorry, even at his worst, I can't see him acting like that. And more to the point, if his pragmatic cruelty to defeat an even greater evil is wrong on all levels, what '''should''' Big Boss have done?
** You have to consider how far is acceptable or right to go in terms of pursuing revenge. We ''know'' one of Kojima's reference points is Moby Dick, which at it's core is the story of a life consumed by revenge. So YMMV heavily on how far is acceptable for Big Boss to go in pursuit of revenge, but one of the key ideas of Metal Gear seems to be that revenge is wrongheaded and foolish - be it through the example provided by the Boss, who goes to her grave to save the world and never considers revenge against those who wronged her, or Solid Snake; Snake, while bitter, increasingly old and dealt a worse hand than Big Boss himself, never pursues self interest or revenge, and pushes himself to the breaking point not for his ideology or anyone else's, but to save the world and give them choice and freedom. Big Boss establishes Outer Heaven as a rejection of the control of the Patriots, and his old mentor's ideology of pacifism - and partly because he thinks she rejected ''him''. There's a difference between the pursuit of justice against those who have wronged you, and a man who becomes the same evil as his enemies - which must happen, and that we haven't seen yet, as Big Boss needs to become the embittered old man who endorses the use of child soldiers as per Metal Gear 2.
* How can Skull Face quote Big Boss so readily? It's one thing to have a general psyche profile of an agent, and even to have a brief overview of the mission they went on, but to have specific quotes of what the man said would require pin point accuracy on his spies/double agents. Most troubling of all is the quotes that Big Boss directed to Chico, said in a shack isolated in the middle of the wilderness with no one else around for miles. Only two people on Earth could possibly have heard Big Boss say those words, Chico and Big Boss himself. How the hell does Skull Face know?
** You've answered your own question. While not tortured as thoroughly or horribly as Paz - just about - Skull Face still tortured Chico extensively... And Chico, as per Peace Walker, has a habit of caving in and talking under pressure. ''That's'' why he was so afraid of Big Boss when he's approached in his cage - he thinks Big Boss is there to kill him because he's essentially betrayed that second life Big Boss gave him in that shack in Costa Rica. So Chico spilled - just like Paz did, as per the finale of Ground Zeroes.
*** But what about the Extra Ops missions? In one of them Big Boss can extract a Mother Base POW, and he talks about how Cipher's multi-national spy ring interrogated him but never broke him; however Skull Face was the only one who came close to breaking him because he quoted Big Boss's words to him. Chronologically those Extra Ops missions take place BEFORE Ground Zeroes. Or are they not meant to be canon?
*** I think the Extra Ops missions have to be approached with a grain of salt (much like some of the missions in Peace Walker, where canon was debatable for a number of missions), given they involve repeated assaults and infiltrations of the same base over and over, which would make the mission of finding Chico and Paz impossible. I'm also pretty sure Skull Face had Chico for a prolonged period, meaning he could have gotten what he needed out of Chico and then continued interrogating other POW's. Again, he was clearly done with Chico after a point, and Skull Face's final visit to his cage before leaving was basically one final turning of the screw to make him think Paz was dead. So.. Yeah. Either the approach is 'non-canon' or 'Skull Face was performing multiple interrogations at once'.
*** They're outright stated to be "Pseudo-Historical Recreations", making them BroadStrokes. Some of them may have happened in different locations or had different outcomes.
*** Furthermore, Chico is just a kid who has had zero training to resist torture, let alone torture. There's a whole order of difference between a scared kid in over his head, and an adult MSF operative who's a lot more prepared for interrogation and torture.
** ''The Phantom Pain'' explains that Skull Face has such in depth knowledge of Big Boss because [[spoiler:XOF used to be a covert support unit for FOX, so Skull Face was basically Big Boss' shadow for years.]]
* In the E3 trailer, we see a woman who appears to be Paz. Assuming that ''really is Paz'', how is she still alive, or specifically, how the fuck did she survive the end of Ground Zeroes, you know, considering that a bomb blew up inside her body?
** Not sure this should even be on here since this is a question that can be answered by the game.
** The game reveals [[spoiler:that she's just a hallucination.]]
* Why do the Diamond Dogs need to recruit a Russian translator when Ocelot was already an officer in Spetsnaz?
** Word of {{Website/Giantbomb}} says the game has Ocelot explaining the special skills needed to be an interpreter and that he doesn't have them. The difference between an interpreter and translator is the big distinction here. Ocelot could probably translate Russian to English roughly but they need someone who can convey the right nuances.
** Because being a translator is a full-time role and Ocelot has other duties to perform for Diamond Dogs.
** Considering that he's on the other end of the radio to offer advice, surely he could translate while he's there.
*** Even a professional translator needs to be very concentrated to do a real-time translation of a restrained and potentially confused person. Ocelot, being busy giving Snake advice, training men and maybe, even, doing paperwork, probably doesn't have the time to translate what every single soldier Snake interrogates on the field says.
** Fluency in the language does not automatically mean one is a good interpreter. An interpreter needs to be an expert in multiple languages and be able to do context sensitive translations: for example, in Malaysia, trying to order cold water with "air sejuk" (cold water) gets you blank looks, you need to order "ais kosong" (empty ice). "Air sejuk" is the "correct" translation, but it's not the term used locally.
** Ocelot confirms from the very first mission in Afghanistan that while he ''speaks'' Russian, there's a major difference between speaking it and acting as an interpreter for another person.
** For the same reason that speaking english doesn't automatically makes a person qualified to teach english. As someone who speaks 2 languages (Spanish and English) this troper can verify that being fluent in a language doesn't qualify you to act as translator. Translating for yourself is easy, translating for someone else in real time is most certainly not. Ocelot speaks russian, fair enough, but he's never had the training or practice or experience required to act as an interpreter and translator in real time. He could easily translate a document in russian for Big Boss without breaking a sweat, but translating a conversation happening right now is a much taller order. Notice how when you're securing a translator, the game makes a point to refer to them as ''language specialists'' as opposed to just a soldier that happens to speak 2 languages. They're not the same thing.
* Coming from a series of games featuring, in no particular order, a psychic s&m adept, a bisexual vampire flamenco dancer, and more recently, a François Hollande lookalike who hulk out to fight a cyborg ninja, you'd think I'd be a little more accepting of weird stuff just happening in this installment.
** But how the fuck did Paz manage to stand up and make a few steps to perform her heroic sacrifice?
*** First she fall into the ocean, from quite high I may add, stay for, what, hours, days? Following that she's hauled to the club med from hell, get the living shit tortured out of her literally mentally and physically for days, by a guy who is pretty much the anthropomorphic personification of torture in its purest form. Seriously, Skullface make Ocelot look like Fluttershy in comparison. While said torture is going on, a good chunk of her vital organs are removed, to make place for a decoy bomb ya see, and she's stitched close with something that a drunk veterinarian wouldn't manage if he tried to, and then she's reopened without anesthetic in a hurry to remove said decoy bomb. It's a major miracle she didn't die halfway trough that ordeal, never mind how she also survived being carried by Snake like a sack of rotten potatoes. Her abdomen, by this point, could not have been more fucked up if she had catch an anti tank rocket with her belly, never mind the rest of her body. And after all of that, she literally bolt upright faster than most people can manage after a good night sleep. Shit, she even makes Liquid "indestructible" Snake look like a pansy who died of a paper cut.
* How is the OldSaveBonus from ''Ground Zeroes'' going to work in ''The Phantom Pain'' if Mother Base is destroyed? Where are all those extra prisoners and Marines I'm extracting being taken to if not Mother Base? Are they being held somewhere for safe keeping for 9 years until it can be reconstructed?
** Same hospital that was willing to keep Big Boss for nine years?
** Both Ocelot and Kaz appear to have done some work in maintaining whatever resources and personnel were left following the destruction of Mother Base in '75; given Big Boss was seemingly never one for the administrative/thinking role in MSF, and this simply makes it less jarring in terms of him getting right back into the game in '84. It's simple to assume that the marines and other prisoners got airlifted out either on the same flight as Big Boss (and simply survived the likely crash) or got to Mother Base and survived it being destroyed following a prior flight.
** Since they thought the IAEA was inspecting them, they probably brought them to another location (the old shack on the Baranquilla coast maybe) as it would probably look a tad suspicious bringing unconscious marines on board during a nuclear inspection.
** As the game explains, there were a number of MSF personnel who happened to be off base when Mother Base was attacked, and they all either went their own ways or eventually joined up with Diamond Dogs.
* Why is Snake still using binoculars? Seems like a monocular would be a smarter choice from at least a space-saving perspective.
** Perhaps the electronics in the binos (assuming that they are electronic, given the analyser upgrade that will become available for them) require them to be that big.
** Or the right lens tube has been replaced with a directional microphone. Would explain why you can zoom in on people and hear what they're saying; normal binoculars lack that function since both tubes are used, but when you're only using one tube, why not find something useful to do with the unused tube?
* Why is Eli kept on Mother Base with total freedom of movement when he does nothing but cause problems, bully the African kids and regularly attack Snake and Diamond Dog staff?
** It's explicitly stated in the audio tapes that Miller is a FriendToAllChildren, and therefore throws his weight around to allow Eli to get away with things that should have gotten him thrown overboard a dozen times over in a misguided attempt to treat Eli well.
** In addition, Ocelot keeps insisting that Eli be isolated. It's only until definitive proof of Eli's crimes are discovered that Miller finally relents.
* If this man-made parasite was meant to eliminate every person that does not speak English, why should the people that speak English still not talk? Are they actually in danger even though it's been implied that they would survive?
** Well first of all, the parasite isn't man-made, as explained in the briefing tapes and mentioned off-hand in several cutscenes. Second, Skull Face's plan was the exact opposite of what you described. The parasites were originally weaponized by Cipher as "ethnic cleanser" weapons to target non-english languages, but when Skull Face pulled off his coup and XOF took over, he revised the project to do the opposite, for various reasons mostly centered around a hatred for imperialism and the like. He used other languages as a testing ground and, presumably, as a deterrent against future opponents, while his end goal was to create an english-killing strain. Basically, whereas Cipher wanted to wipe out other languages and unite the world with english, Skull Face wanted to wipe out english and unite the world with an eternal arms race that he would hold a monopoly on.
*** And as for why English speakers still shouldn't speak even if they are infected with a non-English parasite, it's best to just not speak at all rather than risk accidentally activating them. This isn't brought up, but think about the loanwords. English speakers use foreign words quite often with most not realizing that the word isn't even English. Ninja, kindergarten, bazaar, detente, etc. Use those words and you'll easily activate the Japanese, German, Persian, and French strains respectively. Along with that is the fact that words can be misspoken and sound like other words, words that the parasites probably know. Finally, there's a risk of mutations, you never know when the offspring of a non-English speaking strain could be born mutated to be English speaking strains.
* What exactly is the point of, what has to be incredibly loud, music constantly blaring in Quiet's room on the medical platform? From a gameplay perspective I guess it does show all the tracks you can find a cassette of in game since all of the music is also on the cassettes, but from about from an in-universe reason for it all? Miller and/or Ocelot using the loud music to torture Quiet, sort of like the FBI did at Waco?
** Or, maybe Quiet just likes to listen to music? She doesn't have much to do sitting around in that cell, after all.
*** That loud, though? It's so loud I can hear it quite clearly from pretty much anywhere on the medical platform.
** I figured it was the soldiers' way of aggravating her. They can't directly interfere with Quiet so why not be really passive-aggressive about it via the magic of really loud music? That she doesn't seem to mind it, content to work on her tan, makes the situation extra hilarious.
* Why did Code Talker simply not tell Diamond Dogs that [[spoiler: Quiet]] can speak perfectly fine in Navajo? It would have prevented quite a few problems?
** Probably because he respected [[spoiler:Quiet's]] request to keep it a secret. His loyalty is to his fellow Navajo first.
*** This, except that [[spoiler:Quiet]] ISN'T a Navajo just because she can speak the language. Code Talker really just respects the choice, Navajo or not.
* Since Quiet can apparently phase herself out of handcuffs (which means she can't actually be constrained), why didn't she do so during [[spoiler: Mission 45 "A Quiet Exit" where she was supposedly drowned by a soldier, but got her powers back as a result?]]
** [[spoiler: It wasn't the drowning which gave her her powers back. The soldier removed her trousers, which made her able to breath again. Basically during that entire time she was being suffocated and panicking as a result. So before the drowning she simply didn't think to, and afterwards she was in such a blind rage all she was really thinking about was killing.]]
*** That does not mean she needed her cuffs cut off. She could have phased out of them by then. I consider it an oversight.
*** It's likely that the reason she would not phase out of her handcuffs is because she actually couldn't due to still wearing a soldier's jacket. Although, if she could perform all those stunts, she should be able to phase out of the cuffs, especially since she did phase-dodging with the jacket still on.
** How in the hell did the soviet soldier capture quiet, the super strong, super fast, invisible, teleporting, ghost sniper?
* What was the deal with the cutscene where Code Talker mumbles "Eyes on Kazuhira. A message from the parasites." in an overly dramatic fashion, only for it to never be mentioned again?
** He's using his parasites to see what's going on around the base, including Miller's activities. It's just a small thing to demonstrate how different he is from the other parasite users.
** It's possible that it's part of an unfinished plotline. Possibly also foreshadowing that [[spoiler:Miller knows Venom Snake's true identity.]]
** Considering that one of the things he mumbles is [[spoiler: "left leg brace is acting up"]] it's probably foreshadowing that [[spoiler:Huey is betraying the Diamond Dogs]]
** It's because by that time Skullface has been killed so Miller's drive for revenge has become directionless. It's when he starts telling the whole base to keep on the look out for spies and making the entire organization overly paranoid. Part of the point of the second parasite outbreak is that Miller had created so much paranoia, what could have been a quick medical containment turned into an absolute bloodbath as soon as people started acting funny.
* Why does Kaz have white pupils by the end of the game? His eyes were fine when you rescue him (you can see this for yourself by laying him on the floor after rescuing him in the first mission and using your binoculars) and it is never explained why or how this may have happened at all in game.
** The gameplay model might just be an oversight as his eyes are messed up elsewhere. It's eye injuries he received during his imprisonment, though can't quite remember where it's explained.
* Whatever happened to Metal Gear ZEKE? Did Skullface just leave a nuclear equipped superweapon sitting on the ocean floor? I'm surprised this was never brought up in the audio tapes.
** It was probably left there, or parts may have been refitted for Sahelanthropus. That Huey explicitly mentions the Hybrid Pod tech taken from the Basilisk/Peace Walker suggests that Strangelove had that recovered while he pursued the bipedal technology seemingly from the ground up, meaning ZEKE may have been worthless. After all, it isn't particularly special in the grand scheme of things.
** Depends on how long it sits there. More than a few months in salt water and it would be worthless.
* Wait a sec... if Quiet [[spoiler: can actually talk despite having burnt lungs and needed to breathe through her skin... why, just why can she actually talk? Don't tell me the parasites helped restore her lungs (by then, at least). If that were the case, she wouldn't need to breathe through her skin.]]
** Humans don't need to use their lungs to speak. The alternatives use different parts of the throat and the tongue to create vocalizations, the only real need is air, which could easily be transferred to the throat even without lungs, even as simple as just trapping air in the mouth.
*** Oh, I get it. She can basically absorb air through her skin and transfer it to her throat. Man, [[spoiler: parasites are weird.]]
** Her lungs are damaged, but they're still there. That means that while she can inhale air, she cannot use the oxygen. Just like a heavy smoker can have a big lung capacity, but still can suffocate himself while running.
* Ok, so Time Paradoxes when certain characters get killed are pretty much a mainstay of the prequel games due to said characters having a role in games taking place after. So if [[spoiler: Ishmael]] dies you get a Time Paradox, due to [[spoiler: him being the real Big Boss]]. If you take too long rescuing Miller, you get a Time Paradox for obvious reasons. Then if you kill [[spoiler: Eli]] you also get one [[spoiler: since he is Liquid]]. But why don't you get one when [[spoiler: Venom Snake]] dies? [[spoiler: He may not be the original Big Boss, but he is still the Big Boss you fight at the end of the first Metal Gear.]]
** It's to make the revelation a little less obvious. While those other examples do exist you generally need to go out of your way to get that sort of result, whereas [[spoiler:allowing Venom to die]] is something that can occur multiple times in a very short period.
*** But if [[spoiler: Venom Snake does die, having a Time Paradox like Naked Snake does when he dies would actually help hide the reveal because people will just chalk it up to being Big Boss]]
*** But then it wouldn't be foreshadowing.
** Fridge brilliance? If [[spoiler: Venom Snake dies, then Big Boss just happens to somehow survive the Outer Heaven incident, just as history pre-MGSV says he did.]]
* During Quiet's interrogation, Ocelot asks "Ready to talk?" and yet shortly after, he insists that she can't talk due to the risk of spreading the parasite. And yet also, he confirms she can't talk anyway due to burnt lungs. Does Ocelot have Alzheimer's?
** It's figurative.
*** What do you mean "it's figurative"? Was he trying to be funny? If so, he could have ruined the entire Mother Base.
** He could be making a point that he, the best interrogator in the world, couldn't get her to break her silence, then started rattling off all the reasons why that's not a bad thing.
* How does knocking a soldier out and transporting him to your base makes him loyal to you ? Is there some kind of brainwashing going on ?
** Much like the recruits who join as volunteers, lots of soldiers are stated to be drawn to Big Boss as the legendary soldier of the 20th Century, who established the world's first Private Military Force alongside Miller. If you've been kidnapped by that man, whose personnel offer you a better life at Mother Base alongside plenty of other soldiers, chances are you'd leave your exploitative government/army bosses and side with Big Boss. In the instances that recruits are not-so-willing, Kaz and Ocelot occasionally detail that interrogation and imprisonment are employed, hence a number of recruits ending up in the brig.
*** "Hey you should join our experienced mercenary band where you get treated with respect by troops loyal to one another, conditions far better than the crumbling Communist country/Third-World hellhole you currently live, good pay, the best tech we can buy, and its led by the best soldier of the 20th century." Would ''you'' say no?
*** "Hey, I know we basically kidnapped you, but would you like to join our brand new army to serve a guy that killed his mentor/mother figure because his governement said so, is American, and who you had (and still has) orders to kill ? Oh, there's a strong probability you will have to fight/kill your old comrades/friends." Would ''anybody'' says yes?
*** Big Boss is a living legend among soldiers in the Metal Gear universe, and the people he extracts are from the Soviet military and African militias - both are notoriously awful employers. This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the people who get whisked away, they're not going to piss all over it and go back to living as a conscript or warlord's toy.
*** Because [[MemeticMutation everybody's gay for Big Boss.]] Seriously though, who'd refuse the offer to serve someone as renowned as he is?
*** Because he killed his mentor/mother figure because his governement told him to? Because you're kidnapping people and possibly making them fight their former friend? But honestly, considering [[spoiler:Ocelot and Miller brainwashed you into thinking you're Big Boss]], I wouldn't be surprised if Ocelot had a hypnose/brainwashing room somewhere on the base.
*** ^ He killed the person who was previously considered the best soldier on the planet and earned the reputation as the greatest soldier of the 20th century, and his exploits since Snake Eater up to the fall of MSF made him into a living legend, and he's asking random enemy soldier "Hey, do you want to come work with me?" Combine that with the fact that by every objective measure Diamond Dogs has better conditions than any enemy force you can kidnap soldiers from and you have an offer that anyone who was not a super patriot would be unlikely to refuse. [[spoiler:Miller had nothing to do with the brainwashing, the stringer at the end makes it clear that he had no idea about Venom until he was awake and felt so betrayed by Big Boss he swore to help his son destroy him and everything he built, while Ocelot brainwashed himself into forgetting all about the brainwashing. It's doubtful any further brainwashing was used.]]
* Why are the soldiers you play as besides for Venom always treated as "Boss" by Ocelot and Miller? Clearly the random soldier you're playing as is not Big Boss.
** Gameplay and Story Segregation.
* Why can't Quiet simply write as a way to communicate to people since she can't (or won't) talk?
** Ocelot speculated that she might be dyslexic. While not impossible for dyslexic people to learn to read and write, Quiet might be functionally illiterate.
** It's also people that she might just be really stubborn and not wanting to give anything to the Diamond Dogs. If she was to start writing things down they might begin to push her more, other forms of torture, etc etc. She's playing cards very close to her chest.
** If I recall correctly, there's either a tape or a cutscene which mentions a particular [[spoiler: strain of Chinese-aligned parasites that not only made it so that the affected had to stop speaking their language, but also messed with the brain in order to make them unable to read or write the triggered language as well]]. I assumed this was inserted to explain why Quiet doesn't just read or write to communicate: [[spoiler: the parasites have made her]] illiterate in English.
*** But that can't be the case because she spells out an initialism in bullets at one point.
*** There is a big difference in spelling out three letters and being illiterate. She could have been spying on the preparations, saw those three letters over and over again, figured out their meaning and decided to use that as a message. Not likely but not impossible.
*** Another troper has suggested on the FridgeBrilliance page that she might be refusing to write at this stage in order to maintain the illusion that she is simply incapable of communication rather than choosing not to engage in it. If she'd written, there was always the possibility Ocelot might've tried torturing her even harder in an attempt to get her to talk (which it would've been more strongly evident she may decide to), and if she did break, the English strain would break loose.
** It's still a pretty bad plan considering she keeps it up even as a different parasite strain gets out. She wants to stop the parasite so strongly that she's willing to shove a knife into a soldier's teeth but she's not willing enough to look at Snake and point at the throat for what they should look for. By all means, there's little reason she wasn't shot on sight at that point either since she was threatening the life of a soldier which was one of the lines she was NOT supposed to cross to stay peacefully.
* During Quiet's extraction to Mother Base, as soon as she woke up, why did she keep the handcuff on her? Was she deciding on whether to come in peacefully or not?
** Given she phases back into the cuffs upon seeing the escort Millar arranges to prevent her from setting foot on Mother Base - and then promptly goes on to aggressively display her abilities, I have to imagine she's of two minds about what she's doing, but does things largely to express her loyalty to Snake.
** She's conveying that she's co-operating by openly showing that she can get out at any time but is choosing to go and stay where they tell her to.
* Didn't Skullface's resulting "death" prior to his debut happen because of being burnt alive? The same thing happened to Quiet in the prologue of Phantom Pain, right? So they both should have burnt lungs, unable to breathe except through the skin, right? If so... then why is Quiet beautiful and Skullface is ugly? Since they both went through [[spoiler: parasite therapy]], they both should either look fine or still look bad. I bet it's because Quiet is a woman that she gets the special treatment for all the male gamers... while female gamers are dying to get the XOF uniform unlock.
** While 'fanservice' is the clear answer when it comes to how Quiet looks, it could be the point at which they underwent the treatment; Skull Face was burned horribly in the factory fire he details from his childhood in the hidden tape from Ground Zeroes, and his appearance is the result of whatever grafts and surgery the doctors could do at the time to keep him alive, which the parasites couldn't undo. Quiet, on the other hand, seems to have an entirely different strain to Skull Face, who doesn't display her abilities at all; I'd also question how much of her appearance is real, given the instances in which we can see musculature and the like when she's actively employing her stealth abilities; but 'fanservice' is probably the key answer here.
** Because no one would like to see Stefanie Joosten as a bikini-clad zombie. [[NightmareFetishist Well, maybe a few people.]]
** I'd say it actually has more to do with timing. We don't know the exact birth date of Skull Face, but his home village was destroyed by Allied bombing, which means he was born during or before WWII, and the same incident is what burned him so badly. So 1945 at the very very latest. He was treated with only the medical care available at the time, having absolutely no contact with the parasites until at least 1964, during or after Operation Snake Eater. After the mission, Code Talker studied The End and found the live specimens of the parasite. So at least 19 years passed between then, and Skull Face didn't get infected with the parasites until approximately 1975, at least 30 years after his initial death. The parasites didn't save him from that, they just kept him alive after he started his coup. After about three decades, all of his skin would be scar tissue, and thus all they could be replaced with is scar tissue. Quiet was subjected to treatment nearly immediately after her burns, and thus spared her of the severe scarring that Skull Face had.
* When exactly did [[spoiler: the Medic become Venom Snake? The Truth mission shows that the transition wasn't made until two days before the XOF attack on the hospital. However, when Zero visits the hospital in the truth tapes it's clear that he's already made the Medic into his own Big Boss. Was the Medic seeing his own face in response to the Doctor saying "This is how you lived to this day" just symbolic to show that he's remembering his true identity?]]
** From the timeline, it would be anywhere between February 16th, 1984, to sometime before March 11th of the same year. [[spoiler: Seeing his true self in the reflection is symbolic of him remembering his true identity. Play the prologue, and you'll see Big Boss' face when the doctor says that's how he lived, but in the Truth mission he is remembering it quite clearly and so his true face is shown in the mirror during the flashback of the same moment. Also, Zero said he made the Medic into his own Big Boss already meaning that he had already started the hypnotherapy and thus considered himself to be Big Boss, the surgery was just the final piece to make it pretty much complete.]]
*** [[spoiler: But Zero needed to be told which Snake was Jack when he visited back in 1978, which means they must have already looked alike.]]
*** They could still both have a BandagedFace at that point, especially given that Ishmael still wears his bandages during the hospital escape.
* Why did Quiet refuse the Wolbachia treatment, anyway? Code Talker's suggestion that she still desired revenge is absurd, especially when considering she told him she'd never speak English and activate the parasite, in addition to her relationship with Venom Snake deepening to the point of romantic attraction and her sacrificing herself to save his life. I get that she knows it's highly probable that Kaz would have her tortured relentlessly for information after inoculation, but it's never really covered by the narrative.
** It's directly stated that she still might want revenge.
** Don't try to make sense of Quiet's bipolar characterization. This is the woman who had no qualms about strangling an innocent Nurse and Doctor to death and then was willing to jump into a pit of poisonous gas to try to get a necklace for some kids.
*** That isn't 'bipolar', that's development. I can't comment on the main question, but by the time she jumps into the gas tank to retrieve the necklace, she's been around Snake and Diamond Dogs for a sufficient period and taken on a number of missions; she knows that despite Kaz's ranting about revenge, the Dogs ''are'' something of a family and are fighting for a better world. That she killed innocents earlier merely plays into the idea posited by the Boss, that today's friend can become tomorrow's enemy, and vice versa.
* Silly question: Is the mocap actor for hospital Snake chosen because he has one arm, is skinny enough to look like an atrophied Snake, or both?
** Painsakingly created body from the fox engine. Likely after tons of research on unhealthy bodies.
* Why do people immediately believe [[spoiler: that Venom is not Big Boss]]? There are auditory and visual hallucinations throughout the game, it's silly to accept something just because it's called "The Truth".
** Occam's Razor. By the end of the game there's a fair amount of evidence to suggest that he's not Big Boss (just check the foreshadowing entry on the main page), and next to none to suggest that this is incorrect beyond the possibility that it's just a hallucination (There is no real indication of or reason to believe that the final mission is a hallucination, unlike the other ones Venom experiences in the game).
* A butterfly seems to be a very recurring symbol in the series but is there any significance with the Morpho species?
* Why is there just a random tank of chlorine gas on Mother Base? If it's there for a purpose, like disinfecting things, then surely they'd have to release the gas at some point and could get the necklace then. It seemed the kid was really impatient to get that necklace.
** The tank may have been involved in the processing of the raw materials we collect as players. As for the necklace, the materials it's made from may have been destroyed by spending too long in the tank.
* Why was [[spoiler: Big Boss]] in a coma too? The only two reasons I can think of is because it was noted in the trailer and because [[spoiler: Zero]] needed to visit him while he was sleeping so they'd still have animosity by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''.
** Because [[spoiler: he was in a helicopter crash that killed almost everyone on the helicopter. The only two people confirmed to have walked away from the crash okay are Miller and Mosquito.]]
*** Actually, if you think about it, even with the prisoners you can extract at the same time, the only casualty is [[spoiler: Chico]]. Big Boss has survived similar accidents and barely been phased, so the coma is a bad plot point to make most of Kojima's Big Boss stories happen 10 years apart.
*** ^ He basically took a helicopter to the face, that's not something he's survived previously. [[spoiler: He's also literally behind Venom Snake who takes the shrapnel for him but otherwise the two would have similar injuries.]]
* Continuing on from that, both characters woke up within a couple weeks of each other judging by the timeline but Ishmael mentions he's been watching over your for nine years, but how could he, if he's been asleep just like you. And where did the [[spoiler: "Get well soon. - "Vic" Boss" picture]] come from if they've both been asleep?
** The photo actually says "Good Luck" so it might not have too much relevance.
* Why didn't Quiet try to learn any other language while she was in Mother Base? Some of the recruits feared her, but some others were fond of her. Learning Spanish, Swahili or Chinese would have saved lives... and would allow us to hear [[MostWonderfulSound her voice]] more often.
** It was ''Pequod'' who didn't know other languages. Besides, with how the rest of Mother Base were basically trying to imprison her, on Miller's orders, in the medical platform, she wasn't going to get friendly with them anytime soon. There's also the bit where she goes ''berserk'' on one of the recruits who was [[spoiler: infected with the parasite]].
** Because of the way the parasites work, and the shared nature of words across languages - English, for instance, has a lot gleaned from French - wouldn't she have run the risk of potentially triggering the parasites anyway if she said a word or two that sounded like it was English?
*** Not according to Code Talker. The parasites were able to distinguish between two very similar languages in his tests and we not triggered by the use of loan words. She could talk in French and be fine even if she used every word that has been wholesale borrowed by the English language.
* Apologies if this is answered in one of the tapes already (if I missed it, I blame Ocelot or Miller for [[MostAnnoyingSound talking over the tape to tell me about a gunship I already saw]]), but...what the hell is up with the parasites? They're even more ridiculous than FOXDIE. So each different strain responds to different languages, and when they hear their host speaking that language, they start reproducing, which kills the host, yes? So what if I'm infected with the French strain and say that I'm having deja vu? Do I die? What about accents and individual pronunciation? How does a parasite know, presumably solely from the vibrations and movements of the throat muscles, that "CARR-sool" and "CAH-sool" are both English? What if I am, say, infected with the German strain, and say the word chef - which in German, means boss - do the parasites start reproducing? The entire thing feels entirely contrived and ridiculous, and for this troper at least, it breaks the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.
** You've pretty much stated how they work; the parasites are bred in different strains to target languages - hence the run-down hellhole Skull Face is running where the hosts are being played tapes - the intent is to train and rear them to recognise languages. Skull Face's key strain in the game is designed to recognise ''English'' and as essentially the biggest bridge language/langua franca in the world, it shares numerous words from other languages; so with that in mind, if you were infected with the Italian strain but spoke English predominantly, and then happened to make say, a menu order in an Italian restaurant, then that would active the parasites. They can be bred to recognise different dialects/accents/regional changes, too; Skull Face himself is infected with a strain which means he can ''never'' speak his own language again.
** The above troper is mostly wrong. Code Talker states in one of his tapes that the parasites wouldn't react to individual words so loan words to other languages wouldn't trigger, the English strain parasites wouldn't react to the word chef if the speaker was talking in German, the parasites need sustained exposure to start copulating. The parasites were so accurate that they could tell the difference between two incredibly similar languages. The reason why the above troper is only mostly wrong is that Code Talker also stated that there was nothing to stop the parasites mutating so they could infect similar languages.
* How did Skull Face plan to spread his parasites throughout the world? At first I thought he was going to do some parasite missile with Sahelanthropus for COMPLETE GLOBAL SATURATION, but Sally's purpose had nothing to do with the parasites, but to cause a new age of nuclear proliferation so he could find buyers for his nukes. I can imagine spreading enough parasites throughout the world in order to destroy English would be a difficult task, so how exactly did he plan to manage that?
** During the Phantom Pain Skull Face is Cipher and has an incredible amount of power, such as being able to threaten the entire existence of Code Talker's tribe with complete ease. All he has to do is use his control over the organisation to start dispersing the virus at major population centres and locations (such as airports and shopping centres). The vocal cord parasites take some time to copulate and for their larva to hatch and start feeding on the host, and as shown from the Mother Base outbreak it spreads incredibly rapidly similar to the way FOXDIE spreads. If he had the right people infected with the parasites (such as the people at the front desk, flight attendants etc.) then by the time people realise what's going on every hospital in the English speaking world is infested with vocal cord parasites. This wouldn't wipe out every English speaker in the world, but the fear of the parasites would stop it from being used as a Lingua Franca and from being spoken as a common language.
* So the final cutscene of [[spoiler:Mission 46]] is supposed to take place in 1995, during [[spoiler:''VideoGame/MetalGear1'']]. So why hasn't [[spoiler:Venom Snake]] appeared to have aged any?
** It's implicitly 1984 still, since Venom's still wearing the same outfit you last left him in. According to the MG wiki, Outer Haven was founded by Boss in the late 80s. MG 1 takes place ten years down the line.
* Is there an in-universe explanation for how [[spoiler: Sahelanthropus escaped Mother Base?]] It wasn't towed away by helicopters, it kind of...flew away, using some kind of anti-gravity to make it hover over the water.
** I think it was being flown away by [[spoiler: Young Mantis]], he was the one making it run in the boss fight, and considering his feet rarely touch the ground, it stands to reason that he can make other things float.
* Is there a gameplay or story reason Venom Snake can't equip the Ground Zeroes helicopter, the HP-48 Krokodil as his ACC? It makes multiple appearances as an enemy helicopter in Phantom Pain, but no option to switch from the Blackhawk (excuse me, Black''foot'') to the Krokodil exists, despite it being a superior gunship and having an all-around menacing design.
* Why was everyone more forgiving towards [[spoiler:Strangelove over Huey]]? [[spoiler: Considering she was a former Cipher employee, apathetic to Big Boss's cause, left the base when Huey told her to (wouldn't that make her an accomplice?); I would have suspected her of being the mole.]]
** It boils down to Huey having obviously murdered her, and this coming to light when everybody on Mother Base openly hated his guts already.
*** But what about before the trial? Miller talked about her request to Amanda like it was just a side note.
* What is the ultimate fate of Sahelanthropus? It's last seen in the cut Episode 51, being towed away in pieces by Diamond Dogs. Did it become the blueprint for TX-55 Metal Gear, which weirdly is a quarter of its size, or was it destroyed? Its never mentioned again, not even by Otacon, who seemingly used it as a subconscious blueprint to design REX.
** According to an unfinished mission, Eli and his pals steal it and head to some island. Snake takes it down, then it gets destroyed by napalm.
* Why did Diamond Dogs suddenly left for South Africa and rebrand themselves as Outer Heaven? They seem to have a good thing going for them at Seychelles.
** They didn't. That was a separate organization set up by the real Boss. Maybe they merged, IDK.
* Regarding Quiet, if she needs to be naked because [[spoiler:she's basically a plant now]]: 1) Why isn't she green? 2) Why was [[spoiler:The End]] fine with wearing a ghillie suit? Being way older than her and (probably) the [[spoiler:parasites]] being the only thing keeping him alive, wouldn't he need to be [[FanDisservice completly]] naked too?
** She wouldn't have needed it if Ishmael hadn't burned her lungs, forcing her to breathe through her skin. The End's suit is apparently some sort of custom camo (based on what you get when you hold him up), which Quiet obviously doesn't doesn't have access to.
** But doesn't [[spoiler:photosynthesis]] require a total exposure to the sun?
*** Well, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a7CSPNwy18 look at the top of her cage]]. It's open to the sky, and thus [[spoiler:the sun. She even sunbathes.]]
* I apologise if this is obvious but I often find Kojima's plots to be hard to follow. In 4 it was stated that the reason why Big Boss was in his coma is because of the injuries he sustained at Solid Snake's hands in Zanzibar. But now it is revealed that this WASN'T Big Boss, so how did Zero ever put him into that nanomachine induced coma? Or was that just a smokescreen, and Big Boss has been perfectly fine up until he turned up in the graveyard?
** Big Boss is in a coma because of injuries sustained in Zanzibar. [[spoiler:Venom Snake was the Big Boss who died in Outer Heaven, not Zanzibar Land.]]
* How did they get [[spoiler: Colonel Volgin]] to a coma ward? [[spoiler: Only 10-15 minutes would have passed between him getting struck by lightning and Groznyj Grad being nuked, so wouldn't he have been fried when they took the seemingly prudent course of action and taking him to the base's infirmary?]]
** Why do you think Volgin's corpse looks or looked the way it does after meeting with Venom Snake while being "controlled" by "The Boy in the Mask"? Also, there was a whole search & rescue thing after the nuke, and they happened to find Volgin who was technically not dead due to the innate power of lightning keeping his body "alive".
* Why [[spoiler:infect]] Quiet with the [[spoiler:English strain of the vocal parasite]]? Given the scope of the operation in the Devil's House, [[spoiler:Cipher or Skull Face has their hands on countless vocal parasite language variants they want to make her go through the parasite therapy, yet Skull Face (the only one with the English strains on person) infects Quiet with it. Given how rare the strain is (only 3 were made), why would he risk such an asset on a person? What good will it do to strip away a person's only method of communicating in the battlefield?]] Assuming that he never knew that Quiet will willingly defect to the Diamond Dogs.
* Sahelanthropus... Despite the whole cockpit thing, what the hell is up with it being in the 80s? that thing in terms of the titual bipedal "metal gear" is waaayyyy more advanced in concept than anything produced in the entire series, even the weaponary, it can stand up on two legs, without any balancing design, like REXs' squatting t-rex design and digitigrade legs, it seems to be an anarchonism in the MGS universe, 3 peace walker, TPP, all had things like the shagohod, peace walker, Sahelanthropus, etc that were much better than REX, by a long long way. what is up with that?
** Sahelanthropus has several things working for it: Cipher's budget, metallic archaea for its weapons, and [[spoiler:the Third Child]] for its mobility. Every other Metal Gear is a conventional machine, so naturally they'd be less impressive (by comparison).
** What made Shagohod better than Metal Gear REX? It had little mobility, and needed a runway to launch its payload. Its defensive capabilities were practically nonexistent. It was a neat design, but hardly superior to any true Metal Gear.
** The Shagohod was pretty much easily destroyed and needed Volgin's electric powers to prolong it's lifespan. Peace Walker and the other AI Weapons needed the help of a complicated Boss AI system to help it. Finally, Sahelanthropus practically didn't work unless [[spoiler: The Third Boy]] was controlling it.

* How did Eli go from hating Snake's guts to sharing his dream of Outer Heaven? Did his opinion of Big Boss change after he learned about the Venom Snake ruse? Did they just share a common enemy, with Eli/Liquid not caring for Big Boss as a person? Or did he just change his mind as he grew up?
** Go watch Liquid's speech from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' again; he actively declares he still hates Big Boss for how he treated him, implying he - like Solid Snake - never learned about Venom. As such, his embracing Outer Heaven is intended to ''surpass'' Big Boss' success with the concept... Despite the fact he fails miserably.

* What exactly ''was'' Miller thinking asking Quiet to give the name of the person who infected her with the English parasite when 90% of the main cast and 100% of everyone else are named/codenamed with English verbs and nouns?
** Miller's own words, "All I need is a name, that won't trigger anything", and he's right. There hasn't been evidence in the game that proved that only one word in a given language would be enough to trigger the parasites to procreate. There have been only those who have consistently spoken a language for more than a minute at least, to make the parasites a threat.

* So a major part of the MGS series is about the Snake family line basically being hardcore badasses, naked,liquid, solid and solidus all generally kicked ass in their primes and beyond, naked snake in particular was this legendary badass to the max, to the point almost any soldier he meets instantly hero worships him and will join his army in a second if slammed to the floor hard enough, inspires loyalty to willingly be shot dead due to [[spoiler: parasite infection]] and will go on to face his own son for an epic showdown, and basically kickstart a line of awesome wait... [[spoiler: Venom snake isn't Naked snake? so apparently Big Boss isn't a badass genetically, any old shmoe can become him if basically mindwiped and told.]] Do you see how this kind of messes up the whole "Snake family are genetically predisposed to being the best soldiers in the universe thing that gets touted in almost every other game? except 2.
** [[spoiler: Venom Snake's achievements don't do anything to damper Naked Snake's abilities. Yes he was a big badass as the player was going through MGSV, but there's nothing that says that the real Big Boss isn't doing even more amazing things on his own missions.]] Plus, while there have been a variety of other characters that don't come from Snake's genetics that have performed just as amazing stunts as him, they also stay tend to stay dead when you kill them, [[SaveScumming unlike Snake himself]]. Without the meta-textual existence of the player, the Snakes may not be the be the best soldier on the battlefield, but he's the one that gets the job done and lives to fight another day, which is cause for admiration in itself.

* Why was [[spoiler: Big Boss]] in a coma too? The only two reasons I can think of is because it was noted in the trailer and because [[spoiler: Zero]] needed to visit him while he was sleeping so they'd still have animosity by MGS4.

** Go watch Liquid's speech from MGS1 again; he actively declares he still hates Big Boss for how he treated him, implying he - like Solid Snake - never learned about Venom. As such, his embracing Outer Heaven is intended to ''surpass'' Big Boss' success with the concept... Despite the fact he fails miserably.

** Ocelot confirms from the [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything very first mission]] in Afghanistan that while he ''speaks'' Russian, there's a major difference between speaking it and acting as an interpreter for another person.

** [[spoiler: Venom Snake's achievements don't do anything to damper Naked Snake's abilities. Yes he was a big badass as the player was going through MGSV, but there's nothing that says that the real Big Boss isn't doing even more amazing things on his own missions.]] Plus there have been a variety of other characters that don't come from Snake's genetics that have performed just as amazing stunts as them and then some. What makes all the Snakes "legendary" is the player's inputs, tactics, [[SaveScumming ability to do things over and over until you win]], etc.

** [[spoiler: Venom Snake's achievements don't do anything to damper Naked Snake's abilities. Yes he was a big badass as the player was going through MGS5, but there's nothing that says that the real Big Boss isn't doing even more amazing things on his own missions.]] Plus there have been a variety of other characters that don't come from Snake's genetics that have performed just as amazing stunts as them and then some. What makes all the Snakes "legendary" is the player's inputs, tactics, [[SaveScumming ability to do things over and over until you win]], etc.

* So a major part of the MGS series is about the Snake family line basically being hardcore badasses, naked,liquid, solid and solidus all generally kicked ass in their primes and beyond, naked snake in particular was this legendary badass to the max, to the point almost any soldier he meets instantly hero worships him and will join his army in a second if slammed to the floor hard enough, inspires loyalty to willingly be shot dead due to [[spoiler: parasite infection]] and will go on to face his own son for an epic showdown, and basically kickstart a line of awesome wait... [[spoiler: Venom snake isn't Naked snake? so apparently Big Boss isn't a badass genetically, any old shmoe can become him if basically mindwiped and told.]] Do you see how this kind of messes up the whole "Snake family are genetically predisposed to being the best soldiers in the universe thing that gets touted in almost every other game? except 2.

* What exactly ''was'' Miller thinking asking Quiet to give the name of the person who infected her with the English parasite when 90% of the main cast and 100% of everyone else are named/codenamed with English verbs and nouns?

** Go watch Liquid's speech from MGS1 again; he actively declares he still hates Big Boss for how he treated him, implying he - like Solid Snake - never learned about Venom. As such, his embracing Outer Heaven is intended to ''surpass'' Big Boss' success with the concept... Despite the fact he fails miserably.

* Can somebody please set the record straight on the whole DavidHayter deal? Some sources aren't clear, one says he took it poorly and lashed out at Konami; another says he took it with good humor; and another says he's acting suspicious about it (leading to some to theorize that it's all a troll).

*** The black sheep that somehow still stayed on the boat ride for this long. Especially noteworthy seeing as how most (like 99%) of VAs for [=PS1=]-era games are replaced by the time they reach the next generation. Also, if David was never really that good, then a lot of people must of had low standards during the [=PS2=] and [=PS3=] era, because I am sure there are people who legitimately thought David is really good at what he did, at least for MGS 3 and 4, where he clearly gave his full effort and had more experience since the OG MGS. I don't know, I just think David is a pretty good VA (at least for his most well known role), and maybe I'm crazy. Though his MGS PW work was more ehh.

* How did Eli go from hating Snake's guts to sharing his dream of Outer Heaven? Did his opinion of Big Boss change after he learned about the Venom Snake ruse? Did they just share a common enemy, with Eli/Liquid not caring for Big Boss as a person? Or did he just change his mind as he grew up?

** What made Shagohod better than Metal Gear REX? It had little mobility, and needed a runway to launch its payload. Its defensive capabilities were practically nonexistent. It was a neat design, but hardly superior to any true Metal Gear.

* Sahelanthropus... Despite the whole cockpit thing, what the hell is up with it being in the 80s? that thing in terms of the titual bipedal "metal gear" is waaayyyy more advanced in concept than anything produced in the entire series, even the weaponary, it can stand up on two legs, without any balancing design, like REXs' squatting t-rex design and digitigrade legs, it seems to be an anarchonism in the MGS universe, 3 peace walker, TPP, all had things like the shagohod, peace walker, Sahelanthropus, etc that were much better than REX, by a long long way. what is up with that?

* Why [[spoiler:infect]] Quiet with the [[spoiler:English strain of the vocal parasite]]? Given the scope of the operation in the Devil's House, [[spoiler:Cipher or Skull Face has their hands on countless vocal parasite language variants they want to make her go through the parasite therapy, yet Skull Face (the only one with the English strains on person) infects Quiet with it. Given how rare the strain is (only 3 were made), why would he risk such an asset on a person? What good will it do to strip away a person's only method of communicating in the battlefield?]] Assuming that he never knew that Quiet will willingly defect to the Diamond Dogs.