A small group within the U.S. government orchestrates a signal data hacking assault on the NSA facility in Fort Meade, with the assistance of a hacker group, of which Emma Emmerich is a key member. The facility suffers a total system shutdown for a 72-hour period. This feat earns Emma invitations to join a host of intelligence agencies worldwide, including the NSA.
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 will be safe from physical attack as well as cyber-terrorism.
Trials for the National Missile Defense program end in failure. Despite this, President Sears later forces the NMD proposal through and succeeds in deploying the program.
Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]
The CIA and other intelligence agencies uncover evidence that falsely suggests Iraq is developing WMDs, which results in the invasion of Iraq a year later.
Several nations led by the U.S. launch a multi-lateral strike on Iraq. The UK-based PMC, Praying Mantis, is contracted alongside the U.S. Government to deploy large amounts of their soldiers into the combat zones.
Dr. Clark (Para-Medic) is killed by a revived Gray Fox, who manages to escape. Naomi Hunter covers up the incident, faking Fox's death, and takes over Clark's job as FOXHOUND's medical staff. Clark's death is planned by EVA and Ocelot.
Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]
Dates
Events
Iraq War
Sundowner, Mistral and Khamsin participate in the conflict, the last of whom is later discharged due to his disastrous personality.
Peter Stillman attempts to disarm a bomb planted in a famous church in the United States. He panics and flees the scene, and everyone else in the church and in a nearby playground dies in the explosion. Unable to face the victims' families, he later claims that he lost his leg in the explosion.
A report is filed concerning the behavior of the Next-Generation Special Forces; consulting classified information about soldier genes and conducting their own gene therapy experiments.
U.S. President George Sears and the President of Russia sign the START III Accord and negotiate revisions to the ABM treaty, since the NMD program violated the current treaty.
Jim Houseman allegedly commits suicide due to a nervous breakdown, although it is suspected that he was assassinated for failing to take the fall for the Shadow Moses Incident.
Nastasha publishes her book, In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, in order to expose the truth behind the Shadow Moses Incident. It makes the incident public and becomes a best-seller, turning Solid Snake into a hero-like figure.
Revolver Ocelot sells the test data for Metal Gear REX on the black market, obtaining a great amount of money. Soon, many nations build pirated versions of the weapon.
Solid Snake and Otacon found Philanthropy, in order to put a stop to the construction of Metal Gear derivatives. Nastasha Romanenko donates her profits from her book to their cause.
Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]
Dates
Events
January 20
Jack (Raiden) leaves the Force XXI, with his profile within the group being edited for the last time.
Gary McGolden supposedly travels to Shadow Moses Island to discover the truth about the 2005 incident, but is captured by agents of the Patriots, resulting in his rescue by an unknown "invisible" savior. He reports his account in the article The Shocking Conspiracy Behind Shadow Moses shortly before disappearing. As a result, In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth is published in its original, unabridged form.
Tanker Incident: Solid Snake infiltrates the USS Discovery in order to expose the U.S. Marines' Metal Gear RAY to the public. Ocelot hijacks RAY, murders Scott Dolph and Sergei Gurlukovich, sinks the tanker and is taken over by the personality of Liquid Snake. Philanthropy is blamed for the incident and goes underground, faking Snake's death.
Dead Cell leader Colonel Jackson is arrested for allegedly misappropriating government funding and incarcerated in Leavenworth. He is actually framed by the Patriots.
Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]
The liquidation of Dead Cell: Dead Cell is caught in a surprise attack, losing two of its members (Chinaman and Old Boy). Only Fatman, Fortune, and Vamp survive.
Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]
Dates
Events
Sundowner retires from official military service, and begins working as a mercenary for various PMCs.
Big Shell Incident: The Sons of Liberty uprising. 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 data for the AI GW. Raiden is variously assisted and opposed by both Snake and the new Cyborg Ninja (Olga Gurlukovich). The incident results in the deaths of Fatman, Emma Emmerich, Olga, Richard Ames, Peter Stillman, members of SEAL Team 10, and U.S. President James Johnson. Vamp disappears.
Arsenal Gear emerges. Fortune is killed by Revolver Ocelot, whose mind is taken over by Liquid Snake once more, before escaping in Metal Gear RAY. Arsenal Gear crashes into Manhattan, stopping at Federal Hall. Solidus Snake dies after being defeated by Raiden.
The timeline featured on the official Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection website mentions President Barack Obama's 2009 speech about "A World without Nuclear Weapons" in Prague, Czech Republic.[4] However, this conflicts with the Metal Gear chronology in that the President during this time is actually the fictional James Johnson. Obama's speech would later be referenced in an ending about nuclear disarmament in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Notes
^In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the "Truth: The Man Who Sold the World" ending timeline erroneously states that Dr. Clark was killed during the Shadow Moses Incident.
^The liquidation of Dead Cell is stated to have taken place six months prior to the Big Shell Incident, which itself happens on April 29-30, 2009.
^While the President is not identified by name in the timeline in either Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes or The Phantom Pain, it is known that by 2007, James Johnson succeeded George Sears. Barack Obama made the pledge in real life.
^Metal Gear Solid (Briefing), Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (1998). Liquid Snake [...] 2000 Joins FOX-HOUND and becomes battle leader of the new FOX-HOUND.
^ abcdefghijkMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ("Truth: The Man Who Sold the World" Ending timeline), Kojima Productions (2015).
^Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2001). "The nuclear weapons disposal plant on Shadow Moses dates back to 2002. It was built solely for the purpose of temporarily storing nuclear warheads slated for disposal..."
- In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth by Nastasha Romanenko
^Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004). In the 1980s, there were more than 60,000 nuclear warheads in the world at all times. The total destructive power amounted to 1 million times that of the Hiroshima A-bomb. In January 1993, START2 was signed and the United States and Russia agreed to reduce the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 3,000 to 3,500 in each nation by the end of year 2007. However, as of 2003, there still exists more than 20,000 nuclear warheads in the world.
^"[Nastasha Romanenko's] account was published in its original, unabridged form as "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses" after the successful publication of this volume [of MEGASURPRISE magazine]."
- The Shocking Conspiracy Behind Shadow Moses, Publisher's Afterword by Editor-in-Chief Max Smithson