Strategist (Operation Snake Eater)

A strategist, in collaboration with the CIA, was alleged to have manipulated events in the Virtuous Mission, in order to bring about the execution of Operation Snake Eater in 1964. This account was relayed by renegade FOX commander Gene to Naked Snake, during the San Hieronymo Takeover in 1970, contradicting previous accounts that Operation Snake Eater had only been planned in response to the Virtuous Mission's perceived failure.

Biography
According to Gene, the "deviously cunning" strategist had deliberately planned for the event that Colonel Volgin of GRU would use a U.S. nuclear weapon to attack the OKB-754 research facility in Tselinoyarsk, USSR. On August 24, 1964, renowned U.S. soldier The Boss was ordered to "defect" to the Soviets in order to locate the Philosophers' Legacy, providing Colonel Volgin with two Davy Crocketts as proof of her supposed sincerity. Volgin subsequently launched one of the miniature nuclear shells at OKB-754, sparking an international incident. The U.S. then had to prove its "innocence" in the affair to the Soviet Union, by assassinating The Boss during Operation Snake Eater, which was planned by CIA official Hot Coldman.

Behind the scenes
The alleged strategist behind Colonel Volgin's nuclear attack and the subsequent necessity for The Boss's death in Operation Snake Eater, was first mentioned in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. The identity of any such individual has never been officially confirmed, and the sole image of the strategist in Portable Ops is modified artwork of Major Ocelot.

Speculation as to the strategist's identity has ranged from Major Zero to Hot Coldman, the former being Gene's shadowy benefactor in Portable Ops, and the latter being the planner of Operation Snake Eater, as revealed in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Arguments against Zero being the strategist include his later founding of an organization dedicated to The Boss's beliefs, while those against Coldman include Peace Walker director Hideo Kojima's disregard of plot developments in Portable Ops. Fans have also previously suspected Ocelot, due to the aforementioned visual depiction in Portable Ops, and the CIA Director from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, due to being the original planner of Operation Snake Eater according to Kojima's past comments on the game.

In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Big Mama reveals to Solid Snake that the CIA had indeed eliminated The Boss due to reasons other than proving America's innocence over Tselinoyarsk, namely their fear of the renowned soldier's charisma, though she does not elaborate any further.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (mentioned only)