Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-64.33.250.214-20140831132358

Paranoid Donkey wrote: 64.33.250.214 wrote:

Has Kojima ever Tweeted the hallucination theory? Or what about the Solidus theory? I wouldn't know because I only started following him recently. I have no firm opinion in who Ishmael is, and based on what little evidence there is, any and all theories are presumptious. I wont be convinced on way or another until the game is released.

I highly doubt Mantis Boy would create a hallucination to assist Big Boss. From what we've seen, the psychic images he projects are unnatural and ghostly. There's some logic in the trauma theory, but how do you explain the name? Ishmael is a Biblical name, and Kojima has only given such names to real characters who are usually important. Someone in the thread argued that Kojima chose the name to trick us into believing Ishmael is important, but that's not so much an argument as it is a means to diffuse an argument. I don't think he has ever posted about either theory. I suspect he indirectly retweeted the Gray Fox theory because he and the rest of the time find the theories interesting and funny--as you may have seen through your wiki viewings, was the case with the Chico is Quiet theory. I think if I made a game I'd like to share all the theories about it that I could.

[As an aside I don't think there's any chance that Ishmael could be Solidus, personally. He'd be 12 years old, and while he was apparently hit hardest by the accelerated ageing, I think that would be really poor form on Kojima's behalf.]

They aren't using Ishmael in the biblical sense, however, as Ishmael refers to BB as Ahab (if I remember correctly, haven't seen the trailer for quite some time). You do have a point about biblical names and significance though (John, David, ADAM, EVA, so on), but then again the use of Ishmael could represent the 'illegitimate' lineage of Abraham that Ishmael heads (not said to cause any offense, of course, just a potential thematic device) and therefore we can suspect that Ishmael is himself, perhaps not 'legitimate', or therefore real. Grasping at straws here of course, but the TGS news is due tomorrow so we may soon learn more. In another thread, which appears to have been removed (as it was posted in the wrong forum), someone brought up the inconsistences between the physical traits of Solid Snake and Big Boss. In MGS1 and MGS2 concept art, he appears to have blonde hair. Campbell said in the original briefing that Solid was an identical clone of Liquid. In MGS2, Solid had brown hair and green eyes. Then in Twin Snakes he has blue eyes... If Kojima is willing to alter these details, who's to say he would fuss about how accelerated aging works?

The hospital scene parallels Moby Dick. Ishmael and Ahab are completely seperate characters in the book. There are similarties between the two, but they are not the same. They are on the same mission, but they have different views. They both have something in common with Big Boss and Solidus. Ishmael and Ahab are both after the whale. Ahab wants revenge, whereas Ishmael keeps an open mind. Similarly, Big Boss wants revenge on The Patriots, the theme of Phantom Pain. Solidus worked for The Patriots his whole life and understands their point of view, but seeks freedom more than revenge.

In Biblical text, Ishmael was cast out by his father in favor of his younger brother Isaac. Solidus is technically the oldest clone in terms of accelerated aging. We don't know if he ever had contact with Big Boss. Liquid, the clone with only the dominant traits, was at some point taken under Boss's wing. It's widely accepted that Eli is Liquid, and will likely be recruited in PP. If Solidus were in this game, we probably wouldn't see much of him. Why? If accelerated aging started early for Solidus, he'd resemble Big Boss more than Liquid. Boss might not be able to handle this, and would refuse to accept him into Diamond Dogs. On the other hand, Boss may not immediately be aware that Eli is a clone or may take pity on him as he appears younger.