Joseph Gruen

This article is about a non-canonical topic in the Metal Gear series.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details for Metal Gear Survive may follow.

Joseph Gruen
Biographical information
Real name	Joseph Gruen
Physical description
Ethnicity	Caucasian
Career and family information
Affiliation(s)	Wardenclyffe Section
Occupation	Goodluck's supervisor
Behind the scenes
Main appearance(s)	Metal Gear Survive
Voiced by (English)	Jeremy Hall

Joseph Gruen was a member of Wardenclyffe Section, a secret research organization of the United States Federal Government that was dedicated to the investigation of several mysterious infectious organisms. More specifically, he acted as the supervisor of the chief researcher Goodluck, and acted as the person in charge of the Section's Dite Research Program.

Biography

After the Wardenclyffe Section retrieved the body of a MSF member shortly after the disastrous events of the Ground Zeroes Incident, Gruen paid a visit to Goodluck's lab, and noted that the body acted as Goodluck's obsession, before Goodluck assured Gruen that he'll also have faith in the member soon, as the member will act as the traveler to bear the punishment for the Section "having strayed from the paths of righteousness." Gruen, while noting that Goodluck always liked poetic turns of phrases, cited that he arrived to get straight to the point of the matter: The body they recovered had been infected by the Dread Dust, which he learned from the report.

Goodluck confirmed it, explaining that this infection was the reason the body was in suspended animation, although he inferred that it won't be long before the survivor was awakened. Gruen then points out that when the survivor's awake, the survivor'll pose a threat to mankind. Goodluck, however, assures him that such won't happen, elaborating on the survivor being a "traveler" that will enter "the gates of Hell" for the Section. Gruen then rejected the proposal, reminding him that they still haven't heard back from the Charon Corps, and that they don't have any energy left to send someone through. He then expressed disbelief that Goodluck would risk the fate of the Section on someone who was to become a Wanderer.

However, Goodluck assured him that the survivor being infected to become a Wanderer is precisely why the survivor's to act as the perfect candidate, as the Captain can no longer live on their world anymore anyways, clarifying that there's no one else more qualified for the mission to "the other side" for that reason alone. Gruen then looked at the left arm upon Goodluck's request when pointing out another advantage, and viewed it as just an arm, until Goodluck reminded him that the soldier had originally lost the same arm six months prior during the Ground Zeroes Incident, and pointed out that the infection had the arm regenerated via stimulated tissue growth, and that unlike prior instances of regeneration they have observed, this occurred on human tissue, indicating that the subject had remarkable adaptation against the infection.

Goodluck then summed it up by pointing out to Gruen that, with the "dead running around on the other side", the soldier was more than capable of responding to the Wanderer threat, with Goodluck also alluding to his initial arrival in 1943 at Philadelphia via a teleportation experiment and how that gave a glimpse into humanity's future before pointing out that the soldier can now provide them with what the Section's been looking for ever since. Gruen still had doubts, citing that they have continued to fail, including the aforementioned wormhole opening during the Ground Zeroes Incident before claiming they can't risk testing ideas with no basis in reality, until Goodluck reminded him that the basis was that "those who descended into Hell" can see further than others, although Gruen dismissed it as another of Goodluck's prophecies.

Goodluck then assured him that this will bring glory to both the Section itself, and to Gruen personally, since while Gruen intended to use the subject as a test for the future, any results from those efforts would ultimately be trivial, and that if the mission succeeded, the rewards would be immeasurable, also citing that it could result in previous stagnated research that would become a reality, or even how they could tap into power that would unite the world as a result. Gruen ultimately agrees to the mission and decides to have the Section sign off on the mission, although he made clear before departing that he's only doing so because he considered the idea that Goodluck do it of his own authority unforgivable, and gave him a strict warning of not to take matters into his own hands before he can give specific instructions.

However, Goodluck ends up doing exactly that, with Gruen ultimately interfering with Goodluck's transmissions just as the MSF soldier, by that point designated as "Captain" and an XOF survivor named Reeve met up with the Charon Corps' AI, Virgil AT-9. Gruen later formally introduces himself when a singularity emerged briefly after the Wormhole Digger malfunctioned, citing that Goodluck was responsible for tampered data on the Wormhole Digger's readings for generating a wormhole. He also explained when Virgil revealed that there was a discrepency due to Goodluck being the one in charge of the project that Goodluck was relieved of duty due to repeated disobedience and unilateral decisions going too far with the upper echleon of the group. He also claimed that, while Goodluck is brilliant and a friend of his, not even he could defend him for sending the Captain into Dite, whom he referred to as an outsider, with his confirming Reeve's realization that the Captain's mission was purely on Goodluck with the Section never sanctioning it, and also expressed suspicion that he sent the Captain to recover the Charon Corps' data so he could steal it for his own purposes, and cited that his own plan now is to ensure the Captain made it back safe and sound.

He also claimed that Goodluck lied to the Captain regarding the latter's arm and any critical data in an attempt to use him, and that it was the medical technology of the Section that was truly responsible, and later mentioned it was "a personal matter" when Miranda expressed confusion regarding the reference to the Captain's arm, and offered apologies for what had transpired. When Virgil reminded Gruen that they still needed to explore Dite and rescue any Charon Corps survivors, Gruen admitted that, since they're already there, he'd also appreciate it if they could recover any data they can find that the Corps collected. As the singularity was closing soon, he made sure to close by sending them data of what the Corps did send before they lost contact, and that, although heavily corrupted, it may contain information regarding where to mine for Iris Energy, the true means of generating a wormhole.

After the castaways managed to collect enough Iris Energy to open a stable wormhole, Gruen then proceeded to contact the group, telling them to increase the energy output of the Wormhole Digger to ensure the wormhole remained stable enough to emerge through it. When Virgil contradicted him and cited that the wormhole's readings were already stable, Gruen implied that Virgil was unreliable due to being tampered with by Goodluck installing a black box that influenced its actions (with Chris vouching it due to finding crazy data encryptions inside Virgil when inspecting the AI earlier), and also revealed when Virgil suggested talking with Goodluck to clear it up that Goodluck had committed suicide, and that despite his attempt at stopping him, his body was already cold by the time he arrived, and also indicated he was suspected of numerous betrayals to the organization. In reality, Gruen ordered for the increased output so he could not only get the castaways through the wormhole, but also draw in the Lord of Dust to his reality, specifically to use it as a massive energy source.

Altered timeline

After the Lord of Dust was defeated by the castaways, Goodluck was told off by Gruen with his "mistake" regarding the next wormhole occurring as a result of the Ground Zeroes Incident. He then warned Goodluck that the heads of the Section most likely won't be happy with Goodluck's subordination and will "come down hard" on him for it.

Personality and traits

Spoilers end here.

Behind the scenes

Joseph Gruen is a major character who appears in the spin-off game Metal Gear Survive, acting as the main character's handler during the middle portion of the game.

In the flavor text for the event missions "the captive ferrymen" and "The Encounter: 1964 Event Begins!", Joseph Gruen is given an indirect mention in the text as "You-know-who" by the narration (which is heavily implied to have been given by Goodluck).