All credit for this find goes to people over on NeoGaf, i'm just sharing with you guys here.

There was a news story a little while ago about a future attempt of a Head Transplant on some Russian dude, and someone noticed the doctor performing this so called surgery looks a HELL of a lot like the doctor from the MGSV trailer.

The procedure is also called Heaven......this is getting too real.

EDIT: Adding summary of 'evidence' (thanks MooseyMcMan pointing out the Ted talk one)

• Doctors look identical.
• The Transplant is being named HEAVEN.
• Ted Talk logo the 'Doctor' gave :

• The good 'Doctor' likes a photoshoot :l

• The 'Doctor' has a book - here is its contents page.

Is this a massive coincidence or insane marketing ploy? because they might as well be twins.

Head Transplant News story here (IFLS)

Original Thread is here (NeoGaf)

Whose body do you think that Russian guy's head is getting transplanted to? Why do you think Kojima is going to be leaving Konami?

Put the pieces together, man.

@spoonman671:

Its all coming together.....

I've been following the head transplant story because science is the goddamn best, so if it does turn out to be some kind of absolutely ridiculous Kojima theatrics, I'll actually be really bummed. I choose instead to believe that Kojima's actually willing his characters into existence.

At best it's probably just Shinkawa modelling the doctor after this guy. But was this guys known publicly back in 2012-13?

I want to believe

IVE SEEN THE LIGHT

This stuff's insane. I believe. Too many connections to be pure coincidence. I'm watching his TedX talk right now.

Also, here's a neogaf link that I think has some more info in it. http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=160655860#post160655860

Like, look at the damn logo for the Ted X talk! Tell me that's not some MGSV level nonsense.

Poor guy who volunteered for this procedure has a rare condition and some real courage.

I am really confused as to what this is even about to begin with. It just sounds like people found a guy that looks like a Metal Gear NPC??

@dan_citi: He's a neuroscientist that has been in the news lately over his plan to transplant someone's head onto another body. Then people found out he looks like that MGSV doctor, and a whole slew of other connections that, to me, seem like they're more than just a coincidence.

Wow he really does look like the guy in the trailer. Damn The Patriots!

Calling it now: MGSV is gonna be a Face-Off reboot starring David Hayter and Kiefer Sutherland.

I looked at that thread. There's no reason for kojima to do this; absolutely no reason. It wouldn't add anything to mgsv, it wouldn't increase awareness of anything. With that said, if any of this is true, it will be the greatest thing anyone ever did and I will commit my life to worshiping kojima as a god

@rongalaxy: The only "logic" I could see behind this would be if this guy was a big MGS fan and wanted to be in a game (not sure that an Italian neuroscientist who is not young would be), or if Kojima/Konami are helping him by giving some substantial amount of money for this for his research and whatnot. Even then there's still some big leaps, but hey, METAL GEAR.

@thunderstorm101: I don't know what this could be leading to, but I love crazy theories about MGS.

Liquid's arm version 2?

Of course, "phantom pain" wasn't referring to his arm at all, it was his entire body the whole time!

#BigBossIsChico2015

Look at how smooth his head is. Clearly CG. And notice his glasses...know who else (sometimes) wears glasses? Dan "Dan Ryckert" Ryckert. The very man who would have his head transplanted onto Brock Lesnar's body if given the chance. Also, he's a Metal Gear fanatic, but I don't see a connection between that and Kojima.

I would also wager that this so-called "doctor" has seen a snake before. I also would follow that wager by wagering again, this time on the fact that the snake this doctor has seen was very likely not gaseous or liquid in nature. Coincidence? Yes! HOWEVER! Know what game also has a lot of coincidences in its story? That's right!

Metal...

Slug.

And what is a slug? Either a small, slimy creature...

or a type of PROJECTILE!

Also capable of being labeled "projectile"? Vomiting, of course! Which happens very often in hospitals, where one might find...

...

...

A neurosurgeon.

So, yeah, in summary: Just a coincidence.

OK, so the whole Moby Dick Studios bit was immediately fishy because that studio seemed to barely exist and was mingling with Konami too much.

I find it exceedingly hard to believe that those same bungling people have orchestrated this elaborately fake IRL doctor who is going around giving TedX talks and getting reported on by science & medicine press. There is too much fact checking involved.

At best, maybe KojiPro based the character in Phantom Pain on the likeness of this guy and some of his work.

@bisonhero: I don't think he's a fake doctor, or anything like that. I think there's some connection between the two.

As much as I would love for this to be true I think it is far more likely Kojima, or even one of the character designers for MGSV, was looking into real neuro-scientist to model the doctor in MGSV off of and found this guy.

@mooseymcman said:

If we're assuming he's a real doctor, I have to believe he wouldn't be shilling for MGS. Doctors have standards, and this dude seems reasonably successful. I don't see what he gets out of it.

@bisonhero: The man is planning to surgically attach one person's head to another person's body. That's only a few steps removed from maniacal supervillain, and that sounds like the type that would hang around with Kojima.

Honestly, I don't know. Unless he's getting a lot of money for it or something. But I feel like there's too many coincidences.

@mooseymcman: Also, he did a TEDx talk, not a real TED talk. That's always fishy.

@shagge: It's worth saying that I am a crazy person who obsesses over these sorts of things.

@kasaioni And did you see the logo he used? Tell me that it forms a perfect V and that part is lined up perfectly is coincidence. Tell me "EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG" is a coincidence!

I thought that guy was Madnar? They do look very similiar though. But if you asked me to draw a mad scientist he would look exactly like that, so who knows.

@boozak: Madnar's got a lot more hair.

@mooseymcman: Hey, I'm right with ya. I want so badly for there to be a connection here. I highly doubt there is, but all I can picture is a "livestream" of the surgery, with countless people watching and waiting for this incredible advancement in science... hours tick by, but only a blank screen is broadcasted... suddenly we hear "Kept you waiting, huh?" in Kiefer Sutherland's voice, and Kojima's floating head bounces along the screen while singing the Snake Eater theme.

I need this like I need oxygen.

@mooseymcman: Could be a wig.. but yeah you have a point.

@shagge: Yes.

@shagge said:

@bisonhero said:

@mooseymcman said:

@bisonhero: I don't think he's a fake doctor, or anything like that. I think there's some connection between the two.

If we're assuming he's a real doctor, I have to believe he wouldn't be shilling for MGS. Doctors have standards, and this dude seems reasonably successful. I don't see what he gets out of it.

Yeah, but Oz is part of an ongoing scam for basically his entire career. If this Dr. Canavero is "in on it" with MGS somehow, then his con has a "reveal" at the end where his credibility is fucked. Oz gets away with it because he never has to drop the act (except in front of a Senate committee) and on his show he can continue to seem enthusiastic about various snake oils.

@bisonhero: I still think it's possible that Canavero could be a legit doctor, in on it, and have this procedure he's working on not just be a scam. I know, it's ludicrous, but so is everything about this, Metal Gear, transplanting a head, etc.

@bisonhero: Fair point. As eccentric as Canavero seems to be, though, I wouldn't put it past him to get involved in a thing like this. But realistically: yeah, not likely.

Man, but I so want it to be a legendary marketing campaign. It would be the perfect final brushstroke for Metal Gear's madness.

That doqta' guy is buff as fuck! When I grow up to be a mad scientist I wanna look like her

This is insane.

If this is more of Kojima's dark wizardry... I won't be surprised at all

After reading everything on neogaf, there's tons of stuff that cannot be just a coincidence right?!

It kinda makes sense. Konami only recently learned what Kojima is doing, pushed the company one too far and fired him to avoid backlash.

IF this has anything at all to do with Metal Gear, then I'm one-thousand times more interested in getting the real story behind Hideo (and some of his upper-staff) leaving Konami.

This has way too much traction to be a video game viral marketing campaign. It's a super interesting link, for sure, but all I see are coincidences (edit: Outside of the crazy similarity between Canavero and the NPC model. Whether Canavero is aware that he is in a video game is up to debate. I assume he must be though, there are probably legalities involved with taking someone's image like that) . Canavero MIGHT be involved with MGS5 or Kojima in some small way, like as a neurosurgery consultant (which would be cool, and hell, I don't know what Canavero's hobbies are outside of being a crazy surgeon), but for the most part I don't think what he is doing has anything to do with MGS5.

Anyway, seeing as I'm here, anyone got a link to Canavero making a convincing case for the success of this procedure? As far as I know, long-term success has been unproven even in animal studies.

Wonder how they're going to take the head off so the patient doesn't immediately enter hypovolaemic shock and brain hypoxia.

@teddie said:

The signs were all there.

Anyway, I really hope this dude has a Google Alert for his name, and also has nothing to do with MGS V, because boy would this conspiracy theory be thoroughly confusing to him if he has absolutely no knowledge of MGS or Kojima.

TEAM REAL FOR LIFE.

Can we all just stop for a minute, take a step back, and realize what a master troll Kojima is to make any of us consider for even a second that this is all a marketing ploy?

Well call me Mulder, because I want to believe

Is this another FOX Engine test? Like the office side-by-sides? I can't tell which picture is real!

So this is what two decades of conditioning looks like.