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| “ | [50 years after the pandemic known as ”the catastrophe”] mankind faces its greatest crisis -- the appearance of a mysterious android life-form. Its purpose and origin are unknown. Is it a new form of a weapon? Or perhaps –- an invasion from some other world? They appear during winter – killing humans – and infiltrating society by taking the place of their victims. Employing an artificial skin – they can sweat and even bleed. Part organic, part machine – they are almost impossible to distinguish from those who they kill. (long pause) As they steal their victims bodies in order to take their place – these mysterious invaders become know as -- Snatchers…! |
„ |
| ~ Opening narration (Sega CD) |
The Snatchers are the titular main antagonists of the Konami videogame Snatcher. They are bioroids who "snatch" their victims, killing them and then, with the use of artificial skin, take their place in society.
They were originally conceptualized by the hardliners in the Soviet leadership circa mid-1980s to try reverse the course of the cold war. To create them, the Soviets assembled a group of top-level scientists - both Soviet and abducted Americans - whom were dubbed the "Frankenstein Project Team." After Gorbachev comes to power in Soviet Union, the Snatcher project faces cancellation.
But one of the members of the team, Elijah Madnar - already on the brink over his feelings for fellow scientist Jamie Seed (neé Lorraine) - carries out a insane plan to secure the Snatchers' completion. By unleashing the deadly Lucifer-Alpha bioweapon, Elijah secures the research and uses the next four decades to complete them, particulary their artificial skin.
50 years after Lucifer-Alpha was released and killed half of the human race - in a event later dubbed "the catastrophe" - Elijah completes the Snatchers and begins testing them in the ethnically diverse Neo Kobe in Japan. The city populus is mostly powerless to combat them, with the public learning of their existance by a complete happenstance airplane accident.
While the Snatchers have the city at their mercy, their operation cannot proceed to "Phase 2", due to a unexpected fault discovered in their artificial skin. Due to this impasse, they try find surviving members of the Frankenstein Project to cure their ailment, all the while trying to avoid being found and destroyed by the Neo Kobe's anti-Snatcher forces like JUNKER and the bounty hunters.
The Snatchers' goals change depending on the version of the game. In the main Snatcher story, they are subservient to Elijah Madnar, serving as his tools to bring mankind to his control. In the RPG Remake SD Snatcher, the Snatchers have revolted against Elijah and installed "Master Snatcher" as their leader. Under the Master Snatcher, they intend to wipe out the entire mankind and take its place as planet Earth's dominant species.
Biography[]
Creation[]
Schematics of a Snatcher (from one of the home computer manuals).
| “ | Jamie: Fifty-six years ago, you and I were involved with a top-secret Soviet project. It was still during the time of Cold War. The gulf between East and West was wide as ever. Everybody was worried about nukes. At that point, the world’s armies were at their largest ever. Leaders still believed that a strong military meant a strong nation. There were rumors that there would be a agreement to end the production of nuclear weapons. On the other hand, the major powers like the US began to get involved in the space weapons race. But not the Soviets. The conservative despots in the Kremlin had a another – completely different idea of regaining military superiority. A horrible plan – something no-one else would think off. At that time, countries of the communist bloc were facing an economic crisis. Popular movements pushing for democracy were springing up all over. Communism itself was facing extinction. Facing pressure from the reformers, the Kremlin began to panic. And that’s when that horrible, childish plan was launched. Gillian: And that was the Snatcher Project. Replace your enemy’s leaders with puppets of your own. Then you control their governments, their economies – take over a country from the inside out! |
„ |
| ~ Jamie explaining to Gillian the Kremlin's motives for creating the Snatchers. |
Some time in the late-stage of Cold War, before Mikhail Gorbachev took power, the "conservative despots" of the Soviet Government came to realize that they were losing the Cold War against the West. Communism was dying, as the Eastern bloc was facing a major economic crisis and various democratic movements starting to mobilize.
While United States pursued Space/Orbital weapons (i.e Strategic Defense Initiative), the Soviets on the other hand initiated the Snatcher Project, which goal was to create bioroids that could kill and replace vital enemy personnel with their own controllable puppets and take control from inside out. The original project perimeters called to simultaneously "snatch" (i.e kill and replace) a entire country or to snatch an entire city over one night. Because of this, the Snatcher Project had a sister development in a biological weapon called Lucifer-Alpha.
Frankenstein Project Team in the flashback. From left to right; Jamie Lorraine, Gillian Seed, Elijah Madnar and Pettrovich Madnar.
To develop the Snatcher bioroids, they assembled some of the most brilliant minds in the world, with the development group dubbed the "Frankenstein Project Team". The group composed of Dr. Pettrovich Madnar who handled robotics, his son Elijah Madnar who handled genetics and microbiology, American Jamie Lorraine who handled nano- and pico-biology, and the later introduced Gillian Seed handling behavioral sciences and psychology. Unbeknownst to the team, Gillian was also a spy for the CIA, who was relaying information about the project's progress and passing on the secret Snatcher-related research to the American military.
According to Elijah Madnar, the team began work "57 years" before events of the game - meaning roughly either 1985 (Japanese versions) or 1990 (Sega CD English). The group first carried out their research in Novobirsk, but was later moved to a secret underground facility beneath the Kremlin. Gillian Seed was introduced to the team a year later.
The project proceeded smoothly, despite the political situation threathening the project's continuation, Gillian and Jamie's marriage and Madnar Sr. almost removing Elijah - who was in love with Jamie - over his mental well-being.
Near-termination and "the catastrophe"[]
The abandoned Chernoton Research Facility after Lucifer-Alpha is released (MSX2 version, fan translation).
Eventually, Mikhail Gorbachev and the democratic reformers gained power in the Soviet Union, with old hardliners, who pushed for the Snatcher Project, being stripped of power. The reformers found out about it and tried to have it cancelled, then cover up its existence. The Frankenstein Project Team were ordered to destroy all project material and research and to be legally prosecuted. Not only that, but the abducted American scientists - Gillian and Jamie - were to be returned back to America.
The Snatchers were roughly 80% complete as the termination was looming upon the project. While the endoskeleton was just about complete, the artificial skin, which was Elijah's and Jamie's assignment, was still a major issue. Back in the day, the technology was still too limited to properly replicate human skin.
Elijah, with his life's work at stake, him about possibly losing Jamie forever and his hatred of Gillian - especially having found out that Gillian was a CIA spy - was driven to a extreme decision. He would release Lucifer-Alpha chemical weapon (as the two projects were developed by-side and had easy access) and traps himself with Jamie and Gillian at the Kremlin facility. Madnar Sr, with Gillian and Jamie's son (later revealed to be Harry Benson, the JUNKER Engineer) leave the continent to escape the outbreak.
With Elijah, Gillian and Jamie stuck in the Kremlin facility, they agree to seal themselves in the cryogenic freezing pods until a atmospheric weather research satellite would signal the toxic effect of the bacteria had safely passed. However, Elijah had rigged the freezing pods so that Gillian's and Jamie's pods would be set to forever.
While in cryogenic sleep, Lucifer-Alpha would go on to spread across Europe and Asia, with trade-winds helping it spread further. As a result, 80% of all people in the continents perish, wiping out roughly half of all human life. The Lucifer-Alpha outbreak would later become known simply as "the catastrophe".
Roughly ten years after the outbreak started, the satellite awakens Elijah who, after vaccinating himself against lingering Lucifer-Alpha, proceeds to continue developing the Snatchers. He planned to release Jamie to work on the artificial skin, but was unable to bring himself to do it. Elijah uses the next four decades to try perfect the artificial skin in complete isolation at the Kremlin underground facility.
Neo Kobe operations begin[]
| “ | And then, three years ago, my research was finally completed. First I snatched the Siberian Special Investigative Forces to – establish a transport route for the Snatchers. And then – to test the effect of large scale snatch operations – I chose Neo Kobe city to be my experimental sample. Neo Kobe is cut-off from the surrounding areas, a sort of miniature country in itself, making it a perfect test site. And since it’s a melting pot of various races; it would allow me to gather extensive data on Snatcher modification and operational techniques. In addition, the element of suspicion or “mistrust”, which runs deep in Japanese culture, was another reason I chose this site. | „ |
| ~ Elijah explaining why he chose Neo Kobe. |
About three years prior to the game's events (2039 in Japanese version, 2044 in Sega CD English version) - Elijah completes the Snatchers and the artificial skin for them. To establish a route to get the Snatchers out of Kremlin facility, his first target is the Siberian Investigative Forces, used to scour the post-catastrophe Russia.
Remembering the original Snatcher plan's perimeters, he chooses his first test site for the Snatchers to be Neo Kobe. The city was perfect as it was somewhat of a miniature country of its own, being also a ethnic melting pot of various races, giving a diverse source of targets/test subjects to snatch. He also deemed Japanese culture being full of mistrust, being a another factor.
Elijah sets up base in a old cathedral in Neo Kobe, crafting a underground factory complex to produce Snatchers. The area has lot of SNOW-9 pollen (created by the military, which can cause allergic reactions) and thus they latch on to Snatchers. As a result, Snatchers tend leave traces of SNOW-9 where ever they go, potentially cluing in on their presence.
Some of Snatchers earliest targets seem to be drivers of "black taxis", like Freddy Nielsen. While driving around unknowing passengers, the Snatchers would acquire potentially valuable information from passengers, or trap them and get them snatched.
One of their preferred targets, from where they could get subjects with least hassle, was the Outer Heaven nightclub. There, customers are required to masquerade, keeping everybody incognito.
While it first appeared Snatchers were able to complete their designed purpose perfectly, it also became soon apparent that there was a severe flaw with the Snatchers artificial skin. The skin Elijah developed was vulnerable to ultraviolet rays, causing it to start producing too much melanocytes. As a result, their skin starts developing melanoma/cancer easily and even a simple sunburn can effectively ruin their skin.
Because of this flaw, the Snatchers are now rendered unable to operate in the open during summer seasons. They are reduced to mainly operating in winter seasons. As a makeshift help, the Snatchers with skin are instructed to use sunscreen - even at the dead of winter.
Elijah - being at wits for having tried nearly four decades to get the artificial skin right - brings his father, Dr. Pettrovich Madnar, who was in one of Japanese Government's treatment facilities, to his base of operations in Neo Kobe. Elijah explains the problem, but his father is unwilling to co-operate. Thus, Elijah deems that Jamie needs to be released now from cryogenic sleep to help fix the artificial skin.
While Elijah was in Neo Kobe overseeing the Snatchers, an mostly unsnatched Siberian Investigative Force unit finds the Kremlin underground facility and free Gillian and Jamie from cryogenic pods. Because Jamie is now taken by the government authorities, Elijah is momentarily unable to bring her to his base in Neo Kobe, as it might lead them to him.
Elijah's situation is further worsened when Madnar Sr. secretly uses one of the Snatcher/bioroid frames to create Randam Hajile. Crafted in Elijah's image, complete with faultless artificial skin and programmed to think that he is a human, Randam is sent out to destroy Elijah's Snatchers at large in Neo Kobe as one of the Neo Kobe legislation-approved bounty hunters.
After the artificial skin problem started to become an issue, Elijah and Snatchers started to secure abandoned and/or illicit hospitals to treat their skin problems outside the main base. One of the notable ones being the Queens Hospital, that was run by Chin Shu Oh, who ends up being snatched in order properly secure the facility.
Furthermore, the tubeliner, the abandoned subway system of Neo Kobe, would become a indispensable means for the Snatchers to navigate the city. Not only allowing them to travel in secret, but to also avoid ultraviolet rays from daylight sun.
Public response to Snatchers[]
Newspaper headlines about the discovery of a Snatcher body from the wreckage of SOS 4003. (MSX2 version)
The first Snatcher was discovered in December 22nd, 2039 - when the SOS 4003 flight from Neo Kobe to Tokyo crashes at Mount Rokkō. In the wreckage of the airliner, where there were no survivors, the authorities and members of the press find a non-functional Snatcher body with its skin peeled off from the crash. The Snatcher passanger is identified to have been a computer engineer named Rick Sawamura from Neo Kobe. The authorities are unable to recover any data from the Snatcher due to damage on it from the crash.
This causes massive public panic, with media spinballing various theories about what this bioroid is. It gets so severe that the media gets a gag order to prevent talking about the Snatchers for a year.
In December 29th, the mayor of Neo Kobe, Brian O' Connor, asks the intelligence agencies of each country to help invastigate the mystery bioroid. The intelligence agencies comply, but are unable to find anything about their origins.
Come February 18, 2040. The police are alterted to a body of Mayor O'Connor, that is found near the Ina river. The following day, the police find a Snatcher impostor of Mayor O'Connor working at the city council and apprihend him. However, while being transported to Science Agency to be studied, the fake Mayor self-destructs - preventing attempts to study it. By August, the media leaks authorities findings on the bioroids dubbed "Snatchers." The mass media cannot be regulated anymore and there is a frenzy over Snatchers.
In the summer of 2041, sort of "Snatcher hysteria" takes over the world. In the subsequent winter, the Neo Kobe falls into total civil disorder about the Snatchers. The new Neo Kobe mayor calls its citizens to be screened, while the Metropolitan Police Department establishes the Snatcher Countermeasures Committee.
In December, a violent movement called "Bioroid Hunt" beings, starting witch-hunt style persecution and lynchings that would only escalate citizen's anxiety regarding the Snatchers. The movement attacked estimated 5,000 civilians during 2041's winter season.
In 2042, the Metropolitan Police Department establishes the "Anti-Snatcher Special Police Team". Fearing the recurrence of the Bioroid Panic, the human rights of the people will be protected by enacting "Article 18, Paragraph 12 of the Civil Code, Protection of Human Rights Concerning Snatchers." From now on, direct scanning of people with sensors will not be possible without the issuance of a "scanning warrant".
Later in May, a Anti-snatcher science team "RUG HUNT" is established by government intelligence agencies. The group specializes in scientific analysis of Snatchers. Later in August, the Metropolitan Police Department Anti-Snatcher team and RUG HUNT are merged, with the succeeding agency becoming JUNKER. Benson Cunningham, the head of the Metropolitan Police's Anti-Snatcher Special Team, is appointed the chief of the JUNKER operations.
By mid-October, most of the original Junkers have been killed or injured to point being unfit to serve. Because there is not enough active members of JUNKER anymore, the city council passes a legislation to allow common citizens to become bounty hunters. They quickly reach 500 registered bounty hunters from the public.
Around November, about one month before Gillian Seed joins JUNKER, the Snatchers succeed in snatching the head of JUNKER, Benson Cunningham. His body is hidden in the Queens Hospital, with nobody but the Snatchers knowing about it. During November 3rd, a popular news caster, Robert Tamura turns out to be a Snatcher, who ends up being eliminated by a unidentified bounty hunter.
Around November 11, a rivalry between organized crime syndicate "Salamander" and "Ahosokai" occurs. The conflict between the two over the acquisition of N-LSD (Liquid Sky) developed into a large-scale conflict involving the general public, with more than 20 dead. From the intergang casualities, it was found that some gang members were infact Snatchers, notably Ralph Tomita, who was rumored to be the next leader of the Salamander gang.
Around the same time, a bounty hunter named Thomas Kadota accidentally kills a civilian he thought was a Snatcher, which caused backlash against the bounty hunter system. Kadota is later found guilty of manslaughter.
Gillian joins JUNKER (Act I)[]
In December 2042, Gillian Seed, after having completed special forces training, accepts the goverment request to serve in JUNKER. Unbeknownst to Gillian, the Chief of JUNKER operations, Benson Cunningham is a Snatcher. Around this time, one of the Junkers, Jean-Jack Gibson has found a "probable male Snatcher" and pursued him at an abandoned factory. Gibson calls for back up and heads in. But it turns out that the male Snatcher was not alone and that there was another, a female Snatcher, waiting in ambush. Gibson is able to claw the female Snatcher's face, but the male Snatcher twists Gibson's head off, killing him. They also destroy Gibson's robot navigator Little John and convert it into a bomb.
Gillian and his navigator Metal Gear Mk II arrive too late, and upon examining Gibson's body and possessions, the male and female Snatcher run past a open doorway and using a secret compartment to get inside the tubeliner. Unaware Gillian doesnt know of this and assumes he reached a dead end. Gillian and Metal eventually find the weaponized Little John and escape from the explosion.
Gillian heads back to JUNKER HQ, where Cunningham instructs him to trace Gibson's steps. Gillian starts gathering all the clues and evidence left by Gibson, including talking to Gibson's daughter Katrina, as well as Gibson's shady informant known as "Napoleon." At Gibson's house, while browsing a document in his antique computer (that changes between versions), Gillian learns that Snatchers have a vulnerability in their so-called artificial skin, and that they need sunscreen, even at winter nights. The document also warns about mysterious "Randam Hajile."
After doing so, he is lead to Outer Heaven, where Gibson was trailing a possible Snatcher and had a ulcer from eating buffalo meat (whale cuisine in Japanese.) Gillian gets in after getting a mask from Plato's Cavern (Joy Division in Japanese) and talks to the dancer Isabella Velvet, who saw Gibson with a man. Using details given by Velvet, Seed and Metal manage to build a montage of the suspect with Jordan computer. They get two suspects, with first one, Ivan Rodriquez, only turning out to be a muddled drug-addict and not a Snatcher, whom Gillian turns over to regular police.
Gillian goes to the second suspect Freddy Nielsen. They are let inside the apartment and find Lisa Nielsen - Freddy's wife - who, while covering half of her face with her palm, impassively lets them investigate. In their bathroom, they find sunscreen and Lisa then reveals herself to be a Snatcher, with Metal identifying the scratch on Lisa's cheek being done by Gibson. Lisa attacks, but Gillian successfully "junks" her.
Unable to find Freddy anywhere, they leave the apartment, and go outside to then notice lights turning on in the apartment. Gillian and Metal head back in. Gillian goes through the apartment again, and when in the bathroom, he notices the bathtub being emptied. In the mirror, Gillian spots Freddy, who gets the former in the sleeper hold.
At the last minute, Seed is saved by Randam Hajile, who explodes Freddy's head with his gun. Gillian and Randam converse, with the latter telling that he has been shadowing Gillian. He reveals that the Snatchers have a dedicated hospital to treat their artificial skin and thinks that Gibson may have left a clue where this hospital is.
Finding the skin treatment hospital[]
At the start of Act II, Cunningham goes over the details of Act I. Cunningham then brings up the hospital that Gibson identified and deems that Snatchers' entire operation may collapse if that hospital is found.
Gillian proceeds with his investigation, ending up first on a fool's errand when the clues mislead him to a Veterinary. Afterwards, Mika calls, telling that Katrina has something to give to Gillian, but is scared, because Gibsons' dog, Alice is barking at something.
Gillian and Metal arrive at Gibsons' house, and find that Katrina is gone and that Gibson's study is completely derelict. The duo deems that Snatchers are behind this. After going around the house, they also notice that Alice is gone, but when they return to Gibson's study, Alice is thrown through the window, with her innards bleeding out. Gillian becomes upset and goes to search Katrina everywhere.
Eventually, Gillian and Metal return to Gillian's apartment and find Katrina taking a shower there. She gives Gillian a list of the hospitals, and using few of Gibson's clues, they determine that Queens Hospital (just "Queen" in Japanese), that is run by the shady Chin Shu Oh, must be the Snatchers' main hospital.
Gillian and Metal arrive at Queens Hospital, but find it deserted. They investigate further and find some kind of dark office. They proceed to search it thoroughly and find a piece of paper with Chinese characters on it. Metal is able to determine that its reffering to a hospital patient, but the patient's name is coded in rare Chinese letters. Gillian starts to wonder why that paper is the only one they found, and starts feeling that somebody knew they were coming to Queens. They also find painting of St. Basil's cathedral, curious vase and a matchbox with Outer Heaven iconography on it.
The duo figures to call Napoleon about the rare Chinese, but his phone number is changed to some Outer Heaven advert. With everything now pointing to Outer Heaven, Gillian and Metal go there. They are able to determine that the doorman in the wolfman mask is Napoleon and get him to lead them in.
There Napoleon is able to decipher that the paper from Queens has outdated symbols that Chinese used for chemical element names. Using the chemical names Napoleon reads out, Gillian decodes the message reffering the patient to be a "Benson". Which they realize might refer to one of the two people in JUNKER -- either the engineer Harry Benson or the boss Benson Cunningham.
Realizing the ramifications of the paper, Gillian orders Metal to stop transmitting data to JUNKER HQ and they leave Outer Heaven. At JUNKER HQ, they run into Mika, who is oblivious to what is going on. Gillian asks where Harry and Cunningham are, but she tells that both of them are away. Gillian and Metal search the Engineers Room and Chief's Room, finding inconclusive evidence which one is the Snatcher. However, Harry leaves a peculiar "face to face" paper and at Chief's office, they find a painting of Red Square.
Gillian and Metal leave and board the Turbocycle. They soon recieve a videocall from Jamie, telling that she has found out that Queens Hospital has a undocumented basement level. Gillian and Metal deem that Chin Shu Oh is actually carrying out the Snatcher skin treatment there, and that the ground level Queens is just a front. Jamie wishes Gillian's safe return and head to Queens.
However, on their way there, the Turbocycle starts accelerating rapidly. Gillian and Metal nearly crash and die, but survive, thanks to Randam's intervention.
Queens Hospital[]
| “ | Gillian: Who is this ”we” you keep talking about? Chin: We? We are an evolved lifeform – given life in the depths of the Kremlin by our creator; Madnar! We are a new race! […] Our goal is to snatch all of the world leaders – and then achieve total control of human thought, and worldwide racial unification. Gillian: You’re insane! Humanity won’t be so easily dominated! You underestimate the strength of the human spirit! Chin: I think not! In the same way as the Nazis; our strategy begins with the overpowering of the spirit of the people! We will strike at you humans weakest point – the most primitive part of your psychological make-up. Your suspiciousness and fear. By provoking suspicion and mistrust throughout the populous – we will destroy that fragile fabric, which holds your society together. That – of “trust”. Fear is your humans weak point. It’s the primitive part of your brains – that binds you forever to your animal ancestors… and makes you vulnerable. By stimulating that part of your atavistic instincts – our plan can succeed magnificently! |
„ |
| ~ Chin Shu Oh explaining how Snatchers will overcome mankind. |
The trio heads to Queens Hospital and again, using the "face to face" clue, they move a vase that toggles the stairs to the basement. At the basement, they pretty much find the ground floor reception, except well maintained. They investigate the first two of the three doors, and eventually figure out how to open the third.
The third room turns out to be the morgue, which contains the skeletonized bodies of few Snatcher victims, including a one that's still decomposing. Metal Gear starts a process to try simulated reconstruction to identify them. Metal Gear's process allows him to identify the three skeletonized victims as Freddy and Lisa Nielsen, as well as Chin Shu Oh. The last one turns out to be real Benson Cunningham, who has been dead for at least a month.
The lights go out and Chin Shu Oh, accompanied by few "naked" Snatchers incapacitate Gillian and Randam. Chin taunts the injured Gillian and Randam, telling that the Snatchers are on cusp of moving towards "Phase 2". Gillian is confused about Phase 2, to which Chin explains that they weren't able to reach it because of the defects they have in their artificial skin. He then tells that they are about to overcome this hurdle, thanks to a "new partner". Chin tells that Phase 2 effectively means that they will move beyond Neo Kobe and on to the world.
Randam claims that Snatchers won't succeed, to which Chin brings up the Kyoto Summit, that they aim to strike with help of the Cunningham!Snatcher the next day. Chin is confident that Kyoto Summit attack will be a dawn of a new phase for them.
Prompted by Gillian's question. Chin tells that Snatchers consider themselves an evolved lifeforms superior to humans, created by "Madnar." He then tells that the point of the Kyoto Summit is to snatch the world leaders to gain total control over mankind. Gillian tries to rebuke Chin, but the latter shoots down his boast, telling that fear is the ultimate human weakness. Just like the how the tyrants through history have exploited fear and paranoia to control masses, they can do it too in order to subjigate mankind.
Randam realizes that they will be killed soon and tells Gillian that he has a powerful bomb that he intends to use to sacrifice himself and blow up the hospital. Randam's bomb blows up and Gillian and Metal successfully escape through the air-ducts to the "tube-liner", a abandoned subway.
They navigate the abandoned subway and eventually find a way out. They come out of the bathtub at the apartment of the Nielsens, and after concluding their findings about how Snatchers operate, they leave the house.
They then take black taxi, where Chin Shu Oh, who survived the explosion, was waiting in ambush. Gillian "junks" Chin and commandeers the vehicle -- heading to JUNKER HQ.
Battle at JUNKER HQ[]
Gillian and Metal arrive at JUNKER HQ, with its lobby in a derelict shape. They find the reception booth with shield lowered, that has been hammered with blaster fire. Metal manages to trigger a emergency access to open shutter, revealing an unconscious and injured Mika inside. Gillian comes to her aid, while she starts regaining consciousness. She tells that she knows that Chief is a Snatcher and that Harry put her inside the reception booth and locked the main door to seal himself and the Cunningham!Snatcher inside the quarters.
Gillian orders Mika to open the main door who complies. Gillian and Metal run in, only to find mortally injured Harry in the hallway. Gillian rushes to help him, while weakened Harry tells that he became suspicious of Cunningham. Gillian tries to calm dying Harry, who starts to talk about various things to calm himself as well, knowing his imminent death.
After Metal Gear confirms Harry's death enrages Gillian and he swears revenge on the Cunningham!Snatcher. Gillian and Metal search the entire JUNKER HQ room-by-room. After having checked them all, they go check the Chief's office again, and find the Cunningham!Snatcher on the ceiling.
Gillian opens fire, but ends up shooting at lights and causing a malfunction in the entire JUNKER HQ light control system. Before the emergency lights turn on, the Cunningham!Snatcher manages to slip under Gillian and Metal.
They again search JUNKER HQ room-by-room, but don't find him anywhere. They realize that Mika may have opened the main door and go the lobby to find that Mika is not inside the reception booth. The lights suddenly go out and Cunningham appears with Mika as hostage. Cunningham attacks Gillian with his mouth-blaster with Mika as his shield, but Gillian is successful in gunning the Cunningham!Snatcher down.
After looking if Mika is alright, the Cunningham Snatcher begins to talk. He taunts Gillian, saying that the Queen Hospital was just a maintenance facility and that there is great many more Snatchers out in Neo Kobe. Cunningham!Snatcher then tells that the Snatchers are moving into Phase 2, and that "they are enlisting help of Professor Lorraine". He then tells that as long as Gillian is unable to recover his memories, he has no means to end the Snatcher menace. He then mockingly gives his farewells to Gillian and shuts down for good.
Immediately after this, Gillian receives a video call from Jamie, who is at tears, telling him she has regained her memories, telling that Gillian and her have done something horrible and that their boy is kept hostage and that Dr. Madnar is also where she is right now. A Snatcher appears behind her, telling that they need her assistance for a short while "at the Kremlin", referring Gillian as "Professor Seed."
The remaining members of JUNKER have only 3 hours before the people at Kyoto Summit reach a decisive decision about whatever Neo Kobe needs to be quarantined or bombarded with nuclear weapons, to deal with the Snatchers. With Chief Cunningham dead, Gillian, being now the highest-ranking person in JUNKER, orders Mika and Metal Gear to divulge everything about Gillian's past.
Gillian discovers that he and Jamie were found in cryogenic pods in Moscow with a third empty pod (later revealed to have been Elijah). Gillian also finds that Harry Benson, the elderly mechanic of JUNKER HQ, was Gillian's and Jamie's son - who had naturally grown old while his parents were in cryogenic sleep. Also, the rescue team that was sent to rescue Gillian and Jamie from their pods, was attacked and killed, with one of the members being a Snatcher. Furthermore, after being brought from Russia, Gillian was intentionally assigned to JUNKER by government in hopes of subjecting him to Snatchers to try make him recover his memories.
Mika raises the subject that, if Harry is dead, then Jamie is being lied to about her and Gillian's son being taken hostage. The trio succeeds deciphering where the Snatchers' base, "the Kremlin", is located. Gillian and Metal Gear head there post-haste while Mika goes to Kyoto Summit to warn the delegates.
Snatcher base and Elijah[]
Gillian and Metal reach a abandoned Russian-style church near Ina river. Upon entering, they find a chapel, with a large portrait of Madnar - "the creator" - at the wall of the altar. They move to back room where they find a warehouse full of Snatchers, where they find boxes labelled "Siberian Investigative Force", indicating that the entire group has been snatched and that they are smuggling Snatchers to Neo Kobe.
A room further reveals a laboratory where skin is applied on Snatchers. They find a Snatchers of US President, the prime ministers of Japan and the UK, as well as one with Gillian's skin still in a pods. Metal Gear concludes that Snatchers are ready to move beyond Neo Kobe, with Gillian noting that the Snatchers could control the entire planet, were they to snatch every world leader. Then Gillian realizes that this is too big of operation if their artificial skin has not been perfected yet, with Metal Gear noting that Chin mentioning that they were verge on a breakthrough.
The duo concludes that the church is the "Snatchers' nest" and that the place needs to be destroyed. They also determine that they need to get the military to launch a surgical particle beam to destroy the facility without blowing up entire Neo Kobe. Gillian tells Metal to leave to try buy more time from Kyoto Summit delegates to go save Jamie. Metal leaves so he call without interference from SNOW-9, while Gillian heads further in the nest.
After fighting hordes of insectors and Snatchers, Gillian reaches Jamie, who is tending the deceased Dr. Pettrovich Madnar. Jamie tells that she is fine and that Snatchers won't harm her until she has perfected the artificial skin. Jamie tells she agreed to help the Snatchers develop the skin, because Pettrovich had fallen ill and because the fear for her son's life - whom she knows is Harry Benson.
Before Gillian is able to say that Harry is dead, Jamie tells that Dr. Pettrovich Madnar, who was over 100 years old, had died just moments ago. He had been confined in the place for 3 years to help develop the artificial skin - to which she remarks that it was "horrible to do such a thing to one's father." Gillian's becomes more confused, to which Jamie is forced to tell everything, since the former's memory hasn't still recovered.
She tells that she and Gillian were part of the Snatcher team, and that Gillian was CIA spy within the "Frankenstein Project Team." She says that Gillian was a CIA agent, and that the operation was derailed due to the "the catastrophe." Jamie voices worry that Gillian may have accidentally caused the Catastrophe when trying to destroy the Snatcher project. She further explains that they went on cryogenic sleep, and that Elijah's pod was empty. After Gillian makes remarks about Elijah, Jamie tells that Elijah is still alive, still working on the Snatchers.
This prompts Elijah to finally reveal himself, bound on a wheelchair with his legs having been replaced with mechanical tubes. Jamie voices worry about Elijah's state, while Gillian first mistakes him for Randam before correcting himself. He reintroduces himself to Gillian as "the only son of Pettrovich Madnar" and that he has grown somewhat "old and feeble" since they last met. Jamie proceeds to tell Elijah that Pettrovich had just passed on, to which Elijah only expresses muted shock.
He proceeds to explain that he his love for her drove him to try complete the Snatchers. He then tells why he is so dedicated in Snatchers. While he was motivated by Jamie, he came to discover new, worrisome findings about the human condition, about the "human animal."
Jamie notes that Elijah will never get his perfect skin now that Pettrovich is dead. Elijah reveals that he has no use for him, as he has found a sample of the new skin he had developed, and that once its analyzed, he can produce as much as he desires. Gillian asks how Elijah was able to, to which the latter reveals the battered, immobile body of Randam Hajile in a liquid tube, whom the Snatchers had discovered at the rubble of Queen Hospital.
Gillian inquires if Randam is "dead", to which Elijah tells that Randam's robotics are disabled, but the artifical skin is kept alive by the liquid tube. Elijah tells that he now has the means to start snatching world leaders.
Gillian tells that the summit is already over, which makes no difference to Elijah - as he now has the perfect artificial skin, nothing can stop him nor his Snatchers anymore. He tells that he has a fully-automated facility at the Kremlin underground facility, assembling scores of new Snatchers.
Metal Gear MkII then interjects, who tells that in 10 minutes, the church will be hit by the phase particle beam from a orbital launcher. He tells that the satellite is targeting him and that everything in 2-3km radius of him will be destroyed. This angers Elijah who will not allow some "souped-up pocket calculator" to ruin his life's work.
Metal explains that Neo Kobe is being quarantined for nuclear attack, but if the church is hit by the particle beam, the nuclear attack will be cancelled. Metal then implores Gillian and Jamie to flee, with Gillian being hesitant to abandoning Metal. Elijah deems that if Metal is the aiming point for the particle beam, he just needs to dislocated Metal and orders Snatchers to grab and take it away from the base.
The Snatchers surround Metal, with Elijah thinking he has won. Just then Randam springs to life and burst through the tube, getting Elijah in a choke-hold. Elijah pleads Randam to stop, while Randam warns the Snatchers that he will kill Elijah if Metal is harmed. Metal Gear orders Gillian to leave, while Elijah tries to reason with Randam. Metal tells Gillian good-bye, with Gillian and Jamie dashing out of the base before the particle beam hits.
The satellite fires the particle beam and it decimates the church and buildings around it - effectively destroying the Snatcher nest and killing both Elijah and Randam.
Epilogue[]
In the epilogue, Gillian heads to Russia on the mission to go destroy the Snatcher plant that's still operating in Kremlin.
Alternative continuity[]
SD Snatcher[]
Much like the home computer and expanded versions, the Snatchers are the main villains in the MSX2 RPG SD Snatcher. Their origins are the same as revealed in the expanded version, but start to deviate when they arrive at Neo Kobe.
In this version, Elijah Madnar's plan was to use Snatchers to secretly control mankind to better themselves. But some time after the artificial skin issue becomes apparent and before Gillian joins JUNKER, the Snatchers turn against Elijah Madnar. As the Snatchers were created to remove the "human doubt", their creator and supposed leader being human, became a source of "doubt" to them. To rectify it, they seal Elijah in a small throne room and assign a "Master Snatcher" as their new leader.
Under the hivemind of the Master Snatcher, their ambition now is to exterminate and replace the entire mankind, to "cleanse the world of doubt" in their own, twisted sense. With Soviet human scientists, apparently kept prisoner by Elijah Madnar all the way before Cold War, the Snatchers make them to develop Lucifer-Beta, a more dangerous variant of the Lucifer-Alpha that killed half of the world's population during "the catastrophe."
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Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes[]
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Features[]
Details on a "Naked" Snatcher's skull/head adjustment.
Appearance[]
Snatchers, in their innate appears are metallic endoskeletons. In this state, they are referred to as "Naked Snatchers".
"Snatch" process[]
The process of Snatchers implanting their artificial skin takes four stages.
Phase 1, skeleton[]
First, the snatcher its skeleton changed to match the size and skeletal pattern of the target's body before the "snatch" of the victim takes place. Each joint and slit needs to be adjusted to get closer to the target's original body shape. The snatcher's body, like a human's, is made up of 260 units. By stretching and contracting each slit, which is equivalent to the cartilage in humans, it is possible to change its size quite freely. Depending the sex of the target, a "sex unit", like the pelvis and genitalia are implanted.
Likewise, the expansion and contraction of each slit mimics the original human skeleton. The skull, like the human being, consists of 23 units, and the size of the head is determined by the expansion and contraction of each unit (in the human case, the fiber connection).
The face is aligned to match the original target skeletal proportions and values. Shapes like mandible, maxilla, zygomatic, nasal bone, temporal bone and other parts of the teeth are changed.
However, the snatcher's ability to snatch is limited. This is because there is some degree of regulation in the contraction of each body part, joint and skeleton. Therefore, it is estimated that the height of the snatchers would be within 150-190 cm. Therefore, children and elderly people are not capable of snatching. If this condition is not met, it does not matter if it is determined that the snatcher is not subject to the snatcher.
Phase 2, muscles[]
The next step is to cover the muscles in people. In the case of snatchers, it is limited to the skeletal muscles only. The skeletal muscles (yellow muscle fibers) are replaced by a "plastic gel" to secure has a surface "mechanomic" reaction. The mechanonomically responsive plastic gel acts like a muscle by converting energy into mechanical energy.
Phase 3, skin[]
The artificial skin is placed on top of the muscles. The artificial skin is made of synthetic skin created using biotechnology and protein design, and is allowed to settle in over time to avoid rejection of the inner inorganic part of the skin.
This artificial skin is entirely organic, and the communication of energy conversion, oxygen and waste products within the cells is carried out by the artificial blood. Artificial blood cells, called lipid-heme liposomes, which are made up of lipid-heme, mainly heme iron, embedded in a molecular assembly of phospholipids, are used in artificial blood.
Hair follicles, sweat glands, etc., are all incorporated at this stage. Because of the exchange of blood waste, they allow the skin to produce not only sweat, but also plaque.
Phase 4, hair[]
Finally, artificial hair is implanted through the hair follicles. Artificial hair continues to produce hair until the hair root cells die. Therefore, even if you remove hair, it will still regenerate.
Modus operandi[]
The Snatchers are very skilled infiltration units. With exception to the artificial skin flaw (and the means needed to alleviate the problem), they are just about impossible to distinguish from the original victims they replaced and/or be identified as Snatchers.
Early on, the Snatchers made few mistakes in how they hid the bodies - most notably the discovery of the corpse of the real Mayor O' Connor in February 2040. However, following the Mayor O'Connor mistake, the Snatchers have become significantly more careful at hiding the bodies of their originals. The Snatchers mainly hide the bodies in places like Queen Hospital, that also serve as treatment clinics for their artificial skin.
There is not point to apprehending Snatchers. The Snatchers have a built-in self-destruct safeguards to counter any attempts to try study them. Notably, if they are rendered non-functional, their artificial intelligence and other memory sectors are blanked. What's more, they are simply dangerous enough to kill anybody trying to apprehend them. If a Snatcher is encountered, they are to be destroyed or be avoided.
Even if a Snatcher is identified, they are still extremely dangerous for a normal human to try fight. Their primary means of attack is their mouth blasters, which can kill anybody caught off-guard. They also have super-human strength, and are able to effortlessly twist a human being's head off it's neck. Even a swipe from a naked Snatcher's claw is strong enough to reach a human and/or animal's innards.
What's more, although their skin can get ripped off with relatively spartan means, their endoskeletons are very tough. Even moderately powerful military-grade ray guns are considered inadequate in trying to damage them. Most specialized anti-Snatcher Units like JUNKER are provided with high-power Blasters that are enough to decimate a Snatcher with a well-placed shot to their heads.
Occasionally, Snatchers use small spider robots called "Insectors". They act as means of security, to alarm them of non-Snatcher intruders. The insectors are also armed with "needle guns" and generally appear in swarms (except in SD Snatcher), being also capable of killing any intruder if needed.
In SD Snatcher, they employ a wider variety of robotic units, dubbed "Metal Creatures." There are about more than 40 different types, with variations such as offensive, defensive, and fast-moving types. They vary in intelligence, ranging from those that can only use guns such as needle guns to more sophisticated ones that can throw paralyzing bullets and nets, depending on the human target.
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Weaknesses[]
| “ | [...] Snatchers vampire-like behavior is due to their desire to avoid exposure to sunlight. The reason they dislike sunlight is because of their defective artificial skin. Long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays causes overproduction of melanocytes in the epidermis of their artificial skin, leading to form of skin cancer with characteristics of melanoma.[...] This relationship between ultraviolet rays and their artificial skin should give us a way to track them down. It should take at least six more months before they can develop a form of skin which overcomes this defect. These conclusions suggest several useful methods for locating and identifying snatchers. (1) Investigate skin condition. Check for any evidence of melanoma. (2) Check for odor. Cancer cells secrete a unique, foul odor. (3) Presence of pollen. Snatchers are believed to hide in areas plentiful of SNOW-9 (a snow-like, bio-engineered pollen crystal). As such, SNOW-9 can always be detected in places they appear. SNOW-9 is an allergen, causing throat pain and sneezing. (4) Possession of sunscreen. In order to protect their skin from ultraviolet rays, snatchers use sunscreen even in the dead of winter. This is due to sunscreen’s ability to block ultraviolet rays. Of these techniques (1) and (4) should prove particularly useful. In addition, besides working to prevent this skin cancer, snatchers maintain facilities for treating artificial skin which has actually become cancerous. |
„ |
| ~ Gillian reading Gibson's findings on latter's home computer |
The Snatchers have a few notable weaknesses on how to defeat them.
Its common knowledge to people of Neo Kobe that Snatchers often carry a specific pollen known as SNOW-9. Thus, a presence of a Snatcher can be alarmed by the presence of SNOW-9.
While it is unknown to the public and only found out by the player early-to-mid game, there is a severe flaw artificial skin the Snatchers use. This skin, developed by Elijah Madnar, is sensitive to ultraviolet rays, which makes the artificial skin to produce excess melanocytes and causes the skin to turn cancerous. Not only will it cause visible melanoma, but it starts giving a affected Snatcher a pungent smell. Due to the UV-issue, the Snatchers are effectively nocturnal and are at their most active during winter seasons.
As a makeshift help, the Snatchers with skin use sunscreen. However, the use of sunscreen, especially if during the winter, may clue in that a person is a Snatcher.
Snatchers' best means of circumventing the UV-problem is the use of the abandoned tube-liner subway system. The public and anti-Snatcher specialists seem completely unaware of Snatchers using it to navigate the city.
Dogs have proven useful to find Snatchers. However, because Snatchers feel no remorse towards animals and have proven ability to overpower and kill them, the dogs need to be protected from the Snatcher from attacking them.
There is a vulnerability in the "naked" Snatchers specifically, that they have a a small weak-point in the slits of their skulls. One or two well-placed blaster shots are enough to kill a Snatcher.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- The Snatchers have various inspirations, including the Pod People (aka the "Body Snatchers") from Invasion of the Body Snatchers and its film adaptations (abducting people's identities), the T-800 Series Terminators from the Terminator franchise, the Nexus-6 replicants from Blade Runner and Boomers from Bubblegum Crisis (namely being bioroids with mouth-blasters).
- Regarding Lucifer-Alpha; while it was classified information when these games were made, the Soviets did infact have a biochemical weapons program called Biopreparat, which size was increased in response to America innitiating the Strategic Defense Initiative.