It’s probably an understatement to say the Metal Gear Solid franchise has a bit of a complex story. Even those who’ve followed Hideo Kojima’s series since its beginnings can have trouble understanding exactly what’s going on, let alone those of us who’ve only played a couple games here and there.
While we already know a bit about the story we’ll experience in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, the prologue for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, we’ll take whatever scraps of knowledge Kojima is willing to send our way.
As luck would have it, Kojima recently took to Twitter to explain the logic behind how he came to give Snake his name, why he introduced clones and how they got their names.
The reason I used Snake as a code name in Metal Gear is that a snake was the most appropriate symbol of a living being that hides his presence, and sneaks without making any noise. The reason why I didn’t use any specific snake names like cobra, anaconda or viper was because the protagonist is the player. The reason why I use SOLID was to give opposite impression of something soft.
Like for of all endings of the any series, the appearance of strongest enemy was a must in Metal Gear Solid. It’s the Snake who can surpass the Snake. Thus I brought about a “clone.” The struggle between SOLID and LIQUID. That was Metal Gear Solid.
As I developed a sequel, a third snake was needed. Since both solid & liquid express an actual natural state. Obviously the next would be “gas” but Gas Snake would be like a human made of gas, and that’s not a nice name. So I borrowed from the physics terms “solidus/liquidus”. SOLIDUS is not a real state but indicates the border between liquid and solid.
Surprisingly enough, Kojima’s reasoning behind why he named Snake is pretty solid (heh, heh), as is why he brought about the clones. It's obviously the same type of explanation that we'd expect from the creator of a universe more complex than almost any other out there, but it does help us better understand the character and his creator. However, we have to disagree with him on his last point because “Gas Snake” sounds kind of awesome.
In any case, it’s nice to get a peek inside his mind and thought process in making some of these decisions, which until now have remained a mystery. Kojima clearly is a developer who puts a lot of thought into all of his design decisions - even if it might sometimes not seem that way - and he knows these characters, especially Snake, inside and out.
Although Solid Snake is likely done as far as Metal Gear Solid is concerned, gamers still have the exploits of Big Boss (a.k.a. Punished Snake) to look forward to in Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain. It's a bummer that longtime voice actor David Hayter is not on board, but as this represents a new chapter for Snake in the next-gen the decision to tweak the voice makes sense.
What do you think of Kojima’s explanation for Snake’s name? Do you think, based on his logic, it made sense to introduce the clones, or would have a single Snake been best for the series?
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes is scheduled to be released March 18 on the PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
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Source: Dual Shockers