Dogs of War: Psychology in "metal Gear Solid"

Compared to the early releases, new video gamesbrother is also driven by status anxiety, as he
have improved in terms of plot and charactersubconsciously desires to kill his brother to prove that
development. The psychology and personalities of thehe is better than both his brother and his father. This
characters - hero, villain, and recurring figure alike aredesire to outdo both his brother and father is a
now just as important as how the game plays.consistent factor in his appearances in the series. He
However, like in the early days of comic books beforealso exhibits a slight Messiah complex in his desire to
Stan Lee's "Spider-Man," video game characters tendfulfill his father's dream, as he expanded the plan to not
to be flat caricatures of real people, with flaws likeonly create a haven for soldiers, but also to destroy
social anxiety, fragile mental health, and depressionthe governments that would use and discard them.
being traits reserved for antagonists. Yet, even in suchThe problem of status anxiety also manifests slightly in
a climate, there are still maverick character designersthe goals of Big Boss, Liquid and Solid Snake's "father."
who have made heroes that are difficult to fit into theA man deemed to be the "perfect soldier," his genetic
traditional definition of the "hero" role. Among the bestmaterial was used to create his "sons," even as he
examples of such games is Hideo Kojima's "Metalhad one of them modified to be inferior to the other.
Gear Solid" series.As a solider, he quickly realized that the time would
Being a game that both embraces the psychology ofcome when men like him would no longer be needed
war and carries a strong pacifist undercurrent, there isand would be discarded by the governments they
a complexity in the cast of characters that isserved like obsolete trash. His own status anxiety,
necessary. To an extent, all of the characters havecombined with his disillusionment at how the US
some form of mental health disorder, which isgovernment betrayed his mentor to save their
appropriate for a game that relies heavily on thereputation, forged the idea of a soldier's utopia in his
personalities of its characters. While some might initiallymind. It was during his second attempt to establish
see them as extreme responses to their situations,such a utopia - which he termed "Outer Heaven" - that
Kojima has gone to great lengths to present hishe was slain in battle by Solid Snake, his genetic son.
characters as possibilities present when war meetsHis adamant refusal to be referred to by his
psychology. The characters of the MGS series can becodename of "Big Boss" also reflects his status
taken to represent the various effects of war on aanxiety towards the events that earned him the name.
person's mental health, whether they are soldiers,He resents the fact that he was awarded that
commanders, or bystanders. He shows this throughcodename because he killed his mentor, "The Boss,"
their personalities and the conversations that theyfor a government that discarded and abandoned her -
have with the protagonist, making them more than justdespite her loyal service - simply because it was
an obstacle to overcome to complete the game.politically convenient to do so. The bitter irony of the
Among the most long-standing favorites of Kojima'sname has not escaped him.
multitude of antagonists is the woman known only asHowever, perhaps the most psychologically compelling
Sniper Wolf. She may appear perfectly sane at firstcase among the MGS series cast would be the chief
glance, but some have analyzed her personality as aprotagonist himself, Solid Snake. According to records
potential consequence of growing up in a war zone.spread throughout the games, Snake exhibited signs of
The experience of living in war-torn Iraq has left scarssocial anxiety at an early age. Trained to be the
that damaged her mental health and emotionalperfect killer and the ultimate stealth soldier, he was
development . For children who were born and raisedraised to dislike emotional attachments and view
in a war zone, the typical response is to find a waycloseness with other people as a potential weakness.
out of the chaos and destruction. For Sniper Wolf,This social anxiety was reinforced by his second
even after her rescue, her mental health was somajor mission, where he had to kill both his best friend
marked by her experiences that the only real way sheand his father to fulfill his mission objectives. The fight
could overcome her prolonged trauma was towith Gray Fox, his best friend, was also an instance
become part of it. Yet, perhaps due to some sort ofwhere he showed performance anxiety, being
anxiety disorder, she also longed to distance herselfextremely unwilling to fight a man he considered his
from it. As a soldier, she became part of the very thingfriend and combat superior. His traces of status
that terrorized her as a child. As a sniper, she perhapsanxiety also plays a role in his character, though not in
relieved her fear and anxiety as a child by distancingthe way most would expect. He views himself not as
herself from the front lines, taking lives from behind thethe hero the people around him believe he is, but simply
scope of her rifle. This theme of a person becomingas "an old killer, hired to do some wet work." He
part of what scarred them in their youth is repeated inconstantly seems to wish to prove that he is more
the "Beauty and the Beast" military unit in the upcomingthan just the soldier he believes himself to be, but
finale of the MGS series, albeit with a more literalinevitably cannot distance himself from the battlefield.
interpretation.His conflicted status anxiety sometimes plays out
Liquid Snake, one of the series' primary antagonists,subtly, as he no longer wishes to engage in fighting and
also exhibits a number of psychological disorders. Hisjust live out his life in isolation. However, he understands
initial goal appeared to have been little more than thethat he is a soldier and he will always be a soldier, with
"world conquest" standard, but as the plot progresses,his only home being the chaos of a battlefield.
it is revealed to be much deeper. As theA common trait among the front line soldier characters
genetically-altered "twin brother" to the protagonist,of the MGS series is their inability to feel grief over
Solid Snake, Liquid exhibits signs of sibling-causedloss. The explanation was that, as they were exposed
status anxiety. Altered to be the inferior of the twomore and more to the horrors of war, they began to
brothers, Liquid pushed himself to perform in everylose the ability to grieve over lost comrades and family.
aspect of his military life to prove that his inferiorThis has been portrayed as a side effect of the
genetics were not going to define him. His statushorrors of war upon a soldier's mental health,
anxiety also pushed him to lead an insurrection ofparticularly in the cases of Big Boss and Solid Snake,
soldiers in an attempt to outdo his father and form awho both had to endure the trauma of killing someone
utopia for soldiers. His murderous competition with histhat they were emotionally attached to.