Troy Baker Explains the Real Reason Why His Death Stranding 2 Character Sings (Exclusive)

Troy Baker has explained why Higgs, his character in Death Stranding 2, is so musical. Hideo Kojima has crafted so many incredible games with rich characters at the center. Many of them have some kind of quirk that really helps them stand out, such as Revolver Ocelot’s excellent showmanship with handguns, allowing him to twirl them around excessively. Death Stranding has a number of oddball characters as well, such as one named Heartman, a man whose heart literally stops every 20 minutes, allowing him to be a unique bridge between the living and the dead. Kojima’s knack for crafting unique characters is one of his best traits, but where do these ideas come from?

It’s no secret that Hideo Kojima is a lover of cinema and he pulls heavy inspiration from there. For the character of Solid Snake, Kojima took a lot from Snake Plissken from Escape from New York. As the story goes, Kurt Russell was even asked to play Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid, however, he turned it down as he didn’t want to play a similar kind of role again. But Kojima also apparently pulls from very real and personal places as well when it comes to creating characters.

Troy Baker Reveals Why Higgs Sings in Death Stranding 2

I recently spoke with actor Troy Baker for his role in the upcoming reboot of Screamer and we talked a bit about Death Stranding 2. Baker plays the game’s antagonist, Higgs, who travels around with a weaponized electric guitar, one that he uses to torture protagonist Sam Porter Bridges with at one point. There’s even a pivotal battle in the game that involves Higgs and Sam fighting each other with guitars, leading to one of the most epic boss battles of the generation.

I asked Baker about Higgs’ musical qualities, and he revealed the surprisingly touching reason behind it. Baker himself is a musician and has released a bunch of music, but he also spent some time live-streaming himself playing music during the pandemic. Little did he know that would inspire a major change to Higgs in Death Stranding 2.

“So we have this whole thing we introduce about Higgs playing guitar and singing. It wasn’t until we had wrapped shooting and were at The Game Awards together. We’re sitting there having a drink, and [Hideo Kojima] goes, ‘Do you know why Higgs plays a guitar and sings?’ And I went, ‘No, I just thought you thought it was cool.’ He says, ‘During the pandemic, I would watch your Instagram Lives when I was feeling really sad, and you always made me feel better, and I thought this would be a cool thing for Higgs to do.’ I stared at him and went, ‘Bitch, you couldn’t tell me this when we were shooting?!’

Baker went on to note that he’s actually appreciative that he didn’t know this piece of trivia, fearing that it could’ve changed something about his performance. Additionally, he also uses it to point to the fact that everything that goes into a game is highly intentional and thought-out. He implores fans to take their time with games and really appreciate all of the fine details, especially given the high cost of entry for a game.

He also revealed that the team built a real version of Higgs’ eccentric guitar for reference when shooting Death Stranding 2, but the first time they shot, it wasn’t ready. Instead, they used the acoustic stunt guitar from The Last of Us Part 2, creating an interesting little full-circle moment for him. During the interview, I also asked Troy Baker about reuniting with Neil Druckmann on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which led to an interesting behind-the-scenes anecdote. You can click here to see what Baker had to say about his time on Intergalactic.

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