Italian head transplant doctor, Sergio Canavero, looks identical to the doctor in MGSV: TPP

[The_Imp_ZA]

This can't be a coincidence. This isn't even the strangest part, the procedure is called "HEAVEN". Outer Heaven, really? The person getting the transplant is a CG artist. Sergio did a TED Talk in Cyprus which is presumably where the hospital in MGSV is located. His only published scientific article is named The “Gemini” spinal cord fusion protocol: Reloaded. Gemini exists in the MGS universe.

Logo for the TED talk he did:

The in-game model is almost identical, besides the soul patch. Even the ears are the same. This is from the 2013 gameplay footage.

Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? If this is some ARG or viral marketing, it's the best I've ever seen. I don't even know what to believe anymore.

Just as more evidence that phantom pain is linked to the brain, I recall a report about a surgery done by Dr Sergio Canavero several years ago where a woman wound up with phantom pain in a 3rd arm that never existed. All from "tweaking" something in her brain and apparently messing up something with the brain's "map" of the body. Canavero has done a lot of good work, but there's always risk when you're on the cutting edge.

From here. Presumably, this is the report. It's titled 'Painful supernumerary phantom arm following motor cortex stimulation for central poststroke pain'.

He has a book too. The content and chapters sound suspicious. What the hell is going on here?

 

[FarligOpptreden]

What the hell is going on here?

Exactly my thoughts. This thread is just full of all kinds of "HUH?"

 

[Edelweiss]

I am soo confused.
Why does PubMed, a highly credible online scientific journal even allow something like this?

 

[FriedPet]

He has actually written a few articles.

Seems legit, albeit ridiculous.

 

[The_Imp_ZA]

[MENTION=8037]FriedPet[/MENTION] [MENTION=8022]Edelweiss[/MENTION] [MENTION=297]FarligOpptreden[/MENTION]

The way they model characters in the FOX Engine is to take high definition images of their faces, and import them into the engine. There's no denying that the in-game model is uncannily similar. Even the wrinkles on his face were modeled in. That can't just be generic old doctor #7 .

Plus the whole thing Kojima did in the start, pretending to be Joakim, creating that fake Moby Dick Studio and wearing that crazy head mask. Head transplants are obviously going to be a theme, he did mention that he was covering something taboo. At the very least, he's been following this guy's career, and written in all these coincidences. This is the same guy that bamboozled everyone with MGS2 and Raiden, I wouldn't put this past him.

Regardless, how can that real life doctor believe that he can decapitate someone, move their head to another body and somehow keep the person alive during all this! This can't be legit. How do you re-connect the spinal column, for one.

 

[FriedPet]

Regardless, how can that real life doctor believe that he can decapitate someone, move their head to another body and somehow keep the person alive during all this! This can't be legit. How do you re-connect the spinal column, for one.

Well, reattaching arteries, veins, trachea and oesophagus shouldn't be a problem. And then you should have life, but without motor-sensory function of the body.

Severed nerves are repaired regularly and function can be regained in a few months. But that is peripheral nerves. Not spinal cords.

In his book, he refers to an instance in 1901-1902 where a spinal cord was severed, sutured and function was regained.

He is very ambitious. I think more animal tests are due before human test subjects.

Anyways. So the doctor in the game was created from the real-life doctor?

 

[The_Imp_ZA]

Anyways. So the doctor in the game was created from the real-life doctor?

Who knows? They did do tests on monkeys back in the 70's. All the monkeys died because the immune system rejected the new head. He hasn't even practiced his method on animals, and this guy expects it to work first time on a human? How is it even legal to do a head transplant. You're essentially decapitating someone. I have a feeling that as soon as this guy gets his funding cash, he's going to disappear.

Because researchers have not found a way to rejoin two parts of an injured person's spinal cord, it's difficult to think that they could join two spinal cords from two different people.

Everything about this guy is strange. Whether the connection is purely coincidental or not, read up a bit about this doctor. He's crazy as f**k. All the quotes in his book made him sound like a comic book insane scientist.

I am from another species of neurosurgeon.

I like a good crackpot theory. Whether Kojima planned any of this or not, it's absolutely insane.

 

[The_Imp_ZA]

Kotaku manages to contact Sergio Canavero, he knows nothing of his likeness being used by Kojima.

He told me that he has never been in any kind of contact with Konami or Kojima, that he had never even heard of them before all of this happened and he doesn't understand why they used him as a template for that character without asking him permission. I pointed out his resemblance to the actor from whom Konami actually did the scanning for the three-dimensional model, but he tells me that his lawyer has suggested something different that involves a conference held in Cyprus:

"One of the sponsors was coincidentally a game developer. Maybe some people there...I don't know...maybe they recorded the thing from certain angles, maybe the cameras were set up in the right spots... I do not know. It's just a hypothesis, but maybe it's not too far-fetched."

I pointed it out that this seemed rather unlikely and that there was probably a simpler explanation, but he interrupted me:

“To be completely honest with you: this isn’t such a bad thing. Since my project requires a lot of money, Mr.Kojima will be able to say he had a part in HEAVEN [the name of his head transplant procedure] despite the fact that he probably never intended to.”

Dr. Canavero isn’t just surprised by all this, but actually rather put out; he’s even thinking of suing Konami over it. “I went to the Polizia Postale [the authority in charge of this kind of thing here in Italy] and filed a complaint towards Mr.Kojima. There is also a Twitter account that is not mine, so I reported this to the Police too, they will now investigate both the matters. In the meantime my lawyer is sending a letter to the Japanese company [Konami] to ask for compensation [for using my image without permission].”

“It's just surprising that despite having been around the world, speaking at more than 300 medical conferences about what could be the biggest medical achievement in history, I feel like now i'm at the peak of my popularity thanks to a video game...a video game I wasn't even involved in to begin with.”

Source.