Zero

"This world will become one. I have found the way. Race, tribal affiliations, national borders... even our faces will be irrelevant. The world that the Boss envisioned will finally become a reality, and it will make mankind whole again."

- Zero

Zero (real name David Oh, and formerly known as "O", Major Tom, Major Zero and Cipher) was the original commander of CIA Special Forces Unit FOX (Force Operation X). After Zero became a founding member of the Patriots along with Big Boss, the two friends would later develop a bitter enmity.

Early life and career
Prior to creating FOX, David Oh served in the British SAS alongside The Boss. During his later career in MI6, he was referred to as "O." David ultimately joined the CIA, under the bureau of classified planning, where he gained the codename "Zero" (derived from "O").

In 1962, Zero helped Dr. Nikolai Sokolov and his family defect from the Soviet Union to America, but was forced to allow Sokolov himself to be taken back due to a secret deal made between the two superpowers during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After reuniting with The Boss, the two formed the CIA's FOX Unit much to the DCI's dismay. However, Zero's own reasons for forming FOX was to prepare himself for a second attempt at recovering Sokolov.

While serving in the CIA, Zero recruited Donald Anderson and Dr. Clark into the organization as he recognized their potential, though he ended up receiving complaints three days per month relating to Anderson. Zero also formed a club within the CIA dedicated to finding UMAs, and acted as its president, with Sigint as its vice president. At some point, he also took in an orphan, gave her food and a place to live. Prior to 1964, Zero obtained a residence in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

He also nominated a deformed Hungarian man known only as Skull Face to be commander of the XOF unit, which was charged with ensuring one of his operatives, Jack, succeeded in certain missions. Unbeknownst to Zero at the time, however, Skull Face harbored a deep-seated hatred for both him and Jack.

By August 1964, Major Zero served as FOX's commanding officer for the Virtuous Mission, the objective being to once again rescue Sokolov in Tselinoyarsk, USSR. Earlier, Zero briefed his friend Jack on the previous attempt to rescue Sokolov, explaining that the Soviets most likely wanted him to finish a weapons system he had begun developing, 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 extract the two from Tselinoyarsk. Zero gave Jack the codename Naked Snake due to the on-site procurement and stealth aspects of the mission, and designated himself as "Major Tom" due to incorrectly remembering the successful escape tunnel's name in The Great Escape. Upon Snake's arrival at Rassvet, the Major explained to him that he needed to deliver Sokolov a message when he rescued him: "Sorry for being so late." Upon learning of the dangerous circumstances between the KGB and the GRU's current rivalry, he also insisted that Snake get out of there with Sokolov quickly.

Following the Virtuous Mission's failure, Zero was shocked by The Boss's defection to the Soviet Union and Sokolov's facility's bombing as he viewed her with higher regard than even his own family, although he did later admit that she had an aura of mystery surrounding her. He also felt that his new codename might have been a mistake so he re-watched the film roll for The Great Escape, having arranged its delivery through the film company, and thus realized his error. Zero later visited Snake in an advanced ICU, offering him a Cuban cigar. There he explained to Snake that the Government was willing to revoke the charges in regards to any and all involvement in The Boss's defection, under the condition that he accepts the follow up mission Operation Snake Eater. Zero also implied during this visit that he had been placed in the same situation as Snake, and that if he failed the mission, then not only would FOX be disqualified from becoming an official unit, but he and Snake may also be executed.

In order to ensure Snake succeeds in his mission, Zero also dispatched the XOF unit secretly.

Major 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 spy EVA assisting Snake with transportation. When Sokolov was apparently committing adultery on his wife and child with Tatyana, Zero was in disbelief and tried to point out how he wasn't the kind of person to do so before Snake reminded him that "people change." In addition, when investigating Sokolov's supposed lover's identity, he initially speculated that her being a supposed KGB officer was obscure within the ranks of the KGB when he couldn't get any leads. After Sokolov was believed at the time to have been killed by Colonel Volgin, Zero decided to make the Shagohod's destruction a top priority to honor his fallen friend. He later learned from Snake about his communicating with The Sorrow. But despite insisting that he'll believe whatever Snake had to say, he spoke to Para-Medic and voiced that he may have gone insane before Snake pointed out that he could still hear them. The mission was a success as the Cobra Unit were killed off, the Shagohod weapon was destroyed, and both Volgin and The Boss were eliminated.

After Naked Snake was awarded the "Big Boss" codename by the President, Zero ran into Snake but his friend was too distraught to say anything to him and eventually left FOX and America to drift around nations as a mercenary.

In November 1970, Major Zero was arrested for treason after being accused of instigating the FOX rebellion on the San Hieronymo Peninsula. Having come under suspicion himself, Big Boss set out to clear his and Zero's names, with radio support from Para-Medic and Sigint via a radio frequency that Zero had maintained for such an emergency.

Zero had conspired with the CIA triple spy Ocelot to bring about the incident, in order to obtain the remainder of the Philosophers' Legacy. They wished to use the Legacy to end the Philosophers' power and reform the organization, after having observed its American branch further degenerate into squabbling factions. Using Ocelot, Zero manipulated the charismatic Gene into staging the rebellion and stealing the CIA's new Metal Gear, forcing the CIA Director into a vulnerable position with the threat of a nuclear launch. While Ocelot was initially unaware of his co-conspirator's identity, Gene had his suspicions, referring to "the man with the same codename as Null."

Neither Zero nor Ocelot had anticipated that Gene would actually launch Metal Gear into America, thus framing the Soviet Union and ending the current détente in the Cold War. However, Big Boss and Roy Campbell were able to form a resistance movement on the peninsula, and ultimately foiled the launch attempt. Meanwhile, having supplied Metal Gear's trajectory data to the DCI, Zero had Ocelot assassinate the Director as he attempted to take shelter in a secret bunker beneath the CIA headquarters. Ocelot then stole the documents that the DCI had intended to save from destruction, regarding both the Philosophers' Legacy and a list of the organization's members, and provided these to Zero.

After they were cleared of all charges, Major Zero, Para-Medic, Sigint and a senior Government official greeted Big Boss at a runway upon his return to America by plane. There Zero handed him documents that would allow for the creation of a new special forces unit, following his disbandment of FOX.

Les Enfants Terribles
Zero later shared with Ocelot the battle data on the Perfect Soldier Project and gave hints about genomes as bargaining chips to which Ocelot agreed to stay working together under the condition that they recruit Big Boss into their new organization: Cipher.

Immediately afterwards, Zero joined with Big Boss, Sigint, Para-Medic, Ocelot and EVA to form Cipher. Using the Philosophers' Legacy as a limitless source of funding, Zero hoped to carry out what he believed to be The Boss's vision by turning Big Boss into a charismatic icon and unifying the world by controlling information. Zero's stature rose and his influence grew inside the halls of Langley. But when Big Boss started to disagree with the goal, Zero feared that his friend might leave the organization so he had Dr. Clark (Para-Medic) create clones of Big Boss in order to maintain the Patriots' icon in a project known as Les Enfants Terribles. When Big Boss found out about the project, he condemned it and, considering this to be the last straw, parted ways with Zero and left the United States to form his own private military company.

After falling out with Big Boss, Zero went into hiding. Because of this instance, he also did not personally assign missions to his agents, instead using proxies to relay orders. Only one exception existed: his trusted operative Pacifica Ocean, whom he personally met at his hiding spot in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan to have her make contact with Big Boss.

In 1974, Cipher orchestrated the Peace Walker Incident in Costa Rica involving Hot Coldman's AI weapons. To carry this out, Cipher recruited the triple spy Pacifica Ocean and arranged a secret business proposition with Kazuhira Miller to help expand the Militaires Sans Frontières. However, Cipher's ultimate aim was to manipulate Big Boss into participating in the project without his knowledge.

Cipher ordered their agent to modify the MSF's Metal Gear ZEKE when the time came, and convince Big Boss to rejoin Cipher by threatening to frame MSF for launching a nuclear warhead at the United States if he refused. Ultimately, this plot failed when Big Boss damaged ZEKE and stopped the nuclear launch. Miller had also been unaware of Cipher's plot to discredit MSF. When Big Boss and Miller discussed Cipher's true nature, Big Boss realized that "Cipher" was actually Zero. Meanwhile, Cipher planned to use the sons as insurance against Big Boss should the time arise.

Ground Zeroes
Ultimately, Zero learned the hard way that Skull Face had planned for years to attack him, as Skull Face wanted to free himself. As Zero spent his time in hiding and relayed orders via proxies since the cloning project, Skull Face never had an opportunity to track him down until Paz's survival was discovered. He then had her abducted, ostensibly due to her being a traitor to Cipher, to gain information on where Zero was located, as she was the only agent to have actually met Zero face-to-face. During this time, Zero had been undergoing treatment secretly at 10th Avenue of Hell's Kitchen in New York City. As a direct result, Skull Face found Zero shortly after wiping out MSF and destroying their Mother Base, and infected him with a parasite potent enough to result in Zero eventually ceasing all cognitive functions.

Although the best physicians attempted to delay the effects, Zero was resigned to his fate. He secretly arranged for the DARPA AI developer Strangelove (who had resigned from MSF over a week before the failed inspection initially not been aware of DARPA's connection to Cipher) to develop for him an AI network to take over the Patriots, having already lost faith in the new generation. However, she was eventually forced out after a "certain incident." He then left command over to Donald Anderson, more specifically the central AI that Anderson oversaw. He also gave the AI specific rules to follow in order to avoid a repeat of the Mammal Pod's hacking into NORAD during the Peace Walker Incident.

By 1977, he also paid Big Boss a visit in Cyprus and intended to bid him farewell and presumably bury the hatchet. He also told Ocelot to look over Big Boss, and for Miller to await Big Boss's return to lead Diamond Dogs. In order to ensure his disappearance and destination was kept secret, he also had orchestrated a blackout in New York City that same year that disrupted communications and transportation via the AI and two submarines, also giving a cover story. He ultimately succumbed to the parasites and went into a persistent vegetative state. He was relegated to life support.

Later years
Unfortunately for Zero, what he had brought about had unforeseeable consequences: Namely, Big Boss ended up giving in to his darker nature and began fighting the Patriots and trying to bring about various wars, as well as conducting two coup d'états before being put down by one of the Les Enfants Terribles clones, Solid Snake, ultimately resulting in Big Boss being placed into a nanomachine-induced coma after Zanzibar Land. To make matters worse, his AIs ended up completely abandoning his will and crafted their own, and even his closest allies Donald Anderson and Dr. Clark grew corrupt. The AI's deviation grew to a head the time of Solidus Snake's takeover of the Big Shell, the AIs fully crafted their own will.

In 2014, Big Boss had awakened and then discovered Zero in a persistent vegetative state kept alive solely by life support equipment. After a computer worm destroyed the Patriots' AIs and Old Snake (Solid Snake) defeated Liquid Ocelot, Big Boss took Zero's wheelchair-bound shell to The Boss's grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Big Boss lamented that this man had nearly "brought the world to the brink of ruin" without even realizing it. Reflecting on their past experiences, Big Boss switched off Zero's life support equipment. As Zero was struggling to breathe, Big Boss pressed his hands over Zero's chest to stop him from moving as he died, ending the dictatorship he unwittingly created and putting his former friend to peace.

Personality and traits
Zero had a prominent scar over his left eye and also believed that he had once been abducted by aliens.

Due to his SAS training, he often looked down upon the American Armed Forces' methods of conducting operations, viewing them as sloppy, such as the fact that they relied too much on prepared equipment, such as a flashlight, or that they would leave their feces on the battlefield. The bomber jacket that Major Zero wore during the missions in 1964 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.

According to Zero's personal data as of 1964: his eyesight was 20/13; his blood type was "A"; he had previously been afflicted with gout; his hobbies included watching movies and hunting; his favorite food was Shepherd's Pie, while his least favorite food was hamburgers; he enjoyed spy and war movies; his favorite animal was the horse; his favorite type of liquor was whiskey; he enjoyed rugby; he liked Dimbula brand tea; and his favorite UMA was the Loch Ness Monster. Additionally, Zero disliked coffee and referred to it as "foul mud."

Zero was a huge fan of the James Bond films. Zero talked to Naked Snake about the intricacies and technological side of Bond's spy equipment and suggested that Snake be more like Bond, equipped with a "Snake shaped gun" and would get into an argument on the subject with Snake harboring a disinterest in the series and the spy genre in general. Zero also admitted that he personally didn't approve of how Bond interacted with female spies, after supposedly deducing one of the factors in Snake's dislike for the character. Sokolov said that Zero was a man of his word and a man of honor as he kept his promise to rescue him from the Soviet Union and apologized for being so late. In addition, Zero also was one who judged people on their merits rather than physical differences, as evidenced by his hiring Donald Anderson despite the former being banned from the workplace due to his ethnicity.

Zero didn't know much about technology and would use Sigint's notes when explaining what the anti-personnel sensor, motion detector, and active sonar were to Naked Snake. On a related note, he once bought a washing machine but didn't know how to use it.

He also possessed some religious beliefs. He told Snake "God be with you" before the latter performed a HALO jump.

After founding the Patriots to carry on The Boss's will, Zero over time became power hungry and a dictator by collecting more wealth and to gain more influence within the government. As a result, he also had no qualms for using Big Boss as an icon and to clone him without his knowledge. After Big Boss left the Patriots, Zero felt betrayed and lost his faith and belief in everything. By 1974, he also lost his ability to keep his promises and his code of honor by this point by his nearly having the Militaires Sans Frontières framed for a nuclear strike against America when Big Boss refused, despite this going against his promise to allow MSF to expand to Kazuhira Miller when getting him involved in the plot. In addition, after going into hiding as a result of Big Boss leaving the Patriots after he found out about the Les Enfants Terribles project, Zero did not directly give orders to his agents, instead supplying them to proxies and left his whereabouts unrevealed to all except for one agent, Pacifica Ocean, and even then, she implied at one point that she occassionaly got orders via proxy instead of from Zero directly, indicating that Zero had become paranoid.

In 2014, regarding Zero's actions, Big Boss wondered if Zero hated or feared him.

Codename
"Zero" is a British military radio term, often used as a callsign for a HQ. It also refers to a ghost, which Zero claimed was also fitting for a sneaking mission. Zero also referred to himself and the Patriots as "Cipher" which means "empty" and the number zero. This became fitting after Zero lost his beliefs and faith in everything when he became an empty shell of his former self.

Behind the scenes
Zero is the central antagonist of the Metal Gear series.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
In the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Major Zero's (ゼロ) voice was provided by Banjō Ginga, who also voiced both Liquid Snake and Liquid Ocelot.

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 mentioned in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database and by Ocelot in an audiotape in The Phantom Pain.

It's possible that his character may have been at least partly inspired by Colonel David Stirling (otherwise known as Phantom Major), a real life British Army officer who acted as the founder of the Special Air Service (SAS). Aside from sharing a first name they also share a similar age, military background and philosophy regarding the effectiveness of small military special forces units.

The name Major Tom, while mentioned in-game 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."

In the Operation Snake Eater Briefing, Zero provides a Cuban cigar to Naked Snake, despite the fact that Cuban imports are illegal in the United States. However, Cuban cigars made before 1962 were still legal in the United States in 1964, and remain so to this day.

If the player ends up dying three times during The Sorrow battle and continuing, Zero will call and tell the player to use the Revival Pill at the Game Over screen.

Two radio conversations, relating to the Raikov Mask and the completed Raikov disguise, will have Major Zero commenting regarding the mask's "nostalgic" feeling that he "for some reason doesn't like it" and that Naked Snake's wearing of the Raikov disguise "is starting to irritate [Zero] already," referring to the negative fan controversy regarding the character Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Although Zero is 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 true involvement in the game is briefly hinted at during Gene's conversation with Ocelot in a cutscene, where he identifies Ocelot's co-conspirator as "the man with the same codename as 'Null'." "Null" is the German word for "Zero."

"Commander of Special Forces unit FOX, it was he who proposed the establishment of the unit to the CIA. Led Operation Snake Eater, providing support to Snake via radio. President of the unofficial UMA Finders Club at the CIA."

- Character description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Prior to the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, some fans had speculated that Zero was the "deviously cunning strategist" that Gene had mentioned in Portable Ops. Upon first viewing, the game's dialogue does not immediately make clear that this strategist and "the man with the same codename as Null" (Zero) are two distinct characters. However, later games reveal that Zero had continued to admire and idolize The Boss, causing opinion to shift towards Hot Coldman being the strategist, after he was revealed to be the planner of Operation Snake Eater in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
While Zero does not make a physical appearance in Peace Walker, barring his secret phone call with Miller and Paz's flashback, he is referenced multiple times. In one of the briefing files, Big Boss reminisces about Zero hating coffee in a conversation with Paz. In another briefing file, it's implied that Big Boss is thinking about Zero when Paz mentions that she does not understand why "friend turned against friend" while describing Costa Rica's civil war. In addition, during the attempted destruction of the Mammal Pod in Chapter 4, one of the glitched statements by the Mammal Pod was "The Lonely Fox Chases The One Eyed Hound", hinting at Big Boss and Zero's feud.

Other appearances
"David Oh" is a dog tag that can be collected in Metal Gear Solid 2: HD Edition. It is ID 026 and can be found during the Tanker Chapter on the Extreme difficulty setting. However, the David Oh the dog tag belongs to was born on July 14. Zero was born on August 12.

Major Zero appears in Versus Battle.

"STRENGTHS: Master Manipulator of the Oval Office WEAKNESSES: Big Boss, Slowly Consumed by Power FEATURED FACT: SAS-trained, Zero formed the CIA’s special forces FOX unit with the Boss, and then the Patriots with the Big Boss, and lost himself to power in the process FEATURED GAME: METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION"

- Major Zero's bio on Versus Battle

Zero is heavily alluded to in Ground Zeroes. He is also an unlockable character in the Ground Zeroes app, acting as an officer character in the Mother Base Developer. To unlock him, the player must obtain 50k+ points on Hard Mode of Destroy the Anti-Air Emplacements while connected to the app.

Hideo Kojima revealed on Twitter that Banjō Ginga, Zero's Japanese voice actor, would play a role in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, although it was unconfirmed at the tme whether Zero himself would actually appear in the game. Zero's English voice actor, Jim Piddock, stated on Twitter that he elected not to reprise his role as Zero, and implied it was due to a payment dispute with Konami. Piddock later elaborated on the reason for the refusal in an episode of The Codec, explaining that, because Zero had a limited physical presence in the game, Konami felt justified in giving him what he believed was too small of a payment for his voice work for the character. He also implied that Zero would be mostly heard instead of seen. In addition, Zero is heard talking about The Boss in the E3 2015 trailer of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Retcon
In Metal Gear Solid 4, it was mentioned that Zero had grown in power up to Big Boss's coup d'états, and had ordered for Big Boss to be put into a nanomachine-induced coma to act as an icon. It was also implied that he ordered for the creation of the AIs immediately after this event, and his vegetative state was the result of his advanced age. However, this was given somewhat of a retcon in Peace Walker, where it was revealed that Zero had actually planned for the creation of AIs during the 1970s.

Furthermore, leaked scans from an Italian gaming guide for The Phantom Pain also revealed that Zero had ordered for the creation of the AIs as a direct result of Skull Face's attack on the former due to his being resigned to his fate of becoming brain dead from the parasites, actually met with Big Boss a final time in Cyprus, and even ordered for Ocelot and Miller to aid Big Boss, and had actually been in a persistent vegetative state for 37 years by the time of the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, meaning he played no role in the events of Outer Heaven or Zanzibar Land. In addition, it was also stated that Zero had initially been unaware of Big Boss's coup d'états against him until Outer Heaven. In The Phantom Pain however, it is revealed that not only was Zero fully aware of Big Boss creating Outer Heaven, he even allowed Miller to create Diamond Dogs despite knowing full well that Miller intended to exact revenge on him for the attack on Mother Base.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
 * Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (Secret Theater; non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus (non-canon)
 * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (off-screen, mentioned and flashbacks)
 * Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops (trading card)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (off-screen and mentioned)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (mentioned and voice)