Kenneth Baker was the former president of ArmsTech, one of the leading manufacturers in the arms industry, during the time of the Shadow Moses Incident.
Quick Answers
What was Kenneth Baker's role in the development of Metal Gear REX?
How did Kenneth Baker's company ArmsTech attempt to recover from financial losses?
What led to the financial losses of ArmsTech under Kenneth Baker's leadership?
What was the impact of the Shadow Moses Incident on Kenneth Baker and ArmsTech?
What was Kenneth Baker's position at ArmsTech?
Biography[]
Pre-Shadow Moses[]
In the early 2000s, Baker's company initiated the development of Metal Gear REX, for the purpose of recovering financial losses that ArmsTech had previously been generating due to having lost a bid to build the next generation of fighter-jets for the U.S. Air Force, as well as a reduction in government-spending for the Strategic Defense Initiative. He bribed the DARPA Chief Donald Anderson to support the development of Metal Gear REX and pushed to have it be developed as a black project.
Shadow Moses Incident[]
- Main article: Shadow Moses Incident
In late February 2005, Baker and Donald Anderson visited the nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island, where Metal Gear REX was being developed. The two were present to oversee a rail gun testing exercise, with security provided by special forces group FOXHOUND. However, Baker was taken hostage when FOXHOUND hijacked REX, in a revolt against the U.S. government.
Kenneth Baker
Baker proved resistant to the mind reading abilities of FOXHOUND's psychic, due to cranial implants that he and Anderson had received. During his captivity, he hid an optical disc containing REX's test data and gave the PAL card to Meryl Silverburgh, a fellow prisoner. He was tortured by Revolver Ocelot, and his right arm was broken during the interrogation. Because he hadn't been trained to resist physical torture, he ended up divulging his detonation code for the activation of REX.
Baker was later held prisoner by Ocelot in the facility's armory, where Solid Snake found him tied to a support pillar and wired with C4 explosives. However, Baker was cut free by the mysterious Cyborg Ninja, just prior to the C4 detonation, interrupting the battle that had ensued between Ocelot and Snake, and driving the former away from the area. Baker recognized the Ninja as a former experimental genome soldier created by FOXHOUND, shortly before the latter fled the scene.
Baker dies before Solid Snake.
After Baker had recovered from the ordeal, he was then interrogated by Snake regarding the PAL system. He told Snake to seek out the card key held by Meryl and handed him the disc containing the data on the training exercise, for him to return to the Pentagon. However, having become infected by the FOXDIE virus unwittingly carried by Snake, Baker suffered a sudden heart attack as he implied the existence of REX's ability to fire a stealth nuke via its rail gun and that its discovery by the public would leave ArmsTech and him "finished." In his death throes, Baker attempted to warn Snake of the Pentagon's plans, after realizing the true nature of the situation, but died before Snake could learn more.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
Kenneth Baker's Metal Gear Solid artwork.
Kenneth Baker (ケネス・ベイカー Kenesu Beikā?) is a character who appears in Metal Gear Solid. In dialogue with Snake regarding funding for the REX project, Baker refers to ArmsTech's bribes as "good business," while The Twin Snakes has him refer to the military-industrial complex instead. In addition, Baker's corpse remains in the armory for the rest of The Twin Snakes unlike in Metal Gear Solid.
A picture of Baker can be seen in the Commander's room in Metal Gear Solid.
In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, a "ghost" of Baker, based on his face portrait, can be photographed on Shadow Moses Island. The image will appear in photographs taken of the electric floor generator, on the second floor basement of the warhead storage building, by using the Camera.
In the Déjà Vu mission for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Miller briefly alludes to Baker's divulgence of where Meryl Silverburgh's Codec frequency was when commenting that he forgot to upload the final image. In addition, Baker's model appears should the player be using the Classic Snake skin. He is found by Big Boss in the cell where Paz Ortega Andrade would be found in the main game, shortly before succumbing to FOXDIE.
Appearances[]
- Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (mentioned and flashbacks)
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (mentioned, flashbacks and ghost; ghost is non-canon)
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Déjà Vu mission; non-canon)
References[]
- ^ a b c METAL GEAR SOLID (Japanese). Konami Digital Entertainment. Retrieved on 2013-07-16.
- ^ Dummied data for the PC version of Metal Gear Solid revealed that the Shadow Moses Incident occurred on February 28, 2005.
- ^ Metal Gear Solid, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (1998)
Kenneth Baker: You've got to stop them. If it goes public, my company and I are... finished. // Solid Snake: What? Doesn't Metal Gear use currently existing technology? // Baker: Metal Gear itself does, but... // (Baker suddenly bends over in pain and groans in agony as if experiencing a heart attack, in a manner similar to the DARPA Chief.) // Snake: Huh!? // Baker: What... what did you do to me!? Uh... oooh...no! ...Ooh. Oh no, it can't be! ...those Pentagon bastards! ...So they...they actually went ahead and did it! // Snake: What are you talking about!? // Baker: They... they're just... using you for... uuuhhh...