Sniper Wolf figure hits the bullseye where a love of boobs, video games, and dogs overlap.
The Metal Gear Solid video game franchise is pretty good at having its cake and eating it too. On one hand, it’s a complex story about nuclear proliferation, child soldiers, and war profiteering. On the other hand, it’s also a series where the hero can kiss posters of pinup models, playfully splash enemies with a squirt gun, and expertly conceal himself in an array of cardboard boxes like some sort of grade-school super spy.
Taken in that light, maybe we should have seen this newly announced Sniper Wolf figure coming. The player’s long-range boss fight with Wolf is one of the highlights of the first Metal Gear Solid installment, and her tragic backstory and eventual death are presented as some of the most tragic elements of the game’s multi-layered story.
And now she’s been immortalized in a sexy statuette.
The portrayal doesn’t come from totally out of left field. Wolf’s original design by artist Yoji Shinkawa shows off plenty of cleavage and a glamorous hairdo for the canine-loving riflewoman, and her in-game charms are such that supporting character Otacon falls in love with her despite being her hostage. Still, the sex appeal has been ramped up several levels between Shinkawa’s original…
…and the new figure, based on a reworking of the character by illustrator Shunya Yamashita.
If that name rings a bell, it might be because Yamashita was also the driving force behind these two figures that turned slasher movie villains Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees into shapely, scantily clad women.
Like those two crazed killers, Sniper Wolf is part of figure maker Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo line, which reimagines fictional icons as sexier, cuter versions of themselves. Still, the difference in facial features between Shinkawa’s Sniper Wolf and Yamashita’s is striking, until you remember that most gamers’ visual point of reference for the character isn’t Shinkawa’s sketches, but her polygonal model from the PlayStation Metal Gear Solid, which looked like this.
Given the level of abstractness necessitated by the hardware limitations of the day, it’s only natural that fans use their imaginations to fill in the gaps, and apparently Yamashita’s imagination is particularly salacious.
▼ We’d make a phallic symbolism joke, but nothing we’d say could top Metal Gear naming its protagonist Solid Snake.
But it’s not all long, hard rods and provocative poses. Look closely, and you’ll find an adorable half-wolf, walk-husky pup peeking his head out.
▼ It’s the same little guy who pees on you in Metal Gear Solid!
Kotobukiya is currently taking pre-orders for the 7,800 yen (US$65), 190 millimeter (7.5-inch) figure here, with shipping scheduled for May.
Source: IT Media
Top image: Kotobukiya
Insert images: Kotobukiya, Wikipedia/SNAAAAKE!!, Kotobukiya (2), YouTube/baruttv (edited by RocketNews24)