I'm not going to put a poll up just because I don't feel like it. Anyhoo...

Why do most fans prefer the Meryl ending to the Otacon ending?

Personally, I think it segues quite nicely into Hal and Dave's Philanthropy work, and it's a more interesting ending than the run-of-the-mill "hero saves the girl and rides off into the nonexistent Alaskan sunset" ending.

This isn't about canon or what has been declared canon (I know the Meryl ending is canonical); I'm wondering why people prefer the Meryl ending, and don't care much for the Otacon ending.

Sorry if I'm generalizing, but that's just the general opinion I've heard, and I wondered why that was.

well most people Love happy endings man, it's just human nature. I also like the Otacon ending quite a bit since it showed more of snake's human side. I don't think I prefer one over the other, the two are awesome endings.

Hehe, thanks! ^^;

I dunno, I actually preferred Otacon's ending- plus you get the stealth camo from it.

Ah, cool. I'm curious as to why. ^^;

Ok: Because it wasn't a soppy 'saved-the-girl' ending, the 'Hal and Dave' reference wasn't there, Snake was shown as being 'weaker' (which was a significant plot point), cause I thought it was the canon ending while playing MGS2 for the first time ever, etc.

Happy? :P

Yeah, the main reason many prefer the Meryl-ending, is because she doesn't die. Snake saves her and he's the hero of the day and so on. I don't prefer one over the other, but I like the Otacon-ending. The reason is that it breaks with the "hero-saves girl" thing, it's too old.

Yeah. Sorry, I just like to hear reasons and justifications.

Interesting. So I guess I was wrong. Maybe it's just the people on YouTube who call the Otacon ending the "bad" one. XD

I also preferred the Otacon ending. As TomokoChan said before, it ties in nicely with the whole Snake/Otacon/Philanthropy theme, I think it shows a more human side to Snake (the grieving) and it's not your typical "save the girl - live happily ever after" ending. Personally, I prefer an ending with a little heartbreak mixed with a little happiness.

o like both but the "herp saves the girl" ending gets old after a while. i like how you can also choose the ending you want. Otacon may give you a better(imo) item because i perfer invisibility over infinite ammo. If you'r einvisible you won't need to shoot most likely :D

The Otacon ending would have made more sense considering their close freindship/partnership from MGS1 onwards. The only problem is Meryl's death in that ending. If she had merely been captured and then escaped afterwards (independent of Snake) then their awkward nature in MGS4 would also make more sense.

Personally I prefer the Otacon ending. However in that ending Meryl dies and she also turns up in MGS4 so I suppose we can't deem the ending to be the 'correct' one.

Yep, the Meryl ending is considered the canonical one.

And the person with the GOAT!icon, you made my day. : D

I prefer the Meryl ending. Seen as Otacon survives anyway, they should have just stuck with Meryl in my opinion.

To be honest, I never liked Meryl to begin with. <_< She was the factor that turned Snake into a run-of-the-mill "human" protagonist.

Sure, I know and really do respect the fact that Snake is a human being who has his own share of emotions and all; but it would've contributed more to the uniqueness of Metal Gear Solid if Kojima allowed Meryl to die. So I must say that I prefer Otacon's ending -- but in different circumstances -- like having Ocelot lying about sparing Meryl's life if Snake resisted the torture.

That is one of the reasons why I like Sons of Liberty more than all the others. It showed a rare scenario, with the protagonist having no choice but to fulfill the will of the antagonists -- not a very happy ending at all. -_-

I'd agree with that. I think Kojima does some interesting things with his plots (though the thing where Liquid comes back to life in Ocelot's arm is a little shaky), and he breaks away from the conventions of most storytelling.

Another good thing about Kojima was that he created a strong female character in Meryl who was a tomboy and came from an Army background. But that may just be because I like Zoe from Firefly... ^^;

Interesting things everyone had to say. Thanks! : D

Well, I liked Meryls ending for two reasons, Meryl is hot, and it actually is the "official ending" of the whole game, since we will see Meryl in MGS4. But, after all it was kinda lame with all that lousy soft romance thing going on. It was almost too good ending to be true since everyone survived from Meryl to Otacon and Snake. It´s still good that it was the official ending of the game.

But I have to say, that I loved the Otacons ending. It had so much more spirit in it, except the gay ending scene was kinda annoing. My heart was like ripped in to two fuckin pieces when Snake ran to see if Meryl ok, but found out that she was dead. The part where Snake shouts in the air "MERYYYYYL!!!!!!!!!" still gives me chills. The whole part where Snake says things like "Im a looser... Im not the hero you thought I was... Im NOTHING!" was so sad, I deffinitely felt the same when I first time was playing it. I think that if David Hayter should be proud for some voiceacting scene, this was it.

Yeah, I feel similar to how Vic Rattlehead seems to feel.

The Meryl ending was the proper one, but the Otacon one had more emotion and gave you a better look at how Snake and Otacon are so close. Plus the satyrical aspect where Otacon falls half-way down the cliff, I thought that was funny.

I had that goat icon for two years...I feel so cheap and used...

Anyway, I have always loved the death of Meryl a LOT more than her making it out...It is that scene that made me believe Metal Gear to be my favorite game of all time...after first, simply because it was out of the norm...bad ass hero, not saving everybody and you can see him break down, and almost want to give up on life...not caring about the bombing and staying with her until Otacon becons him to go.

There are three factors to this ending...the brillent writing of it of course... the AMAZING music, "Enclosure"...which is now my favoirite tune...and David Hayter's amazing performence...he really sold it and made you believe it.

I point out the last two, because you can tell a real difference in Twin Snakes...Twin Snakes SUCKED the life out of this ending...I honestly shut the game off after that scene and didn't even finish the last few minutes until a year later...because I was so ashamed at what I had just saw...they changed the music to some crappy song...and David Hayter didn't even seem into it...this time around he just seemed so...bland...

All I have to say is that when Snake and Otacon start laughing in the Otacon ending, it's the most awkward/annoying laughter I have ever heard in my life. I'm not sure if they made it sound like that on purpose as a joke, or if the actors just weren't good at faking a laugh.

I was just thinking about how I watched the Meryl ending before the Otacon one. I admit I was a bit weary as I was not sure if the last scene was going to be a simple 'cut & paste', if you will - giving the impression that Snake was coming onto Otacon. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Phew.

I prefered the Otacon ending myself, especially with Liquid, there was just something about when he stood up again.

I like the Meryl ending more, it is a hero saves the girl ending and then they get hooked up.

Amen to that my friend.

How do you know if they hooked up. For all we know, they were both taken away for questioning afterward and never saw each other again until MGS4...

I mean, snake is more than twice her age, and I never really saw them as "getting together".

It might have been better towards Snake's Character if he left the island alone, after another pointless slaughter and losing close people he only just met.

Sounds more like Snake's life than him ever having a successful escape.

I prefer Meryl's ending....

it was Canon afterall.