Samuel Rodrigues

Samuel Rodrigues was a cyborg involved with the Desperado PMC group who fought against Raiden during the events of 2018. He was a master swordsman of the "Rodrigues New Shadow School" technique, which had derived from the "Yagyu Shinkage-ryu (Yagyu New Shadow School)" of Japan. Sam's serial number is 977-AZQEE.

Early Life
Samuel Rodrigues was descended from a long line of swordsmen, dating back to 16th century Japan. His father ran a Brazilian Kenjutsu dojo, and specifically taught the Uradachi technique, better known as Satsujin-ken or "the murdering sword," which dealt with violence as the end goal. Sam's father was eventually killed by one of his pupils, with one of the drug cartels being rumored to have been involved for reasons and methods unknown, although not before Sam personally inherited his Murasama blade from his father. He then left Brazil, presumably to train, and eventually returned to kill the pupil in question before leaving Brazil permanently.

Afterwards, he travelled the world as a mercenary, and taking various odd jobs, including a job as a bodyguard and as a cleaner for the Mafia and the like. He also made a name for himself in the criminal underworld, especially within South and Central America, with one story being that he managed to take down a hit squad composed of 10 mob enforcers with automatic weapons using only his sword during the early 2000s, a time before cyborg technology was available. At some point, he had the Murasama blade modified into an HF blade with an ID lock. Already a superlative sword, this led to the creation of an incredibly powerful HF Blade which glowed an eerie red color.

Early Activity with Desperado
At an unknown point, Sam learned about Senator Steven Armstrong's involvement with World Marshal, and decided to kill him for "sacrificing soldiers from the comfort of an office." Unbeknownst to him, however, Armstrong and Monsoon had arranged for his arrival at Denver to recruit him, in large part because of his taking out several drug cartels. He proceeded to infiltrate the compound via the sewer systems of Denver, although not before killing two DPD cyborg police officers who caught him attempting to enter. He later encountered the LQ-84i prototypeunmanned gear who had orders to kill Sam, presumably from Armstrong. Sam proceeded to tell him that he should think for himself. The LQ-84i briefly considered his advice, but was unable to disobey his directives due to Desperado blackmailing him with a memory wipe. The LQ-84i was then defeated by Sam, with him mentioning that he fought of his own choosing as why he prevailed over the mech.

Leaving the ruined mech behind, he then proceeded to enter the premises of World Marshal. Upon gaining entry, he then attempted to use the lifts, although his presence activated a lockdown on the lifts before he could reach his destination. Sam, upon defeating the reinforcements, managed to reach his destination by jumping up on the crates and eventually entered a hangar area. He then encountered Monsoon, who questioned his motives regarding his slaughtering of a drug cartel. Sam told Monsoon that he left Brazil since he had no need to stay anymore due to his exacting revenge (referring to his father's death at the hands of one of his pupils). After a debate regarding the consequences of Sam's actions, Monsoon dropped a RP grenade down to his level and then summoned a Metal Gear RAY UMG unit to attack him.

Upon the defeat of the RAY unit, Armstrong then proceeded to invite Sam to the roof via the PA for a "final test." Sam then fought his way through the building until getting to the outside of a Japanese garden plaza, where Monsoon questioned his resolve, citing that he can't take out an organization as big as World Marshal all by himself, even if he "removed the limbs," although Sam retorted that he only fought for himself. When Sam boarded an elevator to the roof he was contacted again by Armstrong, who noted how they both shared similar views, despite Sam's protests against the claim. Sam then proceeded to locate several doors on the top floor, including the door leading to the rooftop of the HQ building.

Sam then encountered Armstrong on the rooftop after defeating a Hammerhead. Armstrong, as his "final interview", then powered up to his maximum form, the spectacle of which Sam even applauded when witnessing the transformation. After an intense battle, Sam seemingly was victorious over Armstrong. However, Armstrong stood up again virtually unharmed by Sam's assault. Armstrong then requested that he lend them a hand so they could end war as a business. Sam considered the idea, but decided to just "take his hand." He managed to cut off Armstrong's right hand, however, in doing so was caught off-guard due to being sure he had won, as Armstrong's nanomachines turned the tide when the severed arm formed a metallic blade which was used to sever Sam's right arm. Forced to concede defeat, Sam accepted the senator's offer and joined Desperado Enforcement.

Post-Recruitment
His right arm was then replaced with a prosthetic, owing to the severe damage to it that Armstrong inflicted on him. He then participated in several missions with the restored LQ-84i during this time.

Ambush in Africa
Sam, alongside Desperado, ambushed African Prime Minister N'mani's convoy, blocking the lead vehicle. The gunner of the lead vehicle then requested that he stand aside, also warning that he'd use lethal force if he did not comply. Sam then proceeded to rush at the vehicle, dodging the gunner's machinegun fire before jumping at the air, deflecting the incoming bullets and then slicing him in half with his sword. He was then surrounded by the remaining soldiers of Maverick while the Prime Minister's limousine escaped. Smirking whilst watching them leave, he knew that their escape was fruitless. He then proceeded to slay the Maverick cyborgs as well as several national soldiers.

Eventually, N'mani was captured by the Desperado leader Sundowner and the two men rendezvoused on the train, the latter having boarded it to evade Maverick when surrounded. Afterwards, Maverick member Raiden boarded train himself in pursuit of Sundowner, attempting to stop Sundowner from killing N'mani, but hindered by the presence of Sam. After Sundowner made his escape, Sam challenged Raiden to a duel aboard the train while inside the train tunnel. Sam easily blocked Raiden's attacks because of their different sword techniques and Sam's unique HF Blade. Raiden could not keep up with Sam's blows and Sam managed to first damage Raiden's left and Artificial Compound Eye with an upwards cut. During this encounter Sam managed to see through Raiden's technique, praising it as "not half-bad" despite Raiden being a self-taught swordsman. However, Sam declared that Raiden was "denying [his] weapon its purpose" and that in reality it had a desire to kill.[3] After rupturing a propane tank to ignite his sword he pushed Raiden back and then sheathed his sword. Raiden rushed at Sam but the flames obscured his vision, leaving him vulnerable to Sam's impending counter-attack. In one clean motion, Samuel used the trigger release on his scabbard to unsheath his sword and sever Raiden's left arm. Samuel continued to taunt the crippled Raiden in his vain attempts to continue the fight. He then attempted to finish off Raiden, but realised that Raiden stalled him long enough for them to reach the end of the tunnel and was forced back by Maverick's reinforcements before escaping onto the Tiltrotor. His escape was ensured with the built-in flares of the aircraft when Maverick commander Boris attempted to shoot it down with an anti-air missile.

Earning Raiden's Grudge
Following this encounter, Raiden would hold a deep grudge against Sam. Sam would also tell his comrades, particularly Monsoon, of his observation from earlier that Raiden saw his weapon "as a tool." Sam's weapon is passed down to him from his father indicating that there is a lineage of swordsmen in his family, likely stemming from his Japanese ancestors who escaped from Japan to Brazil during the second World War.

Sam later hacked into several billboards during Raiden's mission to storm World Marshal Inc.'s HQ building at Denver, where he proceeded to give a breaking lecture on how Raiden's means of pursuing justice had blinded him to the idea that the cyborgs may have been forced to do things they didn't want. He later observed Monsoon's lecture towards Raiden and wanted to fight Raiden's Jack the Ripper form, but Monsoon declared that Jack was his to fight. He eventually was ordered to fight Raiden by the dying Sundowner after he had been finished off by Raiden at the top of World Marshal HQ.

Final Duel at the Badlands
He later had a final duel with Raiden in the Badlands of Colorado, with Blade Wolf bearing witness to it. He was killed by Raiden in the Badlands by a swift stab through his abdomen following an intense battle. Prior to his duel and ultimate death, he confided in Blade Wolf, wondering whether or not his actions were right after seeing that the convictions held by Raiden were once his own. Depending on what the outcome was, they would either continue with the planned international incident Operation Tecumseh, or he would hand down his sword to Blade Wolf and leave him with the decision of what to do with the sword. Blade Wolf would eventually deliver the sword to Raiden when he was at Armstrong's mercy.

Upon his death, it was discovered that Sam had barely had any cyborg enhancements at all. In fact, besides the exoskeleton that encases his otherwise-human body, only his right arm was actually purely cybernetic.

Personality and Traits
Sam had a prominent scar over his left eye and was shown to be a very skilled swordsman. His skill is revealed by Kevin who told Raiden how he killed ten mob enforcers with just his sword long before he became a cyborg. By 2018, he was capable of fighting a cyborg ninja with just his hands as he demonstrated when he fought Raiden in the Badlands.

Sam was once greatly driven by revenge, this was what fueled him to hone his skills and become an expert swordsman. He would go on to develop a free-wheeling personality, taking out street gangs and drug cartels based on his own sense of justice, similar to Raiden's ideals in 2018. Although Sam greatly objected against Armstrong's plan of exploiting child soldiers before his recruitment, Monsoon's words and his defeat at Armstrong's hands led him to settle on the notion that corruption could not easily be defeated by taking it out piece by piece. Demoralized with his loss as he was unable to defeat such a source of corruption, Sam agreed to join Armstrong's cause, inevitably providing him more reason to fight in new conflicts. His newfound manipulative and taunting personality was described by Blade Wolf as being unusual and contradicting of his normal personality, with the implication that Sam had changed since their previous encounters.

While Sam had originally sought out and dealt with criminality as a means of upholding his sense of justice, his loss against Armstrong and eventual recruitment into World Marshall had led him to forget the original reason behind his desire for seeking out conflicts. Abandoning his pursuit of justice, Sam now believed ideals had no place on the battlefield, and that only victors could decide what was right. Raiden's ideals of justice reminded him of his past self, causing friction between the two, with Sam constantly mocking Raiden's pursuit of such a goal. Realizing this could be the reason Sam accepted his loss against Armstrong in the first place, as Armstrong's victory during their battle meant that Sam's pursuit of justice was essentially rendered moot.

Because of his curiosity towards Raiden, Sam had only wanted to fight Raiden in peak condition, most notably favoring Raiden's "Jack the Ripper" mentality. Much like Gray Fox, Sam enjoyed combat, and claimed to feel alive during his final duel. Although he enjoyed conflict, he wasn't without scruples. Despite trying to stop Raiden from going to Solis, he did not go so far as to wipe out Solis, even though he was perfectly capable of doing so if he wished. Sam's final words to Blade Wolf indicated that his encounter with Raiden made him doubt his involvement and participation in Operation Tecumseh despite 2 years worth of preparation on his final day. This conversation implies Raiden's mentality and unrelenting persistence had caused Sam to doubt whether or not Armstrong's goal was truly the right thing to do. In response to this realization, he attempted to redeem himself through Raiden, even deciding to have Blade Wolf pass on his Murasama blade to Raiden should he lose in their final battle.

Sam seemed to be on good terms with the members of Desperado during his involvement in their operations; having commonly worked together with Sundowner as well as conversing with Monsoon in their spare time. In particular, Sam and Sundowner seem to be well-acquainted, as implied by the casual tone of their conversations, most notably after Sundowner's defeat in which the two conversed about Raiden's skills, with Sundowner remarking that Sam would get his "wish" of having a worthy battle with Raiden. Sam also seemed to harbor a dark sense of humor relating to cutting-related puns, which was demonstrated twice: The first time in the final moments of Desperado's ambush at Africa, where Sam, after blocking Raiden from attempting to save N'mani with his Murasama blade, asked if Raiden "mind[ed] if [Sam] cut in?" The second time was when Sundowner was killed by Raiden, in which he jokingly opened their conversation by saying "Cut yourself shaving?", at which point the dying Sundowner, having been cut to pieces earlier, sarcastically laughed it off. This morbid sense of humor was also demonstrated when Sam was recruited by Armstrong, when the two were shown laughing hysterically after Armstrong offered him his right hand in a handshake, despite Armstrong greatly damaging Sam's right arm a few moments before.

Sam held a close friendship with Blade Wolf. During their first encounter, his words influenced Blade Wolf to think for himself and his own freedom. The two would later develop a close bond after Sam's recruitment into World Marshall. Blade Wolf would grow closely attached to Sam, even going so far as to worry and question the necessity of Raiden and Sam's final battle. Sam believed in Blade Wolf enough to entrust him with his final wish under the assumption that he might die during his final battle with Raiden.

Sam did not seem very interested in money as a reward, as evidenced by his remark that war is the "big payoff" behind Desperado's operations, with the implication that he simply enjoyed the very notion of fighting as part of his ideals, regardless of the payment he'd receive in exchange for his services.

Although Sam himself never utilized a codename while aligned with Desperado, he was briefly referenced as "Minuano" in a conversation between Steven Armstrong and Monsoon shortly before his arrival at Denver, which alluded to the wind that blows through places like Brazil, Sam's native country.

Powers and Abilities
Sam did not have a lot of cybernetic enhancements, as Raiden discovered upon killing him. His body was nearly all original. The only enhancement was that of his arm. Much like Solidus Snake, the rest of his exoskeleton suit enhanced his strength, durability, speed and agility as a means of matching up to other cyborgs. Even before his arm was replaced with a cybernetic one, he displayed great skill in his usage of his Murasama sword. Despite only wearing an exoskeleton pre-2016, he was able to fight against Blade Wolf and one of Desperado's Metal Gear RAYs, as well as confronting Armstrong in his peak condition. In terms of sheer combat ability, he was skilled enough to be able to continually fight Raiden even when disarmed by the latter. Furthermore, beyond his skills in using Brazilian kenjutsu under the "Rodrigues New Shadow School", he demonstrated sufficient knowledge in hand-to-hand martial arts; capable of fighting against Raiden bare-handed, as well as using a defensive throwing technique that is very reminiscent of Judo.

Sam could also read peoples' skills and personalities very easily, demonstrated when he quickly learned that Raiden was self taught and restrained his rage. He tended to taunt his opponents in order to sway their focus.

Equipment
Other than his exoskeleton and cybernetic arm, Sam's only equipment was his HF Muramasa. According to Blade Wolf the sword's high-frequency conversion carried over the already excellent properties of the original sword, making it extremely powerful. Sam carried the Muramasa sheathed at his side in the style of samurai (buke-zukuri) which allowed him draw quickly from taito stance.

The Muramasa's sheath contained a rifle mechanism with a magazine loaded and a trigger located below the sword's hilt. By triggering this mechanism Sam could launch his sword from the sheath and use iaido techniques with increased momentum which he demonstrated when cutting off Raiden's arm with one strike.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid: Rising (trailer)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops (trading card)
 * Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Trivia

 * His codename was Minuano, named after the cool Brazilian wind. This follows the Desperado's use of winds for codenames.
 * He is also referred to as Jetstream Sam. Jetstream being a type of wind.
 * He looks very similar to Luka from Bayonetta. Both the face and the hairstyle are similar.