Decoy Octopus

Decoy Octopus was a member of FOXHOUND that specialized in impersonation. His disguises were so thorough, that he would even inject the blood of those he impersonated into his own body. Along with the rest of his unit, he went rogue during the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005.

Early life and career
Decoy Octopus was born in Mexico. Prior to February 2005, he was recruited into the U.S. Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND and served under squad leader Liquid Snake. Octopus was a master of disguise, copying his targets physical appearance, mannerism and even their own personal DNA, going so far as to drain their blood and inject it into himself.

In February 2005, Octopus and the other members of FOXHOUND staged a revolt against the U.S. government on Shadow Moses Island, taking DARPA Chief Donald Anderson and ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker as hostages. After fellow FOXHOUND member Revolver Ocelot tortured Anderson to death, Octopus disguised himself as the DARPA Chief and drained his blood, as part of FOXHOUND's plan to access the island's nuclear weapons.

Disguised as Anderson, Octopus awaited rescue by ex-special forces agent Solid Snake. After Snake gained access to his holding cell, Octopus revealed to him that the terrorists had captured the nuclear-armed Metal Gear REX, and that they needed two detonation codes to activate it. He lied to Snake that the terrorists had successfully obtained Anderson's code, and that they only required President Baker's code to launch REX. The misinformation was intended to trick Snake into arming REX via the PAL system, which FOXHOUND were unable to access. During this time, Octopus had unknowingly become infected by the FOXDIE virus, for which the Pentagon had secretly used Snake as a vector. As Octopus tried to glean further information from Snake regarding the PAL system and whether the White House or Pentagon would give in to FOXHOUND'S demands, he suddenly succumbed to FOXDIE and suffered a heart attack, dying at Snake's feet. The occupant of the adjoining cell, Meryl, initially mistook him for the DARPA Chief, and held Snake up shortly after Decoy Octopus's death after mistaking Snake for murdering him.

Octopus's body was eventually retrieved by fellow FOXHOUND member Vulcan Raven, who later revealed the deception to Snake.

Physical traits
Described as a "master of disguise," Decoy Octopus would alter his appearance and voice to perfectly match that of the subject he was impersonating, going as far as to take their blood into his body. In his normal appearance, he lacked ears and possessed a flattened nose. According to Revolver Ocelot, Octopus was among the older members of FOXHOUND under Liquid Snake's command.

Unconfirmed history
Decoy Octopus became a successful actor and SFX artist after moving to Hollywood. He was later recruited by the CIA for his exceptional skills in mimicry, where he was assigned to impersonate government VIPs on top secret missions, and requested that the military to give him a full mental deprogramming after missions to avoid becoming mentally confused about his identity. He eventually left the CIA to join the FOXHOUND unit.

Octopus was fluent in a dozen languages. At least some of these languages were French, German, Spanish, and Ebonics. At some point, he had his hairline, cheekbones, jaw, and nasal bones shaved down, and cut off his ears to make disguising himself easier, and had computerized implants which allowed for him to change his voice.

Behind the scenes
Decoy Octopus (デコイ・オクトパス) appears in Metal Gear Solid, although his normal appearance is only partially visible during a flashback sequence (excluding the profile images in the briefing videos). His actual voice is never heard. He is the only member of FOXHOUND in the game who does not serve as a boss character. In addition, his background is never revealed.

Octopus's place of birth was first detailed in the Metal Gear Solid: Official Mission Handbook by Millennium Books. This was later confirmed by his card description in the non-canon game Metal Gear Acid 2.

Octopus's "ghost" appears in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, if the player photographs the cargo elevator in the Tank Hangar with the Camera. The image is that of his face portrait from artwork for Metal Gear Solid.

He appeared in Versus Battle, where he fought against the Metal Gear Mk. II.

"STRENGTHS: Master of Disguises and Mimicry WEAKNESSES: FOXDIE, Lack of Combat Expertise FEATURED FACT: Decoy Octopus’s disguise field craft was so exceptional he even transfused the blood of his subjects and fooled Solid Snake himself FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Decoy Octopus in Versus Battle

Octopus was originally planned to actually be fought in Metal Gear Solid. However, the boss fight ended up being cut. Kojima later reflected that Octopus' boss fight would have featured an original approach.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid / Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (mentioned and flashbacks [disguised as Donald Anderson]; mentioned via In the Darkness of Shadow Moses)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (flashbacks, ghost and painting [disguised as Donald Anderson]; ghost and painting are non-canon)

Notes and references
Декой Октопус