Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-64.33.250.214-20150902171822

50.203.185.50 wrote: 64.33.250.214 wrote: So did Kojima just ignore any and all biblical symbolism behind the name Ishmael? Seems pretty inconsistent of him, considering he named Adamska and Eva after Adam and Eve, and David/Eli after David and Eliab.

Ishmael in Hebrew translates to "a child so named was regarded as the fulfillment of a divine promise." Abraham cast his son Ishmael out into the wilderness in favor of his younger son. Ishmael became an expert archer and formed the Ishmaelites.

I was one of the people who supported the "Ishmael is a clone" theory, because it seemed to align with Kojima's previous use of biblical symbolism. It would've made sense if we'd seen Big Boss reject Solidus while accepting Liquid into Mother Base. Solidus was also a pro marksman when it came to guns, just as Ishmael was with archery.

It isn't like Kojima was trying to avoid biblical symbolism, otherwise he wouldn't have used the Bethlehem lilies in the hospital. I don't know why he decided to suddenly ignore it in this case, when he was blatant about it before. It's not a biblical reference, but a reference to Moby Dick. Ishmael is the main character of the story, who sails with Captain Ahab in search of the white whale, Moby Dick. This is why Kojima used the "Moby Dick Studios" ruse when the game was revealed. You're right, but Kojima usually gives double meanings for his character's names. Solid Snake is named David after the Bible character and the character in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Ishmael would've been a perfect alias for Solidus. Solidus's name in MGS2 was George Sears. George Sears was the real name of a man who went on the same whaling expedition as Herman Melville, the guy who wrote Moby Dick. There's interesting history behind George Sears over on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Sears

Some fans believed Solidus was Ishmael, because the symbolism was almost perfect. I'm very curious why Kojima chose to ignore it, when he's known for naming characters after famous figures. It wouldn't have ruined the surprise twist, because a lot of people suspected it when the facial customization appeared while the doctor spoke with Venom.