Metal Gear is a confusing franchise, with multiple antagonists, triple agents, time paradoxes, and an unhealthy ass fixation. Filled with names like The Wiseman's Committee, Screaming Mantis, and Vic Boss, stuffed full of proper nouns, it can be hard to keep track of it all. With MGSV on the horizon, this is going to be your one-stop shop for everything in the Metal Gear Franchise that happened pre-MGSV.

This post will contain no spoilers for The Phantom Pain, but it WILL spoil events from every other game that falls before TPP on the timeline (MGS3, Portable Ops (sorta), Peace Walker, and Ground Zeroes), as well as the relevant backstory and events that happen before and between those games.

(Portable Ops is a weird case as it wasn't helmed by Kojima and he has stated that whatever doesn't fit with his vision of the series is non-canon. As he hasn't specified, I'll do my best to include what I think is necessary and important from it.)

In order to simplify things, this is going to be all the information that I believe is relevant for MGSV. Things that require a more in-depth explanation will be in a spoiler block below their entry. Everything is arranged by date, and trimmed down to what you need to know.

(This post is specifically designed for @danryckert and @drewbert to have a total grasp of anything important going into MGSV without needed to comb through multiple wiki pages or get lost in paragraphs of unrelated text.)

Pre-MGS3

Before 1922-1940:

Pre-1922: The MGS universe and our own, for all intents and purposes, follow the exact same history up to this point. Zero is born, as are the members of the Cobra Unit except for The Boss.

1922: The Philosophers are formed by The Wiseman's Committee.

1922: The Boss is born to a member of the Philosophers.

193X: The last original member of the Philosophers (hence the last of the first Wiseman's Committee) dies. The organization begins to spiral out of control.

1935: Big Boss is born.

1936: EVA is born, and quickly taken from her parents to be raised by The Philosophers.

1940s

194X (During World War 2): The Philosophers' Legacy is created.

1943: Acting on false information from the Soviet Union, The Boss discovers she is pregnant while attempting to assassinate John von Neumann, who the US believe is a Nazi saboteur. She fails and is wounded, ending up in a coma for three months.

1944: The Boss gives birth to Ocelot, who is eventually taken to be raised by The Philosophers.

1945: Boris Volgin, father of MGS3's Volgin, steals the Legacy (which he was in charge of laundering in the first place). He disperses it to multiple banks in multiple countries by using the same skills which caused The Philosophers to put him in charge of it to begin with.

1945: The three major branches of the Philosophers begin to split up.

1946: McDonell Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller, known as Kaz or Master Miller, is born.

1950-1963

195X: Pacifica Ocean (Paz Ortega Andrade) is born.

1950: Jack (Big Boss) begins training under The Boss.

1954: Big Boss is exposed to high radiation during the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, rendering him sterile.

1959: Russia stops funding China's nuclear and space programs, fueling the Chinese Philosophers' desire to acquire the Legacy.

196X: Volgin acquires the microfilm containing the information needed to access the Legacy's various accounts scattered across the world, effectively giving him unlimited funding.

1960: Two NSA codebreakers, ADAM (Ocelot), and the real EVA (not to be confused with MGS3's EVA, who takes the codebreaker's identity and is really working for the Chinese Philosophers) defect to the Soviet Union.

1961: The Boss is the first American to reach space, but is injured during reentry and winds up in a coma for six months. This series really has a thing for comas.

1962: Solokov, designer of the Shagohod, defects from Russia but is subsequently returned by the US in high level negotiations with Russia during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

1962: Under orders, The Boss kills The Sorrow, her former lover and father of Ocelot. The Philosophers arranged it so that one must die for Ocelot to live.

1962: Major Zero creates the FOX (Force Operation X) special forces Unit.

1962: Chico is born.

1964: Metal Gear Solid 3

Virtuous Mission

EVA infiltrates the Soviet Union, tricking Sokolov into thinking she's attempting to get the Shagohod data for Khrushchev.

Naked Snake is sent on the Virtuous Mission in an attempt to rescue Sokolov and bring him back to the US.

Snake and Ocelot meet for the first time.

Sokolov reveals the existence of the Shagohod to Snake.

The Boss defects to the Soviet Union under orders from the US Philosophers, in order to infiltrate Volgin's GRU outfit and claim the Legacy. She had contacted Volgin a month prior with the offer to defect, and served as mission support for Snake in order to get close to Volgin.

Volgin uses a Davy Crocket portable nuclear warhead to destroy OKB-754, causing The Boss' mission to be greatly revised. She would now be tasked to clear the United State's name by allowing herself to die at the hands of her protégé Jack.

Operation Snake Eater

Snake is tasked with killing The Boss and Volgin, destroying the Shagohod, rescuing Sokolov, and securing the Legacy.

He teams up with EVA, still undercover as a KGB infiltrator in Volgin's GRU organization.

The Shagohod is destroyed, the Cobra Unit is eliminated, Volgin is killed by a bolt of lightning, and The Boss is killed by Snake.

Snake recovers the Legacy and spends a night with EVA, who steals it for the Chinese Philosophers. That microfilm turns out to be a fake, most likely planted by ADAM (Ocelot).

Ocelot is revealed as having stolen half of the Legacy under orders from both the American Philosophers and the CIA. The other half is assumed to be with the KGB. Ocelot reveals that he's pretty good at triple agent-ing.

Apparently, it's revealed that the CIA director lies to the government and keeps that half of the legacy for himself. This comes up again in Portable Ops. I say apparently, because I had no clue that this happened and had to look it up myself.

Jack gains the title of Big Boss and promptly leaves FOX.

Post MGS3-Pre Portable Ops

1965-1970

1965: Sigint joins APRA and begins developing ARPAnet, precursor to the internet.

1966: Big Boss finds Frank Jaeger during the Mozambican War of Independence and rescues him, placing him in a care facility where he is eventually taken by the Philosophers for their Perfect Soldier Project.

1968: In Hanoi, EVA disappears without a trace.

1970: Raikov, stripped of his rank as a result of the events of Operation Snake Eater, is exiled to the San Hieronymo Peninsula.

1970: Portable Ops

A Note On Portable Ops:

The San Hieronymo Incident takes place. Members of FOX lead by Gene, the warrior created by the Successor Project, revolt under orders of the CIA and take over the base located there. Major Zero is arrested (as he was the leader of FOX), and Big Boss is charged with treason for supposedly spearheading the revolt.

Big Boss is captured by FOX members and meets Roy Campbell in jail on San Hieronymo. They team up to take down FOX and clear Big Boss' name by forming FOXHOUND.

Big Boss encounters Frank Jaeger and recruits him to FOXHOUND after facing him in battle.

After discovering the existence of Metal Gear RAXA, Big Boss discovers Sokolov on the base who helps him to destroy it.

It is revealed that the FOX revolt was planned by the Department of Defense to discredit the CIA by having the FOX Unit launch a nuclear strike into Russia, thereby destroying their reputation as an "efficient organization."

Snake kills Gene and is given Gene's funds, which were going to be used to create Army's Heaven.

Ocelot kills the Director of Central Intelligence, who has the record and location of the full Legacy. He reveals his desire to destroy the Philosophers and follow The Boss' will.

Ocelot receives a call from Zero, and agrees to join him in forming the Patriots on the condition that Big Boss is recruited as well.

Post Portable Ops-Pre Peace Walker

A note on FOXHOUND:

1970: Sigint and Para-Medic join The Patriots.

1970: Zero disbands FOX and has Big Boss installed as FOXHOUND's commander.

1971: Big Boss rescues EVA from Hanoi and she joins The Patriots.

1971: The Les Enfants Terribles project begins. Zero orders Para-Medic to clone Big Boss.

1971: Big Boss establishes FOXHOUND again or something.

1971: Big Boss starts to fall out of The Patriots.

1972: Solid and Liquid Snake are born, engineered so that one has mainly dominant traits (Liquid) and the other with recessive traits. Big Boss discovers the clones and leaves The Patriots, while EVA and Ocelot begin to lose faith in Zero as well.

1972: Solidus Snake, the third clone of Big Boss, is created by the Les Enfants Terribles project in response to his departure and Zero's desire to have a perfect clone of Big Boss.

1972: Big Boss creates the Militaires Sans Frontières. During a mission, he encounters a unit led by Kaz, defeats him, and then recruits him.

1973: Huey Emmerich is hired to work on the Peace Walker project.

1974: Peace Walker

Zadornov, posing as Galvez, hires MSF to kick the CIA out of Costa Rica. With him is Paz, a so called "Student of Peace." He gives them an offshore oil platform which MSF develops into Mother Base.

Big Boss encounters the Sandinistas and their leader, Amanda, along with her little brother Chico.

Big Boss destroys the unmanned weapon Pupa and recruits Huey into the MSF.

Big Boss finds the lab of Dr. Strangelove, who is attempting to recreate The Boss in the form of an AI.

Big Boss damages Peace Walker, which flees to Nicaragua.

Peace Walker prepares to destroy Mother Base with a nuclear strike. Zadornov double crosses CIA section chief Hot Coldman by altering the launch target to Cuba. Coldman strikes back by transmitting false radar data to NORAD, forcing the US to decide whether to launch a counterattack against a (bogus) Soviet first strike.

Coldman dies and Peace Walker drowns itself to stop the transmission. Big Boss frees himself from his adoration of The Boss, stating that by putting down her gun, she betrayed soldiers everywhere.

Peace Walker's warhead is recovered and mounted onto Metal Gear ZEKE, MSF's bipedal war machine.

December 21st: Zadornov is killed serving as a distraction ("ROCKET PEACE!") for Paz, who is revealed to be an agent of Major Zero's organization (now called Cipher) and actually named Pacifica Ocean. Both of her attempts to recruit or kill Big Boss fail, and she is lost to the sea after ZEKE's defeat.

Miller reveals that he is aware of Cipher and has been working with them as a business partner to expand Mother Base.

The Lead Up To Ground Zeroes

(The timeline seriously compresses from now on.)

1975: Dr. Strangelove resigns from MSF.

1975: The IAEA requests a nuclear inspection of Mother Base, which Huey agrees to despite MSF's initial reluctance.

February 22nd: Paz's survival is confirmed and her location is determined as Camp Omega, Cuba.

March: Chico goes missing in Cuba on his way to join Amanda, and goes alone to rescue Paz. He is captured by XOF.

March: Chico contacts Paz who is in an adjoining cage. Both are tortured. Chico divulges information relating to MSF and ZEKE.

March: MSF receives a transmission from Chico; despite expecting a trap, Big Boss prepares to go into Camp Omega alone.

March 15th: C4 is planted on the legs of Mother Base's platforms by unknown individuals. Paz has bombs implanted in her.

Midnight March 16th: Big Boss arrives at Camp Omega as Skull Face and the XOF Unit depart for Mother Base.

March 16th, 1975: Ground Zeroes

Big Boss rescues Paz and Chico.

Paz undergoes emergency surgery to remove a bomb in her stomach.

Mother Base comes under attack from XOF and is destroyed.

Big Boss rescues Kaz during the assault on Mother Base.

Paz leaps to her death in an attempt to spare Big Boss' life, but the second bomb detonates, sending the helicopter into a pursuing chopper.

Post Ground Zeros - Pre The Phantom Pain

Kaz, Big Boss and a third unidentified individual make it to a hospital, seriously injured. Big Boss falls into a coma lasting nine years.

1976: The Les Enfants Terribles project is abandoned.

1979: Towards the end of the Rhodesian Civil War, Frank Jaeger rescues and adopts a young Naomi Hunter after killing her parents.

1980: Otacon is born.

1984: Big Boss Awakens From His Coma

And that's it, for now at least. Feel free to point out anything you feel I missed or misinterpreted and I'll edit it later.

Thanks for the easy summary. Even if you know it there is still reason to refresh on some of this.

Nice to have a reread of this. Good job.

Thank you!

I thought Big Boss met Huey in the early parts of Peace Walker not 1 year earlier.

@devil240z: You are correct, but that's what I have listed: Huey joined the Peace Walker project in '73, and was recruited by Big Boss after blowing up the Pupa in '74.

@mirado:One small typo I found while reading: in the year 196x you wrote:

...access the Legacy's various accounts scatted across the world...

"scattered" is misspelled.

Regardless, awesome timeline! Even though I replayed most of the series (1-3) recently, I still forget many of these facts. There are just so many small details that get mentioned once or twice that actually provide interesting background to the characters.

Ok, bookmarking this.

@djmoo: I meant it as I typed it: he literally stutter-sung the money across the globe. ;D

Thanks for proofreading; I'll fix it as soon as I'm off the mobile site.

You're pretty good.

It matches up with the timeline I have been making for myself, except yours got a few things that I totally forgot :)

Thanks a bunch man, good job!

A note on Kaz Miller knowing about Les Enfants Terribles and being in league with Zero can also help to understand allegiances.

So that would the original Patriots only lasted 1 year, and Zero has the Legacy now, I guess? The Patriots don't really have that much to do with The Philosophers then?

Big Boss knows about his two little snake-clones but he's not been that bothered about what's happening with them? I'd expect him to be mad to EVA carrying them without his knowledge.

Thank you. I needed this.

Now this is pretty awesome! You're pretty good. "Makes hand gesture"

@catlicker: Very good idea. There's some confusion regarding the extent of Miller's knowledge; in GZ you can catch him saying "How did we ever believe her sob story" or something to that effect, implying he was fooled by Paz for at least a short period of time, which contradicts his statements in Peace Walker. Some take that to believe he wasn't clued into the extent of Zero's plans, but the language is fuzzy at best.

The Philosophers' provided the jumping off point for the Patriots with their funds, as well as two members, but other than that, they were dead and buried as far as I can tell.

Big Boss quickly disowned the twins and the Patriots in general. His interactions with EVA past that point are unknown.

This must have taken quite a bit of work to create. Kudos!

Oh i'm dumb then I just didn't understand what I read.

Very nice refresher. I cannot be any more ready for MGSV. It's so close...

When it comes to Kaz and Big Boss, they always struck me as two blokes at odds with each other. Both have ideas and tend to act on them without the other's consent and Kaz seems always concerned with growth of MSF at whatever cost. I could see him going to Cipher looking for some assets.

So Solidus was a product of Les Enfant Terribles, right?

This was intensely educational, thank you.

Well, I, uh.... I love you.

Also, where's that seal of approval at?

This is awesome! As someone who has experienced metal gear for the first time along with Drew it definitely helps to read up about it.

Ocelot needs his own damn timeline.

Much praise duder!

@shindig: Yes, Solidus was the third Enfant Terrible.

Help me out guys:

"Coldman dies and Peace Walker drowns itself to stop the transmission. Big Boss frees himself from his adoration of The Boss, stating that by putting down her gun, she betrayed soldiers everywhere."

Wasn't Big Boss fighting Peace Walker to try to stop the transmission? Why was he so mad that it stopped? Is it simply because The Boss' AI stopped it herself? Would Big Boss not have "freed himself from his adoration of The Boss" if he was able to stop Peace Walker with his own two hands?

Thanks a lot for this.

I'm sooo ready for this game.

Awesome post! Thank you!

Thank you for all the kind words!

Obviously, Big Boss didn't want Peace Walker to fire or keep sending the fake data, as that'd lead to nuclear war. But when he saw the machine drown itself, he realized that The Boss put down her gun in a very similar way back during Snake Eater, and by doing so typified a solider that was used by their government as a tool. His interpretation of the Boss' will (a world without borders) could never come to fruition unless soldiers only fought for themselves.

So it wasn't so much that the robot itself chose to drown itself, but that the robot was patterned after The Boss, and that proved she really did stop fighting in the end, something abhorrent to Big Boss.

I always like to describe the relationship between those two as an alliance of convenience. Miller's vision of the future and Big Boss' vision can work together; a haven for soldiers and war as a business aren't inherently at odds. To his credit, Kaz loses his shit at the end of Ground Zeroes when Mother Base is destroyed, although whether that's because he cared about the personnel or the representation of his dream getting destroyed is open for interpretation.

As for Solidus, he was part of LET, but created as a response to Big Boss leaving The Patriots. I'll edit the timeline to reflect this fact.

Wow! Great summary of events. Portable Ops is the game that confuses the timeline for me the most. I know Kojima consistently retconning games but with Portable Ops I'm never sure what's what.

If there's anything to take away from Peace Walker, it's this. A lot of people seem to gloss over PW for whatever reason, this realization marks the beginning of Big Boss' transformation, and the speech he gives in the post-credits following Paz's defeat should raise some red flags.

@pkmango7: It's really the point in which he stops being "Snake" in any shape or form. Once that bandanna goes into the ocean, he decides to surpass The Boss and make (what he thinks is) her will a reality, which (again, he thinks) she was unwilling or unable to do.

This post was really the last straw for me. After a glorious year of Metal Gear Scanlon, having the BB saga summed up so succinctly has pushed me over the edge. I don't pre-order games or buy day one primarily due to performance concerns. Seeing as the negative reactions to PC Ground Zeroes came down to quantity concerns rather than quality, combined with the very convincing Scanlon Line hype bullet train... I'm 100% on board for V. Day one.

Damn you @mirado, @drewbert, @danryckert. Thank you @mirado, @drewbert, @danryckert.

@villainy: One of us! One of us! :D

You won't regret it. This game is going to be crazy.

Excellent timeline, great job!

Great Job on this. I used to be a bit of a Metal Gear encyclopedia, but had forgotten a ton of motives so this timeline has really made things more... Solid.

The majority of MGS2 info-dumps are still a complete and utter blur, but this did help kinda prepare me for what to expect in V.

Thanks duder !

Perfect, thank you for this!

Dude this is fantastic. Seeing everything in order really is great for overall perspective. I wasn't sure how the Patriots formed actually so that's useful. I think Dan just says Snake Eater because that's when they all seem to first meet up and work together. Having not played Portable Ops all of that is basically news to me. You also did a good job summing up the often confusing events very concisely.

Thanks!

@artisanbreads: I'm glad you liked it! I only called Dan out since Metal Gear Scanlon is a major feature on GB and a lot of people would have bee exposed to that bit of misinformation. Not that it makes a big difference anyway, but just so that everything was cut and dry for the rest of the timeline.

I tried to break everything down in the way that I broke it down for myself, when I first tried to understand it. I'm glad you found it useful. :D