Mgs V theory time: Who is Venom Snake?

[Caboose The Ace]

Strap on your tins hats and let’s get right into this theory.

 

My question is: Who is Venom Snake and who is Ishmael?

 

The obvious answer that most of the Metal Gear community would be, Big Boss is Venom Snake and Ishmael is one of two things. He is either the Medic from Ground Zeros who tried to protect Big Boss and got an explosion to the face. Or Ishmael is not real. But I think I have figured out who they really are. (OR MAYBE HE IS GREY FOX)

 

Now this may come as a shock but I think Venom Snake isn’t Big Boss. Instead he is the Medic from Ground Zeros. This may have come out of nowhere but let me show some evidence.

Evidence number one: https://youtu.be/B0W3xRgr70E?t=78

 

Watch for about 15 seconds and you see there Big Boss looks fine in the hospital bed. Granted blood is on his sneaking suit but apart from that he’s fine. No shrapnel in the head. Or scars on his face.

Evidence number two: http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140727154249/metalgear/images/9/9f/TPPBigBossPP.png

 

Look at all those scars on Venom Snake. He has one down the right side of his forehead. But that’s not seen on Big Boss in the video above.

 

Evidence number three: https://youtu.be/03nUMw7japI?t=54
As you can see this scene takes place in a first person view with Kaz asking. “What about him?” Indicating there is a third person who survived the Helicopter crash. Now the question is who could this be? I originally thought it was Chico but now I think I know who it could actually be. Some time ago Kojima was asked who this was and he replied that the character was himself. But I don’t buy that. Come on, do you really expect him to say who it is?

 

Now who could this be if not Chico? Well one Msf solider escaped onto the Helicopter with Kaz and Big Boss during the attack, so could it be him? Or maybe one of the actual Helicopter pilots? It is possible but I think this is man is the Medic who removed the bomb from Paz’s chest in Ground Zeros.

 

Now watch this cutscene but keep your eyes on the Medic. https://youtu.be/uUuAO0eOwx0
This cutscene goes to great lengths’ to keep his full face hidden for starters. Now watch this video by Yongyea. https://youtu.be/UmHfxgM3MNA

 

If you have watched the video you can hear that the Medic is voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. And that the Medic actually protects Big Boss from the blast from the bomb in Paz. Taking the worst of the blast. Now Yong seems to think the Medic is Ishmael and they both sound around the same and that is a possible outcome of who or what Ishmael is.
Now to get to the meat of the theory. I think that Venom Snake is none other than the Medic in Ground Zeros. (Making him the character you play as in Mgs V)

 

Firstly, during one of the first bits of gameplay of the Phantom Pain Ishmael says. “I’ve been watching over you for over nine years” Watch this video to see the scene when it is said. https://youtu.be/HfZNOTmOgpE
Now think about this: The Medic took the worst of the damage and is my opinion is the most likely candidate (aside from Kaz and Big Boss of course) to have survived the helicopter crash. The Medic took the worst damage to the face so it would make sense from him to have those scars all over his face and to have gotten into a coma.

Next piece of evidence: In Mgs v Venom Snake cannot understand Russian. If you put this in the context of Big Boss, it makes no sense. In Mgs 3 Big Boss even spoke Russian for a moment. But in the context of some random Medic, sure, it adds up.

 

Also during Peace Walker Big Boss told Huey about how he hates electronic cigarettes. During almost all the Mgs v demo’s the phantom cigar has been shown. But the phantom cigar is electronic. Now I know this point is grasping at straws but it’s still a point.

 

Look at this image: http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/JpZJZE5.png
Someone took the Medic’s face from the game files, added a beard, the same hairstyle as Big Boss and an eye patch and bam! At first glance he could pass for Big Boss.

For the next piece of proof watch this part of the interview with Kojima. https://youtu.be/Z2_5Ag3__b4?t=2373

Big Boss was in three comas, but yet Kojima said he was only in one.
1 - 1972 - Les Enfants Terribles;
2 - 1975 - MSF's attacked by XOF;
3 - 1999 - Induced coma from Dr. Clark;

 

Firstly the 1972 one was a mistranslation from the Japanese script to the English script so that’s debunked.
“But father was wounded in combat and already in a coma when they brought him in. So they created us from his cells... with a combination of 20th century analog cloning and the Super Baby Method” English mistranslation.
“But an injury father sustained in combat left him sterile. So they created us from his cells... with a combination of 20th century analog cloning and the Super Baby Method” Japanese script.

 

Next up is the 1999 coma. After Big Boss’s fight with Solid Snake at the end of Mgs 2. With some help from Kaz, Snake beat Big Boss with some unorthodox weaponry, setting him ablaze and presumably killing him. However it turned out later, Big Boss was rescued by the Patriots and put into a nanomachine coma.

 

So now we come to the 1975 coma. Kojima said Big Boss only entered one coma and also said during the interview you would have to play to the end of understand. Metal Gear is a series know for its late game reveals. Such as Big Boss coming back at the end of Mgs 4. There is no denying the words said during one of the Mgs v trailer when one of the Doctors says to Kaz about Big Boss. “Its too late, he’s in a coma” So what if Big Boss had a fake coma? Somehow….. This would surely explain what Kojima said. Or maybe, now this one is a wildcard. Big Boss was in a coma until Mgs 4? Kojima did say Mgs V would have some “minor” repcons.

 

Now to address who Ishmael is.
I am not entirely sure who Ishmael is but these are three most likely outcomes in my opinion.
1 He does not exist. That would explain when in the Gdce hospital gameplay despite the pressing situation to escape. Ishmael just lets Venom Snake crawl. And not doing the logical thing by helping him up.
2 He is the Medic who got a bomb to the face at the end of Ground Zeros.
3 He is Big Boss.

 

Now let’s go in-depth to each. (Remember Ishmael, the Medic and Big Boss are all voiced by the same actor)
1 It is entirely possible Ishmael is just Venom Snakes imagination, helping him to escape. Kojima talked about /Venom Snake having hallucinations during the game due to the shrapnel and perhaps Ishmael is one of them. As seen in many trailers at some point. Venom Snake and Ishmael commander an ambulance only to crash it later on. After Venom Snake wakes up however, Ishmael is seemingly gone. (Judging from the same trailer when Venom Snake crawls out the crashed ambulance. There is also a scene in the hospital section when Ishmael survives being set on fire among other things. And as brought up before despite the pressing need to escape Ishmael lets Venom Snake crawl. But why did Venom Snake even hallucinate about him? Many say because the Medic was pretty much the last thing Big Boss saw before he went into a coma that’s why. But why would he hallucinate of a man with bandages on his face in a hospital robe and not what the Medic actually looked like?

 

2 Another theory and in my opinion more likely that the one above, is that Ishmael is the Medic from Ground Zeros. That would explain why he sounds like the Medic. While I think this is more likely than the above theory is still like the one above has its, problems. Like why is the Medic got bandages on his face? It would make sense if this game took place a few days after Ground Zeros because the Medic took a bomb explosion to the face. But nine years?!

 

3 And now for the wildest theory, Ishmael is Big Boss. Firstly this explains why he is wearing the bandages, to hide his face from Venom Snake. But the real question is why is Big Boss Ishmael? And I don’t know. My original idea was that he made the Medic look like himself so he could draw out Skull face/Zero and kill them. But then Ishmael says that he has been watching over Venom Snake for nine years. So what? Big Boss has been sitting in a hospital for nine years? Its clear Miller has been busy and if my theory is correct with Big Boss in a fake coma. Nothing is stopping him from walking about and getting his revenge.

 

 

All of these theories have their points that add up. Yet also have their points that don’t.
However now for the bonus fourth theory.
4: Now this is the mind bomb theory. The guy you play as is another clone of Big Boss and the real Big Boss died in the hospital. I admit this one hardly makes sense but eh, its fun to speculate.
Now then back to the Venom Snake theory I am proposing.

 

Recap:
The smoking guns (The main points)
The Medic’s voice is similar to Big Boss and looks like Big Boss with the eye patch and the beard added. Now he does not entirely look like Big Boss but some facial surgery would fix that. (Once again, keep in mind, in Mgs v, Ishmael, the Medic and Big Boss/Venom Snake are all voiced by the same actor)

Big Boss does not appear to have shrapnel in his head in the hospital trailers and he is missing the scars that Venom Snake has.

 

Kojima confirmed Big Boss was in one coma.

 

Minor points.

 

Venom Snake is fine with electronic cigars.

 

Venom Snake does not understand Russian.

Counter argument.

To end this Venom Snake theory thread here is a counter argument on why the theory I just spent a thread arguing  about is a total load of rubbish.

 

1 Even during the Outer heaven uprising Big Boss maintained the view soldiers should not be used as tools and they should have the freedom to choose who they fight for. Yet if my theory is correct then Big Boss just brainwashed one of his soldiers into thinking that he was actually Big Boss. That’s in direct contrast to Big Boss’s character. That’s the whole reason he started Msf and Outer Heaven. So to brainwash someone to be used in his game of revenge against Skull face is just out of his character. Maybe he actually did fall into a coma and so Kaz made this decision? Considering how eager he is to get his revenge on Skull face, this could make sense.

 

2 Judging from the trailers, Venom Snake has the memories of Big Boss. I know Metal Gear has had some crazy stuff happen in it (NANOMACHINES BABY!) But memory transfer? That just seems too far, even for Metal Gear.

 

3 Kojima. That’s pretty much it. Kojima has time and time again showed he loves confusing players and this is a perfect example. It’s entirely possible in the final game there shrapnel is there in that scene where Big Boss supposedly goes into a coma. For example during the E3 trailer, Kojima removed the Boss’s AI pod from a scene only to add it back in the 2015 E3 version. It could be that the Medic has nothing more to do with the game and died due to the bomb exploding in his face. And any hints of Venom Snake not being Big Boss are to confuse us even more. Such as the voice's.

 

4 How does the Medic have Big Boss's skills? And one of the things that makes Big Boss so good at being a solider is his "solider genes" I am 100 percent sure the Medic does not have the same genetics as Big Boss.

 

And that concludes my Mgs V Venom Snake theory. Hope you enjoyed reading and don’t think I have gone completely insane…..

Edited August 28, 2015 by Caboose The Ace

[Buns]

The games story is already out there. People already have the game

 

While you took a lot of time to write this we already know who the answer to this theory.

 

I'm not going to tell you where you can find the spoilers since its as easy as a google search. Just play the game. My conclusion is that the story is worth it. 

[Maestro]

Just remember, in typical Metal Gear Solid fashion, it will be explained in-game with a lengthy cutscene.