Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-64.33.250.214-20140901193014

Misterbunnsy wrote:

Ishmael was Abraham's first son, but was only Isaac's half-brother as he was born to Abraham's wife's handmaiden, Hagar. He was sent away because the Lord's covenant stated he was not to inherit Abraham's house and that Isaac was the 'seed' of the covenant between the Lord and Abraham.

This is actually where the roots of Islam can be traced, as Judaism / Christianity would develop from the lineage of Abraham and his son Isaac, while Islam comes to fruition from Ishmael's lineage.

If Ishmael is to have a larger bearing as a character on the plot of The Phantom Pain, I wonder if his name will have the biblical meaning (thus influencing the development through the story of Ishmael and Islam) or of the Moby Dick character. Perhaps both? If Kojima is alluding to the Biblical story of Ishmael at all, then he's alluding very loosely. Like he did with Ocelot and Eva being symbolic for Adam and Eve. Though they weren't in the exact same relationship, there were similarities between the two. The gist of this theory is that, if Ishmael were Solidus, Boss may disown him as Abraham disowned Ishmael. Then Boss would take Eli to be his successor.