UPDATE: In March of 2015, Hideo Kojima announced that only the games that he himself directed (MG1/2, MGS1-4, PW, and GZ/TPP) are part of the Metal Gear Saga, and that “even if the Metal Gear series continues, to me, [MGSV] is the LAST Metal Gear.”

Official promotional material for The Phantom Pain is consistent with Kojima’s statements (see; this timeline displayed in Japanese retailers.)

Therefore, I feel that this article is no longer necessary. There’s no more need for a Star Wars-esque Canon Hierarchy. Instead, fans should accept a Canon Binary; games that are “A Hideo Kojima Game” (Canon), and games that are NOT-”A Hideo Kojima Game” (Non-Canon.)

Regardless of how Konami handles the franchise’s future, it should be obvious from Kojima’s statements that he doesn't consider any game that he didn't direct (ie Portable Ops, Rising, and whatever game Konami makes in the future) part of the canon Metal Gear Saga. And as a fanbase, I feel that it is our responsibility to do the same.





Canon is the one subject that MG fans are the most anal about. And with Kojima’s recent answers about MPO on twitch, it’s become even more confusing.

So, what I propose, is that the fan-base (and hopefully, Kojima Productions) adopt a Canon Hierarchy system, similar to the one Lucasfilm used for Star Wars licensed material before the Disney buyout.

K-Canon: Hideo Kojima canon. These are games directed by Hideo Kojima himself, and best represent his SENSE of the Metal Gear Saga; his vision for the story, themes, characters, and philosophy.

These games include; Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid, MGS2: Sons of Liberty, MGS3: Snake Eater, MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, MGS: Peace Walker, MGSV: Ground Zeroes, and MGSV: The Phantom Pain, as well as all future MG games directed by Hideo Kojima (or his handpicked successor.)

Because Kojima is the creator of the series, these works should be considered above any and all other games bearing the Metal Gear name. This is the TRUE Metal Gear Saga.

Interviews by Hideo Kojima himself, such as Metal Gear Saga Vol.1, should also be used as a way to assist how we interpret K-Canon.*

(Note1: Thematic canon (ie the message that Kojima wished to convey in each game, GENE, MEME, SCENE, SENSE, PEACE, RACE/REVENGE) is more important than factual canon. Kojima said that he is willing to break factual canon if it means allowing him to do what he wants with a story. In other words, so what if there’s AI mechs in the 70s? Above all else, it is the message that is most important about Metal Gear, not how many languages Solid Snake speaks, or whether or not Ocelot was literally possessed by Liquid in MGS2.)

(Note2: When there is a contradiction between the Japanese script and the English script, the Japanese script wins, because Kojima wrote the games in Japanese, therefore the Japanese script best represents what Kojima intended. For example, in the English version of MGS1, Liquid mentions that Big Boss was in a coma when he was cloned. However, the original Japanese script did not reference this coma; only that Big Boss was sterile. The Japanese script trumps the English script. The Twin Snakes was re-translated to be closer to the Japanese script, but for some reason, the coma is still referenced… and Snake does fucking missile jumps.)

(Note3: When/if Kojima passes the torch to someone he trusts, like he wanted to do with Project Itoh (before he died of cancer), games made by his successor will be K-Canon, because Kojima feels that this hypothetical successor is the one most capable of conveying his SENSE of the Metal Gear Saga.)

S-Canon: Secondary canon. Basically, this is a nice way of saying “fringe canon.” This level of canon is for material not found in Hideo Kojima directed games. This is primarily for things like backstory information found in the MGS1 Official Mission Handbook, the MGS4 Database, original material in the Digital Graphic Novels, and the novelizations by Raymond Benson and Project Itoh (although Itoh’s work should be considered closer to K-Canon, because of how strongly Kojima felt about Itoh being his successor.)

Games that fall under S-Canon would be Portable Ops and the canceled Metal Gear Solid: Rising (if the game had been released.) According to Kojima on twitch, the main story of MPO is considered canon, but there are details that are off. He also said that, inside him, he separates “A Hideo Kojima Games” from NOT-A Hideo Kojima Games (click here for a clearer translation of Kojima’s answer.) So while things like Big Boss forming FOXHOUND and Zero forming The Patriots should be considered K-Canon (because both of these were referenced in K-Canon games), everything else in MPO should be considered S-Canon.

Likewise, MGS:Rising was originally going to be about how Raiden rescued Sunny from The Patriots. This is an event referenced in MGS4, so that aspect of the original Rising is K-Canon. But like MPO, everything else in the game would have been considered S-Canon (again, had the game been released. I’m only using MGS:Rising as a hypothetical example.)

When there is a contradiction, either factually, or thematically, between S-Canon material and K-Canon material, K-Canon wins, because K-Canon consists of work created by Hideo Kojima himself.

N-Canon: Not canon. These are games that simply are not part of the Metal Gear Saga in any way, shape, or form. These are simply fun spin-off games that should be enjoyed independently from the main Metal Gear Saga.

These games include; Snake’s Revenge, Metal Gear Solid/Ghost Babel (GameBoy Color), Metal Gear AC!D 1 and 2, Portable Ops +, MGS Touch, MGS Social Ops, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

(Note: Kojima said that MGR does not reflect his idea of what happens after MGS4. Therefore, he considers Rising to be Platinum’s INTERPRETATION of the Metal Gear world, and is therefore a PARALLEL STORY.

And, in 2011 (a few months before MGR was announced, and long after the deal with Platinum was made), he also said that he considers Rising to be a “spin-off”, and that he would one day like to pass down “the numbered series, the official canon Metal Gear.”

8:56 http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/dbbg62/hideo-kojima-usc-interview-part-2

As in, “spin-offs” are not part of “the numbered series, the official canon Metal Gear.”

Even three years later, Kojima has expressed similar frustrations with passing the torch, saying that Rising worked out well only because it was a spin-off. So, there is no way Rising can be canon, because as far as Hideo Kojima is concerned, he has not yet passed down the “canon series.” Hideo Kojima is the creator of the series, therefore his word trumps the word of Yuji Korekado, or anyone else.)

*For example;

If Kojima says that Big Boss becomes a villain in The Phantom Pain, then any interpretation of Big Boss being a hero from TPP onward (until the end of MGS4, obviously) is null and void.

Likewise, if Kojima says that, placed in the same situations as Big Boss, Solid Snake would have perhaps chosen to do what’s right regardless, this means that Solid Snake should be interpreted as the one who has surpassed Big Boss and corrected all of his mistakes (as Itoh put it in his MGS4 novelization), and any interpretation to the contrary is null and void.

Most importantly, the Metal Gear series is about not being a prisoner to fate, and “making the impossible possible.” As explained by Kojima here. So, any fatalistic or defeatist interpretation of the Metal Gear Saga (such as, say, the excuses people have made up for Jack the Ripper returning after Raiden found peace in MGS4), are null and void (hence, why Kojima said that Rising is “Platinum’s interpretation of the Metal Gear universe.”)

The point of this canon hierarchy is to uphold the SENSE of series creator Hideo Kojima as much as possible. As he said on twitch, inside him, he separates “A Hideo Kojima Games” from NOT-A Hideo Kojima Games, and that is exactly what this hierarchy is intended to do. Games like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance have a very different philosophy from the games Kojima himself directed, and therefore should be seen independently from the main, K-Canon series.

The fastest, and easiest, way to understand Hideo Kojima’s SENSE of the Metal Gear Saga, would be to read Project Itoh’s novelization of MGS4. Even though some things are off factually (like the complete absence of the Beauty and Beast Unit), Itoh is dead-on thematically. In the book’s afterward, Kojima even praised Itoh for his ability to “read between the lines.” Aspects of the Saga that are often misunderstood or hard to pick up on (such as how The Patriots operate through MEMEs, or Solid Snake’s internalized emotions buried beneath his stoic exterior), are explained in great detail in the novel. The thematic importance of Raiden finding peace in MGS4, is also explained (and in a way that makes one detest MGRising even more!) All in all, even if you’ve already played the game, it’s still worth reading. In my opinion, it’s the greatest character/story analysis of the entire Saga that I have ever read, and even Kojima agrees.