Sokolov's wife and daughter were the immediate family of Russian rocket scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov.
In 1962, the family defected to the West in order to escape the USSR. Although their escape was successful and they were placed into protective custody by the CIA, Sokolov himself was forced to return to the USSR due to John F. Kennedy's deal with Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
A photograph of the family was kept by Sokolov during his time at Tselinoyarsk in 1964. He revealed it to CIA agent Naked Snake at Groznyj Grad, when explaining that the female spy Tatyana was not his extra-marital lover. Despairing at the thought of simply continuing his work under America, he chose not to defect again and implored Snake to look after his family.
Behind the scenes[]
Sokolov's wife and daughter were designed by Yoji Shinkawa. According to Hideo Kojima in his commentary for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Sokolov's family photograph was originally intended to be shown during the Virtuous Mission briefing, as well as by Sokolov himself in the Virtuous Mission itself, but these instances were cut from the final version,[1] resulting in it being shown during Snake's failed attempt at rescuing him from Groznyj Grad. Likewise, in a later commentary, Kojima admitted that Sokolov's wife's design in particular scared him, largely because she looked like a woman from the Kamakura Era of Japan and voiced his concern with the design, but Shinkawa merely replied with "Is that right?" and kept it in.[2]
Notes and references[]
Appearances[]
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (photograph)
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (mentioned)