Samuel Rodrigues

Overview

A samurai who works for Desperado Enforcement LLC. Unlike other enemies in the game, Sam is mostly human except for his right arm. Serves as a recurring antagonist for Raiden until his defeat in File R-06. A playable protagonist in the "Jetstream" DLC add-on for Revengeance.

History

Samuel "Jetstream" Rodrigues is the son of Japanese parents who emigrated to Brazil. His father started the "New Shadow Sword School" in country, and passed both his knowledge and his sword on to his son.

As Sam grew older, he decided to use his sword as a tool of justice. He spent his time running throughout the country, single-handedly slaughtering several members of the various drug cartels plaguing Brazil, and then expanded to cover more ground. Eventually, his travels took him to Denver, Colorado, where he hoped to face the head of Desperado Enforcement, LLC. What he did not know was that both Monsoon and Senator Armstrong were expecting him, hoping to convince Sam to join Desperado instead.

After fighting his way through World Marshall HQ, Sam faced Armstrong in a head-to-head showdown and even cut off Armstrong's right arm, but Armstrong responded by stabbing Sam through his right shoulder, rendering it useless.

For whatever reason, Sam then decided to join Desperado with Armstrong. His first known job was supporting Sundowner's attack on Prime Minister N'Mani and his escorts. After Sundowner killed N'Mani, Sam stayed to fight his bodyguard Raiden, and cut out Raiden's left eye and right arm, leaving him to die on the train as he escaped.

Sam later returned to his headquarters in Denver. When Raiden showed up in the city, Sam tapped into the nearby electronic billboards and advertisements, taunting Raiden about the many innocents he killed over the years. He later appeared in person alongside Monsoon, wanting to fight Raiden now that he had shown his "Jack the Ripper" persona, but Monsoon insisted on fighting him instead.

Sometime after Raiden escaped from the crumbling World Marshal HQ in Denver, Sam was given an order to slaughter the ground crew at Solis launching site to cut off Raiden's last hope of stopping Armstrong's "Operation Tecumseh," but instead Sam decided to stay and fight Raiden in a final duel. Upon being defeated and slain by Raiden in their second duel, it was revealed that he "barely had any cyborg enhancements," being far more human than his rival had imagined.

When Raiden fought Senator Armstrong in Pakistan, Bladewolf reveals that Sam left him a message that his sword would later disengage its ID lock and let Raiden use it if he died in battle.

Gameplay

Sam is an unplayable boss character in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, though his sword Maya (labeled the "High Frequency Murasama Blade" or "HF Murasama Blade") can be unlocked and later upgraded when Raiden fights against the final boss. Sam uses a lot of charging attacks with his sword that start from a far distance that he can quickly close, but is also incredibly adept at fighting hand-to-hand.

In the "Jetstream" DLC, Sam is finally unlocked as a playable character for his own special story mode and accompanying VR Missions. Unlike Raiden, Sam cannot perform one-button stealth kills or "Ninja Run" and cannot access "AR Vision." However, Sam can double jump, airdash, and taunt enemies and boss characters which causes them to behave more recklessly, allowing him to do double the normal amount of damage. He can also charge any of his heavy strikes.

Like Raiden, Sam can block, parry, and even perform zandatsu finishers which lets him instantly recover health and Blade Mode meter.

Other Appearances

Samuel, perhaps in reference to eventually entrusting the Murasama to Raiden, is used in the role of Raiden's "Minion" support character in the 2012 PS3 fighting game Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale.