Philosophers' Legacy

The Philosophers' Legacy was one hundred billion dollars (or 1.2 trillion dollars based on inflation from 1945 to 2009) collected by the highest powers in China, the Soviet Union, and United States around the time of World War II. They called themselves the Philosophers. During the Second World War, a secret pact was concluded between the Philosophers, that eventually resulted in the creation of the Legacy.

The Philosophers from the three countries pooled their assets in order to secure victory in the war by developing the technologies that would define warfare for decades to come; rocketry, nuclear weapons and superhuman soldiers (such as the Cobra Unit and those of the Perfect Soldier Project), enough for five World Wars. These funds were divided and hidden in secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia and other such economic strongholds. The records of the transactions were stored on a single microfilm; the only means to access the vast fortune.

One of the main reasons why the Cold War began was because all of the three nations wanted the Legacy for themselves. The Philosophers had been disbanded into three groups, holding the true power of the supernations, all fighting for the Legacy. They knew that who ever possessed the Legacy would win the Cold War and become the dominant superpower.

A man named Boris Volgin was in charge of the Philosophers' money laundering activities, and in the confusion of the Second World War, obtained the microfilm for himself. After his death, the Legacy passed on to his son, Colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin of GRU, who used the money to build his own personal fortress, Groznyj Grad, and fund the development of the Shagohod and many other advanced weapons. When it was finally discovered that Volgin was the one who possessed this apparently lost treasure, the Shagohod was already nearing completion, so the Chinese and Americans quickly dispatched their own agents, EVA, and The Boss (and later, Naked Snake) respectively, to recover it.

During Operation Snake Eater, EVA was supposedly successful in recovering the Legacy, but, unbeknownst to her, the film she obtained was actually a fake. This failure in her mission caused EVA to lose her reputation and credibility. The real microfilm eventually made its way into America's hands, thanks to actions of Snake, The Boss, and, presumedly, the Philosophers' triple spy Ocelot. However, the CIA were only able to recover half of the Legacy using the film, and it was assumed that the KGB possessed the other half. Some time later, Ocelot eventually located the remainder of the Legacy, though he kept it for himself.

In 1970, Ocelot and Zero set up Gene's San Hieronymo Incident as a ploy to obtain the remainder of the Legacy. Ocelot assassinated the CIA Director and obtained the other half, which was then used to fund the creation of the Patriots.

Behind the Scenes

 * The circumstances regarding EVA's recovery of the fake microfilm, at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, is never explicitly revealed. It is often mistakenly assumed that she stole it from Naked Snake after Operation Snake Eater, even though he himself is seen in possession of the film the morning after she leaves. Later games stated that Snake handed this particular microfilm to the CIA, suggesting that EVA had obtained her copy elsewhere. A possible explanation is that Ocelot or The Boss planted the fake on EVA while she was dazed following her attempt to steal the real microfilm from Volgin's underground vault. However, a definitive explanation has yet to be made.
 * According to the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, the CIA Director had kept the Philosophers' Legacy for himself and he had also lied to the U.S. Government about Operation Snake Eater being a failure in regards to the Legacy's recovery.