2000s

200X
Early/Late 2000s: Zero, after losing his faith in humanity, commissions the development of four neural AIs, and a head AI to inherit The Patriots from him. The four AIs are codenamed GW, TJ, AL and TR and the head AI known as JD.

2000
January 1st: Millennium Bug: The Patriots spread a "data filter" worldwide, disguised as a software fix to impede the impact of the flaw in various computer systems.

January 24th: A small group within the U.S. government orchestrates a signal data hacking assault on the NSA facility in Fort Meade, with the assistance of a notorious group of hackers, of which Emma Emmerich is a key member. The facility suffers a | total system shutdown for a 72-hour period.

This feat earns Emma invitations to join a host of intelligence agencies worldwide.

The beginning of the Arsenal Gear project: The NSA signal hacking assault led to the decision to shift the NSA data-gathering operations to an isolated location that would be safe from physical attack as well as cyber-terrorism.

June: A joint team of Japanese, American, and European scientist map the human genome.

June: The Eritrean-Ethiopian War ends.

Liquid Snake joins FOXHOUND as the leader of the field combat team.

Ocelot joins FOXHOUND to serve under Liquid Snake.

2001
January 20th: George Sears (a.k.a. Solidus Snake) is appointed as the 43rd American President.

September 11th: Multiple terrorist attacks strike America.

2002
Naomi Hunter joins FOXHOUND's medical staff, and begins gene therapy research and experimentation on soldiers.

September: The Third Chadian Civil War ends.

2003
March 20th: Several nations led by the US launch a multi-lateral strike on Iraq.

Dr. Clark (a.k.a. Para-Medic) dies in a lab explosion caused by a revived Gray Fox, who manages to escape. Naomi Hunter covers the incident, faking Gray Fox's death, and takes over Dr. Clark's job. This event was planned by EVA and Ocelot as part of their plan to eliminate the three remaining members of the Patriots (the other two being Sigint and Zero).

2004
Peter Stillman attempts to disarm a bomb planted in a famous church. He fails, and everyone else in the church and in a nearby playground dies in the explosion. Unable to face the victims' families, he later claims that he lost his leg in the explosion.

2005
Late February: Shadow Moses Revolt. The Sons of Big Boss uprising. FOXHOUND is "disbanded"; the remaining renegade members are all killed by Solid Snake, with the exception of Decoy Octopus who is killed by the FOXDIE virus created by Naomi Hunter, and Revolver Ocelot, who escapes. The DARPA Chief Donald Anderson dies from torture conducted by Ocelot, who claims it to be an accident, but in truth is because he is Sigint, a member of The Patriots. The President of ArmsTech Kenneth Baker is killed by the FOXDIE virus, as well as the majority of the Genome Army. Solid Snake meets Hal Emmerich (Otacon) and Meryl Silverburgh for the first time. Gray Fox, with his new exoskeleton, battles Snake and is defeated. He is eventually killed by Liquid Snake. Solid Snake destroys Metal Gear REX. Liquid Snake is eventually killed by FOXDIE. Snake leaves with Meryl in an attempt to start a new life.

The START III is signed between the US and Russia.

March: George Sears (Solidus Snake) "resigns" as President. He is succeeded by James Johnson.

Naomi Hunter is placed into a high security prison. She is later broken out by Liquid Ocelot.

Emma Emmerich joins the NSA in exchange for information regarding her brother Hal Emmerich, who had been involved in the Shadow Moses Incident.

Ocelot and Sergei Gurlukovich spread the data for Metal Gear REX on the black market. Soon, every nation, military outfit and DotCom owns a pirated version of the weapon.

Nastasha Romanenko publishes her best-selling book In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth, in order to expose the truth behind the incident.

Late 2005/Early 2006
In Lyon, France, Ocelot has Liquid Snake's arm grafted in place of the one Gray Fox cut off at Shadow Moses as part of a plot to rescue Big Boss's remains and free him.

2006
Solid Snake and Otacon found Philanthropy, in order to put a stop to the construction of Metal Gear derivatives. Nastasha Romanenko donates half her profits from her book to their cause.

2006/2007
Jack (Raiden) undergoes VR training as part of the Force XXI trials.

2007
April 30th: Jack (Raiden) and Rose meet each other for the first time.

May: Solid Snake covertly gives a journalist for Megasurprises magazine, Gary McGolden, an optical disc containing a copy of In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth. McGolden then travels to Shadow Moses to find out the truth, although he ends up getting himself captured by agents of The Patriots, thus resulting in Solid Snake going to the island to rescue him. Later, he publishes his article: The Shocking Conspiracy Behind Shadow Moses.

August 8th: Tanker Incident. Solid Snake infiltrates the USS Discovery in order to take photographs of Metal Gear RAY, to leak onto the internet. Snake meets Olga Gurlukovich for the first time. Ocelot then hijacks RAY, murders Scott Dolph and Sergei Gurlukovich, sinks the tanker and is then taken over for the first time by the personality of Liquid Snake, thus beginning his transformation into Liquid Ocelot. Philanthropy is blamed for the incident and goes underground, faking Snake's death.

Construction on the Big Shell offshore decontamination facility begins in Manhattan Bay.

Emma Emmerich leaves the NSA. She is recruited by The Patriots to begin work on GW.

2008
Olga Gurlukovich gives birth to Sunny Gurlukovich, who is kidnapped by the Patriots.

October: Dead Cell is caught in a surprise attack, losing two of its key members (Chinaman and Old Boy). Only Fatman, Fortune and Vamp survive.

2009
April 29th: Big Shell Incident. The Sons of Liberty uprising. Raiden and Solid Snake infiltrate the Big Shell separately. Raiden is unknowingly used as a guinea pig in the Patriots' S3 Plan in order to provide complex data for one of their AI's (GW). Raiden is variously assisted and opposed by both Snake and the new Cyborg Ninja (Olga Gurlukovich). The incident results in the deaths of Fatman, Emma Emmerich, Olga Gurlukovich, Richard Ames, Peter Stillman, every member of SEAL Team 10, and the 44th President of the USA, James Johnson. Vamp is also "killed" for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time, all at the hands of Raiden.

April 30th: Arsenal Gear emerges. Fortune is murdered by Revolver Ocelot who becomes Liquid Ocelot once more, then proceeds to escape in Metal Gear RAY. Arsenal Gear crashes into Manhattan, stopping at Federal Hall. Solidus Snake dies after being defeated by Raiden. Otacon discovers that the original Wisemen's Committee has been dead for almost 100 years, and that one member was also one of the top financial backers of Philanthropy.

Liquid Ocelot retrieves GW from Arsenal Gear.

Revolver Ocelot has Liquid Snake's arm removed from his body because the arm caused an imbalance to Ocelot's psyche in the presence of Solid Snake during the Tanker and Big Shell Incidents. It is replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic.