Otacon

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 once he learns of REX's nuclear strike capabilities. After the events of Metal Gear Solid, he helps form the Philanthropy group with Solid Snake to stop the proliferation of Metal Gear-type weapons.

A devoted fan of anime, Hal's chosen nickname is the short form of Otaku Convention, a reference to the real Otakon held in Baltimore each year. The name "Hal" is a direct reference to the computer HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of several references to that film present in Metal Gear Solid. The surname "Emmerich" comes from Roland Emmerich, who is one of Hideo Kojima's favorite film directors.

After the death of Hal's mother, his father married a British woman with a child of her own (Emma Emmerich). Hal and Emma became very close, and developed a mutual infatuation. Shortly afterwards, his stepmother seduced him, and they held a brief affair.

When Hal's father learned of this, he committed suicide by drowning himself, but accidentally dragged in Emma, too. Emma expected her brother to save her, but he didn't know it was happening as he was with his stepmother at the time. Because of this, Emma has always claimed to have hated her brother.

Shortly afterwards, Hal ran away from home and didn't see any of his family members until several years later. Choosing not to continue with school, he instead 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.

Eventually, 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 appear frequently in the anime he enjoyed. He was led to believe that it was a mobile defense system, but in reality it was a nuclear doomsday weapon. During the Shadow Moses rebellion of Metal Gear Solid, Otacon encountered Solid Snake, who informed him of the true nature of his creation. 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 August 6, 1945, the day of the Hiroshima bombing.

During this time, 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.

Otacon was forced to fake his death after being framed by The Patriots in the beginning of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but came out of hiding after he learned that Emma, his sister, was working for them. He managed to get her to change her ways, but she died shortly afterwards.

Otacon's current whereabouts are unknown, but it is assumed that he's still trying to unravel the mystery of The Patriots.

In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, it is revealed that in the 1960s, Otacon's father was a friend of Soviet engineer Alexander Granin, the man who first developed the concept of Metal Gear-type weapons. Otacon's father wrote papers on the subjects, and it's possible that Otacon himself based REX off these early designs.

See Also

Otakon, the Otaku Convention.