Backseat Front-Man · @DoggTTV
20th Jun 2015 from TwitLonger
MGSV Trailer analysis / Skull Face/Big Boss Duality
I made an analysis around a year ago talking about how Skull Face was portrayed as a reflection of Snake in Ground Zeroes. Its Part 1 here: http://metal-gear.net/forums/index.php?/topic/228-doggs-ground-zeroes-analysis-opinions-and-tpp-speculation/
Also check out this analysis too, its mostly the same as the one above but has some other details in the last couple of sections worth looking at http://metal-gear.net/forums/index.php?/topic/203-ground-zeroes-intro-analysis-skull-facebig-boss-hiding-the-face-of-snake-the-formula-of-mgs-intros/
So it was no surprise to see the latest trailer once again have a strong focus on the duality between Snake and Skull Face. We see a scene showing a mirror 3 or 4 times throughout the trailer, sometimes with Snake looking at his own reflection and eventually smashing the mirror towards the end of the trailer. The opening of the trailer features a monologue from skull face talking about himself and the transformation he underwent, but its juxtaposed against the image of Big Boss walking down a hallway as he transforms from pre phantom pain, to having a short horn and then finally covered in blood with a large horn, an interesting contrast once again between the two characters making them seem in many ways one and the same.
We later see scenes of skull face and snake sitting across from each other in a truck and later face to face in a very symmetrical shot, where Snake is hanging upside down looking directly at Skull Face, that looks sort of like a yin yang kind of duality between the two. Yin and yang describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Many tangible dualities such as light and dark, fire and water, and male and female are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. Kojima said in his ground zeroes opening commentary that the switch from Skull Face to Big Boss in the intro was a shift from light to dark. Note the xof badge has a bright yellow background the fox badge has a dark background. The shift from skull face to snake in the opening scene is symbolized by the xof badge falling past the fox badge.
There's also a scene towards the end of the trailer where Skull Face literally appears out of thin air behind Snake at mother base which seems very surreal and unreal, suggesting that he is just a part of Big Boss's mind, but this may not be the case entirely, as we've seen Skull Face have his own backstory and motives etc and the acts he has committed and interactions hes had with other characters in ground zeroes. But its very interesting how he is also being portrayed as this reflection of Snake and seems to be very unreal and supernatural at times. The fact that he has quoted big boss impossibly from peace walker as well is totally unreal.
I hope you enjoyed this bit of analysis. Skull Face is a really interesting character.