Philanthropy

Philanthropy is an anti-Metal Gear non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by Otacon and Solid Snake. The organization was created as a response to the abundance of Metal Gear REX derivatives being developed after the 2005 Shadow Moses Incident. The group operated by uncovering information on the development of new Metal Gears, gathering evidence of their existence, and then attempting to prevent their completion, often by destroying them. Philanthropy's motto is, "To let the world be."

History
The organization started off by attempting to expose the true events of the Shadow Moses Incident and the development of Metal Gear REX. Nastasha Romanenko wrote an autobiographical account, In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, though she experienced difficulty while attempting to have the book published, at best only getting a heavily abridged version published. An unknown source (implied to be Snake) later provided the book to a journalist, who later published his own article regarding the incident, and helped give the events more widespread attention. Nastasha was then able to get her book published unabridged, which became a bestseller, and donated a large amount of the profits to Philanthropy's cause.

Philanthropy became officially recognized by the United Nations, or in the words of Snake, "recognized, but still fringe." In addition, their actions also led to Philanthropy earning a bounty on their heads. During one of their operations, Snake and Otacon also investigated a facility, stealing the corpse of Liquid Snake (whom was kept in cold storage). In 2007, Philanthropy later went to New York City after it became apparent that the U.S. Marine Corps were transporting Metal Gear RAY to a testing site, on a disguised tanker called the USS Discovery. Solid Snake infiltrated the tanker in order to obtain and leak photographic evidence of RAY's development, and partially to learn more about the Patriots, whose name had come up during a previous failed investigation, involving rumors of a Navy version of Metal Gear being under development. However, it soon became apparent that the investigation was actually a trap to lure them out into the open and stop their interference in Metal Gear's activities once and for all. After the events of the mission, known as the Tanker Incident, the group were framed by the Patriots as an eco-terrorist group. Although Raiden learned the truth of the incident, and allied with Philanthropy in 2009 to stop Arsenal Gear, he still considered some of their past actions to be more comparable to terrorism than grassroots activism, with Snake slightly conceding the point.

Following the Arsenal Gear Manhattan Incident, the group began focusing more on anti-Patriot activity. According to information retrieved from the computer virus uploaded into Arsenal Gear's AI, one of the members of the Patriots' Wisemen's Committee was a major benefactor of the group. However, Snake later deduced that this information was likely a false lead orchestrated by the Patriots themselves. Soon afterwards, the age of the war economy began to surface.

In 2014, as Snake was suffering from supposed Werner Syndrome, aging at an accelerated rate, Philanthropy was secretly hired by U.N. official Roy Campbell to take down Liquid Ocelot. Liquid was the head of the gigantic PMC known as Outer Heaven, and was planning an insurrection against the Patriots. This was to be their final mission.

After the group succeeded in defeating Liquid Ocelot (and taking out the Patriots in the process), Snake heeded Big Boss's last words, and decided not to waste the remaining days of his life fighting. Upon hearing of this, Otacon insisted that he stay with him and act as a witness to his final days.

Symbol
The kanji symbol is called an "Otakon," a portmanteau of Otacon's name and the Japanese word for "spirit." The exact word is a mix of "Ota" in Katakana and then the Kanji "tamashi" which means spirit (オタ魂). It appeared on equipment designed by Otacon, including Snake's OctoCamo suit, together with the words "to let the world be."

Known members

 * Hal Emmerich
 * Solid Snake
 * Mei Ling
 * Sunny Emmerich
 * Nastasha Romanenko
 * Raiden

Military resources

 * KA-60 Kasatka (hijacked in 2009)
 * Douglas Explorer (at least one) (circa 2014)
 * Nomad (airplane)
 * Metal Gear Mk. II (later replaced with Metal Gear Mk. III)
 * M9 Beretta (tranquilizer gun)
 * Stealth camouflage (one destroyed in 2007, later at least two were built for installation on the Mk. II and Mk. III)
 * OctoCamo suit
 * Miscellaneous equipment illegally procured from U.S. Army SSCEN (prior to 2007)

Behind the scenes
Philanthropy first appears in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It is not made clear whether the group has any other members besides the aforementioned ones above, whether there are other field operatives and support teams operating around the world, or if it is just Snake and Otacon who do all the major work.

Philanthropy also made an appearance in the Snake Tales scenarios "Big Shell Evil" and "External Stargazer", the former scenario had them conducting a rescue mission for Emma Emmerich, and the latter scenario had them acting as a private investigation business regarding UMAs such as the Genola and the Gurlugon.

The group is the main feature in the fan-made movie Metal Gear Solid: Philanthopy.

Similar to the FOX unit's logo being used for the Kojima Productions logo, Philanthropy's logo was later reused for the Fox Engine's logo.

The Philanthropy logo can be seen on Sunny's jumpsuit in her appearance in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, hinting that Sunny became an official member of the group between 2014 and 2018.

Philanthropy also appeared on the series official site's Versus Battle, where they fought against the Patriots.