The wall. The wall has changed. Specifically, one wall in Leeds in the United Kingdom. For several years, the side of a building featured a massive mural of protagonist Raiden from Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series. However, the hero’s reign has come to an end, noted by Twitter user Kraker2k.
Rip to a legendary piece of artwork in leeds
This MGS4 mural has been here since the game launched, got recently painted over. pic.twitter.com/6eDnhR365K
— Kraker (@kraker2k) November 28, 2020
The tweet mentions the mural as promoting Metal Gear Solid 4. However, while Raiden features prominently in the game, the mural was actually commissioned for the release of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in 2013. Painted by EndoftheLine creative studio, the artists actually put up three murals, one in London, one in Liverpool, and this one in Leeds. While the former two got repainted a while ago, the Leeds one remained for seven years.
When Konami commissioned the original murals, Marketing Manager Brian Ayers shared this in 2013:
“With a game of the stature of METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE, it is fitting to have its central hero looming over key cities via these stunning works of art. Yoji Shinkawa’s art is instantly recognisable, and Raiden’s presence in London, Leeds and Liverpool will have all the impact of the new game. EndoftheLine has secured some stunning vantage points for the art, and we are extremely proud to be working with such talented guys in the run up to the launch of one of 2013’s most anticipated video games.”
Raiden arrived in the world of Hideo Kojima’s tactical espionage action series back in 2001 with the release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. However, he didn’t capture the hearts of many fans until later, as the game saw players take on the role of Raiden instead of previous protagonist Solid Snake. In 2008, Raiden arrived back on the scene in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots as a cybernetic ninja, and fans clamored to experience his story in Platinum Games’ Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. After all, a lot can change in a few years. While the murals are gone, it’s impressive they stayed up for as long as they did. As Snake himself says to Raiden about legends, “Someone else remembers, everybody passes it on.”
Perhaps Raiden will one day return to the city of Leads in mural form and thereby have his revengeance after all.
