Wikia

The Diamond Dogs was a mercenary unit led by Big Boss around the 1980s. It was created as a result of the devastation of the Militaires Sans Frontières and Mother Base.^[1] The name stems from the group's profession as "dogs of war," who were willing to carry out unsavory jobs for clients, while at the same time maintaining pride in their work.^[1]

Behind the scenesEdit

The Diamond Dogs first appeared in the form of an emblem on Big Boss's uniform, in "classified" artwork unveiled online by Kojima Productions. The artwork was used to promote the recruitment of engineers to help develop the next canonical game in the Metal Gear series, which was later revealed to be Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The artwork in question depicts Big Boss accompanied by a dog, presumably either a foxhound or a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Due to the angle of the artwork, only the word "Dogs" is legible, on the right side of Big Boss's uniform. However, director Hideo Kojima tweeted a full image of the logo, revealing the entire name.

During the Metal Gear 25th Anniversary segment of Konami's pre-E3 show, the Diamond Dogs image popped up, implying that it would have some ties to the 25th Anniversary.

On January 30, 2013, Kojima tweeted that he had an iPhone case that bore the logo of Diamond Dogs. He also stated in the same tweet that it wasn't for sale.^[2] Later, he stated that he started using it as his actual case.^[3]

Towards the end of the GDC 2013 trailer for Metal Gear Solid V, as well as a voice (implied to be Kazuhira Miller's) mentioning that they had found their "new home," Diamond Dogs are hinted at being a replacement for MSF. Kojima later confirmed some of the details in an interview.^[1]

Aside from the aforementioned meanings behind the name "Diamond Dogs," it is also a reference to the David Bowie album of the same name,^[1] whose work has previously been referenced in other games in the series. It might also be a reference to blood diamonds, which are diamonds that are mined and sold in countries during major conflicts, usually within Africa. Both potential origins of the name were acknowledged by Kojima, who commented that some of these suggestions indeed touched on the meanings behind it.^[1]