The Greatest Twist In Video Game History Is A Lie

Metal Gear Solid is a game series known for its incredible twists, one of which I would argue is the greatest in video game history. But what if I told you that not only was it a lie... but that the lie was a lie?

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*Media Sources*
Featuring footage and music from:
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid VR Missions
Harmoknight (My Bicycle theme)
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Pokemon Sapphire
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear
Metal Gear 2
Metal Gear Ac!d
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Yoshi's Cookie
Super Bomberman R
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch
Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops
Littlebigplanet
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Mega64
Ape Escape 3
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble for some reason

Full list and links:

[magnificmango]

I guarantee Kojima happened to stop by the office of the Ghost Babel devs, saw the postgame and was like “hey, can you name the person doing the training Jack? No reason, just because.”

[lman]

Imagine some kid named Jack played Ghost Babel and just thought the game was speaking directly to him and only after watching this video realized what actually happened

[HotSauceBear]

I recall MGS2 acknowledges Ghost Babel, because when the Colonel’s AI is going haywire it mentions Galuade, implying that all of Ghost Babel was a simulation for Raiden, not just the bonus missions at the end.

[BetterCaulipowerSall-vqyn]

"I am not crazy! I know Raiden showed up in Ghost Babel! I knew it was April. One before Solid 2. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just - I just couldn't prove it. He - he covered his tracks, he got those idiots on the internet to lie for him. You think this is something? You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? He's done worse. Those cutscenes! Are you telling me that a man just happens to talk like that? No! He orchestrated it! Raiden! He hid is existence! And I exposed him! And I shouldn't have. I took him into my own video! What was I thinking? He'll never change. He'll never change! Ever since I was 9, always the same! Couldn't keep my hands out of the chronological order of games! But not our Raiden! Couldn't be precious Raiden! Stealing them blind! And he gets to be have an incorrect wikipedia page!? What a sick joke! I should've stopped him when I had the chance! And you - you have to stop him!" -Gamechamp3000

[margar]

something i noticed recently is that the game opens with snake saying "hudson river 2 years ago" as if immediately disproving his death before you even meet plisken. But every player seems to forget about it by the time the tanker mission finishes.

[maxastro]

My favorite tidbit about this series is that after MGS2 everyone was desperate to know who the Patriots were. And then, instead of that, we got MGS3, a prequel set before even the first game that had nothing to do with the Patriots at all. People were super upset that they would have to wait until MGS4 to find out who the Patriots were.

And then, when MGS4 came out, it was revealed that the characters in MGS3 were, in fact, the Patriots and the game had told us basically everything about them, just without telling us that's what they were.

Hideo Kojima is a master troll.

[UltravioletNomad]

Snake said "make your own name" and this man chose to become his own edgy robot ninja OC. You know what, valid, you go king.

[bagetblue]

Gamechamp causally causing an entire fan base to play all of the non cannon games to check for a single line of dialogue was not a thing I thought was going to happen today

[Ronin]

I love that big reveal at 6:40 is followed up by "Rank:Terrible"

[kirkwright]

This actually makes a ton of sense. I always assumed that when they say Raiden played a simulation recreating the Shadow Moses incident, that it was just the first mgs he played, but Ghost Babel actually IS the recreated shadow Moses simulation! Perfect

[matthewtrujillo]

This story is actually pretty neat when taking in the whole misinformation theme of MGS2. The fact that the real information was always there just obfuscated and hidden in a spot no one was likely to look for is really neat since no one knew what it meant and the marketing didn't draw attention to it. Like in real life the real info was there but the person distributing the info kept it under wraps and drew our attention to the narrative they wanted.

[DavidGonzoMusic]

It makes sense that he's called Jack and not Raiden in Ghost Babel. He doesn't even receive that codename until he's already infiltrated the Big Shell and AI Campbell decides to change his codename from Snake to Raiden.

[AmeHart]

Summary: New recruit Jack did VR training as Solid Snake and was gaslit by the Patriots to make him into a supersoldier. During his time in the training and beginning ops, he took on Snake's name as a way for the Patriots to continually cover the tracks of who the "real snake" is. He then takes on the name Raiden. During the course of MGS2 Jack-Now-Raiden learns the dark truth about the Patriots and how he was gaslit, misled, and intentionally misdirected. His identity is in conflict because he is told conflicting information about who he is and what his role is. He has memories, but has no idea if they're his. He is then told by Solid Snake (Dave) that his past and memories are not absolute truths. There's no such thing as absolute truths. Everything is subjective. But even so, those experiences still shape you to be who you are. You can be who you set out to be, even if who you were was manufactured. You always have choice. And people will try to exploit that.

TLDR: Raiden is Shadow the Hedgehog

[Ryushikaze]

Ghost Babel was not Raiden's first appearance. It was his first mention.
Dilemma avoided.

[lorscarbonferrite]

There are so many interlocking layers to this that even if all of this wasn't planned by Kojima, it's exactly the type of thing he'd want to plan.

[bapho-p]

I think this kind of madness is exactly what they wanted out of us tbh

[elementgermanium]

I love that Raiden’s Wikipedia page is already being edited and the video’s barely over

[zachgamemaster]

"The Metal Gear series isn't that confusing."
The history of one Metal Gear character:

[MxPokirby]

Reminds me of how Captain Falcon "technically" first appeared in the original snes game, even though I'm pretty sure you never actually see him in-game; instead just as a shadow through the cockpit's window.

[divineterabyte]

When Kojima repeatedly hinted that "you are Raiden, Raiden is you", i think he also was implying the mental break that ensues