Para-Medic

Para-Medic, real name Dr. Clark, was a member of FOX in the 1960s, serving as a medical adviser to Naked Snake in 1964 and 1970. Afterwards, she became one of the founding members of the Patriots and chief of FOXHOUND's medical staff, and was a key factor in the Les Enfants Terribles project that resulted in the births of Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake. She stayed with FOXHOUND until she was killed by Gray Fox in 2003.

Early life and career
Dr. Clark was a highly regarded physician, who described herself as having a spotless reputation, along with being highly skilled, patient, and good-looking to boot. Due to her tendency of talking too much, she received the nickname "Quack." At some point prior to 1964, Major Zero recruited Dr. Clark into the CIA.

In September 1964, Dr. Clark provided radio support to Naked Snake during the Virtuous Mission. She adopted the codename "Para-Medic," originating from her desire to create a unit of medics that could parachute into battle, when they were needed most. After asking Snake his real name during their introduction to one another, he claimed that it was "John Doe," a colloquialism for an unidentified male corpse, to which Para-Medic jokingly responded that hers was "Jane Doe." She supplied Snake with medical advice and information on the flora and fauna in Tselinoyarsk, which usually resulted in Snake asking how each tasted, a fact that she found quite tiresome after a while. Para-Medic was also in charge of recording Snake's mission data. After Snake was injured during his encounter with The Boss at Dolinovodno, Para-Medic instructed him on how to self-administer treatment for his wounds, which included various lacerations and broken bones.

After the failure of Virtuous Mission, Para-Medic visited an unconscious Snake during his recovery at an advanced ICU. She then faced the threat of having her medical license revoked if the CIA's follow-up mission Operation Snake Eater did not succeed. When Snake was again ordered back into Tselinoyarsk a week later, she volunteered to help him anyway, telling Snake that her medical license wasn't important to her. When Snake rendezvoused with fellow spy EVA, Para-Medic backed up the latter's suggestion that he get some rest, pointing out that he would have remained in the ICU until his injuries had fully recovered had it had been up to her. When EVA was later injured in a motorcycle crash while escaping through Lazorevo, Para-Medic gave instructions to Snake on treating her injuries.

Following the success of Operation Snake Eater, Para-Medic was present at the awards ceremony in Langley, where Snake was awarded the title of Big Boss and the Distinguished Service Cross. She expressed concern when Snake walked away from the room without uttering a word. Despite the mission's success, the United States Government revoked her medical license anyway.

Post-Snake Eater
In 1970, Para-Medic went on to establish the nation's first paramedic system in Seattle, Washington. In addition, she also founded the paramedic corps of the United States Armed Forces, fulfilling her dream.

In late 1970, Para-Medic was entrusted to monitor any incoming transmissions to a specific radio frequency, which was known to the original members of the FOX unit. When Naked Snake was captured during the San Hieronymo Takeover, he infiltrated a Red Army communications base on the Peninsula, and use the frequency to reach Para-Medic. She explained to him that he and Major Zero had been blamed for a rebellion in FOX, and that any members who hadn't joined Gene's command were murdered. Informing him that Zero had been imprisoned, courtesy of the Pentagon, she also suggested that Snake contact Sigint, as he was willing to lend a hand from ARPAnet.

Snake later returned to the communications base to contact Para-Medic about a form of tropical malaria that his new comrade Roy Campbell had come down with. Para-Medic diagnosed him over the radio and informed Snake that he would have to infiltrate the nearest hospital in order to find the preventative drugs to save Campbell's life. With the help of Jonathan and his other new recruits, Snake was able to save Campbell.

Following the incident, Para-Medic, Sigint, and Zero, greeted Snake on an airport runway when he returned to the U.S.

FOXHOUND and the Patriots
Sometime after, Para-Medic was recruited into the Patriots by Zero, alongside Big Boss (Naked Snake), Ocelot, Sigint, and EVA. The organization was set up by Zero in an attempt to realize the dying dream of The Boss, who had wished to see the world whole again. In 1972, under the orders of Zero, and now going by her real name of Dr. Clark, she headed the "Les Enfants Terribles" project to create clones of Big Boss. She had always been fascinated by the prospects of human cloning, and had even told Big Boss that she saw him as "such an excellent specimen" during their days in FOX. Dr. Clark's Japanese assistant served as an egg donor during the project.

Dr. Clark later became the head of FOXHOUND's medical staff and chief geneticist, organizing and developing the Patriots' genetic research programs. Even though military-based genetic therapy was banned under international law by the early 2000s, the Patriots remained unperturbed, as the laws in question were simply declarations and not actual treaties.

In late 1999, Dr. Clark was the scientist in charge of placing Big Boss into an artificially induced coma, following his defeat by the clone Solid Snake in Zanzibar Land. She was also responsible for reviving Gray Fox by encasing him within a cybernetic exoskeleton, and used him as a guinea pig to test her gene-therapy techniques. During the next four years, Dr. Clark and her team kept Fox drugged while they experimented on him, the results of which were used in the creation of the Next-Generation Special Forces.

In 2003, Dr. Clark was killed by Gray Fox after he was freed by his adopted sister Naomi Hunter; the latter would then succeed her as the head of FOXHOUND's medical staff. Her death allowed Fox to take revenge for all the years of torment he had endured. Her death was plotted by both EVA and Ocelot as part of a plan to eliminate the members of the Patriots who were allied with Zero.

Personality and traits
According to Para-Medic's personal data, as of 1964: her eyesight was 20/25, her blood type was "B"; she had had no previously documented illnesses; her main hobby was watching movies; her favorite food was sushi; her least favorite food was crab (in a radio conversation, she said they stink like "cat pee"); her favorite types of animals were small birds; her favorite drink was Japanese Sake; her treatment speciality was injections; her favorite monster was the Venusian; she keeps her measurements top secret; and her favorite mascots were the Kerotan and the GA-KO.

Being a total movie fanatic, Para-Medic frequently and enthusiastically talked to Snake (and occasionally Sigint) about them. She actually convinced Snake to go see two movies that she talked about once his mission was complete: Jason and the Argonauts and A Fistful of Dollars. In addition, Para-Medic's obsession with horror movies and vampires led Snake to have a vampire-themed nightmare during his imprisonment in the fortress Groznyj Grad, where Snake became a vampire fighting half-breed monsters. Her habit of telling Snake about movies was extensive enough that Snake briefly and indirectly compared Ghost to Para-Medic irritably when he mentioned Bride of the Monster.

Para-Medic also had a fascination with Japanese culture.

Unconfirmed history
In the late 1960s, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson gave his support for the "Les Enfants Terribles," into which Dr. Clark was recruited. In 1972, she personally oversaw the births of Solid Snake and Liquid Snake, along with the succeeding U.S. President and General Jim Houseman. The President and Houseman both expressed reservations about the project, though Clark attempted to allay their concerns by further explaining the project's goals to them.

Behind the scenes
Dr. Clark was originally implied to be male in the original Metal Gear Solid. In the English version, Naomi repeatedly uses the male pronoun "he" to describe Dr. Clark, while in the Japanese version Naomi only uses the equivalent pronoun kare once. It wasn't until the Metal Gear Solid novelization by Raymond Benson that it was revealed Dr. Clark was a woman. The book also revealed that she was involved in the Les Enfants Terribles project. The Metal Gear Solid 4 Database covers up this inconsistency by explaining that Dr. Clark "seldom exposed herself to others and left almost no data behind after her death. As a result, Naomi was convinced that Dr. Clark was a man." However, in the novelization, Solid Snake assumed that Dr. Clark was a male until Naomi corrected him.

A leaked voice casting sheet for Metal Gear Solid 3 stated that Para-Medic used to have a husband, to whom she was divorced as of the time of the game's setting. None of this is mentioned in Para-Medic's Personal Data, nor anywhere else in the game itself, so its status in the series' canon is unknown.

A certain radio conversation with Para-Medic, in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, features dialogue text being displayed in French, even though she is audibly speaking English. This occurs when Snake asks what movies Para-Medic likes, after learning that she didn't actually watch The Great Escape.

Para-Medic is the only person in Snake's support team who doesn't say a word in the Metal Gear Solid 3 Movie, a recut of the cutscenes from the game strung together to act as a movie, included in the Existence disc of Subsistence.

Portable Ops recruitment
''In Portable Ops, the player is given the option to recruit Para-Medic. This section details how the recruitment takes place:''

After Snake manages to get the malaria medication for the San Hieronymo Peninsula, Snake returns to the Communications base to thank Para-Medic for the tip in regards to how to treat malaria. Para-Medic, after accepting the thanks, asks Snake what is truly going on, as she knows that he came back to the Communications base for more than thanks. Snake then admits that he also came to contact her because he needed another favor. He explained that he needed a few of her Paramedic unit members to be dispatched to the San Hieronymo Peninsula, as he needs all the medical help for his unit that he can acquire due to the fact that while several of the personnel have basic medical training, he can't get all of them onto his side, and even if he ended up getting one onto his side, he still can't completely trust their competency level, as some don't have enough medical training and experience to help fix up his soldiers. Para-Medic breaks it to him that there is none available due to the fact that they have all been dispatched to Vietnam, and she doesn't have the authority to issue an order to San Hieronymo Peninsula anyways. She does decide to go to San Hieronymo, however, despite Snake's protests.

A few days later, she arrives at her destination, but is apparently imprisoned in the Hospital, requiring a rescue. A Spy Unit discovers this, and submits a report. After speaking with Roy Campbell, one of the resistance members then escorts her back to the truck.

Recruiting Para-Medic is the only way to freely access her radio frequency.

"As a member of FOX, Paramedic provided medical support to Snake during Operation Snake Eater. In her previous job as a doctor, her incessant chatter earned her the inevitable nickname of "Quack." A hardcore movie buff, although her tastes are widely regarded as being a little bit weird."

- Character description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Movies mentioned
As mentioned previously, Para-Medic was a huge movie fan. Here is a list of the movies that Para-Medic mentioned to Naked Snake during the events of Metal Gear Solid 3:


 * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
 * Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein (despite Naked Snake's fear of vampires, he makes no reaction when Para-Medic mentions Dracula)
 * The Alligator People
 * The Alamo
 * The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
 * The Big Broadcast
 * The Bridge on the River Kwai
 * The Blob
 * It Came from Outer Space
 * It Conquered the World
 * Creature from the Black Lagoon
 * The Curse of the Werewolf
 * Dracula (Naked Snake has a nightmare after Para-Medic mentions the movie)
 * Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
 * Earth vs. the Spider 
 * The Fly (she briefly compared Snake's oxygen mask to the titular character)
 * A Fistful of Dollars (referred to by its alternate literally-translated title, For a Fistful of Dollars)
 * Forbidden Planet
 * Frankenstein
 * From Russia with Love (when she is describing the movie to Naked Snake, Major Zero mentions having seen it and suggests gadgets that Snake could use, similar to James Bond)
 * The Great Escape (mentioned by Zero as the source of his original codename "Major Tom"; Para-Medic never actually saw it because she was not interested in the movie)
 * Godzilla
 * The Guns of Navarone
 * The Incredible Shrinking Man
 * Invasion of the Body Snatchers
 * It Came from Beneath the Sea
 * Jason and the Argonauts
 * The Last War
 * Mondo Cane 
 * The Magnificent Seven
 * North by Northwest
 * On the Beach
 * Plan 9 from Outer Space
 * The Quatermass Experiment
 * Rebecca
 * Them!
 * The Thing from Another World
 * The War of the Worlds (it is implied that Para-Medic never actually saw the movie, instead shutting her eyes for the majority of the film)
 * White Zombie

At one point, Para-Medic asks Snake if he's seen a film called My Mother was a Teenage Spider Queen from Mars. When Snake replies "I can't say that I have", Para-Medic says, "Neither have I." Para-Medic later admits to not paying attention due to Major Zero talking to her at the time. It is also to be noted that the movie title was a reference to David Bowie's former band The Spiders from Mars, similar to Major Zero's former codename of Major Tom. Also, when calling her while wearing the Raikov Mask, Para-Medic will mention that the mask makes him look like a Venusian before clarifying with "I mean, not the crab kind... the other kind.", a reference to the main antagonist from the film It Conquered the World, the Venusian Crab. A similar reference to It Conquered the World was made in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, although it was lost in translation.

Similarly, in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Para-Medic mentioned another list of movies. Due to the change in gameplay mechanics in Portable Ops, compared with Metal Gear Solid 3, saving the game is not required to have Para-Medic talk with Snake about various movies:


 * Dirty Harry (when telling Snake about the movie, she also asks him about the .44 Magnum)
 * Fantastic Voyage
 * Night of the Living Dead
 * Orgy of the Dead (when asked by one of the soldiers as to what made it scary, Para-Medic replied that it was most likely the fact that it was even made in the first place)
 * Planet of the Apes (this is one of the few movies that she does not ask Snake about; she asks one of his soldiers instead)

Notes and references
Para-Medic