Metal Gear Solid 5 Quiet actor says her character design was 'not practical'

The Metal Gear Solid series is one of the most iconic of all time with its fun stealth gameplay mechanics, conspiracy storylines and a cast of diverse and intriguing characters.

From the creative mind of Hideo Kojima, aside from the likes of Big Boss and Solid Snake, the Metal Gear Solid series has been supported by some of the most memorable characters in video game history such as The Boss, Liquid Snake, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf and much more.

Check out the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain trailer below!

Fans have been able to relive those iconic characters once more with the release of Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 which includes remasters of the original PlayStation trilogy featuring David Hayter, as well as some NES classics. Sadly, the quality of those remastered titles hasn't gone down all that well with fans labelling it as an ‘absolute mess’ in its current state. Let’s just hope that the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake fares much better.

In terms of individual releases, more recently with 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, we were introduced to another memorable character, the deadly sniper known as Quiet. However, other than being an intriguing character, Quiet is also known for something else and that’s due to her wearing a sexualised bikini and torn leggings. I suppose in her defence, she was mainly sent on missions in the sunny climates of Afghanistan and Africa.

In 2013, Kojima tweeted that certain character designs in the Metal Gear Solid series were to encourage the cosplaying community and to be fair, whether we appreciate some character designs or not, Quiet is certainly not out of place in the series. In terms of storyline, Quiet was granted superhuman abilities after being infected by a parasite and wears skimpy clothing so that she can breathe through her skin, making her a more quiet and deadly sniper.

Eight years after its release, Quiet’s actress, Stefanie Joosten has reflected on her role in Metal Gear Solid V during an interview with IGN, a time which she said was an “absolutely wonderful experience” and adds that she would “absolutely” love to work with Hideo Kojima again.

When asked about Quiet’s design, Joosten said: “I think video games are, in a way, still a sort of fantasy world you enter, so I definitely respect the choices regarding the Quiet appearance, for instance, being quite revealing. But I also understand the perspective of the people who are not as happy with how she was portrayed. This game came out in 2015, and I think the video game landscape has changed quite a lot since then. People are looking for more representation, and I really get it.”

When quizzed about the practicality of Quiet’s outfit, the actress replied: “Quiet's outfit is not practical at all. Even with the explanation that was given of her breathing through her skin, of course, there were so many other options you could have gone with. I do agree with that.

“I got to see the character artwork when we were starting motion capture, and of course, my first reaction was, 'That's a very revealing costume', but I respected it and accepted it. So that's basically my stance. It's fantasy, and I find that acceptable as well. But I do understand that having more of a diverse representation in video games for women and all minorities is something I would encourage as well.”

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is out now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. The Metal Gear Solid 3 remake currently does not have a release date, but it is powered by Unreal Engine 5 and will be released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.