Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is praised as both the best game in the series as well as one that took it in a wrong direction. While it refines plenty of systems set within the franchise, moving to open-world will always create problems, be it bugs or oversights. From as early as the game's trailers people found things to complain about. MGSV has sparked plenty of arguments. One of the main sources of outrage is one of the game's principal characters: Quiet the sniper.

MGS is known for its wacky enemies and ideas that go against the norm, but an almost naked woman was the last straw. Hideo loves putting women who show off cleavage into his games, from Sniper Wolf in the original game to the bikini scenes of Eva in MGS3. MGSV took that aspect and dialed it up to 10, having Quiet wearing only a bikini for 98% of her screen time. Thankfully she is a great buddy to have on the battlefield, but even that has its limits.

Let us delve into 15 reasons why Quiet ruins and brings down MGSV. Now for those who have Quiet as your waifu, I in no way hate Quiet. She was my main buddy throughout MGSV, but that speaks volumes about how her power unbalances the game and even I can accept her faults.

15 Needs To Be Naked To Breath

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Quiet’s simple bikini and sniper rifle sparked quite a bit of rage before Metal Gear Solid V's release. While her design might have been a good idea for a bathhouse episode of an Anime, it was not, however, a good choice for a starring role in a major franchise. From the moment you fight Quiet to the game's ending, Quit wears little more than three pieces of string on her body. While many bad choices can be explained through the story, this one went a bit too far. Quiet has to be naked to absorb water and oxygen through her skin to stay alive…

Let that sink in, she has to be naked to live. That just sounds like a teenage boy’s wet dream. Oh, but it’s fine, if she needs to be naked live she can just be naked. Or, you know, don’t craft a story that requires her to be naked?

14 Begins Missions By Killing

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MGSV introduced a new partner mechanic to the franchise. The new system lets players bring a companion with them on missions (albeit, a very varied ensemble of partners, in the form of a Dog, Horse, Robot and… naked Sniper). This sense of comradery and tool is a great addition to the franchise, especially one that made the move to a more open world design. However, with D-Dog, D-Walker and your horse, you are given non-lethal means to attack with clear signs they don’t go for the kill. Quiet on the overhand starts off with a sniper rifle that she uses to kill any guard who spots you, or shoots at you.

While a great killer is almost always a good addition to a team, Metal Gear Solid has always put forward the idea that killing is a last resort, as soldiers are only following orders. Many players go for no-kill runs, which Quiet ruins. She is dropped into your party for an excursion, tying your hands.

13 Cannot Communicate

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While the inclusion of partners was a great idea, adding in one that doesn’t talk was one of the worst decisions. Communicating with your team is imperative to survival and making tactics, but instead, we have one that hums in the background and follows orders. Relegated to a mere grunt sent on missions, Quiet cannot even give input to group discussions, choices or dialogue.

This is used to some comedic effect, when she shoots letters like HBD for Bosses’ birthday or when her hums are heard through the tape player. But the fact she can never reply or give suggestions holds her character back way too much.

12 Lives In A Cell But Let Out To Kill

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So, throughout MGSV Quiet tries to kill the Boss on two separate occasions. CQC expert that he is, Boss knocks her out like he does to other enemies and brings her back to base. While the hundreds of other soldiers are allowed into our army without a word back, Quiet is heavily argued against. In the end, it is Bosses’ decision, but is slightly overruled when she is forced to live in a cell on Mother Base. It takes a few days before they are willing to let her out, saying she would do well on the battlefield.

But, when she returns she is put back in the cell, even tortured, yet still goes out with Boss on missions. This makes literally no sense, she is seen and handled like a threat and a POW but is allowed out to play if she kills for Boss. Even after clearing out bases full of enemies, she is relegated to chains.

11 She Is Overpowered

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Quiet is shown to us as a superhuman, so one would think we could never have her on our side. Yet, she is allowed to kill for us (and that is great), but she is way too powerful, trivializing many of the outposts and missions. She can take out a whole outpost on her own, up to two guards before they get a good look at her, five of her weapons are silenced. As players use her more and more, her power just grows, even rewarding an emblem for letting her take care of the work herself.

This leads players to using Quiet to do all their work for them. You can even unlock a tranquilizer sniper, later on, helping with no-kill runs. While a good teammate can make a great duo, an overpowered one just breaks the playing field.

10 Shifts The Idea That Snake Has To Fight Against The Impossible

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Metal Gear Solid is a series that is full of super humans, psychics, and machine monstrosities. Raiden has been the closest we’ve had to having one on our side, though only really in cutscenes. The whole setup is that Snake has to fight against insurmountable odds to save the day, killing his brother ten-odd times, shooting someone who has bullets miss her and fight a man made of bees.

Giving that power to Snake just breaks this idea, Quiet and all her power should make her a villain. If someone like this can be on our side, then the power of our enemies decreases exponentially. While Boss has to fight Metal Gear alone, Quiet makes other encounters with strong forces leagues too easy.

9 Has Drawn Out Cutscenes

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Remembering that Quiet cannot speak, and must communicate through body movement, her cutscenes are drawn out for far too long. Minutes of staring at one another, dancing, awaiting her response, or having people talk to her.

MGS hit cutscene length peak at MGS4, but applying that to a character with no dialogue is painful. It doesn’t help that a lot of the cutscenes merely paint her as a sex object or emotion heavy mute. This does get rectified during her final cutscene, which helps release all of the pent-up annoyance against her character. Still, that is the end of her speaking career. Too little too late.

8 She Overshadows Sniper Wolf

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We already had a great sniper, we’ve had two of them even. All the way back in Metal Gear Solid, Solid Snake had to face off against a terrifying sniper in the form of a sexy, yet restrained, Sniper Wolf. Confusing you with her cleavage, Sniper Wolf was able to shoot down Meryl, and even halt your advancement into Shadow Moses. This was a great character and enemy to fight, but Quiet just overshadows her too much.

Being a “sexier” a (better) sniper, who is also faster makes Sniper Wolf seem a whole lot less impressive. Sniper Wolf’s legacy loses its spectacular when it's put head-to-head with Quiet. Not to mention that Quiet's story is set in the past.

7 You Need To Keep An Emblem To Keep Her

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There is no beating around the bush, Quiet will leave you, unless you take certain steps to postpone her final mission. While you can keep her fondness below 90%, this is detrimental to improving her gear. The sure-fire way to keep her in your employ is to equip an emblem that incorporates her Butterfly picture. As long as this is set as your emblem, you can keep your precious overpowered sex sniper. Forcing the player to consider this is annoying, and discourages individuality.

Thankfully, the ability to get her back was patched in, though seemingly in a glitchy manner. The fact that so many players had to change their emblem to a butterfly to keep their favourite companion around was just absurd.

6 She Was Designed As A Pandering Ideal Woman

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Kojima has spoken several times on Twitter about Quiet’s design and lack of clothing, mentioning that she was designed with cosplayers in mind. Gross. This sparked some rage and questions on the internet. Getting into the game, however, this goes even further then her naked aesthetic. She was clearly designed with the male gaze in mind. She is naked so men can ogle her, she doesn’t talk, she's just a naked murder machine who does all the work in combat for you. Moreover, between missions, she even poses all sexy-like for Snake without anyone asking.

If she weren’t such a goddamn great sniper, she would just be another sex object for the internet to sweat over. But all of her design just points to one thing, sales, her gun isn’t the only thing people are staring at.

5 Her Story Is Too Open To Interpretation

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As Quiet doesn’t speak until the very end, it is rather hard to end her story on a satisfying note. We are given hints here and there, when she talks with Code Talker, and in the final cutscene of her arc. But with no follow-up, or ending chapter to MGSV (or even an epilogue breakdown), we never really know what happens to her or more about her past. We know she loves Boss, for some reason, but many of her actions, feelings and story notes are too open.

Thankfully, some of her story is told through the cassettes, which many players overlook. But with a character so integral to the plot, with so much potential, she deserved better.

4 Becomes Useless In Enclosed Areas

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The one thing that stops a sniper's ability to kill is an obstruction. Get into a building, and you’re safe. While you can lead enemies to windows or the open for Quiet to fire on, a lot of the time she becomes useless. Later missions will have you infiltrating complexes or places where Quiet has no line of sight on her targets. This becomes even worse when you’ve spent most of the game with her as your buddy, leaving the three others to fall behind in terms of bond and equipment.

The fact she has such a weakness is great, as it grounds her character more and balances out her insane powers. However, this is quickly dismissed because of her incredible power outside. She knows hand to hand combat, can turn invisible, and dash around insanely fast. Her dash can even knock out and kill enemies, so why doesn’t she do this when her sight is broken?

3 Goes From Killer To Lover Too Quickly

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Quiet has tried to kill Boss twice up to the point where she is captured, you have every right to kill her. But you’re Big Boss, or Snake; you don’t kill unless necessary, so you take her back to your home and make her your soldier. While this seems plausible for soldiers on the battlefield, Quiet was designed to be your killer, even carrying a parasite to take out your entire base. You are the reason she cannot talk, and you almost killed her. But from the moment you drop that supply box on her head in battle, she falls madly in love/lust with you.

From pointing her gun at you, she jumps to shove her ass in your face, show off her cleavage and even dance for you. There is no real build-up to this as time is never really said to have passed, and she never talks.

2 Has Literally No Information

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Why the hell does Quiet (seemingly) not know this base inside and out? Quiet should be the one character who could give you all the information you need, yet she fails to help you out in any informative way. The Boss can send her to scout outposts and the like, but she should at least know some of it already or point to an access point in bases. To Miller, Quiet is a fountain of knowledge, but her actions and lack of communication force her to become a target. Just, point me in the direction or some sign that guy has a parasite.

1 Doesn’t Ever Think To Write Or Use Morse Code Or Hum

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At the end of her storyline, we are told that Quiet has the English strain of the vocal cord parasite. If she were to ever speak in English, she would infect Mother Base, including Big Boss. That is fine, we have been told about the parasites before and seen their danger. So why don’t you speak through Code Talker? Or write down crucial information, or use Morse code, or even hum in response?

A lot of the pain given to Quiet is her own fault, she only replies with screams and stares. Even if she don’t want to tell us about her English parasite, at least jot down a few bullet points of Skull Faces' plans. Miller knows you have information and is going to keep torturing you. Ocelot and Boss are on your side, give them something to work with! "I did not choose to be Quiet.”  Yeah, you did.