Metal Gear (mecha)
Metal Gear is the name for a series of fictional bipedal tanks in the Metal Gear series of video games. Initially, the different models of Metal Gear were mobile launch platforms with nuclear weapons with an intercontinental range, serving the purpose of rail or wheeled nuclear platforms, but with greater mobility and greater ability to defend itself from traditional threats. Typically, the final objective in each of the Metal Gear games is to destroy the latest incarnation of the Metal Gear. Template:Spoiler
Models of Metal Gear
Metal Gear TX-55
The original Metal Gear (featured in the eponymous first installment), sometime referred by its full codename Metal Gear TX-55 (or alternatively, TX-55 Metal Gear), was designed at Outer Heaven by the Eastern scientist Dr. Drago Petrovich Madnar. Dr. Madnar was forced against his will to complete the development of the tank, after his daughter was held for blackmail. Metal Gear's weakspot were its feet, which could only be destroyed by placing plastic explosives over them in a determined order. The TX-55 was armed with a 1.5cm vulcan gun, a 20cm laser cannon and multiple medium-range warheads. However, none of its arsenal was put to use, as the TX-55 was destroyed before completion. As such, it is the only Metal Gear model never to see active combat.
In Snake's Revenge, the uncanonical sequel to Metal Gear, mass-produced versions of the original Metal Gear appears, alongside Metal Gear 2, its successor. The wreckage of the original Metal Gear itself also appears in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, in "Stage 9" of the game.
Metal Gear D
The Revised Metal Gear D (from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake) is a redesigned version of the original TX-55 model, featuring a more streamlined design. Its standard arsenal is comprised of a 60mm Vulcan Gun, a 5.56mm machinegun and a missile pod with a capacity for six warheads. It was developed by Dr. Madnar for Zanzibar Land, much like TX-55. However, unlike the TX-55, he designed D out of his own free will. D was piloted by Gray Fox during Zanzibar Land's raid of Nuclear Disposal Sites. However, D's weakspot were its legs, which were vulnerable to hand grenades. Snake uses this knowledge to his advantage while fighting D.
In addition to Metal Gear D, a small-scaled mass-produced version of Metal Gear was also developed in Zanzibar Land known as Metal Gear G (or Gustav). These Metal Gear units have their nuclear armament removed, which are replaced by improved sensors. They are used primarily for infantry, but are not deployed during Snake's mission (as they were not added to the game due to time constraints).
Metal Gear REX
Metal Gear REX is the model of Metal Gear involved in the Shadow Moses incident (depicted in Metal Gear Solid), and is characterized by a railgun that can deliver undetectable nuclear warheads to anywhere in the world. In addition to its railgun, REX differs from the preceding Metal Gear D in that its legs are heavily armored and reinforced, not vulnerable like its predecessor's.
The Metal Gear REX has near-impregnable compound armor, a pair of vulcan cannons, anti-tank missiles, and a free-electron laser, to protect itself from conventional forces. Its primary weapon, however, is a railgun capable of delivering a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, without the propellant trail or launch flare that gives away the launch position of a traditional ballistic missile. Because of its sealed, one-man cockpit and thick armor, its sensors are focused in a radome on the left side of its body; this radome is very vulnerable to attack, and destroying it effectively blinds the REX.
The Metal Gear REX was a last-ditch effort on the part of weapons company ArmsTech, and, after bribing DARPA chief Donald Anderson to get covert US government funding for its development, ArmsTech produces a single prototype, which is sent to be tested at a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island. In the Shadow Moses incident (the events of Metal Gear Solid), the Shadow Moses facility is taken over by the rogue special forces unit FOXHOUND, led by Liquid Snake, who then attempt to use it as leverage to extort $1 billion and the remains of Big Boss from the US government. Solid Snake infiltrates the Shadow Moses facility and, with the help of Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, the disgruntled designer of REX, and Cyborg Ninja, a mysterious infiltrator, eliminates FOXHOUND and destroys the Metal Gear REX.
After the Shadow Moses incident, Revolver Ocelot escapes with the blueprints for REX, however, and soon sells them onto the black market. As a result, clones of REX spread worldwide. (The Metal Gear RAY is designed to combat these clones of REX.)
Metal Gear RAY
Metal Gear RAY (introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but previewed in an unlockable image in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions) comes in two variants: a manned prototype version, developed to combat derivatives of Metal Gear REX, and an unmanned version, refitted to defend Arsenal Gear.
RAY differs from previous Metal Gears in that it is not a nuclear launch platform, but instead a weapon of conventional warfare, originally designed to hunt down and destroy the many derivatives of Metal Gear REX that became common after the leak of the REX plans after the events of Metal Gear Solid. It is designed to be even more maneuverable and flexible in deployment than the REX, and can operate both on land and in the water. (Underwater, it is propelled by engines of unknown form in its two bulbous "wings".) While RAY has a pair of machine guns and six missile tubes to defend itself from more conventional battlefield threats, its primary weapon is a powerful water jet, which can cut through heavily-armored foes, such as Metal Gear REX clones.
The Metal Gear RAY is more organic than previous models, both in appearance and in function. (The Konami mechanical designer, Yoji Shinkawa, primarily responsible for designing RAY ascribed this more-organic appearance to cross-pollination of ideas from his time spent working on Zone of the Enders.) The exterior is more organic; its streamlined shape helps to deflect enemy fire and allows for greater maneuverability both on land and in the water.
RAY's interior workings are also much more organic. It has artificial fibers that contract when electricity is applied, much like natural muscle, instead of typical hydraulics; this pseudo-muscle tissue makes it very maneuverable. It also has a nervous-system-like system of conductive nanotubes, which connect the widely dispersed sensor systems and relay commands from the cockpit to the various parts of RAY's body, automatically bypassing damaged systems and rerouting to auxiliary systems when needed. Particularly unusual is its blood-like armor-repair nanopaste, which is secreted from valves whenever the exterior surface is damaged.
Prototype version
Metal Gear RAY was originally developed by the USMC to locate and eliminate Metal Gear REX units and their derivatives. In the events of the first chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2, however, it is captured by Revolver Ocelot while being transported for testing by the covertly refitted oil tanker Discovery.
This version is labeled "MARINES", and has a cockpit (accommodating a single pilot) and a long tail. The RAY is an amphibious craft which allows for maneuverability in land and at sea-- the long tail is intended for balance while making leaps or operating underwater. The entirety of the forward interior of the cockpit is a heads-up display (HUD), allowing the pilot to look around as if there were no obstruction between him and the battlefield.
Unlike REX, which had its exterior sensor concentrated in a single, vulnerable radome, the sensors (including cameras, radar emitters, and an array of passive detection sensors) are distributed throughout the body.
Mass-production version
Revolver Ocelot delivers the stolen prototype RAY to The Patriots, an Illuminati-esque organization secretly running the United States. Under their direction, the unit is redesigned for control by the AI known as "GW" in defense of Arsenal Gear. The Arsenal Gear has a force of these slave RAYs ready for immediate deployment against any possible threats.
The mass-production RAYs lack the tail and cockpit of the prototype, and are labeled "US NAVY".
Metal Gear Gekkou (Moonlight)
Little details are yet known about these mass-produced Metal Gear models known as Gekkou (??, from the Japanese word meaning Moonlight), featured in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4. They are comprised of a mechanical head similar to Metal Gear REX, and organic legs and are AI-controlled, similar to the mass-produced Metal Gear RAY units. Other parts of it's equipment include an infered radome on the top left-hand side of the head, surface-to-air guided Missiles on the left side of the head (suposedly), appearently a machine-gun on the top right-hand side of the head, and just like Otacon's Mk II (see below), it has a storage compartment accompanied by flexable tenticles to hand personel any needed equipment when necissary such as a handgun.
The origins are unknown at this time, however its most likely that they're simply new variants of Metal Gear clones that arose after Ocelot sold the design and specs of the mech to the black market. Its owned by the appearent American platoon Snake will face in the game.
Otacon's "Metal Gear Mk II"
The smallest known Metal Gear, its a small UGV manipulated by Otacon (presumebly made by him too). The real name of this small type of Metal Gear is actually not known but is very reminicant of the Mk II featured in another one of Kojima's games, Snatcher (but has no relation according to Kojima himself). For this reason, many fans who are familliar with the game have given it the nickname Metal Gear Mk II. Unlike all the other mechs in the series so far, the player won't fight this version, but instead, will be assisted by it with a new buddy AI sytem put into the game.
It's body is entirely mechanical and has wheels at the end of it's legs instead of feet for faster mobility (although this would seem to make it harder to control, especially on sharp turns where speed momentum can cause it to fall over, but can still get back up on it's wheels perhaps due to an extra mechanical feature). It has no known weapons (at least at this time), but it does have a small storage compartment on the left side of it's body able to fit small clips of ammunition (such as a 30-round detachible box magazine of 5.56 x NATO rounds) accompanied by a flexible tenticle for handing the close-by person the desired item in the user's collection. On the top of the body it's equiped with a spec scanner in it's closed-circuit television camera with a built-in microphone and appearently a smoke detector. On it's right side is a small monitor for the user to display any desired image (including their real face).
Other details about this small mech will be revialed in the upcoming release of Metal Gear Solid 4, or perhaps in the next trailer.
Related weapons
Arsenal Gear
Appearing in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Arsenal Gear is a submersible, mobile fortress, with the ability to monitor, block, and tamper with internet communications in order to further the goals of The Patriots. In Metal Gear Solid 2, it is a metaphor for the change of warfare in the last decades of the 20th century, from nuclear war to a war of culture, information, and espionage.
The Arsenal Gear depicted in Metal Gear Solid 2 is hidden under the Big Shell, and is controlled by an AI named "GW", which was designed by Emma Emmerich. (It is possible that there are other Arsenal Gears, as Raiden speaks with an AI named "JFK", but only the one is depicted.)
Arsenal Gear is massive, large enough to house - and also require - a significant force for its defense. The exterior is shown when Radien and Solidus are heading for Federal Hall and see it speeding under many bridges before it crashes. It is large enough to house many Metal Gear RAYs, and causes widespread destruction when it crashes into Manhattan Island.) The Arsenal Gear hidden under the Big Shell has a unspecified number of "Tengu Commandos", soldiers clad in bionic exoskeletons and armed with P90 submachine guns and a katana. It also has a squadron of 25 mass-production Metal Gear RAYs, each of which is under the direct control of GW, the AI controlling Arsenal Gear.
During the Big Shell incident, Raiden is actually being manipulated by GW, Arsenal Gear's AI, but, as Emma Emmerich's virus slowly destroys GW, Raiden is able to enter Arsenal Gear (from the Big Shell, the facility Arsenal Gear is hidden under) and uncover the many layers of deception concealing the true meaning behind his mission to the Big Shell. Revolver Ocelot, being controlled by Liquid Snake via transplanted arm, directs Arsenal Gear to crash into Manhattan Island at the end of Raiden's mission, but its ultimate fate is yet to be explained.
Shagohod
Introduced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the Shagohod (Russian Шагоход, "step-walker", occasionally referred to in English as "The Treading Behemoth"), while not a Metal Gear variant per se, has a similar design and role. Rather than a bipedal mecha, it is an unconventional tank, armed with an intermediate-range ballistic missile it can propel to intercontinental ranges. Like the various Metal Gear variants, it can be crewed by a single pilot, although it has a station for a copilot.
The Shagohod has an articulated body, split into two parts. The front part has a pair of Archimedes screws on hydraulic legs, which pull the bulky rear portion, suspended on a hovercraft-style air cushion. While this is an unusual mechanism for propulsion, far more unusual are the Shagohod's rocket boosters. With a sufficiently large flat piece of land (such as a highway or landing strip), the Shagohod can fire its rocket boosters to build up speed (up to more than 480 km/h or 300 mi/h) before firing its primary weapon, a nuclear-armed intermediate-range ballistic missile. In doing so, it serves as an additional stage for the rocket, allowing it to strike at targets nearly anywhere in the world. The Shagohod also has parachutes in the back to help slowing it down after a rocket-boosted missile-launch.
Besides its single SS-20 "Saber" IRBM (which has to be reloaded after firing), the Shagohod has defensive weaponry, including three DShKM machine guns (two with 300 rounds mounted to defend against infantry, one with 360 rounds mounted in a turret to defend against airborne threats), six 9K112 Kobra surface-to-air guided Missiles to protect against aircraft, and a 100 barrel volley gun to defend against armor.
The Shagohod is 22.8 meters long, 6.4 meters wide, 8.2 meters high and has a combat weight of 152.5 tons. It's non-rocket boosted maximum speed is 80 km/h and it has a range of 650 km. The Shagohod is a stealth weapon and thus, it cannot be detected by spyplanes or satellites.
The Shagohod is not a precursor to the Metal Gear series of mecha, but instead a parallel development; it is developed by Dr. Sokolov at a secret base in Tselinoyarsk. His peer, and self-proclaimed rival, Director Granin, conceives of the Metal Gear at approximately the same time, but Colonel Volgin favors Sokolov's design over Granin's, and funds the production of a prototype, which is destroyed by Naked Snake during Operation Snake Eater. Granin, however, arranges for his plans for what would later become Metal Gear to be sent to one of his colleagues in the West, later to be discovered as the very father of Dr. Hal Emmerich (Otacon).
The Shagohod was the only one of its kind which Volgin was planning to mass-produce based on it's design. Not only was he going to deploy them all over the Soviet Union, but also ship them to Eastern Europe, or rather Asia (more specifically to all the countries of the Eastern bloc). He also intended to use the Shagohod as bait to foment armed uprisings against dictators, ethnic insurgents, and revolutionary groups throughout the Third World.
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