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