...Son!
"Now there's a pretty meme. Exquisite!" Memes from the Metal Gear franchise. And yes, we do note the appropriateness here.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
Multiple Entries
- "Snake, what happened?/answer me!/do you copy?/respond!/are you okay? Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAAAKE!" ExplanationYelled by various characters after a Game Over in most of the games. It has spawned many parodies, usually with other characters replacing Snake or the character who yells his name. Can also be associated with videos of violence done towards a snake (as in, the reptile), and then inserting the Snake death scream and putting in the Game Over scene.
- NOOOOO!!!! SNAKE!! SNAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!! ExplanationVariant done by Naomi... who wants revenge for her brother's death.
- DA, DA, DA-DA-DA, DA, DA, DA!! ExplanationSome variation of this music is used in most of said game over screens in the post-Solid games.
- YOU IDIOT!!Explanation (spoilers)Variant done by Ocelot in the first game if you allow Kenneth Baker to be blown up.
- Snake! Get up! Snake! SNAAAAAAAAKE!!!
- "Metal... Gear?!" Often used to poke fun at Parrot Exposition, stealth gameplay or Metal Gear. ExplanationDavid Hayter has jested that half of his lines are just parroting other people's dialogue back at them.
- ! ExplanationThe iconic reaction that anything has when they discover the player. Even bipedal mechs that are supposed to be machines have this reaction. Used when someone is surprised, especially as a sound effect in videos.
- ? ExplanationThe reaction when anything is curious about their surroundings, which is the system telling the player that they are on the trail of the player. Typically accompanied with them shouting "Huh?!" or "Hmm...".
- Kept you waiting, huh? ExplainationSnake and Big Boss's Catchphrase, which is quoted a lot, especially when something long-awaited gets released or revealed.
- Kojima World OrderExplanationSpawned from a failure compilation of DarksydePhil's Metal Gear Solid 1 playthrough, where Phil mocks Kojima whenever he makes a mistake. It eventually grew into an entire anti-DSP movement.
- Oh, Kojima. ExplanationThe typical response of the fans to all the weird, bizarre, and downright stupid moments in the franchise.
- "what did he mean by this", usually said after an obvious with-no-hidden-intentions quote to simultaneously poke fun at the people who take the story too seriously, and those that are needlessly confused.
- "It's a Russian taunt," sarcastically used by the LGBT Fanbase in reference to the homoeroticism of the series, and in particular Revolver Ocelot's relationship with Big Boss and Solid Snake.ExplanationOriginally used, apparently in earnest, to explain why Ocelot kissing Snake in MGS4 wasn't gay.
- "War Feelings", a lesser used variant covering much the same ground, but for the Big Boss saga.ExplanationOriginally from a youtube comment claiming that the subtext between Big Boss and Kaz/Miller, especially during the optional date in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker wasn't gay, and was just an expression of "War Feelings", whatever those are.
- Kojima is Big Boss. ExplanationAfter Kojima left Konami, many fans were quick to note the uncanny similarity between Kojima and Big Boss, both having been acclaimed for their accomplishments, only to be betrayed by who they worked for and ended up forming their own independent group in response.
- "Hnnnnnng, Colonel, I'm trying to sneak around, but I'm dummy thicc and the clap of my asscheeks keeps alerting the guards."ExplanationOriginates from this nonsensical tweet
◊ and has since been the subject of copypastas and dramatic readings, including one from David Hayter himself. - Posting images of Snake wearing clothes that blend in with the background color of the picture usually net responses saying that there isn't anything in the photo or the image is invisible.
- Balloon Solid Snake ExplanationAt the beginning of 2013, an image◊ was posted of a balloon scuplture of Snake that bears a poor resemblance to him. It quickly became the subject of photo edits, usually replacing other instances of Snake with the balloon sculpture.
- Codec screen parodies are fairly popular, which usually insert silly dialogue and/or have characters from different franchises conversing.
Metal Gear
- "I FEEL ASLEEP!" ExplanationThe NES localized version of the original Metal Gear had a lot of terrible translations. This particular line was meant to be "I fell asleep", signaling that the guard was no longer asleep. The mistranslation made it sound as though he was falling asleep as he said the line. This is probably the most infamous translation in the game, and it will bound to be brought up whenever the original Metal Gear is. In particular, this◊ screencap has been posted in various places.
- "Uh-oh! The truck have started to move!" ExplanationAnother bad translation which, while not as infamous as the one above, still sees recurring mentions in discussions of the original Metal Gear and bad video game translations.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Metal Gear Solid
- LIQUID!!!! ExplanationLiquid and Snake spend a lot of the first Metal Gear Solid yelling at each other, and fans have followed in their footsteps with just yelling the names out of context.
- BRRRRROTHER!!!! ExplanationLiquid Snake's Verbal Tic by way of Hiimdaisy has now become a meme all its own, thanks to the various fan dubs of her comics. But even so, it wouldn't have been possible in the first place without Liquid being very enthusiastic when saying "BROTHER!!" in the original version, thanks to the performance of Cam Clarke. (The thing he doesn't do is elongating the pronounciation)
- "It's like one of my Japanese animes!" ExplanationOne of Otacon's first lines, part of his Establishing Character Moment as a colossal nerd with a tenuous grasp of reality. The odd translation is a result of "anime" just meaning "animation" in general in Japan. It's either used to mock otakus or to compare situations to those in anime, usually in a favorable but joking manner.
- "It's like one of my Mexican telenovelas!" ExplanationOne of a few snowclones that occasionally surfaces.
- "Six [noun]s. More than enough to [verb] anything that moves." ExplanationA snowclone based on Ocelot's claim in Metal Gear Solid 1 that his one revolver would be enough to kill Snake, or indeed anything. A "twelve shots" variant exists based on his younger self dual wielding in MGS3.
- Revolver Ocelot◊. Revolver OcelotWhat started as simply replacing the name of Revolver Ocelot's voice actor to also display "Revolver Ocelot" snowballed from there, with more and more instances of his name being added to the image wherever possible.
- "Hurt me more!" ExplanationGray Fox's pleasure with fighting Snake goes to the point he throws away his sword to feel the pain from his fists and begs Snake to hurt him. Has occasionally be used in reaction to doing something particularly masochistic, usually in a joking way.
- "You like Castlevania, don't you?" ExplanationA reference to the fight with Psycho Mantis, where he analyzes the content of the player's memory card. It's one of the most famous scenes in the game, and as such has seen parodies, usually involving Psycho Mantis analyzing memory cards in other consoles or discovering something that the person doesn't want people to know about.
- "Do you think love can bloom even on a battlefield?" ExplanationDuring a moving scene in which Otacon asks Snake about love, the former drops this line, and it has often been repeated, referenced, and parodied by fans for its corniness. Other people use this scene as evidence for romantic subtext between Snake and Otacon.
MGS2
- The infamous Fission Mailed screen in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. ExplanationAs part of the Mind Screw, near the end of the game a fake Game Over message is displayed with the words "Fission Mailed" instead of "Mission Failed" and the game continuing in a smaller window. As an unaware player can easily die thinking it is a real Game Over screen; the term is used to describe failures of a higher level than normal, as well as the trope it named.
- "We've managed to avoid drowning!" ExplanationOne of Raiden's lines. It's popular to quote, either for its Narm, as his tone suggests it's something for which he should be very proud of (which admittedly does make sense in context), or in discussions involving underwater levels.
- "I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hara-Kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!" Explanation (spoilers)One of the fake Colonel's codec messages after Arsenal Gear is partially infected with a virus, causing the AI to go haywire and spout nonsense. It became popular for its absurdity, and is used to parody people who post Insane Troll Logic on the Internet.
- Did you say "nerd"? ExplanationFrom Metal Gear Solid 2, where Raiden mistakes the word "node" for nerd. Used to call something nerdy or just as an out-of-context quote.
- A DUD?! ExplanationOne SEAL's response to a grenade fired at Fortune failing to detonate. It became memetic primarily for its weird delivery, and is frequently quoted as a result. It has also drawn comparisons to the "You Got the Dud" scene from The Simpsons.
- In the early days of this wiki, it was popular to refer to Metal Gear Solid 2 with a Pot Hole to Mind Screw over a synonym for maybe. It has since died down. Maybe.
- A running joke amongst fans is to add "Definitely not!" at the end of Raiden's dialogue.
- Whatever happened to Iroquois Pliskin? ExplanationReferring to Snake's Paper-Thin Disguise in MGS2, as if anybody believed for even a second that he was a distinct character, has become quite popular on 4chan's /v/.
- Nonsense. Snake died on that tanker two years ago. ExplanationAnother running joke in the fandom, especially on /v/, is to claim that Snake died in the "Tanker" chapter and he was replaced. This is usually said after someone mentions Pliskin, using this statement as "evidence" that they are two different people, or whenever Snake is mentioned in general.
- "No! That is NOT Solid Snake!"ExplanationFrom when Pliskin denounces Solidus Snake as a faker, since he himself is the actual Solid Snake. Used in response to characters presented in flimsy disguises or with uncharacteristic behaviour, or as a reaction to someone confusing one of the Snakes for another.
- "Do you know what day it is today?"ExplanationMetal Gear Solid 2 takes place the day before and on April 30th, which became memetic for two different reasons. The first was because it was repeated ad nauseam by Rose to Raiden during several of their codec calls, as it was their anniversary date that Raiden had forgotten, with many making fun of Rose for prioritizing their anniversary over Raiden's mission. The second and most important reason, however, was because of Solidus Snake asking the very same question of Raiden prior to the Final Boss fight, only to launch into a Motive Rant about how everything he did to establish Outer Heaven was to free America from the Patriots, specifically comparing himself to George Washington by having it take place on April 30th, the anniversary of his inauguration as President. For those two reasons, the date April 30th has become an unofficial community holiday for fans of the series, primarily to commemorate Solidus Snake or to meme about Raiden and Rose's anniversary.
MGS3
- "Snake, what have you done? You changed the future!! You've created a time paradox!" ExplanationThe Colonel yells this in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater after a Game Over or killing a character that appears in a chronologically later game. Used when someone does something that would mess with time.
- "Pime Taradox" ExplanationA popular internet parody of the "time paradox" from MGS3 in reference to the above.
- Young Ocelot's "You're pretty good", coupled with his cowboy hand gesture, is a common way for fans of the game to express satisfaction towards something. The latter in particular is so iconic even characters in the game poke fun at it.
- CRAB BATTLE! ExplanationA fan animation where Naked Snake gets killed by crabs that is often quoted in difficult situations or whenever crabs are involved.
- Some fans have flanderized Naked Snake into trying to eat everything in sight, and wondering if it can be eaten if it's not.
- What a thrill...ExplanationThe theme for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has essentially become a meme all on its own, particularly whenever long ladders are discussed, as said song plays during a long sequence in which Snake climbs a ladder for over a minute.
- Sneeter Explanation A version of the game's main theme, "Snake Eater", edited so the singer says "Sneeter" instead of "Snake Eater".
- The Big Boss Salute ExplanationA screencap or GIF of the ending of the game, where Big Boss salutes in front of The Boss's grave, has been used as a reaction image for sad/sorrowful moments and news.
- "It's a nice gun, I'll give you that. But the engraving gives you no tactical advantage whatsoever." ExplanationOriginating from an exchange between Naked Snake and Revolver Ocelot, this line has often been used as a snowclone, with the words "gun" and "engraving" being replaced.
- Metal Gear Solid TriangleExplanationProbably because keeping the 3 in the title of a standalone remake would be a bit confusing for some, the remake of Snake Eater is referred to as Metal Gear Solid Δ, read as "Metal Gear Solid Delta". There's even some classic on-the-nose symbolism in the use of the character, what with it having three lines and points to represent the third game in the series. Nevertheless, people had fun reading the name more literally, comically referring to the game as...well, Metal Gear Solid Triangle: Snake Eater.
MGS4
- "War has changed." ExplanationThe Arc Words Snake speaks in the opening and ending of the game. Often used as a contrast with Fallout's "War never changes".
- "DIDJURIKEIT?" ExplanationFrom Hideo Kojima himself in an 2008 interview on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Often used sarcastically when something considered bad or disappointing is released or added into a game, sometimes involving Kojima and sometimes involving others.
- "I am lightning, the rain transformed." ExplanationA Badass Boast given by Raiden to the FROG troopers. Often quoted due to being a powerful line and as a sign of Raiden taking a level in badass. It also resulted in people trying to come up with similar phrases like "I am hamburger, the cow transformed."
- "Nanomachines..." ExplanationThe fourth game attempted to explain away most of the outlandish elements of the series as having been orchestrated through liberal use of nanomachines. Unfortunately, the massive Retconning this induced led to accusations of sloppy writing, something even Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance acknowledges (see below). It was made especially popular by this video, and led to people jokingly explaining things as the doing of nanomachines..
- "Wipe this meme from the face of the earth." ExplanationPractically an anti-meme that became a meme in itself, originally spoken by Snake just before he tries to kill himself. Often used as a response to a meme someone doesn't like or an opinion someone disagrees with.
- "Snake had a hard life." Explanation (Spoilers)What Otacon tells Sunny when Snake goes to attempt to commit suicide to avoid infecting everyone with FOXDIE. Often applied to other dead or dying characters who have undergone major suffering.
- The best movie I've ever seen.ExplanationMetal Gear Solid 4 is incredibly Cutscene-heavy, even by the regular standards of the Metal Gear series, to the point where it's semi-jokingly called an interactive movie even by its biggest fans.
- Liquid Ocelot running awayExplanationUsed to represent someone leaving after committing a petty and evil act.
- X was Y years agoExplanation A gif of Solid Snake turning into Old Snake, used to indicate that the poster feels old as well.
- "Rules of Nature" goes with everything ExplanationFollowing in the footsteps of Guile's theme, it's popular to take "Rules of Nature" and play it over other videos for added awesomeness. Examples include Daigo at EVO, Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan, and some random fight.
- BEING TRACKED BY A STARVING BEE, LOOKING FOR ITS DAILY FEEnote A mishearing of a line in "Rules of Nature", which is due to the singer sounding like he isn't singing the last consonants of the original line, "Being tracked by a starving beast/Looking for its daily feast".
- TIME TO LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIIIIIIIIIIND ExplanationThe lyrics to the chorus of "I'm My Own Master Now", Blade Wolf's theme. It's sometimes attached to images and clips of animals leaving others behind or holding weapons, usually those with blades.
- My X is a Tool of Justice Explanation A Mad Libs Catchphrase used commonly on Rules of Nature Goes With Everything videos sometimes associated with objects used in the video.
- Monsoon memes:
- "Memes. The DNA of the soul."Explanation Monsoon's Hannibal Lecture features this line, said completely with a straight face. Given the modern definition of memes, no one has ever been able to watch it with a straight face. This has caused Monsoon to be heavily associated with internet memes, and the line has been taken out of context to refer to internet memes in general.
- Monsoon is a snail. ExplanationA piece of concept art showing Monsoon's face without the mask covering his eyes reveals tubes coming out of his eyes (which presumably connect to the mask). People have joked that he looks like a snail in the concept art.
- "AND IT WILL COME, LIKE A FLOOD OF PAIN, POURING DOWN ON ME" Explanation Monsoon's boss theme, "The Stains of Time", is a powermetal song that became very popular during the resurgence of Metal Gear Rising, and a lot of video memes of the game utilize the song.
- "THERE ARE SEVENTY-TWO WOMEN TO BE RAPED, THE CHOCOLATES FALLING GENTLY DOWN ON THE TERRAAIIIIIIIIIIN!" Explanation "The Stains of Time" has extremely jumbled lyrics that can easily be misheard. Among the many intepretations of the lyrics, this is one of the more popular ones.
- "AND IT WILL COME, LIKE A FLOOD OF COME, POURING COME ON ME" Explanation Another memetic variation of "The Stains of Time" replaces a lot of the words with "come", turning the song dirtier as a result.
- Monsoon of the sussy imposters explanation After Among Us and MGR memes regained popularity in the early 2020s, immediate comparisons were made between Monsoon's design and the design of a crewmate.
- "Your memes... end here." Explanation Raiden says this to Monsoon after their battle. It's either used to discredit memes or to disregard other peoples' opinions, especially pertaining to Metal Gear Rising.
- RAIDEN IS NOW COOLER THAN DANTE. ExplanationWhile the response to Dante's retooling for the reboot of the Devil May Cry franchise was almost universally negative, Raiden's new appearance and personality in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was well received. Since both initially appeared in 2001, this was the general reaction among fans.
- Senator Armstrong memes:
- "Nanomachines, son!" Explanation (spoilers)During the final boss fight of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Raiden asks Senator Armstrong why he's so strong, with the line being his response. It has since mutated into answering "Nanomachines, son!" to any question, regardless if it involves Metal Gear or nanomachines at all. Can also be seen as Self-Deprecation and a Take That! to the overuse of nanomachines in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
- "Nanomachines, Sam!" Explanation (spoilers)A mutation that cropped up when the Jetstream DLC was released, of which Armstrong is the final boss.
- THESE NANOMACHINES HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS! Explanations (spoilers)As well has having the same name, physique and bombastic personality as Major Armstrong of Fullmetal Alchemist, the senator's powers are more or less identical to Greed's. With these similarities, Major Armstrong's already-memetic line has been mutated to talk about Senator Armstrong instead.
- 200.0% MAD◊ExplanationA modified image captcha showing a pissed off Senator Armstrong with the percentile health bar from the game dialed to 200% to indicate that the user heavily disagrees with something.
- Armstrong ignoring Raiden's punches / "Standing here...I realize..." Explanation During one QTE in Armstrong's boss fight, Raiden delivers some Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs to Armstrong, which were...ineffective, to put it lightly. Many people use this scene for outlandishly ridiculous scenarios where something would be ineffective in stopping something else. (i.e. "The IKEA staff trying to stop me from using the display toilet", "You trying to stop me from fucking your mom", etc.), and some have even mixed it with other pieces of media (like this one which mixes it with the infamous (and similarly button mashy) laser deflecting QTE from Kingdom Hearts II's final boss) or made fan animated parodies of it. Armstrong barreling into a video to punch out Raiden (or the viewer) has become an Interrupting Meme. What's interesting is that the part of "It Has To Be This Way" used in the memes isn't even playing during the QTE.
- Make America Great Again! note A line uttered by Senator Armstrong, it's a quote from speeches by real-life US presidents like Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. It's become more relevant after the game's release when Donald Trump used it as his slogan again during his 2016 Presidential campaign.
- Armstrong's speech towards Raiden has often been posted as a copypasta, and has spawned various parodies.
- "Hey did you hear about X-" "FUCK this 24/7 internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit!"ExplanationA response to internet drama that has been talked about to death, using one of Armstrong's lines from his speech for the second half.
- RAIDEN NEEDS GATORADE! Explanation Doktor mentions that Raiden would need electrolytes to refill his power for using Zandatsu, which he can get by slicing up enemies and taking their artificial spines. And since the main selling point of the sports drink brand Gatorade is electrolytes, the jokes pretty much made themselves. All the jokes about Raiden drinking Gatorade are a lot funnier when you discover that cutting open a vending machine always yields an Electrolyte Pack.
- Sundowner memes:
- Jetstream Sam memes:
- Whether it's contemplatively stroking his chin◊ or clapping as explosions go off around him◊, Jetstream Sam's reaction gif-worthy behavior has made him quite the Fountain of Memes.
- Jetstream Sam is a troll◊. note Jetstream Sam's introduction scene has him smiling in an incredibly cheesy manner. People quickly compared his expression to the Trollface, and it became a very popular reaction image.
- Oh good, why that's very good. Yes I like that! ExplanationJetstream Sam's line is used as a reaction image, but its original cause was for when Raiden stated that he had the desire to kill Sam.
- Dip your balls in sulfuric acidExplanation For some bizarre reason, it has become popular to post variations of this phrase over a gif of Jetstream Sam nodding his head in approval, like he's so charismatic that it would make the viewer want to dip their balls in sulfuric acid.
- Jetstream Sam's smirk ExplanationJetstream Sam's introduction first shows him smirking after chopping up a US soldier. His smirk immediately made him a source image captcha for trolling.
- Wheelchair Sam ExplanationA lyrical parody of Sam's theme sung by Happy Bean that features a suddenly-crippled Sam bemoaning his paraplegic state. After overwhelming fan demand, Tyson Yen - the original vocalist for "The Only Thing I Know For Real" decided to do an unofficial cover on his channel, making this an Ascended Meme.
- I think it's time for Jack... TO LET 'ER RIP! ExplanationRaiden, making a pun on the nickname for his violent persona, Jack The Ripper, which has just resurfaced due to meddling from Jetstream Sam and Monsoon. Typically used over images and videos of someone/something else suddenly turning violent.
- "Like I said - kids are cruel, Jack. And I loooove minors!note The other most iconic line from Max0r's Incorrect Summary of this game.
- "DOKTOR, TURN OFF MY X INHIBITORS!"explanation An easily-snowcloned and highly memorable scene of Raiden turning off his pain inhibitors in order to awaken his Jack the Ripper persona, and can be swapped out with basically anything that one would normally try to "inhibit" for an instant meme.
- Ruby is Raiden. ExplanationOne of the main characters of Jewelpet, Ruby, has been compared to Raiden for a number of reasons, such as both of them having white hair (fur in Ruby's case) and red eyes. It also helps that Dian, the Big Bad of the first series, is also comparable to Senator Armstrong. As a result, Ruby has been featured in some fan videos involving songs from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. This one in particular has her jump up to and carve a giant opponent, much like what Raiden does to Metal Gear RAY after throwing it into the air.
- Brazilians can double jump. note This Reddit post jokingly proposed this as the true meaning of Jetstream Sam's boss battle. The quote took off in online references to Sam and Brazilian gamers were happy to play along, stating that being from Brazil does grant you access to double jumping and other cool abilities.
- "That's a nice argument, Senator, why don't you back it up with a source?" "My source is that I made it the fuck up!"note An exchange between Raiden and Armstrong in Max0r's Incorrect Summary of this game. This line is typically used to poke fun at people making stuff up on the fly in arguments online. This one only got more popular in 2022 when the actual voice actors for Raiden and Armstrong said their respective lines in the exchange.
- Revengeance Status ExplanationA titillating video is presented to the viewer, before being unceremoniously interrupted by one of the games' various bosses kicking ass to their theme music. Jetstream Sam and Senator Armstrong are commonly used for the Bait-and-Switch. The most common scene transition is Armstrong running towards the screen to punch the viewer out of the other video.
- Samroll/There Will Be Bloodshed ExplanationOne of the first and most popular variations of this meme, which sets up the Bait-and-Switch with Jetstream Sam's theme, "The Only Thing I Know For Real".
- "No, Sam. Report back to the chief."/Monsooned Explanation A Double Subversion meme in which the usual Samroll get interrupted by Monsoon sending Sam away and taking over, with his boss theme playing and clips of the fight being shown.
- Another common meme is to replace parts of unfunny anime image memes with pictures of Metal Gear Rising characters. For example, "Japanese Girls in Anime" shows an anime Japanese schoolgirl, but "Japanese Girls in Real Life" shows Jetstream Sam.
- "They're the same fanbase"ExplanationAfter the release of Devil May Cry 5, the huge overlap between Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Devil May Cry fans have reached the point where crossover memes are very common, people joke about both fandoms being merged into one. It also stems from the trend where online users with Devil May Cry-related profile pictures post Revengeance memes, and vice versa.
- All I want for Christmas is Collective Consciousness/Collective ChristmasExplanation Somehow, it was discovered that "Collective Consciousness" has exactly the same cadence and tempo as "All I Want For Christmas Is You", and only a bit of pitch shifting was needed to create this amazing medley.
- The Principle SagaExplanation A meme posted to r/whenthe spiralled into a shonen-esque saga consisting entirely of Metal Gear Rising memes. The main timeline (Yes, there are multiple) has been compiled here.
- HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ExplanationA transliteration of the opening to the song which plays when Blade Wolf pulls a Big Damn Heroes moment right before the final battle. Expect this to be spammed in the chat of anyone streaming the game at the appropriate moment.
Peace Walker
- Kojima is God! Explanation From Peace Walker, Kaz realizes how Cecile's name sounds suspiciously similar to "Kojima Kaminandesu", which is how you would read her name in Japanese. People took this line and applied it to series creator Hideo Kojima, either using it sincerely to praise him, ironically in response to poor decisions he made, or even to treat him as a literal god, just for fun.
- In much the same way as the Guile's theme music goes with everything meme, videos exist of the Peace Walker theme making everything epic.
- Players justifying Huey's torture because of his refusal to believe that Santa is real. ExplanationThis is based on a taped converation between him and Big Boss on NORAD tracking Santa every year on their radar with a hotline.
- "Big Boss is on the naughty list." ExplanationPlayers joke that the Boss plays Santa for Big Boss when he was very young and that he's on the naughty list because he had to kill her.
MGSV
- "He's coming too?"/"You're gonna extract him?" ExplanationA few lines Kaz says when Snake is extracing a soldier; the latter is especially notable since he seems to express incredulity that Snake is extracting the soldier he's currently extracting and will even be said if Snake extracts an S-Rank soldier. These two are often juxtaposed with the "Kaz is racist" meme, where his surprise is directed towards a soldier of another race.
- WOAAHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ExplanationSins Of The Father, the song used in the trailers for MGSV, is often quoted by fans, most often using its One-Woman Wail.
- "A weapon to surpass Metal Gear."Explanation A phrase from the end of the E3 2013 trailer for The Phantom Pain. Typically captioned on something ridiculous, with common examples including dogs in boxes and strange sex toys.
- "Kaz... I'm already a demon."Explanation Another line from the end of the E3 2013 trailer, again often juxtaposed against something humerous and silly.
- "They played us like a damn fiddle!" Explanation (spoilers)Kaz's reaction to finding out the inspection of Mother Base was a trick that led to it getting destroyed. The way he says it is hilarious, which led to it becoming a meme, either poking fun at it or using it as a snowclone ("They [x]d us like a damn [y]!"). It has since been used as a general reaction to unprecedented twists and moments people didn't see coming.
- I'M NUUUUUUCLEAAAAAAAAR ExplanationThe song played in the E3 2014 trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Mike Oldfield's "Nuclear", has become quite popular, inspiring many remixes and general memes based on it.
- STANDING ExplanationThe first word of the song, which is the subject of a forum game on 4chan where someone posts the lyric, and then another poster follows it up with "ON THE EDGE" and so forth. Sometimes, people follow it up with the lyrics from "It Has To Be This Way" ("Standing here, I realize") instead.
- "[X] has gone Nuclear/went Nuclear" Explanation "Going nuclear" is a sub-meme from /v/, used to describe characters who go insane with anger and revenge, or have turned edgy and dark.
- Such a lust for revenge! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?! Explanation (spoilers) Skull Face starts Chewing the Scenery in The Phantom Pain when the Man on Fire and Tretij betray him. The line became popular to quote due to its hamminess. It also gets quoted when someone offhandedly says "who", and Skull Face's "WHO!?" has been occasionally been compared to the hoots of an owl.
- A Hideo Kojima Game ExplanationFans posted Steam reviews of this phrase to protest Konami removing Kojima's name from the box art.
- This is Pequod arriving at LZ ExplanationYou can put custom music on in the helicopter. This has caused many people to put completely random songs during this scene, often for Soundtrack Dissonance and/or hilarity.
- ROKETTO PAAAAANCHI!ExplanationFrom a video of Akio Ōtsuka (the voice of Naked/Venom/Solid Snake) loudly announcing the (unbelivably slow) remote-controlled rocket arm attack Snake can use against enemies during a 30-minute pre-release demo of the game. Later used in a fan animation.
- Kazuhira "The Racist" Miller ExplanationMiller being racist towards black people, due to a fake leak and an out of context scene where Miller hits one of the child soldiers. In reality, he was demonstrating that they were not fit for battle.
- Kazuhira "[racist rhyme]" Miller ExplanationOn places like /v/, whenever an image of Kaz is posted, someone will say "What's his name again?" Other people will respond with the nickname above, but with "The Racist" being replaced with a short rhyme that showcases his supposed racism and often Crosses the Line Twice to some.
- The real reason of Big Boss and Huey's falling out.Explanation (spoilers)The actual canonical reason: Huey infected the Diamond Dogs, sold them out, killed his wife, and nearly put his son in Sahelantropus. The memetic version? Because Huey didn't believe in the existence of Santa Claus and laughed at Big Boss' face when the latter said he genuinely believed in Santa Claus back in Peace Walker. And so the Huey interrogation scene is often given labels or subtitles into Big Boss and Ocelot demanding that Huey believe in Santa Claus.
- THE MAN WHO WAS CUCKED TO DEATH. ExplanationThe revelation of Huey as a Hate Sink and an abusive father suddenly added a whole other layer of context to his canonical death, revealed in 2, of having drowned himself upon finding out his second wife had sex with his son. Many fans, disappointed by his lack of comeuppance in Phantom Pain, have since taken solace in the idea that Huey was Driven to Suicide not by the trauma of his wife's betrayal or of his son being raped, but by the idea of being Cuckolded by the very son he abused.
- Kaz's "Why are we still here?" speech is all over the internet. ExplanationA clip of the opening words ("Why are we still here? Just to suffer?") tend to be used when something sad happens or someone dies, in a vein similar to the "sad violin" song.
- "You will feel ashamed of your words & deeds." ExplanationAfter an outcry regarding Quiet's default choice of clothing, Kojima said rather infamously that the detractors would feel more pity for her when they saw the reason for it. After the reason was revealed and received by many to be a flimsy excuse at best and a Voodoo Shark at worst, people tend to bring it up in relation to her blatant fanservice scenes, and now even quote it for characters or situations that have nothing to do with Quiet or fanservice at all. Said excuse, "she breathes through her skin", is also used similarly as a meme.
- AMAZING. MISSION COMPLETE. THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHY YOU'RE THE BEST BOSS ExplanationOne of Miller's lines upon successfully completing a mission. The delivery is glorious enough on its own, but thanks to some unfortunate timing it also gets paired up with "Boss, you killed a child...?"
- Guest Starring: The "Skulls" Parasite Unit ExplanationUntil you get a good LMG or want to risk using airstrikes (even if it lowers your score), the Skulls are absolute nightmares to kill, due to being bullet sponges and running fast. Due to the difficulty of the levels with the Skulls, people have made memes expressing their fear at seeing the text "Guest Starring: The "Skulls" Parasite Unit" before a level.
- "You named him D-Dog, but it’s obvious – anyone can see that’s a wolf!" Explanation (spoilers)As he faces judgment and exile from the Diamond Dogs for his heinous crimes, Huey declares this as an argument that they have been deluding themselves by creating their own convenient reality. Fans often quote this whenever D-Dog is mentioned for its hilarity in and out of context.
- Punished [X] ExplanationIt's become popular to apply Snake's "Punished" epithet to other characters for whom things go to hell during a Time Skip (often accompanied by pictures of them with Snake's shrapnel horn and/or eyepatch), especially if they've been comatose and/or gotten a Darker and Edgier makeover in the interim. Examples include Punished Noct, Punished Commander, Punished Cap, and Punished Dimitri among others. This is also a standard format used on Twitter to indicate someone's account is the replacement for one that got suspended (e.g. @farts_helium, terror of the comments to third-string rappers and DC foreign policy correspondants, gets banned and relaunches as @punished_farts)
- "Please try to relax. There is plenty of time." ExplanationDuring the prologue segment of the game, Venom Snake is told by the doctor that he has recently recovered from 9 years of coma and the situation during his absence is explained. When Snake panics upon hearing the revelation, the doctor tries to calm him down before forcefully injecting an anesthetic to silence him. 6 years and 5 months after the game's release, this scene suddenly triggered a meme in Japan in February 2022, mainly used to show that something has (or has not) happened in the last several years.
- Invisible by Duran Duran is in MGSV. ExplanationNumerous memes of MGSV featuring the 2021 song begun appearing in early 2024 after blowing up on a Fortnite TikTok edit due to the heavily 80s-inspired sound of the song and its associated album, to the point that fans have begun Gaslighting those who aren't aware the song came out roughly five years after the game released.
Your memes... have created a time paradox.
