| This article is about the military group featured in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. You may be looking for the FOX Unit, from which the organization's name and logo were derived. |
XOF logo.
XOF was the proxy organization of Cipher that existed some time around the mid 1970s and early '80s. During this time, they were led by a heavily scarred man known by the codename of "Skull Face." The group's logo utilized an inverted image of a fox that was used by the (then defunct) FOX Unit.
History
"Skull Face", the commander of XOF.
XOF was involved in the imprisonment of the former child soldier Chico at Camp Omega, prompting a rescue effort from Big Boss of the Militaires Sans Frontières. They had also detained eCipher agent Paz Ortega Andrade, after a Belizean fisherman recovered her from sea, having held her for interrogation on behalf of her former employers.[1] During their operations at the naval prison facility, the XOF were frequently stationed at the admin building.[2]
After XOF's commander, Skull Face, visited Chico at Camp Omega, and told him to, "Give my regards to your Boss, when you get home," anticipating the arrival of Big Boss at Camp Omega, the group commenced their "Trojan Horse" operation; an assault on the MSF's Mother Base, under the guise of a UN nuclear inspection, though Big Boss, Kazuhira Miller, Huey, and one MSF soldier were able to escape.
While undergoing their activities, XOF claimed to be a CIA-based unit. However, an undercover agent uncovered and likewise relayed to Big Boss that XOF was not actually aligned with the CIA at all.
The Marines stationed at the base had no idea who XOF were but did have some suspicions about them.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Equipment and functions
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XOF soldiers in a Blackhawk.
During the events of the mid 1970s and early '80s, regular XOF soldiers wore:
- Olive drab uniforms.
- Olive drab combat boots.
- Chest harness.
- Balaclava.
- Ballistic helmet with a designation number painted on.
- Eye protection goggles.
Some also wore headsets for communication, and all wore black brassards on the left arm with patches of their group's insignia, which they disposed of when about to infiltrate an area. The patches and logo for XOF is a color inversion of the FOX logo.
These soldiers were armed with the ficitional weapons:
- AM D114 Pistol.
- AM Rifle Type 69.
- Sz.-336 SMG.
- FB MR R-Launcher.
- Hand greande.
- Smoke grenade.
They were also armed with a unnamed assault rifle that resembles a SIG SG 550 (in-game name yet to be announced), and had access to aircraft and vehicles, such as modified Blackhawks with retractable gears and refueling booms, APCs, and jeeps.
Behind the scenes
XOF personnel art.
XOF first appeared in the PAX Prime 2012 demo for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (at the time simply titled as Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes). In both the VGA 2012 trailer for The Phantom Pain, and the GDC 2013 trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, there are soldiers shown attacking a hospital that utilize similar uniforms and equipment to XOF, although it is currently unclear if they are the same group.
In the demo shown at the Kojima Productions Los Angeles studio live opening, the XOF members, when disposing of their XOF badges, also released a FOX badge, with the player later finding it after interrogating a soldier about it. It was later confirmed that the XOF patches were indeed collectible in-game, and that collecting them all will unlock the extra op mission ("Deja Vu" for the PS3/PS4 releases, and "Jamais Vu" for the Xbox 360/Xbox One releases). In Jamais Vu, Raiden was offered payment in the form of XOF patches in exchange for having him wipe out the Body-Snatchers that took over the Cuban base, implying that XOF had been wiped out in this storyline.
Notes and references
- ^ Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes demo, Kojima Productions (2012).
Kazuhira Miller: Our 'friends' at Cipher suspect Paz could be a double agent. She’s being held for interrogation at a camp on the southern tip of Cuba. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014)
Marine: Those XOF guys... always hang around the admin building. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014).
Marine 1: All quiet? Those new guys - you see their choppers? Who are they with? // Marine 2: Beats me, man. Green Berets... SEALs? // Marine 1: Those ain't no jarhead birds. I can tell you that. Some kind of paramilitary setup? // Marine 2: Well, some of the guys were saying... You know what? Best we just drop this, all right? // Marine 1: Uh, sure. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014).
Marine 1: All quiet? You know those choppers? I saw the marking on the side - "XOF." // Marine 2: "XOF"? That some kind of unit name? // Marine 2: Hell if I know. Maybe I saw it wrong. Any way, they're gone now. Guess we'll never find out. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014).
Marine 1: All quiet? I didn't get a good look, but their boss's face, man... // Marine 2: Yeah, you didn't need to get close to see that was no mask, either. // Marine 1: I tell you, I am glad they're outta here. It was like rubbing shoulders with dead men. // Marine 2: Yeah... Their boss, his crew... like phantoms, every last one. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014).
Marine 1: (Hey.) You hear about the special shifts guys have been pulling at the old prison area the past two weeks? // Marine 2: Yeah, some "high-value prisoners" or something. You get that duty and kiss your break time goodbye, man. My buddy was crying on my shoulder about it. // Marine 1 But that place has been dead for years. Now we got these I-don't-know-who's bringing in "enemy combatants" from stateside. // Marine 2: Right. And the CO is tearing his hair out. // Marine 1: Feel like I'm livin' in a prison, man. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014).
Marine 1: All quiet? What was that crew up to going back and forth between admin and the old prison area all the time? // Marine 2: (Yeah) One of the guys on gate duty was saying the same thing. They kept taking a prisoner with 'em... // Marine 1: And then they'd go down into the boiler room. // Marine 2: The area was off-limits while they did their questioning. Or "interrogation." // Marine 1: My buddy said he heard screams coming out... and music. // Marine 2: Music? That's some creepy shit. - ^ Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014).
Marine 1: All quiet? They said to stay away from part of admin for now, right? // Marine 2: The boiler room. // Marine 1: Right. I hear they were doing some kind of questioning in there. // Marine 2: Questioning? // Marine 1: That enemy combatant in the prison area got taken down there every day.
MGSV Ground Zeroes XOF Badge Playthrough-0
MGSV Ground Zeroes XOF Badge Playthrough