Hey Kojima, buddy, do you wanna explain why men in your games get actual names like Sam and Higgs while the women get concepts like Fragile, Rainy, Tomorrow, and Doctor? You wanna...you wanna talk about that friend?
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I literally get called a crazy feminist because when I even remotely attempt to argue in favour of representation, people immediately assume I'm one of these people.
I don't think they understand the depth of how their stupidity impacts our movement at a functional and fundamental level.
But those examples don’t refute the claim. That doesn’t say anything about the women’s names. You could argue that Meryl and Rosemary do, but it’s not a very strong argument. I fuck with a lot of Kojima’s games, but a pattern is a pattern, and this one is pretty clear.
Maybe I missed the line you’re quoting, but she doesn’t say that. It looks to me like she’s stating that the bulk of women get conceptual names, while some men might arguably have conceptual names.
There are a lot things to criticize Kojima for in terms on how he writes and portrays women, especially in the titles before DS, but the names aren't it.
if it was the same logic she would’ve been named “Mamawoman”. Which is simply too stupid, so thank God he didn’t do that. now, if he went the other way and just named the men “Die-Hard” and “Heart” and “Dead,” then he’d be cooking. but he didn’t do that, so here we are.
1) the person I was replying to specifically said their names had “the same logic”
2) and i actually agree with them, “Mama” is referring to the concept of motherhood. that’s literally her whole thing. “Mama” being a concept that can also apply to a person is irrelevant to the naming convention.
I think all of his games are technically amazing, but lack so much in narrative, which pisses me off that so many people praise them. The narratives are a complete mess and the guy is hauled as a genius for being pretentious. And so many famous people sucking on the dude
I think all I got out of the data was basically he's pretty equal about giving concept names to men and women, but his women names are just really bad. The men have cringe names, but if a woman is given a concept name, it's just... bad.
On a different note that leans towards agreement, Kojima worked on a couple dating sim games before Metal Gear. I think it definitely left it's mark on him and the people he worked with. If it helps, he seemed to hate that genre and doesn't mention it except to express dislike of Otaku culture.
people in his games tend to be allegorical. Big Boss for example has a name, her name is Joy. All of the bosses from the same game have names that seem to match up with emotions that are addressed via gameplay.
Not agree or disagree, but Kojima has some quirky af storymaking.
Heartman, Deadman, Dollman and Die-Hardman all have weird non names.
Bridget and Amelie have actual names.
You're painting a dishonest picture here, it's clear that (excluding quest giving NPCs) only side characters get weird non names and important characters get real names, it's not a gender thing
Kojima into ghey sex, as he's not allowed to be into women... that's forbididado in his culture, where men are 99% of the population, and women get *cool* jobs like "mall display" or "UwU anime cosplay gurl undies dispenser"
You mean how women get cool names? While the men are stuck with just regular basic titles? I'm pretty sure the women got the better end of the deal here. You're looking at it all wrong.
It's not like he doesn't use bames. Eve, Natasha, Naomi, Meryl, The Boss ... Wait, that last one isn't a name. But she's a fucking badass so it's fine 😂
It's the arrogance while being completely wrong and ignorant for me. Dunning-Kruger beating her over the head rn. She looks familiar, though. I don't think this is the first stupid take I've seen her make. I think it's a regular thing for her
My biggest issue is that narcissistic crap like this is just fuel for the 'anti w' brigade. If these 'people' put as much energy into.. I dunno, tidying their bedrooms?, the world would be a better place 🙄
I would just like to point out for all the Japanophiles, that Japan is a country that found it necessary to mandate that phones click when you take pictures to stop upskirts and made women only trains for the subway.
A simple Google by the op would have revealed that. I find it difficult to believe that someone who calls themselves a journalist has managed to do zero research on the subject matter. Willful ignorance?
I looked it up and I can’t find anything about this specific question. I definitely think she’s reaching in this case though. There are way better examples of sexism and objectification in Kojima’s work than his on-the-nose naming conventions.
kojima is def a bit weird about women (at times) but I don't think "women aren't named" is a recurring pattern with him. a LOT of characters just get code names or nicknames across all his games. metal gear has a mix for both men and women
death stranding also just has very few characters who are given proper names in general. aside from the ones in your post, there's also amelie and... there must be a few others but I'm blanking.
You're right Kojima has baggage with female characters, but I can't help pointing out Higgs is named for the particle and it's more a coincidence that it's a feasible name. Sam, Bridget, Amelie all get 'real' names, but most characters male or female get some kind of epthithet (Fragile, Deadman)
Sure, I articulated that poorly! More that Kojima is explicitly referencing the 'God particle' itself, and that the particle happens to be named after its proponent is secondary. It's easy to imagine a similar Kojima character named Quark or Lepton, etc. where it wouldn't be a typical fore/surname.
Showed the MGSV red band trailer to the missus yesterday after watching the new DS2 trailer and oh boy does mgsv's camera really focus on the boobs.
I think we can give Koj some grace on the DS names.
I think it's still worth exploring the way the names are gendered (Mama, Fragile vs. Deadman, Die-Hardman etc) -- but I think to do it fully you have to pick apart where Kojima decides to use codenames or nicknames, where he doesn't, and it isn't as cleancut as "women don't get names"
@adashtra.bsky.social I actually remember hearing something about that---since so many female characters used real models to base off of, he got this habit of just letting them name them.
resulted in some...interesting codenames (since those aren't their REAL ones)
Sam is literally Porter Bridges..like come on, what are we doing here? Are we back on the Kojima is sexist talk from MGS5? This is the kind of posts that actively push people to right wing grifters. You wanna critique then go ahead and write an article since nothing is above it but snarky posts
like this are totally useless, ignores the work itself and somehow also that his games have a big fan base. I really hate posts like this as much as the rage griefters. It’s why video game discourse is in the toilet.
Meant big female fan base.Not to mention shit like this actually sinks any sort of proper discussion we can have about representation in all levels. Is it that folks like you don’t care? Or is it that you are so up in your high horse that you believe to have the absolute truth?
Ocelot, The End, The Pain, The Sorrow, The Fury, The Fear, Psycho Mantis, Monsoon, Sundowner, Null, Night Fright, Red Blaster, Vulcan Raven, Python, All names of male characters from Kojima games. And you're a video game journalist? Do you even play Kojima Games or look things up before you post?
Kojima is definitely weird about women but the naming convention is hardly the aspect of that worth focusing on, especially when his most famous male character is slang for erect penis.
I mean that's not really fair. What about Meryl Silverburgh? You are kind of cherry picking there in my opinion. Many characters he makes have code names. I'm pretty sure Higgs is one of them. Is this Po?
I don't play his games anymore but I remember Meryl, Mei Ling, Rosemary, and Eva pretty well. Likewise, I don't if Solid Snake has a real human name? Brad maybe?
Your last sentence hits my brain the same way the "my daughter's breast cancer saved my life" thing did.
"Takes like these are pointless as they don't make money." Guess the human race has been doing it wrong all these millenia. Putting out opinions everyday and not getting paid for them.
I didn't say takes like these are pointless as they don't make money. What I said was right there and you still quoted it wrong in order to force your incorrect interpretation of what I said and meant. Bad faith argument, not worthy of any more of my time.
Why does financial incentive i.e. MAKING MONEY have bearing on the worth of any statement? You can cite rhetorical fallacies to avoid defending your position, but what you seem to think constitutes valid human interaction seems more prone to your arbitrary interpretations than classically accurate.
Kojima is creepy as hell but the OP is not one of those reasons. There are plenty of female characters with regular names and plenty of male characters with dumb code names. If it' exagerration for a bit fair enough, if meant to be accurate - nah
Quiet MGSV. A freak of nature bc her respiratory system was destroyed, she was fixed by a cool parasite which uses her body as a host in exchange for saving her.
It makes it so she can’t talk, can move at inhuman speed, can be her own sniper spotter, and is able to exchange air through her skin.
You're asking this of the guy who not only did that, but then had her do a weird dance in the rain with the MC, and also has her continually doing suggestive dances in the helicopter if you choose her for your roll-out partner.
I loved that game, but Quiet's entire being was truly unhinged.
I remember rolling my eyes at some of the criticism of Quiet back in the day, but when I heard that you can watch her take a shower I was like OK that’s fucked up
He was clearly making fun of the exact type of person OP is. So much silly stuff like that all over his games. But this particular kind of clown only cares when it’s a female character.
Interesting. What is fun about creating divisive narratives? As far as "getting the brain thinking", surely there are countless other ways to stimulate one's mind?
He can't relate to men. He's completely emotionally stunted from his relationship with his father.
He sees women as vessels for emotion. Making his relationships shallow and tumultuous.
To be clear: sexism is still extremely apparent in kojima's work, as in so many other video games, particularly those from Japan. I just don't think the character names are indicative of that.
Pointing out names like Quiet or Fragile as evidence of sexism (isn't that the implication here?) is ignoring the fact that male characters also get bizarre or thematic names:
Die-Hardman, Hot Coldman, Vulcan Raven, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Skull Face, Fatman...
(Sorry for multiple responses; still trying to muddle my way through BlueSky like an octogenarian luddite.)
Kojima's naming conventions are all over the place, regardless of gender. His games feature a mix of serious, symbolic, absurd, and self-aware names across both male and female characters.
I won’t argue Kojima abounds in sexism, but I think it’s meant as a bigger metaphor. I’d make the argument that Boss is God in the MGS universe. In this case, one of Kojima’s main conceits is that a couple of men ruined the world when they misunderstood a woman (Boss) & her final wishes/intentions.
Kojima is horrible at writing female characters, but this ain't it. Now if you wanna talk about being able to see through Paz's clothes in Peace Walker or pretty much anything related to Quiet, you have a legit point.
OK this is a reach. Pretty sure there's nothing sinister going on. I mean higgs isn't exactly in the book of boy names here. It's a last name and was clearly chosen for its relation to science. You can't be this bored!
Sniper wolf goes with the bond trope. Meryll isn’t a good one. Naomi if you are of a certain age a movie line always comes to mind. I think she brings up an interesting point
Not to be rude but this is just no more true than men getting nicknames as well. We didn't even know big boss's actual name until mgs3. He was introduced in mg1.
fair point but Fragile is just one character. You also have characters like Fortune, Sniper Wolf etc. which are all women
Big Boss' mentor was The Boss herself, and she was the furthest you can get from being a traditionally feminine character, especially during the ps2 era
to that end i don't see anything wrong with naming her Fragile, i should replay death stranding to comment better on this but i don't think a traditionally feminine character being named Fragile is the worst thing Kojima has done, honestly, especially with the mgs2 posters and all
I think Fragile is being done a grave disservice by y'all.
The name was just that of her shipping company cuz of her ability to teleport, and it plays into a thematic part that's resonated with me on a personal level, as in Higgs broke her when he forced her to run with the nuke in time fall
Resulting in her skin being completely ooofed up by it from neck down, and how she's constantly trying to deal with the after effects of it. I suffer with a severe skin issue that's made my life miserable, she's the first video game character to kinda capture something in this regard for me
I sincerely feel that the ppl forming these gripes haven't played Death Stranding, I do agree that MGS has been very iffy in this regard, and while there's good examples like The Boss, there's also problematic ones. But I feel clowning DS on this is a but unfair
Also you're getting a lot of unnecessary flak for this but I personally don't even disagree with the notion that Kojima is sometimes weird about women. I've been a giant fan of his work and the man himself for a very long time. I think he can be sometimes weird, that's just okay to me personally.
Like I wasn't familiar with your work until now but I respect it I think we need more gaming journalists that are cool and clearly loves the games they talk about. I don't agree with this sentiment but I hope I'm not coming across like a wanker over it.
I’d say this was a very respectful discourse on your part. Kojima can be weird about women in his games. That being said it is his vision and if it makes people uncomfortable they are more than welcome to not support it by not purchasing or sharing their opinion. Civil discourse for the win.
Reading this I was pleasantly surprised while scrolling down. It's not often I see people being civil on the internet about topics like these, especially fans of the critized work
He's weird about everyone. There is a reason metal gear solid parodies date to the early days of flash animation. No character I can remember from these games behaves like a human. He writes fucked up stupid weird characters, some of them get funny names.
Hopefully we are deep enough in this thread that I can say Mama's 'real name' is Malingen but I don't want to be a whiny fan about it and I'm not sure that's a real name either in any case.
Die-Hardman's name is John, Deadman's name is Rougeot and Clifford is also an actual name, I think that from the main characters the only one that doesn't have his name revealed is Heartman
Not arguing btw that Kojima is not very good at writing female characters. He's not an exceptional writer to begin with, but that is definitely a weak point.
He's the best at writing his hyperfixations like "damning critiques of modern American imperialism" but unfortunately for him those fixations cannot make an entire plot and cast of characters. He'd probably do fine writing like a 4x game or something like that instead
I'm sorry but this REALLY comes across like you've formulated a view on Kojima's writing based off of random snippets of what you've seen other people say.
Kojima's writing may have issues but his central cast is always very compelling and nuanced.
The problem with both is they suck at writing scenic minutiae. They’re great at coming up with sweeping narratives that are so deep and expansive nobody gives a shit, weeks of storytelling, but their person to person dialogue to get there has always been just kinda delightfully schlocky.
Ah yes, the millions of us who to this day refuse to buy anything Konami that doesn't have his name cause of how he was treated, we all "don't care" right.. the big community that loves his storytelling in general also does not exist.. there are more opinions in the world than just yours.
"Delightfully shlocky" is something only a pretentious american will ever say about art from another culture.
I have never in 36 years heard that term being used at anything outside of the context of some random guy on the internet talking about anime or a JRPG they tried and failed to understand.
I’m not convinced either of them has had an actual conversation with a human woman. Even Marcia it feels like Lucas somehow never talked to her even one time
Yeah, as with Star Wars I know MGS fans that arent able to actually quote a single line of dialogue from the games. Both series are successful because of vibes
There's a lot of parallels there, now that I think about it. They both did better work when their medium had more limitations to work with, *and* before they both had so much success there was no one left in the room willing to tell them "no" to an idea.
I hesitate to rope John K. into this because hes an actual predator, but one of the things that made the first Ren and Stimpy great is that he had to channel all his perversion into a child-friendly show, which made it surreally funny. OTOH adult Ren and Stimpy is obscene garbage
Hey Ash, buddy, do you wanna explain why many comments disprove your point, and yet you still think you're right?
I could be wrong, but it seems like you never played the game and just want to post ragebait?
He is not perfect, but there are far worse devs who deserve your hate. Okay, friend?
And Merryll, Natasha, Mei, Paz, Naomi, Miranda, Alice, Amanda..
While other male characters are The Fear, The Sorrow, The Fury, the pain, the end.
It's almost like one loses their name when they become nothing but a weapon of war as such or something furthering the themes of dehumanisation in war.
This biased naming scheme is nothing new. (He's been doing it as far back as the MGS games such as "Fortune".) But it's become more noticeable to the point of being creatively detractive from the narrative. Which is a real shame...it's among the reasons I stopped taking him seriously as a creative.
Have you ever met a non-American Asian person giving themselves an English name? I've met women that named themselves "Simple." Rainy is definitely a very popular one, too. What I'm trying to say is, this ain't a sexism.
sauce: lived in china summer of 2013, and yes I'm aware Kojima is Japanese
I mean he gives men weird names all the time in his previous games. Psycho Mantis, Ocelot, all the various Snakes. I’d say he is pretty equal with the weird name thing. That being said, Quiet was weird AF with the only explanation to her skimpy attire being she can breathe through her skin.
Idk about that theres like a bunch of goofy names for male characters such as fatman, vamp, hot coldman, deepthroat, shoot gunner, the guy named revolver ocelot that literally meows
Not to mention he gives a woman the hardest title in the series of just "the boss" and the events of the entire metal gear series after her death is the havok wreaked by two men who failed to interpret her will to end all wars and create a world without borders
I think there's a lot to criticize about how writes his female character (I will always make fun of "she breathes through her skin") but I think there's parity between the number of male and female characters with weird names in his work.
My favorite is Otakon, who is literally named after an anime convention. He *has* a real name but like, one person ever calls him it (his step-sister...who...is definitely one of the cringey characters but does actually have a normal name IIRC).
I haven’t played a ton of Kojima games, but is it really that lopsided? I can think of women who have normal names and men who have bizarre ones, and off the top of my head it seems roughly about the same treatment. Although I’m still not sure why Quiet had to breathe through her skin.
he definitely goes wild with silly names across the board, but what always got me was the specific names he chose for women. I think Mama and Quiet are the worst examples--like what if he had male characters named Anger Management and Sperm Donor?
Also I know the social imbalances across genders makes the connotations of this type of stuff different, but if he ever made a male character called Sperm Donor I think the game would sell 100 million copies.
Ill take how to spot outrage bots for 100. Go play the first death stranding and you will for sure delete this and probably rethink your outlook on life
What? Sam and Higgs are probably the only two with real names. Literally everyone else uses a codename. Just like there’s 2 women with real names (Arguably the 2 most powerful characters in the game btw) like Amelie & Bridget with the rest having codenames
Well, he IS crap at writing female characters. But to be fair, everyone in Death Stranding has a stupid name.
Higgs is named after Higgs' Boson, and Sam not only has a silly surname but I'm fairly convinced he's named after Uncle Sam.
Sam Lake, a super weird auteur but he isn't super weird about women. Yoko Taro, a super weird auteur but he isn't... weird, exactly, about women, he just really likes them and is honest about it (I think he is weird about human beings, though). Kojima pretends he isn't and gets mad if you say he is.
You’re so right, and not to mention Mama… And QUIET??
He’s a good enough character writer that it’s he’s clearly not *incapable* of writing female characters well, hypothetically. At this point, he’s just refusing to.
Yh love how manly the men's masculine non conceptual names are like;
The Sorrow
The Pain
The Fear
The End
The Fury
Ocelot
Snake
Otacon
Fat Man
Vamp
psycho mantis
sniper wolf
DECOY FUCKING OCTOPUS
Vulcan raven
Zero
Hot coldman
BTW you should play the games. May help your argument hold more weight
Oh! You were specifically going off just the name choices. I was on a whole other thing about how he writes women in general.
There has only ever been one woman he had wrote that was just badass from top to bottom and did not have the common flavorings he adds: That of course being The Boss.
While I do think he should get flak for some of his women, I don't think it applies to names. Men get concept names as well (The Winds, Liquid/Solid/Venom, Kazuhira, etc.), and women get actual names (Meryl, Naomi, Olga, Mei, etc.). Doesn't excuse his writing at points, though.
I also feel like it tends to get overlooked because for all of the flaws he has had in writing women (Quiet in MGSV, Meryl in MGS4 IMO), he also created The Boss, so it's an easy way to deflect by pointing at her as his definitive female character while ignoring some of the other issues.
It's very sci-fi he may do as he wants with the writing with no explanation needed, before he had names like Meryl, Naomi, Paz. This might be related to what woman represents or is metaphor for interpretation of Death Stranding important concepts.
Big Boss the best bad ass in all the games was a woman? Paz, Sunny, Meryl, Naomi just to name a few. I mean he's not perfect at writing women no doubt but I wouldn't over analyze it into sexism...
I’ve been saying this for EVER and I get accused of being a Kojima hater.
Im not /not/ one, but thats not the point right now.
Her name is QUIET and she is canonically explained to be mostly naked.
He wanted the Emmerich girl to trail period blood in the water but it got cut (thank fuck)
Kojima is being himself with the names. Don't really see why he needs to explain. Plus, you often have to uncover it yourself why they're named that way. So nah, he doesn't need to explain when you can discover it within the story. Also, Kojima just doing his schtick since his first game.
Taking this as the example for how feminism acts is ironically the exact same thing as taking the naming of some Characters as an example on how Kojima views women.
I mean, you wouldn't even be permitted to be online with an opinion without feminism. There's so many freedoms you wouldn't have so this comment is kind of cringe.
OP posted some nonsense but this comment of yours is nonsense too. See, I can be a feminist and disagree with OP. Not hard.
Sam is named after Uncle Sam (he's the son of the president, also his other names include Porter, Bridges, and Strand), and Higgs is named after the Higgs boson. Also, there's plenty of men in Kojima's games which get similar treatment, like Sundowner, Monsoon, Revolver Ocelot, or Raiden.
Like true, women do more frequently get conceptual names in his games, but I feel like its made up for by the fact that most of the "real" names the male characters have are either references, puns, or euphemisms (though calling them euphemisms might be giving their subtlety more credit than is due)
Not his strong suit but also not impossible. Everyone's already talked about it already but the boss is a great character. And acting like he doesn't treat a lot of male characters the exact same way is being disingenuous. To go even further: a lot of these are just code names and aliases.
Sure! but OP's post did spark a very genuine conversation about the more valid aspects of their point
really great comment I saw was-(not verbatim) sometimes artists aren't great at drawing hands which is okay- but that does make them not-great for people who love hands, which is a valid sentiment
Ah, I see, I can totally understand that point! I guess I just wish the op had phrased it better because it screams rage bait, but I guess to that end it worked? Buy some of these replies just feel like people wanting to insult Kojima or get mad at a vague criticism they came up with. Thank you tho!
I think in reality the "name" situation was a poor medium for discussing the overall quality of his characters that are women. But I do think there's nuance to how some men write women; and how that can be improved upon.
Kojima going full Skinner. “Nooo it’s the children who are wrong. Now back to my design of a woman who must breathe through her skin so must wear next to nothing…”
“How is MGS gonna have women with names that are ideas like Paz Ortega (Spanish for Peace), but men with real names like Kazuhira Miller (Japanese for Peace)?”
Yeah, he’s pretty bad about it. While he does do it to everyone, the “names” he gives to the women are often nowhere near as respectful nor as believable as names. The trauma/disabilities he gives to women always has a fetishistic aftertaste compared to the ones he gives to men.
Are we sure these characters have a defined ingame gender? Im not sure… I mean, look at Higgs, for example. He screams (designwise) LGBT, and that doesnt make him less awsome.
Kojima tends to give direct names to characters based on what they represent (sam “porter”, for example).
Literally everyone in the first game besides the President who DIES immediately has a nickname. One of the most poignant and integral moments in that game was Fragile coming to terms with her own name and literally making one of the most memorable quotes from the game.
Comments
I don't think they understand the depth of how their stupidity impacts our movement at a functional and fundamental level.
Mama isn't even her only name, it's a code name, her actual name is Målingen
He just gives everyone some codename.
Nothing subtle to see here. 😒
Mamawoman is redundant, which is why it sounds stupid.
Same reason why Sam is named Porter and not Porterman.
2) and i actually agree with them, “Mama” is referring to the concept of motherhood. that’s literally her whole thing. “Mama” being a concept that can also apply to a person is irrelevant to the naming convention.
oh and 4) i wouldn’t necessarily say “Mamawoman” is redundant. Stupid, absolutely. But there are women who aren’t “mamas,” obviously
I think all I got out of the data was basically he's pretty equal about giving concept names to men and women, but his women names are just really bad. The men have cringe names, but if a woman is given a concept name, it's just... bad.
Not agree or disagree, but Kojima has some quirky af storymaking.
Bridget and Amelie have actual names.
You're painting a dishonest picture here, it's clear that (excluding quest giving NPCs) only side characters get weird non names and important characters get real names, it's not a gender thing
Kojima into ghey sex, as he's not allowed to be into women... that's forbididado in his culture, where men are 99% of the population, and women get *cool* jobs like "mall display" or "UwU anime cosplay gurl undies dispenser"
Lul. I love MGS, but goddamn
I honestly don’t know what OP is complaining about
There’s really nothing here beyond just wanting to be critical and offended for no reason
Hahahahaha.
You do not and NEVER have represented gamers.
Please, for the love of God, do something else with your life 🙏
It's a good game.
I think we can give Koj some grace on the DS names.
resulted in some...interesting codenames (since those aren't their REAL ones)
"Takes like these are pointless as they don't make money." Guess the human race has been doing it wrong all these millenia. Putting out opinions everyday and not getting paid for them.
-Boobwoman
-Asswoman
-Vaginawoman
-Feetwoman
Also insects breathe through their skin as such so............
It makes it so she can’t talk, can move at inhuman speed, can be her own sniper spotter, and is able to exchange air through her skin.
I loved that game, but Quiet's entire being was truly unhinged.
I'm not really sure why you think he only gives women weird names
He sees women as vessels for emotion. Making his relationships shallow and tumultuous.
I made all that shit up.
Die-Hardman, Hot Coldman, Vulcan Raven, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Skull Face, Fatman...
Kojima's naming conventions are all over the place, regardless of gender. His games feature a mix of serious, symbolic, absurd, and self-aware names across both male and female characters.
…was that box there before?
Die-Hardman
Deadman
Higgs-Boson
Hot Coldman
Fatman
Big Boss
The Pain
The Fear
The End
The Fury
The Sorrow
This is a non issue.
If you play like any game he’s made you’d pick up on that. Women are essentially gods in a Kojima world.
Bridges, Cliff, Higgs (boson).
... now the writing be another subject matter 😂
You’re kinda reaching at straws here with that argument.
Big Boss' mentor was The Boss herself, and she was the furthest you can get from being a traditionally feminine character, especially during the ps2 era
The name was just that of her shipping company cuz of her ability to teleport, and it plays into a thematic part that's resonated with me on a personal level, as in Higgs broke her when he forced her to run with the nuke in time fall
Also, there is a woman in the trailer called Lucy played by Alissa Jung. Just to really drive the point home.
because they definitely showed up
Quite honestly I didn’t notice the names. I noticed:
a) ALL of the distribution centres are managed by men
b) ALL of the women exist purely because of their biology or feminine tropes
In an otherwise 10/10 game it’s pointlessly chauvinist
Naomi Hunter
Paz Ortega
Sunny Emmerich
Emma Emmerich
Courtney Collins
Holly White
Olga Gurlukovich
Natasha Romanenko
Mei Ling
Cecile Caminades
Mika Slayton
Katrina Gibson
Jamie Seed
Karen & Lorraine Hojo
Your premise seems largely incorrect, or at least limited to a single game?
(The reason is Kojima is bad at writing women)
Kojima's writing may have issues but his central cast is always very compelling and nuanced.
I have never in 36 years heard that term being used at anything outside of the context of some random guy on the internet talking about anime or a JRPG they tried and failed to understand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O86Pbe1Z9zg
Solid snake
Revolver ocelot
Raiden
The End
Craftsman
Dollman
Tarman
Women names :
Amelia
Bridget
Lisa
Lucy
Wow look I can cherrypick names to make my point too!
I could be wrong, but it seems like you never played the game and just want to post ragebait?
He is not perfect, but there are far worse devs who deserve your hate. Okay, friend?
And (maybe) also Kojima's point.
But (maybe): we're full speed in Gamergate 2 and a lot of other related shit.
So (maybe), not ideal to pinpoint a legendary creator right now? 🤔
I'm confused, plenty of female characters here that have real names? This was just the first game that came up, to be fair...
The actual problem is that he sucks.
While other male characters are The Fear, The Sorrow, The Fury, the pain, the end.
It's almost like one loses their name when they become nothing but a weapon of war as such or something furthering the themes of dehumanisation in war.
Bridget, Amelie, Lockne, Eva, Paz Ortega, Meryl, Naomi Hunter.
There's seven names just off the top of my head.
Plenty of men with concept names too.
Olga, Emma and Sunny make 10 women I can think of.
Off the top of my head I'm struggling to think of more than 7 men with normal names.
Sam, Higgs (debatable), Cliff, Miller, Volgin, Raikov and Sokalov.
sauce: lived in china summer of 2013, and yes I'm aware Kojima is Japanese
Needs an editor
Maryl, Sniper Wolf? Badass!
Olga, Fortuna? Badass!
The Boss? THE BADDASS OF ALL THE BADDASSES? 💪!
everyone else? Ok, Ehh to yuck
Also I know the social imbalances across genders makes the connotations of this type of stuff different, but if he ever made a male character called Sperm Donor I think the game would sell 100 million copies.
Higgs is named after Higgs' Boson, and Sam not only has a silly surname but I'm fairly convinced he's named after Uncle Sam.
He’s a good enough character writer that it’s he’s clearly not *incapable* of writing female characters well, hypothetically. At this point, he’s just refusing to.
Meryl Silverberg, Mei Ling, Naomi Hunter, Rosemary, Olga Gurlukavitch, Emma Emmerich, Eva/Tatyana, Paz Ortega Andrade, Sunny Emmerich... etc.
Meanwhile, Snake, Zero, The Sorrow, Vamp, Hot Coldman... etc.
"I will make them feel shame."
"It's not shame, Mr. Kojima. It's embarrassment."
Stutter
The Sorrow
The Pain
The Fear
The End
The Fury
Ocelot
Snake
Otacon
Fat Man
Vamp
psycho mantis
sniper wolf
DECOY FUCKING OCTOPUS
Vulcan raven
Zero
Hot coldman
BTW you should play the games. May help your argument hold more weight
fragile
mama
quiet etc
are not full names
There has only ever been one woman he had wrote that was just badass from top to bottom and did not have the common flavorings he adds: That of course being The Boss.
In Death Stranding the central characters who want to rebuild the world are Bridget & Amelie.
Maybe you should review names. Metal Gear:
https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Female_Characters
He's written some great characters like The Boss and gave them a memorable conclusion...and then there's Paz.
What's fragile? The world... etc
Im not /not/ one, but thats not the point right now.
Her name is QUIET and she is canonically explained to be mostly naked.
He wanted the Emmerich girl to trail period blood in the water but it got cut (thank fuck)
bait eater
solidus bait
Taking this as the example for how feminism acts is ironically the exact same thing as taking the naming of some Characters as an example on how Kojima views women.
OP posted some nonsense but this comment of yours is nonsense too. See, I can be a feminist and disagree with OP. Not hard.
Then the other side just respectfully proves this wrong with information and more names to prove this is not the case.
This post feels like rage bait?
It seems pretty generally agreed upon that writing women isn’t his strong suit.
really great comment I saw was-(not verbatim) sometimes artists aren't great at drawing hands which is okay- but that does make them not-great for people who love hands, which is a valid sentiment
@hideokojimaen.bsky.kojimaproductions.jp
"You named a woman Quiet?"
"Yes!"
Men: Solid Snake
Liquid Snake
Revolver Ocelot
Otacon
Women: Meryl
Mei
Natasha
Naomi
Women: Bridget, Amelie, Lisa
Mamas name is Målingen btw
Also there was a male character called "Doctor" in DS1.
Women: The Boss
Bum BUM BUM, bum BUUUUM
Both are just Ideas though, as opposed to Names, as per the framework the original post works under.
Kojima tends to give direct names to characters based on what they represent (sam “porter”, for example).