Hal Emmerich

Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich is a character from the Metal Gear franchise.

Hal was the chief engineer of Metal Gear REX. He became a close friend of Solid Snake after Snake rescued him during the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005. Later that year, he and Snake founded the anti-Metal Gear NGO Philanthropy. Following the Guns of the Patriots Incident, he became the adoptive father of Sunny. A devoted fan of anime, Hal's chosen nickname was derived from the Japanese animation convention Otakon.

Personality
A big fan of Japanese animation shows, especially that of the sci-fi and mecha genres, his hobby also gave him an optimistic inspiration and drive to help create new beneficial technologies and innovations for society with his genius, which was also reinforced with a sense of responsibility and level-headed perspective, especially during his experience of the Shadow Moses Incident. He also did not wish to create weapons of war, in particular weapons of mass destruction. He was also a selfless individual, willing to sacrifice himself to save Snake and Meryl.

Because of Sniper Wolf's death, he also has a hard time coping with women he knew personally being killed, including Emma Emmerich (his stepsister) and Naomi Hunter.

Over time, Hal became Snake's closest friend and ally, having formed their own handshake, as shown by the duo after Otacons' stepsister, Emma, died of her wounds. Otacon remained loyal to Snake throughout the years, even when Snake began suffering from accelerated aging and was becoming more distant.

Hal claimed to have a fear of heights, informing Solid Snake of this in 2005 after watching him rappel down a communications tower. However, he later became a proficient helicopter pilot, having flown helicopters in 2009 (in the Harrier fight and in rescuing hostages) and 2014 (Naomi's escape from South America, Snake's insertion into/recovery from Shadow Moses, and during the attack on Outer Haven). He previously underwent VR training on the Kamov KA-62 civilian model, explaining his ability to pilot the KA-60.

Like his father before him, Hal and his sister Emma had difficulty controlling their fear, having wet themselves when confronted by possible danger. Snake poked fun at this during a Codec conversion inside a locker during the Tanker Incident, in which Hal mentioned "I was the one inside the locker that time. We're equal now, huh?" to which Snake responded "Not unless I wet my pants," to which Otacon replies "That's a low blow."

Hal had the habit of adjusting his glasses on occasion by pushing them up his nose. Even after he stopped wearing them for a brief period in 2014, he still touched the top of his nose during Codec conversations with Snake.

Abilities
Like his biological parents, Hal was a gifted scientist, possessing a high intellect in computer programming and mechanical engineering.

Hal was a self-confessed hacker, which proved invaluable during Philanthropy's intelligence gathering activities. At some point prior to the Big Shell Incident, Hal had illegally manipulated his and Emma's account on the internet, which his sister later discovered and told him off for during an argument.

While highly intelligent, his wisdom and thoughtfulness left something to be desired; Otacon's poor attempts to interpret literature and Chinese proverbs for Solid Snake in 2007 prompted Mei Ling to interrupt one of their Codec conversations.

Trivia

 * Emmerich's nickname Otacon, was derived from "Otaku", a term of Japanese origin that referred to someone who is obsessed with their hobby but in America means being a fan of anime. Otaku are stereotyped as loners; so on a deeper level, Otacon chose his name because he was always alone. This was referenced after being told that Snake worked alone and Otacon replied "Are you an otaku too?"


 * His first name, Hal, was taken directly from the antagonist, HAL 9000, from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. His father named him after the character due to being a fan of the film, although Emmerich himself was not too proud of his name, as he "wasn't a computer."