Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-78.20.137.17-20131119192351/@comment-192.160.117.141-20140418190119

Well, both are true from a certain point of view, but the supernatural element of the previous account was quashed in favor of a more scientific one in MGS4, similar to some of Vamp's abilities.

Not necessarily; MGS4 also contains Psycho Mantis, who is both a psychic and a ghost, and is actually possessing someone.

Certainly, by MGS4, it's all Ocelot; Liquid's arm is totally gone, and he's replaced it with a prosthetic. In MGS2, it's unclear. He could have been possessed; certainly the revelation in MGS3 that his dad was a spirit medium was meant to imply this, and Ocelot has the arm removed specifically to "balance his psyche".

On the other hand, Ocelot could have been planning on taking on Liquid's persona even before the tanker incident. That said, I'm not super clear on what pretending to be Liquid actually accomplished in MGS4. In MGS2, Ocelot could act against Solidus' or the Patriots' orders and then blame it on Liquid to remain undercover, but that doesn't explain why it was so important to keep up the charade in MGS4; supposedly it was "to fool the Patriots", but at that point the Patriots were totally prepared to just FOXDIE the guy. Anyone have any explanation for this?