Metal Gear Topics

愛国者は？ Who Is The Patriot?
Naked Snake : "愛国者は？ Who is the patriot?" Major Zero : "ら･り･る･れ･ろ La-li-lu-le-lo." That is a good question. Just who exactly is the patriot in Snake Eater? "Who is the patriot? This question is answered several times in the game. In the end, the President declares that Snake is the patriot. But Eva reveals the truth, and The Boss is the true patriot." - Director Kojima. But is that all? The Boss is indeed a true patriot who sacrificed her life for her country, but she is definitely not the only patriot in Snake Eater. Eva, she was loyal to her country from the beginning to the end, it can be argued that every single action she did was completely according to orders. All except the sparing of Snake's life. But that was an exchange, an exchange with The Boss, Snake's life spared in exchange for her own life being spared. But even the gratitude of getting her life spared was for the mission, for had she died, she would not have been able to complete her mission. Her mission for her country, which was even more important than her own life. So Eva was also a patriot in Snake Eater. Ocelot, with all his deceits and double-crosses, in essence stayed loyal and patriotic to his country from the beginning to the end. All his deceits were done for the sole purpose of the mission, and not personal agenda, so Ocelot too was a patriot. Even Volgin, who was despicable enough to detonate a nuclear missile on his own countrymen, despite his extreme methods, was still a patriot. All the despicable things he did, they were all done for the purpose of the downfall of his enemy the United States, and for the rise of his mother country the Soviet Union. Volgin's father, in contrast, was less patriotic. To launder money from his government for personal gain, though not killing innocent allies, was actually more unpatriotic than Volgin's actions. True, Volgin fully intended to take over this ill-gained money, but his intended usage of the money was for the reunification of the broken up world under the Soviet flag. So though despicable, Volgin still remained, nevertheless, a patriot. The members of the Cobra Unit, though less agenda-oriented, all faithfully followed orders, down to the very last one of them. The Sorrow in particular, was willing to go as far as forfeiting his own life before he was willing to betray an order. That is maybe not patriotism, but that is definitely loyalty. Which brings us to The Boss' final epiphany of her life, one which she tried to pass on to her last student, Jack. The Boss : "ボスは二人もいらない。蛇はひとりでいい… There is no need for two Bosses. One snake is enough..." Is it right to be loyal to a government that is unjust and corrupt? Is loyalty to a government equivalent to patriotism to a country? To become the true Boss, one who is true to oneself, an answer to those questions must be arrived at. As long as one of them can make it, The Boss and Big Boss, there is no need for the both of them to be alive for it. To inherit her will, The Boss had her students, her Cobras. All those snakes are gone now, but no matter, there is still Naked Snake, who can inherit her will, and as long as there is one snake left, it is enough. Jack must now do what The Joy was unable to. "自分に忠を尽くす", to become loyal to himself. To become true to himself. To become the true Boss. To become Big Boss. The Big Boss who followed his own will, his own heart, and who was not a puppet of the era. The Big Boss of the Metal Gear games, the Big Boss of Outer Heaven. This line of logic is surprisingly similar to my topic about Solid Snake from back in 2002. The struggle between heart and mission. I have always imagined that if Solid Snake had the kind of funds Big Boss had, Philanthropy would have been more similar to Outer Heaven than we might have imagined. It is my understanding that in the English version script, the line of the topic got translated into "Who are the patriots". Which, though a small but greatly misleading mistake, does fit in very well within the context of this topic. There is not only one, but indeed many, patriots in this game. Men and women who are willing to forfeit their reputation, their conscience, and even their lives for the survival of their country. It is also my understanding that some English version gamers disagree with the notion of the mis-translation being an error. But seriously, between "愛国者 aikokushya" and "愛国者達 aikokushyatachi" there is an apparent and indisputable difference. For those who are unable to distinguish the difference by simply looking at the two kanji phrases, they are people without enough linguistic knowledge to offer their uneducated opinions on this specific subject. I'm sorry that English language version gamers keep getting altered and less coherent dialogues, I really am, but an unintended alteration is an alteration, a mistake is a mistake, there is simply no getting around it. (I use the word "uneducated" in the ill-informed sense, not the hillbilly sense. No personal attacks intended in any way. I for one would never offer my uneducated two cents in disputes over Russian phrases, for I know not enough of it to have an opinion worthy of being presented. I would only make a fool out of myself.) (I really am an egomaniacal douchebag, aren't I? I am, I am, I know, I am. I'm also right though. ^_^) Something related is the phrase らりるれろ lalilulelo, which is a shibboleth, or a code phrase, Snake was supposed to use to identify his contact ADAM during the Snake Eater mission. Shibboleths similar to this one were actually used several times in history. I'll list a few examples. "がぎぐげご Gagigugego" - After the 関東大震災 Great Kanto Earthquake (9.1.1923), this shibboleth was used to identify Koreans from Japanese, due to the Korean syllable system's inability to pronounce the "G" sound without a certain audible accent. At the time, Koreans were believed to have poisoned the water supplies after the earthquake, and civilian vigilante groups started identifying Koreans and beating them or killing them, in some areas with unauthorized army and police support. Afterwards the rumors were proven to be nothing but rumors, and the civil unrest was stopped by government commanded army. Officially, around 300 people were killed in this vigilante incident, with around 50 of which being Japanese people mistaken for Koreans. But the most agreed upon number of victims is between 2500 to 3000 deaths. 62 Japanese civilians were sentenced for their crimes after the incident. All the unauthorized army and police participation in the killings were covered up by the government, and never surfaced in the courts or the public media. "ばびぶべぼ Babibubebo" - This shibboleth was used in wartime to detect Korean spies, due to the Korean syllable system's inability to pronounce the "B" sound without a certain audible accent. "Lollapalooza" - This shibboleth was used by American soldiers during World War II (1939 ～ 1945) to identify Japanese from Chinese, due to the Japanese syllable system's inability to pronounce the "L" sound without a certain audible accent. Something kind of related I figured I'll mention. The phrase "らりるれろ lalilulelo" can in a far-fetched way be interpretted as "yadda yadda yadda" or "blah blah blah" or "yeah yeah yeah" in English, said in a slightly sarcastic and completely carefree tone. Well, not entirely exactly. Actually, the more conventional phrasing would have to be "らりらりら lalilalila". But they do sound similar, and the tone of it does give the question a more than satisfactory answer, and offers an appropriate close to this topic. "Who is the patriot?" "Yadda yadda yadda." 12.31.06

愛国者は？ Who Is The Patriot?

Naked Snake : "愛国者は？ Who is the patriot?"
Major Zero : "ら･り･る･れ･ろ La-li-lu-le-lo."

That is a good question.
Just who exactly is the patriot in Snake Eater?
"Who is the patriot? This question is answered several times in the game. In the end, the President declares that Snake is the patriot. But Eva reveals the truth, and The Boss is the true patriot." - Director Kojima.
But is that all?
The Boss is indeed a true patriot who sacrificed her life for her country, but she is definitely not the only patriot in Snake Eater.

Eva, she was loyal to her country from the beginning to the end, it can be argued that every single action she did was completely according to orders. All except the sparing of Snake's life. But that was an exchange, an exchange with The Boss, Snake's life spared in exchange for her own life being spared. But even the gratitude of getting her life spared was for the mission, for had she died, she would not have been able to complete her mission. Her mission for her country, which was even more important than her own life. So Eva was also a patriot in Snake Eater.
Ocelot, with all his deceits and double-crosses, in essence stayed loyal and patriotic to his country from the beginning to the end. All his deceits were done for the sole purpose of the mission, and not personal agenda, so Ocelot too was a patriot.
Even Volgin, who was despicable enough to detonate a nuclear missile on his own countrymen, despite his extreme methods, was still a patriot. All the despicable things he did, they were all done for the purpose of the downfall of his enemy the United States, and for the rise of his mother country the Soviet Union.
Volgin's father, in contrast, was less patriotic. To launder money from his government for personal gain, though not killing innocent allies, was actually more unpatriotic than Volgin's actions. True, Volgin fully intended to take over this ill-gained money, but his intended usage of the money was for the reunification of the broken up world under the Soviet flag.
So though despicable, Volgin still remained, nevertheless, a patriot.
The members of the Cobra Unit, though less agenda-oriented, all faithfully followed orders, down to the very last one of them. The Sorrow in particular, was willing to go as far as forfeiting his own life before he was willing to betray an order. That is maybe not patriotism, but that is definitely loyalty.
Which brings us to The Boss' final epiphany of her life, one which she tried to pass on to her last student, Jack.

The Boss : "ボスは二人もいらない。蛇はひとりでいい… There is no need for two Bosses. One snake is enough..."

Is it right to be loyal to a government that is unjust and corrupt?
Is loyalty to a government equivalent to patriotism to a country?

To become the true Boss, one who is true to oneself, an answer to those questions must be arrived at. As long as one of them can make it, The Boss and Big Boss, there is no need for the both of them to be alive for it.
To inherit her will, The Boss had her students, her Cobras. All those snakes are gone now, but no matter, there is still Naked Snake, who can inherit her will, and as long as there is one snake left, it is enough.

Jack must now do what The Joy was unable to. "自分に忠を尽くす", to become loyal to himself. To become true to himself. To become the true Boss. To become Big Boss. The Big Boss who followed his own will, his own heart, and who was not a puppet of the era. The Big Boss of the Metal Gear games, the Big Boss of Outer Heaven.

This line of logic is surprisingly similar to my topic about Solid Snake from back in 2002. The struggle between heart and mission.
I have always imagined that if Solid Snake had the kind of funds Big Boss had, Philanthropy would have been more similar to Outer Heaven than we might have imagined.

It is my understanding that in the English version script, the line of the topic got translated into "Who are the patriots". Which, though a small but greatly misleading mistake, does fit in very well within the context of this topic.
There is not only one, but indeed many, patriots in this game. Men and women who are willing to forfeit their reputation, their conscience, and even their lives for the survival of their country.

It is also my understanding that some English version gamers disagree with the notion of the mis-translation being an error. But seriously, between "愛国者 aikokushya" and "愛国者達 aikokushyatachi" there is an apparent and indisputable difference. For those who are unable to distinguish the difference by simply looking at the two kanji phrases, they are people without enough linguistic knowledge to offer their uneducated opinions on this specific subject.
I'm sorry that English language version gamers keep getting altered and less coherent dialogues, I really am, but an unintended alteration is an alteration, a mistake is a mistake, there is simply no getting around it.
(I use the word "uneducated" in the ill-informed sense, not the hillbilly sense. No personal attacks intended in any way. I for one would never offer my uneducated two cents in disputes over Russian phrases, for I know not enough of it to have an opinion worthy of being presented. I would only make a fool out of myself.)
(I really am an egomaniacal douchebag, aren't I? I am, I am, I know, I am. I'm also right though. ^_^)

Something related is the phrase らりるれろ lalilulelo, which is a shibboleth, or a code phrase, Snake was supposed to use to identify his contact ADAM during the Snake Eater mission.
Shibboleths similar to this one were actually used several times in history. I'll list a few examples.
"がぎぐげご Gagigugego" - After the 関東大震災 Great Kanto Earthquake (9.1.1923), this shibboleth was used to identify Koreans from Japanese, due to the Korean syllable system's inability to pronounce the "G" sound without a certain audible accent. At the time, Koreans were believed to have poisoned the water supplies after the earthquake, and civilian vigilante groups started identifying Koreans and beating them or killing them, in some areas with unauthorized army and police support. Afterwards the rumors were proven to be nothing but rumors, and the civil unrest was stopped by government commanded army. Officially, around 300 people were killed in this vigilante incident, with around 50 of which being Japanese people mistaken for Koreans. But the most agreed upon number of victims is between 2500 to 3000 deaths.
62 Japanese civilians were sentenced for their crimes after the incident.
All the unauthorized army and police participation in the killings were covered up by the government, and never surfaced in the courts or the public media.
"ばびぶべぼ Babibubebo" - This shibboleth was used in wartime to detect Korean spies, due to the Korean syllable system's inability to pronounce the "B" sound without a certain audible accent.
"Lollapalooza" - This shibboleth was used by American soldiers during World War II (1939 ～ 1945) to identify Japanese from Chinese, due to the Japanese syllable system's inability to pronounce the "L" sound without a certain audible accent.

Something kind of related I figured I'll mention.
The phrase "らりるれろ lalilulelo" can in a far-fetched way be interpretted as "yadda yadda yadda" or "blah blah blah" or "yeah yeah yeah" in English, said in a slightly sarcastic and completely carefree tone.
Well, not entirely exactly.
Actually, the more conventional phrasing would have to be "らりらりら lalilalila". But they do sound similar, and the tone of it does give the question a more than satisfactory answer, and offers an appropriate close to this topic.

"Who is the patriot?"
"Yadda yadda yadda."

12.31.06

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