Blade Wolf

"Every cyborg is a person. People are different."

- Bladewolf

The IF Prototype LQ-84i, (IF standing for "Interface") also known as the Bladewolf (ブレードウルフ Burēdo Urufu), and once referred to informally as the K-9000 by Kevin Washington, was a quadrupedal robot with a learning optical neuro-AI and a prototype verbal interface, resembling Crying Wolf's beast form. Known weapons systems included a chainsaw attached to its back that could be used to cut opponents, springloaded HF knives, a rail gun, as well as extendable claws. Its tail also acted as a manipulator arm similar to that of the Gekko units. Similar unmanned gears called Fenrirs existed as well, apparently being mass-produced models of LQ-84i.

Blueprints for LQ-84i were downloaded into Raiden, an agent for the PMSC Maverick Security Consulting, Inc., during or prior to being severely injured in a mission. Maverick later recovered the cluster file via Raiden's arm, although they not only had to input a password to bypass the encryption process, but also enact an override system in the process.

Development


LQ-84i was built as a prototype to a next-generation weapon meant to replace both human combatants and cyborgs. To achieve this, it was deemed necessary to be able to communicate and make intelligent decisions on how to act, hence why it was outfitted with an interface system. However, although the goals of giving it intellect had succeeded with flying colors, it lacked brutality, largely because it was still not human, nor did it have humanity inside its programming. Because of this, after three years of testing, the project was cancelled, and the LQ-84i itself ended up deactivated, hence why it was a "one-of-a-kind" prototype. An unknown period of time later, Desperado somehow managed to locate the weapon, and reactivate it, presumably due to Sundowner's sense of humor, as the LQ-84i "had more concern for its fellow man than an actual fellow man."

Sam's recruitment
At an unknown point after its reactivation, it was later ordered to attack the Brazilian swordsman Samuel Rodrigues in the Denver sewers. It eventually gained the opportunity to attack Sam while utilizing stealth camouflage. Sam then told it to make its own decisions. The robot seemed to consider Sam's advice, but then attacked him again, as he had also been ordered to fight lest his memory be wiped. The mech was eventually defeated by Sam, who then told it that the reason why it lost was because of their different motives for fighting: While the robot had been forced to fight, Sam fought from his own free will, although Sam nonetheless told it that it still did well before it went offline.

Post-recruitment
After being repaired by Desperado, despite its failure, it still retained its memory. In addition, it also fought alongside Sam, now a Desperado affiliate, in three missions, with it gaining respect to Sam. As a result Sam was the one person he looked up to, or at least the closest an Unmanned Gear had to looking up to anything.

Desperado Incursions
At some point later, Sundowner viewed it as useless, although Mistral decided to have it operate under her command. It is unknown why she did this, although LQ-84i speculated that it was due to her seeking companionship and liking dogs. In either case, during the Abkhazia coup, it was given directives to "ensure freedom" in the country, in the aftermath of Desperado and Dolzaev's coup d'état against the parliamentary government, which included killing Raiden should they meet. LQ-84i was forced to obey their orders lest its AI memory be wiped but still retained its original order to fight for freedom. He later attempted to escape for freedom when Mistral had removed its range inhibitor, although she secretly intended for it so she could have Khamsin killed by the renegade UG. It then proceeded to escape through Abkhazia, also deducing from Mistral's words how to escape. It eventually encountered Khamsin, and killed him despite the latter's best efforts at stopping him. However, Mistral then reactivated the range inhibitor shortly thereafter and revealed her deception.

Abkhazia
Shortly after Khamsin's death, after Raiden was redeployed by Maverick with a new cyborg outfit to Abkhazia, LQ-84i, by that point under strict orders to kill Raiden, ambushed him and attempted to cut him down with its chainsaw arm, but Raiden successfully parried it. Upon being questioned about its identity and its purpose, LQ-84i identified itself and revealed that it was to kill Raiden under Desperado's orders. However, it also insisted that it was sentient "beyond human comprehension," and also reluctant to carry out the order, but it could not disobey the order lest Desperado wipe its AI if it did. Raiden expressed doubts about its superior intellect, and tried to test it by asking it about the meaning of life. Upon learning of its orders to kill him, he then taunted it by claiming that there's no point to having a superior intellect if the LQ-84i couldn't use it. They then battled. During their fight, LQ-84i attacked Raiden with its chainsaw and by attempting to pounce him. In addition, it occasionally retreated onto a high ledge and summoned cyborgs and Gekko, and remained there until Raiden defeated them.

Raiden managed to subdue it and destroy the robot. However, the AI called Raiden via Codec to relay its last words about freedom. Raiden was somewhat bemused about it understanding freedom. Nonetheless, its conflicted programming convinced Raiden to deliver what was left of the robot to Maverick, where he had Doktor make some adjustments to the robot in addition to repairing it, specifically disabling its AI wipe and its remote piloting program. This allowed it to not have to worry about Desperado punishing it for its failure. As a result, it accompanied him on some missions, primarily reconnaissance, to some of the members' hesitance.

Mexico and World Marshal HQ
During one mission into Mexico, Bladewolf and Raiden infiltrated the sewer system,  and it reported to Raiden the presence of Desperado-aligned cyborgs in the sewers, warning him to exercise caution. It reported the presence of catwalks nearby and suggested that he could hide from the cyborgs using them. Later, it encountered George and reported this to Raiden. Eventually, it managed to track down the location of the lab, and supplied Raiden with its location.

The Bladewolf also accompanied Raiden in his corporate raid on the HQ of the largest PMC, World Marshal Inc. After Raiden was exposed by Sam to the idea that all the cyborgs he was fighting may have been forced into it and unwilling to fight to the death, Bladewolf explained to Raiden that every cyborg was a person, and that "people are different" after Raiden stated that he thought the Desperado cyborgs, actually had a "fair choice" to serve Desperado, unlike Bladewolf. Bladewolf also revealed his previous acquaitancence with Sam to Raiden, and noted that Sam's parameters were not in their usual methods. Sensing Raiden's volatile emotional and mental state, he advised Raiden to avoid combat. Despite this, Raiden ended up beating him to the near top level of the building. Raiden also thanked Bladewolf for his help in unleashing Jack the Ripper earlier. It also accompanied Raiden and Doktor on the chopper to retrieve the cyborg brain casings from World Marshal HQ, although it decided to accompany Raiden to Pakistan, after finding a way out of the chopper.

Colorado Badlands
Bladewolf eventually bore witness to Raiden and Sam's final duel in the badlands. Before the duel, Bladewolf was told by Sam that depending on who the victor was, they'll either continue with Operation Tecumseh, or it'll inherit Sam's blade, which will unlock two hours after Sam's death, with the decision being left up to it.

Against Senator Armstrong
Bladewolf then arrived at the Solis launch pad alongside Raiden, and met Sunny. Although it shook Sunny's hand, it didn't do so when Raiden attempted the same. Upon arrival at Pakistan, Bladewolf attempted to scout ahead regarding the location. However, when it arrived near the control tower, it had been knocked out, with Raiden suspecting an ambush being nearby (it is implied that Senator Armstrong had knocked him out). Eventually, Bladewolf, having regained consciousness, would supply the blade to Raiden to fend off Senator Armstrong. Armstrong in return kicked Bladewolf away, angrily calling the canid unmanned gear a "little fuck" and a "damn mutt." Despite being kicked hard enough to send him flying and hitting portions of the ruined Metal Gear Excelsus, Bladewolf survived, and proceeded to live at Solis with Sunny and George. However, it ended up accidentally causing a huge mess from raising its head up suddenly from being alerted, after Sunny accidentally stepped on its tail.

Personality and traits
"Directive... liberate Nation... ensure freedom... Obey directive... must obey directive... no freedom... freedom undefined..."

- Bladewolf.

Before it was reprogrammed by Doktor, it was a cold killer focused entirely on following its orders though it did not have much choice as it did so to keep its memory intact. However, during his fight against Raiden, he began to question himself and why they fight.

It seemed to have been fond of Sam, and having fought with him before, was uneasy that two of the cyborgs he had grown close to had to fight to the death. Throughout his missions with Raiden, he had grown close to him. He learned how to think for himself and not to follow the directives he was programmed with. He grew concerned for Raiden when he was emotionally shaken and saved his life by giving him Sam's sword to fight and kill Armstrong.

Weapons systems and equipment
While under its forced servitude under Desperado, the Bladewolf, then known as the LQ-84i, had a variety of blade-type weaponry. These included at least six spring-loaded knives that can be flung at an enemy at a quick rate. These knives, upon being launched, are also superheated to the extent that they can sear through metallic surfaces, indicating that they were a knife variant of the HF blade. In addition, it also had a chainsaw attached to its back, with a cutting ability strong enough to cut through stone as well as single handedly cause most of an entire building to collapse, as evidenced by its use against Raiden before formally introducing itself. It can also use the chainsaw to cut into an enemy's heart, seriously wounding most individuals. It also had sharp claws, which it could use to grip and pin down enemies. Similar to Gekko, the Bladewolf's tail also acted as a manipulator arm, which it would utilize to hold its chainsaw. Blueprints that Raiden somehow managed to uncover prior to his mission into Africa also indicated that its creators at least initially intended to outfit it with a man-portable railgun system. It also possessed stealth camo, which it had used to ambush Samuel Rodrigues in the Denver sewers.

After its reconstruction into the Bladewolf, its weaponry remained largely the same although its chainsaw was removed. Instead, it possessed knife-like blades attached to the underside of each leg.

Similar to Raiden, Bladewolf, post-upgrade, was outfitted with an augmented reality mode mask. When not activated, the mask's two halves bore a superficial resemblance to wolf ears.

Behind the scenes


The Bladewolf first appeared in promotional artwork in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance next to Raiden, back when the game was titled Metal Gear Solid: Rising and when it took place between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Its similarities to Crying Wolf, as well as the original timeframe, led to speculation as to whether she was to aid Raiden somehow. Kenji Saito's commentary on Bladewolf's concept art, included in the Collector's Edition of the Metal Gear Rising Piggyback guide, also mentioned that in the original concept, Bladewolf was pilotable by humans, further supported the speculation. It also resembled an unused concept art of a robotic dog in the Platinum Games-developed game Vanquish.



The Bladewolf's name was given by a corrupted encrypted blueprint uploaded onto the "Make It Right: decryption" viral marketing website for Metal Gear Rising, by inputting the password "FOXALIVE." The password was also hinted at in the Facebook post informing the user of the upload, with the elements Fluorine, Osmium, Xenon, Arsenic, Lutetium, Iodine, Vanadium, and Europium. This was later referenced in his match against Crying Wolf on the official Metal Gear Solid website.

The blueprints for the Bladewolf being included in Raiden's arm, along with similar data being found on thirty other cyborg soldiers in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance that was explicitly referred to as Patriot data, has led to the implication that the Bladewolf had actually been conceptualized by the Patriots prior to their downfall.

The Bladewolf eventually appeared in the expanded version of the E3 trailer at Gamescom nearing the end of the trailer, where it encountered Raiden and attempted to kill him, as well as seen accompanying him in a flooded tunnel as the trailer ends. The trailer identified it as an IF Prototype LQ-84I, as well as the K-9000 in two separate scenes. According to Kenji Saito's commentary in concept art for Bladewolf, they initially attempted to use Bladewolf's original design during testing due to the 3D model being completed, but its size required redesigns due to it being too large.

In the Japanese version of Metal Gear Rising, the Bladewolf was voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya. In the English and international versions, it was voiced by Michael Beattie.

The boss fight was later showcased at the Tokyo Game Show, and was likewise included in the Metal Gear Rising demo that was prepackaged with Zone of the Enders: HD Collection.

Bladewolf was confirmed to be an important character in the KP report podcast session 167. Platinum Games director Kenji Saito stated that Bladewolf would be "more of a support role ... he moves forward without Raiden to gather intelligence for him. He won't be in battle situations, but he will gather map information and recon that Raiden will be able to use."

According to the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, the Bladewolf was similar in characterization and role to Gray Fox.

Bladewolf, or rather, LQ-84i's boss theme is called "I Am My Own Master Now." Its lyrics talk about a chained wolf who is forced into battle and yearns for freedom.

A DLC pack will include a scenario for LQ-84i regarding its background. It will be released May of 2013. May 9th in Japan, May 14th in North America and May 15th in Europe.

Bladewolf is also a boss in the sewer during the jetstream DLC.

In the scene where Bladewolf delivers Sam's sword to Raiden to save Raiden, Senator Armstrong sarcastically calls Bladewolf "Fido," referencing a legendary dog in Italy that was famous for its undying loyalty to its master, even after the master died.

On the official Metal Gear Solid website, there was a special vs. page, where Bladewolf, or rather, the LQ-84i, fought against Crying Wolf, and lost. Bladewolf's stats revealed that it was skilled at aerial attacks (mispelled as "Arial Attacks"), but was weak against EMPs. Its Featured Fact section referenced its debut on the Metal Gear Rising viral marketing teaser site.

"Blade Wolf STRENGTHS: Arial [sic] Attacks WEAKNESSES: EMP FEATURED FACT: The Bladewolf's name was given by a corrupted encrypted blueprint. FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE"

- Bladewolf's bio in the vs. page on the Metal Gear Solid official site.