Metal Gear (weapon)



Metal Gear (メタルギア) is the name for a series of fictional mecha in the Metal Gear series. In the series, a Metal Gear is defined as a bipedal nuclear weapons-equipped tank, but in the case of Metal Gear RAY, is a large bipedal tank designed to destroy other Metal Gears. Usually each game has a new Metal Gear with a different role. The Metal Gears are typically autonomous nuclear launch platforms which the player must destroy in order to save the world and complete the game. Often (but not always), confronting the latest model of Metal Gear is one of the final challenges of each game.

Concept and creation
Hideo Kojima said that the idea of the fictional "Metal Gear" weapon, a nuclear-capable walking tank, was conceived in response to the nuclear war hysteria during the mid-1980s that resulted from the Cold War, as the U.S. military had no mobile land-based nuclear weapons delivery system at the time.

In video games
The Metal Gear weapon has been consistently described since the original Metal Gear as an all-terrain, nuclear-equipped, walking battle tank capable of launching a nuclear warhead from anywhere on the planet. In the first Metal Gear, the Outer Heaven fortified military state secretly led by Big Boss attempts to achieve military dominance over the West and East through the use of Metal Gear. The model was built by Eastern scientist Dr. Pettrovich (changed to Dr. Madnar in subsequent sequels and re-releases) after being forced to build the weapon against his will. In Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, another hostile nation Zanzibar Land (once again led by Big Boss) use the improved model Metal Gear D to raid nuclear disposal sites. This model was also built by Dr. Madnar willingly this time after his radical ideas were rejected by the Western scientific community.

Metal Gear Solid shows the new model Metal Gear REX designed by Dr. Hal Emmerich after being misled into believing that Metal Gear would be used as an anti-nuclear device that would be capable of safely shooting down nuclear missiles. The railgun system that shoots nuclear warheads from Metal Gear was developed separately, without Emmerich's knowledge. The weapon was produced by the U.S. Army on Shadow Moses Island, Alaska. Due to the proliferation of Metal Gear-like weapons, the creation of the Marines' Metal Gear RAY occurs in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater fills in the origin of Metal Gear: the Metal Gear concept originates with Soviet weapons designer Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin comparing it to the theory of the missing link between apes and men, having two design drawings (Metal Gear REX and Metal Gear D), calling it the missing link between infantry and artillery. Infantry can go anywhere but are easily destroyed and carry limited firepower. Artillery can inflict and sustain far more damage, but are at the mercy of terrain. In short, for a tank to be perfect, it needs legs. The first built models (Metal Gear RAXA and the Intercontinental Ballistic Metal Gear) appear in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops although the two are a quadrupedal design.

TX-55 Metal Gear


The model in the first Metal Gear is designated the "TX-55 Metal Gear" in the manual for the MSX2 version, although it is simply referred as "Metal Gear" in the game. No particular meaning is given behind this codename.

In the game, the player learns Metal Gear's weakness after rescuing its creator Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar and his daughter Ellen. The player must place a certain number of plastic explosives on Metal Gear's feet in the order stated by Dr. Pettrovich. This Metal Gear is stored in a room guarded by two laser cams and never actually becomes operational; the final challenge is instead a battle with Big Boss and a race against time to escape the self-destructing base.

The Metal Gear robot does not appear in the NES version of the game. Instead, the player has to take out a supercomputer which controls Metal Gear prior to the final battle with Big Boss. In Snake's Revenge, the non-canonical sequel to Metal Gear that was released in the west for the NES, mass-produced versions of the original Metal Gear (dubbed "Metal Gear 1" in the game) are stored inside an enemy cargo ship. The wreckage of the original Metal Gear makes a cameo in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, an alternate sequel to the first game in the Metal Gear Solid series set in a rebuilt Outer Heaven.

Metal Gear D
The Revised Metal Gear D (メタルギア改Ｄ) in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is a revision of the original Metal Gear from the first game, which is revealed to have only been a prototype. Metal Gear D is equipped with a Vulcan gun and a six-missile pod. It is piloted by Gray Fox in the game and can only be destroyed by the player by throwing grenades over its feet. The mecha design of Metal Gear D was chosen through an internal contest between Konami's artists, with the primary criteria being realism. The final design is credited to Tomohiro Nishio.

A smaller, non-nuclear-armed mass-produced model dubbed Metal Gear G (or  Metal Gear Gustav), was designed for Metal Gear 2, but rejected for the final game. They are mentioned in the game by Dr. Pettrovich as being under development.

Metal Gear D is visible as a blueprint on Granin's desk in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and has an appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in a flashback.

Metal Gear REX
Metal Gear REX, designed by Yoji Shinkawa, is the model of Metal Gear that appears in Metal Gear Solid. REX differs from the preceding Metal Gear D in that its legs are heavily armored and reinforced, not vulnerable like its predecessors'.

Metal Gear REX has near-impenetrable compound armor, a pair of 30 mm gatling guns, anti-tank missiles, and a free-electron laser, to protect itself from conventional forces. Its primary weapon, however, is a magnetic railgun capable of delivering an untraceable nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, without the propellant trail or launch flare that gives away the launch position of a traditional ballistic missile. It also possessed a radome, a satellite-shaped object on the left side of Metal Gear REX that provides information about the environment outside of the cockpit while keeping the pilot safe from harm, and increasing the accuracy of all weapons as well. Destroying the radome is crucial to rendering the virtual reality interface useless and forcing the pilot to manually control REX. The pilot is also forced to expose himself to enemy fire, by opening the cockpit in order to see outside (In Metal Gear Solid, it was stated that this was intentional, declaring that nothing can be complete without a "character flaw").



In the story of Metal Gear Solid, weapons company ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker bribes DARPA chief Donald Anderson to get covert U.S. government funding for development of Metal Gear REX for the U.S. Army, and sends a single prototype to be tested at a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island. However, the Shadow Moses facility is taken over by the rogue special forces unit FOXHOUND, who then attempt to use it as leverage to extort the U.S. government. Solid Snake comes out of retirement, infiltrates the Shadow Moses facility in order to find out about REX's certain state. Liquid Snake and Revolver Ocelot intended to use REX to hold the world hostage. Later, Liquid uses REX to fight Snake. Snake, with the help of Hal "Otacon" Emmerich (REX's engineer) and Gray Fox, eliminates FOXHOUND and destroys the mecha.

It's revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty that the blueprints for REX were sold on the black market. As a result, variants of REX spread worldwide. The Metal Gear RAY is designed in response, to combat these variants of REX, and render them useless.

In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Granin's original blueprints for Metal Gear REX are shown to Naked Snake. Later, Ocelot reveals he stole duplicates of these designs.

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Old Snake (Solid Snake) is sent back to Shadow Moses Island to re-acquire REX (which was left abandoned after the events of Metal Gear Solid), which has become Liquid Ocelot's newest target. Liquid plans to remove REX's railgun to launch nuclear weapons; since REX predates the SOP system, it has no ID lockout mechanism (with the exception of the PAL interface). Arriving at the old hangar, Snake finds the damaged Metal Gear, but discovers that Liquid has already removed the railgun. Later, Snake confronts Liquid, who is piloting Metal Gear RAY. Even though RAY was developed as an anti-Metal Gear weapon, and REX being handicapped (its radome was still damaged and its railgun gone), Snake and REX manage to fight Liquid to a stalemate (Otacon credits this to his assistance). In a CODEC call to Otacon, REX is mentioned to have a "street fighter" program, allowing it to execute kicking moves. Liquid was apparently not aware that such a program was installed. REX is not seen destroyed and what happened to it after the battle is unknown.

Metal Gear REX, Metal Gear RAY, and a Gekko make cameo appearances in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Shadow Moses Island stage. It also made its appearance as the final boss from LittleBigPlanet with the use of Metal Gear Solid Packs.

In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, in the Isla Del Monstruo as part of a collaboration with Capcom's Monster Hunter series, defeating both the Rathalos and the Tigrex unlocks a monster known as "Gear REX", which heavily resembles its mecha counterpart.

Metal Gear RAY


Metal Gear RAY, also designed by Yoji Shinkawa is introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (although its first seen in an easter egg in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions). It comes in two variants: a manned prototype version, developed to combat derivatives of Metal Gear REX, and an unmanned, computer-controlled 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 following the events of Shadow Moses. It is designed to be even more maneuverable and flexible in deployment than REX, and can operate both on land and in water. While RAY has a pair of Gatling guns and missile launchers on its back and knees to defend itself from more conventional battlefield threats, its primary weapon is a powerful water jet cutter, which can cut through heavily-armored foes, such as Metal Gear REX derivatives. The Metal Gear RAY is more organic in appearance and in function than previous models. Its streamlined shape helps to deflect enemy fire and allows for greater maneuverability both on land and in water. Its interior workings are also somewhat organic, as 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 network 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. Another feature is its blood-like armor-repair nanopaste, which is secreted from valves and coagulates wherever the exterior surface is damaged. Particularly unusual is its "face", with two "eyes" and a gaping "mouth", only seen when the head armor is removed.

During the Tanker chapter (the prologue of Metal Gear Solid 2), Revolver Ocelot stole RAY while it was transported in a disguised oil tanker and delivers the stolen prototype RAY to The Patriots, an organization secretly running the United States. The version housed on the tanker (an operational prototype) is labeled "MARINES", has a cockpit (accommodating a single pilot) and a long tail intended for balance while making leaps or operating underwater. The entirety of the forward interior of the cockpit is a heads-up display, allowing the pilot to look around as if there were no obstruction between him and the battlefield. During the Plant chapter (the second part of Metal Gear Solid 2), Arsenal Gear has a force of unmanned mass-produced Metal Gear RAYs ready for immediate deployment against any possible threats under the command of the ship's AI known as GW. The mass-production RAYs lack the tail of the prototype, have rounded knees and have only one sensory input or "eye" instead of two like the prototype version, and are labeled "U.S. NAVY". They are also painted in an olive-drab camouflage pattern. When Solidus Snake took over Arsenal along with the slave RAYs, he had them confront Raiden, who destroys them all.

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Liquid Ocelot pilots a modified RAY: it sports the mass-production model's tailless design and rounded knees, and the prototype's two "eyes", a cockpit, and greyish-blue coloring. It is labeled "OUTER HAVEN". Despite being an anti-REX Metal Gear, RAY was immobilized during a battle with a handicapped REX. Additional mass-production RAYs appear in the climactic battle sequence between Outer Haven and the USS Missouri.

Metal Gear RAY, Metal Gear REX, and a Gekko make cameo appearances in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Shadow Moses Island stage.

A very different version of the RAY, sporting giant swords in its arms and a different tail, is slated to appear in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Arsenal Gear
Arsenal Gear (appearing in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) is a submersible, mobile fortress developed by the Patriots in the Big Shell, but it was made by the U.S. Navy. It has the ability to monitor, block, and tamper with Internet communications in order to further the goals of the Patriots. 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.

Arsenal Gear is hidden under the Big Shell, and is controlled by an AI named "GW", which was designed by Emma Emmerich. The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 actually reveals that the Arsenal below the Big Shell is not the only one, and each Arsenal is run by its own Patriots AI system. Arsenal Gear is large enough to house - and also require - a significant force for its defense. The exterior is shown when Raiden and Solidus Snake are heading for Federal Hall and see it speeding under many bridges before it crashes. The Arsenal Gear hidden under the Big Shell has an unspecified number of "Tengu Commandos", soldiers clad in powered armor and armed with P90 submachine guns and high-frequency blades. It also has a squadron of 25 unmanned mass-production Metal Gear RAYs under the direct control of GW. During the Big Shell incident, Raiden is actually being manipulated by GW but, as Emma Emmerich's virus slowly destroys GW, Raiden is able to enter Arsenal Gear 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 his transplanted arm, directs Arsenal Gear to crash into Manhattan Island at the end of Raiden's mission. A scene in Metal Gear Solid 2 shows Arsenal Gear crashing through and destroying several buildings in Manhattan Island, but it was cut from the final version because of the terrorist attacks on September 11th.

Shagohod
The Shagohod (Russian Шагоход, "step-walker", occasionally referred to in English as "The Treading Behemoth") featured in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, is not a true Metal Gear (being a parallel design instead), but 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 uses screw propulsion, with a pair of Archimedes' screws on hydraulic legs, that pulls 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 mph) 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 (a range of over 6,000 miles [9,600 km]). The Shagohod also has parachutes in the back to help in 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 12.7mm DShKM machine guns to defend against aircraft and infantry, six 9K112 Kobra surface-to-air missiles to protect against aircraft, and a 100-barrel volley gun to defend against armor. The Shagohod's most evident weakness is in its propulsive screws; when they are blocked or damaged, the tank becomes nearly useless. Also, its need for a long, flat surface to accelerate seriously impairs its versatility. While Naked Snake talks with its designer, Sokolov in the west wing of the weapons lab in Groznyj Grad, Sokolov mentions that Volgin was planning to mass-produce the Shagohod and ship it to all the countries of the Eastern Bloc. At that same point, Sokolov also mentioned that Volgin also was planning to use the Shagohod as bait to foment armed uprisings among dictators, ethnic insurgents and revolutionary groups throughout the Third World.

The Shagohod is not a precursor to the Metal Gear series of mecha, but instead a parallel development; it is developed by Sokolov at a secret base in Tselinoyarsk. His peer and self-proclaimed rival Director Granin conceives of the Metal Gear concept at approximately the same time, but Colonel Volgin favors Sokolov's design over Granin's, and funds the production of a prototype. This is possibly due to the fact that, though a walker like Metal Gear would ultimately prove to be a far more versatile system, the Shagohod was only an unusual combination of technologies that already existed at the time (tanks, ground effect, IRBMs, and booster rockets), as opposed to an unrealized idea requiring years or even decades of research as well as incredibly large amounts of money to produce.

Intercontinental Ballistic Metal Gear


The Intercontinental Ballistic Metal Gear, or ICBMG as it is referred, is the featured mecha in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. In the fictional chronology of the series, the ICBMG is the first built Metal Gear prototype, predating the TX-55 from the first game. Its design, completed by Dr. Sokolov, is based on the original blueprints created by Granin (the same one seen in Metal Gear Solid 3). Unlike the future bipedal models, ICBMG's design is quadrupedal. Its nuclear function is to act as a mobile launching device for MIRVs. While therefore capable of making nuclear strikes against several targets at once, its range is limited, and unlike the Shagohod, is unable to compensate for it with speed. Thus, it must be physically transported to a point within range of the target(s) first. This is accomplished by having the ICBMG itself attached to the top of a rocket, launching it, detaching the unit at 3000 ft above the intended landing point, and having it parachute back down to the ground, launching its nuclear payload afterwards.

Naked Snake (Big Boss) encounters two models in the game. The first is Metal Gear RAXA, a non-nuclear equipped test model which the player destroys a boss battle. The actual model appears attached to a reproduced Saturn V rocket in the game's ending, which Snake destroys in the cut-scene with the help of a defecting group of Red Army soldiers.

Gekko


Gekko (月光) is the new mecha featured in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The Gekko is a mass-produced unmanned bipedal unit manufactured by ArmsTech Corp, and designated "Irving" by the U.S. Military; this stems from the American codename for the Nakajima J1N "Gekko" twin engine night fighter aircraft from WWII. Their frequent use by PMCs has caused it to be a replacement for tanks as a means of conducting armored warfare in urban areas. The Gekko is used particularly by the Werewolf company, although the Gekko have widespread use within the PMC community.

Although not a literal Metal Gear, the top half of this mecha is reminiscent of the Metal Gear REX design while the organic legs are somewhat similar to that of Metal Gear RAY. It is unmanned and uses two large cameras as its "eyes", one mounted on its head, the other at the front of its hip assembly. These are backed up by other sensors, mostly passive. New features include a small robotic tentacle used to pick up small objects or grab targets. The Gekko is incredibly agile and maneuverable, thanks to a pair of flexible limbs that can act as either legs or arms. The legs are made from artificial muscle tissue cloned from embryonic stem cells of ungulate embryos. With these legs, the Gekko can pick up a man and throw him hard enough to penetrate a brick wall, deliver a kick that can overturn a 6x6 truck, dodge an RPG and kill its shooter, climb walls, crouch to enter buildings, run at speeds equivalent to a motor vehicle, and leap huge distances through the air. This model comes in multiple variants. Two of these variants are designed for standard combat; both carrying anti-personnel machine guns mounted inside the "nose", while one carries heavier machine guns and missile launchers. A third variant is the special purpose "Suicide Gekko", designed to invade enemy facilities in groups before self-destructing en masse. Similar in combat terms when compared with traditional Metal Gear models, relatively little firepower is needed to actually destroy one. A quick blast with an assault rifle may cause one to trip if shot in the legs. Corresponding shots to the "neck" can destroy a Gekko with small arms such as a M4 Carbine or FN P90. However, when a Gekko falls, it can quickly regain its footing even if tripped onto its head. Nonetheless, a heavy weapon such as any rocket-launcher, an M82A2, or the Rail Gun, can be used against the Gekko without requiring it to be collapsed. The Gekko makes use of sound in psychological warfare, particularly animal noises (such as cicadas while on the prowl to create an atmosphere of unease, and bull sounds in direct combat as a means of unnerving the enemy). They feature characteristics that are biomechanoid to some degree, as they have been shown to "bleed" when sliced at the legs (understandably as the machine could use a blood-like self-repairing nanopaste like the RAY), though severe wounds on seemingly mechanical components have been known to "bleed" as well. In addition, they expel a green liquid, which may be lactic acid produced by the artificial muscles.

In a pre-release interview, Metal Gear director Hideo Kojima stated that the Gekko are not the game's titular Metal Gears, stating that they are more like a jeep or a tank compared to the conventional Metal Gears such as REX and RAY.

The Gekko will reappear in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, renamed as Gekko UG in the demo.

Metal Gear Mk. II and Metal Gear Mk. III
A robotic companion to Snake called '''Metal Gear Mk. II' appears in Metal Gear Solid 4''. This Metal Gear Mk. II is similar (albeit a bit more angular in appearance, uses an OLED screen and has wheels instead of feet) to the Snatcher version (see below) and is controlled by Otacon. This version of Metal Gear is not meant to be a weapon, instead he uses it to provide ammunition and advice to Solid Snake. The Metal Gear Mk. II can also be used as a recon device, turn invisible, and shock enemies knocking them unconscious. However, it also runs on batteries which deplete while in operation. The Metal Gear Mk. II is automated in the game, but can be controlled by the player if needed. After the Eastern Europe mission, the Metal Gear Mk. II is destroyed by Vamp, and replaced by the similar '''Metal Gear Mk. III''', which accompanies Snake at Shadow Moses and Outer Haven. The Mk. III has the same body as the Mk. II, but with a red-colored exterior, and serves the same function.

Outer Haven
Outer Haven (appearing in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) is a stolen Arsenal Gear submersible ark manned by Liquid Ocelot. The ark features a Mount Rushmore-like sculpture of Solidus Snake, Solid Snake (Old Snake), Liquid Snake, and Big Boss. As it turned out, Haven contained the rebuilt AI GW in its server room. It made its first appearance in the "Twin Suns" chapter. In the "Old Sun" chapter, Liquid Ocelot planned on using the ruins of GW (which was still in the Patriot system but not recognized by its main core AI JD or the other AIs (TJ, TR, and AL), which had labeled GW as destroyed) to take control of the Patriots by using Metal Gear REX's railgun to destroy the satellite JD was contained in. Using the railgun he could stealth-launch the missile (with pure magnetic energies and no chemical propellants), thus protecting it from Patriot countermeasures.

Metal Gear ZEKE
Metal Gear ZEKE (appearing in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker) is a Metal Gear built in the Militaires Sans Frontieres base. Although it is AI-controlled in its testing stages, in the game's true ending, Paz modifies Zeke to be manned and uses it to attempt a nuclear strike on the US east coast, forcing Big Boss/Naked Snake to defeat her and heavily damage the unit. Developer Huey Emmerich and Kazuhira Miller named the mech in honor of Granin's "Metal Gear" design philosophy and the Zero fighter, which was codenamed Zeke by the Allies in World War II. The unit is also the series' second Metal Gear that the player can use in any capacity, as it can be fielded in the Outer Ops missions once all the parts have been installed. Zeke is armed with a railgun mated to a radome, three machine guns, and a number of guided missiles. Zeke's nuclear weapon was salvaged from the remains of Peace Walker.

Zeke is a combination of AI technology built by Strangelove and the scrap parts of the game's four main boss mechs. All four, which are detailed in order of appearance, have large red-and-black cylinders called Reptile Pods that houses each mech's AI core. One unique trait of the AI weapons (also carried over to Zeke) is their ability to "sing" (due to the in-game Vocaloid software programmed on it).


 * Pupa (GW-PUPA 5000) - A smaller version of the Shagohod from Metal Gear Solid 3, the Pupa features a taser gun on the forward section, conductive mines, automated machineguns on its shoulders and rear, and sports a metal-gray color. The Archimedes screws have been replaced by caterpillar tracks. The Pupa has the ability to run on extremely sloped surfaces and attack a very wide area by dispensing its conductive mines and running electricity through them.


 * Chrysalis (TJ-CHRYSALIS 6000) - the only large VTOL unit in the game, the Chrysalis first appeared in the 2009 E3 trailer by facing four Naked Snakes and in the Tokyo Game Show 2009 trailer by carrying the Peace Walker. The Chrysalis has the ability to quickly dodge unguided rocket weaponry when it is in attack mode, and is referred to as "El colibri" (the hummingbird) by the Sandinistas. It is equipped with a railgun, chain gun, kidnapper drones, and missiles.


 * Cocoon (TR-COCOON 7000) - The Cocoon is a giant land battleship lined with numerous fixed gun ports, six main Gatling guns, missiles, hedgehogs, a large-caliber cannon, and a robotic arm equipped with a chainsaw and machinegun. Its slow movement is compensated by its firepower and armor. Due to the power needed to move its bulk, its radiators need to deal with immense heat, thus making them weak points.


 * Peace Walker/Basilisk (AL-AURELIA 8000) - Also known as Basilisk, the Peace Walker was first seen in a trailer that debuted at the Tokyo Game Show 2009. Because it is mostly covered by a tarpaulin in the trailer, the mech's most prominent feature is a glossy sphere where the words PEACE WALKER and a butterfly logo is emblazoned. Although it is initially shown as a bipedal mech, Peace Walker is eventually revealed to be a quadrupedal design. Aside from its nuclear payload, the unit is equipped with drill missiles, S-mines, a rocket launcher, flamethrowers, a paralysis beam, and an EM pulse field which can deflect rocket-based weapons. Peace Walker is depicted in the game as the end-product of a research program being conducted by the Peace Sentinels in Costa Rica, as the "ultimate deterrent" to nuclear war. It can also be a deep-strike unit that will self-destruct in enemy territory by detonating the sphere, which is a hydrogen bomb more powerful than the Tsar Bomba. Although the unit has an AI core under the sphere, Strangelove used information on The Boss' entire career as basis for programming a second AI core located at the back of the unit, called a Mammal Pod.

Models in other games
These models are not part of the mainstream Metal Gear series continuity, either because they appear in a non-canonical game (Snake's Revenge, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel and Metal Gear Acid) or because the game in which they appear is not a Metal Gear game at all (Snatcher).

Metal Gear Mk. II (Snatcher)
The '''Metal Gear Mk. II' in Snatcher'' is the robotic sidekick of the game's protagonist, Gillian Seed, a JUNKER agent. He is a navigator built by JUNKER engineer Harry Benson to assist Gillian and facilitate his investigation. According to Harry, he was designed after the "Metal Gear menace from the 20th century." He is equipped with a forensic analyzer, as well as a videophone Gillian uses to communicate with his wife and other characters. The Metal Gear is voiced by Mami Koyama in the Japanese versions and by Lucy Childs in the English-language Sega CD version. A hand-size model appears in the spinoff SD Snatcher named Petit Metal, its function in the game is to display statistical data during battle or to automatic battle for the player.

Metal Gear 2
The Metal Gear 2 from Snake's Revenge is a successor to the original Metal Gear described as "seven times more powerful" than the original. It is a bipedal mech similar to the original equipped with a large missile cannon, although its precise specifications are never revealed. Snake is told of its existence by his helicopter pilot after completing his initial objective. In the game's end sequence, Metal Gear 2 becomes active and initiates a countdown sequence, announcing to launch a series of nuclear missiles around the globe, starting with New York, Tokyo and Moscow. The path to Metal Gear 2 is blocked by a fence and the player can only destroy the mech by firing guided missiles into the air duct.

Metal Gear GANDER


The Metal Gear model in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. Metal Gear GANDER is the result of the U.S. Army's "Project Babel" after the U.S. Government procured the data from the original prototype in Outer Heaven. It is stolen by the Gindra Liberation Front and taken to their fortress of Galuade (the former Outer Heaven). Its armament consists of two nuclear warhead-launching rail guns (similar to Metal Gear REX), two vulcan cannons, six guided missile pods, two automated flying attack pods, a pair of spread fire cannons, and a close range flamethrower. While GANDER had a railgun similar to REX, it required an entire power plant to operate. Secretly, its most powerful weapon was a satellite-based data link system that allows it to launch nuclear missiles anywhere in the world; likewise, it took the same amount of power to function. The design is based on one of Shinkawa's unused Metal Gear REX concepts.

Metal Gear KODOQUE
Metal Gear KODOQUE is the Metal Gear model featured in Metal Gear Ac!d. Its name is derived from the Japanese word "Kodoku" or "Isolation". One of the larger Metal Gear models, KODOQUE has two armor-like plates on each of its arms that come equipped with a remote control missile launcher. There are four slots for missiles on each arm, coming to a total of 8 missiles at one time. When not being used, these arms can form a protective cocoon around the Metal Gear. It also comes with a beam cannon near the legs, and can fire a plasma shot from its head when both arms are destroyed. This beam can be interrupted if four rods in a control room are destroyed. The inside is also different from Metal Gears: It comes equipped with a control room, and has sentry bots for security. It also has multiple controls when compared to previous Metal Gears having a cockpit. This Metal Gear is also unmanned and is simply controlled by an AI.

In Metal Gear Ac!d², KODOQUE's wreck was salvaged and brought to the SaintLogic facility. The Metal Gear is activated by one of Koppelthorn's Test subjects, Golab. It is kept in the four-story Metal Gear Prototype building, which is destroyed by Snake and Venus. Before destroying the building, Snake and Venus have to defeat KODOQUE before the time limit runs out.

Chaioth Ha Qadesh
Chaioth Ha Qadesh is the Metal Gear model which appears in Metal Gear Ac!d². The name Chaioth Ha Qadesh is derived from the Keter, a high level in the Kabbalah, a mystical offshoot of Judaism. The name refers to a group of angels, called The Holy Living Creatures (Chayot Ha Qadesh - "חיות הקדש" in Hebrew). Originally designed as a way to control Model 3 test subjects, Chaioth Ha Qadesh uses the EGO (Enhanced Governing Organization) Operating System to control various modified soldiers and guard robots. SaintLogic developed the Metal Gear for that purpose, but Dr. Thomas Koppelthorn stole Chaioth Ha Qadesh as a means to get revenge for his wife Lucinda and kill all involved in the Praulia Massacre.

Like other Metal Gears, Chaioth Ha Qadesh can fire a nuclear missile from any area of the world to its target. However, one difference is that it mainly uses neutron bombs as its main weapon, and also contains the data on all test subjects in the SaintLogic institute. It has a missile launcher on its back, and can fire bullets from the Vulcan cannons on each of its arms. It also has a slot on the top for launching energy that can cause any equipped cards to be destroyed. Metal Gear Chaioth Ha Qadesh uses nano chip expansions so the player can see what cards the Metal Gear has and will use. The cockpit, located in the upper zone of Metal Gear's head, can be ejected, which Lucy uses to kill Koppelthorn by launching him out of Chaioth Ha Qadesh and then destroying the cockpit (and what was inside it) with a missile. At the end of the game, Snake empties its equipped nuclear warhead, hides inside the casing, and launches himself into the ocean to escape U.S. soldiers.

Reception
In 2011, UGO.com ranked Metal Gear Mk. II and III as eighth on the list of the best robots in gaming, while Joystick Division ranked Metal Gears in general as first on their list, adding "For one of the biggest franchises of all time to feature you as the catalyst for action in many of its games, you've got to be pretty damn iconic." That same year, PlayStation Universe ranked RAY (MGS2) and REX vs. RAY (MGS4) at the second and first place respectively on the list of the greatest Metal Gear Solid boss battles, also discussing the latter in the feature series Badass Bosses. In 2012, IGN ranked Metal Gear REX as 14th on the list of top video game weapons, while Cheat Code Central included faight against it among the six most epic boss battles in gaming.