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Metal Gear History

Date     : 2024-12-02
Entry ID : 16525
Game     : Metal Gear Solid (@80)

WIP An somewhat dry overview of Metal Gear lore, focused on nailing down the facts about characters, locations, and factions.

Contents:

• Overview
• Characters
  • Solid Snake
  • Big boss
  • Revolver Ocelot
  • The Boss
• Plots
  • Metal Gear Solid 3
  • Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
  • Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  • Metal Gear
  • Metal Gear II: Solid Snake
  • Metal Gear Solid
  • Metal Gear Solid 2
  • Metal Gear Solid 4
  • Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• Locations
• Factions
• References

Overview

In the following we'll use these abbreviations:

BB - Big Boss, SS - Solid Snake, VS - Venom Snake, RA - Raiden

Main series timeline:^{1 2 3}

Title	Game link	Fictional year	Main character	First platform
Metal Gear Solid 3	link	1964	BB	PS2
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker	link	1974	BB	PSP
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes	link	1975	BB	PS4
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain	link	1984	VS	PS4
Metal Gear	link	1995	SS	MSX
Metal Gear II: Solid Snake		1999	SS	MSX
Metal Gear Solid	link	2005	SS	PSX
Metal Gear Solid 2	link	2007,2009	SS, RA	PS2
Metal Gear Solid 4	link	2014	SS	PS3
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance	link	2018	RA	360

Non-canonical games:

Title	Game link	Fictional year	Main character	First Platform
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops		1970		PSP
Metal Gear Survive	link	1975	Custom	PS4
Snake's Revenge		1995?	SS	NES
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel		2006?	SS	GBC
Metal Gear Acid	link			PSP
Metal Gear Acid 2				PSP

Overview of characters:

Name	Factions	Family
Big Boss	FOX, FOXHOUND, The Patriots, MSF
Solid Snake	FOXHOUND	BB clone
Solidus Snake	Dead Cell	BB clone
Liquid Snake	Sons of Big Boss	BB clone
Venom Snake	Diamond Dogs
Zero	The Patriots, FOX, XOF
Grey Fox	FOXHOUND
Ocelot	FOXHOUND, The Philosophers, KGB,	Son of The Boss
	The Patriots, Diamond Dogs
	- Everyone!
Miller	MSF, Diamond Dogs, FOXHOUND
Paz	The Patriots, CIA, KGB, MSF
The Boss	Cobra Unit, FOX
Raiden

Overview of factions:

Name	Agency / Force	Major power affiliation	Leader
MSF	-	-	Big Boss
Diamond Dogs	-	-	Big Boss
Sons of Big Boss	-	-	Liquid Snake
The Patriots		US Government	Zero
FOX	CIA	US Government	Zero
XOF	CIA	US Government	Zero
FOXHOUND	US Army	US Government	Big Boss
Dead Cell	US Navy	US Government	Solidus Snake
KGB	KGB	USSR Government
Cobra Unit		The Philosophers	The Boss
Sons of the Patriots (1)		AI Patriots

1) Soldier control system, more than an actual faction

Characters

Solid Snake

Family line:

Clone of Big Boss (Les Enfants Terribles).
Clone brothers: Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake.

Timeline of Solid Snake:

Year	Game	Event
1995	MG	Recruit in FOXHOUND, mission to find Gray Fox
		Goes to Outer Heaven controlled by Big Boss
		Kills Venom Snake
1999	MG2:SS	Infiltrates Zanzibarland, controlled by Big Boss
		Gray Fox has defected to Zanzibarland
		Defeats Gray Fox
		Kills Big Boss
		Retires and lives in Alaska
2005	MGS	Comes out of retirement
		Gets injected with FOXDIE by Dr. Naomi Hunter
		Shadow Moses island: corrupt faction of FOXHOUND
		Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Liquid Snake
		Liquid dies from FOXDIE
		Snake's death was faked by Campbell
2007	MGS2	Snake is a renegade
		Snake and Otacon creates organization 'Philanthrophy' with
		the goal or eradicating all Metal Gear technology
		Manhattan Incident: Snake boards the tanker to photograph
		Metal Gear RAY
2009	MGS2	Snake infiltrates Big Shell facility, because he learns
		that a new Metal Gear is being developed there
2014	MGS4	Sons of the Patriots (SOP) control soldiers using
		nanomachines
		Liquid Ocelot and wants Big Boss'es body to access
		and nuke The Patriots master AI
		Solid suffers from accelerated aging
		United Nations Security Council (UNSC) wants him to
		assassinate Liquid
		Snake installs a virus that destroys The Patriots
		Snake fights and kills Liquid Ocelot
2014	MGS4	Snake retires and lives out his life in peace

Big Boss

Timeline of Big Boss:

Year	Game	Event
1935		Born as John (or Jack)
1950		Disciple of The Boss, fights in Korean War
1964	MGS3	Works for CIA unit FOX,
		Gets shot in the eye by young Revolver Ocelot
		kills his mentor The Boss, leaves FOX/CIA in anger
1966		Big Boss is recruited for The Patriots by Zero
		The Patriots establish FOXHOUND
1970	PortOps	Recruits specialists in Colombia
1972	MGS4	His DNA used for Les Enfants Terribles by Zero
1974	MGS:PW	Establishes Militaires Sans Frontieres
		Takes over Mother Base in the Caribbean Sea
1975	MGS5:GZ	Infiltrate US black site in Cuba
		Paz has been implanted with a bomb that causes a
		helicopter crash. Big Boss enters a coma.
1984	MGS5:TPP	Wakes from coma, poses as Ishmael,
		controls Outer Heaven and Venom Snake from behind the scenes
1995	MG	Still leader of FOXHOUND
		Secret leader of Outer Heaven
		Sends Solid Snake to infiltrate Outer Heaven
1999	MG2:SS	The Leader of Outer Heaven in Zanzibarland
		Zanzibarland falls
		Burnt to death by Solid Snake
		Was placed in coma with genetic code used as ID to
		access The Patriots (AI)
2014	MGS4	Body reconstructed with parts from Liquid and
		Solidus,
		wakes up, kills Zero, and dies from FOXDIE.

The Boss

Timeline of The Boss:

Year	Game	Event
1922		Born
1942		Founded Cobra Unit
1944		Gives birth to Revolver Ocelot in Normandy
1951		Meets a 15-year old Big Boss and trains him
1955		Works with Strangelove on Project Mercury, first US spaceflight.
1961		She was the first American in space. Her capsule crashed into the ocean, was in coma for 6 months.
1964	MGS3	Killed by Big Boss during Operation Snake Eater

Revolver Ocelot

Family line:
Son of The Boss and The Sorrow.

Timeline of Revolver Ocelot:

Year	Game	Event
1944		Born as Adamska in Normandy (mother: The Boss)
1964	MGS3	Fights against KGB
1970		Zero recruits Ocelot and Big Boss into The Patriots
1984	MGS5TPP	In Diamond Dogs with Venom Snake
2005	MGS	Works for Solidus to incite Liquid Snake's insurrection
		on Shadow Moses
2007	MGS2	Gets his arm replaced by Liquid Snake's arm for some reason
2007		Ordered by The Patriots to steal Metal Gear RAY
2014	MGS4	Fights Solid Snake and dies from FOXDIE

Solidus Snake

Family line:
Clone of Big Boss, president of the US.

Year	Game	Event
2005	MGS	Revolver Ocelot is double agent for 'Mr. President'
2009	MGS2
2009	MGS4	Body is burned

Venom Snake

Combat medic, facial reconstruction and brainwashed to be Big boss body double

Year	Game	Event
1975		Operates on Paz
		Shields Big Boss from explosion in chopper
		Enters coma and awakes with memory loss
1984	MGS5:TPP	Commands Diamond Dogs and Mother Base in Seychelles
1995	Metal Gear	Big Boss body double Killed by Solid Snake

Zero

• Commander of FOX
• Founder and director of The Patriots

Killed by Big Boss in 2014.

Raiden

Liquid Snake

(Eli, White Mamba)

• clone of Big Boss

Gray Fox

• member of FOXHOUND

Year	Game	Event
1995	Metal Gear	Gray Fox goes to Outer Heaven, discovers Metal Gear
		Is rescued by Solid Snake
1999	MG2:SS	Gray Fox has defected to Zanzibarland
		Is defeated by Solid Snake
2005	MGS	Is grafted into exoskeleton
		Killed by Liquid

SKULL FACE

Last survivor of village in Transylvania , horribly burned after U.S, bombing
Former XOF

Game Plots

Metal Gear Solid 3

Key	Fact
Time/place	1964 Soviet Union
Character	Big Boss
Factions	FOX (CIA) vs. Cobra Unit, Colonel Volgin
Events	Virtuous Mission (prologue), Operation Snake Eater
Deaths	The Boss

• The Boss is on a secret mission to recover the Philosphers' Legacy.
• The Boss is labeled a traitor by US and Big Boss kills her as ordered (to avoid war).
• Naked Snake (Big Boss) works for FOX, which is controlled by the CIA, and ordered to kill his mentor The Boss, who has defected to USSR.
• Naked Snake kills The Boss.

MGS: PEACE WALKER PLOT

Key	Fact
Time/place	1974 Colombia and Costa Rica
Character	Big Boss
Factions	MSF vs. CIA
Events	Peace Walker Incident

• Big Boss leaves US after the events of MGS3 and starts a mercenary unit, MSF, in Colombia.
• Big Boss meets Paz and Chico in Costa Rica.
• Hot Coldman (CIA) and Huey Emmerich is building 'Peace Walker', a nuclear mech that can ensure nuclear deterrence. Coldman wants to make a first strike to show their capability.
• Dr. Strangelove creates the 'Mammal Pod' for CIA, which is the central AI of the Peace Walker. She bases the AI on data from 'The Boss', in an attempt to replicate her morality.

MGS5: GROUND ZEROES PLOT

Key	Fact
Time/place	1975 Cuba
Character	Big Boss
Factions	MSF vs. CIA
Events	Ground Zeroes Incident
Deaths	Skull Face implanted bombs in Paz

• Big Boss works with MSF in Cuba to rescue Paz and Chico from a CIA black site.
• Paz has bombs implanted in her body, she jumps out of the helicopter and dies, the helicopter crashes.

MGS5: THE PHANTOM PAIN PLOT

Key	Fact
Time/place	1984
Character	Venom Snake
Factions	Diamond Dogs vs. ???
Events	Phantom Pain Incident

• You play as Venom Snake, a fake Big Boss decoy.
• Venom Snake awakes from a coma with memory loss.
• Cipher Assassin Quiet tries to kill him, but his escape is assisted by the bandaged 'Ishmael' (Big Boss).
• Venom Snake joins the Diamond Dogs, a mercenary group led by Kaz Miller and Revolver Ocelot.
• They have a new Mother Base in the Seychelles.
• The whole thing is a decoy operation to distract from Big Boss creating Outer Heaven in South Africa.

METAL GEAR PLOT

Key	Fact
Time/place	1995
Character	Solid Snake
Factions	FOXHOUND vs. ???
Events	Outer Heaven Uprising
Deaths	Snake kills Venom Snake

• Snake kills Venom Snake.
• Big Boss is the commander of FOXHOUND.
• Big Boss is also the leader of Outer Heaven.
• Solid Snake kills Big Boss, but it's a decoy, it's Venom Snake (totally a retcon)

METAL GEAR SOLID PLOT

• FOXHOUND has gone renegade, led by Liquid Snake.
• They took control over Shadow Moses island facility, which houses Metal Gear REX.
• They took the DARPA chief Donald Anderson, and the ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker hostage.
• Baker bribed the DARPA chief to support the secret development of Metal Gear REX.
• Baker was interrogated and tortured by Mantis and Ocelot, and gave up activation codes for Metal Gear REX.
• They want 1 billion $ and the remains of Big Boss.
• They have Baker and Anderson as hostages, but the real bargaining point is probably that they have control over REX and can start a nuclear war.
• Pentagon ordered Naomi to inject FOXDIE into Snake (who didn't know).
• The virus was programmed to kill all the renegade FOXHOUND members and Baker.
• Liquid Snake is the clone of Big Boss, same as Snake.

METAL GEAR SOLID 2 PLOT

Key	Fact
Time/place	2007,2009
Character	Solid Snake, Raiden
Factions
Events	Tanker Incident, Manhattan Incident
Deaths

Tanker Incident

• According to Metal Gear Wiki: The incident was staged by the Patriots to retrieve Metal Gear RAY and frame Solid Snake.
• Some people online claim that The Tanker mission with Snake in the beginning was a VR mission that Raiden performed (as Solid Snake).

Manhattan Incident

• According to Metal Gear Wiki:
• The Big Shell mission was a live action simulation and recreation of the Shadow Moses incident. ⁴

Locations

Big Shell
- Naval platform ouside of Manhattan
- Cover for the development of Arsenal Gear
- Supposedly decontamination facility built by US government

Arsenal Gear
- Submersible, mobile fortress
- The Patriots, US Navy
- Carries robotic Metal Gear RAYs
- Monitor and control internet communication
- Control over military and nuclear weapons
- Carries nuclear weapons

Mother Base (Caribbean)
- Militaires Sans Frontieres 1974 (MGS:PW)
- 'Outer Heaven'

Mother Base (Seychelles)
- Diamond Dogs 1980s (MGS5:TPP)

Shadow Moses
- Island in Alaska
- ArmsTech dummy corporation
- Weapons development, disguised as nuclear weapons disposal facility
- Hosts the development of Metal Gear REX in 2002

Factions

MILITAIRES SANS FRONTIERES
- 1972
- Big Boss, Kaz Miller

DIAMOND DOGS
- 1980s
- Venom Snake, Kaz Miller, Revolver Ocelot

US Government Factions

PHILOSOPHERS
- 1918 - 1970
- Formed after WWI by members from US, Soviet Union, and China
- Originally a peace organization
- Members: The Boss' father

COBRA UNIT
- 1942
- Founded by The Boss
- Included The Boss, The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and The Sorrow

THE PATRIOTS
(Cipher, La Li Lu Le Lo)
- Founded in 1970 by Zero as a reorganization of The American Philosophers
- Was supposed to create a unified world envisioned by The Boss
- Included Big Boss, Ocelot, Sigint, Para-Medic, EVA
- Operates as part of the US government
- MGS2, MGS4
- Had complete control of US institutions, military, and media
- In MGS2, they control world wide digital information using AI
- Members dead, AI-controlled
- Enacted the S3 plan (Selection for Societal Sanity):
Test
- Destroyed in 2014 by Solid Snake

FOX
(Force Operation X)
- 1964 - 1970
- Part of CIA
- Commanded by Zero during Cold War
- Members: Zero, The Boss, Naked Snake (Big Boss)

FOXHOUND
(High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND)
- MGS
- 1971 - 2005
- Part of US Army
- Commanded by Big Boss
- Members: Big Boss, Campbell, Liquid Snake, Gray Fox, Miller, Solid Snake,
Ocelot, Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis

XOF
- MGS5:TPP
- 196? - 1984
- Part of CIA, support unit for FOX
- Members: Zero, Skull Face, Psycho Mantis, Man on Fire (Volgin), Quiet

DEAD CELL
- MGS2
- 2005? - ?
- Part of US Navy, anti-terror training unit
- Commanded by George Sears (Solidus Snake)

References