A parrot kept as a pet by Emma Emmerich was her one and only friend, helping to ease her loneliness. She named it Otacon, after the nickname of her older stepbrother, Hal Emmerich.
While on board the Big Shell, the parrot was located in the computer room of the Shell 1 Core where Emma worked. Its cage was shielded by the same electromagnetic weapon that protected Dead Cell leader Fortune, rendering all projectile attacks futile. FOXHOUND agent Raiden encountered the parrot while infiltrating the computer room, where it uttered such phrases as "Venus in Cancer" and "Hal." The parrot's breed was speculated by Raiden's radio contact, Rosemary, to be a budgerigar. Later, Raiden managed to rescue Emma from terrorist forces, who enquired as to the bird's condition, before objecting to Raiden calling it a "noisy overgrown parakeet."
Solid Snake later brought a dying Emma to the Shell 1 computer room, where she soon passed away. When the parrot uttered his name, Hal opened the parrot's cage and took it out, carrying it with him as he made his escape from the Big Shell's impending destruction. Before he could reach the elevator, the parrot said, "Hal... I miss you," repeating some of Emma's words, and causing Hal to break down in tears.
After Arsenal Gear's crash into Manhattan, Raiden witnessed the parrot flying freely up into the towering buildings. Hal had earlier released the parrot while Snake was meeting with Raiden shortly after the conclusion of Raiden's battle with Solidus Snake.[1]
Behind the scenes
In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, if the player calls out to the parrot enough times ("You must be Ames!", when using the Directional Microphone) while visiting the computer chamber, it will add the player's calling out to its usual repertoire of phrases. Similarly, going to alert mode enough times will also have the bird quote the soldiers' phrases during alert mode. Attempting to shoot the bird will also have it give similar quotes to the soldiers. In addition, if the player sprayed the bird with Coolant Spray, the bird will say "This sucks!" as long as the spray is hitting it.
Hideo Kojima once joked that Emma's parrot is the grandson of The End's parrot in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The Metal Gear Solid 4 Database states that they are the same breed of parrot, and that large parrots can live anywhere from 50 to 100 years, making it unclear whether Emma's and The End's parrots were in fact the same bird.[2]
References
- ^ Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (script), Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001).
Raiden, remembering Snake, looks around for him. // Raiden: Snake? // Snake has already vanished. Otacon is not in sight, but Emma’s parrot can be seen taking off. // (Snake and Otacon have already departed in Otacon’s car.) - ^ Metal Gear Solid 4 Database ("Emma's Parrot"), Kojima Productions (2008).