Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-1672596-20150629103301

TheGentlemanGhost wrote: 64.33.250.214 wrote: TheGentlemanGhost wrote: I'm fully on board with the idea that Ishmael is our customizable character. Since there is in fact a face customization option in the beginning of the game during story mode the previewers saw but stated was incomplete yet had no affect on BB's appearance, I'm even more convienced it's for Ishamel. It makes sense with the head being wrapped and I think it's part of Kojima's "thing you can't do in moves but can do in games" statement from a while back.

It may also tie into the guy Kaz asks about in the coma scene. If that is "Ishmael", it makes even more sense as to why we are seeing that scene from that persons POV and why Kojima said it was him when interviewed about that scene as well. There are several problems with Ishmael being customizable. Why would Ishmael's face be customizable but not his voice? He is voiced by Keifer Sutherland in the trailers. Why use Keifer if the character is not important to the plot? We haven't seen Ishmael in trailers since e3 2012. If Ishmael is simply a customizable character, why has Kojima been so secretive about him? Not that I'd put it entirely past Kojima to make a big deal out of something minor, like the Chicken Cap. Also, how many scenes would Ishmael have that it's even worth customizing him? Yong Yea explained in one of his recent analysis videos that Boss's facial scars are customizable. So maybe people are confusing that feature with creating a new character.

It doesn't make a lot of sense for Keifer to voice anyone that's not BB really at the moment. Him VAing a custom character isn't really as big of a deal compared to it being another main character. Even with it being Solidus, they never made the clones themselves share the same voice as BB anyway.

Why wouldn't it be a secret, esp if it's his idea of what could be done in games that can't be in done in movies that they blatantly kept secret. If Ishmael is ourself, he may actually play an important role in the story, I don't see what's so crazy about Kojima keeping it under wraps.

The beginning of the game apparently has multiple Moby Dick references. Ishmael is the narrator in Moby Dick, hence we see the story from his POV, we see BB being placed into a coma from a completely different character's POV. This First Person POV isn't exactly something MGS uses in cut scenes unless it's from our main character's POV, this is the only other reason I can see why it's used then, because it's us. When Kojima was asked about breaking the 3rd wall again in this game, that's when he went on about his idea of implimenting something that can only be done in games, Ishmael just might be it going of the hints and info thus far. Plus we know we can also play the game with our own DD soldiers other than BB and I doubt we have that awkward BB vs BB moment like we saw in the old MB influtration demo a while back. So that would also explain why the customization is when it's done. I don't know about Yong's explaination of it but I've read 2 other sources saying it was a full facial customization system but then removed that info from their articles online. Everything I've seen it mention from the previewers, they all seem to see it completely different and not really know what it's purpose was since it was a WIP.

There seems to definitely be more evidence pointing to Ishmael possibly being ourselves (customizable character) than anything. Technically, the only clone to not share Big Boss' voice is Liquid Snake. Solidus Snake, while not voiced by David Hayter in the English version, was voiced by Akio Otsuka in the Japanese version. And Big Boss himself obviously shared both voice actors to Snake until Peace Walker (barring Metal Gear Solid 4), and even then, MGSV still has him being voiced by Akio Otsuka. I think the only time Big Boss DIDN'T end up voiced by both of Solid Snake's voice actors in the Japanese and English versions is Metal Gear Solid 4, and in that case, that was deliberately done by Kojima as a means to thaw the ice between Akio and Chikao Otsuka (not to mention even there, Akio Otsuka did motion capture work for Big Boss).