Laughing Octopus

Laughing Octopus was the stealth expert of the Beauty and the Beast Unit. She suffered from a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to traumatic events in her childhood. Like all the members of the BB Corps, she was mentally unstable and prone to outbursts and mood swings. In Laughing Octopus' case, she was prone to outbursts of manic laughter. She was equipped with an advanced OctoCamo suit, along with a number of mechanical appendages that served a variety of purposes.

Early life
The girl who would later become Laughing Octopus was born in a small seaside Scandinavian town known as the Devil's Village. The primary meat consumed in this village was the octopus (also known as devil fish) caught nearby. An anonymous cult nursed a deep hatred for the village. When Laughing Octopus was a young woman, the cult accumulated enough heavy weaponry to launch a deadly overnight assault against the town. The conflict concluded when the cult rounded up the survivors and executed them one by one. However, instead of executing the girl (whom they referred to as "The Devil's Child"), they forced her to participate in the torture of her family and friends, forcing her to act as if enjoying it all the while by forcing her to laugh. Fearing for her own life, she obeyed her captors and massacred her entire family. Eventually, she began to hallucinate that the blood on her hands turned from red to black, resembling the ink of the octopus which they had loved so.

The incident left her emotionally scarred and prone to fits of manic laughter, especially during combat.

The girl was later recruited into the Beauty and the Beast Unit and informed by Liquid Ocelot that killing Solid Snake would cleanse her of pain, fury, and sorrow. She was fitted with an OctoCamo suit developed by DARPA and a tentacle-bearing helmet and took up the name, "Laughing Octopus."

In 2014, Laughing Octopus and the Beauty and the Beast Unit attacked local rebels in the Middle East. She displayed impressive camouflage abilities, hiding in the shadows before striking with her deadly tentacles and killing several soldiers. She was later sent to South America, leading the French PMC, Pieuvre Armement, against South American rebel forces. Upon arrival at Liquid's safe house, she and Vamp secured the area and captured several rebel and government forces. However, upon Vamp's request, she spared one soldier, although she also told the same soldier, while assuming Solid Snake's appearance using FaceCamo, that the rebels should be wary of "this man's face." Because of this, Snake encountered some initial difficulty in being permitted to fight alongside them.

Laughing Octopus was then stationed at the research lab where Naomi Hunter was being held. Snake eventually reached the lab and made contact with Naomi, but she was quickly escorted off the premises by Pieuvre Armement troops and the lab was rushed by FROGS under Octopus's command. After Snake eliminated the FROGS, Octopus entered the lab herself, formally introducing herself to Snake before attacking him.

Despite her considerable camouflage and ambush skills, Snake was able to defeat Octopus. Once defeated, her octopus helmet and face mask tumbled to the ground, and Octopus stumbled forward. Her bodysuit flickered on and off as she muttered that she was an octopus, and her tentacles were beyond her control. Octopus then dropped to her knees and began to vomit what appeared to be ink while laughing hysterically. Suddenly, Octopus sobered, retracting her earlier comments and explaining that in reality she was scared of the things she was laughing at. Once Snake subdued her, she fell to the floor, curling into the fetal position.

Abilities
Laughing Octopus's most notable weapons were four "tentacle" like appendages attached to her helmet that could be used to crush, electrocute or batter enemies to death. The four manipulators were an evolved form of Solidus Snake's snake armed combat suit, and could be used to precisely attack foes, even at mid-range distances. Her ability to control her tentacles was so refined that she could flick away bullets in midflight. Her tentacles weren't merely restricted to combat; they allow her to climb structures rapidly and stick to walls whenever she was stalking her prey. To further enhance her combat skills, Octopus could disperse a cloud of black, ink like smoke, like her namesake. Other weapons include back-mounted homing explosives which were released when she used her inkscreen as well as her P90. Because of the overall size of her beast form, the manner she gets around on vehicles such as a Stryker is by using her tentacles to attach herself to the "roof" of the vehicle, as evidenced when she and Vamp departed from the Cove Valley Village.

Octopus was also capable of blending into the surrounding environment, using the DARPA-developed OctoCamo suit. In addition to her suit, she also possessed a specialized facial variation of the OctoCamo technology called FaceCamo, which increased her camouflage abilities to the point of being virtually undetectable. She could also use its facial disguise properties to imitate other people and to confuse her opponents. Using both the suit and mask together, Octopus could also alter her appearance to resemble complex objects, such as mannequins, machinery equipment, or the Metal Gear Mk. II. In addition, she was also capable of emulating people's voices perfectly, as evidenced by her using Naomi Hunter and Hal Emmerich's voices when disguising herself as Naomi and the Metal Gear Mk. II, respectively.

Behind the scenes
Laughing Octopus appears in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, in which she is fought by the player during a boss battle. Depending on the player's actions, she either dies or falls unconscious, with her body surrounded by swirling flower petals. If Octopus is defeated lethally, she also appears to be engulfed in blue flames. In addition, if she is non-lethally defeated, the controller will vibrate (if the vibrate action is on) in the cutscene where Snake checks her pulse. Laughing Beauty's appearance is based on that of South African model Lyndall Jarvis.

The Beauty and the Beast Unit is a tribute to the bosses of the previous Metal Gear Solid games in the series; the name of each member of the unit is derived from the name of a member of FOXHOUND (from Metal Gear Solid), their weapons are a derivative of Dead Cell members' weapons (from Metal Gear Solid 2), and their emotions similar to the Cobra Unit member codenames (from Metal Gear Solid 3): In the case of Laughing Octopus her camouflage and name are taken from Decoy Octopus, the P90 submachine gun and tentacles from Solidus Snake and the emotion of The Joy.

Laughing Octopus holds the distinction of being the first character to use the word "fuck" in the English version of the series. However, in the Japanese version of the series this distinction belongs to EVA in Metal Gear Solid 3, who says "Fuck you" to Colonel Volgin. This was changed to "Go to hell" during localization. The line in question, "It's all so FUCKING HYSTERICAL!", said right after Snake neutralized the Haven Troopers accompanying her, mirrored a line in the film Road to Perdition.

Gameplay
As in with the other B&B Corps members, Laughing Octopus' FaceCamo can be unlocked by defeating her Beauty-form via non-lethal means.

If the player brings out the Metal Gear Mk. II while Octopus herself is disguised as the Mk. II, she will say: "What?!", and disappear.

Boss strategy
Should the player find the Laughing Octopus boss battle a little daunting, the following strategy can be used.

thumb|300px|right|Laughing Octopus When the battle starts, take out a lethal (M4 SOPMOD recommended) or a non lethal weapon (Mk. 2 for quick firing and less damage, and Mosin Nagant for slow firing and heavy damage - both recommended) and fire at Octopus. Alternatively, the player can hide under the bed in the room next to the one containing the human body dummy (not the one containing the medical machinery, with which Snake was examined). From there, fire at Octopus (note: the player needs to get to the edge of the bed in order to fire the Mosin Nagant). Fire at her until one bar of her life gauge (or stamina) is depleted. Octopus will then disappear.

The main stage of the battle now commences. Hide under the bed described above, if this has not already been done. To the left of the bed is a wall that offers some protection, and right in front is the main room containing the medical machinery. Equip the Metal Gear Mk. II while under the bed. The player cannot use it, however, while under the bed, so crawl out towards the wall to the left. There is a slight gap between the bed and the wall. As Snake comes out from under the bed and the Mk. II will automatically be equipped. Send it out and look for Octopus, turning on the Stealth if need be. Upon finding her, unequip the Mk. II and head to the spot where she was seen (equip the Night Vision mode of the Solid Eye to make her easier to locate). Be quick to avoid Octopus changing her position, then fire at her. She will become visible and after taking damage, she will roll into a ball and disappear within her smokescreen. Rush back to the bed and crawl back under it. From there fire at her, or send the Mk. II to find her and electrocute her with its manipulator, if she is within range. If performing the latter, unequip the Mk. II and crawl back under the bed again.

Do not send out the Mk. II while the action music is playing, since Octopus will return to the room to fire at the player openly. When she has little more than one bar of health remaining, she will cease hiding and continually attack the player. Defeat her and she will shed her suit and become Laughing Beauty. Defeat her non-lethally to obtain her disguise for the FaceCamo.