The Ninja gives Raiden a Gurlukovich uniform. When Raiden puts it on, his Codec team Hand Wave how it becomes unequipped when you bump into someone by saying it's 'a little too small'. The Colonel even fantasises about how Rose would look wearing the uniform, since he thinks it's in her size. At first I thought this was just a bit of silliness, but it actually makes a lot of sense - why would Raiden's uniform be too small for him, but would fit Rose? Simple - it's a woman's uniform. How would the Ninja get hold of a woman's uniform? By being a female Gurlukovich member herself. Olga even wears the standard Gurlukovich uniform in the Shell 1 core (where the special uniform that she gave Raiden was mandatory for security reasons), just to make sure we get that she doesn't have her special uniform any more.
The script says that James Johnson thought Raiden was Olga.
Fridge Brilliance as to why Johnson decided to check if Raiden had a penis or not; Fridge Horror as to what Olga would have done to him if he had gotten himself a handful of her vagina; Fridge Brilliance again that he may have been hoping that Olga would brutally murder him for the sexual assault as it would have deactivated the black case. It's a veritable selection of Fridges all in one action.
Early Codec conversations with Otacon during the Tanker chapter have him talking about how the leaked Metal Gear files means the whole world now has Metal Gear. The only way to overcome such a potentially large threat, especially to the U.S.'s nuclear deterrence, is a new Metal Gear in the form of what they find to be RAY. But think about that from a different perspective; the gaming world already hasMetal Gear Solid, so the only way to uproot it is with a new Metal Gear Solid.
During Raiden's and Pliskin's initial encounter with Vamp, Raiden picks up and fires Pliskin's M4 assault rifle. Except the Colonel explicitly told Raiden that both the Gurlukovich soldiers and SEAL Team 10 carry weapons with ID locks that would prevent him from even firing their weapons. Except that 'everything in the Item Box is freely usable,' and Snake likely got a rifle missing an ID Lock just like Raiden's procured weaponry. Whether you consider it game logic like Raiden or just missing an ID lock to avoid problems himself, it makes perfect sense in hindsight with Snake's reveal.
Note how despite it being implied that Snake stole the uniform off a dead SEAL team member, we never actually find a naked corpse anywhere. Given how Otacon got into the Big Shell alongside the SEALS and Peter Stillman it may always have been the plan for Snake to pose as Pliskin, with Otacon smuggling in the uniform and M4. After all, if Vamp and Fortune didn't wipe out SEAL Team 10 so effortlessly, they may have had to work alongside them for the duration of the whole mission.
Snake and Otacon's rather complicated handshake-y thing in MGS2 initially doesn't seem like something Snake would have time for, what with him being the no-nonsense soldier type. However, it does seem like something Otacon would come up with when they started up Philanthropy, and Snake would probably have gone along with it just to shut him up. When the handshake happens, Otacon's not far from Heroic BSoD - and Snake knows exactly what to do to wake him up. Additionally, while Snake is indeed a no-nonsense soldier, Otacon is pretty much the only true friend he has and the only person he trusts completely. Actually, the very fact that Snake doesn't really do things like that normally only goes to show the strength of the bond the two share, which is why it's considered such a touching scene by many. It would be a mistake to underestimate the value of a real friend like Otacon for Snake who is constantly used as a tool or viewed as a "legend" by everyone who isn't either trying to shoot him or is only interested in his genes. However, the TRUE Fridge Brilliance -moment comes from the realization that the handshake is the Konami Code.
So Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty got a bad rep by some who were fans of MGS1 that wanted to be Solid Snake and instead got the infamous protagonist-bait-and-switch. Many fans sounded like they felt betrayed by this. Used, even. Well, guess what? Snake was used as a pawn of the Patriots for years until he caught on to them; in a way, the game made them feel more like Solid Snake than they ever anticipated!
Kojima has violated the One-Steve Limit several times throughout the series, but having both the protagonists of MGS2 and 3, Raiden and Big Boss, named "Jack" seemed a bit off when both were released. But if you recall, Raiden was raised by Solidus... a character constantly venting his endless admiration for Big Boss fueled by living in his genetic shadow. Who's to say after "claiming him for his own" Solidus didn't name the little soldier "Jack" as a tribute to his clone father?
Another bit of Fridge Brilliance in his name - throughout the game, Solidus and Fortune are referred to as 'King' and 'Queen' by the other members of Dead Cell (And Ocelot). 'King', 'Queen', 'Jack'. That make Snake the 'Deuce'. He is, after all, wild (uncontrolled).
While it was clever to hide Raiden in the trailers for Sons of Liberty, it seemed like a really jerk move to outright replace him with Snake in the cut scenes taken from the Plant chapter. However, they said that the entire mission was essentially Solid Snake going through Shadow Moses again, so Snake and Raiden were interchangable in the situation, and the whole thing was symbolic.
After The Reveal of Pliskin's identity, Raiden confronts the Colonel on knowing who he was, and when the book by Nastasha gets brought up, the Colonel gets very angry, telling Raiden he doesn't care about that piece of trash. When it happens, it could be seen that the Colonel was upset that Snake was still alive and involved in the terrorist attack two years before. But after it's revealed who, or rather, what the Colonel really is, a better explanation comes to mind. The Colonel, after all, is a manifestation of the Patriots. And the Patriots have a whole lot at stake that the truth about they and their actions never comes to light. The Colonel freaked out about the book, not because it showed Snake as a hero, but because it revealed far too much of the Patriots' actions than they'd ever want to become public.
Rosemary, in the language of flowers, symbolizes remembrance. Raiden's personal plot arc in the game is remembering his true past, and Rosemary plays a very important role in that (as his save handler, the repeated "do you know what day this is?" question, and as the sounding board to his childhood memories).
The design of Mother Base, with it's hexagonal/cell-shaped platforms and design, is deliberately designed to evoke the feeling of the Big Shell in terms of the game design and was almost definitely intentional on Kojima's behalf. In terms of the continuity of the games, however, it works perfectly in terms of how the now AI-led Patriots want to control and tailor history to suit their ends - and part of this is asserting their dominance over a wayward son of Big Boss, just like Zero and Cipher attempted in the 70's. In this sense, the entire Big Shell incident - entirely unnecessary because it's just a mask for Arsenal Gear - deliberately mirrors the destruction and downfall of Big Boss and Mother Base.
There's a codec call in MGS1 where Miller says that soldiers who got their training through VR don't understand the value of taking every opportunity they can to sleep. In MGS2, Raiden is incredibly surprised about how much time Plisskin/Snake spends sleeping.
The game's themes of deception manifests in the code names of Dead Cell's membership. All of said codenames are misleading or at least have double-meanings. Vamp has modeled himself after the popular conception of vampires, but got his codename merely for being bisexual. Fatman is a demolitions expert and even built a working nuclear bomb in his youth, but is also literally a Fat Man. Fortune is lucky in battle due to how bullets curve around her and grenades refuse to explode, but lost her father, mother, husband, and unborn baby in rapid succession, which isn't very fortunate at all. One of the cut members of the group, "Chinaman" was actually supposed to be Vietnamese. No telling what Old Boy would have been like though.
Old Boy's design was repurposed for The End in MGS3, so one can surmise his gimmick may have been similar—an old sniper who retains the energy and agility of a much younger man. Whether that would have included photosynthesis and bulging eyes is anyone's guess.
There is even a possibility that Fortune's misfortune began in utero. Because her heart is on the right, Fortune may have been a "mirror twin" while the other one died.
Why don't all 25 MG RAYs just all attack Raiden at once? It's probably because they couldn't because of the virus that had corrupted GW. The system probably only had enough remaining processing power to control 3 at a time.
And to reinforce the meta theme, the game console might have had trouble handling more than 3 at the same time, too.
What sort of bizarre physiology does Big Boss's genes have that can let an entire consciousness reside in a severed arm? Absolutely none. Ocelot is the son of The Sorrow, who was apparently one of the greatest spirit mediums in the MGS-verse. Ocelot likely inherited his father's powers but never used awakened/learned to use them, or even knew he had them. Later (chronologically, earlier), we see Liquid has enough hatred to usurp control of an psychic in the presence of at least two full grown adults with massive obsessions toward their respective vengeance. It is actually surprising Liquid didn't take over Ocelot completely in this game... then again the only times that see to peak his hatred is when in the presence of Solid Snake.
Raiden's relationship with Rose can also be seen as a parody of dating sims, or roleplaying games with dating sim elements. When Rose reveals near the end that she got together with him so she could spy on him for the Patriots, Raiden's comments can very easily be applied to gamers who get invested in their video game love interests: Rose notes that Raiden's feelings weren't directed at a real person and that "it hurt to play out this artificial romance", and that the person he loved was "just a character"; meanwhile Raiden notes that "it was artificial on my end too. It was just a game, not the real thing," and that he was "trying to be someone [he] wasn't by loving what wasn't real." When applied to gamers themselves, it becomes a scathing commentary on video game romances, and how artificial they can be, with players winning the love of false people by saying the right things at the right time (even if these dialogue options aren't what the player would naturally choose themselves in a more genuine situation). Rose's repeated insistence that it was her job to do this (at least at first) also highlights the restrictive nature of video game love interests, especially when fans focus on the romance to the exclusion of all else; she complains earlier in the game at hating the idea of being viewed purely as Raiden's girlfriend, but as his love interest in this game (and even in the later games), this is all she is and will be to both fans and other characters.
Ocelot's line: Given the right situation, the right story, anyone can be shaped into Snake. Yeah, no kidding about that, pal.
The parrot is a bird that mimics sounds, but its sounds can be seen as pale imitations of the original. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a parrot of the first game, and Raiden is a parrot of Snake. The parrot flying over the city can be a symbol of Raiden deciding to free himself of being a copy of Snake and of the Patriots' manipulation.
Before fighting Fatman, while he and Raiden talk about Stillman, Fatman laughs and says, "That old crock died a dishonorable death six months ago." You would think he was talking about Stillman, but he died earlier that day. What notable event happened six months before Big Shell? The Liquidation of Dead Cell, of course. Fatman refers not to Stillman, but his old self, who he cast aside after being labeled as a terrorist and then went on to become the "Emperor of Explosives".
The Japanese voiceover is a little clearer: Fatman claims that "all of that stuff"—including Stillman's purported courage, as Raiden declared to needle the bomber—is dead to him since six months ago.
When Raiden first meets Iroquois Pliskin, they talk about Raiden's VR training. Pliskin makes a negative comment, to which Raiden responds with 'Are you saying VR is some kind of mind control?' IMMEDIATELY after that line, the Colonel calls and distracts Raiden by getting his mind back on the mission. And as we later find out, Raiden's VR training is basically just mind control, used by the Patriots to shape his psyche and personality to one they could manipulate with ease. The Patriots called Raiden because Raiden basically just spoke the EXACT truth without realising it at all, and they needed to get him back under their control
It seems rather impractical for Fortune to wear just a leotard with a coat over it (at most) when she's in active combat zones. However, knowing her death wish, it makes a bit more sense. A leotard wouldn't provide much protection against the elements or firearms or explosives. But, then again, that sort of concern for protection wouldn't be much of an issue for someone who wants to die.
A bit of a case of Fridge Heartwarming. But two of the things Raiden mentions which cannot be passed on to future generations through genes alone are Joy and Sorrow.
The Colonel AI beginning to spout bizarre rants and statements after the virus is loaded may initially seem like it's only intended for comedy (the Colonel's mutterings about issues with his marriage), or creepiness (the infamous 'I need scissors!61' bit); take into consideration what we learn during the finale however, about the actual intent for the Patriot AI - to process, sift through and control the flow of information. That means they had to review and determine the worth of every piece of factual information (the list of Japanese train stops), every message board sob story (having marital issues) and every creepypasta or shitpost ('I need scissors') that they could find. Emma's virus dramatically disrupts the AI's ability to both coordinate Raiden's mission and carry out its dataprocessing tasks. It's natural that there'd be some overlap.
After the Final Boss, when Solidus falls to the statue of George Washington before passing away, it seems symbolic enough that a disgraced President dies before the first. But then pay attention to the cinematography and situation, where it's synchronized with Raiden's flourish that has Solidus breathe his last, and the Patriots had forced Raiden to kill Solidus against his will. For however extreme he was, in these final moments Solidus was reaching for the origin of America's liberty he fought for and believed in — and, with one final movement, Raiden cemented the death of liberty and freedom to the Patriot's control amidst the lack of his own.
At one point, Pliskin mentions that the Big Shell lacks lifeboats, and that its far enough away from Manhattan to make swimming to it and back not an option for rescuing the hostages. Bear in mind that the Patriots orchestrated the reasons behind the development of the Big Shell as well as the takeover and eventual destruction of the Big Shell, which strongly implies that the Patriots intended to have the hostages killed when Arsenal Gear was activated.
Hal's stepmother initiated a sexual relationship with him when he was a teenager (the game contradicts itself, but it could have started when he was as young as 14). Hal says that his MUCH younger stepsister was pretty much the only friend he had growing up, so think about how isolated and vulnerable he must have been. Not to mention that he was very likely weedy and not very attractive. So what could possibly be going through the stepmother's head that could bring about this kind of decision. Not to mention that if Otacon was a girl the stepmother would be considered a predator and the fandom would be lynching Huey for not protecting Hal well enough (see Double Standard Rape: Female on Male).
Many members of the fandom DO treat their "relationship" in this way, however, seeing as it definitely counts as statutory rape (him being 17 at the oldest) and has all the red flags of a sexually abusive relationship (being his stepmother gives her a position of power over him, and he describes being incredibly lonely, something that would have been easy to take advantage of), even if he weren't underage - note that on this very wiki, Otacon's character page has been edited to highlight this. Huey's role in the whole mess, however, gains another added layer of fridge horror due to his personality in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Huey, being the kind of man who would rather radically reinterpret events and lie to himself in order to make himself feel better, is the exact kind of man who wouldn't view his son's abuse as actual abuse and would rather make himself out to be the victim of adultery instead. His suicide makes more sense this way, if he interpreted the situation as emasculating to himself, rather than damaging to his son - the question remains, however, if his almost drowning Emma was really an accident or not...
Raiden has never slept next to Rose. Considering what real life veterans with severe PTSD go through, there is a good chance he does that because he has a tendency of having vivid nightmares and waking up disoriented from those, and he fears he might attack Rose in that state.
A very quick offhand remark near the start of Raiden's part of the game becomes much more concerning in light of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Raiden's sneaking suit has its own name: a Skull Suit.
Whenever a "Mission Failed" results in Raiden's death, and Rose is the one calling out for him, you can hear an audible *gasp* at the end. Toward the end of the game it is revealed that Rose's nanomachines will kill her if Raiden dies, meaning you are hearing Rose die.
Throughout the game, Rose repeatedly asks Raiden if he remembers what day today is, and Raiden says that he doesn't. When the couple reunite in front of Federal Hall at the end of the game, Raiden says "I remember now — Today is the day I met you." Read that carefully - not "today is the anniversary of the day I met you", but "today is the day I met you". Given the revelations in the third act and how thoroughly Raiden has been deceived by the people he trusted most, it's entirely possible that Raiden is literally meeting Rose in person for the first time on this day.
Alternatively, this line is also read as the fact that the couple are meeting for the first time as their true selves, without withholding (mostly, for the moment) a traumatic past or shadowy conspirators driving the relationship anymore.
Solid Snake wants to get away from all the killing and prove the world wrong on him being a death-dealing soldier of legend, which makes sense after what he's been through, and his work with Philanthropy emphasizes as much. Raiden, on the other hand, is a PTSD-ridden soldier who doesn't even realize he has PTSD thanks to trying to act like his past never happened — and as far as the game is concerned, in the midst of its Deconstruction that he's replicating Solid Snake's legend, he's very much pushed to kill. Killing is even his final step in ensuring the Patriots' total control with the death of Solidus. While the player might go for a Pacifist Run, Raiden will kill without so much as a complaint in-story, especially once you get the High-frequency Blade that starts on lethal specifically, solely to condition and control him further and further into being a mass-murdering soldier for the S3 Plan so that he'll complete his mission. He's traumatized by his past, but he keeps falling back into it... unintentionally Foreshadowing that come later entries, he'll become a despairing killer that convinces himself he's doing it to protect everyone else until he finally realizes it's simply what he's best at.
