James Johnson

James Johnson was the 44th President of the United States, serving during the time of the Big Shell Incident. He was the successor of George Sears.

Early life and career
Describing himself as an insignificant son of a senator, Johnson was selected by the Patriots to become the 44th President of the United States and George Sears' successor, after he pledged his loyalty to the organization. Johnson ascended to the Presidency after Sears was removed from office, following the Shadow Moses Incident.

U.S. Presidency
During his Presidency, Johnson was little more than a pawn for the Patriots. Under their orders, he initiated programs in Space Defense and National Missile Defense, also making reductions in income tax. Due to his policies, Johnson was re-elected as President in 2008, though again, this was merely a charade played by the Patriots. During his presidency, he also authorized and initiated the development of a new weapons system, a purified hydrogen bomb, and also pledged to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison facility in Cuba in 2008.

In April 2009, President Johnson visited the offshore cleanup facility Big Shell as part of an inspection tour, along with numerous other government and business VIPs. However, the facility was taken over by armed terrorists led by Solidus Snake and Dead Cell, and Johnson was immediately captured.

During a rescue attempt by SEAL Team 10, Johnson was successfully rescued, though he was quickly recaptured thanks to the efforts of Dead Cell members Fortune and Vamp. Originally, Johnson planned on working together with Solidus, in order to blackmail the Patriots into giving him more power and influence within the group, but the Patriots manipulated even that desire, however, making him an unwitting accomplice in the S3 Plan. Johnson punched in the nuclear launch sequence himself into the nuclear football, but he later had doubts when Solidus planned on actually getting rid of the Patriots – an organization which, in Johnson's mind, must continue to exist.

After being relocated to the Shell 2 Core, Johnson witnessed a Nikita missile pop out of one of the ventilation shafts. He then tried to flee from it and braced for impact, not realizing that the missile, fired by special forces operative Raiden, was actually aiming for the power generator right behind him to cut the power supply to the electric floor just outside his cell. Johnson, in the aftermath met up with Raiden, whom he initially mistook to be a female Patriot assassin. After Raiden claimed to be a member of FOXHOUND, Johnson realized that the entire situation aboard the Big Shell was actually part of the S3 Plan. Previously believing that he had betrayed the Patriots on his own volition, it transpired that his ambitions had been manipulated all along. Abandoning all hope, Johnson decided to carry out his allotted "role" in the plan.

Johnson revealed the real truth behind his administration, and the existence of the Patriots, to a disbelieving Raiden. After explaining why the organization must continue to exist, and the terrorists' plans to hijack the newly-constructed Arsenal Gear, he ordered Raiden to stop Solidus by disabling Arsenal's AI, GW. Providing him with a disk containing a computer worm cluster, Johnson told Raiden to hand it to GW's system programmer, Emma Emmerich, for her to upload into the AI.

After revealing all that he could, Johnson demanded that Raiden carry out his "role" by assassinating him before the launch sequence confirmed his identity. However, this was taken care of by terrorist member Revolver Ocelot, secretly a Patriot himself, who shot and mortally wounded Johnson. With his dying breath, the President reiterated his final orders, as Commander-in-Chief, for Raiden to find Emma and stop Arsenal.

Behind the scenes
James Johnson (ジェームズ・ジョンソン) and Kenneth Baker have the same Japanese voice actor (Yuzuru Fujimoto). This was presumably done intentionally to make the events that happened aboard the Big Shell even more similar to that of the Shadow Moses Incident. In the HD Collection version, meeting him will unlock the achievement/trophy "Bohemian Candidate."

Johnson, going on an inspection tour on the Big Shell, thus being held hostage by the Sons of Liberty, was added into the game because the production staff realized that having terrorists attack a clean up facility in itself was slightly weak storytelling.

The player can optionally use the Nikita missile to kill President Johnson, although this will result in a mission failure. In addition, if the player hits a wall in the adjoining room to Johnson's cell, Johnson will react with suspicion and try to investigate the sound. Humorously, when the Colonel is briefing Raiden and the player on using the Nikita missile on the power generator, the footage shown depicts Johnson fleeing from the Nikita missile just before it impacts the generator.

In the aftermath of the Tanker Incident, Ocelot addressed his contact as "Mr. President." Although Johnson was the U.S. President at the time, the game's script, included in The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, states that this person was Solidus. However, Otacon contradicts this later in the game by claiming that Solidus was underground at the time of the incident. Because of this, it is unknown as to whom Ocelot was actually referring to.

In one of the Alternative Missions in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Raiden's dead body must be examined in order to identify and photograph his killer from a selection of characters in the torture facility of Arsenal Gear. The deceased Raiden is clutching his groin, indicating that the killer is Johnson, referring to his actions in the main Sons of Liberty storyline. In the suspect lineup, Johnson will perform the same acrobatics that he uses to evade RC missiles in the main game (on the Very Easy difficulty setting), making capturing him on camera more challenging.

The Snake Tales mission A Wrongdoing refers to a President taken hostage in the Big Shell though it isn't revealed whether it's Johnson.

The ending timeline in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes revealed that James Johnson (the President in 2008 according to the Metal Gear franchise) had pledged to close down Guantanamo Bay's prison facility. In real life, this promise was made by then-Presidential candidate and current President Barack Obama.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (Alternate Mission)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (indirectly mentioned)

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (indirect mention)