Very few mainstream game series are as aggressively weird as Konami’s Metal Gear series. Well, maybe the Mario games, with their freaking mushrooms and rainbows and Koopas and whatnot, but they’re not pretending to be reality. Metal Gear games, on the other hand, seem to totally get off by basing themselves in reality and then completely blowing that notion to smithereens.
Take, for instance, the 2001 release Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. After the success of 1998′s Metal Gear Solid, series creator Hideo Kojima knew the followup would have a lot to live up to. So it was with much controversy that he broke fans’ minds by not having the sequel star the beloved Solid Snake. But after getting over that initial shock, this gamer had something else to scratch his head over: Vamp.
"I'm not a vampire; I'm bisexual, bitch!"
Vamp was one of the harder bosses of MGS2. He looks like a vampire, has fangs like a vampire, and is seemingly unkillable (like a vampire!). However, during a CODEC sequence between the game’s star Raiden and another character, it is revealed that Vamp was not given his name because he’s a vampire, but because he’s bi. At the time I was a 21-year-old, in-the-closet bisexual, and this totally blew my mind. Why the fuck did they make him bi? What did this have to do with the game? Why was this information thrown out there so casually?
I still don’t know the answers to these questions. I don’t recall Vamp ever showing any romantic feelings for either male or female characters. So why did his sexuality matter? Is Kojima secretly bi, and this is his way of making the statement that bisexuals can be badass? I suppose that’s wishful thinking on my part. But I don’t think it’s entirely unfounded, especially when you take into account this next character.
Colonel Volgin! The evil, red-jumpsuit-wearing villain from 2004′s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. In between fits of rage and shooting lightning out of his body, that guy totally banged dudes and chicks alike. Unlike Vamp, Volgin actually made his sexuality obvious. At one point MGS3 star Naked Snake (the future Big Boss) was disguised as Volgin’s male lover, Major Raikov. During this sequence Volgin was able to determine that Snake was not Raikov by simply grabbing onto Snake’s bulging package. Seriously, that guy knew his junk!
"Fear my giant penis rocket!"
So what did it all mean? “Naked Snake” fighting an evil bi colonel? This could not have been simply a case of coincidence. I maintain that Kojima was trying to make a some sort of statement. I’m just not sure what. I mean, just look at the game’s subtitle: Snake Eater! Come on, Konami! How much more obvious can you get? Either Kojima loves himself some dudes, or he completely fears them. Or maybe he’s just an auteur who likes to mess with his fans. Either way, I have to give credit to the man for bringing bisexuals into the spotlight in his games.
Now if only we could have some bisexual heroes…
