20-06-2026, 08:40 PM
I think for Peace Walker, Kojima was just following Back to the Future rules wherein ancestors tend to look, sound, and behave identically to their descendants. But then when TPP hit, I think it was meant to be more of a case of showing that, while Big Boss and Solid Snake started in similar places, they diverged dramatically, so too did the Emmerichs. More Scene than Gene so to speak.
That said, I think just about everybody in Phantom Pan was out of character, and I can't imagine that's a coincidence.
Big Boss (if the ending is not taken literally) - Goes from being a verbose know-it-all type with no shortage of opinions about anything to a borderline silent protagonist who winds up so detached from who he once was that he now deludes himself into believing he isn't even the same person.
Big Boss (if the ending is taken literally) - Goes from being someone who talked a big game about taking on the world to someone who hid from it, from a reluctant leader to a ruthless pragmatist who isn't above colluding with his arch nemesis to live another day. Gave up on "yesterday's enemy is tomorrow's ally" and utterly betrays Kaz for his dealings with Zero. Has no qualms about brainILACKORIGINALITYASAHUMANBEING and using a loyal soldier to be his decoy while stealing his identity. I could go on and on.
Miller - Jovial "we're gonna be big biz" idealist to a broken, spiteful man whose only aspiration is getting back at anyone he even thinks might be working against him. He treats "Big Boss" (I do believe the post credits scene happened very early in the game, at the very least before the battle with Quiet) like a subordinate, and goes so far as to countermand his orders or endanger his own safety for the sake of his vengeance. He's absolutely his old self in the Hamburger tapes though.
Ocelot - The schemer, the sadist, the poster boy for chronic backstabbing disorder. He's an amiable cowboy. Beyond some overly convoluted means of maintaining his cover and getting rough with Huey, he's generally a pretty nice guy. Maybe this was meant to show the side he presented to Liquid and Solidus? All I know is there's a huge disconnect between both his Snake Eater and MGS1 portrayals.
And my biggest surprise - Skull Face! Ground Zeroes (especially the tapes) presented him as this Joker-like figure, obsessed with using the most horrific acts man is capable of to find someone as resistant to death itself as himself. And while he has his moments (again largely only on tape), Phantom Pain's most important Skull Face scenes turn him into a huge goofball. "Whooooo?!" and so on. He doesn't seem like the same character at all.
I imagine there's some sort of point Kojima was going for. About how revenge changes people, and all that. But like much of Phantom Pain, he went far more subdued over his previous verbosity, and that worked to the story's detriment.
That said, I think just about everybody in Phantom Pan was out of character, and I can't imagine that's a coincidence.
Big Boss (if the ending is not taken literally) - Goes from being a verbose know-it-all type with no shortage of opinions about anything to a borderline silent protagonist who winds up so detached from who he once was that he now deludes himself into believing he isn't even the same person.
Big Boss (if the ending is taken literally) - Goes from being someone who talked a big game about taking on the world to someone who hid from it, from a reluctant leader to a ruthless pragmatist who isn't above colluding with his arch nemesis to live another day. Gave up on "yesterday's enemy is tomorrow's ally" and utterly betrays Kaz for his dealings with Zero. Has no qualms about brainILACKORIGINALITYASAHUMANBEING and using a loyal soldier to be his decoy while stealing his identity. I could go on and on.
Miller - Jovial "we're gonna be big biz" idealist to a broken, spiteful man whose only aspiration is getting back at anyone he even thinks might be working against him. He treats "Big Boss" (I do believe the post credits scene happened very early in the game, at the very least before the battle with Quiet) like a subordinate, and goes so far as to countermand his orders or endanger his own safety for the sake of his vengeance. He's absolutely his old self in the Hamburger tapes though.
Ocelot - The schemer, the sadist, the poster boy for chronic backstabbing disorder. He's an amiable cowboy. Beyond some overly convoluted means of maintaining his cover and getting rough with Huey, he's generally a pretty nice guy. Maybe this was meant to show the side he presented to Liquid and Solidus? All I know is there's a huge disconnect between both his Snake Eater and MGS1 portrayals.
And my biggest surprise - Skull Face! Ground Zeroes (especially the tapes) presented him as this Joker-like figure, obsessed with using the most horrific acts man is capable of to find someone as resistant to death itself as himself. And while he has his moments (again largely only on tape), Phantom Pain's most important Skull Face scenes turn him into a huge goofball. "Whooooo?!" and so on. He doesn't seem like the same character at all.
I imagine there's some sort of point Kojima was going for. About how revenge changes people, and all that. But like much of Phantom Pain, he went far more subdued over his previous verbosity, and that worked to the story's detriment.
