Irregular military organizations

An irregular military organization is a military organization which is not part of the regular army organization of a party to a military conflict. Irregular military groups are sometimes referred to as revolutionaries, guerrillas, militias, resistance fighters, freedom fighters, terrorists, or insurgents. The uses of which come in and out of fashion, based on political and emotional associations that develop.

Described below are some examples of irregular military organizations.

Anti-Devil's Village cult
A militant cultist group based in Scandinavia harbored a deep hatred for a seaside hamlet known as the Devil's Village. At some point, after acquiring weapons, the cult attacked the Devil's Village and killed the majority of its inhabitants. They spared only one person, a young girl they referred to as "The Devil's Child," only to force her to kill her friends and family, while laughing. The girl would later develop post-traumatic stress and become the PMC soldier Laughing Octopus.

Anti-Moscow Russian Philosophers
During the Cold War, a faction of the Russian Philosophers existed that was against the (at the time) current head of power at Moscow. They were against the one-party Communist system of the Soviet Union. The United States of America under then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, upon discovering the presence of such a group, had The Boss plant a mole within the group, as well as at the OKB-1 and use them to sabotage various Soviet projects, in large part because of the supposed "missile gap." The Boss ultimately did so via the Philosophers' communication channels, in large part because the CIA refused to help her. She eventually managed to get them to trust her after tirelessly bribing them and aiding them across the Berlin Wall. They then held meetings with The Boss in Berlin. The CIA eventually took over the job for The Boss, officially because they were concerned for her, but in reality so they could reap in the credit. Although The Boss agreed to it, the CIA caused a blunder by having the person who was supposed to pay The Boss's mole for his work pay only a fraction of his pay, small enough that it made the mole risking his life not worth it, and pocketed the remainder for himself. This ultimately led to the mole defecting completely to the Soviet Union under the influence of The Sorrow. Afterwards, the Anti-Moscow faction no longer aided The Boss or America, although it was still unknown whether they had sided with Moscow upon learning of America's involvement or if they were wiped out by Moscow.

Over a decade after this as well as The Boss's death, EVA later revealed The Boss's involvement in this group to her protege, Big Boss, as well as the existence of this group, when detailing the events of what occurred between her departing from Big Boss and the events of the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater in 1964, resulting in The Boss' death.

Egg Plant
Egg Plant was the name of an extremist terrorist group, originally commanded by the Outer Heaven mercenary, Dirty Duck.

Former members
 * Dirty Duck

FARC
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or FARC) are a Colombian Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict since 1964. The operations of the FARC are funded by kidnap to ransom, gold mining, and the production and distribution of illegal drugs.

During the 1960s, FARC provided land on the San Hieronymo Peninsula to the Red Army, in exchange for weapons and additional forces to fight the Colombian regime at the time, following the Soviets failure to import missiles to Cuba.

Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge (Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រហម Khmer Krahom, English: Red Khmers) were the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was formed in 1968 as an offshoot of the Vietnam People's Army from North Vietnam. It was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, one of its leader being Pol Pot.

The organization is remembered especially for orchestrating the Cambodian Genocide, which resulted from the enforcement of its social engineering policies. Its attempts at agricultural reform led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, even in the supply of medicine, led to the deaths of thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria. Arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978, are considered to have constituted genocide. By 1979, the Khmer Rouge had fled the country, while the People's Republic of Kampuchea was being established. The organization itself was officially dissolved sometime in December 1999.

Desperado Enforcement LLC. member Monsoon was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror, which was implied to have deeply affected him into becoming an ascriber to nihilism and misanthropy.

Les Enfants Terribles
Les Enfants Terribles was a French terrorist group, once sub-commanded by Zanzibar Land mercenary, Running Man. The name of the group was presumably inspired by the novel and 1950s film of the same name. It should not be confused with the 1970s government project of the same name.

Former members
 * Running Man

Outer Heaven Resistance
The Outer Heaven Resistance was a resistance movement based in South Africa, in the region occupied by the emerging mercenary state of Outer Heaven. The Resistance was led by Kyle Schneider, after his family were killed. During the Outer Heaven Uprising, many members of the Resistance were imprisoned by the mercenary state.

The Resistance assisted Solid Snake in 1995, during his mission to eliminate the threat of Outer Heaven to the rest of the world. However, after Snake's success, many members were killed during the subsequent NATO bombing of the area. Afterwards, some of the surviving members allied themselves with Outer Heaven's former leader Big Boss after he saved them, including Schneider.

Former members
 * Kyle Schneider (leader)
 * Diane
 * Jennifer
 * Steve

Sandinista National Liberation Front
Today a social democratic political party in Nicaragua, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was founded from various oppositional organizations in 1961. The group was named after Augusto César Sandino who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s. By the early 1970s, the FSLN was launching limited military initiatives.

In the early 1970s, the father of Amanda Valenciano Libre helped to hide some Sandinsta students from President Somoza's National Guard, but was tortured and harassed daily after refusing to give them up. He later decided to flee to Costa Rica with Amanda and his son Chico, and joined a Sandinista guerilla group, eventually becoming its comandante. The KGB secretly funded the exiled Sandinista group, through the provision of a drug purification plant, with some members only becoming aware of this after food and ammunition shortages began to decrease. The Comandante was later killed during Peace Sentinel's covert invasion of Costa Rica in 1974, with the group and its new leader Amanda being captured at a boathouse on the Rio del Jade. After being rescued by the Militaires Sans Frontieres, Amanda had her Sandinistas ally with the mercenary group against Peace Sentinel, and ultimately the KGB, eventually returning to Nicaragua with the MSF's help. During this time, Peace Sentinel often tortured and killed any Sandinistas they captured.

On December 27th, 1974, the FSLN took hostages at a party at the house of a minister in the Somoza government. They secured the release of 14 political prisoners and achieved recognition as a representative of anti-Somoza sentiment. The FSLN ultimately overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, ending the Somoza dynasty, and establishing a revolutionary government in its place.

A nickname of the FSLN was "watermelon sellers," which, contrary to what Big Boss thought, did not derive from smuggling weapons in hollowed out watermelons, but from General Sandino's nickname sounding similar to the Spanish word for watermelon, "sandía."

Former members
 * Sandinista Comandante
 * Amanda Valenciano Libre
 * Chico

The Whispers
The Whispers were a renowned guerrilla squad in North Vietnam. It was rumored that they were more advanced in jungle warfare than even the Green Berets. By December 1999, the Zanzibar Land mercenary Night Fright was the last surviving member of this unit.

Former members
 * Night Fright

Wild Geese
The Wild Geese were a mercenary group. Big Boss fought with this unit at some point during his mercenary career, after serving in Vietnam.

Former members
 * Big Boss

Behind the scenes
The name "Wild Geese" is a reference to the 1978 adventure film of the same name, about a mercenary group in Africa. The film was named after a 17th-century Irish mercenary army.