“It is no nation we inhabit, but a language. Make no mistake; our native tongue is our true fatherland.”

- Emil Cioran, Romanian philosopher

When Skull Face first appeared in MGSV: Ground Zeroes, he certainly had the looks of a lovable villain. His overall kitsch design, his dramatic voice, his coats, boots, and ridiculous eye-patch all brought a smile to my face. However, after I saw (or rather, heard) what he has done in Ground Zeroes, he was no longer lovable. Along with killing countless people, he tortured his victims and went as far as planting bombs in one of the captives’ body. It was hard to understand why he was taking such extreme measures. What were his intentions? What made him this way? Will it be explained in MGSV: The Phantom Pain?

Metal Gear Solid series have been quite successful in justifying many of the series’ villains so far. However, because Skull Face’s actions were much more extreme and problematic, I desperately needed a matching level of backstory for him in the next game.

After booting up MGSV: The Phantom Pain and playing through the ‘first half’ of the game, I received what I asked for. In the game, Skull Face kindly explains his plans and motives to Venom Snake during a romantic jeep-ride: After being stripped of his native tongue, he planned to wipe the English language away from the world.

Although It was a simple (and a weird) part of the plot for most people, and not enough of a justification for his actions, I could see that Hideo Kojima was showing his own frustration of the state of many Asian languages through Skull Face. To me, as a translator/illustrator living in Korea, the ‘language invasion’ part of the plot made me realize how the English language is literally everywhere, and that there isn’t much anyone can do about it.

It might be hard to notice from countries where English is their native language, but numerous ‘minor’ languages are slowly deteriorating, and being replaced by English all around the world. Couple of decades ago, language invasions were accompanied by ‘actual’ invasions. Japan’s invasion of Korea, Britain’s ‘occupation’ of Hong Kong, and so on. Nowadays, language invasions are becoming something that are much more subtle, and it is hard to identify the people (or countries) who are responsible. In today’s language invasions, no one is being physically hurt, and no one is actively trying to hurt them. It is perfectly normal to be unaware of the invasion’s existence even in countries where their language is disappearing.

To help you understand, I want to show you around a street in Korea, and what Hideo Kojima might have been going through during his teenage and adult years.

Today, just like many other days, I felt like working in anywhere other than my cramped studio apartment. After wearing a warm sweater, which is also called 스웨터 [swetə(r)] in Korea, I went to a nearest shopping district. Before deciding where to go, I read through the stores’ signs. Just like anywhere else in Korea, there were as much alphabets as there were Hangul (Korean characters) everywhere I looked. Thankfully, I know how to read and understand a couple of English words. After browsing for a minute, I decided to go to a cafe called: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

PC… Bar… Hotel… What are those?

After that, I needed to park my car. I quickly found a parking lot, near a building called First Tower. Although the sign only said Parking instead of 주차장, I knew what Parking meant, so I parked my car there. After looking at the menu, I decided to order a cup of Tea. It would have been nicer if the menu said 차, but hey, who doesn’t know the word Tea? After a while, I needed to take a leak. Is there a 화장실 in this building? Nope. Instead, there was a Restroom.

Hooray! I know what that means!

By now, you know where I’m getting at. In many places in Korea (and Japan, based on my trip to Tokyo), it can be argued that it is more comfortable for English-speaking people to get around than people who only speak Korean. I shouldn’t complain. I know how to speak, read, and write both languages, and most Koreans understand simple English words like Restroom and Parking.

So what happened? Why are streets in Korea being filled with English words? Why is it so natural for us to read and understand things that are ‘foreign’? The answer is simple. Many aspects of modern culture originated from western countries. From panties we wear to games we play, when the concepts themselves are from other countries, it is just easier to call these things by its original names and write them in their original forms.

Due to endless waves of western products, movies, and shows being introduced to us with matching English names, children living in Asian countries can’t help but be influenced by them. As they grow up, they find the things they love, and in many cases, things they love aren’t from their own countries.

Hideo Kojima was one of those children. He was heavily inspired by the western culture, while living in a country filled with foreign letters. After he grew up, he created games with the inspirations he had.

All Snakes (Naked, Venom, Solid, Liquid, and Solidus) that appear in the series are Americans, and Foxhound is an American organization. Furthermore, Snake’s character is directly based on a character called S.D. Bob “Snake” Plissken portrayed by Kurt Russell, and as a result, the overall series is very reminiscent of Hollywood spy/action films. He loved Hollywood movies, and he wanted to create games that looked like Hollywood movies (with some Japanese twists). Due to the familiarity we have towards all things that are Hollywood, his games were able to reach a wider audience who are familiar with Hollywood clichés.

Left: Snake Plissken, Right: Venom Snake

It is quite easy for me to understand his love towards western media. To me, and many other Asian kids, things that were from western countries (mostly America) seemed ‘cooler’. I went to movie theaters to watch Hollywood movies while proudly wearing my Nike shoes.

This somewhat ‘fascination’ towards western culture isn’t limited to children. Even Asian companies operated by full-grown adults in suits try their hardest to hide the company’s nationality. Not many people are aware of the fact that MCM (a luxury fashion brand) is now a Korean company. It isn’t because of the brand’s name (Most Korean companies have English names anyway), it is because the company is actively trying to hide its origin. During a press meeting, MCM’s CEO Kim Sungjoo commented the following:

“Although the brand was acquired by a Korean company, and is operated by Korean employees, it is still a German brand” — CEO Sungjoo Kim (MCM)

Although I found her statement disturbing, her reasons behind the statement was understandable. MCM is trying to reach a wider audience, and Korea isn’t well known for designing leather bags. Like many other creators and CEOs, Hideo Kojima wanted to appeal to a wider audience, so he decided to tell a story of an American soldier.

So, what has changed? Hideo Kojima is 53 years old now, and in your 50s, you no longer get easily influenced by ‘cool things from the west’. Instead, you look back on what you have created, and think about what it all means.

Could he have felt shameful of his deeds? No. I think he felt frustrated just like Skull Face. The MGS series wouldn’t have been this successful if the series was about a Japanese soldier operating robots with Japanese names. The game might have been localized, but it would have ended up being a niche Japanese game with a handful of hardcore fans.

Did Hideo Kojima abandon the Japanese audience by making something titled Metal Gear Solid? Nope. Almost everyone, including Japanese people, were already familiar with the word metal, and gear. This is why Metal Gear Solid was named Metal Gear Solid, and Dark Souls was named Dark Souls.

Year after year, I feel the increased presence of the English language in Asian countries. Although I am disturbed by this, It is hard to call it a problem and come up with a solution. After all, language invasions are just a part of overall waves in trends and cultures. All Kojima and I can do, is to briefly fantasize about a world without the English language in the boots of Skull Face. A user on reddit put this in ‘perfect’ words:

“Personally, I just think he is butthurt about how Japanese is effectively a dying language”

Nice one.

Yes, many people’s butts are definitely hurting, and Kojima made a game about it.