Johnny Sasaki

Johnny Sasaki, nicknamed Akiba by his comrades at Rat Patrol 01, is a recurring joke character, appearing in Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and appearing more prominently in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Johnny's grandfather (also named Johnny) appeared briefly in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

During the Guns of the Patriots project, his entire body was covered with wearable computers. Using a wrist-mounted keyboard and a goggle monitor, he specialized in scouting, patrolling, record keeping, data analysis, explosives, and traps. The reason why he specialized in these areas was because he attempted to catch up with his Nanomachine-enhanced teammates, which he admitted that despite that, he never came close to catching up. Johnny suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and, due to his lack of nanomachines, also consumes local water without normal nanomachine filtration. This causes his diarrhea and cramps to become particularly bad during missions.

History
During Operation Snake Eater, Johnny's grandfather, also named Johnny, was an American-born Russian GRU soldier who guarded Naked Snake's cell after he was captured by Volgin. Johnny Sr. showed Snake his hospitality by giving him some food. After Snake threw the food back to him, he struck a conversation with Snake about his firstborn son who is also named Johnny, and that eventually, his son's son would probably be named Johnny, too. He explained that all of the firstborn sons in the Sasaki family are traditionally named Johnny. He also managed to grab Snake's cigarette-shaped gas spray gun while Snake was tortured and handed it back to him, having no idea what it actually was. Snake was able to escape his cell without Johnny Sr. noticing, which would be a trend that would also pass on to the rest of the Sasakis and Snakes. Johnny Sr's ultimate fate is unknown; it is unclear whether he survived the events of Operation Snake Eater since Groznyj Grad was destroyed.

During the Shadow Moses Incident, Johnny was one of the Genome Soldiers that took part in Liquid Snake's uprising. Unlike the other Genome soldiers, however, he did not have any enhanced abilities, as he avoided all mandatory injections because he hated needles. Also, prior to the rebellion, he was the head computer technician on Shadow Moses Island. He was the guard assigned to watch Donald Anderson's cell when Solid Snake first infiltrated the facility. When he heard Meryl Silverburgh banging her cell door, he opened it and was knocked out and stripped by her, using his outfit as a disguise afterwards. Later, he guarded Solid Snake's cell in the medical room after Snake was captured by Sniper Wolf. While guarding Snake's cell, he periodically complained about a cold he caught, and frequently ran to the bathroom due to his diarrhea. Johnny was famously fooled by Solid Snake lying down in a puddle of ketchup, posing it as his own blood, and was subsequently knocked out once again.

Somehow, Johnny managed to avoid being sent to Pease AFB (which is where the other surviving Genome soldiers who participated in the rebellion on their own free will were sent) during the aftermath of the Shadow Moses Incident (although it could have been because he was brainwashed, due to Otacon's comments about him in a conversation with Snake) and joined the Gurlukovich Mercenaries. During the Big Shell Incident, he was spotted in a bathroom stall, complaining about his commanding officer, Olga, who reminded him of Meryl. He also commented that "things really started to hit the skids" and "up 'til then [he] was steady cruisin' with the elites." Later, he ran into Emma Emmerich while she was crossing the Strut L Oil Fence. Although he was assigned to watch out for intruders, he let Emma get away due to his experience with Meryl on Shadow Moses. Both of these conversations were heard by Raiden using the Directional Microphone. It is unknown how Johnny escaped the Big Shell after Arsenal Gear's takeoff.

Eventually, in 2014, Johnny joined Meryl's Rat Patrol, with his teammates calling him by the nickname Akiba due to his love of Tokyo's world famous Akihabara electronics district, which is commonly referred to as Akiba by regular visitors. He had a brief run-in with Old Snake, whom he didn't recognize. Johnny accidentally attracted a large battalion of FROGS by the gleam of his binoculars. The Rat Patrol and Snake did battle with the FROGS, and Johnny, in typical Sasaki fashion, lost control of his bowels during the battle. After Liquid Ocelot shut off the SOP system present in all active soldiers (PMCs and Rat Patrol alike), Johnny was the only soldier on the battlefield not affected. After Snake collapsed in the middle of the warzone, Johnny was able to locate him and drag him to safety.

Snake reconvened with the Rat Patrol in Eastern Europe on his mission to locate Big Mama. Later, the Rat Patrol led an army attempting to stop Liquid from escaping with the stolen body of Big Boss. Liquid shut off the SOP system once again, causing the entire U.S. military to fall to shambles. Johnny saved Meryl from drowning after she was knocked into the river, and for the first time, he removed his balaclava and sunglasses to perform CPR on her. After waking up from her near death experience, Meryl was surprised but relieved, as she shared a passionate kiss with him.

After a mission briefing on the U.S.S. Missouri, Johnny, along with Meryl and Snake, were launched by catapults onto Liquid's massive warship, Outer Haven. Johnny missed his mark and fell into the ocean. He somehow managed to reboard the ship and appeared with a Barrett M82-A2 and his XM8 Compact, saving Meryl and Snake from a troop of FROGS. Johnny was then attacked by Screaming Mantis and knocked unconscious, but Mantis was unable to control him using her Psycho Mantis doll due to his lack of nanomachines; he had skipped out on all mandatory injections of nanomachines because of his fear of needles. Snake defeated Screaming Mantis and left Johnny and Meryl to hold off the relentless waves of FROGS.

During their massive fire fight with the FROGS, Johnny revealed to Meryl that he had joined the unit to get close to her, because he had been in love with her since the day that he laid eyes on her on Shadow Moses. Eventually he proposed to Meryl, while in the height of battle. At first she rejected him, But Johnny persisted by asking her if they just moved in or that it didn't have to be official. After fending off more FROGS Meryl decided that she wants to do things "her way" and asked Johnny to marry her. Johnny was briefly stunned but accepted saying that it would a pleasure. They eliminated a few more FROGS than shared a kiss and continued with fighting the countless waves of FROGS. After the mission had succeeded, Johnny and Meryl married with fellow Rat Patrol members Ed and Jonathan serving as the priest and best man, respectively.

Trivia

 * In the original game plan for Metal Gear Solid 2, Johnny's full name was given as Johnny Sasaki Slater. He was originally planned to be a Patriot spy. In fact, Ames's death scene was originally written for Johnny. However, the developers choose to keep him as the surviving comic relief.
 * In Guns of the Patriots, Johnny's nickname "Akiba" refers to the Akihabara district of Tokyo filled with stores selling electronics, manga, anime merchandise, and other products designed to appeal to the otaku subculture. "Akibakei" is Japanese slang similar in meaning to "otaku."
 * Johnny's grandfather appears as a recruit character in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus. His mask has the letter "J" written on it.
 * In the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid, Johnny is shown in just his boxers after being knocked out by Meryl and having his uniform stolen. In the English version, he is completely naked with a blur over his private parts. The PC port, based on Metal Gear Solid: Integral, shows him in his boxers.
 * Game Informer ranked Johnny #7 in their list of the top 10 dorks of 2008. Game Informer also ranked Johnny #7 in their list of the top 10 most pathetic enemies based on his appearance in Metal Gear Solid.
 * Although Johnny's last name is Sasaki, it is never mentioned in-game.
 * Johnny seems to, at least for a moment, have an attraction to Mei Ling, as shown at one point in MGS4.
 * If one looks very closely (and at the good angle) at Johnny's reflection on the floor in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, his face can be seen and it does resemble his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
 * During the battle in Advent Palace in Metal Gear Solid 4, Johnny will give Old Snake some ammo if he starts to run low.
 * In Metal Gear Solid 3, Naked Snake comments on Johnny Sr.'s name saying it has a nice ring to it. Snake's real name is John.
 * In Metal Gear Solid 4, if Johnny dies, flashes of his past in Shadow Moses will come across the screen.
 * When Johnny's grandfather shows Big Boss a photo of his family, the codec frequency to unlock the cell (144.75) was written on the back. Whether he intended to show Big Boss the frequency or not is unknown.