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}} Dr. Hal Emmerich, nicknamed Otacon, is a fictional character in the Metal Gear Solid video game series.
A master engineer and the eccentric designer of Metal Gear REX. Otacon becomes a close ally of Solid Snake upon learning of REX's nuclear strike capabilities. After the events of Metal Gear Solid, he helped Solid Snake form Philanthropy, a group whose main objective is to prevent proliferation of Metal Gear-type weapons.
Snake and Otacon infiltrate the military installations and facilities of the world, delving into their compounds through stealth and cyber hacking. In a sense, Snake is the brawn and Otacon is the brains behind "Philanthropy."
A devoted fan of anime, Hal's chosen nickname is the short form of the Otaku Convention, with reference to Otakon held in Baltimore each year. The name "Hal" is a direct reference to the computer HAL 9000 from the film A Space Odyssey (film), one of several references to the film which is present in Metal Gear Solid; in the Otacon ending of the game, Hal and Snake make direct comparisons to the film.
History
After the death of Hal's mother, his father married a British woman named Julie Danziger with a child of her own (Emma). Hal and Emma were close, and developed mutual infatuation. His stepmother seduced him, and they held a brief affair.
Upon learning this, Hal's father committed suicide by drowning himself in the family pool, and attempted to drown Emma as well. Emma expected Hal to save her, but he didn't know it was happening since at the time he was with his stepmother. After the incident, Emma had become estranged from her stepbrother, blaming him for not saving her.
Shortly afterwards, Hal ran away from home and didn't see any of his family members until several years later. Choosing not to continue school, he began to educate himself via the Internet. He became a big fan of anime, and started calling himself Otacon, short for the Otaku Convention, which he never misses.
He matriculated at MIT and earned his Ph.D. in Princeton University. During his college years, he was recruited by the FBI's Engineering Research Facility, but was fired from his job after hacking into their classified database.
Shadow Moses Island incident
Otacon was hired by Armstech, Inc. to be the lead engineer for the Metal Gear REX project. He jumped at the chance to make an actual mecha type robot, which appears frequently in the anime he enjoys. He was led to believe that it was a mobile defense system, but in reality it is a nuclear doomsday weapon. During the Shadow Moses incident (the events of Metal Gear Solid), Otacon encountered Solid Snake, who had informed him of the true nature of Metal Gear Rex. Devastated, Otacon realized that he had written yet another chapter in his family's dark history-- his grandfather had worked on the Manhattan Project, and his father was born on the day of the Hiroshima bombing.Otacon had developed a strong attraction to FOXHOUND member Sniper Wolf, possibly under the effects of Stockholm syndrome. Distraught that Snake would have to kill her, Otacon eventually came to terms with her, himself, and his position in life.
With Otacon's assistance, Snake was able to destroy Metal Gear REX and defeat the terrorist uprising. After the schematics to Metal Gear were placed on the black market by Revolver Ocelot, both men formed Philanthropy, an organization dedicated to the end of the proliferation of Metal Gear-type weapons.
Sinking of the tanker
In 2007, Otacon received an email from his step sister, Emma, informing him of a new Metal Gear prototype codenamed RAY. The e-mail was actually a bait for the Patriots to lure Snake out of hiding and frame him for terrorism, by having Ocelot hijack RAY and place the blame on Snake with forged evidence. When the tanker was destroyed by Ocelot, Otacon took a boat and managed to save Snake, as well as Olga Gurlukovich.Otacon was forced to fake Snake's death after he was framed by the Patriots. Using connections he had with an organization, he managed to steal Liquid Snake's corpse (which was missing his right arm) and dumped it into the sea. He continued to manage Philanthropy's activities, while keeping Snake's survival a secret from the public.
Big Shell takeover
In 2009, he received another anonymous e-mail, this time from Liquid (while taking over Ocelot's mind), informing him about the development of Arsenal Gear in the Big Shell. When Solidus seized the Big Shell, he infiltrated the facility with SEAL Team 10 to find Emma, who was among the hostages. He managed to be reunited with her, but she died shortly afterwards, due to stab wounds inflicted by Vamp. Before her death, Emma admitted to always admiring Hal and wanting to follow his footsteps. Despite falling into deep despair, Snake encouraged him to move on and rescue all the hostages held in the Big Shell. Apparently he was successful in this, and stays in contact to support Raiden until he defeated Solidus.When Snake met Otacon at their hideout he was given the disk that contained the data of the Wisemen's Committee to look over, which included their names and whereabouts. After this (the ending note) Otacon told Solid Snake about the information on the disc. The twelve Wisemen had been dead for about 100 years...Otacon's current whereabouts are unknown, but it is assumed that he's still trying to unravel more of the mystery of the Patriots while working with Snake in Philanthropy.
Guns of the Patriots
Otacon has also appeared in a teaser trailer for the upcoming Guns of the Patriots. Appearing to be several years older than he was in MGS2, Otacon assists Snake through the small, remote controlled robot similar in appearance and function to the Metal Gear Mk. 2 which featured in Hideo Kojima's earlier title Snatcher (for more information on this robot see the section below). Otacon's younger looks in the trailer has been used to contrast Solid Snake's elderly appearance.
It should also be noted that the kanji-like symbol on Snake's new sneaking suit is called an Otakon (オタ魂), which is a portmanteau of Otacon's name with the kanji character (kon or tamashii) for spirit; beneath it is the phrase "to let the world be". The symbol is Otacon's personal logo and will appear on equipment designed by him.
Grandfather
In Operation: Snake Eater (the events of Snake Eater), it is revealed that in the 1960s, Otacon's grandfather was a personal friend of Soviet engineer Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin, the man who first developed the concept of bipedial tanks as weapons. Both of them were weapon designers working for the Allied forces during World War II. Otacon's grandfather wrote papers on the subjects, and it's possible that Otacon himself based REX off these early designs. It is also possible that ArmsTech had been given Granin's REX-like designs and Otacon modernized them for the actual REX, with no knowledge of Granin's connection to his grandfather (as the very end of Metal Gear Solid 3 implies that Granin never got to send the designs off to Otacon's grandfather as Revolver Ocelot, talking to the CIA Director, implies that he found the designs and that they could be used for a future American weapon).
Friendship with Solid Snake
It goes without saying that the two men are very good friends. Since the death of Frank Jaeger, Otacon has more or less taken up the role of best friend to Solid Snake. Otacon can be seen as something of a surrogate (younger) brother for him, in direct contrast to Snake's "real" brothers, Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake. Given his character growth in Metal Gear Solid, it seems likely that Otacon's friendship with Snake has led at minimum to an increase in his self-confidence and courage. The depth of their friendship is epitomized by their secret handshake and embrace in Sons of Liberty.
Metal Gear Mk. II (MGS4)
Though not a Metal Gear in the canon sense, standing at approximately 2 feet in height, it is a small UGV manipulated by Otacon. It is modeled after the Mk. II, Gillian Seed's robotic navigator from Hideo Kojima's early title, Snatcher, and resembles the original Metal Gear, Metal Gear TX-55. 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 system put into the game.
Its body is entirely mechanical and rather than feet has wheels at the end of its legs for faster mobility (although this would seem to make it harder to control, especially on sharp turns where its speed and momentum could cause it to fall over, but it may have the ability to get back up on its wheels, thanks to some unknown extra mechanical feature). It has (at this time) no known weapons, but it does have a small storage compartment on the rear side of its body able to fit small clips of ammunition, such as a 30-round detachable box magazine of 5.56 x 45mm NATO rounds and an M203 attachment. It also features a flexible tentacle on its left side for giving the close-by person the desired item in the user's collection. On the top of the body it is equipped with a spec scanner in its camera with a built-in microphone, and apparently a smoke detector. On its right side is a seemingly 1-inch thick monitor for the user to display any desired image (including their real face). Most notably, this Metal Gear is also equipped with a Cell Processor which "...is key to winning the console war." as Otacon put it.
Metal Gear characters | American computer and video game characters | Fictional scientists | fictional hackers | Fictional eccentrics
Otacon | Hal Emmerich | Otacon
"Otacon"