Colonel (AI)

The Colonel was an AI recreation of former FOXHOUND commander Roy Campbell, produced by Arsenal Gear's AI system GW.

History
Posing as Raiden's commanding officer during the Big Shell Incident, the Colonel was a combination of GW's AI and Raiden's "expectations" of Campbell (when Raiden used the Codec, GW was able to access his brain through the nanomachines, thus creating memories and situations based on actual experiences, so Raiden couldn't tell the difference). The Colonel was designed to lead Raiden through the Patriots' S3 Plan. During the events of Raiden's mission, the Colonel also lied to Raiden about several of the events of the mission, namely that the Sons of Liberty demanded a ransom of $30,000,000,000 in cash, their murdering a hostage on top of the Big Shell in retribution for thwarting the C4 demolition plan, and that blowing up the Big Shell would result in a chloride holocaust. Most of the lies were in an attempt to mirror the Shadow Moses Incident as part of the S3 Plan.

Emma Emmerich eventually uploaded a virus onto Arsenal Gear's systems, which caused the Colonel to start acting very strangely. When Raiden remembered that he never even met the Colonel once, the Colonel signed off, although not before implying that the Patriots were holding Rosemary hostage as leverage against Raiden. During the infiltration of Arsenal Gear, Otacon concluded that the Colonel was in fact an advanced AI and not a real person. It was then that the Colonel, in a desperate attempt to "dissuade" Raiden from continuing, announced to Raiden that the Sons of Liberty were "holding Rose hostage" and that they've got her in the holds of Arsenal Gear, although Solid Snake told Raiden that it was a trick. The Colonel's AI was eventually deleted by the virus.

However, after Arsenal Gear crashed into Federal Hall, another AI of the Colonel and Rose contacted Raiden, announcing the true intentions of the S3 Plan: manipulating history and individuals and censoring the digital flow of information, as well as telling him that the S3 Plan was a resounding success thanks to Raiden. The Colonel ordered Raiden to kill Solidus Snake; if Raiden died, the Patriots would terminate Rose (and their child John, as Rosemary was pregnant during the mission) and Olga Gurlukovich's daughter Sunny.

Behind the scenes
In Hideo Kojima's gameplan for Metal Gear Solid 2, the "Colonel" (大佐) was originally intended to be a new character named Daniel Quinn, who takes his name from the Paul Auster novel City of Glass, along with two other rejected characters, Max and Doc (Peter Stillman is the only character with this naming theme to appear in the final version). The Colonel is never once referred to as anything but that although the name tag on his Codec screen's character model reads "Campbell."

When the Colonel AI begins to malfunction, among the random phrases that he says to Raiden by Codec is dialogue from conversations in past Metal Gear games, including: In addition to the aforementioned references to past Metal Gear games, he also says other things that are otherwise random.
 * Big Boss's mission briefing to Snake, and telling Snake to enter the truck on the right, from Metal Gear. His remarks for Raiden to "turn off the TV set" while claiming that the mission was a failure was also similar to when Big Boss tried to tell Snake to "turn off your MSX2/PS2/PS3/Xbox 360/Wii console", telling him to abort in order to impede his progress.
 * The real Roy Campbell's mission briefing from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
 * Several quotes from Metal Gear Solid, including Campbell encouraging Snake to rescue President Baker, Campbell telling Snake to hurry and use the PSG-1 to defeat Sniper Wolf, Campbell telling Snake to use the card key to stop Metal Gear REX's launch, Mei Ling quoting Shakespeare when telling Snake not to be greedy, and Mei Ling quoting De Gaulle when telling Snake to avoid fighting.
 * Level descriptions from Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, including Weapon Mode SOCOM Level 01, Variety Level 7, and Variety Level 13.
 * Codec conversations from Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, including Snake's mission briefing, instructions on using a cardboard box on the conveyor belt, Snake being instructed to take out the power plant, and Snake being told to take out the power plant's main turbine.
 * He will also sometimes say, "Kawanishi-Noseguchi, Kinunobebashi, Takiyama, Uguisunomori, Tsuzumigataki, Tada, Hirano, Ichinotorii, Uneno, Yamashita, Sasabe, Kofudai, Tokiwadai, Myokenguchi" in an extremely sped-up manner. These names, said in the same manner, are the chants that Gray Fox utters when around offscreen in Metal Gear Solid, and are the names of train stations of the Myōken Line, operated by Nose Electric Railway in the Kansai region of Honshū, Japan. Similarly, in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the Mammal Pod sometimes says this when Big Boss removes enough of its drive uplinks. In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Sunny was also seen saying those names in the form of song while making her famous "Sunny's Sunny-Side-Up Fortune Eggs."
 * The Colonel AI's face occasionally changes to the real Campbell's face from Metal Gear Solid and Ghost Babel.
 * He also quotes a game outside of the Metal Gear series, Snatcher, as well as IdeaSpy 2.5, a radio play that aired on HideChan Radio.
 * At one point, he implies that Rosemary had cheated on Raiden on April 25.
 * He says he saw "Gubayama the other day in Shibomnigee," and that he had said for the Colonel to give Raiden his best.
 * He also "apologizes" to Raiden for making him pay for lunch, as was in a bad financial situation after a messy divorce.
 * He also implies that he was abducted by a UFO while driving home from work on April 23. This line plays in Metal Gear Solid 4 if Snake discovers the crop circle easter egg.
 * The Colonel is allegedly interrupted from having a meal by Raiden's call.
 * The Colonel claims that he was formerly a North American Fall Webworm before asking about Raiden's previous life, apparently referring to the Hindu concept of reincarnation.
 * The Colonel apparently tells Raiden to retreat and let himself do the fighting, having lost his patience with him.
 * The Colonel speaks complete nonsense relating to expressing his amasement regarding the "famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork" doing a raw-blink on Hara-kiri rock, before demanding his need for scissors and then randomly shouting 61.
 * He admonishes Raiden for possibly using a code to gain a high score, considering it cheating.
 * The Colonel breaks the fourth wall by telling Raiden to do other things besides being in front of the TV.
 * Colonel noting Raiden enjoying slaughtering the enemy.
 * Colonel giving a commentary on how to prune anenome or clamatis plants juices without leaving a rash.

The AI that contacts Raiden after Arsenal Gear crashes into Manhattan is referred to as "JFK" in the game's script. It is never mentioned in the game itself. However, it was speculated that "JFK" is actually JD, as JD would have served as authority after GW's destruction, though future games (in which the AIs were given names) do not specify which of the four AIs was actually speaking. Even in Rising, when Raiden references the AI that told him their motivations, Raiden only stated that it was "one of the other AIs."

If the player ends up killing Solid Snake during the Arsenal Gear trek after rendezvousing with him, the game over screen will have Colonel laughing in the background.

During its speech to Raiden, the Colonel's face occasionally becomes skull-like. A similar occurrence happens with the Rosemary AI, where her eyes will occasionally become blank.

If Snake makes a Codec call when fighting Luigi in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Colonel AI will come in instead of the real Colonel Campbell, and will immediately start ripping down Luigi, calling him "King of Second Bananas" and saying unusually offensive things. Snake rebukes the Colonel for his harsh words ("Hey, that's Luigi! Show him a little respect!"), then the Colonel starts saying "La-li-lu-le-lo" over and over again. The Colonel AI also appeared as a sticker in the same game, of which, when the player uses it on a character, it will increase energy attacks by 8.

The Colonel AI is indirectly referenced in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Dr. Strangelove tells Big Boss that it would be possible for an AI to impersonate her on the radio without Big Boss ever knowing the difference. Big Boss found that hard to believe.

In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the Colonel AI is mentioned when Raiden asks Blade Wolf whether he knew anyone named Gubayama or knew where Shibomnigee was.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (flashback)
 * Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (mention)