Ever since Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was announced a few days ago at the PlayStation Showcase 2023, fans of the Metal Gear saga have been (are) doing cartwheels. We’ve been waiting many years for the release of a Metal Gear, whether it was a new installment or a remaster/remake. Well, right off the bat, we have both a remake of arguably the best Metal Gear Solid (or the most popular) and remasters of the original two Metal Gear and the first three Metal Gear Solid. Not too shabby.
With no release date yet, this remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 will be much more faithful to the original than we thought and will feature the original voices of the game (the same audio files, in fact). Thus, in the new Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater we will once again hear the voices of David Hayter, Lori Alan, Heather Halley, Josh Keaton and… Suzetta Miñet?
If the name seems strange to you, it’s for a very simple reason: it’s made up. EVA, one of the main characters in Metal Gear Solid 3, is dubbed by a voice actress who uses a pseudonym in the credits. Most surprising of all is that, to this day, her identity has not been confirmed.
The use of pseudonyms in video game dubbing was a common practice in the 90s. Metal Gear Solid itself, the game that catapulted the Metal Gear saga and which many of us remember with special affection, did not have the real identities of any English-speaking voice actor (in Spain, Spanish actors and actresses were properly credited). This is because the game did not have the support of the American voice actors guild, so they were not allowed to use their real identities (all except David Hayter, the voice of Solid Snake).
Since then, all the Metal Gear Solid games have correctly credited all their voice actors and actresses. Well, all except Suzetta Miñet. Who could she be, and why is she using a pseudonym? The Metal Gear community has spent several years trying to solve this mystery and they might have found the solution.
Of all the possibilities being bandied about by fans (including actress Debi Mae West, who dubbed Meryl Silverburgh), one stands out completely because of her strong voice resemblance, as well as a number of other circumstances: Jodi Benson, the English voice of Disney’s Ariel, the little mermaid.
Not only is her voice extremely similar, but she also seems to have a close relationship with David Hayter, to the point of giving her daughter a dedicated Little Mermaid movie signed by her, as well as publicly congratulating Hayter on his birthday, saying “Happy birthday to my favorite Big Boss.”
According to some fans, the actress may have used an alias because of a legal problem with Disney, which would not want players to associate Ariel’s voice with a video game with a strong war and violent component (including a torture scene). And the fact is that Benson voices the little mermaid in all the productions where the character has appeared, including the Kingdom Hearts saga and the voiceovers of the character in Disney’s amusement parks.
Still, this is all pure speculation, and we may never know the identity of this important character in the Metal Gear Solid saga. Will it finally be revealed in the credits of the new Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater?
Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.
