"What's with these guys? It's like one of my Japanese animes!"
Article by: Alex Stuart (Linearity)
Pictured from: Metal Gear Solid 4
Created by: Konami
First appearance: 1998
Bio
Deep within an Alaskan nuclear weapons disposal facility during the events of Metal Gear Solid, Solid Snake meets an unexpectedly helpful accomplice. He calls himself "Otacon," though his real name is Hal Emmerich. His sobriquet is a proud testament to his passion for Japanese animation, deriving from the Japanese cartoon festival called Otakon.
When Snake meets him Otacon is an employee of ArmsTech, Inc., a weapons manufacturing firm, and he is being held captive by terrorists who have taken control of the disposal compound. He is the lead engineer in ArmsTech's project to build a walking tank. When joining the project, however, Otacon did not realize that this weapon, which reminded him of the fantastic machines in his beloved anime, was secretly a revolutionary platform for launching nuclear weapons: the third incarnation of Metal Gear, called Metal Gear REX.
Otacon is shocked and troubled when his work's true nature is revealed to him. He resolves to help Snake fight the terrorists and prevent them from using Metal Gear REX to launch an unstoppable nuclear weapon into the United States. Although he is a far cry from a soldier, Otacon's knowledge of his own dark creation proves invaluable to Snake in attempting to stop it.
Two years after Metal Gear Solid, Otacon and Snake work together as part of Philanthropy, an organization devoted to abolishing all forms of Metal Gear. The plans for the bipedal terror proliferate on the black market after the incident in Alaska, and Metal Gear Solid 2 begins with Snake and Otacon working to expose an amphibious Metal Gear variant operated by the U.S. Marines.
Selected game appearances
PlayStation
- Metal Gear Solid (1998)
PlayStation 2
References
- Metal Gear Solid instruction manual
- Metal Gear Wiki - "Hal Emmerich"
- Cyberpunk Review - "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty"
