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 B&B Corps, she was mentally unstable and prone to outbursts and mood swings. She was equipped with an advanced OctoCamo suit, 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. 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, 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.

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 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, curling into the fetal position while being surrounded by what seemed to be swirling flower petals.

Abilities
Laughing Octopus's most notable weapons were four "tentacle" like appendages attached to her helmet that can 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 can 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. She was also capable of blending into the surrounding environment, using the DARPA developed OctoCamo suit. To further enhance her combat skills, she could disperse a cloud of black, ink like smoke, like her namesake. Secondary weapons include back-mounted homing explosives which were released when she used her inkscreen as well as her P90.

Behind the scenes

 * 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 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.
 * 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.
 * As with the other Beauties, her FaceCamo can be unlocked by defeating her "Beauty" form via non-lethal means.
 * If the player brings out the Metal Gear Mk. II when Octopus changes into the Mk. II, she'll say "What?!" and disappear.