Beauty and the Beast Unit

The Beauty and the Beast Unit, also known as the BB Corps (spoken "B and B Corps"), were a group of female soldiers who commanded the private military forces of Outer Heaven. All four members were given special suits to turn them into incredible combatants, after each had suffered from intense Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by the horrors of war.

Formation
The suits worn by the BB members, combined with their unstable mental states, made them into lethal soldiers, which caused them to be exploited for their skills. Although their damaged minds gave them an edge in combat, it was also their greatest weakness. The suits of each Beast resembled the animals after which they were named: Octopus possessed four tentacles (making a total of eight limbs); Raven utilized flight; Wolf was quadrupedal, complete with tail; and Mantis had multiple arms.

Implanted with nanomachines, similar to those used to seal the mind of Big Boss, the Beasts were placed under Liquid Ocelot's control. They were then given command of the various PMCs under Liquid's Outer Heaven mother company, with Mantis, Octopus, Raven and Wolf leading Praying Mantis, Pieuvre Armement, Raven Sword, and Werewolf in combat, respectively.

During Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, the group were convinced that their goal was to destroy Solid Snake, believing it would ease their anguish, and make them "whole" again. They were initially deployed into the Middle East, where they slaughtered a platoon of the local militia, which Snake ended up witnessing. Despite serving Outer Heaven, they could often prove difficult to control, such as when Laughing Octopus commenced wanton slaughter on a group of rebel prisoners, before being stopped by a throwing knife from Vamp, her superior. Snake fought and defeated each of the unit's members in turn, usually when they were accompanied by a small unit of Haven Troopers. When out of their suits, they began to relive their respective traumatic memories, due to their fragile mental state. Regardless of the method in which Snake chose to defeat them, it was rumored that they could only survive outside of their suits for a few minutes, making their deaths a possible outcome.

Members

 * Laughing Octopus
 * Raging Raven
 * Crying Wolf
 * Screaming Mantis
 * Psycho Mantis (unofficial leader)

Character design
During development of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Hideo Kojima wanted the Beauty and the Beast Unit to be naked during cutscenes, though this would have severely affected the game's censorship rating. Yoji Shinkawa stated that the motion capture actors were asked to do the motion capture nude, though this could also not be used in the game.

The Beauty and the Beast Unit share many similarities with the special forces units involved in previous events. As a result the name of each member was derived from those belonging to members of FOXHOUND (Metal Gear Solid), their weapons were a derivative of those used by Dead Cell (Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty), and their emotions in battle were similar to those of the Cobra Unit (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater):
 * Laughing Octopus: Derived from the name and abilities of Decoy Octopus, the P90 submachine gun and tentacles of Solidus Snake, and the emotion of The Joy.
 * Raging Raven: Derived from the name and the flying accomplices of Vulcan Raven, the explosives of Fatman, and the rage of The Fury.
 * Crying Wolf: Derived from the name and fighting style of Sniper Wolf, the railgun of Fortune, and the emotion of The Sorrow and The End.
 * Screaming Mantis: Derived from the name and psychic abilities of Psycho Mantis, the throwing knife weapons of Vamp, and a mixture of The Fear and The Pain.

Concept art for Metal Gear Solid 4 also included some artwork for two male characters known as Snake-Man and Adam that were cut from the final version. It is unknown if they were supposed to be two male members of the Beauty and the Beast Unit or not. Similarly, there was concept artwork by Yoji Shinkawa that had the Beauty and the Beast members resembling hulking monstrosities. The concept artwork was later reused with the Mastiff enemy in the upcoming Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

The name of the unit was derived from the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, about a prince who was cursed by a witch into gaining a monstrous body until the beauty (who in most renditions of the tale is unnamed) who is destined to break the spell falls in love with him.

Each of the four members' beauty forms were based on a beauty model. In the case of Raging Raven, the same model that she was based on, Yumi Kikuchi, also voiced her.

Game Informer ranked the Beauty and the Beast Unit #5 in their list of the top 10 villians of 2008.

The Beauty and the Beast Unit collectively appeared as participants in the Konami-sponsored event E3 Battle, where they defeated Dr. Lautrec and Sophie from Dr. Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights. They will face off against Harry Mason from the first Silent Hill game in the second round.

"BEAUTY AND THE BEAST UNIT FIRST APPEARED IN Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) Commanders of the Private Military Corporations of Outer Heaven. All of them suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

- Beauty and the Beast Unit's bio from the E3 Battle

Gameplay
If the Beast form of each BB member is defeated non-lethally in Metal Gear Solid 4 (with the exception of Screaming Mantis, due to the nature of the battle with her), a statue of their Beast form can be found and obtained during the "Beauty" stage of the battle. Collecting all four (as well as the Haven Trooper statue) will unlock the Solar Gun, from one of Kojima's other games, Boktai. Similarly, FaceCamos of each of the Beauties can be unlocked by defeating their respective Beauty forms non-lethally.

When their Beauty forms are advancing upon the player, not killing them for several minutes will result in transportation to an infinitely sized White Room, with a three minute timer. It is impossible to call Otacon or Rosemary while in this room. Equipping the camera will cause the Beauties to pose. If the player selects and de-selects the camera, they will change their pose. Equipping the iPod and playing "Oishii Two-han Seikatsu" will make them dance. When the timer expires, the Beauties collapse and die.

When the Beauty and the Beast Unit members are defeated lethally, they are engulfed with blue flames in a manner similar to the Haven Troopers when the latter enemies are killed.

In multiple playthroughs of Metal Gear Solid 4, "Emotion magazines" are unlocked, which include images of the various BB members, in both their Beauty and Beast forms. Personnel who come across these magazines become overwhelmed with emotion, similar to the use of Emotion Ammo.