With the Death Stranding release right around the corner, many details of the game still remain a mystery to everyone outside of the development team. In true Kojima fashion, there are many surprises to be revealed when Death Stranding hits the stores later this year, with one of the biggest questions being who Mads Mikkelsen’s Cliff character truly is, and what makes him tick.
As it should be expected from Kojima, Cliff isn’t a black-and-white villain; there’s a lot more to him than what the Death Stranding trailers may suggest. While Mikkelsen thankfully remains tight-lipped about his role, he recently revealed some clues about Cliff.
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Speaking to Russian News Agency Tass, Mikkelsen was ostensibly vague about his performance in Death Stranding. When asked what it was like to be Cliff, and if he was the main antagonist as the first batch of trailers hinted at, Mikkelsen kept his cards close to his chest.
“Yeah, but then again – no,” he said. “We learn more about the characters throughout those hours or days of playing the game.”
“The more you play it, the more the characters will develop,” Mikkelsen continued. ”You will find little bits and pieces that fit the puzzle, so I would definitely not say that he is the antagonist solely.”
This ambiguous response is meant to keep players guessing, because behind every well-developed bad guy, there is always a background explaining his motivations. Kojima surely has some big reveal planned for Cliff, but for now players are left speculating about his origins and goals. Perhaps Cliff is a mere pawn acting on behalf of a larger entity, and eventually we’ll get to find out that things aren’t always what they seem. Whatever Death Stranding has in store for us, it is bound to be intriguing at the very least.
Death Stranding is slated to release on November 8, 2019, over three years after its announcement at E3 2016.