Zero

Major Zero, briefly known as Major Tom and later simply called Zero, was born David Oh in Exeter, England on August 12th, 1909, and was a former member of the British SAS. Zero was the commander of the CIA special forces unit FOX (Force Operation X) in the 1960s. By the time of Operation Snake Eater, he lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is also the location of the Pease AFB. At some point, he suffered from gout, but recovered just before the operation. Zero had a prominent scar over his left eye. He also had a sister, and was a huge fan of the James Bond films. He was the head of an unofficial CIA division called the UMA Club. He later became the founder of the Patriots.

Biography
Early Life and Career Prior to creating FOX, David Oh previously served in the SAS (it's here where David met The Boss) and with MI6, where David was codenamed "O", from which his later CIA codename of "Zero" was derived. In 1962, Zero helped Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov and his family defect from the Soviet Union to America in West Berlin, but was forced to allow the USSR to retrieve Sokolov after the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, due to America's deal of allowing the USSR to have Sokolov back in their ranks in exchange of shutting down the constructions of a missile base in Cuba. At some point later, Zero also recruited Donald Anderson and Dr. Clark into the CIA as he recognized their potential. However, David ended up receiving complaints three days per month from personnel, relating to Anderson.

In 1964, Zero served as FOX's commanding officer for the Virtuous Mission, the objective being to once again rescue Sokolov in Tselinoyarsk, who had been taken back to the USSR. Zero had briefed his friend John (a.k.a. Jack) on the previous attempt at rescuing Sokolov, as well as explaining that the Soviets most likely wanted Sokolov back to finish a weapons system capable of turning the tide of the Cold War. He also warned Jack that if he didn't retrieve Sokolov in four hours, then they wouldn't have enough time to pick Jack up from Tselinoyarsk. He also explained to Jack that they were going to use codenames from that point on: Jack was given the codename Naked Snake. Zero explained that due to the procuring on-site procedure, he was essentially bare in terms and "naked" while Zero temporarily gave himself the codename of "Major Tom." Upon arriving at Rassvet, Major Tom explained to Snake that he needed to deliver Sokolov a message when he rescued him: "Sorry for being so late."

Following the failure of the Virtuous Mission due to The Boss's defection and the bombing of the Sokolov Design Bureau, Major Tom felt that his new codename might have been a mistake, so he arranged for the film company to deliver to him the film roll for The Great Escape so he could rewatch it. The Major then realized that he had actually named himself after one of the failed escape tunnels. David later visited Snake in his hospital room, and explained to him that the Government was willing to revoke the charges in regards to any and all involvement in The Boss's defection under one condition: he had to accept the follow up mission Operation Snake Eater.

David, returning to his original codename of Zero, again served as Snake's commanding officer during Operation Snake Eater, with Para-Medic (Dr. Clark) and Sigint (Donald Anderson) providing radio support and the supposed KGB agent EVA assisting Naked Snake with transportation. The mission was a success as the Cobra Unit were killed off, the Shagohod was destroyed, Colonel Volgin and The Boss were eliminated, and the American Philosophers recovered a microfilm revealing the location of the Philosophers' Legacy. Upon returning home, Snake was awarded the "Big Boss" codename by President Lyndon B. Johnson. As Snake left, he ran into Major Zero but was too distraught to say anything to him. Not long afterward, Snake left FOX and America and drifted around nations as a mercenary while Major Zero remained with the unit. Major Zero's stature rose and his influence grew inside the halls of Langley.

In 1970, Major Zero was supposedly arrested for treason. In actuality, Zero conspired with Ocelot to grab the remainder of the Philosophers' Legacy. Tired of the American Philosophers's bickering, Zero and Ocelot decided it was time to "end them" and then "reform" the Philosophers by staging Gene's rebellion on the San Hieronymo Peninsula and the stealing of a nuclear missile so the DCI to come out of hiding. However, they were unaware that Gene was serious in launching the nucelar missile towards the American Philosophers, thus framing the Russian Philosophers (interestingly, Ocelot never knew his conspirator was Zero while Gene had an idea as he referred to Zero as "the man with the same codename as Null"). However, Big Boss (Naked Snake) and Roy Campbell were able to convince the Red Army soldiers and some of the FOX personnel to defect and help them against FOX and foiled Gene's plot. Meanwhile, Major Zero had supplied trajectory data in regards to where the missile was to be launched to the DCI. Zero then had Ocelot assassinate the DCI in order to obtain the entire Philosophers' Legacy and the list with the identities of the Philospher members. After Snake and Campbell returned to America, Major Zero (who was cleared of all charges), Para-Medic, Sigint and a senior DOD Official were there welcoming them. Later, Zero shared with Ocelot the battle data of the Perfect Soldier Project and gave hints about "genomes" as bargaining chips. Ocelot argeed to stay working together under the condition that they recruit Big Boss in their new organization: the Patriots.



Cipher (The Patriots).
The Patriots After Gene's rebellion, Zero joined with Big Boss, Sigint, Para-Medic, Ocelot, and EVA to form the Patriots. Using the Philosophers' Legacy as a limitless source of funding, Zero hoped to carry out The Boss's vision turning Big Boss into a charismatic icon and unifying the world by controlling information. As a result of Big Boss's growing weariness of the Patriots's activities, Zero had finalized Les Enfants Terribles and had Big Boss illegally cloned. After finding out what happened, Big Boss condemned the project, parted ways with Zero, left the United States, and formed his own private mercenary army.Operation Peace Walker Main ArticleIn 1974, Zero and the Patriots (both referring to themselves as Cipher) orchestrated an incident involving Hot Coldman's Peace Walker Project. Meanwhile, Cipher recruited Pacifica Ocean and Vladimir Zadornov, as well as personally contacting Kazuhira Miller in a business proposal to help expend the Militaires Sans Frontieres to get Big Boss to participate in their project without his knowledge.

Cipher also ordered Pacifica to modify Metal Gear Zeke when the time came, and then hijack it and offer Big Boss the chance to rejoin them (the true purpose of the project), and should he refuse, frame the Militaires Sans Frontieres for being an extremist cult by launching a nuclear warhead from Metal Gear Zeke at the East Coast of the United States. Miller later alerted Zero that she made edits to it, although he was left unaware of her framing the Militaires Sans Frontieres if Big Boss refused. Ultimately, this plot failed when Big Boss damaged Metal Gear Zeke and stopped Pacifica from launching a nuke, and Miller presumably quit Cipher after what they did. However, Cipher planned on using the twin sons (Solid Snake and Liquid Snake) as "insurance" in case they failed to both bring Big Boss back to their group and frame the Militaires Sans Frontieres. Later Years Years later, Big Boss plotted coup d'état (Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land) against Zero. But after Solid Snake defeated Big Boss both times, Zero put Big Boss in a nanomachine-induced coma.

Having lost Big Boss as an icon (and possibly still bitter about what he saw as betrayal), Zero began to rely on AIs to control the Patriots and by the early 2000s, Zero had created five AIs (TR, TJ, AL, GW, and JD) as his successors of the Patriots. When EVA and Ocelot had Dr. Clark killed by Gray Fox in 2003 and Donald Anderson personally killed off by Ocelot during Liquid Snake's Shadow Moses Revolt, Zero went into hiding.

By the time of the Manhattan Incident (or possibly sometime before), the AIs unfortunately managed to completely ignore Zero's will and crafted their own. Guns of the Patriot



In 2014, Big Mama personally revealed to Old Snake about the twisted history of Zero and Big Boss. After Old Snake used a computer virus to destroy the Patriots's AIs and defeated Liquid Ocelot afterward, Big Boss was able to discover the location of Zero, kept alive solely by life support equipment. Big Boss explained to Old Snake that the AIs (Zero's successors) managed to completely ignore Zero's will and crafted their own, nearly "bringing the world to the brink of ruin" with Zero never realizing what had happened and how the world "began with zero". After reflecting on their past experences, Big Boss turned off the life support equipment, thus killing Zero.

Trivia

 * The bomber jacket that Major Zero wore during the missions to Tselinoyarsk resembled those worn by Allied pilots in World War II. It was also similar to the one worn by Steve McQueen in the 1963 film The Great Escape.
 * Zero was somehow able to procure Cuban cigars, offering one to an injured Naked Snake after the Virtuous Mission, despite the fact that Cuban imports are illegal in the United States.
 * According to Sigint, Zero believed that he was once abducted by aliens (something the Colonel AI also believed).
 * "Zero" is a British military radio term, often used as a callsign for a HQ.
 * According to Sigint, Zero didn't know much about technology and often used Sigint's notes when explaining what they are.
 * Zero disliked coffee and referred to it as "foul mud". He preferred tea instead.

Behind the Scenes

 * The name Major Tom, while mentioned by Major Zero to be a reference to The Great Escape, is also a character in the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. This could be a nod to the song, as it was originally selected as the ending theme for Metal Gear Solid 3 as it references space exploration. However, as the game ultimately departed from this theme, it was replaced by Starsailor's "Way to Fall".
 * Although Zero was supposedly imprisoned during the events of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, he can still be recruited as a secret character. Simply complete the game with a Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel save file on the PlayStation Portable's memory stick or use a code.
 * Zero's Japanese voice actor (Banjo Ginga) in Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops also voiced Liquid Snake in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 and Liquid Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 4.
 * Zero's real name (David Oh) was first given in a voice casting sheet for Metal Gear Solid 3, which was leaked prior to E3 2004 . It is never mentioned in-game, but it was later confirmed in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database.
 * Many fans previously believed that Zero was the "deviously cunning strategist" that Gene mentions to Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. However, Big Mama reveals to Old Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4 that Zero was the founder of the Patriots (revealing that Zero was actually "the man with the same codename as Null" that Gene mentioned to Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops) and Hot Coldman reveals that he is the man in question (the "deviously cunning strategist") to Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
 * Many fans also believe that Zero is the man that Cunningham mentions to Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.
 * In Metal Gear Solid 3, Zero's codename originated from his first codename of "O". In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Zero was cryptically referenced as "the man with the same codename as Null", the German translation of Zero as well an early clue of Zero's later actions revealed in Metal Gear Solid 4.