After a short break away from tweeting at length about Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima was up to his old tricks again on his English account, explaining in great detail how each of the Snakes got their name, and why we don’t have a Gas Snake (tweets edited for clarification where applicable):
“The reason I used Snake as a code name in Metal Gear was because snake was the most appropriate symbol of a living thing that hides his presence and sneaks without any noise. The reason I didn’t make any specific snake like cobra, anaconda, or viper was because the protagonist is the player. The reason I use SOLID was to give opposite impression of soft image.”
“Like of all endings of the any series are, the appearance of strongest enemy was a must in Metal Gear Solid. It’s Snake who can surpass the Snake. Thus I brought about “clone”. SOLID vs LIQUID. That is Metal Gear Solid.”
“As to develop sequel, the 3rd snake was needed. Since both solid and liquid express state, means same true state. Naturally the next would be gas, but gas snake is like gas human – not handsome name. So I borrowed from physics terms of “solidus/liquidus”. SOLIDUS is not state, but implies the boundary of liquid and solid.”
Would you have laughed at a Gas Snake if he had shown up in any of the Metal Gear Solid games? Let us know in the comments below.
