Senator Armstrong - A Deconstruction of Villainy

"Raiden calls armstrong insane, as if thats a disqualifying factor in American politics." Truer words have never been spoken.

Not only would Sen. Armstrong get votes, he'd be VERY popular.

The fact that a guy like him is still more willing to give someone on the other side a chance than the average political person today soeaks volumes

In Senator Armstrong's defense, the nanomachines aren't JUST a cheat. When you realize that Raiden is also augmented, it means nothing anymore. The bigger aspect of the nanomachines are that the senator's enhancements are completely invisible, giving the illusion that he's fighting with his own hands, instead of for something he doesn't understand. This shows very well with his 5 minutes speech: He was being cornered by Raiden and beaten up, but once he began to talk about his own speech, he slowly began to regain strength. Armstrong is not just powered by money... he's powered by convictions. There's a reason why he doesn't use a blade or anything else but relies on brute force, mankind's oldest weapon.

MGR was surprisingly right about the memes. The game outlived and surpassed it’s own story. Ahead of its time, truly. Memes aside, Armstrong is just… a very good antagonist.

The fact the Armstrong is a "might makes right" villain that actually believes might makes right both makes him unique and terrifying because... you can't really argue with him. Try to claim good triumphed over evil? Nope. You just beat him at his own game. You followed his rules, and you were just the better player. So many "might makes right" villains crumble at the end, revealing it as just a flimsy argument for them to be in charge. The fact Armstrong at the end goes "Yup, you win. You make the rules now" and follows through on his stated philosophy makes him extremely difficult to beat in a battle of ideals. And in the end... Yeah, he and Raider aren't so different. Armstrong is all like "I want a world where the strong take what they want and the weak are extinguished, and I'll kill anyone in my way to do it." Meanwhile Raiden is like "I want a world where the strong protect the weak, where the hungry and poor are fed and taken care of... and I'll kill anyone in my way to do it."

To be honest, he’s almost like Thanos in a way. He knows exactly what the problem is, but his solution to the problem is the most horrible, and insane solution anyone can think of.

Armstrong's reliance on nanomachines for his physical strength is perfectly in line with his worldview. Being able to lead people and convince them to do what you want is a strength.

I always thought that when Armstrong says "weak" he doesn't actually mean the powerless, the disadvantaged in society, but rather the "morally weak", people without conviction, without willpower, the kind of people that drifts along the current of life, those who let themselves be easily influenced. And by contrast, the "strong" are the people who have the balls to stand up for what they believe in, those who work hard to accomplish their dreams. Wich i think fits perfectly with the American myth, Armstrong wants America to go back to the time of the frontier, a society of self made men. And Raiden is the perfect example of Armstrong's ideal, he was a child soldier and managed to survive, he was a tool of the Patriots and managed to break free from their control.

Every single enemy in MGR used augments, Armstrong using them is not cheating. It literally serves as an explanation as to why he isn't destroyed by his own men or Raiden.

"Raiden destroys the death murder robot, Then, armstrong marches out and beats the crap out of raiden with his bare fists" is a sentence that could ONLY come from the Metal Gear Franchise.

"That's a nice argument, senator. But why don't you back it up with a source!?" "My source is that I made it the fuck up!"

I always thought Armstrong's idea of strong isn't purely physical but overall strength. Like a smart person is also considered strong for him.

The whole bit where Armstrong is so happy that Raiden caves in only to be betrayed three seconds later after a almost vulnerable handshake and hug, you can’t help but briefly feel sorry for him, he is THAT charismatic. As batshit insane as he was, he was still charismatic as hell

"Fk 24/7 of trivia and celebrity bullshirt and the media" He got a point there

I love how Armstrong changes his attitude when he thought he got through to raiden. It shows his honesty. He doesn’t want war to have war he admits he wants one last war to end all wars. A man by his word as insane as it is. He sticks by his goal and doesn’t deviate. He wants exactly what he says. So yes he definitely would win if he was real 😂😂😂

I think Armstrong failing to see the flaw in his logic gave him a crucial weakness in his fight with Raiden. When Blade Wolf showed up with Sam’s Murasama, he doesn’t believe Wolf would be willing to sacrifice himself to let Raiden kill him. He tries to intimidate him. If he helps Raiden, he’s dooming himself. Armstrong believes that if you want a job done right, you need to have the strength to do it yourself. He doesn’t believe in self-sacrifice to further a cause. So when Wolf challenges this line of thinking with his own actions, Armstrong’s completely blindsided. He goes for Wolf instead of trying to maybe catch the Murasama or something. He only sees Wolf as another one of the nonsense-spouting helpless nobodies he’s purging.

Holy shit i just realized. Armstrong tells jack to "fight for something you believe in" and he literally does. Once he has sams sword, jack starts fighting for an ideal hes always believed in but denied: revenge God this game is so fucking GOOD

To Armstrong, the nanomachines are just another gun, and he's just the right American with a licence

The relationship between Raiden and Armstrong, despite having such a short time to develop, is arguibly the highlight of their interaction. Despite seeing the former as a threat to his plans, Armstrong sees Raiden as the perfect example of a "self made man". A child soldier who survived, was trained to be Snake's equal and became a nigh unstoppable cyborg "vigilante" And as far as Armstrong's idea of "strength" its probably not literal strength, but moral strength. Someone who is unwilling to compromise his own morals for something as base as greed and where politics doesn't get in the way of good people like Raiden dealing out true justice. Its why he's not too mad at dying once he realises that Raiden's eyes have sort of been opened by his journey throughout the story. Like he said, he left behind a worthy successor.