The Unsolved Mystery In Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater

[@UltraZeroX7]

Officially confirmed: it's Jodi Benson. Konami had just uploaded a new MGS Legacy video that confirms this.

[@duffman18]

We've had quite a few long term mysteries that have been solved recently. Like the mystery celebrity on the curtains/wallpaper pattern like a month or so ago. And just a few days ago, the name of the Most Mysterious Song on the Internet and the band who recorded it was finally discovered. And now we have confirmation of who voiced Eva.

[@rherydrevins]

One thing to note: Most of the voice actors were originally credited under pseudonyms for MGS1 because of Screen Actors' Guild rules, so the fact that "Mae Zadler" was a pseudonym might not have much significance behind it.

[@jamesrussell2936]

What would some of the rules be?

[@rherydrevins]

@@jamesrussell2936 In my limited understanding, SAG-AFTRA Rule One states that union members shall not work on productions which have not signed a contract with the union. Back when video games were not quite in the mainstream, game companies generally did not sign such contracts for various reasons (mostly to do with $$$), so SAG-AFTRA members doing voice work for video games used pseudonyms to reduce the chance of conflict.

[@FigmentForever]

Former WDW Cast Member & former Celebrity assistant for the parks. Jodi is very secretive about voice roles outside the Disney spectrum as she maintains an active role & loose contract with the company. She was asked at D23 around the time of Ralph Breaks the Internet & acted completely oblivious about the game, stating she loves voice acting but doesn’t want to do any for violent games. Despite her similar sounding voice & vocal talent, I could see it being her but I know she’d prefer people not ask her. She seemed real bothered by the man who asked her as he was explaining the game & showed a clip. IF it is her, I don’t think she’d tell for a long time.

[@MatsThyWit]

Isn't it also incredibly likely that she was extremely bothered precisely because she had no idea what the man was talking about?

[@FigmentForever]

@@MatsThyWit It wasn’t the first time she’d been approached about it.

[@PaulRudd1941]

​@MatsThyWit it's a woman that's embarrassed about being a voice actor in a violent video game. She's just a prude who'll take money but won't talk about it. Can't say I respect it, but that's her life. 💯

[@makvande576]

A young Russian gunslinger seems to think it's her.

[@duffman18]

​@@MatsThyWit no, it's 100% unlikely, because it turns out she IS the person who voiced Eva. She's confirmed it officially, now.

[@fidelio9301]

Glad you’re back.

[@clarsach29]

Welcome back Spektator, we've missed you!! Really enjoyed this one, not a mystery known to those of us who don't play video games, really interesting, well-researched and beautifully presented.

[@GD-mg6pk]

Considering Disney contractually prevented the voice actress for Cinderella from any further works, and all to keep the likeness to that sole character…. Doesn’t seem like a stretch to assume it could be Jodi.

[@SnackCakes]

Dude! Good to see you posting

[@Koivusilta]

Also worth noting that in 2004 Jodi Benson had a minor role in Onimusha 3, also directed by Kris Zimmerman and featuring several other MGS3 actors like Josh Keaton and Neil Ross. She only has like one scene in the game (playing Henri's mother), but she sounds remarkably similar to EVA there.

[@packlesswolf1]

It has to be Jodi. They both do the same whisper sound when they talk. That Ariel clip sounded almost exactly like Eva.

[@TRMshadow916]

Thank you for keeping on doing these videos. You're on of my favorite "internet essayists" (if that's a good word for it?) on youtube.

[@TheBritColl]

Top tier work Spektator! I like the branch out to other types of mysteries

[@originalkitten]

Strange coincidence that my best friend got me a personal video of Jodi Benson for Xmas. I have a personal connection to Ariel & my friend got me the video as she knows how much it would mean to me. I was in hospital and my bff gave it me early. My friend is a regular comic con artist and frequents the Uk a lot so maybe you could go to a con to ask her. Right onto the video. Another fantastic theme and I played MGS when it first came out. My youngest who’s 24 had just been born and I’d feed him and lay him across my legs asleep while I played. Helped during those sleepless nights. We rented it for two weeks and I got right up to the last boss and never got to finish it. I e never heard of this mystery. And loved it. Soon as I saw the sub notification I dropped everything to watch.

[@Spektator]

You can still finish the game! Highly recommend you go and play it again, it never gets old.

[@originalkitten]

@@Spektator my kids had it for years and years. All of them so I know the story and hve seen the ending millions of times as they played it over and over youngest is 24 eldest is 27. My hands are crippled so can on,y play a few games. I am a long term lover of tomb raider. First game I played on a ps1. Playing Genshin Impact on iPad at the moment but am worst player in the world so I’m plodding along. ( before I became sick I was in top 25 mages on world of Warcraft so I used to be able to play well.

[@MasterMatter]

You are by far one of the best content creators. I stop whatever I'm doing to watch your upload. Now excuse me while I get back to surgery. Not for me obviously. The patient. 😂😂😂😂

[@ItalianJoe83]

10:18 At the time of my tweet Nan McNamara's official website had a demo reel about "China Airlines" in "Narration" from the "Demo Reels" section in "Voice-Over" in which her voice sounded exactly as Eva's in both Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater and Peace Walker in particular... that demo reel is gone now... "Gotta love the irony."

[@theniffles5430]

Hey, I missed your videos! Super jazzed to see this upload today :)

[@hazzardgaming405]

Videos deserve so many more views. One day you'll get the millions, great quality content.

[@Brianfailedgot2keepontruckin]

The metal gear series was one of my favorite video game series way back since PS2. I was 13 or 14 when I first played any of the Metal Gear games, and I can vividly remember how blown away I was. I had never been pulled in so deeply to the story of a video game before. And I wanted more! I came to this channel randomly and I am very glad I did. I really enjoy the unique subjects, the dark feel to the narration and editing, and the visual style of the channel. Its one of those channels I wish was around longer, just so i could have more content to dive into. I sincerely hope he keeps making content for a long time to come.

[@wacotablet1055]

>why would [Debi Mae] West want to do that? Why would she remain anonymous in one game and be cast as herself in the very next? The English voice cast for the first MGS (except for David Hayter) was credited under pseudonyms due to the Screen Actors Guild's unclear rules on video games at the time.

[@JD-pv1sd]

Jodi sample from Batman beyond is so spot on

[@TazmilysHero]

Great vid as always!

[@georgejpg]

Banger video. I wish 3 was on PC, but that's a pipe dream after Konami executed the franchise and took 1 and 2 off GOG... I'm sure emulation is possible but I just want a native, hassle free port :(

[@dennigalla]

Buzzing to watch this. One of my favourite games and I've never heard of this mystery.

[@mrdeatheli]

Welcome back!

[@Summarcheo]

He’s back!

[@ThunderChunky101]

It's Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.

[@Devil-Made]

Nice. My favorite game franchise too. But I’m partial to MGS2, myself. I get the love for 3, but 2 was the first game I ever played in that franchise so I suppose it has nostalgia tied to it. Also, I just love the clean lines of the oil tanker. It made the so-so graphics of the PS2 really shine in ways the grassy jungles of 3 just couldn’t accomplish. In short, 2 was more immersive for me.

[@frynotfray]

Thanks!

[@micpere1991]

"Suzetta" also was the narrator in Predator: Concrete Jungle.

[@madmacvengeance6131]

The remake of metal gear solid 3 for nexgen is on going maybe we hoping found out or she exist again as Eva

[@spiffinz]

Bravo!

[@outerheavengaming6196]

Jodi Benson HAS to be her.. that comparison is nuts!

[@stevenr5534]

Of the possibilities presented, Jodi Benson seems the most likely option. However, I don't think that the evidence fulfills the burden of proof; but, this is just a fun speculation and not an actual forensic investigation. Another possibility I thought of was that the voice of the character Eva was synthesized, and the pseudonym was to protect the technology that the sound engineers were using, and to avoid backlash from consumers who might not be ready to find out that a major character in the game didn't have a real human actor voicing it, or to avoid problems with Screen Actors Guild (SAG) or other professional groups.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

One thing I would wonder if the voice actress did any video game work before. When MGS3 was worked on the person might not've wanted to be associated with it.

[@DrunkJester]

I once saw a clip that Kojma has an offsider who does the majority of the writing, and supposedly, the ideas while Kojima does the gaming side like the genius way he gets the most out of the machines. It was quite convincing, but true?

[@TheloniusMUnk-DrUnkPhD-]

With the remaster/rework coming out later this year and it being 20 years later… maybe the voice actor will embrace their persona If not I loom forward to playing it again and wondering

[@rhiabloom12]

Before clicking on the video, I thought that this was maybe about Guy Savage. Hadn’t heard of this mystery before.

[@dellzincht]

Definitely Jodi Benson.

[@cloudbloom]

Kojima is one of the most brilliant and batshit crazy game creators of all time

[@dolorex7679]

This feels kind of wrong, she made a personal choice to go under an alias and not have her identity exposed, why do people need to know who she is so badly?

[@fidelio9301]

*alias

[@dolorex7679]

@@fidelio9301 mb

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

Maybe they were captivated by her sultry voice.

[@MrShanester117]

When people put themselves out there into the pop culture ether, they usually get paid a decent chunk of money. Part of that job comes with people evaluating the material and interrogating the material. It comes with the territory

[@FineIChangedItYoutubeDontBeMad]

Because people like solving things, makes ur brain feel good

[@PixelOverload]

So I couldn't help myself and tried to look into the etymology the pseudonym and discovered a couple things... First off, first name is straightforward, diminutive form of "Susannah", basically means "little lilly", nothing particularly special. _Miñet_ on the other hand is a bit of a rabbit hole, as written it seems to exist exclusively in the context of this pseudonym, attempting to find any mention of it seperate from the first name only yeilds a single Reddit thread in which they misspelled it as "Suzette". However, searching for the alternative spelling "minyet" unsurprisingly turned up a bunch of Russian results, but what was surprising was what it meant, namely "blowjob". Apparently derived from the French "minette" for female cat but also colloquially "muff diving" which spawned half a dozen languages terms for cunnilingual acts, but only the Russian version seems to be pronounced with a /ny/ rather than /n/, and it seems to be the only word I can find in any language pronounced like "miñet".... So have we just been staring at a Russian BJ joke this whole time? 😂

[@maycontainnuts3127]

i dont think its any of them, and i kind of prefer not knowing. experiencing the game again with the knowledge that one of the voice actors is completely unknown is much more fun.

[@Fircasice]

Why would Jodi call Mickey Mouse her "Big Boss"? Why choose that wording? Also the capitalization. That just HAS to be an allusion to SOMETHING.

[@mrblonde609]

Let's not forget the phrasing "favorite big boss". Which means that there are several. One is Mickey. And we all know who the other one is, that isn't her favorite. Not her favorite, because she doesn't want to be associated with it. It's a pretty clear indicator for me. I think she wanted to make this a subtle thing, send a clue and thought that nobody would notice it. Then people noticed and she was mad, then never wanted to talk about it again. I believe in coincidences, but these are too many. It is her.

[@PixelOverload]

FFS I had a whole bloody comment typed up and YT frickin crashed me and I ain't typing it all again, in summary: looking into actresses known for playing characters in the franchise seems like an obvious dead end as they have the least reason to remain anonymous, maybe other _actors_ might be worth considering, however it's most likely to be someone who's otherwise entirely unassociated with MG. Jodi is an interesting pick as she definitely sounds right and has good reason to remain anonymous to this day, but seems highly unlikely to have been working on this particular project for video game VA wages in the early 00s in the first place 🤷

[@eldrago19]

Coincidence? Perhaps. Conspiracy? Maybe. Hotel? Trivago.

[@tieradlerch.217]

Despite being living in 21st centure with all technology we had and still can't identify the voice actor after the game released...probably she is one of the dev's wife he wont let anyone know probably

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

👍

[@williamsmith9026]

Interesting and excellent presentation as usual. What about giving up on this issue and leaving that person alone the way they wanted it? I binged 4 of your videos today. Glad they are relatively short.

[@germen343]

Shagohod isn't a Metal Gear. They are two seperate projects.

[@sandrafaith]

Definitely Team Jodi Benson here.

[@js70371]

Why doesn’t someone just use voice spectrum analysis to prove any of these theories?

[@adamwarlock8263]

it was an amish girl

[@christopherrainwater991]

Jennifer gardner or anne Hathaway

[@christopherrainwater991]

Listen to her voice in batman rises

[@christopherrainwater991]

5:25

[@supergrafxengine4620]

2:42 in and mystery solved. It was a nickname because she didn't want to reveal her real name. That was short.

[@Fircasice]

You really should keep watching

[@Mr.k7979]

Aww reminds me of my late brother in law Glen. Showed me this game. Payed with him a lot. Great games equals great memories

[@Thekowaikaiju]

Still waiting on a ducking PC port lol

[@bioLarzen]

Isn't it a bit of a dickery though to try and find out someone's real identity when she obviously wishes to remain anonymous, for whatever reason? Shouldn't her wish be respected? (not directed at the video's maker of course, but those who are apparently still busy trying to find out her real name despite knowing she doesn't want to.)

[@lexisdw]

it's gina grad

[@seanlanglois8620]

PlayStation 2 noise😊

[@MyNameIsCheyne]

It was Hideo’s step daughter lol jk

[@cringebaby2558]

It’s me I’m Suzette Minet!

[@ATK10155]

Let it stay a mystery. If they are trying that hard to hide the info, she probably doesn’t even deserve the clout anyways.

[@mynameisworld]

I've never heard of this game, and I'm really not interested, but you're missing the obvious. Maybe you can't see the obvious because you're too close to it. It's most likely a person who, whether known or unknown, is doing non-identifiable voice work for extra money and wants to be paid under the table to avoid being pushed into the next tax bracket or to avoid the money showing up for child support payments or to avoid the money being taken by debt collectors or some other mundane reason. Or, it's a person who wants easy money but doesn't want to become a celebrity. No need for conspiracy theories when there are plenty of obvious everyday possibilities.

[@iyeetsecurity922]

What an absolute waste of time.

[@chiapets2594]

I know who it was i was there and The Actress was Bruce Jenner the Rock Johnson i was there playing the game and figured the mystery of yours out