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Drebin 893 (or simply Drebin) was one of the many members of a group called "Drebin," a huge network of underground gun launderers who replaced ID chips in guns so they could be used by anyone. This Drebin helped out Solid Snake and Hal Emmerich in their mission to take down Liquid Ocelot. Unbeknownst to them, Drebin was also assisting the Patriots by encouraging them to take Liquid out. The Drebins' catchphrase, as seen on the side of his Stryker, was "Eye Have You." He was often accompanied by a hairless pet monkey named Little Gray.

Biography[]

Background[]

Drebin was a child soldier, under the fold of one of the Patriots' proxy wars, with him being the only survivor out of his family. He was kidnapped by the Ugandan anti-government rebel group, the Lords' Resistance Army (LRA), and raised on the battlefield, during which time he received a scar on the left side of his head. Drebin was eventually recruited as an agent of the Patriots, where he was then placed into the "Drebin" gun laundering company, saying that the real reason he was allowed to launder guns was not because he worked at ArmsTech, but because the Patriots "let him." During the advent of the war economy, his customers included various local militias and small PMCs in countries such as Somalia, the Balkans, Lebanon, Darfur, Chechnya, Timor, Peru, the Punjab, Kashmir, Colombia.

Guns of the Patriots Incident[]

See also: Liquid Sun, Solid Sun, Third Sun, Twin Suns, Old Sun, and Naked Sin/Naked Son
Drebin first encounter

Drebin meets Snake in the Middle East.

In 2014, Drebin met Solid Snake early on in the latter's mission in the Middle East, and told him about his gun laundering activities, claiming to be an employee at ArmsTech Security. After giving Snake an M4 Custom as a "welcoming gift," he told Snake about the war economy, and how one day it will plunge the entire world into war. Drebin also provided Snake with an injection of nanomachines so that he could operate any weapons he might purchase from him, though he secretly infected him with a new strain of FOXDIE, which was programmed to kill former Patriot members Big Mama, Liquid Ocelot, and Big Boss.[1]

New strain FOXDIE

Drebin prepares to give Snake a nanomachine injection, along with the new strain of FOXDIE.

Drebin next met Snake when he went to rescue Naomi Hunter from Liquid's base in South America, where told him about the Beauty and the Beast Unit, as well as the true nature of the Patriots' AI network. During this time, Little Gray smoked a cigarette of Snake's after swiping it and later gestured for another, though Drebin did not allow it. After Snake defeated Laughing Octopus, Snake called Drebin and accused him of both spying on him as well as injecting Snake with FOXDIE. Although Drebin admitted to spying on him, with preference to it being called "customer data management", he denied knowledge about injecting Snake with FOXDIE, and cited that it would be to his own benefit to keep Snake alive than kill him.[2]

Drebin later came to Snake and Naomi's rescue when Naomi was seconds away from being taken by Vamp. He also came to the aid of Snake, and Meryl Silverburgh's Rat Patrol in Eastern Europe after they were nearly killed by Liquid Ocelot upon successfully hijacking the Sons of the Patriots System. In addition, beforehand, he had disabled the ID lock on Raging Raven's Milkhor grenade launcher for Snake, under the condition that he gain possession of it after the end of his mission.

Later, Drebin reunited with Snake and Otacon on board the USS Missouri. There, he offered Snake a discount on his weapons due to the slump in sales caused by the SOP System's inactivation. He was also the one who supplied the Missouri with catapults that would be used to launch Solid Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, and Johnny Sasaki onto Outer Haven, Liquid Ocelot's warship, and also supplied some guns and ammunition to Johnny.

Following the Patriots' destruction, Drebin arrived at the wedding of Meryl and Johnny Sasaki, and unveiled several champagne bottles and doves as part of a magic trick. Later on, Drebin revealed to Otacon that he had been ordered by the Patriots themselves to help Snake and Rat Patrol succeed in their mission to assassinate Liquid Ocelot. The Patriots did not conceive that their system of global control would be taken offline thanks to Sunny, Naomi and their FOXALIVE computer virus. He also explained that he and all of the other Drebins in the world had taken over the gun laundering business and formed their own "company," called DREBINS, and thus didn't have any hard feelings for Snake or Otacon for shutting down the Patriots. Drebin then became drunk, due to his alcohol-moderating nanomachines now being inactive, and commented on what the future likely held following the end of the war economy, with the United Nations playing a more important role in the world.[3]

The FOXDIE virus that Drebin had used to infect Snake was discovered to have supplanted the mutated original strain in his body. This prevented the threat of an epidemic that the mutated strain had posed, ensuring that Snake did not need to kill himself prior to his death from advanced aging.

Weapons and equipment sold[]

The following weapons and equipment were what Drebin sold:[4]

Personality and traits[]

Drebindr9

Drebin materializing a grenade from a handkerchief as part of his parlor tricks.

Drebin 893 often practiced magic tricks involving sleight of hand, such as using a white piece of cloth and making an apple and a hand grenade appear seemingly out of nowhere beneath it, and producing flames from his fingertips.

Drebin and Little Gray both enjoyed drinking Narc Soda, with the former possessing a vending machine for the drink within his Stryker. Drebin primarily drank soda rather than alcohol, during the time of the Guns of the Patriots Incident, due to it agreeing with his nanomachines.

Drebin was a fan of rare and extinct animals, UMAs, and legendary units such as the Cobra Unit, Dead Cell, and the Beauty and the Beast Unit. He often collected photographs and other memorabilia of these units, explaining the mass of photos in his Stryker that have the Beauty and the Beast members, as well as why he would want Raging Raven's grenade launcher as a condition in unlocking its ID lock for Snake.[8]

Despite his status as an illegal weapons launderer and arms dealer, he does to some degree have some ethical standards: Namely, he makes clear that he would not endanger his own customers, citing that keeping Solid Snake alive would be more aligned with his best interests than endangering his life.

Athough Drebin was ultimately an agent of the Patriots, he wasn't actually loyal to them. This is especially evident during Meryl's wedding in the aftermath of the Patriots' shutdown, where, after admitting to his ties to the Patriots, he also admitted that he was glad that they were gone since DREBINS could become their own company.

Behind the scenes[]

The name Drebin is inspired by the Naked Gun movies. The late Leslie Nielsen played Lt. Frank Drebin in the films. Drebin 893 launders ID locked weapons into universally usable "naked guns," hence the allusion to the films. The number 893 is based on an old Japanese card name and can spell "Yakuza," being 8 (ya) 9 (ku) 3 (za). This designation is also mimicked in Drebin's Codec frequency of 148.93. Drebin's connection to the Patriots was briefly foreshadowed in Solid Sun, where he almost says "La Li Lu Le Lo" before stopping himself and then identifying the Patriots by name.

DrebinMGS4

Drebin and Little Gray.

The soda Drebin drinks, Narc, is a reference to the drug of the same name from another Hideo Kojima game, Policenauts, which itself is a reference to the drug Nuke from the sci-fi/crime film RoboCop 2.

Drebin went through multiple designs and concepts, the earliest of which depicted him as an older Caucasian, with other designs including a short man with a connected afro and beard, a Rastafarian, one with him possessing a goatee with two arrows, and a Texan cowboy.

Drebin's appearance with the colored hair and earrings loosely resembles Dennis Rodman playing a gunrunner in the action movie Double Team. Drebin also resembles Smuggler, an arms dealer featured in the non-linear themed game Deus Ex, also voiced by Khary Payton.

Throughout the game, Drebin makes several allusions to the previous games in the Metal Gear series:

  • During his first encounter with Solid Snake, Drebin refers to himself as being "neither enemy nor friend," similar to Gray Fox in Metal Gear Solid, and Olga Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 2.
  • During the first meeting with Snake in South America, Drebin inadvertently referenced The Pain, The Fury, and The Sorrow while speaking about the Beauty and the Beast Unit.
  • On board the Missouri, Drebin and Little Gray jump down from a gun battery and assume a pose resembling Solid Snake's landing on the USS Discovery in Metal Gear Solid 2, and that performed by Big Boss following his HALO jump in Metal Gear Solid 3. However, they end up killing the drama by belching loudly.

One of the monitors inside Drebin's Stryker also contains the codenames for Metal Gear Solid 4.

926596 20070920 screen034

Little Gray is helped by Naomi and Snake in South America, a scene which amuses Drebin.

In the cutscene just after Drebin's Stryker crashes, when Naomi and Snake walk out of the Stryker holding Little Gray, the player can press X to see a famous photograph of two men with a monkey, purporting to show an alien. Drebin briefly chuckles, apparently seeing the resemblance. In actuality, the photo shown is a famous picture of two men with a monkey, which resulted in a conspiracy theory believing that the monkey was actually an alien. Drebin also has this picture inside his Stryker.

Drebin 893 also makes an appearance on the official website for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, where he will trade in the user's collected Drebin Points similar to the game. In exchange for Drebin Points on the site, he will also "sell" various items, including songs from Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and from Metal Gear Solid 4 itself, as well as wallpapers for the computer (nine), the PlayStation Portable (seven), and the iTouch (one) depicting the characters (and in the case of the iTouch wallpaper, the cover for Metal Gear Solid 4), two screensavers depicting Snake and Liquid Ocelot, as well as special items depicting a Solid Snake Email Signature Set, a Buddy Icon Set, a Sunny Camera, and a SWF Wallpaper depicting Raiden and Vamp. Upon arriving in the Drebin's Shop area, Drebin will be heard saying "Welcome, check out the new hotness I've got in this week." Buying these items will have them be placed in the Get Item menu folder, waiting for download.

Drebin 893 also appears in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Instruction Manga included in the instruction manual for the game. His role is overall the same, although he appears immediately after Snake ended up being forced to steal an ID-locked gun from a soldier he killed due to running out of ammo, and he does not inject Snake with a shot beforehand to update his nanomachines. Although his speech spells his name correctly, his introduction subtitles misspell his name as being "Dorebin."

During E3 2011, Kojima, while showing a demo of the Fox Engine, used a shirtless character that vaguely resembles Drebin.[9]

Drebin also appeared in the official series site's Versus Battle.

"STRENGTHS:
Snake Ally, Crafty Mercenary Arms Lord
WEAKNESSES:
War Economy, Little Gray’s Smoking
FEATURED FACT:
Drebin 893 played a big role as Snake’s ally by supplying him with weapons & key support in the Middle East, South America, and Eastern Europe
FEATURED GAME:
METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION
"
―Drebin's bio in Versus Battle

Although Drebin himself does not appear in Survive, his trademark "Eye have you" gesture is used as one of the unlockable gestures in the game, specifically when purchasing it for 1000 BP.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, Kojima Productions (2008).
    The Patriots' objective was to use Drebin to inject Snake with a new FOXDIE. Drebin was successful at using Snake as a vector, mixing in suppressants for old nanomachines ("Drebin" p.2).
  2. ^ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima Productions (2008).
    Solid Snake: Somebody's done either homework. // Drebin 893: Hey, it's my job. // Snake: Is that the real reason you injected me with those nanomachines? To spy on me? // Drebin 893: I prefer the term "customer data management," myself. // Snake: Drebin... // Drebin 893: Relax! It's strictly confidential. I ain't gonna share it with anybody. // Snake: Then what'd you mix a virus in with the nanomachines for? // Drebin 893: Virus? // Snake: A certain virus was detected in my body. Are you saying it wasn't in the nanomachines you injected? // Drebin 893: Look, you do know there are other folks who could've done this to you. And besides, what would I gain from infecting you? Better for me that you're out there kicking ass on the battlefield.
  3. ^ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima Productions (2008).
    Drebin: The White House might've lost its taste for unilateralism... Started to rebuild. But there's a lot of failed states out there that went bankrupt from their PMC habits... And they owe a shit load of money. Now only question is... Who's gonna pick up the tab? I'm sure these new governments will try and keep it under control with PMC corporate reform laws... But it ain't gonna be good enough. They're all sunk up to their eyeballs in the war economy. Might not be a New World Order... But the old order under the war economy's gone for good. I'm guessin' the UN is gonna be more important than ever, what with multilateralism and all. A certain President said it best back during the Cold War... For in the development of this organization rests the only true alternative to war. Then again, the UN itself's just an old 20th-century relic. And if you think about it... When you look at its history... It ain't that different from the Patriots. // Otacon: That's right... The nanomachines used to keep you sober. // Drebin: Crush. Mix. Burn. Repeat.
  4. ^ When in Drebin's Stryker, there are various weapons on the interior racks of the vehicle.
  5. ^ Seen on a monitor inside Drebin's Stryker.
  6. ^ At one point in the Militia Safe House, one of the militiamen is talking to his comrade about getting a laundered HK21E. The launderer is implied to be Drebin due to Drebin being within the Safe House.
  7. ^ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima Productions (2008)
    Otacon: Kind of an unknown quantity, isn't he? // Drebin: (offscreen) I hooked him up with a non-ID M82.
  8. ^ This was mentioned in his article in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, with the legendary units part also being implied in the game itself with the photo gallery of the Beauty and the Beast unit in his Stryker and a Mosin Nagant on stock by Drebin bearing a close resemblance to The End's Mosin Nagant.
  9. ^ [1]


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