Skull Face, the Székelys, & Stalinism [ANALYSIS]

Support me on Patreon for exclusive content, works cited, podcasts, Q&As, and more!
Follow FSP on Twitter:

Even though it's been six long years since Hideo Kojima's final triumph for the MGS series, THE PHANTOM PAIN, one character's memory haunts the fandom like a phantom: Skull Face.

In this, SKULL FACE: A SECRET HISTORY part two of three, we'll dive even further into the character's background - this time, with a special focus on the Hungarian Autonomous Region.

I tend to repeat key pieces of info a few times as we go through, which I don't normally do. The density of this intel just required it, Boss!

And if I got anything wrong, feel free to let me know in the comments! I did my best with this, it took quite a lot of research!

"As a cornerstone of early Bolshevik propaganda, nationality policy allowed the revolutionary regime to cast the Soviet “experiment” as emancipatory in both ethnic and class terms. Paradoxically, much of the attention paid to the national question vanished from the party canon in 1938, for reasons that have never been fully explained."

"The collapse of the Soviet Union and its associated Eastern European states...has prompted...the resurgence of nationalism and ethno-nationalist conflict..."
Introduction, 'Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, & Class Struggle'

"The Declaration of the Rights of the People of Russia, proclaimed one month after the October Revolution on November 21, 1917, recognized four major principles:

equality and sovereignty of the peoples of the Russian empire;
the right of nations to self-determination;
abolition of all privileges based on nationality or religion;
freedom and cultural development for national minorities (i.e., dispersed nationalities and those living outside their historic territories).
But, after the official declaration of the principles, the Soviet government resisted the realization of these ideals."
**NOTE***
I mispronounced this author's name! Apologies to Markus Kornprobst. Sample his "Irredentism in European Politics: Argumentation, Compromise and Norms" here:

************
"Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on September 1, 2015.

The tenth and final main installment of the Metal Gear series, Phantom Pain follows legendary mercenary Big Boss (now known by his codename "Venom Snake") as he awakens in 1984 from a nine-year coma following the destruction of his private military company "Militaires Sans Frontières". With help from his old business partner Kazuhira Miller and rival-turned-ally Revolver Ocelot, Snake must rebuild his mercenary army (now called "Diamond Dogs") while plotting revenge against the shadowy organization "Cipher," as well as its XOF paramilitary unit led by the enigmatic Skull Face.

Similar to its standalone prologue Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Phantom Pain focuses on executing mission objectives in open world environments set in both Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border region of central Africa, complete with dynamic weather and day-night systems. Stealth is a major component of gameplay, but often optional thanks to Snake's arsenal of combat gear. Players can also upgrade Diamond Dogs' new "Mother Base" in a fashion similar to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, allowing them to develop new weapons and items. In addition to its single-player campaign, the game includes two player-vs-player multiplayer modes, as well as optional microtransactions and other paid downloadable content.

The Phantom Pain is notable as the final game in the series with involvement from series creator Hideo Kojima and his Kojima Productions team. Several months before the game's release, Konami began a major restructuring of its games division, ultimately leading to Kojima Productions being treated more as a contractor rather than an internal studio. Unlike prior Metal Gear titles from the same team, Kojima Productions' logo and branding is absent from promotional materials and packaging for the final game. After leaving Konami, Kojima would go on to establish a new independent studio with the same name in 2015."

[FuturasoundProductions]

An up-to-date list of my patrons. Thank you for your support!

0xtaake
AdNeGvEiLl
Aidan Campbell
Aizy
Amber Elder
Amory Blain
Andrew Hartman
Ashton Miller
Black_Eos_Seraph
Brandon Raabe
Brendan Head
cadian98
chickenslappa
Cloven Sunfish
Daniel Montoya
Daniel Schisch
Daniel Ulloa
Davide Ricci
Decoy.Octopus
DrXFox
E
Edson Rodriguez
G Singh
Hector Zamarron
Holographic Marlon Brando
Ian Burgess
IroquoisPliskin
ishdoot
Jacob Sellmann
jamal majzoub
James Mchale
James York
Jeffrey Mendoza
Johnny Flores Jr
Josep López Fernández
Joseph Bloncourt
Joshua Hawkins
Justin DeLima
kynch
Lima Charlie
Lorentz T.
Lorraine Sanchez
Mark "The Commissioner" Hancock
Maxime Boileau
Medic X
Mike G
Nathan Bailey
Nathan Jewell-Suttill
nIdzzllll-
niko86
Reaper2122
Resell Calendar
Rob Gibson
Ross Weaver
Ryan Helms
Schosoze
Sebiroth
snipaH wolF
Steven Davidson
Stry8993
The_Tabi3
Thomas Trippe
Tirdad Kiafar
TricksterTravvy
Tristan Rohr
Typhoon Abi
William Tryon

Aman Kumar
Gabaghoul
Huell Bowser
Javier Sosa ochoa
Mitchell Hammond
Shaine Smith
Trecia Getz
Treston H
Will Stevens

Charles
Espen Sele

[PosthumanHeresy]

8:38 It's interesting to notice a small connection here. Biopunk and Cyberpunk are seen as two opposite ends of the same spectrum. Since he is kept alive and augmented by parasites, he's a Biopunk Cowboy. "Cowboys and ninjas" was a late-2000s "extreme opposites fight" meme, alongside pirates. He is the exact opposite of a Cyborg Ninja on the same spectrum as a cyborg ninja.

[morgansheepman]

I love how Skull Face is so campy yet so grounded.

[TheInfiniteAmo]

Worth pointing out here, the "Man Without a Face" was the western moniker for Markus Wolf, the head of East Germany's counterintelligence bureau during the Cold War, owing to the fact that for decades the CIA et al didn't have a conclusive photo compromising his identity. He actually released a book detailing his time as the head of East German counterintel under that same title, which is a pretty interesting read (if not obviously biased).

[brandbusters]

It is very interesting to see what Depth can be found in just one Character,
all your work would make a great Book Someday, understanding Kojima & Metal Gear.

[angelinaburns]

Mannn, You do not disappoint at all. You're so detailed and thorough. I love Your videos. I watch them almost every day. You make it feel as if the series never died.🥺 Sad the Fans are really; honestly, keeping MGS alive, we became the blood.. I (personally) don't fault Kojima. Konami did him dirty..

[PlushPlanet]

I was waiting for more MGSV from Futurasound. Wish was granted!

[solidus]

Great video as always. But your Venom avatar always cracks me up for some reason.

[zombioncrack]

Thanks for making this. I never quite understood who skullface was and his motivations. This game has a great story, but i didn't really get it while i played because I'd need to write down timelines and thought webs to put it together.

[brandbusters]

History, Philosophy, Deep Dive & Video Game Analyses all at once. Kudos to you, Boss.

[andygarcia]

was hoping you'd make more content on skullface, so stoked you did! great work like always fsp <3

[johndcoffee]

I appreciate these amazing videos on a Monday. Thanks Boss

[NotGF]

I've been binge watching these videos for the past few days thank you 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[sebastiansanhueza]

Hey man! Many thanks for this video! In spite of standard fan rejection, Skull Face is by far my favorite MGS "villain", among other reasons, because his philosophical outlook actually raises hardcore questions about the cultural impact of the Anglo-American world in other societies via language. As someone whose mother tongue is not English, I was floored by his no doubt twisted but actually deep rationale. Again, the underpinning critique against English-speaking culture is so brutal, I'm surprised it didn't provoke a more negative reaction from fans or related media venues.

[ufcoque]

Used to hate the character with passion, but now he's one of my all time favorites. So much potential

[somethingtorelate]

I'd like to add a small detail to Skull Face. Székely people speak hungarian, and they are considered hungarian. Just like Csángó or Jász people. Altho all of them call themselves first and foremost Székely, Csángó or Jász, they all speak the same langauge (hungarian/magyar) they just have different culture (but its mostly the same).

[yoyoyoUnplugged]

I wish more of the community would watch these and open their mind to how much is actually in this game. So many have bought the “it’s 90% filler” narrative. What a shame.

[MrWsbird]

“Skull face must be making his FINAL PLAY”

[whitecraneexperience]

Even if Skull Face lost everything and became a villian in both Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain. But still I understand his felling when he was also forced to speak certain language when he was young. To learn language like english or french or other language by your free will is one and good thing but learning language by force is the bad thing. Skull Face didn't had a war against Big Boss and Zero (aka. Cypher/The Patriots), he had a war against every language from entier world, all except his mother tounge. Been burned his skin when he was young, he want revenge against Zero, Cypher, Big Boss and every language except hungarian, then finaly dies because of revenge. When someone want revenge against the other, then revenge returns back to the person who wanted. Life is like a boomerang. You maked a great video today. Great work Lee.. um I mean Boss.

[cillain]

Boss you have given us too much content, thank you for that