Metal Gear Solid V: A Completely Ludicrous Theory by DarXyde

With Metal Gear Solid V's release well over three months ago, now seems like a great time to entertain a completely ridiculous theory that likely has no legs to stand on, but hear me out.

[WARNING: METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD]

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At the end of the game, we come to two realizations: the abrupt ending where fans were confused by Kojima's lack of closure and the fact that Kojima played us like a damn fiddle: throughout the entire game, Big Boss only made an appearance in the first and last missions where players instead took on the role of his phantom. A little unusual, right? This caliber of trolling, we can expect from Kojima. This well-played move both upset and satisfied the fanbase (depending on how you felt about the revelation). Regardless, certainly an interesting twist.

However, the longer The Phantom Pain stays on the market, the more things people unearth regarding easter eggs and content on the disc. Very interesting. The fact that an entire part of the game appears to be missing says a lot. And why would Kojima suddenly use a roman numeral to number his game? When you create Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Solid V shows an unusual shift. To use the "V" for Venom? Perhaps. But now that I have entertained my rhetorical position, I'll get to the conclusion: What if...Metal Gear Solid V is Metal Gear Solid 5's phantom? What if the meaning of The Phantom Pain extends to the idea that the game shows Venom's pain where the true Metal Gear Solid 5 features Big Boss?

"Whoa, put the brakes on for a second...that makes no sense. First of all, Konami owns the IP. Making a sequel would likely result in Konami suing the new Koji-Pro".

Well, yeah, but the ending is actually the very reason I may believe in the possibility of a real MGS5. In the ending, Ocelot hands Big Boss a copy of his phantom's passport with his face before becoming Venom Snake. Ocelot tells him that he will need to do something about his face when going into hiding as Venom continues his legacy as him. What if--bear with me on this one--what if, that sets up to use Big Boss' character without actually calling him Big Boss? If at the beginning of Kojima's new game, you're prompted to create a character? Now we know that, following going into hiding, he needs to maintain as little contact with his former allies as possible. That could effectively allow the narrative to develop without needing to use characters owned by Konami now. Kojima would only need to allow voice actors to return (like Troy Baker) or have "Big Boss" talk about "a rival he met back during the Cold War". A very sneaky setup, indeed. I certainly share doubts with a lot of people, but still, the idea does not seem that impossible. The ending and atmosphere of The Phantom Pain seem to allow for that. In essence, Kojima would be able to continue the narrative as a spiritual successor. The Phantom Pain, though a fun title, left many questions unanswered. Perhaps Kojima caught wind of developing tensions between Konami and himself early and prepared accordingly. 5 years seems pretty common nowadays for developing one game, especially when a game spans 5 platforms. And yet somehow, the idea of Kojima finally putting down Metal Gear without fully closing the loop seems unlikely. I would say him not trolling everyone comes off as 'out of character'. This theory likely has very little legs to stand on, but I do believe that, if Kojima wanted it, it can happen based on the simple fact that The Phantom's ending and exclusion of a third part suggests some closure would come from that and instead left a strong air of ambiguity for his own reasons.

...Just thinking out loud here.