Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-6747658-20140812105024

Again, I will use Fight Club as reference, in one particular scene we see the secondary lead character driving a car with the main lead being in the passenger seat. As we learn in the end of the movie, the secondary lead character is a hallucination, meaning that it was the lead character who was actually driving the car.



Call of Duty: Black Ops did something similar. The main character Mason believes he sees and interacts with Viktor, a Russian he met in the Gulag. However it is later revealed that Viktor was never there for the rest of the game and that Mason all hallucinated this. Best example in it is how Mason watches Viktor execute a man in the name of revenge. We later get to see this scene again from a different perspective and it was in fact Mason who killed the man, speaking the same words Viktor says.

Mason was completely under the impression that Viktor was real and that he saw Viktor commit these actions when in reality it was himself that did this.

Hallucination can have drastic effects on people, making them see things that are not there or believing things to be done by others when they have done it themselves.

With Big Boss and Ishmael this can also be applied, it explains why the "pick me up" drug that Ishmael used on Big Boss has no effect, because it most likely was never used on him. It explains why Ishmael leaves Big Boss to move on his own, despite that Ishmael clearly said they needed to hurry and get out. And for a man who claims to have watched Big Boss for nine years (yet appearing pretty much butt-naked) it would seem odd to claim that they need to hurry and yet not help Big Boss whatsoever. It would also explain why Ishmael appears completely fine after the fire burst that introduced demon Volgin, as we clearly see Ishmael's clothing burning while he frantically tries to put them out, yet when he stands up he's completely fine, no burn marks or whatever and acts as if nothing happened.

It also explains why we apparently see him get shot in the head during the trailer only to appear in a doorpost seconds later. Any brief instances where Ishmael does help Big Boss can be claimed that Big Boss did so himself, yet believed that Ishmael did so. It would also explain why Ishmael is no longer seen after the ambulance crash, as only Big Boss is seen getting out and only Big Boss is taken with Ocelot. It's not so much that Ishmael just hasn't appeared in later trailers, but he seemingly pretty much disappears after that ambulance crash and knowing Big Boss, he would no doubt have requested Ocelot to bring Ishmael along with them but we do not see him at all with Big Boss and Ocelot as they continue their escape.

The "watching you for nine years" can also be explained, Big Boss was in coma for nine years and it has been seen before in real life that comatose persons can still be active on a subconscious level, a sort of dream state so to speak. If Ishmael is indeed a hallucination, he would be part of Big Boss's subconscious and therefor would have watched him for nine years. It explains why we do not see his face and why (although still unconfirmed) Kiefer voices him, as Ishmael would be none other then Big Boss himself, or rather his subconscious.

I mean really, it is not that hard to consider this when you start to think about it and in all honesty, it makes more sense (to me at least) for him to be a hallucination rather then that he is suddenly Solidus or Gray Fox, neither of which have the same voice as Big Boss.