Metal Slug Soldier Select Screen

Submission 3,443

Part of a series on Metal Slug. [View Related Entries]

About

The Metal Slug Soldier Select Screen refers to the character select screen from the video game series Metal Slug, which offers players a choice of several soldiers displayed through close-ups of their faces. The screens became the subject of photoshops and redraws as early as the 2010s, becoming an increasingly popular subject of these types of memes throughout the early 2020s.

Origin

The earliest known photoshop of a Metal Slug select screen was posted to randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com^[1] as an example of a hoax that spread on community forums about the game back in May 2006. The photoshop shows Phil Mitchell from the soap opera EastEnders and Sagat from Street Fighter among the other soldiers (shown below).

Spread

The soldier select screen became the further subject of photoshops and redraws over the following years. On May 2nd, 2010, Know Your Meme^[2] user elmashojaldra posted a Team Fortress 2 edit by now-deleted Deviant Art user Frannin64 (shown below).

The screen became a more popular subject of redraws throughout the 2020s. On July 4th, 2020, X^[3] user @hcnone posted a redraw that gained over 16,000 likes in four years (shown below, left). On March 29th, 2023, X^[4] user @YouwantStars posted a version with Digimon that gained over 500 likes in a year (shown below, right).

On February 26th, 2024, X^[5] user @ReVellionArt posted an image comparing the character select screen with the one from the mobile game Metal Slug Code: J, writing, "i still havent gotten over what they did to fio in that one mobile game. why did they take away her silly. give it back," garnering over 12,000 likes in a week (shown below).

On February 27th, X^[6] user @megaspel posted a version of the character select screen with Jerma in place of one of the soldiers, garnering around 69 likes in a week (shown below).