Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-24760016-20150819051804

64.33.250.214 wrote: TheGentlemanGhost wrote: It's really not JUST because he has a bandaged face, there's a lot of connections. What do you mean by...

how would anyone be able to explain, in context of the story, how a character's face differs from game to game and has any name (if name customization were possible)?

He's introduced just now in TPP, this is the last MGS game from the looks of it. Ishmael simply becomes one of the 1000s of Diamond Dog soldiers in Big Boss' army. How is canon ruined in any way or fashion, I don't get you and this concern with canon on this at all. He can just become another mercerny in Outer Heaven afterwards. This game goes into MG1, and we may not even see the bosses from MG1 in TPP, who knows what's going to happen. Ocelot is BB's new BFF and he's not in MG1 or 2 at all, they can do whatever to this custom character without breaking canon.

I'm truly lost on this whole canon gripe you have with him so you gotta give me some examples on how a Diamond Dog soldier being customizable breaks canon... You don't get me? Well, I can't say the feeling isn't mutual. You show up out of the blue, defending this theory whenever someone criticizes it. Why haven't you been debating any other theory? I've been here debating this subject for over a year. My comments are not a personal attack on what you believe.

I really don't understand the confusion. Ocelot has a name and you can described what he looks like. A custom character can change appearance, name, and/or gender. How do you make that a part of the story? "___, who wears ___, and has ___ hair with ___ eyes, became a member of Diamond Dogs and helped Big Boss form Outer Heaven. ___ eventually retired and moved to Tokyo to develop video games with fellow Diamond Dogs buddy Kojima."

Did you see those blanks up there? That's information that can't be added to the story, because the custom character would be different for each player.

Now let's say you can't change Ishmael's name or gender. If that were the case, then I do not see the point in making him a custom character. The whole point of that function should be to allow players to be whoever they want.

If it turned out that Ishmael was Decoy Octopus, then I could understand this theory that he's customizable. As it stands, he already has a name and a voice actor in place. Which implies that he is an important character, and not some character creation who probably wouldn't play a significant role in how the story unfolds. Dude, you do know that there's supposedly going to A LOT of things you'll see or do, that I won't in this game, right? This is why I'm so confused, you still thing this is a linear game, the story is no longer linear just like the maps & gameplay. But you're kinda confusing canon with linear, but for argument sake... do we not have buddies that have their own morale system based on our individual decisions, in which each one of us will have different outcomes...? The latest MB demo explained how our decisions effect the game. It implied in some situations these particular scene as if they happen based on our gameplay; Quite killing our soldiers, torture, and letting our soldiers fight or not. Our stories will no longer be the same in TPP with or without Ishmael being a custom character. Yes, the wikia database is going to have to branch of it's canon database no matter what anyway. Aside from that latest demo, have you noticed Kojima and company stressing player choice in this MGS from interviews throughout this time? Ishmael having either a small or major role if customizable is the least of your worries if a linear story line is such a big deal to you.

I never said we are controlling him or he's a secondary character. Just like the other DD soldiers, he'd be available to take on the field instead of Big Boss and he's our avatar for MGO. My theory was Ishmael is our avatar (also for MGO), a custom character that helps BB and has some impact in the story like Ishmael in Moby Dick.

Either way, "Ishmael" doesn't ruin canon, I've heard YongYea to various other posters mention this vary theory. Everyone except you seems to understand canon isn't a thing to be ruin by this, it's just a new character either way. Even if player choice and etc wasn't in the game to already confirm it's no longer linear, I don't understand your concern. He's a Diamond Dog soldier in my theory, there's going to be room for over 1000 soldiers at DD lol, what's your deal?