Metal Gear
Spanning from the Cold War year 1964 to the near future of 2014, the Metal Gear series follows the legendary soldier Big Boss and the genetically engineered children who inherit his legacy. Beginning with a duel against his mentor The Boss, the saga traces the rise and fall of private military organizations and a decades-long struggle against the shadowy 'Patriots' who secretly govern the world — a fictional chronicle built atop real Cold War history. Created by Hideo Kojima, the series is renowned for pioneering stealth-action gameplay.
- Genre:
- ステルスアクション / ミリタリー / SF
- Medium:
- Game
Metal Gear — Timeline14 events
Naked Snake Undertakes the Virtuous Mission to Rescue Defector Sokolov
During the Cold War, young operative Naked Snake is deployed by the CIA into Soviet-controlled Tselinoyarsk. Under the guidance of his mentor The Boss, he carries out the Virtuous Mission to rescue the defecting rocket scientist Sokolov.
— Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004), main story.
Naked Snake Defeats The Boss and Is Given the Title 'Big Boss'
As the rogue Soviet colonel Volgin threatens US-Soviet relations with the nuclear-capable Shagohod, Snake's own mentor The Boss — who appears to have defected — leads the Cobra Unit against him. After a fierce duel, Naked Snake defeats The Boss, and in recognition of averting the crisis he is awarded the title 'Big Boss.'
— Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004), main story.
Big Boss Quells a Mutiny Within FOX and Lays the Groundwork for His Own Private Army
Intervening in a mutiny within his former unit FOX, Big Boss crosses paths with a young officer who will later become Revolver Ocelot. The incident marks a turning point that pushes Big Boss to distance himself from state military structures and pursue his own independent force.
— Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (2006). This entry's canonical standing within the series has been treated ambiguously, so its date reliability is marked lower.
Multiple Clones Are Created from Big Boss's Genetic Material
Under the direction of the U.S. government and Patriots leader Zero, the secret 'Les Enfants Terribles' project uses Big Boss's cells to produce genetic successors. The children born from this project will later be known as Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake.
— Backstory revealed progressively from Metal Gear Solid (1998) onward. The exact year is not explicitly confirmed in canon; it is estimated here from the characters' stated ages.
Big Boss Forms the Mercenary Unit MSF and Neutralizes the Nuclear-Armed Peace Walker
Operating out of Costa Rica, Big Boss forms Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF), a mercenary force independent of any nation. During this period he confronts Peace Walker, an unmanned nuclear weapons platform whose AI is modeled on The Boss's personality, and neutralizes it by sinking it in a lake.
— Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010), main story.
Big Boss Rescues Paz and Chico from a Cuban Black Site, but Mother Base Is Destroyed Soon After
Big Boss single-handedly infiltrates the Cuban black site Camp Omega to rescue former MSF operative Paz and the boy Chico. Immediately after their escape, however, the mysterious unit XOF launches a devastating raid on MSF's Mother Base, leaving it destroyed and Big Boss gravely wounded.
— Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014), main story.
Awakening After Nine Years in a Coma, 'Big Boss' Leads Diamond Dogs Against XOF
Nine years after Mother Base's destruction, the gravely wounded man awakens from his coma and organizes the new private military company Diamond Dogs to pursue revenge against XOF's mastermind, Skull Face. Late in the story it is revealed that this man is not the real Big Boss but a field medic who has served as his decoy.
— Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015), main story.
Rookie Solid Snake Infiltrates the Mercenary Nation Outer Heaven
Suspicions of nuclear weapons development arise in Outer Heaven, a mercenary state in South Africa, prompting rookie FOXHOUND operative Solid Snake to infiltrate alone. During the mission, it is revealed that the commanding officer who has been directing him all along is in fact the leader of Outer Heaven.
— Metal Gear (1987), main story.
Recalled to Duty, Solid Snake Confronts Big Boss Again in the Fortress State of Zanzibar Land
Solid Snake, who had retired from active duty, is called back for an infiltration mission into the fortress state Zanzibar Land following an incident over critical data. After reuniting with his old comrade Gray Fox and battling the new Metal Gear D, Snake once again confronts Big Boss.
— Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990), main story.
Solid Snake Quells the FOXHOUND Mutiny at a Nuclear Disposal Facility and Destroys Metal Gear REX
At the Shadow Moses Island nuclear disposal facility in Alaska, the elite unit FOXHOUND, led by Liquid Snake, mutinies and seizes the next-generation weapon Metal Gear REX. Called out of retirement, Solid Snake retakes the facility and destroys REX, while confronting the truth that he himself is a clone of Big Boss.
— Metal Gear Solid (1998), main story.
Solid Snake Infiltrates a Tanker Carrying Metal Gear RAY, Only for Ocelot to Seize It
Solid Snake infiltrates a tanker off the coast of New York to confirm the existence of the new Metal Gear RAY. Aboard the ship he encounters Revolver Ocelot, who — seemingly possessed by the will of the late Liquid Snake — steals RAY as the tanker sinks.
— Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), prologue.
Raiden Confronts Solidus Snake's Rebellion and the AI 'GW' Conspiracy at the Offshore Facility Big Shell
A terrorist group seizes the offshore facility Big Shell, and rookie operative Raiden is sent in. Hidden within the facility is Arsenal Gear, a submersible weapons platform housing the Patriots' controlling AI 'GW,' and the true goal of the uprising's leader, Big Boss's clone Solidus Snake, gradually comes to light.
— Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), main story.
The Prematurely Aged Solid Snake Pursues Liquid Ocelot Across PMC-Controlled Battlefields
Ravaged by accelerated aging as a clone, Solid Snake traverses conflict zones around the world — now managed by private military companies — in pursuit of Liquid Ocelot, the body of Revolver Ocelot now possessed by Liquid Snake's will, who seeks to seize control of the nanomachine-based SOP system.
— Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008), main story.
The AI System Sustaining the Patriots Is Shut Down; the Real Big Boss Dies Before The Boss's Grave at Arlington
Solid Snake and his allies succeed in completely shutting down the core AI system that has secretly controlled the Patriots. Afterward, the real Big Boss — long believed dead — appears and, watched over by Snake, quietly passes away before The Boss's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
— Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008), ending.
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