This book explores the video game Metal Gear Solid V’s exploration of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through a careful analysis of its thematic elements and characters. It also considers the game’s complex take on post-9/11 history. Metal Gear Solid V consists of two interrelated titles, Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. Ground Zeroes is examined as a post-9/11 narrative exploring America’s use of Guantanamo Bay and the extraordinary rendition program as tools in the War on Terror. The Phantom Pain is examined as a work exploring post-9/11 in trauma, especially in returning soldiers. The characters appearing in both games are given substantial consideration and analysis as embodiments of different forms of PTSD and trauma. This book appeals especially to those interested in video game study, to those who are enthusiasts of video games, and those interested in post-9/11 narratives.

1. Introduction: “Just another Day in a War without End”: Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear.- 2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’s Denial of Player Expectations: The War Game that Isn’t.- 3. History, Historicity, and Fiction: Pseudorealities in Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.- 4. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Fiction and Reality: Anguish and Agony.- 5. The Phantom Pain’s Opening Mission: Hospital as Slaughterhouse and an Introduction to Trauma.- 6. “You Can’t Patch a Wounded Soul with a Band-Aid”: Manifestations of Trauma in the Characters of Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.- 7. “Who are you? Snake? It's not you . . . is it?”: Contradiction and Fragmentation at Game’s End.