Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - Everything We Know So Far

4. Skull Face's Origins

A point of contention so far, and something we'll detail in a couple point's time - is the inclusion of a character just called 'Skull Face'. Voiced in spectacularly grandiose fashion by James Horan, Skull Face (it's going to have to be the full name, as we're not going up against one of the A-Team) details through audio recordings exactly how and why he calls himself by such a blunt title. Kojima noted that one of the major themes and motifs throughout The Phantom Pain is the very nature of the skull itself. Not only do we have this character, but also Big Boss' PMC group has the logo of a skull, not to mention a mentioning from Kojima's that underneath everybody on earth, is the same skeletal structure. It's very early days to start picking apart the philosophical side of things, but what we got in Ground Zeroes was a pretty detailed description of what the character went through when he was younger. He tells a tale of himself as a young boy forced to watch his parents build weapons in a factory across from an oilseed field where he himself was working. One day the factory was bombed, and although he tried to save his parents, due to the intense heat through the flames and the oil on his skin, the vast majority of it was almost completely burned off. Taken from a recording you can find of a torture session, he berates his captive prisoner, exclaiming that he's taken on his deformity as something to live for, and by:

"What do your eyes see? Yes, that's right. You see a skull face. You see me. This skull is who I am. My mark, my proof of humanity. I have no country, no language, I have no face, but I haven't lost my skull."