The Cryptofictional Records Wing: Metal Gear: A Timeline Analysis of the Saga

I decided that it would be an interesting and fun project to create a two-page timeline of the events in the Konami Metal Gear video-game series. I've played through each of the games and even though they were extremely enjoyable, there were always bits of dialogue (and secret phone calls) that left me wondering what the Hell was going on. The layers of loyalty for each character (except Snake) are so convoluted that at times I didn't know who was a bad guy and who was a good guy! Additionally, since each game was created without expectation of a sequel, the game designers themselves sometimes had to create elaborate retcons (retroactive continuity) to explain why a certain character "changed". A perfect example is "Liquid's arm". I'm pretty positive in MGS 2 that was supposed to be the real Liquid, not a hypnotized Ocelot as retconned in MGS 4. Anyways, there are several MGS timelines on the web, but none that exactly answered all my questions in a straightforward way, so this two-page chronology ballooned out to a 12-page analysis. I used the time line at the Metal Gear Wiki as a starting point and whittled down/added/reinterpreted it so that the entire saga now makes complete sense, even though it was never designed as a 9 game (!) continued series.
I divided the saga into three thematic arcs:

1. The Philosophers' Legacy
(The birth of the Philosophers and the contest to obtain the Philosophers' Legacy fund)
Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

2. The Patriots
(The rise and factionalization of Zero's Patriots. Big Boss' journey to Outer Heaven. Solid Snake vs Big Boss.)
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes/The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear
Metal Gear 2 - Solid Snake

3. FOXDIE
(Solid Snake becomes a bio-weapon. The creation of a nano-machine-controlled war population. The final struggle between Ocelot and Zero for the destiny of the world.)
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots

1. The Philosophers' Legacy

Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater

Pre-war:

1900 - The Philosophers are founded, a secret international governing organization originating from a treaty created by the Wisemen's Committee, a group of powerful figures from America, post-revolutionary Russia, and China.
1922 - A girl, later known as "The Boss" (as well as "The Joy"), is born to one of the members of the Philosophers.
1930 - The last original member of the Philosophers dies. Afterwards, the organization begins to go out of control and the Wisemen's Committee degenerates into a mere shell of its former self.
1935 - John (Jack/Naked Snake/Big Boss) is born.
1936 - EVA (Tatyana/Tanya/Big Mama) is born in Meridian, Idaho, USA. At some point during her childhood, she is taken from her family by the Philosophers and placed in a joint U.S.-Soviet-Chinese facility to be trained as a Philosopher spy.
Dr. Clark (Para-Medic/Quack) is born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
1939 - Donald Anderson (Sigint/DARPA Chief) is born in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

WW II / The Boss and the COBRA Unit:

1940 - The Boss, now a great warrior and leader, assists the SAS in organizing missions.
1942 - August: The Manhattan Project begins. Dr. Emmerich is assigned to work on the project.
In Stalingrad, the Boss forms the Cobra Unit, an elite special forces unit made up of the Sorrow, the Fury, the Pain, the End, and herself, the Joy.
1944 - 6 June (D-Day): The Allied Forces dispatch the Boss' Cobra unit into Normandy. The Cobra unit partakes in a mission to take down V2 missile installations.
The Boss gives birth to a baby boy, Adamska - the Sorrow is the father. The Boss gets a snake-shaped scar from the delivery. The baby, later codenamed Ocelot, is taken and raised by the Soviet Philosophers (the Sorrow is a Soviet).
1945 - An atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. Huey Emmerich is born to Dr. Emmerich.

Birth of the Philosopher’s Legacy:

During WWII, a secret pact is concluded between the Philosophers that deals with the construction of world order after the Axis Powers are defeated. The Philosophers of America, China, and the Soviet Union pool their assets in order to secure victory in the War and agree to distribute them amongst themselves after the end of the War.
World War II ends. Volgin's father, who was in charge of laundering the Philosophers' funds, monopolizes (hides) their assets during the postwar chaos. The Philosophers' "legacy" is dispersed and laundered through banks in countries across the world, including Switzerland, Austria, and Hong Kong. It would later fall into the hands of his son, Colonel Volgin.

Post WW II:

1947 - The Boss disbands the Cobra unit after a 5 year career. The Boss becomes an adviser/instructor.
1950 - Jack (later Big Boss) participates in the Korean war. He also becomes a student of the Boss who teaches him combat, demolition and intel gathering techniques. They develop CQC (Close Quarters Combat) together.
1957 - September 29th: The Kyshtym Nuclear Disaster in the Ural Mountains: A girl named Elisa is caught in the nuclear fallout and is taken to a lab in East Germany, in which she is subjected to ESP experiments. There, she develops her alternate personality, Ursula.
1959 - June 12th: The Boss leaves Jack/Big Boss to participate in a secret mission to spy on the Soviet space program and sabotage it. She gets no help from the CIA (who are afraid of her) and so she uses her anti-Communist Russian Philosopher contacts to plant a sleeper agent.
Jack/Big Boss befriends a fellow soldier/agent named Python.
1960 – Two NSA code-breakers (actually US Philosopher spies), ADAM/Ocelot and EVA defect to the Soviets. Their real mission is to locate the Philosophers' Legacy for the US Philosophers. However Tatyana later substitutes herself for the US EVA and is actually working for the Chinese Philosophers, since they want the Legacy for themselves. Neither know the other’s true identities.
1961 - A scientist named Sokolov designs the multi-engine cluster for the Vostok Rocket Program. Later, he begins designing the Shagohod, a nuclear-equipped tank.
Jack and Python are dispatched into Vietnam by the CIA. Python is severely wounded. Later he is given a special “cold suit” and made into an assassin. His purpose is to kill Big Boss if Big Boss ever rebelled against the CIA.
The Boss’ Soviet sleeper agent turns against the US and the CIA convinces JFK that it is the Boss’ fault. As punishment, the Boss is sent into space alone and exposed to near-fatal cosmic rays in an effort to beat the Soviets into space. The mission fails to beat them by only a few minutes, but it is still considered a failure and covered up.
1962 - CIA operative "Major Zero" helps Sokolov and his family defect from the Soviet Union to the West. Unfortunately because of the Cuban Missile Crisis the US government surrenders Sokolov back to the Soviet Union to avoid a nuclear war (apparently the Soviets would rather have the Shagohod, than have a Soviet missile base in Cuba).

The CIA’s FOX UNIT:

On a covert mission in Tselinoyarsk, the Boss finds out that the Sorrow, her ex-Cobra member and former lover, was the Soviet agent who had turned the Boss’ Soviet sleeper agent against her, not knowing it was the Boss he was working against. The Soviet Philosophers ordered that one had to kill the other, otherwise Adam/Ocelot, their son, would be terminated. She is forced to kill the Sorrow.
Shortly thereafter, she and Major Zero form the CIA's FOX unit.
1964 - The Boss, using the Philosopher spy network, discovers that Sokolov is nearing completion of the Shagohod.
Tatyana-EVA manages to infiltrate Tselinoyarsk and convinces Sokolov that she is working for Khrushchev’s KGB to obtain data on the Shagohod. She actually plans to get close to Volgin and the Legacy (as a double-agent for the US Philosophers and a triple-agent for the Chinese Philosophers), expecting Volgin will capture Sokolov and the Shagohod.
The Boss is also ordered by the US Philosophers to defect to the Soviet Union to try and steal the Philosopher’s Legacy from Volgin. The CIA planned for her to be killed in this mission, since they were still afraid of her charisma and influence. Later Volgin (under orders from CIA Director Coldman) will fire a nuke in Russia – for which the Boss will become the scapegoat and sacrificial lamb.
In any case, at this juncture Volgin and the Legacy were being targeted by four people: EVE (Chinese Philosophers), ADAM (US Philosophers), the Boss (US) and Big Boss (US, but actually as a pawn of Major Zero).

Virtuous Mission

August 24th: FOX Operation. Big Boss (here codenamed Naked Snake) infiltrates Tselinoyarsk (with help from support team Major Zero, SIGINT and Para-Medic). He is ordered to retrieve Sokolov and take him back to the West. Big Boss and Ocelot (undercover as a Spetsnaz commander) meet for the first time, though Big Boss doesn't know that Ocelot is actually a US Philosopher spy. Sokolov divulges the existence of the Shagohod, a nuclear-equipped super-tank, to Big Boss. The Boss and a reformed Cobra unit (sans the Sorrow of course) arrive with two Davy Crockett nuclear missiles and defect to Volgin and the Soviet Union, kidnapping Sokolov (and EVA) and severely injuring Big Boss. Colonel Volgin fires a Davy Crockett nuke into the OKB-754 research facility (as ordered by CIA's Coldman). Later, the CIA claims to the Soviets that the Boss fired the nuke and acted alone. They promise to assassinate her themselves. Big Boss is extracted and placed in an Intensive Care Unit. The Virtuous Mission ends in failure.

Operation Snake Eater

August 30th: FOX Operation. Big Boss/Naked Snake infiltrates Tselinoyarsk once again, this time under orders from the CIA to assassinate the Boss for her apparent defection and launch of the nuke in Russia. He meets up with EVA who infiltrated Volgin's ranks (during the Virtuous Mission) and pretends to Big Boss that she is the original NSA Codebreaker/US-Philosopher EVA.
Granin, a rival of Sokolov's, shows Big Boss his plans for a walking tank – a “Metal Gear”. Sokolov's Shagohod project canned Granin's Metal Gear project.
September 2nd: Operation Snake Eater is declared a success. The Shagohod is destroyed; the members of the Cobra Unit are dead. Colonel Volgin is killed by a bolt of lightning. The Boss successfully obtains the Philosophers Legacy and gives it to Big Boss, just before she dies at Big Boss’ hand.
While in Alaska, EVA steals the Legacy microfilm from Big Boss and takes it back to China. It is later found to be a fake. The real Legacy (or at least half of it) is given to the CIA by Major Zero. The other half of the Legacy is being secretly held by Major Zero, since Zero plans to create his own shadow group, later to be known as the Patriots. Ocelot obtains Granin’s Metal Gear plans and sends it to the CIA.
(Ocelots 1^st loyalty seems to be to the GRU/Volgin, then the NSA, and then the CIA/US Philosophers, making him a triple-agent. If one counts Zero as his final boss, then he could be considered a quadruple-agent. EVA’s loyalty is to Volgin/GRU, then KGB, then the NSA, then the CIA/US Philosophers and finally to the Chinese Philosophers.)
Naked Snake earns the title "Big Boss", but leaves FOX shortly thereafter.

Post Snake Eater:

1965 - SIGINT joins ARPA and takes part in the development of ARPAnet.
1966 - Big Boss encounters Frank Jaeger, a child soldier, during the Mozambican War of Independence. After rescuing him, he places him into a care facility, from where he is later taken by the Philosophers for their Perfect Soldier Project (and turned into Null).
A FOX operative (GENE) rescues Elisa/Ursula from the East German ESP lab she'd been sent to since 1957.
1968 - EVA disappears in Hanoi.
1970 - Para-Medic establishes the nation's first paramedic system in Seattle, Washington.

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

San Hieronymo Takeover and the first Metal Gear:

The Successor Project (involving genetic alteration to make a perfect soldier) ends with GENE as its result. GENE becomes leader of FOX instead of Zero.
The CIA develops the first Metal Gear, a walking nuclear launch pad, from Granin's plans.
The CIA's FOX unit, headed by GENE, pretends to start a non-sanctioned revolt and takes over the Soviet IRBM facility on the San Hieronymo Peninsula, as well as hijacking Metal Gear during transport. However, GENE is actually acting under covert orders of the CIA. They want to give Metal Gear to the Soviets so that the Cold War can be sustained (the Soviets were at this time perceived as lagging behind the US).
However, the Dept of Defense (DoD) is unhappy about the CIA’s influence in the Cold War and wants GENE to launch Metal Gear at Russia in order to discredit the CIA before the Soviets (nuclear war would be avoided because it would look like the attack came from a Russian base). They turn ex-FOX agent Cunningham to their side. However, unbeknownst to the DoD or the CIA, what GENE really wants to do is launch a nuke at the DoD's Pentagon HQ and the CIA's Langley HQ – this would break the power of the Philosophers and allow GENE to create his own “shadow patriots” and an “Army’s Heaven”. This also happens to agree with Zero’s plan to flush out the CIA-half of the Legacy, which is why Zero had Ocelot help GENE with the launch trajectory.
Zero and Big Boss are accused of treason, since they are judged to be the only people powerful enough (and charismatic enough) to instigate such a revolt (ironically, in Zero’s case, this is actually true, tho later he is mistakenly exonerated).
November 2nd: Big Boss is captured by members of the San Hieronymo CIA/FOX unit to try to find out the whereabouts of the missing half of the Legacy. Big Boss meets Roy Campbell for the first time. Together, the pair set out to take down the renegade FOX unit. Big Boss battles and then recruits old Vietnam comrade Python from FOX. Big Boss also encounters Null, who it turns out is a modified Frank Jaeger, experimented on by the Philosophers and FOX, battles him and recruits him. Big Boss and Roy Campbell meet Elisa, and they learn about Metal Gear. Big Boss successfully destroys Metal Gear RAXA (a prototype Metal Gear) with the help of Sokolov (who had previously been rescued from the Soviets by GENE). CIA/FOX agent Cunningham reveals that he is actually serving the DoD to try and discredit the CIA, and is killed by Big Boss. GENE kills Elisa. Big Boss defeats GENE, who then gives him funds he had amassed for creating an "Army's Heaven." Big Boss later manages to destroy the ICBMG (Metal Gear) before it activates after launching.
Zero, behind the scenes, gave Ocelot the nuke trajectory data for targeting the CIA and Pentagon so that he could pass it on to GENE. Later he gives the CIA director the news that a nuke is headed for Langley. He also anonymously has Ocelot waiting for the Director in the basement. The Director is caught trying to escape by Ocelot, who obtains the CIA-half of the Philosophers' Legacy from him and kills him. Ocelot finds out that Zero was the one who gave him the tip and promises to give this half of the Legacy to Zero. With the complete Philosophers Legacy, Zero plans to create his own shadow government and use data from Null/Frank Jaeger/The Perfect Soldier to start a Genome Soldier project. Additionally, since the CIA Director is now dead, Zero can gather more influence in the CIA itself. He invites Ocelot to join him. Ocelot insists that Big Boss be a part of the new "Patriots" as well.

At this point the Philosophers on all 3 sides are effectively crippled: the Russians lost the Legacy in Snake-Eater, the Chinese got a fake one, and now the CIA has lost their half. Only Zero has the complete Legacy data, since he kept half for himself after Snake Eater. The stage is set for...

2. The Patriots

FOXHOUND

From the the Philosopher's Legacy and the Snake Eater Ops team (Zero, Big Boss, Para-Medic, Sigint), Zero transforms the Philosophers into the Patriots, dedicated to reuniting the world in honor of the Boss's final wishes. Ocelot joins the unit, but stays in the Soviet Union as an informant. Zero proceeds to turn Big Boss into an idol and hero, to lead the world as an icon.
Zero, with his new influence at the CIA, disbands the FOX unit
1971 - Big Boss creates FOXHOUND.
Big Boss rescues EVA from Hanoi and requests her to join the Patriots, which she does.
Big Boss starts to becomes disillusioned with the Patriots.
Big Boss is wounded in combat and falls into a coma. Zero has Dr. Clark (Para-Medic) begin cloning Big Boss in order to preserve the Patriots' icon.
1972 - The Twin Snakes (David, as Solid Snake, and Eli, as Liquid Snake) are born as a product of what’s called the Les Enfants Terribles Project. EVA volunteers as the surrogate mother. Some time later, the project successfully produces yet a third clone, Solidus. Unlike Solid and Liquid however, Solidus is an exact clone of Big Boss - Liquid and Solid were affected by gene-manipulation to make one of them a "dominant gene" super soldier, as well to give them both short lifespans. Solid is the "recessive" clone and Liquid is the "dominant" clone, however Liquid actually mistakenly thought the reverse.
Big Boss leaves the Patriots (and FOXHOUND) after learning of Les Enfants Terribles. EVA and Ocelot begin to lose faith in Zero.
Big Boss fights alongside the Studies and Observations Group (SOG), the Green Berets and the Wild Geese.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Big Boss creates the Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF), a country-less, stateless "for-hire" army.
The MSF is hired by the Colombian Government to work with their army. Big Boss's unit ambushes Kazuhira Miller and the guerrilla unit he is leading, wiping them out and almost killing him. Miller is eventually recruited by Big Boss and becomes MSF's second in command.
1973 - A mysterious armed force (actually CIA) invades Costa Rica, a nation without a military. They begin shipping nukes into a secret base whose purpose is to develop a Metal Gear Peace Walker. CIA Central America Station Chief "Hot" Coldman develops Peace Walker so that its "AI" (based on the Boss' CIA records) will automatically retaliate in case of a nuclear strike. This would theoretically ensure MAD (mutually assured destruction) deterrence, since there would be no failure in the final "human" step to start a nuclear holocaust. However he believes that a test nuclear launch is necessary to prove to the world that Peace Walker will not flinch.
Huey Emmerich is hired into the Peace Walker Project to help develop the "reptile brain" (movement) of the AI of the Metal Gear. Dr Strangelove, a former associate of the Boss, is hired to develop the "mammal" (decision-making) part of the AI.
1974 - November 4th: Big Boss and the MSF are hired by Paz Ortega Andrade and Ramon Galvez Mena of the Costa Rican University for Peace, to repel Coldman's CIA forces. Galvez is soon exposed as a KGB agent named Zadornov. The KGB's secret plan is that once the MSF gets to Coldman, Soviet forces will take over and launch a nuke at Cuba, making it look like the US initiated a pre-emptive strike on the Soviets. Then Zadornov would kill Big Boss in order to make him a martyr and fuel further Central American unrest for the US.
Paz is much later exposed to be an agent for Zero's Cipher group, another name for Zero's Patriots.
With Paz and the Costa Ricans’ help, the MSF establish “Motherbase” on an abandoned offshore oil rig.
November 10th: The MSF enter Costa Rica and begin operations against Coldman's CIA forces. They are aided by Nicaraguan Sandinista refugees Amanda and her brother Chico. Huey Emmerich defects to the MSF after learning of ex-CIA chief Coldman’s plan to launch a pre-emptive “deterrent” nuke.
November 23rd: Coldman sets Metal Gear "Peace Walker" to destroy MSF's Mother Base with a nuclear strike to prove that PW is willing and able to launch a nuke without hesitation. KGB agent Zadornov shoots Coldman, assumes control and changes the target to Cuba as per the KGB plan to incriminate the US. Zadornov is about to kill Big Boss when the MSF and Sandinistan forces come in to the rescue and arrest Zadornov. However, in his dying moments, Coldman triggers Peace Walker - still set to fire on Cuba. He is willing to sacrifice Cuba in order to prove that his PW AI deterrent will work. Zadornov had previously ordered Strangelove to send data to PW simulating a Soviet launch so that it would initiate a strike against Cuba. Unfortunately this fake Soviet launch data is also sent to NORAD by PW. Coldman gambles that the US will be too "human" to launch and start a nuclear holocaust, thus proving his PW theory and ensuring peace.
Big Boss fights PW to stop the launch on Cuba, while the US prepares to retaliate against the non-existent Soviet launch. Big Boss tries to convince the US joint chiefs of staff that the launch is a fake but they refuse to stop - they will actually launch. Peace Walker's AI (based on the Boss' personality records) chooses to drown itself in the ocean, killing the false signal and preventing a nuclear war.
Big Boss and Huey Emmerich use parts recovered from the Peace Walker AI to create their own Metal Gear, ZEKE. Kaz Miller convinces Big Boss to keep the nuke from Peace Walker and put it on ZEKE. The MSF unofficially becomes the world's seventh nuclear power.
Post-November 23rd: MSF sends some of its soldiers to Angola to participate in the country's war for independence.
Paz/Pacifica Ocean hijacks Metal Gear ZEKE from the MSF and attempts to convince Big Boss to rejoin Zero and his new organization, Cipher. Zero's Cipher will use what will later be called "SOP" (Sons of the Patriots) to control all weapons and soldiers. When Big Boss refuses, she attempts to use ZEKE to launch a nuclear strike at the East Coast of the United States, with the intention of framing the MSF. Big Boss battles MG ZEKE and critically damages it. Paz/Pacifica escapes into the ocean. Kaz reveals to Big Boss that he always knew that Paz was a Cipher agent, but at the same time supported involvement with her cause because he knew that gaining Motherbase as well as Metal Gear ZEKE was a necessary step in embracing the coming war economy. Big Boss begins talking about "Outer Heaven".

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes/The Phantom Pain

Sigint develops the idea that AIs should be used to control and manipulate information and have limited control over humanity.
1975 - Chico is captured by the Patriots' XOF unit led by Skull Face and held at an American black site named Camp Omega in Cuba. Paz/Pacifica is also captured by Skull Face in the hopes that she will lead him to Cipher so that he can usurp power. Big Boss finds and rescues Chico, but Paz/Pacifica, dies from a booby trap. At the same time, the MSF Mother Base is attacked and destroyed by the Skull Face's renegade XOF unit. Big Boss falls into a coma for 9 years. Zero hides him on Cyprus in Ocelot's care.
1976 - The Les Enfants Terribles project is abandoned.
Eli "Liquid Snake" is taken to Great Britain.
Zero suffers brain damage from a parasite attack by Skull Face.
1979 - November: Towards the end of the Rhodesian Civil War, a now-rehabilitated Frank Jaeger rescues and adopts a young Naomi Hunter, after killing her parents.
Liquid Snake escapes his handlers in Africa.
December 27th: A new Cold War begins with the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Revolver Ocelot participates in the invasion whilst working as a GRU Spetsnaz operative. During the war, the Afghan rebels who feared him gave him the name "Shalashaska."
1980 - Huey Emmerich's son is born, named Hal Emmerich (Otacon).
1984 - Big Boss and his now-awake, surgically-created double, Venom (formerly an MSF medic), escape from a hospital in Cyprus while under attack by XOF, Quiet, a young Psycho-Mantis, and a transformed Colonel Volgin. Big Boss leaves to create Outer Heaven on his own. His double, Venom Snake (believing himself to be Big Boss) is rescued by Ocelot, who helps him retrieve Kaz Miller (captured by the Soviets in Afghanistan) back to a new Mother Base in the Seychelles. Together they create a new military group, the Diamond Dogs. While retrieving Huey Emmerich from Skull Face's XOF base, he encounters Sahelanthropus, a new Metal Gear.
Venom Snake recruits the enigmatic female assassin Quiet, who is rescuscitated with parasites after her Cyprus hospital attack.
In Central Africa while investigating a children's army, Venom Snake recruits the young Liquid Snake.
Skull Face is killed when Liquid and Psycho Mantis take control of Metal Gear Sahelanthropus. After Venom Snake disables it, Liquid absconds with it to Africa, taking with him child soldiers. Venom Snake eventually retrieves Sahelanthropus, but Liquid and Psycho Mantis escape, vowing vengeance.

POST GROUND ZEROES/PHANTOM PAIN:

Big Boss meets Frank Jaeger's adopted sister in Mozambique, and takes them both to America. The young girl eventually takes the name of Naomi Hunter. He also takes Sniper Wolf, a young Kurdish girl he finds in Iraq, under his wing.
Under the Patriots’ instruction, Solidus Snake, Big Boss' 3rd clone-son, kills Jack's (Raiden's) parents and adopts him. Solidus trains Jack as a child soldier.
Big Boss establishes the mercenary nation-state and fortress of Outer Heaven in South Africa.
1988 - February: During the Winter Olympics in Canada, Frank Jaeger (under the alias "Frank Hunter") meets Czech figure skater Gustava Heffner. They later fail in an attempt to elope, after Gustava is denied asylum in the West.
Saddam Hussein kills Sniper Wolf's family in an anti-Kurd campaign.
199X - Solidus Snake and Raiden participate in the Liberian Civil War. Raiden becomes an outstanding child soldier in Solidus's Small Boy Unit, earning nicknames such as "White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper."

Big Boss leads FOXHOUND Again:

Venom Snake (as Big Boss) returns to the U.S. military as the commander of the Special Forces unit FOXHOUND. He does this possibly as part of a plan to spy on the activities of Zero and the Patriots, while the real Bog Boss covertly grows his Outer Heaven army.
Frank Jaeger is awarded the codename "Fox," the highest commemoration in FOXHOUND.
1990 - Solid Snake joins the United States Army and, as a member of the Green Berets, is sent on a mission to infiltrate western Iraq during the Gulf War.
Liquid Snake joins the SAS and, as a member of the SAS, is also sent into the Gulf War to destroy mobile SCUD missile launchers. During the mission he becomes a prisoner of war and is declared missing in action.
1991 - January 17th to February 27th: UN-authorized coalition forces launch Operation Desert Storm against Iraq during the Gulf War. The U.S. Army injects its troops with "Soldier Genes", identified from the study of Big Boss's DNA, as part of the Genome Soldier project, developed by Dr. Clark. The side effects of these injections are disguised as the Gulf War Syndrome.
1992 - Nastasha Romanenko joins the DIA, where she meets Richard Ames, her future husband.
1993 - September 21st to October 4th: The 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. Vulcan Raven, along other members of Vympel, are demoted. Vulcan Raven decides to leave Russia and become a mercenary. He eventually joins Outer Heaven.
1994 - After years in captivity, Liquid Snake is rescued by the United States Government, and returns to the United States.

Metal Gear

Solid Snake:

1995 - Solid Snake joins FOXHOUND, under the command of Big Boss (actually still Venom Snake).
Metal Gear TX-55 is developed by Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar in Outer Heaven, secretly under orders of Big Boss/Venom.

The Outer Heaven Rebellion: Big Boss's Cold War:

Operation Intrude N312: The United States (under the influence of Zero) brokers FOXHOUND to infiltrate Outer Heaven (actually Venom and Big Boss’ secret army to fight Zero). Big Boss/Venom sends Gray Fox to infiltrate Outer Heaven as a “gesture”. Gray Fox is captured by Outer Heaven forces, although not before sending a report of his reconnaissance duties back to FOXHOUND.
Operation Intrude N313: FOXHOUND sends in Solid Snake in a follow-up mission to Outer Heaven. Snake rescues Gray Fox, defeats Big Boss/Venom, and destroys Metal Gear TX-55. NATO commences an air raid that leaves many war orphans and refugees dead, regardless of their ties to Outer Heaven or not, but the surviving natives are saved by the real Big Boss, who eventually lead them to Zanzibar Land. The Patriots think Big Boss is dead.
Solid Snake quits FOXHOUND.
Roy Campbell is appointed commander-in-chief of FOXHOUND. The unit's code name system is discarded.

Roy Campbell Takes over FOXHOUND:

1996 - May: Admiral Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations in charge of the Arsenal Ship Project, dies before the scheduled Phase 2 tests, resulting in the project's cancellation. His death is officially stated to be from suicide.
Metal Gear REX development begins under the Pentagon: The void in the Pentagon DoD Black Budget left from the Arsenal Ship Project being cancelled results in ArmsTech taking it up to develop REX.
1997 - An uprising takes place in Central Asia with various international forces, including the CIS, attempting to settle the unrest. They are repeatedly defeated by a band of mercenaries gathered from around the world, during a time known as the Mercenary War. As a result, a democratic military regime run by Big Boss, Zanzibar Land, declares its independence.
Hal Emmerich has an affair with his stepmother, Julie Danziger, which Emma Emmerich briefly witnesses. Huey Emmerich learns of this, and later commits suicide by drowning himself in the family pool, almost taking Emma with him. It is reported as an accident, and Emma develops a severe fear of water. Hal, out of guilt, runs away from home.

Metal Gear 2 - Solid Snake

1998 - Big Boss develops Metal Gear D in Zanzibar Land. American and Russian nuclear disposal sites are raided by Zanzibar Land forces, utilizing Metal Gear D. Development of Metal Gear G (a light recon version) begins in Zanzibar Land, and plans are made for mass-production.
Czech biologist Dr. Kio Marv creates "OILIX", a micro-organism that can produce high quality crude oil. Big Boss kidnaps Dr Marv.
November: Holly White infiltrates Zanzibar Land for the CIA, posing as a journalist.

ZANZIBAR OPERATION, Death of Big Boss

December 24th: With the help of Campbell and Kaz (now “Master”) Miller, Solid Snake infiltrates Zanzibar Land, defeats Gray Fox (who has now defected to Big Boss’ side), and destroys Metal Gear D. Dr. Marv is killed by Dr. Madnar, who was the inventor of Metal Gear-TX-55 and Metal Gear D. Solid Snake defeats Big Boss, but also learns that Big Boss was his “father”. Zero retrieves Grey Fox and Big Boss’ body.
Solid Snake quits FOXHOUND again and decides to live in the solitude of Alaska. Miller and Campbell also leave FOXHOUND. Gray Fox's body is given to FOXHOUND medical chief Dr. Clark/Para-Medic for gene therapy experiments. Zero has Dr. Clark induce Big Boss into a coma using nano-machines. EVA and Ocelot object.
1999 - Liquid Snake joins FOXHOUND and becomes squad leader. Ocelot joins FOXHOUND to serve under Liquid Snake, and possibly tells Liquid the truth about his genes in order to influence him to later rebel against the Patriots (Ocelot tells Liquid that he got the "recessive" genes, when in fact it was Solid that got them).
Gray Fox is turned into an experimental Cyborg Ninja by the Patriots.

The Patriots Split: EVA & Ocelot Vs. Zero, Sigint & Paramedic:

EVA and Ocelot plot to destroy Zero (the Patriots) and to revive Big Boss.
Late 1999/Early 2000: After losing his faith in humanity (especially after Big Boss’ betrayal), Zero (and possibly Sigint) commissions the development of four neural AIs, headed by a core AI to inherit the Patriots from him. The four AIs are codenamed GW, TJ, AL and TR, and the core AI named JD. To set up their eventual activation of these AIs, they also developed a “data filter” program that was submitted to every military center and civilian computers (the latter via an OS program) under the guise of counteracting the supposed effects of the Y2K bug. In actuality, this program was developed to manage, censor and disseminate information that isn't convenient to the Patriots, which would be activated as soon as GW was completed.
Early 2000s: George Sears (a.k.a. Solidus Snake) is appointed as the 43rd President of the United States.
The beginning of the Arsenal Gear project: The NSA signal hacking assault leads to the decision to shift the NSA data-gathering operations to an isolated location that would be safe from physical attack as well as cyber-terrorism. Later the Big Shell site will be used to create this Arsenal Gear.
Psycho Mantis leaves the FBI after delving too deep into a serial killer's mind and became a freelance psychic all over the world.

3. FOXDIE

Metal Gear Solid

Special agents Raven, Decoy Octopus, Psycho-Mantis and Sniper-Wolf join Ocelot and Liquid’s FOXHOUND squad.
2002 - Naomi Hunter joins FOXHOUND's medical staff, and begins gene therapy research and experimentation on soldiers.
2003 - Dr. Clark/Para-Medic dies in a lab explosion caused by a revived Gray Fox, who manages to escape. This event was managed by EVA and Ocelot as part of their plan to secretly eliminate the three remaining members of the Patriots (the other two being Sigint and Zero). Naomi Hunter buries the incident, faking Gray Fox's death, and takes over Dr. Clark's job (in the hopes of killing Solid Snake in the near future for revenge), but she is still mostly loyal to the Patriots.
Liquid decides to rebel against the Patriots for their world-domination plans (as well as for making him the ”recessive” gene recipient). Ocelot contacts Sergei Gurlukovich, his childhood friend in Soviet Russia and promises that he will help return Russia to power with the support of Gurlukovich's support and armaments (such as an Hind-D).
2005 - January: A report is filed describing the Patriots’ Next-Generation Special Forces as acting strangely and consulting classified information about soldier genes, as well as conducting their own gene therapy experiments.
Meryl Silverburgh, Former FOXHOUND commander Campbell’s daughter, is sent in to infiltrate the Genome Soldiers. This is in part to guarantee Campbell’s cooperation later.

Shadow Moses Incident. FOXHOUND Rebellion under Liquid:

A test of the new DARPA/ArmsTech-developed Metal Gear REX is planned at a nuclear weapons testing facility on Shadow Moses Island. This test is supposed to be secured by Liquid’s FOXHOUND squadron, but he and Ocelot choose this opportunity to openly rebel against the Patriots and demand a ransom from the US. They wish to recover Big Boss’ body (Liquid to help the ailing Genome Soldiers and Ocelot to waken Big Boss from the nano-machine coma) and also to start a nuclear war using Metal Gear REX (recreating conditions for Big Boss’ dream, a new Outer Heaven). Sigint, now DARPA Chief Donald Anderson, is kidnapped and executed by Ocelot in an “accident” (this was the 2nd of 3 necessary executions to eliminate Zero’s Patriots).
Kaz “Master” Miller is found assassinated in his home by an unknown assailant (actually Liquid).
Roy Campbell is pulled out of retirement to recruit Solid Snake so that he can infiltrate Shadow Moses. Solid is secretly injected with FOXDIE, a proximity virus which kills its victims based on DNA matching. The Patriots have Naomi do this so FOXDIE can kill Liquid and the FOXHOUND unit when Solid Snake gets close enough to them. Naomi also (on her own) alters the FOXDIE formula so that Solid Snake will die as well - this because Solid Snake maimed Gray Fox, her surrogate brother, in Zanzibar Land.
Solid Snake enters the Shadow Moses base with support from Mei Ling, Natasha Romanenko, Roy Campbell and Master Miller (actually Liquid in disguise). All the members of FOXHOUND (except Ocelot) are killed by Solid Snake, either by FOXDIE or Solid himself. The president of ArmsTech, Kenneth Baker, is killed by FOXDIE as well, probably on the wishes of the Secretary of Defense Jim Houseman in order to cover up the development of a US nuclear Metal Gear project on the eve of disarmament talks.
Solid Snake rescues Hal Emmerich (Otacon) and Meryl Silverburgh. Gray Fox, with his new “ninja” exoskeleton (provided by the Patriots), infiltrates Shadow Moses (on his own suicide mission to die at Solid Snake’s hand) and slices off Ocelot’s arm. He is eventually killed by Liquid Snake in REX. Solid Snake destroys Metal Gear REX. Liquid tells Snake the truth about their father and how they were created through Les Enfants Terribles. After a long battle and car chase, Liquid Snake is killed by FOXDIE. Snake leaves with Meryl in an attempt to start a new life. Ocelot escapes with the Metal Gear REX test data and plans, and reports to Solidus Snake (the POTUS at that time). Their plan is to use the data on REX and the Genome army to expose the Patriots.

POST Shadow Moses

Naomi is placed into a high security prison. Three weeks later, she is broken out by Ocelot so that she can help him infiltrate the Patriots’ AI system, since the new system uses similar nano-machines to FOXDIE. Because both the US Government and Nastasha Romanenko (the latter after hearing from outside sources about the breakout) believed that Solid Snake was the one who broke Naomi out, the military also added Snake's supposed involvement in her escape to his rap sheet.
Nastasha Romanenko publishes her best-selling book In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, in order to expose the truth behind the incident, although it ended up being heavily abridged.
Ocelot sells the data for Metal Gear REX on the black market. Soon, every nation, military outfit and DotCom owns a pirated version of the weapon. Ocelot also gains in return enough money for him to buy a decent-sized nation, which he eventually uses to create his PMC mother corporation.
George Sears (Solidus Snake) is forced by Zero/the Patriots to resign as President for his attempt to expose the Patriots with the Metal Gear REX/Genome Army data . He avoids the Patriots' wrath by going underground. James Johnson is appointed the new President.
Secdef Jim Houseman allegedly commits suicide due to a nervous breakdown relating to his job, although it is suspected that he was actually assassinated for failing to take the fall for the Patriots' plan.
Emma Emmerich joins the NSA in exchange for information regarding her brother Hal Emmerich, who had been involved in the Shadow Moses Incident.

Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty

Late 2005/Early 2006 - In Lyon, France, Ocelot has Liquid Snake's arm grafted in place of the one Gray Fox cut off at Shadow Moses as part of a plot to rescue Big Boss's remains and free him. He and EVA use hypnotherapy and nanomachines to make Ocelot think that Liquid Snake’s arm is starting to take control of him – however this is just a ploy to confuse the Patriots. They at this point did not want the Patriots to know that Ocelot and EVA were openly rebelling yet. They wanted Zero/the Patriots to think that it was only Liquid that was fighting against the Patriots.
2006 - Solid Snake and Otacon found the activist group Philanthropy, in order to put a stop to the construction of Metal Gear derivatives. Nastasha Romanenko donates half her profits from her book to their cause.
2006-2007 - Jack (Raiden) undergoes VR training as part of the U.S. Army's Force XXI trials. Jack (Raiden) and Rosemary meet each other for the first time.
Olga Gurlukovich becomes pregnant with Sunny.

TANKER INCIDENT:

2007 August 8th: Solid Snake infiltrates the USS Discovery to investigate Metal Gear RAY. Otacon is anonymously leaked the info about MG RAY by the Patriots (Zero, Solidus and Ocelot). A rogue Russian commando team led by Sergei Gurlukovich takes over the tanker with support from Ocelot. Snake meets Olga Gurlukovich for the first time. Ocelot reveals that he’s actually working for the Patriots (not Mother Russia as Gurlukovich believed) and then kills Gurlukovich, hijacks RAY ("Liquid" takes over for short time when Solid is nearby, but re-submerges shortly after), sinks the tanker and brings RAY back to Zero and Solidus.
Philanthropy is blamed for the incident and goes underground, faking Snake's death.
The real purpose of the tanker sabotage was so that the Patriots could create an excuse to build an R&D facility for Arsenal Gear and disguise it as an oil clean up facility. Framing Solid Snake and obtaining RAY as an Arsenal protective force was a plus as well.

POST TANKER INCIDENT:

Dead Cell leader Colonel Jackson is arrested for allegedly misappropriating government funding and incarcerated in Leavenworth. He was actually framed by the Patriots.
Construction on the Big Shell offshore decontamination facility begins in Manhattan Bay.
Emma Emmerich leaves the NSA. She is recruited by the Patriots to begin work on GW.
2008 - February: Olga Gurlukovich gives birth to Sunny, who is promptly taken by the Patriots.
November: Dead Cell is caught in a surprise attack, losing two of its key members (Chinaman and Old Boy). Only Fatman, Fortune and Vamp survive.
James Johnson is re-elected as President, officially due to the policies he made, although it is largely due to the Patriots' manipulations.

BIG SHELL INCIDENT:

2009 - April 29th: Big Shell Incident
Solidus Snake and Dead Cell are manipulated by the Patriots (and Ocelot) into hijacking the Big Shell in order to create conditions for the “S3 Plan” simulation. They hope to create their own “Solid Snake” by duplicating the events of Shadow Moses. Solidus realizes this and decides to detonate a nuke to free himself and Manhattan island from the Patriots and GW (the EMP would disable the Patriots’ AI). He calls his anti-Patriot faction the “Sons of Liberty”. Ocelot pretends to be allied with Solidus against the Patriots.
Raiden and Solid Snake infiltrate the Big Shell separately. Raiden is unknowingly used as a guinea pig in the Patriots' S3 Plan in order to provide complex simulation data for GW. Raiden is variously assisted and opposed by both Snake and the new Cyborg Ninja (Olga Gurlukovich) (actually an involuntary agent of the Patriots). The incident results in the deaths of Fatman, Emma Emmerich, Olga, Richard Ames, Peter Stillman, every member of SEAL Team 10, and the 44th President of the USA, James Johnson.
April 30th: Arsenal Gear emerges. Ocelot appears and claims that he is actually working for the Patriots. Fortune is shot by Revolver Ocelot. Then Ocelot's implanted “Liquid” persona emerges and says he’s against the Patriots again (which is part of Ocelot & EVA’s plan to divert attention from themselves and pretend it’s “Liquid’s arm” who is the danger).
Ocelot then proceeds to escape in Metal Gear RAY. “Liquid” sets Arsenal Gear to crash into Manhattan, so he can later extract GW from its wreckage (for use as a way to access the JD AI). Solidus dies after being defeated by Raiden (but his body is saved for later use by EVA). Otacon discovers that the original Wisemen's Committee has been dead for almost 100 years, and that one member (likely Zero) had also been one of the top financial backers of Philanthropy.

Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots

Revolver Ocelot has Liquid Snake's arm removed from his body so that the Patriots will think that “Liquid” can no longer take control of Ocelot. It is replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic. However the “Liquid” persona has already established itself over Ocelot anyways and this persona continues to secretly plot against the Patriots.
Late 2009/Early 2010 - Rosemary has Raiden's baby, but tells Raiden she had a miscarriage so that the Patriots will not use the child to control Raiden. After Raiden leaves her, she pretends to be married to Roy Campbell to keep herself and her baby safe.
EVA contacts Raiden and gives him Sunny’s location in exchange for the location of Big Boss’ body (which he obtained from data retrieved from GW).
2011 - Raiden infiltrates Area 51 in order to rescue Sunny from Zero, who is then left to Solid Snake and Otacon. Sunny begins developing FOXALIVE, a virus to destroy the Patriots’ AI, based on Emma Emmerich’s original worm cluster. EVA/Big Mama recovers Big Boss’ body from the Patriots with Raiden’s help and restores Big Boss’ body with pieces from Liquid and Solidus. However he is still in a coma controlled by JD’s nanomachines.
2012 - Raiden is captured by Zero/the Patriots. They fit him with a cybernetic suit as part of their Exoskeletal Enhancement project. Raiden is rescued by Big Mama and the Paradise Lost Army and Dr. Madnar (seemingly no relationship to the Dr. Madnar who created Metal Gear TX-55) manages to save Raiden's life.
Worldwide demands for PMCs increase, with disputes intensifying. The five largest PMCs are now run by a single mother company known as Outer Heaven, run by Liquid Ocelot under the Patriots’ authority. ArmsTech Security (now known as AT Corp) implements the SOP system, which allows governments to keep check on all soldiers engaged in combat action. The SOP system is derived from Arsenal Gear’s AI. America's nuclear arsenal has been replaced with reliable replacement warheads (RRWs) that are ID locked on JD's level.
2014 - An Eastern European country's government and the U.S. agree to build an oil pipeline and deploys some PMC teams as security. However, a riot (suspected of having been instigated by Liquid Ocelot) soon breaks out near the embassy since the populace is strongly opposed to the deal, resulting in the U.S. PMC Raven Sword quelling the disturbance. The country is later made into a checkpoint to suppress resistance movements, including the Paradise Lost Army (an anti-Patriots group led by EVA/Big Mama).
Five CID (internal investigations) units are killed by Liquid Ocelot while undercover. Meryl Silverburgh and her Rat Patrol 01 unit are dispatched.
Four days later, Solid Snake, now a recluse suffering from accelerated aging caused by FOXDIE, is unofficially requested by Roy Campbell to assassinate Liquid Ocelot. Liquid plans to destroy the Patriots’ SOP battlefield control system and create a rebellion against the Patriots, which unfortunately would also cause mass collapse of the world economic and information infrastructure. The UN is afraid to fight Liquid since he’s part of the PMC war economy himself, therefore Solid’s mission is completely unofficial.
Solid Snake infiltrates the Middle East. He meets Drebin, an anti-SOP arms dealer (who is actually working for the Patriots as a double agent). Drebin injects Snake with nano-machines which allow Snake to use SOP weapons, but unbeknownst to Snake, it also contains a new form of FOXDIE which is designed to kill EVA, Ocelot and Big Boss – and destroy the original FOXDIE from Shadow Moses. The Patriots plan to use Snake again as a carrier – like they did at Shadow Moses. Snake meets Meryl Silverburgh’s Rat Patrol 01. Meryl believes that Liquid’s insurrection will fail because the SOP system will not allow Liquid’s troops to rebel, due to the nano-machines in all soldiers’ bodies. SOP should be able to lock out weapons access from these soldiers. However, Liquid is able to access GW and JD/SOP using his own DNA as a genetic key. Unfortunately, when Liquid takes SOP offline he not only frees the soldiers from SOP control, he also removes the emotional safeguards SOP provides and the soldiers have mental breakdowns. Snake also begins to have seizures (from the scrambled SOP signals being sent to his own FOXDIE nano-machines) and fails in his mission to kill Liquid.
Liquid decides that he must not destroy SOP, but instead take control of it (by destroying JD). He calls this the "Guns of the Patriots" plan.
Solid Snake infiltrates South America to rescue Naomi Hunter and escapes with her and an injured Raiden. Here, in a second attempt to control SOP, Liquid uses Solid Snake’s DNA from a blood sample obtained by Naomi, but it also fails to give Liquid control. He decides he needs Big Boss’ DNA, since that is the original key to enter the AI’s command structure. Snake also learns that FOXDIE is mutating in his system and in 3 months will begin to kill indiscriminately, making him a doomsday bomb (however Naomi did not know that the new FOXDIE Drebin had given Snake was already working to remove this old mutated version of FOXDIE). Naomi gives Snake a syringe whose shots can counteract the negative effects of the scrambled SOP system. Naomi also helps create a GW virus with Sunny’s help, since she believes the SOP system will someday be used on all humans, not just soldiers
Solid Snake infiltrates Eastern Europe with the help of Meryl and Rat Patrol 01 (Liquid hunts Big Mama as well, since he knows she has Big Boss’ body) and meets up with EVA/Big Mama. EVA pretends to be against Liquid, but in actuality wants Liquid to get Big Boss/Solidus’ body – she wants Liquid to access GW and destroy the Patriots, allowing Big Boss to awaken. However she plays this charade for the Patriots’ benefit.
Liquid captures Big Boss’ body (actually Solidus, but close enough for his purposes) from EVA and uses his DNA to access the rebuilt GW AI (salvaged from Arsenal Gear) and is then able to infiltrate JD and control SOP without JD knowing it. He locks down his attackers’ weapons and then blocks the SOP nano-machines, rendering the attacking American soldiers weaponless and mentally unhinged. Liquid’s forces massacre the US forces. EVA, dies from exposure to the new FOXDIE virus, as per the Patriots’ plan. Liquid renders weapons all over the world inoperable.
Liquid goes to Shadow Moses to acquire a non-JD controlled nuke and REX’s rail gun, which is also free from JD’s SOP control. He plans to destroy JD (located on an orbiting satellite), after which GW will become the AI “head” (as well as Liquid himself). Solid Snake fails to stop him. Vamp and Naomi Hunter die.
Solid’s team joins with Mei Ling’s battleship to pursue Liquid’s “Outer Haven” (a modified version of Arsenal Gear stolen from the Patriots) to the location from where Liquid can launch his nuke at JD’s satellite location.
Solid Snake makes it onto Outer Haven. He uploads the FOXALIVE virus (the GW virus created by Naomi & Sunny) to Liquid’s stolen GW, which infects JD, the Patriots' lead AI, destroying it. The SOP system collapses with it. Liquid Ocelot tells Snake that that was what he had wanted all along, he wanted the world to live free of the Patriots’ control and just be a chaotic “Wild West” mercenaries paradise. The “Liquid” persona "vanishes" (his brainwashing disappears) after a brutal fistfight with Snake, and Revolver Ocelot resurfaces just in time to be killed by the Patriots’ FOXDIE virus carried by Snake. Otacon later tells Solid Snake that Sunny’s FOXALIVE virus did destroy the military elements of the AI but the social/infrastructure elements were spared – therefore the world’s information infrastructure was not destroyed. In the end Solid Snake defeated Liquid’s world takeover as well as freeing the world from the Patriots’ control through AI – avoiding the meltdown of civilization.
Meryl marries Johnny Sasaki and makes peace with her father. Rose makes her peace with Raiden.
Solid Snake visits the grave of his clone father, Big Boss. He attempts to commit suicide (thinking he’s still a doomsday weapon) but relents at the last moment, only to encounter the real Big Boss one final time. When the the Patriots’ AI was destroyed, Big Boss was able to wake from his nano-machine-induced coma. When GW was left open by FOXALIVE, Big Boss was also able to get the location of Zero. Big Boss suffocates a now near-dead Zero by cutting off his life support system, and tells Solid that he’s not a doomsday device anymore from the original mutated FOXDIE virus. He shortly dies from the Patriots’ new FOXDIE virus, accepting that the old generation of soldiers must die.
Solid Snake spends his final days living in solitude with Otacon and Sunny.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Metal Gear: A Timeline Analysis of the Saga

1. The Philosophers' Legacy

2. The Patriots

3. FOXDIE