Huey Emmerich

Huey Emmerich was a mechanical engineer, involved in the development of bipedal locomotion technology and the unmanned prototypes for the Peace Walker Project in 1974. He was also the father of Hal Emmerich.

Early life
Huey Emmerich was born on August 6, 1945 (the day of the Hiroshima bombings) as the son of a scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project. He was born a paraplegic, unable to walk because his spine was abnormally shaped. Although he used to respect his father because his research had saved American lives, his respect decreased significantly during the fifth grade when a Japanese transfer student showed him photos of what happened in Hiroshima after the bomb. At some point, Emmerich obtained a specially designed wheelchair, which was technologically-advanced for its time, one of its features being the ability to traverse stairs. Then, he joined NASA (It's possibly here where Emmerich met and became colleagues with Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin) after graduating from MIT (after skipping a few grades) and worked alongside Strangelove, who gave Emmerich his "Huey" nickname.

In 1964, Granin revealed to Naked Snake that he was going to send his designs of a bipedal tank (consisting of a REX-like bipedal tank and another bipedal tank) to Emmerich, which later occured even though some of the designs were stolen by Ocelot.

Post-Snake Eater
Huey was once considered to be part of a project involving space rockets, but he was eventually relocated after it was cancelled due to détente. At some point after 1972, Huey received more designs for a bipedal locomotion system from CIA Station Chief Hot Coldman, which had originally been developed by the Soviets. He was then hired by Coldman to build the "Perfect Deterrent" for the Peace Walker Project. By 1974, Huey was willingly working for Coldman, having been convinced that the "Perfect Deterrant" was to be used solely as a deterrant, never to be launched even once. Huey was also responsible for developing three prototype AI weapons.

Peace Walker Incident
Main Article

In 1974, Huey Emmerich and Strangelove built several AI weapons for the Peace Walker Project: Pupa (GW-Pupa-5000) (based on the Shagohod), Chrysalis (TJ-Chrysalis-6000), Cocoon (TR-Cocoon-7000), and Peace Walker/Aurelia (AL-Aurelia-8000).

However, Huey learned of Coldman's true intentions of actually launching the weapon, in order to prove its power as a deterrant. He then got into an argument and refused to cooperate with Coldman any longer. As a consequence, Coldman hurled him down a stairway, wheelchair and all.

After Big Boss (Naked Snake) destroyed the Pupa, Huey encountered Snake, who tried to lie about why he was in Costa Rica, claiming that he was an entomologist trying to find a Ulysses/morphos butterfly for the Washington Treaty. Huey then explained the nature of the Peace Walker project. He also explained his origins, and suggested a way to stop Peace Walker: Snake could try to sabotage the AI designed for the Peace Walker in Strangelove's lab. Huey then gave his ID card as well as a love letter addressed to Strangelove for Big Boss to deliver (although he allowed Big Boss to believe that it was a recommendation letter). Huey then decided that he might quit working in the field of science due to his role in nearly causing a disaster. However, Snake suggested that he join Outer Heaven, as he fit into the group anyway.

Afterwards, Huey was placed under the R&D division of Big Boss's Militaires Sans Frontieres, providing information about the AI units and Peace Walker, as well as developing a similar weapon to Peace Walker under Kazuhira Miller's suggestion. Huey gave Big Boss intel in regards to the location of Peace Walker's final testing base: an underground base disguised as a mine. He later operated the entire Mother Base as its skeleton crew while the majority of the Militaires Sans Frontieres headed towards Nicaragua to put a stop to Coldman's plans and then later helped Big Boss communicate with the Pentagon, after Coldman activated Peace Walker and nearly caused an all-out nuclear war.

Afterwards, Huey participated as a referee in a soccer match between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and at one time even tried to stop a fight from breaking out, as they were not supposed to be enemies, quoting Big Boss during this point. After Metal Gear ZEKE was completed, it was armed with a nuclear warhead recovered from under Lake Nicaragua's waters, which formerly belonged to Peace Walker. When Big Boss asked Huey why he decided to arm ZEKE with nuclear weapons, citing its similarity to Peace Walker, which he despised, he claimed that it was because the two were actually different with intentions: the CIA won people over with charm, and turned their backs on them when things got hairy, whereas Big Boss was honest about his intentions, so he trusted Big Boss with the decision. After ZEKE was damaged due to Paz hijacking it, he suggested to Snake that he should have a mock battle against ZEKE so that the next time something similar happened, Big Boss would be prepared. He also visited Strangelove and, after learning that ZEKE had a backup AI so that it could at least walk, asked Strangelove what he needed to ask her some time ago: if she despised him. Strangelove then asked if Huey wanted to ask her out. Huey denied this, to which Strangelove responded that it was a shame as she "had her heart broken before," and that she was only interested in those who could stand up for themselves. She told him that if he loved her, he should "come walk with her" mentioning that some miracles are unexpected and that "love is blind," hinting that she might have been attracted to him at that point.

Later life
Emmerich eventually retired and got married, fathering a son in 1980, whom he named "Hal." Emmerich later divorced Hal's mother, and went on to remarry a British woman named Julie Danziger. Emmerich later discovered that his new wife was having an affair with his son, and decided to drown himself in the family pool, nearly taking Julie's daughter with him.

Trivia

 * "Huey" was not Emmerich's real first name, but a nickname given to him by Strangelove, during their time at NASA. Huey was the name of a crippled service robot in the science fiction film Silent Running (itself part of a trio named Huey, Dewey and Louie, after Donald Duck's nephews). The film was directed by Douglas Trumbull, the man who did the special effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
 * Huey dreaded being around water. Huey would later commit suicide by drowning himself in a swimming pool.
 * Huey invented an electronic cigarette, a mechanical apparatus similar to a cigarette only it expels vapor instead of cigarette smoke for use while working in the labs because normal cigarette smoke would ruin the various computers and precision equipment.
 * A photogaph of Emmerich and Granin was displayed in the latter's office in 1964.

Relationship to Hal
In Metal Gear Solid 3, Granin mentions "his friend in the United States" to Naked Snake, who was strongly suggested to be either the father or grandfather of Hal Emmerich. The photograph in Granin's office and a radio conversation between Snake and Sigint (following the pair's meeting) supported this. Character biographies leaked prior to the release of Metal Gear Solid 3 stated that the man in question was Hal's father, though the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database contradicted this by stating that it was his grandfather. This was later clarified in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, when it was revealed that it was actually Hal's father, Huey.

In a pre-release interview for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Hideo Kojima hinted that Huey was "exactly the person that everyone thinks he is," though the conflicting information in the Database still made this initially unclear.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was not the first instance to hint that Huey named his son after HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. In Hal Emmerich's bio in the Metal Gear Solid Official Mission Handbook it was stated that Hal's father named him after the computer because he saw 2001: A Space Odyssey when his wife was pregnant. In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker it is stated that Huey initially saw the movie years before Hal was born.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Although Huey is an original character of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, he has been mentioned several times in the previous games:
 * His birthdate (August 6, 1945) was pointed out by Hal to Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid.
 * His suicide (drowned himself and almost took Emma with him) was remembered by Emma and Hal, who described it to Solid Snake and Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2.
 * Being mentioned by Granin as his "friend in the United States" to Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3.

If the player decides to read Huey's letter through the Model Viewer, a Briefing File will be unlocked in which Huey, as soon as he learns that Snake not only failed to deliver the letter to Strangelove, but also read it, tells him off. The letter is written in a humorous fashion, portraying Huey's nervousness in communicating to the woman he admires, with some of his words explicitly transcribed as being stuttered.

During Huey and Big Boss's first encounter, Huey says that the situation feels familiar, with Big Boss adding that it must be like "Deja Vu." This is likely a reference to their sons (Solid Snake and Hal Emmerich/Otacon).

Gameplay
Huey is a unique staff member at Mother Base, available after Snake defeats the Pupa AI Weapon. His skill ("Bipedal Weapons Design") allows Metal Gear ZEKE to be developed if he is assigned to the R&D Team.


 * Life: 1000
 * Psyche: 1000
 * GMP: 1096


 * Combat Unit: E
 * R&D Team: S
 * Mess Hall Team: D
 * Medical Team: -
 * Intel Team: A