http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro

I'm aware that the word "negro" may offend people and I apologize, but here it is used as a title and not an insult.

Drebin clearly exemplifies a perfect example of the "Magical Negro" character in MGS4. He knows more than he implies (especially when he gets drunk at the end and spills the beans on his Patriots connections), he helps out Snake (who is white[-ish*]), and he uses magic in all of his handkerchief/dove tricks.

The wiki article here does a pretty decent job of summing up the character, but I'll point out how Drebin can be linked from even the info from the first paragraph (because I'm too lazy to sit here and pick apart an article):

The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner. He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist. He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness." To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters." He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."
Although he is not disabled and he has a past, he has a scar, he was a former child soldier, and although he makes money laundering guns, it's a criminal activity and he is a "low-caste" member as far as other characters in MGS4 are concerned (he's "just a gun launderer," while everybody else is a soldier, commander, etc.). He almost always says exactly the right thing, and he has a pet monkey along with a dim view of humanity (connecting him to the earth).

***

There. That's one of the most educational things I've done all Summer.

Thoughts? Opinions?

-Jynx

*"Blood from the East flows in your veins." -Vulcan Raven, to Snake. Snake was conceived of an egg from Paramedic's Japanese assistant. He's virtually white, but I didn't want to upset the purists.