Kazuhira Miller

Kazuhira Miller, also known as Kaz, McDonell Benedict Miller, and Master Miller, was the second-in-command of the Militaires Sans Frontieres during the mid-1970s and FOXHOUND's survival trainer during the 1990s. He was well-read and possessed a vast array of scientific knowledge.

Early life
The child of an American GHQ officer and a Japanese woman, Kazuhira "Kaz" Miller was born in Japan, during the country's occupation by U.S. military forces, and was named after the Japanese word for "Peace" by his mother. Kaz was conceived as a result of his mother working as a prostitute, though his father treated her as a wife. Kaz's early life in Japan was a struggle, as he was born after his father had returned to America, and could not obtain Japanese citizenship due to his father being unknown. Many Japanese children would often mock him for his Western appearance, with his light blue eyes and ash blond hair. However, his father had left his mother some money prior to leaving, which she used to set up a shop, selling items such as cigarettes to occupation troops.

When Kaz was ten years old, his mother became ill, leaving him to run the shop by himself. While his mother was bedridden, he stumbled upon a picture of his father, and began showing it to the American soldiers who came into the store, asking if they knew who the man was. He eventually learned from one of his father's students that the man was Colonel Miller, who had retired from active duty and was serving as a military instructor. Kaz knew he wanted to go to America as well as meet his father, so he eventually sent a letter to him in the U.S., requesting to travel there.

That wish was eventually granted and Kaz was picked up from his home, left his mother behind, and went to the U.S. to get an education. Kaz's father then supplied him with money as well as his father's surname of Miller to get an education in an Ivy League school, later graduating from it and receiving his college degree. During his stay in Japan, he also witnessed the rise of the Anti-Vietnam protests that were occuring within America. He then returned to Japan, only to find that his mother wasn't angry that he had left her behind, but that she had simply forgotten who he was entirely, her mind having been affected by the disease, which she had contracted during her days as a prostitute. Shortly after returning, he joined the Japanese Self Defense Force, both to pay for his mother's hospital bills, and also as a way for him to get a taste of the battlefield.

Unfortunately for Kaz, life in the JSDF wasn't as glamorous as he had hoped. His skills as a policeman were unmatched, but his superiors often feared them and chose not to reward those skills, so he didn't rise through the ranks as quickly as one would expect. Furthermore, he longed for a more active battlefield than what life in Japan typically offered, and by 1970, he decided to leave the JSDF, especially after witnessing The Temple of the Golden Pavilion author Yukio Mishima's suicide at the JSDF Headquarters. He returned to America, only to learn his father had committed suicide and was already buried. After his mother died, he began to drift around the world as a mercenary and a well known philanderer who loved the freedom of the '70s.

Miller's travels eventually led him to meet Big Boss (Naked Snake) in Colombia, where he was fighting for the rebels and Big Boss for the Colombian government. Big Boss and his men had already wiped out all of Miller's unit, so Miller prepared to take his own life with a grenade and die fighting. Big Boss was impressed with his spirit, likening it to that of a samurai, and convinced him to instead join the Militaires Sans Frontieres. Miller played a vital role in the management of the MSF and supported Big Boss during his missions in Colombia.

In 1974, Miller brought Paz Ortega Andrade and Ramón Gálvez Mena to the Militaires Sans Frontieres camp on the Barranquilla Coast, after making sure that they weren't being followed by "their &quot;friends&quot; from Langley." Gálvez wanted to hire Big Boss and the MSF to repel an invasion force that had recently entered Costa Rica. Unlike Big Boss, Miller didn't really feel that the deal was a bad idea, especially with the offer of an offshore production facility in the Caribbean to use as a base of operations (as their current base was in disrepair). Big Boss eventually agreed to take Galvez's offer for Paz.

From the offshore facility, dubbed "Mother Base," Miller provided radio support, via unidirectional signals, to the MSF forces as they entered Costa Rica. Big Boss managed to find a radio within a nearby shipping facility and contacted Miller, noting the unusually large amount of radiation film badges located there, and the radioman that he had previously interrogated having mentioned something about "spears" being delivered in the cargo. Miller and Big Boss then realized that this could mean only one thing: nuclear weapons were being shipped into Costa Rica, something that Miller found horrifying.

Miller then suggested that Big Boss try and recruit a FSLN group that had been ousted from Nicaragua, to help in tracking down the supply route to the facility in Mount Irazu. Afterwards, he picked up Amanda Valenciano Libre, Chico Libre, and Cécile Cosina Caminades after Big Boss discovered them. Big Boss and Miller eventually learned that Hot Coldman, the CIA Station Chief of Central America, was the one behind the invasion and the Peace Walker Project. However, neither Big Boss nor Miller had known that Coldman was planning on using Peace Walker to launch a nuke towards Mother Base, namely to poison the fish and crops so that mass production could begin, but also to annihilate the MSF, Miller stated that Big Boss had to stop Peace Walker from arriving in Nicaragua. However, after that had failed, he considered evacuating Mother Base, but decided against it as the personnel believed in Big Boss.

Later on, Miller arrived with the majority of the MSF forces into Nicaragua to aid Big Boss in stopping Coldman's plans. After joining forces with Amanda's FSLN group, they took down the Peace Sentinels, arrested Gálvez (whose was really Vladimir Zadornov, a KGB agent), and a dying Coldman. Miller also lectured a distraught Paz in not picking up a gun unless she planned to use it. Miller discovered that Coldman activated Peace Walker, and not only was it going to be launched at Cuba (Zadornov had changed the target earlier), but it would also transmit false missile trajectories to third parties all over the world, including NORAD and the Pentagon. He alerted Big Boss and Strangelove (who were on their way to the Peace Walker unit to find out the answers to why The Boss and Big Boss fought in Tselinoyarsk) about what happened, with Coldman dying before he could give the abort code (a factor he had taken into account), forcing Big Boss and Strangelove to destroy the Peace Walker unit.

After the fiasco ended, Miller teamed up with Huey Emmerich and Strangelove in building Metal Gear ZEKE, which was created from the prototype weapons of the Peace Walker Project. After Zadornov escaped for the seventh and last time, Big Boss told Kaz that Zadornov had "an accomplice" given his final words. Miller then noticed that ZEKE had started to move on its own, implying that someone had hijacked it, and noticed that Paz was acting strangely. Paz then revealed that she was really Pacifica Ocean, a Cipher agent. After disabling ZEKE and defeating Pacifica, Miller apologized to Big Boss because the former knew what Paz and Galvez were up to all along, but didn't tell Big Boss sooner. Miller had secretly been acting as a business partner to Cipher (Zero) in order to expand MSF, due to his belief that the mercenary business would become a new driving force in the world economy after the Cold War's end, considering himself nothing more than a business partner, and thus neither an ally nor an enemy of him. However, Miller presumably stopped working for Cipher altogether after the latter had ordered Paz to launch a nuke at the East Coast, to frame the MSF as being an extremist cult should Big Boss refuse to rejoin Cipher, and thus jeporadize any chances for MSF expanding.

Later career
At some point, Miller parted ways with Big Boss, adopted the name "McDonell Benedict Miller," and would later serve as a survival master within the SAS, the Green Berets, a U.S. Marine boot camp, and FOXHOUND. He also went on to volunteer as a coach in a mercenary school twice a year before eventually retiring. During his time as a drill sergeant in FOXHOUND, he was referred to as "Hell Master" and draftees called him "Master Miller" with the utmost respect. It was there that he met and helped train Solid Snake, among which he trained Solid Snake on how to sense an enemy if sight alone couldn't help, various methods of deciphering transceiver frequency codes, how to endure torture, as well as using common appliances to hide under. Miller also became married to a woman named Nadine, with whom he fathered a daughter, named Catherine. He would later divorce his wife, after which he decided to reside in Los Angeles with his daughter.

In 1999, Master Miller was reunited with and assisted Solid Snake, whom he provided with information on improving one's health, along with guidance on how to overcome the various obstacles he faced there. During Snake's battle with Big Boss, Miller referred to his former MSF commander and friend as a "monster."

By 2005, McDonell Miller had retired and had moved to Alaska to live in solitude, in a three story house with his huskies, occasionally helping to train the Alaskan scouts during his free time. However, three days prior to FOXHOUND's revolt on Shadow Moses Island, Miller was murdered in his home by an unknown assailant. Liquid Snake, FOXHOUND's squad leader, then assumed Miller's identity in order to aid Solid Snake in his mission to Shadow Moses, providing him with information on how to operate within the Alaskan environment. The truth was later revealed when, due to Nastasha Romanenko and Richard Ames' overhearing Solid Snake's conversations with "Miller", they grew suspicious about how a man who is staying in a three story mansion would know something about Naomi that not even the DIA knew about, resulting in Ames sending one of his men to his house, discovering his dead body. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001) "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth" by Nastasha Romanenko ''"What’s the deal?" I said to Richard. "Is Miller right about Naomi?"'' ''"I don’t know, to be honest. It’s obvious there were things in Dr. Hunter’s past that I didn’t know about. I’m having them go over her background again." Richard was visibly upset, a rare occurrence. I suddenly wondered there had been something between him and Naomi. Richard lit a cigarette and continued in a more composed tone.'' "But if what Miller said about Naomi is true, it raises questions about him in turn." "Why do you say that?" "He’s supposed to be in his cabin in Alaska." "So I hear." ''"How did he manage to find out so much about Naomi by himself and from the middle of nowhere when the DIA investigators couldn’t?" Richard called one of his men over and ordered them to look into Miller’s activities. ''"You check up on even one of your own?" I asked as the agent who hurried away.'' ''"How do you know he’s one of our own?" Richard shot back, blowing a stream of smoke.'' "Should I assume you don’t trust me either?" ''"You’re the one who doesn’t trust me. Never have." He said quietly, and ground his cigarette into the ashtray. [...] "She was using me." He corrected and gave a hollow laugh. At that point, one of his men came tearing over. After an urgent whisper, Richard’s face grew grim.'' "What happened?" "Master Miller wasn’t Master Miller.” Richard was visibly shaken. "What?" ''"The man I sent to investigate Miller just reported in. He found Miller murdered in his home, up in Alaska.”'' ''"Who was it that we were talking to then --!" But there was no one who could provide an answer to that question.'' Roy Campbell was also left unaware of Miller's true identity due to his Codec frequency with Miller being cut off, although he eventually learned the truth after Mei Ling traced his signal to within the base. After Snake unwittingly activated Metal Gear REX, Liquid, after explaining his plans while disguised as Miller, mockingly revealed his true identity to him after Roy Campbell called in to warn Snake about "Miller" being an imposter.

Personality and characteristics
Kazuhira Miller is rarely ever seen without his aviator sunglasses, which he wears even in times where sunglasses would not have been appropriate, such as during stormy weather. Because of his experiences during his youth, he vowed to not allow himself to become a pauper. In addition, he felt he didn't really belong in Japan due to both his lack of a family register, as well as his being mocked by the Japanese children in his neighborhood for his Western appearance during his childhood. He also viewed himself as being a byproduct of war.

Although he personally did not wish to die on the battlefield, he was willing to do so when he deems it absolutely necessary, as evidenced when he planned to die by his own grenade to take down Big Boss after his own mercenary unit was wiped out by Big Boss's Militaires Sans Frontieres, while also suffering wounds from being hit by half of a bomb's explosion, as well as when he personally went with the Militaires Sans Frontieres and the FSLN to storm the U.S. Missile Base's control tower and killed several of the Soviet soldiers under Zadornov's command.

Aside from knowing Japanese and English, he was also gifted in knowing Spanish.

Although he does ultimately care for the MSF and never discards his kindness, he is willing to mercilessly use them to his own ends if needs be, and was willing to secretly work with Cipher as a business partner in their plan to reinstate Big Boss into the Patriots as long as MSF at least was able to expand, although he later regretted both that decision as well as his earlier hiding it from Big Boss when he learned about Cipher's willingness to eliminate MSF due to Big Boss's refusal to rejoin.

He is also a skilled helicopter pilot, having piloted a Huey over to the U.S. Missile base in Nicaragua in order to aid Big Boss in stopping Coldman's plans as well as piloting it back to Mother Base.

During his time with the Militaires Sans Frontieres, Miller had a bit of a womanizing problem. On one occasion, he had gone out with two of the female members of the MSF at the exact same time, causing them to report it to Big Boss. Big Boss then read Miller the riot act (presumably as the latter's punishment for his womanizing behavior), leading Miller to argue with Big Boss that caused them to get into a brawl in the showers, which Paz ended up witnessing. He didn't try to hit on Paz Ortega Andrade, however, even though he secretly knew she wasn't who she claimed herself to be, implying that he does have some restraint in regards to his womanizing behavior.

Kazuhira was apparently a very bad singer, as he attempted to give a Japanese lullaby via guitar to a sick Paz Ortega Andrade, but apparently blew it. His lack of singing ability was referred to later when Paz mentioned that she had to join the band in order to avoid letting Miller be the singer.

Miller's favorite food was curry.

He also knew about Solid Snake's status as a clone of Big Boss, and seemed to be aware of Cipher's plans of using him as an insurance policy, although he never told him. In his later life, he seemed to be one of the few people Solid Snake deeply respected, as Snake personally admitted that Miller's the only one he would rather have in a foxhole with him. Although he did view Big Boss as a friend, he did nonetheless side against him in Zanzibar Land.

Trivia

 * Miller had an older half-brother who died in Vietnam, which was one reason why his father was depressed when he met him and eventually committed suicide.
 * During his attendance one of the MSF's monthly birthday parties, Miller attempted to shield Paz from the crude atmosphere of the party, but he inevitably became drunk himself, and as a result he began mooning everybody, saying that they should see "the real Kazuhira Miller."
 * During his childhood, Miller had neighbors who owned a pet pig named "Pooyan." Due to the Fulton recovery balloons' resemblance to pigs, he was inspired to use the term "Pooyan mission" for operations that involved preventing enemy usage of Fulton recovery.
 * In 1974, Miller asked Cipher (Zero) about "the sons" of Big Boss. In his later years, Miller became a mentor to one of the sons, Solid Snake, while the other, Liquid Snake, was involved in his death in 2005.
 * In Nastasha Romanenko's novel In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, it was mentioned that Master Miller briefly worked with Richard Ames, although the exact time period, as well as for which organization, is never specified.

Unconfirmed history
McDonell Miller was once placed in a POW camp in Vietnam, although he later managed to escape, decapitating the head interrogator in the process. While serving in FOXHOUND, one of the various radio codes that Miller taught Snake was changing the frequency by claiming to change cigarette brands, and also taught Snake how to determine whether a person was lying by their eyes.

In 2005, Miller was murdered in his home by a nerve toxin.

Behind the scenes
Master Miller first appeared in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, where he was originally depicted as an Asian-looking man with black hair. In Metal Gear Solid, the character is depicted with blond hair and aviator sunglasses. Revisions of Metal Gear 2 following the 2004 mobile phone version depicted Miller in this design. In the English re-release of Metal Gear 2, Miller's first name was mistakenly spelled as "McDonnell." His original biography, given in the MSX2 manual (and included in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database) stated that he was a third generation Japanese American, and was born in the United States sixty years after his grandparents immigrated there from Japan, though this account was later retconned in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Metal Gear Solid
Master Miller is murdered prior to the events of Metal Gear Solid, with his role on Solid Snake's radio support team impersonated by Liquid Snake. His character portrait in the game's Codec screen is that of Miller, complete with sunglasses, though Liquid's actual physical resemblance is used during some moments of fourth wall breaking; he physically "unmasks" himself to the player via the Codec screen, upon revealing his true identity, and later asks Snake whether he liked "his sunglasses." These actions, however, were kept within the novelization.

Depending on which ventilation shaft the player entered through, Master Miller's introductory call to Snake will be slightly different. If the player entered the bottom ventilation shaft, Miller will talk to Snake about the species of rodents inside the shaft that Snake is following, the Alaskan field mice, and also explain that they have a tendency to eat any young that isn't their own, stating that it is a survival instinct to ensure their genes are passed on, which briefly foreshadows the revelation on how Snake was conceived.

Earlier in the game, during Solid Snake's fight with Liquid's Hind D, if the player attempts to contact Miller by Codec, there will be no response. This serves as a bit of foreshadowing as to who "Miller" really is. Similarly, if the player tries to contact Miller by Codec during Solid Snake's fight with the M1 Abrams Tank piloted by Vulcan Raven or during the Genome Soldiers storming the prison area, there will be no response.

While Master Miller (Liquid Snake in disguise) was trying to convey his suspicions about Naomi Hunter by pointing out various flaws in her backstory, he claimed that he used to work for the FBI. As Solid Snake stated that he was unaware of this, this may have been a lie crafted by Liquid Snake.

The identity of the person responsible for Miller's death was never explicitly confirmed, with Peace Walker stating that he was killed in his home by an unknown assailant, although it was stated in the Metal Gear Solid novelization as well as implied in the game itself that Liquid had some involvement in Miller's death.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Master Miller makes a vocal cameo in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, when, while crawling through a ventilation duct in the tank hangar in Act 4, an audio flashback of when Miller, actually Liquid Snake, contacted Snake while crawling through the vents. His voice is also heard when Snake takes the elevator down to the underground base, with an audio flashback of Miller telling Snake that Naomi Hunter may be a spy. In addition, a "ghost" of Miller, based on his face portrait from Metal Gear Solid, will apparate in a photograph.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Some fans have speculated that Kazuhira Miller's line of dialogue during Peace Walker's opening ("Finally, we can leave all that crap in San Hieronymo behind...") is a reference to Hideo Kojima's views on Portable Ops.

Miller's view of the Militaires Sans Fontieres as being a "new type of business" foreshadows the development of the war economy and the spread of PMC activity across the world, as portrayed in Metal Gear Solid 4.

Miller is a unique staff member at Mother Base, available from the start of the game. He requests Big Boss assign him to any of the unit divisions as they were initially understaffed. His skill ("Mother Base Deputy Commander") increases morale of all staff on assigned team. However, if he is assigned to the Combat Unit he cannot be used in missions.


 * Life: 7000
 * Psyche: 7000
 * GMP: 7875


 * Combat Unit: B
 * Shoot: B
 * Reload: B
 * Throw: B
 * Place: B
 * Walk Speed: B
 * Run Speed: B
 * Fight: B
 * Defense: B
 * R&D Team: B
 * Mess Hall Team: A
 * Medical Team: B
 * Intel Team: A

If the player (either as Big Boss or another MSF member) calls Miller while wearing his uniform during a mission, he will tell the player that he gave them a dirty uniform, as he goes by a certain fashion routine. In addition, some of his calls will have him remarking that it "looks like viewing [himself] in a mirror." and requesting that the soldier not "cause any trouble by dressing up like [Kazuhira Miller]" to Big Boss and a MSF Male soldier, respectively, foreshadowing the fact that Liquid Snake will pose as Miller in order to trick Solid Snake into activating Metal Gear REX during the events of Metal Gear Solid.

If the player rescues a female POW via Fulton recovery, Miller will remark "oooh, all right!" instead of his usual comments regarding a successful retrieval, which goes in line with him being a playboy.

An Extra Op featured in Peace Walker portrays Miller as being bisexual, with Big Boss having the opportunity to go on a date with him to the beach. The humorous tone of this mission (similar to the "Date with Paz"), along with Miller's womanizing character throughout the story, suggests non-canonicity. S-ranking the mission will also result in players acquiring the Miller uniform as a usable uniform for Extra Ops and Main Ops, although the calls throughout the mission the uniform is worn in imply that Kazuhira Miller simply loaned it to the player (as either Big Boss or one of the MSF Soldiers) for use in the mission.

When commencing the Main Op "Head to the Control Tower," the sounds of an engine can be heard in the background while Miller is giving the mission details, since he and the other MSF soldiers are preparing to aid Snake, via helicopter.