Ocelot (Metal Gear)

Ocelot (オセロット), also known as Shalashaska (シャラシャーシカ) and whose real name is Adamska (アダムスカ), is a fictional character of the Metal Gear series. He was originally introduced in Metal Gear Solid (MGS) as a gunslinger-themed member of FOXHOUND from the former Soviet Union under the full codename of Revolver Ocelot (リボルバー・オセロット) and is revealed to be an agent for The Patriots in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (MGS2). He appears in the prequels Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MGS3) and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (MPO) as a young Spetsnaz Major, where he is identified simply as Ocelot, and eventually becomes Liquid Ocelot (リキッド・オセロット) in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4).

Character design
He is normally clothed in a duster, spurs and gunbelts, the traditional garb of gunslingers in spaghetti westerns, as well as a black armband on his left arm, and wields the Colt Single Action Army revolver, which he refers to as "the greatest handgun ever made" and quoting to Snake in MGS "Six bullets, more than enough to kill anything that moves" represents Ocelot's clever remarks toward his marksmanship. His appearance is based on that of veteran Western film actor Lee Van Cleef, who notably appears as Bob Hauk in John Carpenter's Escape from New York alongside Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, the inspiration for Metal Gear protagonist Solid Snake. He is noticeably redesigned to look more similar to Van Cleef for the fourth installment.

He is the only character in the series who is personally acquainted with all four Snakes: working as a henchman for Liquid Snake and then Solidus Snake, having a friendly rivalry with Naked Snake (Big Boss) and being the nemesis to Solid Snake. He is one of the only characters to appear in every major Metal Gear Solid game (but not in the original Metal Gear games) besides Peace Walker, and is thus considered "one of the only characters to have a major role in all five Metal Gear Solid titles."

Voice actors
As Revolver Ocelot, the character was voiced in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 by Kōji Totani in the Japanese versions and Patric Zimmerman in the English versions. The younger Ocelot who appears in Metal Gear Solid 3 and Portable Ops is voiced by Takumi Yamazaki in Japanese and Joshua Keaton in English. After Totani's death in 2006, the older Ocelot was played by Banjō Ginga (the voice of Liquid Snake) in the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid 4, where he is named Liquid Ocelot, although Zimmerman still played the character in the English version. Ikuya Sawaki voiced Revolver Ocelot in the DVD film Metal Gear Solid : Digital Graphic Novel (a digital version of the first game graphic novel) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinee (a digital version of the Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty graphic novel).

Metal Gear Solid
In Metal Gear Solid, he is one of the FOXHOUND terrorists involved with the hostile takeover of Shadow Moses Island, serving as the team's interrogation expert. He challenges Solid Snake to a gunfight in the game's first boss encounter and appears later to torture a captured Snake. During his interrogation, he reveals his experience as a soldier as well as his allegiance to Sergei Gurlukovich and the true motive behind his actions. He is the sole surviving FOXHOUND member by the end of the game, losing only his right hand during an encounter with the Cyborg Ninja. After the ending credits, it is revealed that Ocelot is in league with "Solidus", the third surviving offspring of the Les Enfants Terribles project that created Snake and Liquid, as well as the current US President. It is unknown how he escaped from Shadow Moses.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he gains a new surgically attached right arm that belonged to his former boss, Liquid Snake. This apparently results in Revolver Ocelot developing a dormant personality in which Liquid's persona takes over Ocelot's mind during certain moments, usually when Solid Snake is present. Two games later, it is revealed that Ocelot deliberately grafted a facsimile of Liquid's personality onto his own mind in order to hide his machinations from the System. This time he is under the employ of his old friend Sergei Gurlukovich during the introductory Tanker Chapter, but ends up betraying him and his mercenaries when he hijacks Metal Gear RAY. He then forms part of the terrorist group "Sons of Liberty" during the Plant Chapter with Solidus Snake, but ends up betraying him as well, revealing his true allegiance to the Patriots. By the end of the game, Ocelot is taken over by Liquid and escapes once again, this time with the Metal Gear RAY prototype. According to an interview with Yoji Shinkawa, Ocelot was originally going to have a mechanical arm, but others thought that having Liquid's arm was a good concept as Liquid was considered an excellent villain by the fanbase.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a prequel set four decades before the original Metal Gear Solid, features a young Ocelot (having not attained the "Revolver" moniker yet) as a GRU Major under the command of Colonel Volgin and leader of his own "Ocelot unit" within Spetsnaz. He acquires his preferences for revolvers as a result of his initial encounter with Naked Snake, who suggests that his tendency to absorb the gun's recoil with his elbow is more of a revolver technique; prior to that, he uses a Makarov PM handgun. When he finally begins using revolvers as his primary weapons, he feels a rush he's never felt before, so much he is able to fight off The Pain's hornet swarm just by spinning his revolvers. He is shown to be somewhat insubordinate, expressing disapproval over Colonel Volgin's methods of torture. Ocelot has an underlying deep respect for The Boss, even causing him to disobey Volgin out of a promise not to kill Snake. It is from watching Snake's torture that Ocelot acquired his sadistic way of thinking that would hold true during the course of the games, calling it "the ultimate form of expression". He is revealed to be a triple agent at the game's ending, working not only for the KGB under the codename ADAM, but also under the direct orders of the DCI as well. He was supposed to intercept and assist Snake, but EVA got there first. Ocelot is the missing son of The Boss and The Sorrow; while on the battlefield during pregnancy, The Boss was shot in the abdomen, and Ocelot was born through a messy C-section that left his mother with a long, snake-shaped scar along her abdomen. He is also revealed to be responsible for the loss of Big Boss's right eye, albeit accidentally [He was intending to shoot Tatyana (AKA, EVA) with an SAA in a manner similar to Russian Roulette, but Naked Snake swung in front of Tatyana to protect her from the gunshot and received muzzleburn near his right eye as a result].

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Ocelot plays a minor role in the plot of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and appears as a recruitable character in the game, his appearance unchanged from Metal Gear Solid 3 (Aside from during his meeting with the DCI, in which case, he's wearing a suit and tie). In the story, he is in league with Gene and near the end of the game, he assassinates his former employer (the DCI) and reports to a new employer, an unidentified character (revealed to be Major Zero in Metal Gear Solid 4) who invites Ocelot to join his new organization (The Patriots) on the grounds that Naked Snake/Big Boss join as well. Ocelot can join Naked Snake's squad if the player fulfills certain requirements.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (set five years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2), he became the main antagonist, and assumes the identity of Liquid Ocelot, with the Liquid Snake personality having seemingly taken complete control of his mind. He attempts to resurrect Outer Heaven in his conflict with the Patriots, establishing a dummy corporation that runs the five largest PMCs that exist in the game. Ocelot's possession by Liquid was deliberate, made possible through self-hypnosis and nanomachines, in order to become Liquid Snake and trick the Patriot AIs into focusing their energies on battling Liquid. The arm threw Ocelot's psyche off balance though. Thus, he removed the arm and had it replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic prior to the events of Guns of the Patriots.

The game's final battle is a fist fight between Snake and Liquid Ocelot atop the warship, Outer Haven, with background music from the previous Metal Gear Solid games played during the fight. There are four main stages of the battle, in which Liquid Ocelot's fighting strategy changes from being more aggressive to more technical. Initially, Liquid's persona continues to be in control, as evidenced by the name header under his life gauge, which simply says "Liquid". In the second and third phases, the name header changes to "Liquid Ocelot" and then simply "Ocelot" when he attacks Snake using CQC. Snake's name also changes during this time, from "Solid Snake" (the first and second phases) to "Naked Snake" (the third phase), reflecting the progression of the Metal Gear Solid games and the constant rivalry between the characters. In the end, Ocelot tires and collapses to the ground, eventually returning to his normal-self state. Although he appears to die from exhaustion after the final fight, his death is actually caused by the new strain of FOXDIE that was injected into Snake by Drebin (as revealed by Big Boss in the game's debriefing).

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Although Ocelot doesn't appear in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, he's mentioned (indirectly) in EVA's tapes that Big Boss (Naked Snake) listens to about The Boss's past prior to Metal Gear Solid 3. In one of the tapes, the reason why The Boss assassinated The Sorrow was because one of them had to die or their child (Ocelot) would die in their place.

Reception
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine called Revolver Ocelot underrated in comparison to Final Fantasy VII antagonist Sephiroth, stating "...Ocelot is just a persistent, sneaky, and cool villain. Heck, just watch the MGS3 trailer and you'll see that he was a badass even in the 60's." Ocelot was ranked number 28 on IGN's "Top 100 Video Game Villains" list. G4's Filter placed him at number ten in their top ten video game villains list. Edge magazine stated of his Liquid Ocelot appearance "Kojima has forged a superb villain, far more complete than in MGS2."