I have a theory about those who “don’t exist”. It could be wrong, or it could be a more common belief than I’m aware of, in which case it’s hardly much of a theory, but I want to share it nonetheless.
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I think this group of people are actually real, but they simply “don’t exist” in the official sense. They’ve been officially wiped from all government records. As far as the world is concerned, they are nonexistent. I believe Kojima purposely labeled them as people who don’t exist in order to mislead us into thinking they’re hallucinations of Big Boss after his coma.
Powerful psychics, capable of summoning flaming demons with their minds and float through walls; misshaped and soulless soldiers who leap into the air and shuffle toward you; they seem to be demons…
“We are not your kind of people — won’t be cast as demons”
That’s a lyric from the Garbage song used in the trailer. This is probably the most important line in the song, considering we know Kojima was calling MGSV “the Demon Project” (or “Ogre Project”) for a long time. Everything is pointing to these people either being real demons (not likely) or hallucinations. But I like my idea more for a couple of reasons that I’ll get to.
They refuse to be cast as demons, and refuse to “not exist”. The fact that there are quotes around the words “don’t exist” implies that this is a label they’ve been given, not actually true. Why put quotes around it if its simply a statement of fact?
The CIA has marked these people as “nonexistent demons”, and after Big Boss’ nine year coma, he too has been marked as somebody who “doesn’t exist” anymore. He’s officially been considered dead and forgotten. He lost, and has fallen into mercenary Hell. The CIA and enemies of Big Boss won, and now he has to join those who “don’t exist” in order to rebuild his influence and make his comeback. He’s one of those “demons”, and this might even bolster his future obsession with recruiting “demons” from around the world, much like the Cobra Unit, or FOXHOUND.
To me, this all makes for a much more interesting story than Big Boss being brain-damaged and hallucinating. Truth being stranger than fiction. Can somebody really float through a wall and summon telekinetic demons? I don’t know, but The Pain could control bees and shoot them like bullets, The End could come back from the dead using photosynthesis, and the dead ghost of The Sorrow could cause it to rain blood. Oh, and Volgin could shoot endless amounts of electricity from his hands, and control machinery just by grabbing random wires. Just sayin.
One last thought. The whole theme of losing limbs and being stuck with the pain until you go crazy certainly makes Revolver Ocelot’s future psychosis more logical, don’t you think?