Psycho Mantis

Lore & Background

In-game dialogue reveals that Mantis's mother died while giving birth to him. His father hated him as a result. Mantis discovered this while reading his father's mind, causing Mantis to burn his village to the ground out of fear. Mantis joined the KGB later in his life, and afterward joined the FBI, using his psychic powers to delve into the minds of suspected criminals. After delving too deep into the mind of a serial killer, Mantis went insane. According to Mantis, he joined with Liquid Snake, the game's main antagonist, in order to 'kill as many people as he could' as he had grown disgusted with the human race. A younger version of Psycho Mantis appears in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, where he is a child referred to as the Third Child (Russian: Третий Ребенок, romanized: Tretij Rebenok). He is manipulated by the game's main antagonist, Skull Face, who uses the Third Child to control a Metal Gear mech with the goal of killing all English-speaking people in the world. The Third Child is later influenced by the rage of protagonist Venom Snake's ally, Eli, who earns the Third Child's allegiance, allowing Eli to gain control over the mecha.

In Their Own Story

Psycho Mantis appears halfway through Metal Gear Solid in a dialog and battle sequence. Protagonist Solid Snake receives romantic advances from his ally Meryl Silverburgh, only to discover that she is being psychically controlled by Psycho Mantis. Snake is unfazed, and after knocking Meryl out, Psycho Mantis reveals himself. Mantis seeks to prove his psychic powers to Snake, and to do so, talks directly to the player in a way that crosses the fourth wall. He first reads Metal Gear Solid's metadata about the player's actions to make a judge of their personality, then reads the system's memory card to see what other games the player is a fan of. Mantis provides special responses if the memory card contains saves from other Konami titles, including Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Suikoden, Azure Dreams, Vandal Hearts, Tokimeki Memorial, and Policenauts. If the player has a DualShock vibrating controller, Mantis instructs the player to place it on the ground, at which point he activates the controller's rumble effect. He then causes the console to appear to disconnect before transitioning into battle, in which he can seemingly read all of the player's movements. Following advice from in-game hints, players can shift their controller from the first controller port to the second controller port, which renders Mantis unable to read their movements. Mantis is killed by Snake during the battle.

Reader's Guide

To defeat Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid, players must think outside the standard gameplay. During the battle, Mantis can read the player's movements, dodging all attacks. The key is to switch the controller from the first controller port to the second controller port, which renders Mantis unable to read the player's movements. This technique was inspired by the concept of masters telling their students to clear their minds, as stated by series designer Hideo Kojima. The method was controversial among younger members of the development team. In later adaptations, the interaction had to be re-imagined for different hardware. In PC ports, the player must use the keyboard to trick Mantis. Later PlayStation console ports require players to go to the settings and switch their controller connection to Player 2. In Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1, an option exists to allow players to curate their save data, letting them select what games Mantis will reference during his boss battle. Mantis briefly re-appears in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, where his ghost appears to control the deceased body of the boss enemy Screaming Mantis. Mantis tries to repeat the same display of his powers from Metal Gear Solid, but fails due to the PlayStation 3's lack of memory card. If the player is using a DualShock vibrating controller, he becomes excited by the fact he is still able to manipulate the controller. Psycho Mantis later appears as a cameo in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

Did You Know?

• Psycho Mantis was inspired by the 1978 film The Fury, which series designer Hideo Kojima used as a reference for the character's psychic powers.
• If the player's memory card contains saves from Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, or Eternal Darkness, Mantis will comment on them in the remake The Twin Snakes.
• An advertisement for the Ford Focus aired in 2016, which parodied the scene where Mantis reads Snake's mind, with English voice actor Doug Stone reprising his role.
• Psycho Mantis made a cameo appearance in the 2024 game Astro Bot.
• In the novelization of Metal Gear Solid, the boss fight is adapted into a series of hallucinations where Snake reckons with deeper realizations about his character.