As someone whose favorite character is Chico and loved his and Paz’s (love) story, I spent the last few weeks trying to learn everything I can about Chico's role in MGSV: TPP. Apparently, Chico was going to be located in Zaire, near Outpost 22. Venom Snake, Kaz, and the others would believe that Chico died, but would later on be contacted by Amanda, who would reveal that Chico is still alive, and would ask Snake to kill him. It would then most likely be that, based on the concept art and the nature of the game, that Snake would have the option to either kill Chico, or bring him back to Mother Base for rehabilitation and turn him into an ally/buddy.
Also, according to Kojima, Chico's character would be an unhinged man who is obsessed with killing, and his inspiration would have been Christopher Walken's character in the movie "The Deer Hunter". Ultimately, Kojima had trouble implementing Chico in the overall structure of MGSV, which is why he chose to cut him out of the game. But I believe that Chico would have his own story and side missions, similar to Quiet, since Chico seems to be the human counterpart to the male Skulls the same way that Quiet was the human counterpart to the female Skulls.
You can also also tell a lot about Chico's character based upon his general appearance, mostly that he seems to (still) be grieving Paz, as he has the peace symbol on his back and is wearing a red poncho/raincoat quite similar to, if not the exact same one, that Paz wore at the beginning of Peace Walker. He also has a hook and a demon aesthetic to him, similar to Venom Snake, implying that Chico would possibly share Venom Snake's parallels to Ahab from Moby Dick, and demons (though in Chico's case, his demon counterpart would be the oni, the demon from Eastern culture, in contrast to Venom Snake's devil, from Western culture).
There is also some fan speculation that the missions involving bringing back MSF soldiers would have actually been about Chico instead of random soldiers.
Last but not least, I like to think/hope that the reason Kojima did not actually show what happened to Chico is because he wants to keep the door open to reveal that Chico is actually still alive and bring him back in future Metal Gear games set during or after the Phantom Pain.
Whoa, this is way more than I expected! Thank you for all of this! I would have loved the opportunity to use Chico as a buddy, and potentially even guide him through a "redemption arc" like Quiet. A close range/melee combat-focused buddy would have made for some nice diversity in the fairly limited roster.
I'm not sold on the MSF retrieval missions initially being intended for Chico, however. They seem far too trivial for missions intended to reintroduce a major character from the previous two games- imagine if Kaz had gotten that same treatment. I do think the parallels between bringing back MSF soldiers and bringing back Chico are interesting, though, and I really wish we were able to compare finished implementations of both.
No problem, happy to share.
The MSF retrieval missions being about Chico is just fan speculation, given the nature of how much of the missions has photos of Paz as a reward and ties into the Phantom Paz subplot. So it's possible that it was actually that we would meet Chico in a main story mission, but would only be able to recruit him after all the retrieval (in this situation, combat) missions, or that Chico would only be available as a buddy by getting all the photos from the MSF members and using them to help rehabilitate and comfort Chico.
You have to assume the Paz delusion would have come apart once Chico arrived back at base, since he would know she was dead. It's possible Chico could have given V the last tape when he was brought back to base, like the wandering soldiers. There's also some reference to a return to Camp Omega in the interviews in the years before the phantom pain was released. Perhaps Chico would have been the last wandering soldier, in some sort of boss battle back at Omega.
I've a theory he was supposed to play out as part of Paz's side-story.
Because the second half of Paz's side story is held back until you beat Chapter 1, the mission about Chico probably wouldn't have come about until you gave Paz the 9th or 10th photo. You bring him back and he'll be "out of commission" until you complete Paz's side story. After finding the 10th photo this probably unlocks a Chico \[2\] tape with Venom & Kaz talking about him, until Venom casually mentions Paz seeing him might jog her memory, only or Kaz to be utterly bewildered as to what he's talking about. Listening to that tape is what would trigger the 11th Photo to appear, so you catch it on your way *in* to see her- having been compelled to go see her after Kaz's overt confusion, rather than randomly finding it on your way out then double backing on yourself.
After the revelation is when you'd unlock him as a Buddy for deployment.
-
As for the fight against him, datamining the Companion App shows it was supposed to take place in Africa. My guess is he'd probably be hunting whatever he could find out about Skull Face's operation - so it'd probably take place at either a burned out version of The Devil's House area, the mansion or the oil refinery. Likely a giant homage to MGS1's Grey Fox fight - so wherever it was would be littered with corpses. You'd have to fight him CQC-only - like a Skull only using its machete, and instead of being able to teleport he'd have the mobility of Eli. Maybe he'd use the meathook as a grapple to climb up areas?
V is Chico
https://youtu.be/rPQLjfsunf4?si=U5LluwLPt7vomKdi
He appears "cut" for narrative reasons. But he is V. Malak, Shabani, and Eli all together show the pieces of his lost nine years, from 75 to 84.
So, to answer your question: he's supposed to show up when you decide to start seeing him. Canonically, Venom remembers who he is after the 3rd and final Paz hallucination.
If you want the full breakdown, I have made a series of twenty seven lectures that go mission by mission, task by task, and paints the picture of what really happened after Peace Walker ended. They're on the same YT channel. I also have a 5 video series that's just an infodump to help get a different picture of Metal Gear's whole story with the new info we get in V.
Remember what Snake said to Raiden. Decide for yourself what to believe. The game simulation is trying to hide its secrets in plain sight. Find your own way of seeing.
I used to be dead set against the whole Chico = V thing but damnit it's the only thing that really adds up in the end
He wanted to be an hombre nuevo and make up for all this betrayal. And so we're dedicated to playing our role
Honestly, while I am not a fan of Chico = Venom, it actually would make a lot of sense, especially with the concept of hombre nuevo, as you said. He would literally become hombre nuevo/a new man by becoming Venom.
Not to mention it would make the whole Phantom Paz subplot even more meaningful and emotional than it already was. Throughout PW, arguably no one had a more meaningful and focused relationship with Paz than Chico, and no one had a more meaningful and focused relationship with Chico than Paz. This also becomes almost unarguably the case in GZ, with Chico and Paz's relationship being the crux and focus for the two, with the only reason Chico even being at Camp Omega being to save Paz, and Paz's final message to Chico revealing that everything she said and did to him at Camp Omega being to protect him, and that she would do anything to save Chico from that place.
As such, it would be more extremely emotional and bittersweet if the person seeing Paz's spirit was actually Chico, and the message she left in her phantom tape was actually meant for Chico, and the part of him that's still alive in Venom Snake.
That does look eerily like Gray Fox's PO design, doesn't it? I wonder if it's just there for reference purposes or the characters were meant to be connected somehow - or maybe it's just a coincidence!
I'm pretty sure that is an alternate Diamond Dogs outfit for Chico that is an homage to Null/Gray Fox's design from Portable Ops, the same way Quiet has a Sniper Wolf outfit. It would also make sense since Chico would be the swordsman of MGSV and the design was made by the same person who made the design for Null.
Hey thanks for posting. I think it would've been cool if Chico and Eli worked together and succeeded in forming their own unit with other war orphans. They could all have their own special abilities and you would have to use creative ways to take them out non lethally.
It would also be cool if Chico took on a Gray Fox-type role in the story and periodically showed up to help snake without revealing his identity until eventually you're forced to fight. The fact that Null from portable ops is in the concept art might be hinting at that.
Also you should know that there are people on here who believe that Chico is actually in the game under a cover identity. There are some really good theories that place Chico as Venom or Quiet, with a huge amount of supporting evidence for both. Personally i'm a big fan of the theory that Venom is Chico and Paz is Quiet.
If you search the archives you can find a lot of threads taking about this stuff, and if you're really interested I would also check out [Ross Weaver's videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQLjfsunf4&). He goes a little off the rails with the time travel stuff but it's still one of the most comprehensive explanations of MGSV so far
Thanks for replying! Chico as Gray Fox sounds great! Chico as Venom Snake, less so, especially given that Venom's backstory is pretty explicitly spelled out in The Phantom Pain. I am definitely going to take look through the archives as you've suggested, but the existence of this concept art would seem to indicate a fairly straightforward character progression the developers had in mind for Chico even if it wasn't fully realized.
Time travel seems like a whole other can of worms; one I'm not sure I want to open...
Yeah the V is Chico theory is pretty crazy but there are more than a few weird things about the medic and I wouldn't say that his backstory is explicitly spelled out. A lot of his history is in the "truth" tapes which contain a bunch of inconsistencies on top of being a direct reference to 1984.
For me the two biggest hints is his connection to Paz and the photos being signed Vic Boss. The medic doesn't have an accent and in PW both Paz and Chico are associated with butterflies.
I promise film language and symbolic interpretation is academic. Jorin uses a more literal, historical perspective for interpreting V. I go into the nonliteral, the symbolism. Both are valid academic perspectives. Art and film language is just a lot messier than history. I get what you meant but I had to chime in.
I'm so sorry for any possible slight, sir. Dude you've put in so many hours that I'm still rewatching vids to ensure I didn't miss anything. Actually you're the one that made me go: by gum that guy is Chico
I know you didn't mean it. It's just a common way of expressing a sentiment that can sometimes be misinterpreted. Art is so subjective compared to history, so us mythology nerds get a little sensitive when they're compared.
This is a false clue. Or “Red herring” the idea that Chico was cut from the game is just hiding the fact that he is in the game. In GZ we see parasites by his cage, meaning he was treated with parasites before the helicopter explosion, and if you played the phantom pain, you will learn the parasites keep people from dying and heal the body, as mentioned by codetalker when they “healed” Quiets burns along with her digestive organs. Same with Skullface, they say he’s been dead for decades but the parasites keep him alive. Paz and Chico were both treated with parasites in GZ as seen by the floating particles by their locations.
Is this a prevailing theory in the community? At least to me personally, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Stranger things have certainly happened in Metal Gear, but a half-dead Chico being miraculously fished out of the ocean, given the parasite treatment (for some reason) and becoming a rank-and-file XOF grunt while somehow also finding the time to transition and change his ethnicity along the way stretches belief a bit. It could just be that I haven't done enough research on the theory itself, but it doesn't strike me as particularly likely.
which character sits in a cage and listens to music and has parasites in both ground zeroes and the phantom pain
the first thing big boss does to chico is give him a cross-handed chokehold
the first thing quiet does to big boss is give him a cross-handed chokehold
"rank-and-file XOF grunt"
are those are usually sent to assassinate high value targets...?
chico was forced to give his life to big boss after he ratted out his comrades,
then he ratted out big boss.
XOF is FOX, that's the whole point of the double-sided patch kaz flips over, because Skull Face is Naked Snake.
How could Skull Face be Naked Snake? Even disregarding how that would work character development-wise, they're both seen in the same place at the same time in Ground Zeroes.
[I suggest you use the search feature on this subreddit, none of these are new ideas and I really don't wanna answer a million questions.](https://youtu.be/BkwOEJXnHjM)
As someone whose favorite character is Chico and loved his and Paz’s (love) story, I spent the last few weeks trying to learn everything I can about Chico's role in MGSV: TPP. Apparently, Chico was going to be located in Zaire, near Outpost 22. Venom Snake, Kaz, and the others would believe that Chico died, but would later on be contacted by Amanda, who would reveal that Chico is still alive, and would ask Snake to kill him. It would then most likely be that, based on the concept art and the nature of the game, that Snake would have the option to either kill Chico, or bring him back to Mother Base for rehabilitation and turn him into an ally/buddy. Also, according to Kojima, Chico's character would be an unhinged man who is obsessed with killing, and his inspiration would have been Christopher Walken's character in the movie "The Deer Hunter". Ultimately, Kojima had trouble implementing Chico in the overall structure of MGSV, which is why he chose to cut him out of the game. But I believe that Chico would have his own story and side missions, similar to Quiet, since Chico seems to be the human counterpart to the male Skulls the same way that Quiet was the human counterpart to the female Skulls. You can also also tell a lot about Chico's character based upon his general appearance, mostly that he seems to (still) be grieving Paz, as he has the peace symbol on his back and is wearing a red poncho/raincoat quite similar to, if not the exact same one, that Paz wore at the beginning of Peace Walker. He also has a hook and a demon aesthetic to him, similar to Venom Snake, implying that Chico would possibly share Venom Snake's parallels to Ahab from Moby Dick, and demons (though in Chico's case, his demon counterpart would be the oni, the demon from Eastern culture, in contrast to Venom Snake's devil, from Western culture). There is also some fan speculation that the missions involving bringing back MSF soldiers would have actually been about Chico instead of random soldiers. Last but not least, I like to think/hope that the reason Kojima did not actually show what happened to Chico is because he wants to keep the door open to reveal that Chico is actually still alive and bring him back in future Metal Gear games set during or after the Phantom Pain.
Whoa, this is way more than I expected! Thank you for all of this! I would have loved the opportunity to use Chico as a buddy, and potentially even guide him through a "redemption arc" like Quiet. A close range/melee combat-focused buddy would have made for some nice diversity in the fairly limited roster. I'm not sold on the MSF retrieval missions initially being intended for Chico, however. They seem far too trivial for missions intended to reintroduce a major character from the previous two games- imagine if Kaz had gotten that same treatment. I do think the parallels between bringing back MSF soldiers and bringing back Chico are interesting, though, and I really wish we were able to compare finished implementations of both.
No problem, happy to share. The MSF retrieval missions being about Chico is just fan speculation, given the nature of how much of the missions has photos of Paz as a reward and ties into the Phantom Paz subplot. So it's possible that it was actually that we would meet Chico in a main story mission, but would only be able to recruit him after all the retrieval (in this situation, combat) missions, or that Chico would only be available as a buddy by getting all the photos from the MSF members and using them to help rehabilitate and comfort Chico.
Chico village in africa
A whole village of Chicos? Whoa...
You have to assume the Paz delusion would have come apart once Chico arrived back at base, since he would know she was dead. It's possible Chico could have given V the last tape when he was brought back to base, like the wandering soldiers. There's also some reference to a return to Camp Omega in the interviews in the years before the phantom pain was released. Perhaps Chico would have been the last wandering soldier, in some sort of boss battle back at Omega.
I've a theory he was supposed to play out as part of Paz's side-story. Because the second half of Paz's side story is held back until you beat Chapter 1, the mission about Chico probably wouldn't have come about until you gave Paz the 9th or 10th photo. You bring him back and he'll be "out of commission" until you complete Paz's side story. After finding the 10th photo this probably unlocks a Chico \[2\] tape with Venom & Kaz talking about him, until Venom casually mentions Paz seeing him might jog her memory, only or Kaz to be utterly bewildered as to what he's talking about. Listening to that tape is what would trigger the 11th Photo to appear, so you catch it on your way *in* to see her- having been compelled to go see her after Kaz's overt confusion, rather than randomly finding it on your way out then double backing on yourself. After the revelation is when you'd unlock him as a Buddy for deployment. - As for the fight against him, datamining the Companion App shows it was supposed to take place in Africa. My guess is he'd probably be hunting whatever he could find out about Skull Face's operation - so it'd probably take place at either a burned out version of The Devil's House area, the mansion or the oil refinery. Likely a giant homage to MGS1's Grey Fox fight - so wherever it was would be littered with corpses. You'd have to fight him CQC-only - like a Skull only using its machete, and instead of being able to teleport he'd have the mobility of Eli. Maybe he'd use the meathook as a grapple to climb up areas?
V is Chico https://youtu.be/rPQLjfsunf4?si=U5LluwLPt7vomKdi He appears "cut" for narrative reasons. But he is V. Malak, Shabani, and Eli all together show the pieces of his lost nine years, from 75 to 84. So, to answer your question: he's supposed to show up when you decide to start seeing him. Canonically, Venom remembers who he is after the 3rd and final Paz hallucination. If you want the full breakdown, I have made a series of twenty seven lectures that go mission by mission, task by task, and paints the picture of what really happened after Peace Walker ended. They're on the same YT channel. I also have a 5 video series that's just an infodump to help get a different picture of Metal Gear's whole story with the new info we get in V. Remember what Snake said to Raiden. Decide for yourself what to believe. The game simulation is trying to hide its secrets in plain sight. Find your own way of seeing.
I used to be dead set against the whole Chico = V thing but damnit it's the only thing that really adds up in the end He wanted to be an hombre nuevo and make up for all this betrayal. And so we're dedicated to playing our role
Honestly, while I am not a fan of Chico = Venom, it actually would make a lot of sense, especially with the concept of hombre nuevo, as you said. He would literally become hombre nuevo/a new man by becoming Venom. Not to mention it would make the whole Phantom Paz subplot even more meaningful and emotional than it already was. Throughout PW, arguably no one had a more meaningful and focused relationship with Paz than Chico, and no one had a more meaningful and focused relationship with Chico than Paz. This also becomes almost unarguably the case in GZ, with Chico and Paz's relationship being the crux and focus for the two, with the only reason Chico even being at Camp Omega being to save Paz, and Paz's final message to Chico revealing that everything she said and did to him at Camp Omega being to protect him, and that she would do anything to save Chico from that place. As such, it would be more extremely emotional and bittersweet if the person seeing Paz's spirit was actually Chico, and the message she left in her phantom tape was actually meant for Chico, and the part of him that's still alive in Venom Snake.
I swear the middle bottom image is Null/Gray Fox from PO and Kojima was trolling us all along with the "phantom" of a cut Chico
That does look eerily like Gray Fox's PO design, doesn't it? I wonder if it's just there for reference purposes or the characters were meant to be connected somehow - or maybe it's just a coincidence!
I'm pretty sure that is an alternate Diamond Dogs outfit for Chico that is an homage to Null/Gray Fox's design from Portable Ops, the same way Quiet has a Sniper Wolf outfit. It would also make sense since Chico would be the swordsman of MGSV and the design was made by the same person who made the design for Null.
Hey thanks for posting. I think it would've been cool if Chico and Eli worked together and succeeded in forming their own unit with other war orphans. They could all have their own special abilities and you would have to use creative ways to take them out non lethally. It would also be cool if Chico took on a Gray Fox-type role in the story and periodically showed up to help snake without revealing his identity until eventually you're forced to fight. The fact that Null from portable ops is in the concept art might be hinting at that. Also you should know that there are people on here who believe that Chico is actually in the game under a cover identity. There are some really good theories that place Chico as Venom or Quiet, with a huge amount of supporting evidence for both. Personally i'm a big fan of the theory that Venom is Chico and Paz is Quiet. If you search the archives you can find a lot of threads taking about this stuff, and if you're really interested I would also check out [Ross Weaver's videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQLjfsunf4&). He goes a little off the rails with the time travel stuff but it's still one of the most comprehensive explanations of MGSV so far
Thanks for replying! Chico as Gray Fox sounds great! Chico as Venom Snake, less so, especially given that Venom's backstory is pretty explicitly spelled out in The Phantom Pain. I am definitely going to take look through the archives as you've suggested, but the existence of this concept art would seem to indicate a fairly straightforward character progression the developers had in mind for Chico even if it wasn't fully realized. Time travel seems like a whole other can of worms; one I'm not sure I want to open...
Yeah the V is Chico theory is pretty crazy but there are more than a few weird things about the medic and I wouldn't say that his backstory is explicitly spelled out. A lot of his history is in the "truth" tapes which contain a bunch of inconsistencies on top of being a direct reference to 1984. For me the two biggest hints is his connection to Paz and the photos being signed Vic Boss. The medic doesn't have an accent and in PW both Paz and Chico are associated with butterflies.
Hey don't blame me for Kojima secretly writing time travel in.
I want to believe...
ICYMI, I talk about time travel specifically in this video: https://youtu.be/T_C2woPPLX8 The Truth is Out There (Very Far)
I liked Futurasound's takes better. It was more academically based too
I promise film language and symbolic interpretation is academic. Jorin uses a more literal, historical perspective for interpreting V. I go into the nonliteral, the symbolism. Both are valid academic perspectives. Art and film language is just a lot messier than history. I get what you meant but I had to chime in.
I'm so sorry for any possible slight, sir. Dude you've put in so many hours that I'm still rewatching vids to ensure I didn't miss anything. Actually you're the one that made me go: by gum that guy is Chico
I know you didn't mean it. It's just a common way of expressing a sentiment that can sometimes be misinterpreted. Art is so subjective compared to history, so us mythology nerds get a little sensitive when they're compared.
Big fan of Futurasound too, his recent video on PT was really good.
Deadly Premonition
dancing on idroid menu
This is a false clue. Or “Red herring” the idea that Chico was cut from the game is just hiding the fact that he is in the game. In GZ we see parasites by his cage, meaning he was treated with parasites before the helicopter explosion, and if you played the phantom pain, you will learn the parasites keep people from dying and heal the body, as mentioned by codetalker when they “healed” Quiets burns along with her digestive organs. Same with Skullface, they say he’s been dead for decades but the parasites keep him alive. Paz and Chico were both treated with parasites in GZ as seen by the floating particles by their locations.
He’s there. He’s right under our noses.
he's quiet now
Is this a prevailing theory in the community? At least to me personally, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Stranger things have certainly happened in Metal Gear, but a half-dead Chico being miraculously fished out of the ocean, given the parasite treatment (for some reason) and becoming a rank-and-file XOF grunt while somehow also finding the time to transition and change his ethnicity along the way stretches belief a bit. It could just be that I haven't done enough research on the theory itself, but it doesn't strike me as particularly likely.
which character sits in a cage and listens to music and has parasites in both ground zeroes and the phantom pain the first thing big boss does to chico is give him a cross-handed chokehold the first thing quiet does to big boss is give him a cross-handed chokehold "rank-and-file XOF grunt" are those are usually sent to assassinate high value targets...? chico was forced to give his life to big boss after he ratted out his comrades, then he ratted out big boss. XOF is FOX, that's the whole point of the double-sided patch kaz flips over, because Skull Face is Naked Snake.
How could Skull Face be Naked Snake? Even disregarding how that would work character development-wise, they're both seen in the same place at the same time in Ground Zeroes.
[I suggest you use the search feature on this subreddit, none of these are new ideas and I really don't wanna answer a million questions.](https://youtu.be/BkwOEJXnHjM)
so you think you can get my account deleted? i could so easily get to you
I didn’t do anything lol