Eva (stylized as EVA) is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
from the ''
Metal Gear
is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operativ ...
'' series. EVA is introduced in ''
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'', and subsequently appears in ''
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots''.
Appearances
According to her backstory, her character was born in
Meridian, Idaho
Meridian is a city located in Ada County in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population of Meridian was 117,635, making it the second largest city in Idaho after Boise. Meridian is considered the state's fastest-growing city an ...
, on May 15, 1936. At some point in her childhood, prior to the advent of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, she, along with several other children across the world, was taken by the Philosophers secret world government conspiracy and raised in a joint U.S.-Soviet-Chinese facility, receiving spy training at one of the Philosophers "charm schools", so she could become a
sleeper agent
A sleeper agent, also called sleeper cell, is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization not to undertake an immediate mission but to act as a potential asset if activated. Even if unactivated, the "sleeper agent" is still an asset ...
. As a result of this, she was indistinguishable from any other native-born American. She eventually joined The Second Department of the
Chinese People's Liberation Army General Staff Headquarters, responsible for collecting
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
. There, she learned techniques such as "bandit shooting", a horizontal sweep using the
Shanxi Type 17 handgun.
first appears in ''
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'', set in 1964, as a motorbike-riding supposed
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
female spy and a former
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
codebreaker who has defected to the Soviets along with ADAM. She uses her charm and good looks to win over the trust of
Naked Snake and the Soviet enemies. EVA wants to kill
Major Ocelot to avoid revealing her cover but is stopped by Snake. Later, EVA infiltrates Colonel Volgin's
GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...
base through the disguise , Sokolov's supposed lover, and assists Snake; "Tatyana" is tortured by Volgin with
electric shock
Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...
s in order to coerce the uncooperative Sokolov into completing the
Shagohod's development and Volgin decided to have her "entertain". Throughout their respective missions, EVA and Snake began to develop romantic feelings for one another, but Snake was initially hesitant. She helps Snake destroy the Shagohod, kill Volgin and reach the Philosophers' Legacy so that she can later steal the treasure, even seeming to fall in love with Snake. At one point, EVA was nearly killed by the Colonel until
The Boss volunteered to execute her personally; The Boss was actually trying to get her out of harm's way in reality. After the mission is completed, EVA and Snake have a one-night stand, but she could not bring herself to carry out the order of assassinating Snake, as she promised The Boss she would not. Instead, she flees with what she believes to be the Philosophers' Legacy (which was actually half taken by Ocelot for the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
) as well as with intelligence data that lead to the breakthrough in the
Chinese nuclear weapons program
The People's Republic of China has developed and possesses weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and nuclear weapons. The first of China's nuclear weapons tests took place in 1964, and its first hydrogen bomb test occurred in 1967 ...
. Snake discovers a tape EVA has left revealing all her secrets. The epilogue prior to the credits goes on to state that EVA disappeared in
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
, North Vietnam, during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
in 1968.
EVA reappears in ''
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops'' as a recruitable character by completing a series of optional missions.
In 1971, Big Boss and EVA reconciled after she was tracked down and rescued in Hanoi, and is invited to become a founding member of a
shadow government along with
Zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation
Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...
,
Para-Medic (Dr. Clark),
Sigint
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
and Ocelot. At some point, she also discovered Ocelot's codename of ADAM, and the two reconciled. In 1972, EVA volunteered to serve as a
surrogate mother
Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...
in the Les Enfants Terribles project designed with Big Boss's "sons" to maintain an icon for their organization. She was originally implanted with eight clone fetuses, though six were intentionally aborted in order to encourage stronger growth in the remaining two, giving birth to
Solid Snake and
Liquid Snake
Liquid Snake is a fictional character from the ''Metal Gear'' franchise. He is the twin brother of series protagonist Solid Snake and the second product of ''Les Enfants Terribles'', a top-secret government project to artificially create soldiers ...
. Despite Big Boss's disapproval and eventual defection in opposition to Zero's methods,
EVA saw the "sons" as her own children.
EVA does not make a direct appearance in ''
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker''. She would remain in contact with Big Boss, passing on cassette tape recordings to the
Militaires Sans Frontieres in 1974. In them, she detailed further information on The Boss's final mission, and the motivations behind her actions, having been entrusted to pass this on to Big Boss. These tapes were later supplied to Big Boss with no return address except with her name EVA, with Big Boss hesitantly explaining that she was an "old acquaintance".
In ''
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'', which is set in 2014, she appears under the identity of (also called ''Matka Pluku'',
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
for "Mother of the Regiment") as the leader of the Paradise Lost Army resistance movement against
The Patriots. It is revealed that she was fired from her job as a spy after she failed a mission in the previous game. She assists Old Snake in Eastern Europe. During a chase, EVA crashes her motorcycle and is impaired, seriously injuring her. When Liquid throws Big Boss's body into a fire, she attempts to save it but is nearly burned to death. Snake saved her from Liquid Ocelot's gunshot but the left side of her son's face gets badly burnt in the process. Although EVA initially appeared as if she died from injuries, it is later revealed that she died after coming into contact with the mutated FOXDIE virus carried in Snake's body.
In ''
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'', Zero tasked EVA to arrange Big Boss's confinement at a hospital in Cyprus after XOF's attack on Mother Base, revealing this to Ocelot.
EVA and
Olga Gurlukovich's outfits can be used as costumes in ''
Rumble Roses XX
is a female professional wrestling fighting game developed by Konami for the Xbox 360 as the sequel to the 2004 PlayStation 2 game ''Rumble Roses''. The game was released by Konami in 2006. ''Rumble Roses XX'' is playable on Xbox One via backwa ...
''. EVA also makes a cameo appearance in ''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 List of crossovers in video games, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros., ''Super Smash ...
'' as an obtainable sticker, usable exclusively by Solid Snake in The Subspace Emissary.
Character design
EVA's character model was based by Hideo Kojima on a
gravure idol
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though mo ...
he liked ("○○里", a possible reference to
Chisato Morishita
, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese gravure idol, tarento, actress and former race queen. Her popularity as race queen opened the doors for singing and acting career.
In 2004, she portrayed Zero Suit Samus in the Japanese '' Metro ...
(森下 千里)),
[ and her personality traits were inspired by ]Fujiko Mine
is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series ''Lupin III'', which debuted in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967. She is a professional criminal who regularly uses her attractiveness to fool her targets. Unlike t ...
from ''Lupin III
, also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène ...
''. He also said: "On Eva's back are signs of torture. There are burn marks and cut marks, as well as some very old scars. The Colonel interrogated her with 'hentai
Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...
play' (変態プレイ)." According to Kojima, EVA's character was disliked by the English voice actors for her personality. The defection of NSA codebreakers ADAM and EVA is based on a real-life incident in September 1960. EVA's alias, Tatyana, is the name of Tatiana Romanova
Tatiana Alexeievna "Tania" Romanova (russian: Татьяна Алексеевна «Таня» Романова, Tatyana Alekseevna «Tanya» Romanova) is a fictional character in the 1957 James Bond novel '' From Russia, with Love'', its 1 ...
, the Bond Girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
in '' From Russia with Love''. Although Laughing Octopus is the first character to use the word "fuck" in the English version of the series, it was first used by EVA in the Japanese version of ''Metal Gear Solid 3'', when she says "''fuck you''" in English to Volgin (this line was changed to "''go to hell''" during localization).
Reception
Eva was well received by media. GameTrailers
''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
listed her at number eight among top-ten "gamer babes" in 2007 and ''Chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...
'' ranked her as the 14th-top "girl of gaming" in 2008. In 2007, Tom's Games
''Tom's Hardware'' is an online publication owned by Future plc and focused on technology. It was founded in 1996 by Thomas Pabst. It provides articles, news, price comparisons, videos and reviews on computer hardware and high technology. The si ...
included her among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history, proposing that she should be portrayed in a live-action adaptation by "Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
, because she's tall, blonde and built to kick ass." In 2011, 1UP.com instead proposed Gillian Jacobs
Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016 ...
, adding that "EVA proved herself as one of the games' smartest and craftiest characters, playing heroes and villains alike like oversized flesh fiddles." The scene between the "sexy" EVA, Snake, and Ocelot in ''MGS3'' was ranked as fifth on the 2010 list of the most ''Metal Gear'' amazing cutscene
A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
s by Joystick Division
Village Voice Media or VVM is a newspaper company. It began in 1970 as a weekly alternative newspaper in Phoenix. The company, founded by Michael Lacey (editor) and Jim Larkin (publisher), was then known as New Times Inc. (NTI) and the publicati ...
.
Multiple publications noted the character for her sex appeal. EVA was chosen as "the perfect one to top the list" of the "PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
babes" by Chris Reiter of Gaming Target in 2005 and ranked as the "43rd-hottest game babe" on all platforms by GameDaily
GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States.
It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...
in 2008. TF1 ranked her as 14th on their list of the sexiest video game characters to cosplay
Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
. In 2011, she was included on the list of the top 50 "video game hotties" by UGO
Ugo is the Italian form of Hugh, a widely used name of Germanic origin. Its diminutive form is Ugolino.
It is also a Nigerian Igbo first name.
It may refer to:
People
* Vgo (stonemason), medieval stonemason
* Ugo Bassi, a Roman Catholic prie ...
, who called her "the epitome of a Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
when she shows up in ''MGS3''." UGO later also included her on their 2012's list of 99 "hottest" fictional women in all media. That same year, GamerBliss ranked her as the third-sexiest "woman of gaming". ''PLAY
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
'' put her undergarment in'' MGS3'' as second on their list of top bras in games, commenting that few of them "can have been so gratuitously exposed as this one. Kojima truly is a genius."
References
{{Metal Gear
Characters designed by Yoji Shinkawa
Female characters in video games
Fictional American diaspora
Fictional American people in video games
Fictional double agents
Fictional characters from Idaho
Fictional Chinese people in video games
Fictional members of secret societies
Metal Gear characters
Fictional secret agents and spies in video games
Fictional soldiers in video games
Video game characters introduced in 2004
Woman soldier and warrior characters in video games