Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for such problems.
History[]
| Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?] |
The FOX interrogation specialist Cunningham had lost his left leg in a prior mission by the CIA, which also forced him into retirement from active duty and placed him into a desk job, which also acted as one of the reasons why Cunningham was willing to betray the CIA for the DOD.
| Non-"Metal Gear Saga" information ends here. |
The KGB agent Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov had his right hand amputated and replaced with a bionic prosthetic, which he implied was from a mission that was important enough to have been awarded a medal from the Secretary-General.
The Marine Sniper Palitz, due to suffering from significant PTSD as a result of his and Glaz's actions in Laos, proceeded to amputate one of his fingers in a failed attempt at alleviating his mental condition. His war buddy, Glaz, did something similar, only in his case, he removed his eye.[1]
A comatose Venom Snake had his left arm removed sometime between March 16, 1975 and February 26, 1984, due to damage sustained from the explosion from Paz Ortega Andrade's bomb and subsequent helicopter crash.
By the time of his resue in Afghanistan in 1984, Kazuhira Miller had both his right arm and left foot amputated, which forced him to retire from the battlefield. Although he technically could replace his lost limbs, he opted not to do so, preferring that the phantom pain continually remind him of why he needed to take revenge against Cipher.
Shortly before his demise, Skull Face had his right arm and left foot blown off by Miller, with assistance from Venom Snake, using Skull Face's discarded lever-action rifle, in reference to the loss of his own limbs. Miller did so in revenge for the loss of the Old Mother Base nine years earlier, as well as all the soldiers he had lost due to Skull Face's actions.
Although not an amputee herself, Strangelove speculated before her death that she might have become one had she placed her arm at the entry hatch for The Boss AI before it closed when she was sealed inside by Huey Emmerich, as well as expressed regret for not doing that earlier even with her knowledge of the risks since it would have at least offered her a chance to escape the fate of being trapped inside.[2]
Big Boss was rumored to have lost both his hands, feet, right ear and right eye during the Outer Heaven Uprising, after which he underwent cybernetic augmentation by robotics engineer Dr. Drago Pettrovich Manar.[3]
Gray Fox had his right arm removed and replaced with a prosthesis when he was turned into a Cyborg Ninja, following the recovery of his body from Zanzibar Land. Fox would later have his left arm shorn off at the shoulder by the laser of Metal Gear REX.
Revolver Ocelot lost his right forearm after Gray Fox interfered with his duel with Solid Snake, although he escaped with his severed arm in tow. He later had the missing limb replaced with Liquid Snake's right forearm after the latter died from FOXDIE, via an arm transplant procedure in Lyon, France. However, this contributed to the destabilization of his psyche, sporadicaly falling under the control of Liquid's spirit. This arm was later removed by Ocelot in an attempt to restore balance to his psyche, alongside with what remained of his original arm, replacing it with a cybernetic prosthesis.
The bomb disposal expert Peter Stillman was believed to have lost his leg in his failure to diffuse a bomb planted at a certain famous church in New York City, although this account was later revealed to have been falsified by Stillman to avoid dealing with the ruining of his reputation. He was able to carry the act by adopting a limp and making footstep sounds similar to that of a false leg.
Solidus Snake had all of his limbs and right ear removed to help restore Big Boss's injured body, his remaining torso and head later serving as a decoy for his father's remains.
Raiden lost all of his body from the bottom jaw down from experimentation by the Patriots to become a Cyborg Ninja. He later had his left arm amputated during the Twin Suns mission at Shadow Moses Island, willingly doing so in an attempt to save Solid Snake's life from Outer Haven (as Raiden had been trapped underneath rubble), as well as losing his remaining arm when crushed by Outer Haven in a sacrificial effort to stop the ship long enough for Snake to get to safety.
| Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?] |
Raiden would later lose his right arm again four years later, in a duel with Samuel Rodrigues, with Raiden expressing irritation at losing it again. Rodrigues himself had lost his right arm in a duel with Steven Armstrong two years earlier, where the senator managed to use an amputation that Rodrigues inflicted upon him seconds earlier to have his stubbed arm act as a makeshift blade and savagely impale the arm, while also repairing his own arm due to his nanomachines.
The cyborg commanders, who similar to Raiden had been experimented on by the Patriots before their downfall, had their left arms amputated by them and replaced with cybernetic versions that contained, among other things, backup data for the Patriots' various activities. Raiden later forcibly amputated them from the commanders as part of a favor to Doktor.
Because Raiden was forced to cut the Guyanese boy George down to save his life from a sociopathic researcher for Desperado Enforcement LLC. in Mexico, his left arm down to the shoulder was cut off, requiring that he wear cybernetics.
| Non-"Metal Gear Saga" information ends here. |
Behind the scenes[]
In Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, George Kasler tells Solid Snake about the rumor of Big Boss losing his limbs during the events of the original Metal Gear. However, thanks to the revelation in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain that the Big Boss Solid Snake defeated was actually the former's body double, Venom Snake, it's unclear if the real Big Boss had truly lost any of his limbs prior to his defeat at Zanzibar Land.
In The Phantom Pain, it revealed that Kazuhira Miller lost both his right arm and left foot. This serves as a retcon, as his official artwork for Metal Gear Solid depicts having a full set of limbs. Additionally, it's unclear when exactly he lost his limbs.
In Metal Gear Survive, the Captain's left arm is amputated by a closing wormhole. Due to an infection beforehand by the Dread Dust, the arm regenerated while the Captain was comatose.
Notes and references[]
- ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014)
Kazuhira Miller: We searched the two targets [Glaz and Palitz] you recovered. One of them [Glaz] had a glass eye, the other [Palitz] a prosthetic index finger. Looks like all the therapy and drugs couldn't help them forget the war. They resorted to self-mutilation. But you can't cut off your name. Just like us... they were human.
This is revealed in the post-credits debriefing if the player extracted the targets instead of assassinating them in the Side Op Eliminate the Renegade Threat. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
Cassette Tapes > Info > Questioning Huey [7] > The AI Pod's Last Recording
Strangelove: If only I tried to get out sooner... (scoffs) Perhaps I'd have made it. Why didn't I stop the hatch from closing? Even if it meant losing an arm? - ^ Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (re-release), Kojima Productions (2006).
George Kasler: OK, OK... but this is only a rumor, understand? Three [sic] years ago, when Outer Heaven fell, Big Boss was seriously wounded. He almost died... He lost both hands, both feet, his right eye, and his right ear. But somehow... he survived. Then an Eastern bloc despot took an interest in him. Probably couldn't resist getting his hands on a soldier of Big Boss's caliber. They decided to use Big Boss as a guinea pig in Madnar's snatcher project. I don't know the details, but apparently it involved turning him into a cyborg. Now he's half man and half machine. Hard to believe, I know. But if it is true, Snake, you're way out of your league. None of your current techniques is [sic] going to so much as put a scratch on him.