Revolver Ocelot

Revolver Ocelot
Revolver Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid designed by Yoji Shinkawa
Series	Metal Gear series
First game	Metal Gear Solid
Created by	Hideo Kojima
Designed by	Yoji Shinkawa
Voiced by (English)	Patric Zimmerman (Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) Joshua Keaton (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Kōji Totani (Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty) Ikuya Sawaki (Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinee) Takumi Yamazaki (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops) Banjō Ginga (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots)
Motion capture	Taro Kazanawa (Metal Gear Solid 3), Kenichi Yoshida (Gun Action), Bill Yokoyama (Gun Action)
Fictional profile
Real name	Adamska
Aliases	Shalashaska, Major Ocelot, ADAM, Liquid Ocelot
Affiliations	Former Spetsnaz with FOXHOUND (Metal Gear Solid), The Patriots (Metal Gear Solid 2), triple agent --GRU/KGB/CIA-- (Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops), Outer Heaven (Metal Gear Solid 4)

Revolver Ocelot (リボルバー・オセロット, Riborubā Oserotto^?), also known as Shalashaska (シャラシャーシカ, Sharashāshika^?) is a fictional character and antagonist of the Metal Gear series. He was originally introduced as a gunslinger-themed member of FOXHOUND from the former Soviet Union in Metal Gear Solid (MGS) and was revealed to be an agent for The Patriots in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (MGS2). He appears in the prequels Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MGS3) and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (MPO) as a young Spetsnaz Major where he is identified simply as Ocelot (オセロット, Oserotto^?), and whose real name is Adamska (アダムスカ, Adamusuka^?), and eventually becomes Liquid Ocelot (リキッド・オセロット, Rikiddo Oserotto^?) in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4).

Character design

He is normally clothed in a duster, spurs and gunbelts, the traditional garb of gunslingers in spaghetti westerns, as well as a black armband on his left arm, and wields the Colt Single Action Army revolver, which he refers to as "the greatest handgun ever made" and quoting to Snake in MGS "Six bullets, more than enough to kill anything that moves" represents Ocelot's clever remarks toward his marksmanship. His appearance is based on that of veteran Western film actor Lee Van Cleef,^[1] who notably appears as Bob Hauk in John Carpenter's Escape from New York alongside Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, the inspiration for Metal Gear protagonist Solid Snake. He is noticeably redesigned to look more similar to Van Cleef for the fourth installment.

He is the only character in the series who is personally acquainted with all four Snakes: working as a henchman for Liquid Snake and then Solidus Snake, having a friendly rivalry with Naked Snake (Big Boss) and being the nemesis to Solid Snake. He is one of the only characters to appear in every major Metal Gear Solid game (but not in the original Metal Gear games) besides Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and is thus considered "one of the only characters to have a major role in all five Metal Gear Solid titles."^[2]

Character history

In Metal Gear Solid, he is one of the FOXHOUND terrorists involved with the hostile takeover of Shadow Moses Island, serving as the team's interrogation expert. He challenges Solid Snake to a gunfight in the game's first boss encounter and appears later to torture a captured Snake. During his interrogation, he reveals his experience as a soldier as well as his allegiance to Sergei Gurlukovich and the true motive behind his actions. He is the sole surviving FOXHOUND member by the end of the game, losing only his right hand during an encounter with the Cyborg Ninja. After the ending credits, it is revealed that Ocelot is in league with "Solidus Snake", the third surviving offspring of the Les Enfants Terribles project that created Snake and Liquid, as well as the current U.S. President. It is unknown how he escaped from Shadow Moses.

In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he gains a new surgically attached right arm that belonged to his former boss, Liquid Snake. This apparently results in Revolver Ocelot developing a dormant personality in which Liquid's persona takes over Ocelot's mind during certain moments, usually when Solid Snake is present. Two games later, it is revealed that Ocelot deliberately grafted a facsimile of Liquid's personality onto his own mind in order to hide his machinations from the System. This time he is under the employ of his old friend Sergei Gurlukovich during the introductory Tanker Chapter, but ends up betraying him and his mercenaries when he hijacks Metal Gear RAY. He then forms part of the terrorist group "Sons of Liberty" during the Plant Chapter with Solidus Snake, but ends up betraying him as well, revealing his true allegiance to the Patriots. By the end of the game, Ocelot is taken over by Liquid and escapes once again, this time with the Metal Gear RAY prototype. According to an interview with Yoji Shinkawa, Ocelot was originally going to have a mechanical arm, but others thought that having Liquid's arm was a good concept as Liquid was considered an excellent villain by the fanbase.^[3]

Major Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a prequel set four decades before the original Metal Gear Solid, features a young Ocelot (having not attained the "Revolver" moniker yet) as a GRU Major under the command of Colonel Volgin and leader of his own "Ocelot unit" within Spetsnaz. He acquires his preferences for revolvers as a result of his initial encounter with Naked Snake, who suggests that his tendency to absorb the gun's recoil with his elbow is more of a revolver technique; prior to this, he uses a Makarov PM handgun, which jams in his first fight and allows Snake to use CQC to take him down. When he finally begins using revolvers as his primary weapons, he feels a rush he has never felt before, so much he is able to fight off The Pain's hornet swarm just by spinning his revolvers. He is shown to be somewhat insubordinate, expressing disapproval over Colonel Volgin's methods of torture. Ocelot has an underlying deep respect for The Boss, even causing him to disobey Volgin out of a promise not to kill Snake. It is from watching Snake's torture that Ocelot acquired his sadistic way of thinking that would hold true during the course of the games, calling it "the ultimate form of expression". He is revealed to be a triple agent at the game's ending, working not only for the KGB, but also under the direct orders of the DCI (under the codename ADAM) as well. He was supposed to intercept and assist Snake, but EVA got there first. Ocelot is the missing son of The Boss and The Sorrow; while on the battlefield during pregnancy, The Boss was shot in the abdomen, and Ocelot was born through a messy C-section that left his mother with a long, snake-shaped scar along her abdomen.^[4][5] He is also revealed to be responsible for the loss of Big Boss's right eye, albeit accidentally (he was intending to shoot EVA, but Naked Snake swung in front of Tatyana to protect her from the gunshot and received muzzleburn near his right eye as a result).

Ocelot plays a minor role in the plot of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and appears as a recruitable character in the game, his appearance unchanged from Metal Gear Solid 3 (aside from during his meeting with the DCI, in which case he is wearing a suit and tie). In the story, he is in league with Gene and near the end of the game, he assassinates his former employer (the DCI) and reports to a new employer, an unidentified character (revealed to be Major Zero in Metal Gear Solid 4) who invites Ocelot to join his new organization (The Patriots) on the grounds that Naked Snake/Big Boss join as well.

Liquid Ocelot as depicted in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (set five years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2), he became the main antagonist, and assumes the identity of Liquid Ocelot, with the Liquid Snake personality having seemingly taken complete control of his mind. He attempts to resurrect Outer Heaven in his conflict with the Patriots, establishing a dummy corporation that runs the five largest PMCs that exist in the game. Ocelot's possession by Liquid was deliberate, made possible through self-hypnosis and nanomachines, in order to become Liquid Snake and trick the Patriot AIs into focusing their energies on battling Liquid. The arm threw Ocelot's psyche off balance though. Thus, he removed the arm and had it replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic prior to the events of Guns of the Patriots.^[6]

The game's final battle is a fist fight between Snake and Liquid Ocelot atop the warship, Outer Haven. In the end, Ocelot tires and collapses to the ground, eventually returning to his normal-self state. Although he appears to die from exhaustion after the final fight, his death is actually caused by the new strain of FOXDIE that was injected into Snake by Drebin (as revealed by Big Boss in the game's debriefing).^[7]

Although Ocelot does not appear in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, he is mentioned (indirectly) in tapes about The Boss's past prior to Metal Gear Solid 3. In one tape, EVA explains the reason why The Boss assassinated The Sorrow was because one of them had to die or their child (Ocelot) would die in their place. In another tape, Strangelove reveals to Big Boss that The Boss was pregnant with her child (Ocelot) in 1943 during a mission.

Reception

The character of Revolver Ocelot has received positive response by video game publications based on his role as an antagonist. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine called Revolver Ocelot underrated in comparison to Final Fantasy VII antagonist Sephiroth, stating "...Ocelot is just a persistent, sneaky, and cool villain. Heck, just watch the MGS3 trailer and you'll see that he was a badass even in the 60's."^[8] Ocelot was ranked number 28 on IGN's "Top 100 Video Game Villains" list.^[9] Additionally, Ocelot was in lists of best Metal Gear villains. He was seventh in IGN's "Top 10 Metal Gear Solid Boss Battles" based on his battle from Metal Gear Solid and second on the "Top 10 Metal Gear Villains".^[10][11] GameSpot listed him as one the twenty best Metal Gear bosses calling him one of the most important characters from the story alongside Solid Snake and Big Boss.^[12] G4's Filter placed him at number ten in their top ten video game villains list.^[13] In response to his role in Metal Gear Solid 3, GameSpy called Ocelot one of the "series mainstay" while looking relatively younger, hoping he would become an entertaining opponent.^[14]

Ocelot's change to his alter-ego persona of Liquid Snake was commented by GameSpy writers as one of the most non-sensical events from the Metal Gear series. Mixed critics was given to such change by GameSpy who also praised his action scenes at the start of Metal Gear Solid 2 and joked about Ocelot's sudden change of accent.^[15] UGO.com stated that in the first games Ocelot's motives for his actions were unknown until being revealed to be Philosopher in Metal Gear Solid 3. Because of being born from the medium The Sorrow, it was speculated that Ocelot could comunicate with dead people which ended in Liquid Snake taking possession of his body.^[16] Edge magazine stated of his Liquid Ocelot appearance "Kojima has forged a superb villain, far more complete than in MGS2."^[17] In a game guide by GamePro, the final fight against Liquid Ocelot was mentioned to become "epic" as the third shift phases, while in the final one, it was commented he was easy to defeat as he became "a punching bag."^[18] On the other hand, 1UP.com listed such fight in their article "The 13 Most Dumbass Boss Battles" for its simple style in comparison to other more challenging bosses from Metal Gear Solid 3 and its excessive length for a hand-to-hand fight between two old people.^[19] An IGN article from October 2009 titled "Big Boss of the Day: Liquid Ocelot" focused on Ocelot's appearances across the franchise.^[20] Moreover, he was also listed by the same site as one of the fictional characters who required his own spin-off.^[21]

References

1. ^ Gamerz-Edge interview with Ryan Payton
2. ^ "Snakes and Gears: A Metal Gear Overview," Game Informer 182 (June 2008): 107.
3. ^ "Yoji Shinkawa interview". http://www.metalgearsolid.org/show_features.php?id=124. Retrieved 21 November 2006. 
4. ^ KCEJ. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. "EVA: "The Colonel never told me. All I heard was that his mother was supposedly shot in the gut during battle and that he was born right there, bullets whizzing past them."//Naked Snake: "A pregnant woman in the middle of a battle?"//EVA: "That's what I heard. They say that when they stitched her up, the scar was shaped like a snake.""
5. ^ KCEJ. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. "The Boss: "Look at this scar. This is proof that I was once a mother. I gave up my body and my child for my country""
6. ^ Kojima Productions. Metal Gear Solid 4: Database.
7. ^ Kojima Productions. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Level/area: Debriefing - Naked Son. "Big Boss: The truth is that the FOXDIE in you is what killed EVA and Ocelot..."
8. ^ OPM staff (September 2004). "Overrated/Underrated" (SWF transcript). Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine
9. ^ IGN editors (2010-07-04). "Top 100 Videogame Villains". ign.com. http://www.ign.com/videogame-villains/28.html. Retrieved 2006-10-20. 
10. ^ "Top 10 Metal Gear Solid Boss Battles". IGN. June 11, 2008. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/880/880942p1.html. Retrieved July 16, 2011. 
11. ^ Scheeden, Jeese. "Top 10 Metal Gear Villains". IGN. http://stars.ign.com/articles/881/881015p9.html. Retrieved 2011-07-01. 
12. ^ Dodson, Joe (July 28, 2007). "Metal Gear 20 Years of Boss Battles". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/features/6175700/metal-gear-20-years-of-big-bad-boss-battles. Retrieved July 5, 2007. 
13. ^ (video) Filter. G4. 2002-06-25. Event occurs at Top 10 Villains list. 
14. ^ "Metal Gear Solid 3 -- Everything We Know". GameSpy. p. 4. http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater/532018p4.html. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 
15. ^ "GameSpy's Top MGS Moments: Metal Gear Solid 2 (Day One)". GameSpy. p. 3. http://www.gamespy.com/articles/874/874808p3.html. Retrieved 2011-08-14. 
16. ^ "Character Bios". UGO.com. May 21, 2008. http://www.ugo.com/games/metal-gear-history-ocelot. Retrieved July 16, 2011. 
17. ^ Edge staff (July 2008). "Review of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots". Edge 190: p. 87
18. ^ Noble, McKinley (July 7, 2008). "Boss Buster Guide for Metal Gear Solid 4 (page 3 of 3)". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/198310/boss-buster-guide-for-metal-gear-solid-4-page-3-of-3/. Retrieved July 18, 2011. 
19. ^ "The 13 Most Dumbass Boss Battles". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/features/13-dumbass-boss-battles?pager.offset=3. Retrieved August 17, 2011. 
20. ^ Scheeden, Jeese (October 16, 2009). "Big Boss of the Day: Liquid Ocelot". IGN. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/880/880942p1.html. Retrieved July 16, 2011. 
21. ^ Scheeden, Jeese (May 22, 2007). "Top 10 Tuesday: Characters In Need of a Spin-Off". IGN. http://games.ign.com/articles/790/790921p1.html. Retrieved July 16, 2011.