Part 21: Episode XVI: Marionette Owl

Commander Room (MGS: The Twin Snakes)


When last we left Solid Snake, he found himself surrounded by a pair of hostile geishas and a pink haired...lady...? Man...? I'm not... sure... And frankly, the cutscene art isn't going to clear that up.


"...those toys. My night vision is as good as an owl's. The face of my prey in the dark, overcome with terror and pain - no machine should contaminate a moment of such exquisite pleasure..."
"Are you one of this Black Chamber group?"


"My flair for nocturnal combat has no equal, even among the Black Chamber."
"Was there much of a competition to begin with...? I don't see boomerang guy working out too well at night. Or the fire guy I heard about..."
"Well, perhaps not. But my point still stands..."
"The party is about to begin - but you won't be making it. You'll die here in the darkness!"




"This is Osan,"


"...and Kohal."
"I've no time for you or your dolls."
"A doll is an approximation of the human form. And a good doll is endowed with a soul. What nice lines your clavicles have, Snake. Not a bad heft to your femurs either. When you're dead, Kohal will have those."


So if you're wondering about the implications of those last couple of lines, yes... those dolls are made out of post-taxidermy people parts... Rated E for Everyone!


Before the battle even begins, Snake is immediately surrounded by Owl and his(?) titular marionettes. Hold the phone, folks. We need to clear up a few things with the support staff first.

Snake contacts Campbell...


"..nighttime combat. Even you won't stand a chance in the dark unless you put on your night vision or thermal goggles."

Campbell, as usual, states the most obvious thing he can think up on the spot.

Snake gets in touch with Weasel...


"Not fun company to have in the dark. He's a master of the silent kill. Out in eastern Europe, I hear he took out an entire company by himself in nighttime ambush."

Ah. So there we go. Marionette Owl is a dude. With featured pink hair and the build of a fourteen year old girl. That said, as with Slasher Hawk, Weasel also has the most background fluff on Owl. So let's grill him for a bit more info.

"He manipulates dolls in the darkness and uses them as bait. If you attack one of these marionettes, they'll return the courtesy with internalized automatic defense mechanisms. Try to target just Owl himself and stay away from the dolls."

Good to know. So...any enlightenment on how the hell Owl is controlling said life sized dolls from across the room? ...You know what? Forget I asked. It's Metal Gear. I probably already know the answer.  If your first thought was "nanomachines" I officially hate you. 

"There are rumors about Owl being on the Most Wanted list for serial murders a long time ago, in the States. He may have been the famous 'Spectre Killer' the one that killed all those women. Hard to tell whether it’s true or not.”

Next season Dexter takes on Fox-Hound. You heard it here first!

“A friend of mine who was on the same campaign as Owl saw the inside of his personal pack once. He said that it was full of dismembered dolls. Whenever Owl had time, he’d put them together and take them apart again, talking to himself. Something about ‘Laura’ and other strange stuff...”

According to design notes in the official Japanese Ghost Babel guide, Marionette Owl was designed as ‘an unique and handsome-looking young man that would appeal to the demographic of Game Boy users’. Clearly, Japanese Game Boy users and those in the west differ wildly...

“Those goggles he has on aren’t night visions, just regular shades. Because of some freak of genetics, Owl’s vision is virtually unimpaired by darkness. It’s as good as a cat’s -- and his eyes shine just like a cat’s too. What’s why he wears shades even in the dark.

Owl is still bummed that Ocelot cornered the cat codename market.

Snake asks McBride for some advice...


“...you? You should be able to deal with anyone, whether he’s a night combat expert or not. You must complete your mission objectives!”

Useful as always in points that matter... One more for the road.

Snake calls Jenner. He gets Jimmy...


“He’s the one who locked me up in that room! He was muttering weird stuff like, ‘You’re lucky to be a man. If you were a woman, I may have had to kill you.’”
“What kind of...? I’m glad it was you and not me.”
“I’m sure you would have been OK, Chris. He probably meant good-looking women.”
”Tch. What’s with those bangs? You cosplaying as Aeris or something?”
“Hm! Just don’t give in, Snake!”

And that’s a wrap for codec support. Now let’s get to some boss fighting, eh? There's a video if it right below. Give it a click. It's <very> short.


Click Here for Marionette Owl Boss Battle Video!


Yell “Dead Cell” (MGS2: Sons of Liberty)


So, it’s time to take on Marionette Owl and her two dolls. The first order of business?


Taking off the Night Vision Goggles because Marionette Owl has an infinite supply of stun grenades that will instantly blind Snake for five plus seconds if he’s wearing ‘em. For the sake of combat explanation, we’ll keep them on for a moment longer.


Marionette has fairly few attacks. Mostly, he just spins around the room with his two dolls in alternating clockwise and counter-clockwise fashions while all three (though mostly the dolls) toss knives at Snake.


The object of this battle is to shoot Owl dead. Preferably with the rifle as it is slightly more damaging than the pistol and has far more shots we’ll need to spam at him. The key to the battle is making sure we’re shooting Owl and not the dolls. If Owl gets hit, he’ll get stunned and gain a few seconds of invincibility frames before being open to another bullet to the chest. If the dolls get shot, they’ll immediately toss a stun grenade along with knives in all eight directions. This is sort of difficult to avoid, especially from close range.


Anyhow, with all the flashbang spamming going on during this match, it’s a much better idea to equip the thermal goggles for taking on the trio. The problem is that you cannot tell which one is Owl while in IR Goggle mode. The only real “tell” he has is that he seldom attacks.


There’s no real strategy to the fight other than identifying Owl and keeping your eyes fixed on him. Every time he gets hit, he’ll try to trip us up by spinning around the room with his dolls. But considering he’s still flashing from the damage, it’s not too hard to keep up with him. We’re not hurting for ammo. So spamming rifle shots in his general direction the entire time is a pretty solid way to go.


And before you know it, Snake will have his second Black Chamber notch on his belt.


Come on, game! I beat the Doll Fetish Serial Killer in 23 seconds and I still get only the second best level rating.