He then allowed Volgin to continue his pursuit. Before Volgin could attack Venom Snake any further, Mantis briefly focused his attention on the dying Shabani's emotions instead and willfully killed him out of pity, one of the few times he managed to usurp Skull Face's influence. Skull Face had Mantis and Sahelanthropus hunt Snake and Huey down to kill them, but they managed to escape.Дuring a later mission, when Venom Snake came across Skull Face in the Ngumba Industrial Zone, the latter ordered Mantis and the 'Man on Fire' to kill Venom Snake. Later on, as Venom Snake attempted to extract Huey from Afghanistan Central Base Camp he was intercepted by Skull Face, Mantis, and Sahelanthropus yet again.

He had Sahelanthropus briefly capture Snake to allow Skull Face to appear and speak with him, and departed into the mist afterwards. Mantis later encountered Venom Snake again at Da Smasei Laman during the latter's mission to recover the Honey Bee. As part of the XOF forces led by Skull Face, Mantis was paired with the reanimated body of Volgin in which Mantis primarily moderated Volgin's directives as the 'Man on Fire' under Skull Face's orders. Skull Face later found out that he could operate Metal Gear Sahelanthropus using the boy as a conduit, no longer needing an AI or a pilot. This mental link somehow allowed Skull Face to control and manipulate Mantis and Volgin, giving him an edge against his newfound enemies, Diamond Dogs. Mantis found himself attracted to Skull Face's lust for revenge against Cipher, and would assist him in his missions so that he could feed off his emotions. The two are later found and recruited into XOF by Skull Face, with Skull Face usurping Volgin's control over Mantis's abilities. Mantis would later follow alongside Volgin as the latter continued to chase Venom Snake until rainfall would prevent Volgin from continuing his pursuit. As XOF forces arrived in the premises, Mantis would find himself combating and killing most of them, while being interchangeably influenced by both Volgin and Venom Snake. From the flames emerged the 'Man on Fire', which advanced towards the duo until the emergency sprinklers activated, forcing Volgin to retreat. Having recently awakened from a coma, Venom Snake was being escorted to safety by Ishmael when they briefly encountered Mantis in front of an elevator, shortly before it exploded. Mantis and Volgin would find themselves traveling to Cyprus when XOF attempted to kill Venom Snake. 'Tretij Rebenok' confronts Ishmael and Venom Snake. Volgin's hatred influenced Mantis, causing his body to reanimate as the 'Man on Fire.' The two burned the entire facility down as their rampage began.

Mantis could sense the anger and resentment Volgin held for Big Boss, as the two were gradually awakening. It was there that the comatose body of Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin was also being held. Being the only survivor, Mantis was recovered and sent to the lab, which focused on researching paranormal abilities in individuals, and given the codename 'Tretij Rebenok'. The plane's flight path took it near a hospital containing Big Boss and the comatose Venom Snake, whose hateful subconscious influenced Mantis's uncontrollable power, causing the plane to explode and crash. During this time, he wore a gas mask to help prevent the thoughts and emotions of others from entering his mind. On February 26, 1984, Mantis was transported to a Moscow research lab from Czechoslovakia via a plane. Phantom Pain Incident See also: Hospital Escape and Phantom Pain Incident Disgusted with his father's inner thoughts, and fearing that he would be killed, Mantis burned down his own village, killing his father in the process. He discovered his powers and his father's true emotions one day while accidentally reading his mind.

His mother died giving birth to him, which made his father resent and hate him. Psycho Mantis was born in a small village in the midst of the Cold War.

Real metal army of two masks