Mei Ling

Mei Ling (美玲, Pinyin: Měi Líng, Romaji: Mei Rin) was a Chinese-American data analyst who was on Solid Snake's support team during the Shadow Moses Incident. Later, she became the captain of the USS Missouri, which was re-instated into active duty as a training vessel, after several years on display in a museum.

Early Life
Mei Ling became well versed in many forms of literature, familiarizing herself with everything from Shakespeare to Chinese proverbs. She did this to help "keep in touch" with both sides of her heritage, as both her parents were from Guangdong, China, though she herself was born and raised in America.

Mei Ling had always wanted to be a fighter pilot after she fell in love with jets, watching them in the movies, though she did not want to kill people. After learning that the U.S. Air Force needed pilots to perform battle damage assessments (BDAs), she decided to major in aerial photography and air intelligence at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), becoming an expert in her field, and joined the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps). However, her dreams of becoming a pilot were crushed after she learned that there weren't any pilots who only did BDAs, along with failing an aptitude test, due to her poor vision. Discovering that she was not suited to be an officer, she withdrew from the ROTC program.

While still an undergraduate, Mei Ling worked alongside scientists from the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) and ENPIC (International Photoanalysis Center) on image processing and satellite-based ELINT (electronic intelligence) and SIGINT (signals intelligence) research. As a specialist in image and data processing, she developed the Soliton Radar and the Codec communication system.



By the time of the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005, Mei Ling was still actively enrolled at MIT. She served as a data analyst on Solid Snake's support team, in charge of recording his mission data. She also provided Snake with information on the Codec and Soliton Radar, as well as offering advice through Chinese proverbs and quotations from Western authors. She also traced "Miller's" codec frequency's origin from within the base, thus realizing that the "Miller" contacting Snake and the unit was actually not only an imposter, but Liquid Snake, although they weren't able to tell Snake before he inputted the PAL codes to unintentionally activate REX.

After Shadow Moses, Mei Ling started working for the U.S. Army SSCEN (Soldier Systems Center), a research and development center for the U.S. military. During this time, she helped out the anti-Metal Gear NGO Philanthropy, illegally appropriating equipment from the SSCEN. During one of these instances, Snake told Otacon to tell Mei Ling to quit, as the military would find out sooner or later.

After the events at the Big Shell, Mei Ling lost her position as a military researcher. She later became the commanding officer of the museum-turned-training vessel USS Missouri and provided Snake and Otacon with backup, during the assault on Outer Haven in 2014. It was rumored that she had been promoted to captain after catching the eye of a lecherous old admiral.

At Johnny Sasaki and Meryl Silverburgh's wedding, Mei Ling served as the bridesmaid. She also ended up losing the bouquet toss to Little Gray, much to her annoyance.

Behind the Scenes

 * According to Yoji Shinkawa, Mei Ling was originally designed after the likeness of Japanese actress Shinobu Nakayama.
 * In the original Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid, Mei Ling only quoted Chinese proverbs. The decisions to add Western quotes in the English version was based on a decision between Hideo Kojima and translator Jeremy Blaustein.
 * The Metal Gear Solid Official Mission Handbook and, later, the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, states that Mei Ling joined the ROTC, and later worked alongside the NRO and ENPIC, while still an undergraduate. However, this is not mentioned in Metal Gear Solid or The Twin Snakes.
 * Mei Ling makes a voice-only cameo in Metal Gear Solid 2; if the player saves the game on thirteen separate occasions in the Tanker chapter, Mei Ling corrects a proverb that Otacon cannot seem to interpret. In the same scene, she also gets angry at Otacon for apparently not using the cheat-sheets that she gave him in regards to deciphering Chinese proverbs.
 * In Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2, Mei Ling spoke in a slightly exaggerated Chinese accent. In Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Mei Ling's Chinese accent is eliminated, establishing that she has a more American accent. This accent actually makes more sense, as Mei Ling was raised in America.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mei Ling retains her American accent. If the player contacts Mei Ling (via Snake's Codec taunt) while fighting Pikachu, Mei Ling will ask Snake to capture it for her. Keeping true to her character, Mei Ling will also mention several Chinese proverbs in the case of opponents such as Captain Olimar, the Ice Climbers and so forth.
 * When playing Metal Gear Online, Mei Ling has a unique quote (when the player types in &lt;UNI01&gt;). She states a famous Shakespeare quote: "...the tongues of dying men enforce attention like deep harmony. Where words are spent, they are seldom spent in vain."
 * In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Mei Ling makes a cameo as a poster.

Notes and References
Mei Ling