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 thanks to a traumatic event in her childhood. Like all the Members of the B&B unit, she is mentally unstable and prone to outbursts and mood swings. She was equipped with the most advanced OctoCamo suit available, along with a number of mechanical appendages that served a variety of purposes.

Early Years
The girl who became Laughing Octopus was born in the small seaside Scandinavian town known as the Devil's Village. The primary meat consumed in this village was octopus caught nearby. An anonymous cult nursed a deep hatred for the village, (the exact reasons for the cult's hatred were never stated, but it is presumably for its unusual cuisine). 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 Laughing Octopus (whom they referred to as "the Devil's Child"), they forced her to participate in the torture of her family and friends, making her enjoy it all the while by making her laugh. Fearing for her own life, she did as her captors made her 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 laughter, especially during combat. Eventually, she was recruited into the Beauty and the Beast Unit. Liquid Ocelot apparently informed her that killing Solid Snake would cleanse her of pain and sorrow. She was fitted with an Octocamo suit developed by DARPA and a tentacle-bearing helmet and took up the name "Laughing Octopus."

Laughing Octopus and the Beauty and the Beast Unit are first seen attacking 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. She killed all of the captives save one, at Vamp's request. Using her camo to mimic Snake's face, she leads the survivor to believe Snake was responsible for the massacre of his comrades, in order to provoke the local regime into hunting him down. She then departs with Vamp and the Stryker.

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 of 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.

Laughing Beauty
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, surrounded by what seemed to be swirling flower petals.

Abilities
Laughing Octopus's most notable weapons are four "tentacle" like appendages attached to her helmet that can be used to crush, electrocute or batter enemies to death. The four manipulators are an evolved form of Solidus Snake's snake armed combat suit, and can be used to precisely attack foes, even at mid-range distances. She is also capable of blending into the surrounding environment, using the DARPA developed OctoCamo suit. To further enhance her combat skills, she can disperse a cloud of black, ink like smoke, like her namesake. Secondary weapons include back-mounted homing explosives which are released when she uses her inkscreen as well as her P90.

Trivia

 * The Beauty and the Beast Unit is a somewhat tribute to the bosses of the Metal Gear Solid games; 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 Lauging 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.
 * Her boss battle is based off Hideo Kojima's early plans for a battle against Decoy Octopus in the original Metal Gear Solid. The fight was ultimately scrapped from that game due to the the PS1's graphics engine not being able to properly do Kojima's idea justice.
 * 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.
 * Laughing Octopus's "Beauty" form is based on the appearance of South African model Lyndall Jarvis.
 * Like the other Beauties, her face-camo can be unlocked by defeating her "Beauty" form via non-lethal means.