This is not a Wikipedia article: It is an individual user's work-in-progress page, and may be incomplete and/or unreliable. For guidance on developing this draft, see Wikipedia:So you made a userspace draft.  Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs This page was last edited by Rich Farmbrough (talk | contribs) 13 years ago. (Update timer) Finished writing a draft article? Are you ready to request an experienced editor review it for possible inclusion in Wikipedia?     Submit your draft for review!

lol For other meanings of Patriot(s), see Patriot.

The Patriots (愛国者達, Aikokusha-tachi), also known as the La-li-lu-le-lo and The Wisemen's Committee, are a fictional organization in the Metal Gear series of video games.

In the series, the group controls the United States of America, and is dedicated to creating a new world order through acts of blackmail and manipulation on an untold scale, unknown to most of the world.

The Patriots' first appearance in the series is in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and their origins are further revealed in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Through main secret agents, the Patriots are the ultimate antagonist, as they are often implied in the storyline to be the cause of almost all the trials faced by the main protagonists of the Metal Gear Solid series, Solid Snake, Raiden, and Naked Snake.

{{spoiler}}

In Metal Gear Solid 3, The Philosophers are introduced as several people from the United States, China and the Soviet Union, described as "the true holders of power" in those nations, assembled to counter the Axis Powers during the Second World War^[1]. Like many "secret societies" in conspiracy-theory lore, they have widespread influence both domestically and internationally. Particularly, they are described as being "involved in every aspect of every war", and all its members are in positions of power and importance. Their antagonistic nature in the series is attibuted to the remaining original members dying in the 1930s, and the organization beginning to fall apart. After the end of World War II, the international divisions of The Philosophers begin to fight amongst themselves, and the world is "torn apart"- that is to say, the international alliance ceases to function^[2]. This sets up a key theme of the series- endless recurring conflict as a result of needless political strife.

According to Metal Gear Solid 3, The Philosophers also command a vast sum of financial wealth, a Legacy in the sum of approximately one hundred billion (10¹¹) dollars divided and hidden in banks all over the world, intended to create a New World Order after the two World Wars. The sum is stolen by the father of Snake Eater villain Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin during the chaos at the end of WWII, and consequently the different nations start to compete to recover it, triggering the events of MGS3^[3]. Eventually, the United States branch of the Philosophers succeed and rename themselves the Patriots. The American Branch only receives half of the Legacy, allowing the other half to be received in the events of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. With all of the power of the original group now in the United States, the Chinese and Soviet branches seemingly fade over the years, allowing for the Patriots dominance in Metal Gear Solid 2.

During Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Ocelot reveals that his plan is to end the Philosophers for good^[4] and create The Patriots using the Philosopher's Legacy, which is essencially a retcon of the ending of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater which states that the American Philosophers became The Patriots. Many of the key events of of the Metal Gear timeline, including the formation of the FOXHOUND unit, Big Boss' decision to create a unified world through conflict ("Outer Heaven"), and the Les Enfants Terribles project to clone the "Ultimate Soldier" are revealed to be either directly or indirectly a result of their interference.

By the events of Metal Gear Solid 2, the actual members of the Patriots, whose personalities are unknown, are presided over by a council of twelve individuals called the "Wisemen's Committee"^[5]. However, no further information regarding the organization's depth apart from this in terms of structure and hierarchy is given. And also, in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops it is revealed that The Patriots were founded by Ocelot, an unindentified person (who Gene believes is "the man with the same codename as Null") and possibly Big Boss; also, Ocelot had been searching for a list of the original members of The Philosophers^[6]. The Patriots, again drawing similarities with traditional conspiracy-theory standards, employ numerous spies and agents spread throughout the government agencies of the U.S.A.

Their ability to control and manipulate the public through information forms one of the key parts of MGS2's plot. For instance, instead of being a power in the Patriots, the current President of the United States himself is now another subordinate to them, pledging allegiance to the group^[7]. By the end of the game, the fictional President Johnson chooses to play out his assigned role that he was given by the Patriots by allowing Ocelot to kill him, though he believes by choosing death he gains a freedom he was unable to attain as their puppet.

Though apparently top-secret, some key characters in the series are aware of their existence, though cannot refer to them by name, because their own implanted nanomachines automatically censor the name "Patriots" in their speech and force them to say "La-li-lu-le-lo" instead^[8]. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Scott Dolph, refers to them as the "La-li-lu-le-lo"^[9], as does "Richard Ames" (identified as a Secret Service agent and a Colonel in the DIA). Though he is an agent of the Patriots, he is killed by Ocelot^[10], displaying their apparent ruthlessness.

It was discovered, at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 that the members of the Wiseman's committee, according to the list from GW, were already dead.

• Revolver Ocelot - the highest-ranked known agent of the Patriots and a sleeper agent within various organizations. Ocelot is sent as a spy under the codename ADAM in Metal Gear Solid 3 where he eventually recovers the Philosopher's Legacy^[11], and is charged with supervising the S3 plan in Metal Gear Solid 2 (although he is fed false information, believing that the S3 is totally different from what it actually was; although he could have been misinforming the others, as he often does). In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, he reveals that he, allied with an unidentified individual and possibly Big Boss, founded The Patriots using the Philosophers' Legacy^[12].
• Solidus Snake (George Sears) - a former President of the United States and a surviving offspring from the Les Enfants Terribles project, who attempts to fight the Patriots in Metal Gear Solid 2. He is chosen for the S3 plan because his relationship with Raiden bears a resemblance to the relationship between Snake and Big Boss.^[13]
• Richard Ames - Ames is killed by his own nanomachines during the Big Shell incident as part of the S3 plan. His death also could have been orchestrated by the Patriots due to the fact that he helps his ex-wife Nastasha escape from them.
• Raiden (Jack) - though he had no knowledge of it, the Patriots use Raiden to initiate and complete the S3 plan. However, Raiden sometimes knowingly complies with the Patriots orders as a result of blackmail; when told to, he kills Solidus Snake.
• Rosemary - assigned to spy on Raiden during and prior to MGS2^[14], but becomes romantically involved with him and carries his child.^[15]
• Jim Houseman - the Secretary of Defense during the Shadow Moses Island Incident of MGS1, who ostensibly commits suicide several days after failing to deploy a tactical nuclear warhead to cover up the situation^[16].
• Olga Gurlukovich - because the Patriots have her child, she is forced to cooperate with them.^[17] As part of the Patriots' plan, she acts as the informant Mr. X and helps Raiden with his mission.
• Fatman - placed by the Patriots to test Raiden's abilities before enacting the Patriots' true exercise, he defects from Dead Cell shortly before his death.^[18]
• Big Boss - it is revealed in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops that he was invited to form the original Patriots, but it is not known if he accepted. However, since Ocelot implies that he is an important part of the plan, it is probable that he did.^[19]
• In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Ocelot has been receiving information from an unidentified person^[20], who was the same one that manipulated Gene and the FOX Unit^[21] and orchestrated the events that decurred at the San Hieronymo Peninsula^[22]; Gene believes he is "the man with the same codename as Null"; also, according to Gene, this same unknown man was also behind the events of Groznyj Grad. For now, the true identity of this character remains uncertain, but he is seemingly one of the founders of The Patriots.^[23].

Category:Metal Gear Category:Fictional organizations