Philosophers' Legacy

The microfilm containing records of the Philosophers' Legacy, in 1964.

The Philosophers' Legacy was one hundred billion dollars (1.3 trillion in 2014 dollars) collected by the highest powers in China, the Soviet Union, and the United States around the time of World War II. During World War II, a secret pact was concluded between the Philosophers, that eventually resulted in the creation of the Legacy. Other than the one hundred billion dollars, it also contained a list of names of the Philosophers members.

The Philosophers from the three countries pooled their assets in order to secure victory in the war by developing the technologies that would define warfare for decades to come; rocketry, nuclear weapons and superhuman soldiers (such as the Cobra Unit and those of the Perfect Soldier Project), enough for five World Wars. Although it was intended that the funds for the Legacy be split up amongst America, the Soviet Union, and China after World War II, these funds were stolen and were then divided and hidden in secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia and other such economic strongholds after the war. The records of the transactions were stored on a single microfilm; the only means to access the vast fortune. The usage of the Legacy was also the reason why both the Soviet Union and America managed to gain the best scientific minds from Germany after the war ended.

One of the main reasons why the Cold War began was because all of the three nations wanted the Legacy for themselves. The Philosophers had been disbanded into three groups, holding the true power of the supernations, all fighting for the Legacy. They knew that who ever possessed the Legacy would win the Cold War and become the dominant superpower.

Boris Volgin was in charge of the Philosophers' money laundering activities, and in the confusion of the Second World War, obtained the microfilm for himself. After Boris's death, the Legacy passed on to his son Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin of GRU, who used the money to build his own personal fortress and fund the development of various advanced weapons (i.e. Hinds, WiGs, flying platforms, and heavily customized tanks), and later to fund the completion of the Shagohod, after he had stolen the prototype from the Sokolov Design Bureau. When it was finally discovered that Volgin was the one who possessed this apparently lost treasure, the Shagohod was already nearing completion, so the Chinese government quickly dispatched their own agent EVA to recover it while the CIA quickly dispatched their own agents The Boss and later Naked Snake to recover it as well.

Naked Snake retrieves the microfilm from The Boss.

During Operation Snake Eater, EVA was supposedly successful in recovering the Legacy, but, unbeknownst to her, the film she obtained was actually a fake. This failure in her mission caused EVA to lose her reputation and credibility. The real microfilm eventually made its way into America's hands, thanks to the actions of Snake, The Boss, and the Philosophers' triple spy Ocelot. However, the CIA were only able to recover half of the Legacy using the film, and it was assumed that the KGB possessed the other half. Some time later, Ocelot eventually located the remainder of the Legacy, though he kept it for himself.

In 1970, Ocelot and Zero set up Gene's San Hieronymo Takeover as a ploy to obtain the remainder of the Legacy. Ocelot assassinated the CIA Director and obtained the other half of the Philosophers' Legacy, which was then used to fund the creation of the Patriots.

During the Peace Walker Incident in 1974, the Philosophers' Legacy was being put to good use or (at least) that was what the Patriots told EVA.

Behind the scenes

The circumstances regarding EVA's recovery of the fake microfilm at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 is never explicitly revealed. It is often mistakenly assumed that she stole it from Naked Snake after Metal Gear Solid 3, even though he himself is seen in possession of the film the morning after she leaves. Later games (like Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops) stated that Snake handed this particular microfilm to the CIA, suggesting that EVA had obtained her copy elsewhere.

According to Hideo Kojima's commentary on Metal Gear Solid 3, the cutscenes that explained the Philosophers' Legacy were to have been accompanied by artwork of various paintings, gold, and silver that had been stolen by the Nazis, as well as various images of World War II, implying that the Legacy was comprised of historical treasures that the Allied Powers had recovered after the war. However, these were cut from the final version, and are instead replaced with images of various documents and blueprints. Similarly, one scene, specifically Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin's account, was also to have had a still image where Volgin was shown murdering his father, which was also cut from the final version.

In the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, it is stated that the DCI had kept the Philosophers' Legacy for himself, and he had also lied to the U.S. Government about Operation Snake Eater being a failure, in regards to the Legacy's recovery.