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LAV-25

2019-01-05T13:14:42Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* IRL */

[[File:LAV.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Look at it! Isn't it adorable?]]

The '''Light Armored Vehicle-25''' (or LAV-25 for short) is an 8-wheeled amphibious recon vehicle, manufactured by GMC Canada. In America, its one of the USMC's premier infantry fighting vehicles, whose speed and amphibious nature, plus its decent weaponry, lent well to the Marines' tactics as forward vanguards.

The vehicle is crewed by 3 people: a commander, gunner, and driver, plus it can also transport 4 fully-geared soldiers who are there to act as scouts, or to assist the LAV with dealing with targets that they are not equipped to handle (such as armored tanks, although that's only if someone decided to bring an AT weapon). The vehicle's default armament is an M242 25mm chain gun, plus two M240 7.62mm machine guns, one of which is mounted co-axial with the chain gun, and one at the top of the turret.

==In Team Yankee==
[[File:LAV Stat Card.jpg|300px|left|thumb|The Stat Card]]

As an infantry fighting vehicle toting an autocannon, the LAV excels in maneuver warfare against lightly armored forces. With a moving ROF of 3 and a AT8, it can comfortably destroy pretty much anything apart from main battle tanks through weight of fire. With anti-helicopter, it can even engage Hinds from a range of 24" albeit with penalties above 16" (which would probably not be a problem with the PACT's short ranged helicopters). However, their paper-thin armor means that these glass cannons will die in droves if hammered by artillery, infantry or anything bigger than a rifle cartridge. Even BTRs can overwhelm an LAV platoon with their HMG rounds posing a serious threat.

Consider using the LAV as a flanking force to divert the enemy away from your main thrust. With their powerful guns, a group of LAVs can wreak havoc on high value, rear-echelon units like artillery pieces and spotters. Alternatively, they may be used as a mobile reserve to protect gaps in your line. Do not expect them to hold however: they lack the fanatical morale of the Soviets or the survivability of M113s.

==IRL==
[[File:LAV IRL.jpg|300px|right|thumb|BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!]]
The LAV-25 is an infantry fighting vehicle used by the US Marines Corps for reconnaissance and light fire support. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s primarily designated for recon rather than transportation, you would classify this as a proper Infantry Fighting Vehicle, as it sports a mean 25mm autocannon in addition to the real life 6 man passenger capacity; enough for a fireteam of Marines with equipment. Despite its respectable firepower, it’s armor is still weak against anything more serious than small arms (later versions can protect against up to 14.5mm rounds and slat armor add-one protect against shape charges). The idea of having IFVs with truly effective armor would only become widespread later on in the 21st Century with the push to vehicles capable of surviving in an urban environment, birthing designs like the MRAP. In the Army, the role of the IFV is to support infantry in open ground against tanks and vehicles, hence the increased armor and ATGMs. The role of the Marines as a rapid reaction force forced them to compromise the slugging power of the Bradley for speed and transportability, essential for establishing a naval beachhead.

The LAV-25 has many variants used by the Marines Corps, some represented in Team Yankee ([[LAV-AT]], [[LAV-M]]), and some that are not (LAV-AD, which was basically like a hybrid of the [[M163 VADS]] and [[M48 Chaparral]] but was retired due to budget constraints. The US Army uses their own version of the MOWAG Piranha, the more recent Stryker. Although that variant was only armed with a machine gun (and possibly a 40mm grenade launcher) until recently and wasn’t adopted until more or less a decade after the Cold War. Other Stryker variants match LAV variants, with the exception of the M1128 MGS which mounts a 105mm cannon (making it the US equivalent to the [[AMX-10 RC]]).

As for future replacements, well there isn't any. With all the new concepts that the American military-industrial complex is turning out. Anything demonstrated to replace the Piranha variants can probably be counted on one hand. In all likelihood, a future replacement will be based on another armored wheeled vehicle used by America's allies or a derivative of the Piranha V. As concurrency has led to not only delays in deployment of land vehicles, but aircraft and ships as well.

{{US Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Vehicles]]

XCOM

2019-01-05T12:26:33Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* X-COM 2 / War of the Chosen */

{{/vg/}}
{{Oldschool}}

[[Image:Xcom_2.png|thumb|right|]]

This is a [[Dan Abnett|rare treat]]. '''X-COM''', or as it's called across the pond, ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' (It was released as XCOM in North America, it was ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' literally everywhere else) is a turn-based strategy game that is, to put it simply, about as close to a game of [[Dark Heresy]] as one can get in isometric 3D. Note that X-COM is significantly older than [[Dark Heresy]], and older than all but the first edition of [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], so it'd be better to say [[Dark Heresy]] is a lot like X-COM on the tabletop. Dating back to the much-lamented Microprose, it set a gold standard for atmosphere and playability that has, frankly, not been breached in ages.

The game is [[Dwarf Fortress|old as balls]] and in isometric view, which, paired with the Dark Heresy similarities, makes it more /tg/ material than /v/.

==A General Gist==

A general synopsis is that in [[grimdark|the not-so-distant future, there is war - and aliens]]. Aliens are arriving, and they are most assuredly hostile. It falls upon the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or the eponymous X-COM, a multi-national task-force, to deal with the invasion by blasting the fuck out of the Aliens, stealing their shit, researching their technology, and using it to fucking kill them off, all the while fighting off terror attacks and trying to figure out where in Uranus these fucking things are coming from (as it turns out, from Mars, and if you win, the final mission involves you going to Mars and dropping an [[Exterminatus]] on their asses).

It kicked ass. It was good enough to spawn a sequel, ''Terror From The Deep'', which was basically the same game, but underwater and infinitely harder. Story-wise, the destruction of the Martian base activated a fail-safe in the aliens' system that woke up T'leth, their 'secondary' (and mobile) base buried deep under the seas of Earth. X-Com now again must protect the people while finding out about where exactly T'leth is and go in to blast it to smithereens with extreme prejudice. It was hard. Really hard. Not only do aliens have a major advantage technology-wise at the start and they tear through your recruits with impunity, but later in the game when you catch up they start using a nasty trick to take control of your troopers, leading to sometimes hilarious and [[rage|extreme rage-inducing]] turn one [[TPK]]s as your heavy weapon trooper gets controlled and fires his heavy weapon inside the transport while the team is busy disembarking. Oh, and did we mention that the only way to research the best armour in the game was to capture a live specimen of a rarely-appearing alien? And that to capture a live specimen you had to send a poor redshirt in armed with an oversized cattleprod to stun it in close quarters? And that said alien was [[rip and tear|able to tear a human apart effortlessly]] in close quarters? And (as if all that wasn't bad enough already), that the poor redshirt then had to pick up and to carry the damn unconscious thing back to the human ship praying [[rape|that the specimen didn't wake up with a grudge before he got there and the mission ended]]? Yeah, it was kinda like that.

It then spawned a second, somewhat different but still appreciated sequel, ''X-Com Apocalypse''. Destruction of T'leth fucked up Earth's biosphere and humanity retreated to quickly built mega-arcologies to survive. Unlike the two first game, there's a bigger political aspect to things as you have not only to make sure you deal with the damn aliens coming to fuck your shit up, but remain best buds with the other humans while doing so. It tried to blend Turn-Based & Real-Time strategy into one so you could play it at the speed you wanted. All in all, a decent and ambitious, if not overwhelmingly good game (mostly because a ton of content was cut before release). Basically this time it was one [[Cyberpunk]] city against extradimensional aliens, though the equipment from the first two games gave the player a far greater headstart.

Then Microprose was bought by [[Hasbro|that which must never be named]], who proceeded to nose-dive the IP with games like [[AIDS|X-COM: Interceptor]] and [[Shit Twinkie|X-COM: Enforcer]]. At least Interceptor had a decent backstory and for those with a good eye, explain where the aliens in ''X-Com Apocalypse'' came from.

Fucking [[RAGE|Hasbro]].

Anyway. Combat is a lot like Dark Heresy's in that it's exceedingly lethal; at the game's outset, you have no armor beyond jumpsuits with Kevlar stuffed into them, and your firearms are the best and most powerful weaponry that chemical propelled explosives can provide only moderately capable against alien forces (though quite diverse). In order to properly take these fucking things on anything remotely resembling their own terms, you need upgrades. Upgrades come through research, and research comes by shooting down UFOs, landing a ground assault, killing the surviving aliens, and stripping the UFO like the [[Blood Ravens]] do other chapters' shiny bits. Once brought back to base, your researchers can look into what makes the alien's gear work, research your own weapons and tech, and develop technologies to help in the fight against the Aliens. Eventually, you can load your forces up with [[Space Marine|Power-armored bad-asses]], but starting out, your forces are fragile, and fighting smart is ''vital''. You ''will'' suffer casualties early on - guaranteed - but such is war, and you must press on, allowing the survivors to grow into [[Colonel Greiss|manly badasses]].

The Aliens themselves are diverse, ranging from the Sectoids (conventional "gray" aliens), to Chryssalids (horrifying abominations that inject targets with eggs that turn them into mindless drones which will explosively birth new Chryssalids thereafter). Nightmare fuel = yes. The game manages to be exceedingly creepy for one so simple, and is one of many reasons that X-COM works so well.

==Tales of Heroism==

In accordance with /tg/'s love of war stories about [[your dudes]], several examples of awesome have been compiled:

''Instant'' death doesn't ''always'' happen. Occasionally, one Rookie will be touched by God and succeed against all odds. After that, he will die horribly. [[Just as Planned]].

X-COM agent of note: [[Marc Lecointe]]. Lecointe survived numerous missions, got the highest kill count on most missions, killed a Snakemen leader and his bodyguards (despite losing over half the squad), and got shot in the face and back with plasma and lived. He eventually was hit with return fire in an alley and began bleeding. He returned fire and killed the Snakeman, but bled to death before help could arrive. Lacointe lives on in our hearts.

Another agent of note is Gristle McThornbody, a Rocket-Toting Team-Killing asshole who refuses to die OR be mind-controlled. He's so badass, that even when he has 85% or more to hit on a 2x2 alien, he'll still hit the wall twenty tiles to the left.

== New Stuff and Things ==
According to things [[/v/]] likes to watch on the Internet, a new X-Com game is in the pipes, set to be made in the gameplay and spirit of the old games, with new graphics and updated for the new generation of gamers to be introduced into the X-Com game style. It lost the dash along the way someplace, and got re-named ''XCOM: Enemy Unknown''. This new game, which has spawned joy boners in many on /v/ and /tg/ alike, is believed to stem from the utter, burning [[RAGE|fury]] that was originally spawned from 2K's simply-titled ''XCOM'' game, which, near as we can tell, is an FPS that takes place in the 1960s and has exactly ''nothing'' to do with the actual X-COM franchise. Seriously, don't look into 2K's game if you're a fan of the series on any level - it will cause veterans to spontaneously transform into [[Angry Marines]] and/or [[Khorne|Khornate Berserkers]]. Apparently, those in charge had the wherewithal to note that if they didn't make a ''proper'' X-COM game, [[/tg/]] (and by extension, [[/v/]]) would [[Anal Circumference|leave their asshole in ruins]]. They even went ahead to declare the two games take place in separate universes. If only [[Games Workshop]] had [[Matt Ward|that much sense]]...

== XCOM: Enemy Unknown by Firaxis ==
[[File:XCOMGameplay.jpg|200px|thumb|An in-game screenshot of the new game.]]
And Firaxis came to the rescue, promising to return to the roots of XCOM (note the lack of a hyphen this time around, although the logo ''does'' have a horizontal stripe taken out of the "COM"). Since Firaxis has a lot of ex-MicroProse people, a lot of them have had to do with the original as well, and the original musical score will make a return. Although it's changed a few things to avoid hurting the brains of [[/v/|delicate little console kiddies]] like removing time units, removing ballistic simulation, cutting down on your maximum amount of squad members (4 at the start and 6 maximum) and limiting us to one base (though each base location gives its own unique bonus), it still somehow manages to be a good game in its own right. If the original X-COM is like Mordheim, then XCOM is like Space Hulk: massively simplified and more heavily dependent on the luck of the die, but with less micromanagement and long-term planning required.

If you haven't bought the game and you're a TBS fan, everyone in /tg/ that isn't [[That guy]], would highly recommend you give it a whirl at the modest price of <strike>
$39.99 </strike> $16.49 for all the good remade XCOM games because of our father Gabe Newell on PC,
still is 39.99 for console/Non-Steam or $9.99 on mobile/tablet devices. Like always, we have footage for vidyas: https://youtu.be/qDhuZ4b51hA https://youtu.be/-SKoS5BYVuY https://youtu.be/bxuzLyR-000

===XCOM: Enemy Within===
[[File:MectoidMEC.jpg|200px|thumb|Did we mention melee combat with exosuits?]]
''Enemy Within'' is an expansion pack (and unlike most "horse armor" tier DLCs with the name this one actually deserves it) that completely re-defines how the game progresses, compared to the original one. The game's story still progresses like the original game, but expands on it for a more entertaining experience.

It adds the "meld" resource to the game, a type of alien organic/synthetic-hybrid nanomachine that allows you to unlock two powerful technologies: MEC and genetic modification. MEC allows your troops to interface with a Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit, a heavy exoskeleton that brings the heaviest of weapons to the field (Including the option for a powerfist equivalent called a "Kinetic Strike Module". Yes, make your own faux [[Terminator]] squad! Especially when the Tier-3 Paladin upgrade bulks up your suit's armor that you look vaguely similar to Termies.). Genetic modification allows you to augment your troops using data gathered from dissected aliens, making them killier than ever before. In fact, you can create your own equivalent of an Imperial [[Space Marine]] with the list of available modifications you can do (Two of these specific upgrades are a second heart and the ability of self-regeneration).

It also adds new aliens to the xenos' side, like a cloaking squid robot that chokes your troops to death and their own brand of exosuit troops. It also introduces another enemy into the game: EXALT. EXALT are a bunch of power-mad blokes who sees the alien's invasion as a way to gain power by adapting their technology for themselves, inching them closer to world domination. They see you as an obstacle and are determined to undermine your efforts to defeat the aliens by disrupting your operations through a number of ways and sowing panic amongst XCOM-member nations, generally making your already hectic life even more hectic. You must now defeat this new threat through a combination of [[Ork|cunning brutality and brutal cunning.]] They have most of your technologies to go toe-to-toe with you (Except for their own exosuits) and they are well hidden, so bringing them down won't be an easy affair.

=== XCOM 2 ===
[[File:People%27s_reaction_to_XCOM_2%27s_Vipers.png|200px|thumb|Turns out they ''are'' poison glands. Hee.]]
A direct-ish sequel to EU/EW, XCOM 2 seems to decide that what's canon is not: not "you killed all the aliens, now here's more aliens", but "you know that Impossible Ironman game you played for a laugh and got utterly stomped? That's the canon ending". (The utterly stomping part takes place in the base assault, and it is so bad that two of the most important things got taken: The Commander, and more importantly, central officer Bradford's sweater). The aliens won before humanity even got to laser weapons, taking over the world and unifying humanity (read: ruling over them in a pseudo-utopia "Brave New World"-style), and basically preparing to turn them into another of their slave races (not that most of humanity knows this).

XCOM refused to back down even after the Council of Nations ceased to exist and instead went underground, hijacking an alien supply ship to act as a mobile base for hit-and-run operations against the alien occupiers, in the hopes of toppling the ADVENT (the puppet government aliens've set up) and exposing the true purpose of their supposedly ideal society to the world. So they free the captured Commander (sadly the sweater seems to be shrunk in the wash) and it's guerilla warfare time.

New features include:
The Assault class has been given a makeover to focus even more on [[Rip and Tear]], replacing the sidearm with a sword and changing title to the Ranger. The Sniper has been renamed the Sharpshooter and given a pistol-focused skill-tree-route that turns the soldier into Clint Eastwood (literally, like you can have a stand-off by firing 3 pistol-shots in the same turn). The Support class has been renamed the Specialist and been given a drone to hack, heal, shield and/or zap shit remotely. The Heavy has been given a nice grenade launcher to act as your cover-stomper, and been renamed the Grenadier. Psi-operatives are their own class now as well, and get hate-hair and [[Cadia|purple eyes]] because that makes sense and all psychically talented people look like neo-punks. Troops can be captured, and then rescued, which also reclaims any expensive gear they had on them (but it's never the captured troops you actually need back).
New enemies (without spoilers), including "human" ADVENT security troops (who really love to say "bitch" and pointing towards your soldiers) with magnetic weapons who look like humans till you get their armor off, sectoid-human hybrids with teeth, thumbs, and belly buttons (which can be really creepy if you '''really''' think about it), and Snake-women called Vipers (which is what the Thin Men actually look like without their disguises). Yes, there were snaketits on the thread that announced this to /tg/. Yes, /d/ has drawn porn of them. Yes, it will be added to the gallery.

Moving on.

XCOM 2 also contains an in depth explanation for the aliens' motives that many fans felt was lacking or too ambiguous in Enemy Within. Apparently, the Ethereals have some kind of fatal disease they can't cure, so they've been trekking around the galaxy culminating genes to form the ultimate bodies for themselves, while amassing a genetically supreme army. When the Ethereals found humanity, they found their genes to be so awesome and powerful that just adding some of them to a lowly sectoid turned it from a pathetic 3' tall creature you could kill with basic weapons, to an 8' tall psionic rape machine that could raise the dead and withstand salvos of bullets to the face. They then set up an alien government on Earth so they could discretely process humanity's best genetic material and slowly form new bodies for themselves that don't die called Avatars. And by don't die, we mean have copious amounts of health, teleport every time they're injured, regenerate like crazy, are guaranteed to successfully mind control anything, and are immune to any of your psychic status abilities(ie: panic, disorientation, and mind control, you can still annihilate them with psionic fire). And the boss fight involves killing three of these dick-butts and an endless wave of alien reinforcements. Using human DNA is also where their ADVENT troops came from, they grew armies of human spliced with unspecified aliens to act as their public face to the humans. But humanity wins anyway, because humans are just that fucking awesome.

The game is also notable for abandoning the usual conditions for losing. The norm for the series is for your funding to get cut if too many countries lose faith in XCOM. Since you're fighting a guerrilla war and your support are humans fighting to survive outside the aliens' control zones, that isn't happening. Instead you lose if the aliens complete the Avatar Project, their goal to mass produce the bodies for the Ethereals. If they do you get treated to a scene of almost all resistance being crushed because the Avatars are dangerous enough in small numbers and an army of them would unstoppable. You can slow progress, but can only stop it by finishing the game.

So far there have been recently four DLCs for XCOM 2. "Anarchy's Children" added new customization features for your soldiers, most of which you wouldn't ever really use. "Alien Hunters" adds a new mission, weapons, and alien rulers who you have to hunt down. The alien rulers get to take an action every, single, time, one of your soldiers does(this is changed in war of the chosen,because firaxis realized it was bullshit). This is even more infuriating then it sounds. Some more customization options are added too. "Shen's Last Gift" adds another mission and the SPARK class soldier. SPARKs are robots you have to make in the proving ground. War of the Chosen finally allows players to add modifications to their guns, gave them better aim and a health boost. So now they're worth taking. If your Grenadier is injured or has low morale. While their weapons are much larger and more powerful-looking than the other squad specialized weapons, they don't do more damage than the regular specialized weapons. This is stupid, as an auto-cannon would naturally do much more damage than a 7mm Gatling Gun. They are also prohibitively expensive so you have no choice to do the mission if you want one for cheap. Optional mods have improved their balance to outright making them a super unit if you wish.

And here comes the fun part; if you read the developers blog, their idea of "balance" is to actually nerf plenty of stuff...so the game is harder after having a buffed-up alien lord chase your dudes all over the game. Was old-school really this hard?

You think that's bad, the end game unlocks second wave options, like increasing all Health by 50%, having your guys get worse as they get injured, have their stats rolled at random, so you can make the game even HARDER! Because dying is ''fun''.

Also be careful about which mods you add to the game. [[rage|As they can crash the game or corrupt your save.]] Unreal Engine 3.5 annoying stability issues as well. You read that correctly. [[Derp|It runs not one the latest version of ,but a modified version of Unreal Engine 3.]]

====XCOM 2: War of the Chosen====

This brand new expansion gives us three new allies to aid us.

*Reapers: Stealthy hunters who are armed with nothing but a rifle and explosives. It's enough. They wear [[Shadowrun|trench coats and gas masks]]. Have a special ability where they have a chance to not reveal themselves upon attacking. Enemies have vastly reduced detection ranges against Reapers, and Reapers can detonate explosives on the map without revealing themselves. They can also throw an environmental explosive. [[Dakka|They also have an ability that lets them shoot at an enemy until they run out of ammo.]] Long story short, these guys are only slightly less powerful than the Reapers from Mass Effect.

*Skirmishers: ADVENT defectors who are armed with a grappling hook that can pull them to a rooftop and pull themselves to the enemy or vice versa and at max level allows them to have the [[Awesome|alien rulers ability to gain action points every. Time. The. Enemy. Moves.]] Except it only works three times a turn, and doesn't trigger on non-move actions. [[fail|The game doesn't tell you this.]]

*Templars: [[Grey Knights|A resistance group made of only psionics]] that wield psi blades and machine pistols, but you'll probably never use those. They're fast, hard to kill, and hit like a brick. And like any good psi-based unit, they can fry their enemies with lighting from their hands. They're like the [[rip and tear]] half of the Ranger, but with psionic powers. They're also fantastically hammy and roll their Rs.

But these new allies come with a catch as you now have to fight the titular chosen who can adapt to your soldiers' abilities with their own strengths and weaknesses, and the Lost ([[tarpit|zombie swarms]]) that attack both you and ADVENT. Along with these new allies and enemies is trying to get the three resistance groups to work together, as well as a new fatigue and relationship system.

The faction leaders are voiced by actors from [[Star Trek|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]. [[Fail|They do pretty good job except for Marina Sirtis poorly performed lines.]] Good thing the game allows players to switch to a better voice for your first Reaper(and their other soldiers).

====Tactical Legacy Pack====

A mini expansion pack that adds 4 mini-campaigns detailing some of the adventures of Bradford and Lily Shen during the tumultuous days of ADVENT's takeover, adds new weapons to your WotC playthrough for each of these mini-campaigns you beat, allows you to choose between three soundtracks, (X-COM 1, X-COM 2, and Legacy Remixes), allows free access to all of the 100 challenges rather than the random daily challenge system, and even allows you to make your own challenge missions. Also has more than a full of bugs and oddities that needs to be fixed with workshop mods.

IT WAS Free until Dec 3rd, 2018, for all WotC owners. Though it's still a cheap buy at $7.99 on Steam.

=== XCOM: Long War ===

What, the new XCOM wasn't complicated enough for you? There's a mod called "Long War" which goes into lots more detail, a bit more like the classic game. Now, the aliens will advance their plans and escalate their forces and assaults based on their own progression system, and the game is rebalanced around the expectation that you will not succeed at every mission (and you won't -- the aliens are plenty tough to see to that).

=== XCOM: The Board Game ===

From [[Fantasy Flight Games]], there's a board game adaptation of XCOM (in fact, ''XCOM: Enemy Unknown'' was quite inspired by board games, with the two-actions-per-turn system instead of the old 'time units'). There's a companion app for smartphones, tablets, and computers which controls the aliens and informs players of events, a bit like a [[Game Master]], but without exposing the players to too much bookkeeping. Amazing what games can do with computers these days -- just imagine if such a thing had been available for [[FATAL]]! On second thought, don't.

Players (1-4) take on different roles in the XCOM organization. The Commander keeps an eye on the budget and allocates interceptors. The Chief Scientist directs research efforts. The Central Officer works the app and solicits input from the others (if there are any) to make decisions (many of which are time-critical). The Squad Leader manages troops and base defense. Together, they need to allocate their resources, judge when to push risky but rewarding avenues (inviting retribution from the aliens if they fail), and defend humanity. Like the games, successes are rare -- a die only has a 1/3 chance of coming up with a success, and tasks may need multiple successes. There is also an "enemy die", a [[d8]] that is rolled against the number of times that task has been attempted. If it rolls equal to or under that number, something bad happens. So, do you pool resources for critical tasks (neglecting anything else, and hoping that your priorities are correct), in order to most likely be successful before the threat level climbs too high? Or do you stay flexible but push your luck? Your call, commander.

=== XCOM 2: Long War 2 ===
If you thought XCOM 2 was ''already'' hard, thanks in part to the involvement of the original Long War modders in the game's development, said modders come back with a sequel mod for the game. Not only does this go even further than the first Long War in going into a lot of detail, such as new graphical touches, significant rebalancing and completely overhauling the global map to be more reminiscent of classic X-com. But the difficulty is amped up even more, with missions even requiring you to send in potentially fatal scouting parties to make sure your ''other'' squads don't die on the spot. Also, rather than launching parties directly into battle, missions spawn on the geoscape with an expiration timer. The player ''can'' launch immediately, but the enemy presence will be drastically increased! Instead, the idea is that the squad can spend time infiltrating, to let ADVENT get complacent and draw troops elsewhere. Having more Resistance folks working Intel increases mission expiration times, but the bigger and heavier the squad, the more infiltration time is required. And vice versa -- short-staffing a squad can allow a player to infiltrate to high percentages on short notice... but now you've only got like four guys on the ground, and that might not be enough firepower if activations go badly...

This mod requires dramatically more strategic thought and care. Weapons, armor, and equipment are all purchased individually, forcing you into decisions like 'do I continue the rollout of my newly available armor-piercing coilguns, or do I buy armor for the two rookies I've trained up?' and 'do I send my last seven man team to secure me an engineer, commit them to a long infiltration to wipe out an advent tower, or hold them in reserve for a better opportunity?' The difficulty is likewise much higher, but you have dramatically expanded options to combat it with special weapons, squad leaders, extra inventory slots packed with flashbangs, veteran troop skills, choosable bonus perks, a psi advancement training regime that makes some actual sense, and many, many more troops and mission opportunities. Minor reinforcement on that last one, in fact: in stock XCOM 2 you'll likely end the campaign with fewer than twenty soldiers, whereas here it's pretty common to have a hundred active-duty troopers at a time.

The Shinobi ([[Derp|all the Ninja IRL schools have closed up shop]]) is the most overpowered class. Making missions easier then they should be as he can [[derp|bypass Overwatch]] and has a very low impact on infiltration. Making missions unrealistic for players who hate RNG and want a pure stealth game.

The Devs of Long War have said there will not be making a Long War for War of the Chosen. As Firaxis added a ton of crap that would take years for Long War Studios to sift through it and make the mod playable. Also, they're making their own XCOM, so they wouldn't have the resources to do both anyways.

== The Bureau: XCOM Declassified ==
Despite having the name XCOM in the title, the game really has little relation to the series. The reason behind this is because 2K passed this game on to the lovely people that brought you Bioshock 2; meaning it was made by a studio that makes more or less decent games. It's supposed to be a prequel, set in the 1960s during the Cold War era. The protagonist, William Carter, was a CIA agent just delivering a suitcase of classified "documents" until an Outsider disguised as a female agent got ahold of it. Not long after that, an alien invasion commenced!

The Bureau is a RPG that plays like Mass Effect, but not as good for a variety of reasons. One reason is in the dialog scene, you're given choices of what to ask/say. They really don't impact the game, nor changes it for the most part, so you can skip a majority of it if you want to. The agents in your squad are pretty dull, sure you can change their names and how they dress, but really doesn't offer any friendship/foe engagements. If they die, you will need to recruit another agent and start him off from scratch, but really, leveling them up isn't fun and customizable, so just restart a checkpoint if they do die.

The agents in your squad have bad AI if you don't babysit them and give commands on what they should do, and their skills at fighting Outsiders are... Well, okay. The best they can offer is their abilities, so spamming them and you taking care of the killing is an effective way to go (Some recommend starters to start their first mission with a Recon to cause critical damage on certain enemies and a Commando for [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|taunting the grunts and make them easy picking for you]]).

There would be more to go on, but if you want to know more about the game, you can search up reviews of XCOM Declassified. In short, it's a decent prequel that fans can find some enjoyment, but it's not as good as Enemy Unknown. Without going into spoilers, there's also a reveal during the last few levels that's surprisingly meta and well-written. Still worth looking into if you can find it for cheap or rent it.

Interestingly enough, turns out that the universe in XCOM Declassified is the same as that of Enemy Unknown/Within's. After the events in The Bureau, all records were wiped. This explains why the player had to start from scratch at the beginning of Enemy Unknown. When the Ethereals of Unknown/Within spoke of their [[Derp|own failure to ascend,]] they really meant that they wanted to be like the Ethereals from The Bureau. Either way, only time will tell exactly [[Grimdark|what the hell they were preparing humanity for.]]

== Xenonauts ==

X-Com coded by [[Reasonable Marines]].

A faithful remake of the original, with time units and all that. Changes a few things (like lack of Psionics on your side) and adds vehicles (yes, blowing up half a building with a rocket jeep is awesome) and controllable dogfights. Basically the alien invasion is during the Cold War and makes everyone shit themselves simultaneously when THOUSANDS of spaceships are openly in orbit and fucks humanity's shit up in creative ways. Every day the UFO's are left wandering, news bulletins full of terror emanate from the screen, worrying you further.

The ending is very creative, particularly concerning the plot of how an inferior species can even bother to defeat a powerful empire. Stunningly well-made, desperate final mission which may result in a glorious ending, or a bittersweet ending where you still win but the assault team is martyred.

Other differences between it and the original include:

Maps are mostly pregenerated, not fully procedural.

Fewer weapon and ammo types. Seriously, you've got the big five (pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper, and LMG) and a rocket launcher. No variant ammo types, although the weapons do have researched tiers (which are simply damage-ups).<s> This means no unfairly powerful weapons like the Rape Launcher or the Stun Grenade Launcher.</s> There *are* a few super weapons but seriously, if you waste a "Singularity Generator" which is an ENTIRE CAPTURED BLACK HOLE (a hot commodity salvageable from alien battleships) for a 50 kilogram (without ammo) glorified grenade launcher that doesn't even one shot its AoE, you are a fucking moron.

More basic inventory control. You don't micromanage producing and storing individual missiles, and you can have as many magazines, grenades, and med-kits as you want, limited by carrying limit. You just build the alien-based laser or plasma gun, base gives you ammo made fashioned from a melted-down alien cells. (Alenium is basically a quantum-grade battery aliens came up with. Usually it powers the alien craft, you simply creatively salvage the spent ones into explosives because [[HFY]].)

Smaller team sizes. Max troop count on a mission is 12, with the best drop-ship.

Fewer oddball items, like the motion scanner or psi-ball, but there is now an assault shield, so your dudes don't immediately die when popping open a UFO. Said shield gets upgraded with Alien alloys, and even the final mission sees use of it. Trust me.

Rookies are better out of the gate, but are still shit compared to your colonels. Still, they have a decent chance of killing an enemy in a turn, doubly so if carrying a missile launcher. No longer to operatives miss the broad side of a barn. They *will* miss the spot but will still shake it badly.

Explosive weapons damage items, lowering the amount of money you receive from selling. This is for the best, because explosives are stupidly powerful and are probably the most reliable way of putting a fool down. Considering Reaper, the expy for Chyrssalids are even faster and crazier, you *are* going to need them.

Saveable, customizable loadouts for all of your troops, and obviously no engine-based limit on the amount of items you can bring into a mission.

Aliens don't really hide in corners or really hard to find spots, which makes flushing them out a lot easier. I said flushing out mind you, as they DO charge out and deal extremely serious amounts of damage before going down, to say nothing of teleporting aliens that burst fire in your face if they are lucky.

Troops remain vulnerable a lot longer. You are never at the point where you can float an invincible army of death-dealing demigods over a cowering cadre of snakemen, raining death and destruction down with maddened glee. Even if you do, weird aliens will teleport close and blow you out of the sky, or your flyer will fry a nerve from psionics.

Country relations are more important than after-mission loot.

You can kick or pistol whip an enemy to death. Cue surrounding an annoying alien marksman and beating him to death with riot shields.

You can call airstrikes to cancel boring UFO raids.

=== Xenonauts 2 ===

Now with 3D graphics! A demo is available through GOG.com, with the release planned to be <s>later in 2017</s> late 2018.

== UFO: Alien Invasion ==

The most detailed opensource version of XCOM based on the Quake 2 engine.

Buildings are not destructible and it doesn't have a great fog-of-war. It doesn't have unmanned vehicles like the current iterations and sadly doesn't have any sort of Chryssalids yet.

Has a better world map than any other XCOM in that you can fully explore it like google-earth, even showing ship movement on the globe in real time. The campaign is more forgiving in that it does not force you through Acts like Enemy Unknown where you can't possible keep everybody happy, or has nations constantly bitching at you for radar coverage like in Xenonauts. Instead you get to bid captured UFOs and give preference to unhappy nations that feel neglected or where you haven't been saving civilians frequently.

The camera is completely free in battlescape mode just like in Enemy Unknown, complete with zoom capabilities. Lots of different weapons, though you will find yourself a fool if you don't immediately start using alien weapons. Also levels tend to have more floors than other iterations, such as one mission in which you're going through an office building or another where you're entering a subway.

The only major problem with the game is that the smoke grenades are so overpowered your guys will be coming out of your drop ship like Snoop-Dogg out of his trailer. Otherwise you'll find aliens are more than happy to shower your guys with plasma from across the map.

After a general huge update smoke is now useless and aliens are much, MUCH more powerful.

Oh, and its free. Still, fuck it. Final version is broken, often locking the game, and developers have been keeping silent, the fucking FAGGOTS.

== Phoenix Point ==

A spiritual successor by Julian Gollop himself. As of the time of this edit, fully funded and in development with a hard-as-balls backer pre-alpha having been released. The basic idea is; some kind of strange virus has been dug up in the permafrost and has had two outbreaks so far, each escalating in severity. Now it's invading the land a third (and fatally final) time, most of humanity is gone (Partly cus of the virus, partly cus of WW3 happening during the second outbreak), and you must defend the survivors from both the creatures and each other, you poor sap.

The virus morphs all life into Lovecraftian horrors. Literally Lovecraftian; it is implied that [[H.P. Lovecraft|Howard the Great]] was inspired by ancient findings describing an outbreak of the same virus a few million years ago. It even came from Yuggoth. Humanity being humanity, there are several factions with drastically different ideas on how to deal with it; there is a faction based around a religion [[Genestealer Hybrids|worshipping the mutations that is also capable of retaining human consciousness despite said mutations]], another is [[Eclipse Phase| high-tech anarcho-communists trying to coexist with the virus and other factions]] while the third faction [[Starship Troopers|Is a high-tech PMC turned militaristic civilization with "Service Guarantees Citizenship" that just wants to destroy the virus and any of its sympathizers]].

So far, the game has managed to gather enough funding and reach one stretch goal for a floating base that will be given as FREE DLC, along with other stretch goals at a later date should the game be successful.

Expected; large bosses, your own mutated soldiers with crippleable limbs, the option of saving a group of people by [[Dawn of War II|landing on a giant creature and injecting it with poison]], Deep Lore, A hybrid of the old TU and new Two-Action system, unique tech trees for each faction (which you can also get in on by either allying with or stealing from them) and randomized global events (a la Crusader Kings 2).
Oh, and there are [[Flamer|flamethrowers]], Shoulder-Mounted missiles, power armor, gauss rifles and other goodies, such as a mutant mount for the cultist faction.

== XPiratez ==

What XCOM 2 was to XCOM: Enemy Within, XPiratez is to X-COM: UFO Defense. Made of pure [[Awesome|awesome]], you lead a crew of female mutants on a quest to kick ass, gain riches, and fuck bitches. A mod for OpenXcom, it's completely free and gets constant updates. Go check it out! Nothing's more satisfying than crushing a pureblood's head in with a sledge hammer and then mowing down his mates with your [[Dakka|custom Boarding gun]]. Basically, post XCOM defeat, humanity is a province in the alien empire, and a long, long time later, you lead a band of mutant female pirates living the pirate life, looting, capturing, ransoming, and eventually enslaving prisoners. More detailed, fanmade, with a morally darker atmosphere for the protagonist faction (apart from turning prisoners from human factions to slaves -miners for men, maids for females, and ahem..."squires" for shota younglings from Cult of Sirius), PirateZ offers a unique experience.

== The Tabletop Game ==

Yes, there was a Tabletop game, made by [[Fantasy Flight Games]], so this article has some direct /tg/ relevance. The problem is, [[Derp | you need a cell phone app to play it]].

==Aliens==
Needless to say, in this game, there are many different types of aliens that your teams are going to have to fight.

===Original Continuity===

====X-COM: UFO Defence====

'''Sectoid''': Doesn't matter what game, these guys are always the first things you face. They're not tough, but they are annoying, and the higher ranked ones (yes aliens have ranks, just like your guys in the old games) can and will successfully mind-control your guys all the fucking time.

'''Cyberdisk''': The original flying, metal pancake, these guys only show up supporting Sectoids. They can take an abusive amount of punishment, and deal it out just as much, before exploding when they are finally disabled. Expect to see your bullets passing over or under it all the fucking time.

'''Floater''': Changed significantly in the remake. Here they're a still mostly intact torso and abdomen mounted on a giant, floaty antigravity ball. They can't fly as freely as the ones in future versions, but they're far less suicidal, and prone to setting up ambushes.

'''Reaper''': Big, spiky dogs that appear alongside Floaters on terror missions. They're dumb as shit and only attack in melee making it easy enough to lure them out and turn your entire fire team against them. Now if that would actually kill them.

'''Snakeman''': Another basic type, these guys are easy pickings on any mission other than Terror Missions. Their autopsy states that they are stuffed full of fertilised eggs so take that "men" part with a grain of salt.

'''Chryssalid''': And these are the reason you'll hate Snakemen on terror missions. They bring Chryssalids with them. Twelve foot tall murder bugs that kill people, plant their eggs into them, turn them into shuffling zombie, which hatch into new Chryssalids unless killed, ''quickly''. Unlike the remake these guys can take a beating, and it's entirely possible to have an entire squad with laser weapons and repeating grenade launchers hit one of these bastards with every shot, and it'll still be standing at the end. You see one of these things, you do not let your squad break apart or approach blind corners.

'''Muton''': As always the aliens' equivalent to your guys, except they're better armoured (despite wearing goofy green jumpsuits), better armed, and just better being as they're not the best janitors all the world's militaries have to offer. Mutons don't have Psionics on their side, so if you want to play with them bringing along your Psi Specialist is a good idea, otherwise they're going to take an absurd amount of punishment to put down. A superhuman grade Muton can take a block of High Explosive to the chest and come out shooting, so bring the plasma, and bring enough it of for a small city block.

'''Celatid''': One of the two terror units found alongside Mutons, it looks like nothing more than a floating kidney bean. It's small, it's fast, and it has the most damaging non-High Explosive attack in the game, which becomes even more destructive against non-armoured targets like your rookies, or civilians. Thankfully this attack works on a lobbed arc so its range is severely nerfed down to 7 tiles, but out in the open that goes up to 16 tiles, and it can attack up to three times in a turn if it doesn't have to move.

'''Silicoid''': The second terror unit that is deployed alongside Mutons, and the most useless alien unit in the game. It crawls along at a speed of 8 tiles a turn, has no ranged attacks, and triggers reaction fire from even the worst of your guys allowing you to use it as a reaction fire training sponge, especially if you use Incendiary rounds as it will not take any damage from fire or incendiary rounds, but your guys will still gain experience. High Explosives work well against it.

'''Ethereal''': Far different from the remake game, Ethereals are packing heat in conjunction with their insane Psi abilities. These cloaked bastards can fly, will rain plasma fire down on your squad, spot for their allies to make their job easier, and at the end of it all, they'll mind control or panic the ragged remains of your squad. Kill them as quickly as you can, preferably from long distance with a Blaster Launcher.

'''Sectopod''': Giant metal murder toads. These guys aren't actually robots, although they come close, they are intact Remote Control murder mechs for the ethereals so that they don't have to get close to you while they turned you into plasma fried Kentucky X-COM rookie. The scary thing about these guys is just how much punishment they seem to take, even from late game weapons; however if you can target their rear armour, and bring laser weapons (which deal x1.5 damage against these guys) you'll be laughing all the way to the ICU. Of course this is going to make your prospects against their Ethereal controllers far, far worse, but hey-ho, win some, lose some.

====Terror From The Deep====

IA, IA, CTHULHU FATAGN

'''Aquatoid''': Genetically, and surgically slap gills and flippers onto a Sectoid, et Voila! You have an Aquatoid. Their commanders still have the Psionic abilities of their land locked cousins, but they call it Molecular Control, because they're fancy like that.

'''Gillman''': Apparently an earth creature, these creatures from the black lagoon were around when DINOSAURS ROAMED THE EARTH!, and submitted to the aliens when they arrived the first time round. They make for 'poor' soldiers (although this being TFTD that just means their only better than your guys by a factor of 1 or so, and not 3) and can take a bit of punishment from basic weaponry, although by the time you get Sonic weaponry, they start dropping like wheat before the scythe. Taking one of these guys in alive, and dead is critical to researching melee weapons (???), and accessing the final mission. So get catching.

'''Lobsterman''': An organic Sectopod, these guys will walk off whatever you throw at them, and then strike back with extreme prejudice. Ironically though they're mostly weak to stunning weapons, making tasers, and stun grenades the best weapon to use against them if you've got them. If you don't, well you can always use drills to pierce their hides, or hope that the tiny plinking of your harpoons cause them to laugh themselves to death.

'''Tasoth''': A clone vat species based off of humanoid velociraptors, these guys would be awesome, if they were on your side. As they are not, they are assholes. In combat they function as Ethereal lite's, unable to fly, and not quite as psionically potent, they make up for this by having much more physical strength, health, and durability.

'''Bio-Drone''': A brain-in-a-jar mounted on a super speaker. Electrical impulses torture the brain and use its screams (without vocal chords, don't ask me) to project a wave of hyper-condensed sound which will melt the victim's brain inside their head. Noise Marines might have stolen this idea for their Doom Siren. Grimdark as fuck because often the brains are made of kidnapped civilians.

'''Calcinite''': A Gelatinous green goop inside an old school diving suit, it might be possible to mistake this thing for one of your guys while you're underwater, but they remain fully suited up while on land, so the helmet is a good indicator. They lack any ranged attacks, and will instead try to run up and claw your agents face off, to add to this, their antique diving suits are tougher than your guys starting body armour (WHY?), nonetheless any weapon will put them down.

'''Deep One''': You'd think this would be the perfect place for some Cthulhu monstrosity, but sadly no. These guys are more "The Fly" than anything else. Humans that have been captured, tortured, and then surgically and genetically altered to become alien shock troops, the only original bit of their humanity left is their eyes. Their primary ranged attack is an arcing electrical burst (which is treated as a Gauss weapon for damage types) which allows them to fire over walls and other obstacles so nowhere is safe.

'''Hallucinoid''': Giant electrical jellyfish. The aliens keep on taking earth creatures and turning them into weapons of war. Although choosing jellyfish may have been a... poor decision. These things aren't particularly aggressive, preferring to just gently float into range when they can be bothered, rather than hunting your agents down. Unfortunately they're still tough enough to weather the storm of fire that their slow approach allows you to unleash on them, and their melee attack is devastating.

'''Tentaculat''': BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T BE A X-COM GAME WITHOUT CHRYSSALIDS, NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL THEM. THEY CAN FLY NOW SO HAVE FUN! (appearance is directly identical to Grell from [[Dungeons & Dragons]])

'''Triscene''': A mother-fucking T-REX! The aliens brought back a T-Rex, slung two sonic cannons onto its sides, and let it loose in battle. These guys are the sectopods of TFTD, without the sectopod's weaknesses. However they have one glaring flaw, which is they have no under armour, and one well placed grenade will severely hurt them, or outright kill them if powerful enough.

'''Xarquid''': An overgrown Nautilus that swims in reverse, the things act like sniper tanks, preferring to sit in one corner of the map, usually several levels up, and snipe your squad from a safe distance. Other than the reaction fire you'll inevitably take when hunting these things down, they're not particularly dangerous, just use cover and explosives if they're on the ground, or get underneath them and take out their weak underbelly.

====X-COM: Apocalypse====

'''Brainsucker''': Because Facehugger was already taken. Why is the first alien you encounter in this game another GOD-DAMNED CHRYSSALID? FOR FUCK'S SAKE! These guys are fairly weak, and can be dealt with simply in RT mode, in TB however, their movement speeds enough to take them from outside your field of vision and into attack range, considering that their melee attack is a one hit kill keep enough time units back for reaction fire.

Multiworm

Hyperworm

Chrysalis

Anthropod

Psimorph

Spitter

Megaspawn

Popper

Skeletoid

Micronoid Aggregate

Queenspawn

Overspawn

===Reboot Continuity===

The reboot continuity has its own array of different monsters, with some changes in variety between the first and second game.

====X-COM Enemy Unknown / Enemy Within====

'''Sectoid''': Tiny little grey men in the first game, these are the first Psionic enemy you'll meet, with the ability to boost each other in combat. This can be rather nasty giving them an extra hit point and a +10 to hit and dodge, although if you kill the booster, you'll kill whatever Sectoid they're boosting as well thanks to Psychic feedback.

'''Sectoid Commander''': Only in the first game, these guys are Sectoids on psychic steroids. You'll see one on the tutorial mission and get a taste of what they can do, even if you don't fight it. They're stronger, tougher, and more psionically powerful than the basic sectoid, and are the first unit that can possess your guys mid-firefight.

'''Thin Man''': Apparently an "Infiltrator Unit" nobody (other than the Ethereals) would mistake these guys for human at close distance as they have snake scales running up their necks, and are skinny enough to make a supermodel jealous. Apparently they were made from genetically modifying Snake-women as they can spit clouds of poison at great distance, and will explode into one when they're killed. Otherwise they're real flimsy.

'''Muton''': How you know the aliens are stepping up their game. Everything up till now has been child's play (for a particularly psychotic child), then these guys come along. Big, tough, cunning, brutal, and dangerous, these guys will mulch a squad equipped with regular weapons and armour without breaking a sweat, and capturing one of these guys alive brings one of the better upgrades. Have fun.

'''Muton Berserker''': Ha, ha, ha. These girls are melee monsters, capable of soaking up bullets by the magazine, and slowly getting angrier and angrier as they do. If they can get in close they'll unleash the melee hurt, but thankfully they're not amazingly fast. Thankfully, their instinctive charge of the last person who shot them means you can set them up to run a gauntlet of Overwatch fire, with a bit of luck.

'''Muton Elite''': As much health as the Berserkers, plus armor, and lacking the berserk charges. Instead, they carry heavy plasma cannons.

'''Floater''': Apparently reject Mutons, stripped down to an upper torso and fitted up with cybernetic implants, mainly a jetpack. They're your first hint that the aliens may not be one big happy family, as they have an idle animation consisting of them ripping at their flesh and bionics until blood spurts. They're basically the fastest unit in the game, great Overwatchers, and pack about as much punch as a standard Muton. They have a special ability that sacrifices all their actions for the turn to instead fly to any single spot on the map, which they love to use to get the drop on your team.

'''Heavy Floater''': A tougher, armored version of the standard Floater, with a bigger gun. Basically just replace floaters in the late game to keep them competitive, but they've got no new tricks up their sleeves.

'''Outsider''': Strange "digital" lifeforms that serve as the technicians of the alien forces. You need to capture one of these in order to advance the game. They're wimpy, but their light plasma rifles are deadly accurate, so they can gun down whole teams if you're careless.

'''Sectopod''': The aliens' equivalent of a tank; an enormous, heavily armored killer robot with insanely high health, high armor, a 50% damage reduction ability with the Enemy Within expansion, and the ability to blaze away with both a fuck-off huge laser and to launch showers of cluster bombs. They also blow up when you kill them. Your most hated enemy.

'''Cyberdisk''': A ridiculously fast flying robot that can shapeshift between a flying saucer-like flight-mode (in which it's harder to hit) and its unfurled combat mode. Not quite as killy as the sectopod, but still really adept at ruining your day.

'''Drone''': Small flying robots that basically zip around like laser-spitting wasps. They don't do much damage, but they can repair mechanical aliens and they explode like a grenade when killed. And they're extra-hard to hit, for added nuisance factor.

'''Chryssalid''': An absolute fucking nightmare, just like the original series. These bugs are lightning fast, vicious, and if they kill anyone they'll automatically plant an egg in the corpse, which will turn into a zombie before hatching a new chryssalid three turns later. And these zombies are tough enough to weather several turns of shooting. One of the standout points of Enemy Within is a pre-baked mission where you get to investigate a whaling ship that crashed ashore in Newfoundland after being infested by Chryssalids who turned the catch into their personal hive. Your job is to first investigate the area, and then light the place up for your bombers so they can carpet bomb the place into fire and rubble, running your squad away the whole time.

'''Ethereal''': The leaders of the alien forces, physically frail but masters of [[psionics]], which they can use to ''really'' fuck up your day.

'''Seeker''': A relatively weak squid-like robot that uses camouflage to sneak up on its prey and then tries to crush it to death with its tendrils. They like to go after isolated members of your squad, which can be used to bait them into going after Assault troopers with Close Combat Tactics for hilarious effects.

'''Mechtoid''': An armored exoskeleton piloted by a sectoid, carrying twin plasma mini-cannons. Sectoids can use their mind merge ability to give a layer of shielding to mechtoids; killing the sectoid removes the shield and causes some damage to the mechtoid.

====X-COM 2 / War of the Chosen====

'''ADVENT'''

The end results of what the Ethereals want to do with humanity. Puppet soldiers controlled by a series of psionically linked chips that feed back to command nodes. It's stated that the commander was supposed to be one of these before XCOM manages to rescue him in the tutorial mission.

*'''Trooper''': The grunts, they come in three flavours, with increasing HP, Dodge, and Accuracy. Challenging only in numbers, and then only thanks to the fact that a shot will hit you at some point, and they can take fire away from the actual threats.

*'''Officer''': These guys aren't a threat on their own, however they can Holo-Target one of your guys for free, granting their allies a +10 to hit against that soldier. either take out everyone around them, or take them out, before that becomes a problem.

*'''Shield-Bearer''': The most annoying ADVENT type in the base game, these guys can pop a shield that gives every ADVENT and Alien soldier in range +3 or +5 temporary HP. Combined with their armour these guys can take a licking and keep on ticking. Taking them out will drop the shield on everybody else, so they should be a target priority otherwise the fight is going to take far longer than it should. They also kinda look like Robocop so they have that going for them.

*'''Stun-Lancer''': Melee focused, these guys are noticeable by the fact they were far less armour than any other ADVENT soldier. They'll charge forwards if in range, and attempt to stun your guys for a turn with their Melee beatsticks. Otherwise they've just got regular ADVENT Rifles.

*'''Priest''': Introduced in WotC, these guys are the ADVENT Psions, they can boost another ADVENT soldier, much like Sectoids could in Enemy Unknown (and like that game if you kill the priest the soldier will suffer psionic feedback and die), or they can put one of your guys in Stasis for a turn, preventing them from doing anything. Advanced and Elite priests have additional tricks that allow them to Mind-Control your guys, and place themselves in Stasis if they would be killed, instead staying around with 1 HP for another turn.

*'''Purifier''': Flamethrower wielding ADVENT troops that only appear in WotC. The guys are kept "secret" from the public (despite that fact they can appear in any mission if the RNG says so) as they are supposed to hunt down and kill the lost in the old, abandoned cities. As stated they use flamethrowers, alongside incendiary grenades, and when you kill them there's a good chance they will explode, so don't kill them with melee unless you want to lose your eyebrows. Although that can lead to some hilarious chain reactions if you're lucky.

*'''General''': Only appears in assassination missions in WotC. Essentially just a beefed up Officer with a shit ton of HP, and the ability to throw Flash-Bangs.

*'''MEC / Heavy MEC''': The first truly heavy ADVENT Unit. These things come with an absurd amount of HP for the early game, and multiple armour pips. They're not particularly smart however and do not use cover at all, instead relying on their durability to weather your shooting so take advantage of this. Remember not to bunch your guys up as they have a shoulder mounted missile launcher that they will use on your guys if they're clustered together. MECs can also use suppression at the end of their turn if they can't target a group. The Heavy MEC is just tougher and more accurate, you can think your way through this fight. The best way to deal with them is hacking or anti-machine equipment such as EMP rounds and grenades.

*'''Turrets / Heavy / Superheavy''': It's a turret. What more do you want? They have some armour and a decent amount of HP, but they can't move, and are fairly easy to hack to your side. If all else fails tossing a frag grenade at it is a guaranteed kill. As they are never encountered on the ground and will almost always be mounted on top of buildings. With few exceptions.

*'''Sectopod''': The final, and toughest ADVENT unit. It's just as much of a nightmare as it was in the first game. With the ability to shoot and enter overwatch, extend its legs to give itself a height advantage while standing on the ground, and use a charged-up laser blast that will kill anyone it hits. When they are finally defeated it will explode. Likely killing or injuring any unit for months next to them. As with any robotic unit they can be hacked by a properly specced specialist, although its nearly impossible to turn these guys to your side, so settle for stunning them for several turns. Anti mechanical weapons and equipment a must for defeating Sectopods if you don't have Plasma Weapons.

'''Aliens'''

*'''Sectoid''': Tougher than you remember due to the infusion of human DNA. Now have the ability to resurrect dead troopers - yours and ADVENT - as zombies, and all sectoids from the get-go can lay a mind whammy on your troops, randomly panicking, disorientating or controlling them.

*'''Chryssalid''': Because why the fuck wouldn't the Ethereals keep their most effective terror weapon. These guys have changed from scuttling horrors to burrowing, venomous, scuttling horrors, capable of turning anyone they kill, either with their venom or their claws into a slowly metamorphosing cocoon that, if it reaches maturity, will spit out '''THREE''' new chryssalids, because Firaxis hates you. They are rendered mostly harmless by being set on fire, so if you think you're going to run into them bring incendiary rounds, fire bombs, and hell weave vests.

*'''Viper''': The most famous of the new aliens because they look like [[serpentfolk|humanoid snake-women]] with [[furry|nice tits and a sweet pair of hips]]. Appear pretty early in the game; not much tougher than sectoids, but quite annoying. They can drag you out of cover with their tongue whip attack, spew toxic clouds like the Thin Men, and strangle you in melee like a Seeker. These gals represent the true form of the Thin Man alien from the last game.

*'''Andromedon''': One of the cooler new alien designs, it could almost have been ripped out of the old X-COM series. It looks like a combination of an old diving suit and an iron lung, filled with green sludge, and a single pickled alien who apparently needs that sludge to live. When you kill it the first time the suit reboots and come to life by itself, dropping its heavy plasma cannon and charging into melee. In its first form, an Andromedon is a tough customer, with more armour & health than a Muton while packing the same firepower. In its second form it will only ever try to hit you with its fists, but it leaves behind trail of acidic and poisonous sludge that hurts your guys if they try to move through it (because jumping isn't a thing, despite the ability to haul yourself up drainpipes) which makes navigating the battlefield a hassle, especially in densely packed urban missions. Thankfully their second form will be easier to deal with. As these Powered Armor wearing little shits will Overwatch to hamper squad mobility and toss Acid Bombs at [[your_dudes]] if not killed ASAP.

*'''Faceless''': A new enemy that should only appear in Terror Attack missions. Shapeshifters that look like ordinary humans until your troops get too close, then they turn into ''fucking huge'' moaning melted-wax men with claws the length of shotguns. Can take quite a beating and will literally tear down houses to get at your troops. They can be seeded in regular missions if you pull the Dark Event that allows them to mingle with the regular citizens during missions. Isn't that lovely.

*'''Muton''': Remaining as the ethereal's shock infantry, these Mutons have apparently been crossbred with humanity, making them smaller, faster, and deadlier. Apparently, they're smarter too, but considering just how badly the A.I can flub up sometimes, you have to wonder about that. They aren't packing any more HP, but they're now armoured, so they'll soak up more damage unless you can shred their armour with heavy weapons and explosives. They'll still be a threat until you get Plasma weapons, and 3rd tier armour, but once you're there, they pretty much become chaff beneath the scythe. They also like tossing grenades if they don't have a direct line of sight on your troops. Along with the ability to use suppression if a Muton can't get into melee. Making them an annoyance well into the late game.

*'''Berserker''': Now visually more distinct from the regular muton instead of just having a fancy costume. Still the same extremely tough melee combatants with the same instinctive berserker charge. Apparently, these are actually the muton ''women''. Gives a whole new meaning to the term [[amazon]], huh?

*'''Codex''': A replacement for the Outsider, but far more annoying. The Codex first appears when you Skulljack an ADVENT officer, and it looks like a weirdly sexy woman made of pure energy, but with a cybernetic brain & spinal column. They can teleport around the battlefield, and when struck by an attack that fails to kill them, they split into two Codexes with half of their remaining health. They can also create temporary zones of energy that suck all the ammo out of your guns, and then close with deadly force. Naturally you want Snipers or Magnetic/Plasma Weapon chain attacks to kill them quickly. Which you should have by the time of encountering them. Unless of course you rush the skull-jack out in your first run, and get one of these while you still have conventional weapons, in which case... have ''fun''.

*'''Specter''': Another WotC specific enemy. These guys look like the Codex if they were made out of Necron Scarabs rather than pure energy. It's fitting too as they are a collection of Psionic nanobots that can grab your guys, stun them, and create a shadowy doppelgänger with all of your guy's skills and gear, and none of their bad luck. Thankfully killing the Specter will also kill this doppelganger and bring your guy back into the fight, but if you're not ready losing a guy and the enemy gaining that guy can turn the tides right back against you. Oddly, attacks that harm biological targets without requiring a will test can harm the Specter.

*'''Gatekeeper''': A giant, floating, psionic ball. No, we're not joking. For all the goofiness of trying to summarise this thing, it's a shockingly vicious threat. That big metal ball containing a psionic powerhouse in the shape of several fleshy tentacles, which if it gets close will shed its armour, and proceed to bitchslap your soldiers into the ground. And you'll want it to do this because it has 4/5 pips of armour that need to be shredded away depending on difficulty. It also has the ability to mind control your guys, raise the dead, and fire an insanely powerful laser beam, and it'll try to use cover despite being a 2x2 giant, floating, metal, psychic ball of doom. One of them is are always encountered during the Psi Gate and will likely be the first time seeing them. As a final FU, when killed they explode with a blast that will reach all tiles around them, heavily wounding or outright killing any of your squad next to them. So melee units should be kept far away unless they're a fully upgraded Templar. Hilariously these tiny Eldritch Abominations can be mind controlled by Psi Operatives. Another way of dealing with them is using explosives and heavy weapons that shreds their armor. These would be the first targets to use Frost Grenades on if you encounter them early in the maps. You should have Magnetic or Plasma Weapons by the time Gatekeepers start showing up or they will be nearly impossible to defeat.

*'''Archon''': So someone in the Aliens' side realized that having a heavily mutilated torso mounted on jetpacks, which actively tore at its implants and constantly mounted suicide charges so it could be put out of its misery was bad for PR, so they replaced the Floaters with these guys. They look almost angelic, and their design incorporates a lot more white and gold and less obviously chop-shop cybernetics. The nigh-constant pain going away has made them far smarter too. They still like to jump around the battlefield, but now they can also use a new ability called Blazing Pinions to rain rockets down on your guys after a turn's delay and will actually take advantage of cover.

*'''Avatar''': The Ethereals' plans are revealed when you discover these creatures. Avatars are genetically engineered lifeforms created from the genes of the most psi-capable humans, crafted to house the essence of the Ethereals, whose own bodies are breaking down irrevocably. Extremely tough, powerful psionics, kill on sight. The Commander gets one of his own at the end of the game. This is because they plugged him/her into their psionic network and never bothered to remove or change anything after XCOM recovered them. [[Fail|As the Ethereals are really quite stupid despite claiming to be a superior race.]] While lacking the full skill set of the Psi Operative. They have useful abilities. Their equivalents doing more damage or allowing multiple uses of mind control. Avatars also come with a pretty cool gun that ignores armor values and can be acquired through modding.

'''The Alien Rulers''':
If you played the previous game, you may have been wondering: "what happened to Dr. Valen?" Well, the first DLC for XCOM 2, "Alien Hunters" reveals that she went off and set up her own base in an abandoned alien genetics lab, where her experiments in undoing the genetic suppressants on three cryogenically suspended subjects created three amped-up alien variants so powerful that the Ethereals couldn't control them. Great work, doc! Alien Rulers have a huge health bar and many unique abilities, but one of their more bullshit traits is that they get a free turn in reaction to ''every'' action your troops take. The best way to deal with is using Venom Bombs that damages them every turn and prevents them from taking an action. Along with abilities that allow your troops to take use multiple attacks that count as one action. Something you should have before facing them in mid to late game. Because fuck these guys. While you could choose to face them as early as your first Blacksite mission in WotC. Doing so means missing out on controlling Bradford and seeing his gun with [[cheese|every possible upgrade in action.]] The only real way to use it outside of the Alien Ruler introduction mission and the Tactical Legacy Pack is through using game mods.

*'''The Viper King:''' The only male Viper in existence, this creature shows why the Ethereals removed the male gender from the viper species with how rampantly he set about fertilizing every female viper he could encounter, filling an entire base with a huge array of hatchling vipers you have to fight through. His unique abilities allow him to spit a freezing gas instead of the normal venom. The weakest of the Alien Rulers, the Viper King is usually the first one you encounter. If you manage to tag 'n' bag Subject Gamma, you can turn his carcass into a unique Spider Suit, the Serpent Suit, that can scare the scales off of normal vipers and lash out with freezing whips.

*'''The Berserker Queen:''' Even bigger and scarier than normal Berserkers, Subject Beta can not only unleash a howl that can panic your whole squad, but is equipped with cybernetically integrated hammers she can use to create earthquakes. From her carcass, you can build the R.A.G.E Suit, which not only terrifies mutons and berserkers, but lets your trooper make a berserker-style charge attack themselves.

*'''The Archon King''': Subject Alpha is the nastiest Alien Ruler in the game, and has the most health. His special attack "Devastate" is a version of Blazing Pinons (the Archon's "shower an area with rockets" ability) that does less damage, but which can also disorient, stun and knock unconscious. Worse, it hits on the next Ruler Reaction, meaning you have no chance to get away from it the way you do from Blazing Pinions. He also has a unique attack where he grabs a trooper, hauls them into the air, and then power dives them into the floor. If you can take down this asshole, his corpse can be refashioned into the Icarus Armor, a superior Warden Armor suit that grants the Vault ability and the ability to pull off the Archon's "move to any point on the map you wish" twice per mission. Give it to your best Sniper. As this allows them to keep up with the rest of the squad and find the nearest vantage point.

'''The Chosen''':
The new Dragons aka Second in Command below the Ethereals. Coming with a bunch of BS abilities that can wreck your troops at lower levels. You also want to find their base ASAP as they gain upgrades through the game like you do and can hurt your income. Getting their OP shit is also a nice bonus.

When first encountered they'll attempt to stun and capture one of your troops. If they appear during a Blacksite mission, The Chosen AI will just straight up murder a squad member. [[Rage|Despite the game not giving hints to this change in behavior.]] So if you're counting on manipulating their AI into kidnapping a soldier who is near death during those missions. The Chosen will just slaughter your squad like the rest of Advent. Because all bets when are off when your trying to kill mommy? and/or err daddy? Shklee? Maybe?
Thankfully, the game rolls to give them permanent weakness, along with an arch enemy who will deal extra damage to a Chosen among the new Hero classes. They will also roll for one immunity and a special ability, though the immunities are things that many players will hardly ever use against a boss regardless. The special power can either be meh, or fuck you right over. Good thing for the player the summoning powers are mutually exclusive and can't gain strengths that counter most of their weaknesses.

They can also be countered by researching Mindshields, your own (fully upgraded) Psi operatives and the buffed Sparks. When you have the latter two the Mindshields are redundant as the last two are right out immune to being stunned and mind controlled. Too bad there aren't new lines for a Spark with Julian's voice. As hearing a GlaDOS expy with the attitude of Bender snark back at The Chosen would have been hilarious.

*'''The Assassin''': The first of the Chosen you'll meet if you're playing the "Lost and Damned" mission to introduce yourself to the new mechanics introduced in WotC, the Assassin is a dark reflection of the Ranger class. The biggest [[Weeaboo|weeb]] in all of Advent. She attacks mostly with her Katana (although she does have a rarely used shotgun called Arashi, and you'll thank the programmers she rarely uses it), striking out of concealment to stun one of your guys (Who you'll then have to revive or risk them getting kidnapped), before running away. In the same turn. Because the Bad Guys get to move, shoot, move, but the player doesn't get nice things. To top this all off she's immune to overwatch so you either have to try and escape from the current mission, or take the fight back to her just as hard. Oh yeah, and avoid bunching your guys up, or she will stun half the squad at a time with an area of effect special attack, but don't get too spread out or you won't be able to revive stunned soldiers before she kidnaps them. Thankfully, her concealment works by the same rules as yours, and it'll break if one of your guys flanks her, so if you've got a good idea of where she is, you can move someone in to reveal her, and then light her up with the rest of the squad. To make her easier to deal with make sure to take a Specialist with Scanning Protocol. After killing The Assassin you can build Arashi and her Katana. Though many will find her Katana redundant after they have tier 3 Axes and late game Templars.

*'''The Hunter''': While you would expect a roided up [[Space Wolves|Craven the Hunter cosplaying furfag]] by name alone. He is instead a more or less a [[Vindicare|hit man armed with a pistol and sniper rifle]] with an Affably Evil personality. He's also known to have team killed some of the weaker Advent aliens when he got bored. Unlike his siblings he outright admits that he is a psychopath who likes killing things. The Hunter's abilities are a bit mundane compared to the other Chosen. While still being effective none the less. His Tracking Shot can aim at your troops from the other side of the map, and if they don't move he will kill them the next. This makes mind controlling Advent and hacking MECs for recon useful for once. He also come with a grappling hook with no cool-down, stun grenades and pistol tranq shots that never miss. So don't be stupid and send in a lone Reaper. Even if he rolls them as a weakness. As they don't put out enough damage to out snipe him and will end up killed or captured instead. His Sniper rifle Darklance and pistol Darkclaw are obviously weapons that are meant for your Snipers. So Reapers can't use it.

*'''The Warlock''': Probably the most dangerous of The Chosen, if you don't have Mindshields. If you do he's about as dangerous as the final boss of the game. If you don't he's damned near impossible as he'll mind control your entire squad a once. Otherwise he'll summon waves of exploding spectral zombies, or psionic copies of Stun Lancers. On his direct offense he has a buffed up plasma rifle that will do extra damage to psionics (i.e. your Psi Operative and Templar), a mind bullet that will split off to affect up to two additional targets, and the ability to teleport his own allies into flanking positions. Sometimes his AI does some stupid shit such as teleporting an Advent next to him. Bonus points if said Advent is the target your supposed to kill during the mission. Once you get his Disruptor rifle, it has every possible upgrade in the game. Though only Rangers, Psi-Operatives and Specialist can take it. A waste on the latter two as by the time you get it. Their late game abilities and equipment make giving them a 3.5 tier weapon redundant.

'''The Lost'''

*'''Regular''': Introduced in WotC, these are the zombie horde style enemies of the game. They have a unique mechanic where if you kill one, you get a free action point to continue killing. A soldier with decent Aim, an auto-loader, and an extended mag can decimate entire swarms if lucky.

*'''Dasher''': Faster, and with slightly more HP (4-5, as opposed to 2-3) these guys aren't exactly more of a threat than the regular lost. They're just more likely to pull off a successful ambush.

*'''Brute''': These guys have a lot of HP for a Lost, and can actually deal some melee punishment, and will start coming out in decent numbers by endgame. Then again, by endgame you'll have the best weapons and armour, so once again... only really a threat if you're unlucky, and there's a lot of them.

== See Also ==

*[[X-Com Play By Post]], experimental rules for playing X-Com on a forum.
*[[XCOM: Tomorrow's War edition]], a conversion of [[Tomorrow's War]] for playing X-Com on the tabletop.

== Gallery ==
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== External Links ==

* [http://ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page UFOpaedia.org], a wiki dedicated to X-COM (and sequels, and mods, etc.).
* [http://openxcom.org/ Open Source engine for the original game]
* [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=269&enmi=XCOM:%20The%20Board%20Game Fantasy Flight Games's official X-COM game.]
* [http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/88/? Long War main page.]
* [http://ufoai.org/wiki/About UFO: Alien Invasion]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BqoEJUWKVRFSKXOA2Ks3Ce7Kvphmg0kAFKcuXJHgmr0/mobilebasic?pli=1 Things X-COM operatives are not allowed to do], a list in the vein of Mr. Welch's list. Occasionally hilarious
* [https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=5026.0] A 40k mod for openxcom NO idea as to why it hasn't shown up here.
[[category:Video Games]]
[[Category:Software]]

XCOM

2019-01-05T12:23:19Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* XCOM 2 */

{{/vg/}}
{{Oldschool}}

[[Image:Xcom_2.png|thumb|right|]]

This is a [[Dan Abnett|rare treat]]. '''X-COM''', or as it's called across the pond, ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' (It was released as XCOM in North America, it was ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' literally everywhere else) is a turn-based strategy game that is, to put it simply, about as close to a game of [[Dark Heresy]] as one can get in isometric 3D. Note that X-COM is significantly older than [[Dark Heresy]], and older than all but the first edition of [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], so it'd be better to say [[Dark Heresy]] is a lot like X-COM on the tabletop. Dating back to the much-lamented Microprose, it set a gold standard for atmosphere and playability that has, frankly, not been breached in ages.

The game is [[Dwarf Fortress|old as balls]] and in isometric view, which, paired with the Dark Heresy similarities, makes it more /tg/ material than /v/.

==A General Gist==

A general synopsis is that in [[grimdark|the not-so-distant future, there is war - and aliens]]. Aliens are arriving, and they are most assuredly hostile. It falls upon the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or the eponymous X-COM, a multi-national task-force, to deal with the invasion by blasting the fuck out of the Aliens, stealing their shit, researching their technology, and using it to fucking kill them off, all the while fighting off terror attacks and trying to figure out where in Uranus these fucking things are coming from (as it turns out, from Mars, and if you win, the final mission involves you going to Mars and dropping an [[Exterminatus]] on their asses).

It kicked ass. It was good enough to spawn a sequel, ''Terror From The Deep'', which was basically the same game, but underwater and infinitely harder. Story-wise, the destruction of the Martian base activated a fail-safe in the aliens' system that woke up T'leth, their 'secondary' (and mobile) base buried deep under the seas of Earth. X-Com now again must protect the people while finding out about where exactly T'leth is and go in to blast it to smithereens with extreme prejudice. It was hard. Really hard. Not only do aliens have a major advantage technology-wise at the start and they tear through your recruits with impunity, but later in the game when you catch up they start using a nasty trick to take control of your troopers, leading to sometimes hilarious and [[rage|extreme rage-inducing]] turn one [[TPK]]s as your heavy weapon trooper gets controlled and fires his heavy weapon inside the transport while the team is busy disembarking. Oh, and did we mention that the only way to research the best armour in the game was to capture a live specimen of a rarely-appearing alien? And that to capture a live specimen you had to send a poor redshirt in armed with an oversized cattleprod to stun it in close quarters? And that said alien was [[rip and tear|able to tear a human apart effortlessly]] in close quarters? And (as if all that wasn't bad enough already), that the poor redshirt then had to pick up and to carry the damn unconscious thing back to the human ship praying [[rape|that the specimen didn't wake up with a grudge before he got there and the mission ended]]? Yeah, it was kinda like that.

It then spawned a second, somewhat different but still appreciated sequel, ''X-Com Apocalypse''. Destruction of T'leth fucked up Earth's biosphere and humanity retreated to quickly built mega-arcologies to survive. Unlike the two first game, there's a bigger political aspect to things as you have not only to make sure you deal with the damn aliens coming to fuck your shit up, but remain best buds with the other humans while doing so. It tried to blend Turn-Based & Real-Time strategy into one so you could play it at the speed you wanted. All in all, a decent and ambitious, if not overwhelmingly good game (mostly because a ton of content was cut before release). Basically this time it was one [[Cyberpunk]] city against extradimensional aliens, though the equipment from the first two games gave the player a far greater headstart.

Then Microprose was bought by [[Hasbro|that which must never be named]], who proceeded to nose-dive the IP with games like [[AIDS|X-COM: Interceptor]] and [[Shit Twinkie|X-COM: Enforcer]]. At least Interceptor had a decent backstory and for those with a good eye, explain where the aliens in ''X-Com Apocalypse'' came from.

Fucking [[RAGE|Hasbro]].

Anyway. Combat is a lot like Dark Heresy's in that it's exceedingly lethal; at the game's outset, you have no armor beyond jumpsuits with Kevlar stuffed into them, and your firearms are the best and most powerful weaponry that chemical propelled explosives can provide only moderately capable against alien forces (though quite diverse). In order to properly take these fucking things on anything remotely resembling their own terms, you need upgrades. Upgrades come through research, and research comes by shooting down UFOs, landing a ground assault, killing the surviving aliens, and stripping the UFO like the [[Blood Ravens]] do other chapters' shiny bits. Once brought back to base, your researchers can look into what makes the alien's gear work, research your own weapons and tech, and develop technologies to help in the fight against the Aliens. Eventually, you can load your forces up with [[Space Marine|Power-armored bad-asses]], but starting out, your forces are fragile, and fighting smart is ''vital''. You ''will'' suffer casualties early on - guaranteed - but such is war, and you must press on, allowing the survivors to grow into [[Colonel Greiss|manly badasses]].

The Aliens themselves are diverse, ranging from the Sectoids (conventional "gray" aliens), to Chryssalids (horrifying abominations that inject targets with eggs that turn them into mindless drones which will explosively birth new Chryssalids thereafter). Nightmare fuel = yes. The game manages to be exceedingly creepy for one so simple, and is one of many reasons that X-COM works so well.

==Tales of Heroism==

In accordance with /tg/'s love of war stories about [[your dudes]], several examples of awesome have been compiled:

''Instant'' death doesn't ''always'' happen. Occasionally, one Rookie will be touched by God and succeed against all odds. After that, he will die horribly. [[Just as Planned]].

X-COM agent of note: [[Marc Lecointe]]. Lecointe survived numerous missions, got the highest kill count on most missions, killed a Snakemen leader and his bodyguards (despite losing over half the squad), and got shot in the face and back with plasma and lived. He eventually was hit with return fire in an alley and began bleeding. He returned fire and killed the Snakeman, but bled to death before help could arrive. Lacointe lives on in our hearts.

Another agent of note is Gristle McThornbody, a Rocket-Toting Team-Killing asshole who refuses to die OR be mind-controlled. He's so badass, that even when he has 85% or more to hit on a 2x2 alien, he'll still hit the wall twenty tiles to the left.

== New Stuff and Things ==
According to things [[/v/]] likes to watch on the Internet, a new X-Com game is in the pipes, set to be made in the gameplay and spirit of the old games, with new graphics and updated for the new generation of gamers to be introduced into the X-Com game style. It lost the dash along the way someplace, and got re-named ''XCOM: Enemy Unknown''. This new game, which has spawned joy boners in many on /v/ and /tg/ alike, is believed to stem from the utter, burning [[RAGE|fury]] that was originally spawned from 2K's simply-titled ''XCOM'' game, which, near as we can tell, is an FPS that takes place in the 1960s and has exactly ''nothing'' to do with the actual X-COM franchise. Seriously, don't look into 2K's game if you're a fan of the series on any level - it will cause veterans to spontaneously transform into [[Angry Marines]] and/or [[Khorne|Khornate Berserkers]]. Apparently, those in charge had the wherewithal to note that if they didn't make a ''proper'' X-COM game, [[/tg/]] (and by extension, [[/v/]]) would [[Anal Circumference|leave their asshole in ruins]]. They even went ahead to declare the two games take place in separate universes. If only [[Games Workshop]] had [[Matt Ward|that much sense]]...

== XCOM: Enemy Unknown by Firaxis ==
[[File:XCOMGameplay.jpg|200px|thumb|An in-game screenshot of the new game.]]
And Firaxis came to the rescue, promising to return to the roots of XCOM (note the lack of a hyphen this time around, although the logo ''does'' have a horizontal stripe taken out of the "COM"). Since Firaxis has a lot of ex-MicroProse people, a lot of them have had to do with the original as well, and the original musical score will make a return. Although it's changed a few things to avoid hurting the brains of [[/v/|delicate little console kiddies]] like removing time units, removing ballistic simulation, cutting down on your maximum amount of squad members (4 at the start and 6 maximum) and limiting us to one base (though each base location gives its own unique bonus), it still somehow manages to be a good game in its own right. If the original X-COM is like Mordheim, then XCOM is like Space Hulk: massively simplified and more heavily dependent on the luck of the die, but with less micromanagement and long-term planning required.

If you haven't bought the game and you're a TBS fan, everyone in /tg/ that isn't [[That guy]], would highly recommend you give it a whirl at the modest price of <strike>
$39.99 </strike> $16.49 for all the good remade XCOM games because of our father Gabe Newell on PC,
still is 39.99 for console/Non-Steam or $9.99 on mobile/tablet devices. Like always, we have footage for vidyas: https://youtu.be/qDhuZ4b51hA https://youtu.be/-SKoS5BYVuY https://youtu.be/bxuzLyR-000

===XCOM: Enemy Within===
[[File:MectoidMEC.jpg|200px|thumb|Did we mention melee combat with exosuits?]]
''Enemy Within'' is an expansion pack (and unlike most "horse armor" tier DLCs with the name this one actually deserves it) that completely re-defines how the game progresses, compared to the original one. The game's story still progresses like the original game, but expands on it for a more entertaining experience.

It adds the "meld" resource to the game, a type of alien organic/synthetic-hybrid nanomachine that allows you to unlock two powerful technologies: MEC and genetic modification. MEC allows your troops to interface with a Mechanized Exoskeleton Cybersuit, a heavy exoskeleton that brings the heaviest of weapons to the field (Including the option for a powerfist equivalent called a "Kinetic Strike Module". Yes, make your own faux [[Terminator]] squad! Especially when the Tier-3 Paladin upgrade bulks up your suit's armor that you look vaguely similar to Termies.). Genetic modification allows you to augment your troops using data gathered from dissected aliens, making them killier than ever before. In fact, you can create your own equivalent of an Imperial [[Space Marine]] with the list of available modifications you can do (Two of these specific upgrades are a second heart and the ability of self-regeneration).

It also adds new aliens to the xenos' side, like a cloaking squid robot that chokes your troops to death and their own brand of exosuit troops. It also introduces another enemy into the game: EXALT. EXALT are a bunch of power-mad blokes who sees the alien's invasion as a way to gain power by adapting their technology for themselves, inching them closer to world domination. They see you as an obstacle and are determined to undermine your efforts to defeat the aliens by disrupting your operations through a number of ways and sowing panic amongst XCOM-member nations, generally making your already hectic life even more hectic. You must now defeat this new threat through a combination of [[Ork|cunning brutality and brutal cunning.]] They have most of your technologies to go toe-to-toe with you (Except for their own exosuits) and they are well hidden, so bringing them down won't be an easy affair.

=== XCOM 2 ===
[[File:People%27s_reaction_to_XCOM_2%27s_Vipers.png|200px|thumb|Turns out they ''are'' poison glands. Hee.]]
A direct-ish sequel to EU/EW, XCOM 2 seems to decide that what's canon is not: not "you killed all the aliens, now here's more aliens", but "you know that Impossible Ironman game you played for a laugh and got utterly stomped? That's the canon ending". (The utterly stomping part takes place in the base assault, and it is so bad that two of the most important things got taken: The Commander, and more importantly, central officer Bradford's sweater). The aliens won before humanity even got to laser weapons, taking over the world and unifying humanity (read: ruling over them in a pseudo-utopia "Brave New World"-style), and basically preparing to turn them into another of their slave races (not that most of humanity knows this).

XCOM refused to back down even after the Council of Nations ceased to exist and instead went underground, hijacking an alien supply ship to act as a mobile base for hit-and-run operations against the alien occupiers, in the hopes of toppling the ADVENT (the puppet government aliens've set up) and exposing the true purpose of their supposedly ideal society to the world. So they free the captured Commander (sadly the sweater seems to be shrunk in the wash) and it's guerilla warfare time.

New features include:
The Assault class has been given a makeover to focus even more on [[Rip and Tear]], replacing the sidearm with a sword and changing title to the Ranger. The Sniper has been renamed the Sharpshooter and given a pistol-focused skill-tree-route that turns the soldier into Clint Eastwood (literally, like you can have a stand-off by firing 3 pistol-shots in the same turn). The Support class has been renamed the Specialist and been given a drone to hack, heal, shield and/or zap shit remotely. The Heavy has been given a nice grenade launcher to act as your cover-stomper, and been renamed the Grenadier. Psi-operatives are their own class now as well, and get hate-hair and [[Cadia|purple eyes]] because that makes sense and all psychically talented people look like neo-punks. Troops can be captured, and then rescued, which also reclaims any expensive gear they had on them (but it's never the captured troops you actually need back).
New enemies (without spoilers), including "human" ADVENT security troops (who really love to say "bitch" and pointing towards your soldiers) with magnetic weapons who look like humans till you get their armor off, sectoid-human hybrids with teeth, thumbs, and belly buttons (which can be really creepy if you '''really''' think about it), and Snake-women called Vipers (which is what the Thin Men actually look like without their disguises). Yes, there were snaketits on the thread that announced this to /tg/. Yes, /d/ has drawn porn of them. Yes, it will be added to the gallery.

Moving on.

XCOM 2 also contains an in depth explanation for the aliens' motives that many fans felt was lacking or too ambiguous in Enemy Within. Apparently, the Ethereals have some kind of fatal disease they can't cure, so they've been trekking around the galaxy culminating genes to form the ultimate bodies for themselves, while amassing a genetically supreme army. When the Ethereals found humanity, they found their genes to be so awesome and powerful that just adding some of them to a lowly sectoid turned it from a pathetic 3' tall creature you could kill with basic weapons, to an 8' tall psionic rape machine that could raise the dead and withstand salvos of bullets to the face. They then set up an alien government on Earth so they could discretely process humanity's best genetic material and slowly form new bodies for themselves that don't die called Avatars. And by don't die, we mean have copious amounts of health, teleport every time they're injured, regenerate like crazy, are guaranteed to successfully mind control anything, and are immune to any of your psychic status abilities(ie: panic, disorientation, and mind control, you can still annihilate them with psionic fire). And the boss fight involves killing three of these dick-butts and an endless wave of alien reinforcements. Using human DNA is also where their ADVENT troops came from, they grew armies of human spliced with unspecified aliens to act as their public face to the humans. But humanity wins anyway, because humans are just that fucking awesome.

The game is also notable for abandoning the usual conditions for losing. The norm for the series is for your funding to get cut if too many countries lose faith in XCOM. Since you're fighting a guerrilla war and your support are humans fighting to survive outside the aliens' control zones, that isn't happening. Instead you lose if the aliens complete the Avatar Project, their goal to mass produce the bodies for the Ethereals. If they do you get treated to a scene of almost all resistance being crushed because the Avatars are dangerous enough in small numbers and an army of them would unstoppable. You can slow progress, but can only stop it by finishing the game.

So far there have been recently four DLCs for XCOM 2. "Anarchy's Children" added new customization features for your soldiers, most of which you wouldn't ever really use. "Alien Hunters" adds a new mission, weapons, and alien rulers who you have to hunt down. The alien rulers get to take an action every, single, time, one of your soldiers does(this is changed in war of the chosen,because firaxis realized it was bullshit). This is even more infuriating then it sounds. Some more customization options are added too. "Shen's Last Gift" adds another mission and the SPARK class soldier. SPARKs are robots you have to make in the proving ground. War of the Chosen finally allows players to add modifications to their guns, gave them better aim and a health boost. So now they're worth taking. If your Grenadier is injured or has low morale. While their weapons are much larger and more powerful-looking than the other squad specialized weapons, they don't do more damage than the regular specialized weapons. This is stupid, as an auto-cannon would naturally do much more damage than a 7mm Gatling Gun. They are also prohibitively expensive so you have no choice to do the mission if you want one for cheap. Optional mods have improved their balance to outright making them a super unit if you wish.

And here comes the fun part; if you read the developers blog, their idea of "balance" is to actually nerf plenty of stuff...so the game is harder after having a buffed-up alien lord chase your dudes all over the game. Was old-school really this hard?

You think that's bad, the end game unlocks second wave options, like increasing all Health by 50%, having your guys get worse as they get injured, have their stats rolled at random, so you can make the game even HARDER! Because dying is ''fun''.

Also be careful about which mods you add to the game. [[rage|As they can crash the game or corrupt your save.]] Unreal Engine 3.5 annoying stability issues as well. You read that correctly. [[Derp|It runs not one the latest version of ,but a modified version of Unreal Engine 3.]]

====XCOM 2: War of the Chosen====

This brand new expansion gives us three new allies to aid us.

*Reapers: Stealthy hunters who are armed with nothing but a rifle and explosives. It's enough. They wear [[Shadowrun|trench coats and gas masks]]. Have a special ability where they have a chance to not reveal themselves upon attacking. Enemies have vastly reduced detection ranges against Reapers, and Reapers can detonate explosives on the map without revealing themselves. They can also throw an environmental explosive. [[Dakka|They also have an ability that lets them shoot at an enemy until they run out of ammo.]] Long story short, these guys are only slightly less powerful than the Reapers from Mass Effect.

*Skirmishers: ADVENT defectors who are armed with a grappling hook that can pull them to a rooftop and pull themselves to the enemy or vice versa and at max level allows them to have the [[Awesome|alien rulers ability to gain action points every. Time. The. Enemy. Moves.]] Except it only works three times a turn, and doesn't trigger on non-move actions. [[fail|The game doesn't tell you this.]]

*Templars: [[Grey Knights|A resistance group made of only psionics]] that wield psi blades and machine pistols, but you'll probably never use those. They're fast, hard to kill, and hit like a brick. And like any good psi-based unit, they can fry their enemies with lighting from their hands. They're like the [[rip and tear]] half of the Ranger, but with psionic powers. They're also fantastically hammy and roll their Rs.

But these new allies come with a catch as you now have to fight the titular chosen who can adapt to your soldiers' abilities with their own strengths and weaknesses, and the Lost ([[tarpit|zombie swarms]]) that attack both you and ADVENT. Along with these new allies and enemies is trying to get the three resistance groups to work together, as well as a new fatigue and relationship system.

The faction leaders are voiced by actors from [[Star Trek|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]. [[Fail|They do pretty good job except for Marina Sirtis poorly performed lines.]] Good thing the game allows players to switch to a better voice for your first Reaper(and their other soldiers).

====Tactical Legacy Pack====

A mini expansion pack that adds 4 mini-campaigns detailing some of the adventures of Bradford and Lily Shen during the tumultuous days of ADVENT's takeover, adds new weapons to your WotC playthrough for each of these mini-campaigns you beat, allows you to choose between three soundtracks, (X-COM 1, X-COM 2, and Legacy Remixes), allows free access to all of the 100 challenges rather than the random daily challenge system, and even allows you to make your own challenge missions. Also has more than a full of bugs and oddities that needs to be fixed with workshop mods.

IT WAS Free until Dec 3rd, 2018, for all WotC owners. Though it's still a cheap buy at $7.99 on Steam.

=== XCOM: Long War ===

What, the new XCOM wasn't complicated enough for you? There's a mod called "Long War" which goes into lots more detail, a bit more like the classic game. Now, the aliens will advance their plans and escalate their forces and assaults based on their own progression system, and the game is rebalanced around the expectation that you will not succeed at every mission (and you won't -- the aliens are plenty tough to see to that).

=== XCOM: The Board Game ===

From [[Fantasy Flight Games]], there's a board game adaptation of XCOM (in fact, ''XCOM: Enemy Unknown'' was quite inspired by board games, with the two-actions-per-turn system instead of the old 'time units'). There's a companion app for smartphones, tablets, and computers which controls the aliens and informs players of events, a bit like a [[Game Master]], but without exposing the players to too much bookkeeping. Amazing what games can do with computers these days -- just imagine if such a thing had been available for [[FATAL]]! On second thought, don't.

Players (1-4) take on different roles in the XCOM organization. The Commander keeps an eye on the budget and allocates interceptors. The Chief Scientist directs research efforts. The Central Officer works the app and solicits input from the others (if there are any) to make decisions (many of which are time-critical). The Squad Leader manages troops and base defense. Together, they need to allocate their resources, judge when to push risky but rewarding avenues (inviting retribution from the aliens if they fail), and defend humanity. Like the games, successes are rare -- a die only has a 1/3 chance of coming up with a success, and tasks may need multiple successes. There is also an "enemy die", a [[d8]] that is rolled against the number of times that task has been attempted. If it rolls equal to or under that number, something bad happens. So, do you pool resources for critical tasks (neglecting anything else, and hoping that your priorities are correct), in order to most likely be successful before the threat level climbs too high? Or do you stay flexible but push your luck? Your call, commander.

=== XCOM 2: Long War 2 ===
If you thought XCOM 2 was ''already'' hard, thanks in part to the involvement of the original Long War modders in the game's development, said modders come back with a sequel mod for the game. Not only does this go even further than the first Long War in going into a lot of detail, such as new graphical touches, significant rebalancing and completely overhauling the global map to be more reminiscent of classic X-com. But the difficulty is amped up even more, with missions even requiring you to send in potentially fatal scouting parties to make sure your ''other'' squads don't die on the spot. Also, rather than launching parties directly into battle, missions spawn on the geoscape with an expiration timer. The player ''can'' launch immediately, but the enemy presence will be drastically increased! Instead, the idea is that the squad can spend time infiltrating, to let ADVENT get complacent and draw troops elsewhere. Having more Resistance folks working Intel increases mission expiration times, but the bigger and heavier the squad, the more infiltration time is required. And vice versa -- short-staffing a squad can allow a player to infiltrate to high percentages on short notice... but now you've only got like four guys on the ground, and that might not be enough firepower if activations go badly...

This mod requires dramatically more strategic thought and care. Weapons, armor, and equipment are all purchased individually, forcing you into decisions like 'do I continue the rollout of my newly available armor-piercing coilguns, or do I buy armor for the two rookies I've trained up?' and 'do I send my last seven man team to secure me an engineer, commit them to a long infiltration to wipe out an advent tower, or hold them in reserve for a better opportunity?' The difficulty is likewise much higher, but you have dramatically expanded options to combat it with special weapons, squad leaders, extra inventory slots packed with flashbangs, veteran troop skills, choosable bonus perks, a psi advancement training regime that makes some actual sense, and many, many more troops and mission opportunities. Minor reinforcement on that last one, in fact: in stock XCOM 2 you'll likely end the campaign with fewer than twenty soldiers, whereas here it's pretty common to have a hundred active-duty troopers at a time.

The Shinobi ([[Derp|all the Ninja IRL schools have closed up shop]]) is the most overpowered class. Making missions easier then they should be as he can [[derp|bypass Overwatch]] and has a very low impact on infiltration. Making missions unrealistic for players who hate RNG and want a pure stealth game.

The Devs of Long War have said there will not be making a Long War for War of the Chosen. As Firaxis added a ton of crap that would take years for Long War Studios to sift through it and make the mod playable. Also, they're making their own XCOM, so they wouldn't have the resources to do both anyways.

== The Bureau: XCOM Declassified ==
Despite having the name XCOM in the title, the game really has little relation to the series. The reason behind this is because 2K passed this game on to the lovely people that brought you Bioshock 2; meaning it was made by a studio that makes more or less decent games. It's supposed to be a prequel, set in the 1960s during the Cold War era. The protagonist, William Carter, was a CIA agent just delivering a suitcase of classified "documents" until an Outsider disguised as a female agent got ahold of it. Not long after that, an alien invasion commenced!

The Bureau is a RPG that plays like Mass Effect, but not as good for a variety of reasons. One reason is in the dialog scene, you're given choices of what to ask/say. They really don't impact the game, nor changes it for the most part, so you can skip a majority of it if you want to. The agents in your squad are pretty dull, sure you can change their names and how they dress, but really doesn't offer any friendship/foe engagements. If they die, you will need to recruit another agent and start him off from scratch, but really, leveling them up isn't fun and customizable, so just restart a checkpoint if they do die.

The agents in your squad have bad AI if you don't babysit them and give commands on what they should do, and their skills at fighting Outsiders are... Well, okay. The best they can offer is their abilities, so spamming them and you taking care of the killing is an effective way to go (Some recommend starters to start their first mission with a Recon to cause critical damage on certain enemies and a Commando for [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|taunting the grunts and make them easy picking for you]]).

There would be more to go on, but if you want to know more about the game, you can search up reviews of XCOM Declassified. In short, it's a decent prequel that fans can find some enjoyment, but it's not as good as Enemy Unknown. Without going into spoilers, there's also a reveal during the last few levels that's surprisingly meta and well-written. Still worth looking into if you can find it for cheap or rent it.

Interestingly enough, turns out that the universe in XCOM Declassified is the same as that of Enemy Unknown/Within's. After the events in The Bureau, all records were wiped. This explains why the player had to start from scratch at the beginning of Enemy Unknown. When the Ethereals of Unknown/Within spoke of their [[Derp|own failure to ascend,]] they really meant that they wanted to be like the Ethereals from The Bureau. Either way, only time will tell exactly [[Grimdark|what the hell they were preparing humanity for.]]

== Xenonauts ==

X-Com coded by [[Reasonable Marines]].

A faithful remake of the original, with time units and all that. Changes a few things (like lack of Psionics on your side) and adds vehicles (yes, blowing up half a building with a rocket jeep is awesome) and controllable dogfights. Basically the alien invasion is during the Cold War and makes everyone shit themselves simultaneously when THOUSANDS of spaceships are openly in orbit and fucks humanity's shit up in creative ways. Every day the UFO's are left wandering, news bulletins full of terror emanate from the screen, worrying you further.

The ending is very creative, particularly concerning the plot of how an inferior species can even bother to defeat a powerful empire. Stunningly well-made, desperate final mission which may result in a glorious ending, or a bittersweet ending where you still win but the assault team is martyred.

Other differences between it and the original include:

Maps are mostly pregenerated, not fully procedural.

Fewer weapon and ammo types. Seriously, you've got the big five (pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper, and LMG) and a rocket launcher. No variant ammo types, although the weapons do have researched tiers (which are simply damage-ups).<s> This means no unfairly powerful weapons like the Rape Launcher or the Stun Grenade Launcher.</s> There *are* a few super weapons but seriously, if you waste a "Singularity Generator" which is an ENTIRE CAPTURED BLACK HOLE (a hot commodity salvageable from alien battleships) for a 50 kilogram (without ammo) glorified grenade launcher that doesn't even one shot its AoE, you are a fucking moron.

More basic inventory control. You don't micromanage producing and storing individual missiles, and you can have as many magazines, grenades, and med-kits as you want, limited by carrying limit. You just build the alien-based laser or plasma gun, base gives you ammo made fashioned from a melted-down alien cells. (Alenium is basically a quantum-grade battery aliens came up with. Usually it powers the alien craft, you simply creatively salvage the spent ones into explosives because [[HFY]].)

Smaller team sizes. Max troop count on a mission is 12, with the best drop-ship.

Fewer oddball items, like the motion scanner or psi-ball, but there is now an assault shield, so your dudes don't immediately die when popping open a UFO. Said shield gets upgraded with Alien alloys, and even the final mission sees use of it. Trust me.

Rookies are better out of the gate, but are still shit compared to your colonels. Still, they have a decent chance of killing an enemy in a turn, doubly so if carrying a missile launcher. No longer to operatives miss the broad side of a barn. They *will* miss the spot but will still shake it badly.

Explosive weapons damage items, lowering the amount of money you receive from selling. This is for the best, because explosives are stupidly powerful and are probably the most reliable way of putting a fool down. Considering Reaper, the expy for Chyrssalids are even faster and crazier, you *are* going to need them.

Saveable, customizable loadouts for all of your troops, and obviously no engine-based limit on the amount of items you can bring into a mission.

Aliens don't really hide in corners or really hard to find spots, which makes flushing them out a lot easier. I said flushing out mind you, as they DO charge out and deal extremely serious amounts of damage before going down, to say nothing of teleporting aliens that burst fire in your face if they are lucky.

Troops remain vulnerable a lot longer. You are never at the point where you can float an invincible army of death-dealing demigods over a cowering cadre of snakemen, raining death and destruction down with maddened glee. Even if you do, weird aliens will teleport close and blow you out of the sky, or your flyer will fry a nerve from psionics.

Country relations are more important than after-mission loot.

You can kick or pistol whip an enemy to death. Cue surrounding an annoying alien marksman and beating him to death with riot shields.

You can call airstrikes to cancel boring UFO raids.

=== Xenonauts 2 ===

Now with 3D graphics! A demo is available through GOG.com, with the release planned to be <s>later in 2017</s> late 2018.

== UFO: Alien Invasion ==

The most detailed opensource version of XCOM based on the Quake 2 engine.

Buildings are not destructible and it doesn't have a great fog-of-war. It doesn't have unmanned vehicles like the current iterations and sadly doesn't have any sort of Chryssalids yet.

Has a better world map than any other XCOM in that you can fully explore it like google-earth, even showing ship movement on the globe in real time. The campaign is more forgiving in that it does not force you through Acts like Enemy Unknown where you can't possible keep everybody happy, or has nations constantly bitching at you for radar coverage like in Xenonauts. Instead you get to bid captured UFOs and give preference to unhappy nations that feel neglected or where you haven't been saving civilians frequently.

The camera is completely free in battlescape mode just like in Enemy Unknown, complete with zoom capabilities. Lots of different weapons, though you will find yourself a fool if you don't immediately start using alien weapons. Also levels tend to have more floors than other iterations, such as one mission in which you're going through an office building or another where you're entering a subway.

The only major problem with the game is that the smoke grenades are so overpowered your guys will be coming out of your drop ship like Snoop-Dogg out of his trailer. Otherwise you'll find aliens are more than happy to shower your guys with plasma from across the map.

After a general huge update smoke is now useless and aliens are much, MUCH more powerful.

Oh, and its free. Still, fuck it. Final version is broken, often locking the game, and developers have been keeping silent, the fucking FAGGOTS.

== Phoenix Point ==

A spiritual successor by Julian Gollop himself. As of the time of this edit, fully funded and in development with a hard-as-balls backer pre-alpha having been released. The basic idea is; some kind of strange virus has been dug up in the permafrost and has had two outbreaks so far, each escalating in severity. Now it's invading the land a third (and fatally final) time, most of humanity is gone (Partly cus of the virus, partly cus of WW3 happening during the second outbreak), and you must defend the survivors from both the creatures and each other, you poor sap.

The virus morphs all life into Lovecraftian horrors. Literally Lovecraftian; it is implied that [[H.P. Lovecraft|Howard the Great]] was inspired by ancient findings describing an outbreak of the same virus a few million years ago. It even came from Yuggoth. Humanity being humanity, there are several factions with drastically different ideas on how to deal with it; there is a faction based around a religion [[Genestealer Hybrids|worshipping the mutations that is also capable of retaining human consciousness despite said mutations]], another is [[Eclipse Phase| high-tech anarcho-communists trying to coexist with the virus and other factions]] while the third faction [[Starship Troopers|Is a high-tech PMC turned militaristic civilization with "Service Guarantees Citizenship" that just wants to destroy the virus and any of its sympathizers]].

So far, the game has managed to gather enough funding and reach one stretch goal for a floating base that will be given as FREE DLC, along with other stretch goals at a later date should the game be successful.

Expected; large bosses, your own mutated soldiers with crippleable limbs, the option of saving a group of people by [[Dawn of War II|landing on a giant creature and injecting it with poison]], Deep Lore, A hybrid of the old TU and new Two-Action system, unique tech trees for each faction (which you can also get in on by either allying with or stealing from them) and randomized global events (a la Crusader Kings 2).
Oh, and there are [[Flamer|flamethrowers]], Shoulder-Mounted missiles, power armor, gauss rifles and other goodies, such as a mutant mount for the cultist faction.

== XPiratez ==

What XCOM 2 was to XCOM: Enemy Within, XPiratez is to X-COM: UFO Defense. Made of pure [[Awesome|awesome]], you lead a crew of female mutants on a quest to kick ass, gain riches, and fuck bitches. A mod for OpenXcom, it's completely free and gets constant updates. Go check it out! Nothing's more satisfying than crushing a pureblood's head in with a sledge hammer and then mowing down his mates with your [[Dakka|custom Boarding gun]]. Basically, post XCOM defeat, humanity is a province in the alien empire, and a long, long time later, you lead a band of mutant female pirates living the pirate life, looting, capturing, ransoming, and eventually enslaving prisoners. More detailed, fanmade, with a morally darker atmosphere for the protagonist faction (apart from turning prisoners from human factions to slaves -miners for men, maids for females, and ahem..."squires" for shota younglings from Cult of Sirius), PirateZ offers a unique experience.

== The Tabletop Game ==

Yes, there was a Tabletop game, made by [[Fantasy Flight Games]], so this article has some direct /tg/ relevance. The problem is, [[Derp | you need a cell phone app to play it]].

==Aliens==
Needless to say, in this game, there are many different types of aliens that your teams are going to have to fight.

===Original Continuity===

====X-COM: UFO Defence====

'''Sectoid''': Doesn't matter what game, these guys are always the first things you face. They're not tough, but they are annoying, and the higher ranked ones (yes aliens have ranks, just like your guys in the old games) can and will successfully mind-control your guys all the fucking time.

'''Cyberdisk''': The original flying, metal pancake, these guys only show up supporting Sectoids. They can take an abusive amount of punishment, and deal it out just as much, before exploding when they are finally disabled. Expect to see your bullets passing over or under it all the fucking time.

'''Floater''': Changed significantly in the remake. Here they're a still mostly intact torso and abdomen mounted on a giant, floaty antigravity ball. They can't fly as freely as the ones in future versions, but they're far less suicidal, and prone to setting up ambushes.

'''Reaper''': Big, spiky dogs that appear alongside Floaters on terror missions. They're dumb as shit and only attack in melee making it easy enough to lure them out and turn your entire fire team against them. Now if that would actually kill them.

'''Snakeman''': Another basic type, these guys are easy pickings on any mission other than Terror Missions. Their autopsy states that they are stuffed full of fertilised eggs so take that "men" part with a grain of salt.

'''Chryssalid''': And these are the reason you'll hate Snakemen on terror missions. They bring Chryssalids with them. Twelve foot tall murder bugs that kill people, plant their eggs into them, turn them into shuffling zombie, which hatch into new Chryssalids unless killed, ''quickly''. Unlike the remake these guys can take a beating, and it's entirely possible to have an entire squad with laser weapons and repeating grenade launchers hit one of these bastards with every shot, and it'll still be standing at the end. You see one of these things, you do not let your squad break apart or approach blind corners.

'''Muton''': As always the aliens' equivalent to your guys, except they're better armoured (despite wearing goofy green jumpsuits), better armed, and just better being as they're not the best janitors all the world's militaries have to offer. Mutons don't have Psionics on their side, so if you want to play with them bringing along your Psi Specialist is a good idea, otherwise they're going to take an absurd amount of punishment to put down. A superhuman grade Muton can take a block of High Explosive to the chest and come out shooting, so bring the plasma, and bring enough it of for a small city block.

'''Celatid''': One of the two terror units found alongside Mutons, it looks like nothing more than a floating kidney bean. It's small, it's fast, and it has the most damaging non-High Explosive attack in the game, which becomes even more destructive against non-armoured targets like your rookies, or civilians. Thankfully this attack works on a lobbed arc so its range is severely nerfed down to 7 tiles, but out in the open that goes up to 16 tiles, and it can attack up to three times in a turn if it doesn't have to move.

'''Silicoid''': The second terror unit that is deployed alongside Mutons, and the most useless alien unit in the game. It crawls along at a speed of 8 tiles a turn, has no ranged attacks, and triggers reaction fire from even the worst of your guys allowing you to use it as a reaction fire training sponge, especially if you use Incendiary rounds as it will not take any damage from fire or incendiary rounds, but your guys will still gain experience. High Explosives work well against it.

'''Ethereal''': Far different from the remake game, Ethereals are packing heat in conjunction with their insane Psi abilities. These cloaked bastards can fly, will rain plasma fire down on your squad, spot for their allies to make their job easier, and at the end of it all, they'll mind control or panic the ragged remains of your squad. Kill them as quickly as you can, preferably from long distance with a Blaster Launcher.

'''Sectopod''': Giant metal murder toads. These guys aren't actually robots, although they come close, they are intact Remote Control murder mechs for the ethereals so that they don't have to get close to you while they turned you into plasma fried Kentucky X-COM rookie. The scary thing about these guys is just how much punishment they seem to take, even from late game weapons; however if you can target their rear armour, and bring laser weapons (which deal x1.5 damage against these guys) you'll be laughing all the way to the ICU. Of course this is going to make your prospects against their Ethereal controllers far, far worse, but hey-ho, win some, lose some.

====Terror From The Deep====

IA, IA, CTHULHU FATAGN

'''Aquatoid''': Genetically, and surgically slap gills and flippers onto a Sectoid, et Voila! You have an Aquatoid. Their commanders still have the Psionic abilities of their land locked cousins, but they call it Molecular Control, because they're fancy like that.

'''Gillman''': Apparently an earth creature, these creatures from the black lagoon were around when DINOSAURS ROAMED THE EARTH!, and submitted to the aliens when they arrived the first time round. They make for 'poor' soldiers (although this being TFTD that just means their only better than your guys by a factor of 1 or so, and not 3) and can take a bit of punishment from basic weaponry, although by the time you get Sonic weaponry, they start dropping like wheat before the scythe. Taking one of these guys in alive, and dead is critical to researching melee weapons (???), and accessing the final mission. So get catching.

'''Lobsterman''': An organic Sectopod, these guys will walk off whatever you throw at them, and then strike back with extreme prejudice. Ironically though they're mostly weak to stunning weapons, making tasers, and stun grenades the best weapon to use against them if you've got them. If you don't, well you can always use drills to pierce their hides, or hope that the tiny plinking of your harpoons cause them to laugh themselves to death.

'''Tasoth''': A clone vat species based off of humanoid velociraptors, these guys would be awesome, if they were on your side. As they are not, they are assholes. In combat they function as Ethereal lite's, unable to fly, and not quite as psionically potent, they make up for this by having much more physical strength, health, and durability.

'''Bio-Drone''': A brain-in-a-jar mounted on a super speaker. Electrical impulses torture the brain and use its screams (without vocal chords, don't ask me) to project a wave of hyper-condensed sound which will melt the victim's brain inside their head. Noise Marines might have stolen this idea for their Doom Siren. Grimdark as fuck because often the brains are made of kidnapped civilians.

'''Calcinite''': A Gelatinous green goop inside an old school diving suit, it might be possible to mistake this thing for one of your guys while you're underwater, but they remain fully suited up while on land, so the helmet is a good indicator. They lack any ranged attacks, and will instead try to run up and claw your agents face off, to add to this, their antique diving suits are tougher than your guys starting body armour (WHY?), nonetheless any weapon will put them down.

'''Deep One''': You'd think this would be the perfect place for some Cthulhu monstrosity, but sadly no. These guys are more "The Fly" than anything else. Humans that have been captured, tortured, and then surgically and genetically altered to become alien shock troops, the only original bit of their humanity left is their eyes. Their primary ranged attack is an arcing electrical burst (which is treated as a Gauss weapon for damage types) which allows them to fire over walls and other obstacles so nowhere is safe.

'''Hallucinoid''': Giant electrical jellyfish. The aliens keep on taking earth creatures and turning them into weapons of war. Although choosing jellyfish may have been a... poor decision. These things aren't particularly aggressive, preferring to just gently float into range when they can be bothered, rather than hunting your agents down. Unfortunately they're still tough enough to weather the storm of fire that their slow approach allows you to unleash on them, and their melee attack is devastating.

'''Tentaculat''': BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T BE A X-COM GAME WITHOUT CHRYSSALIDS, NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL THEM. THEY CAN FLY NOW SO HAVE FUN! (appearance is directly identical to Grell from [[Dungeons & Dragons]])

'''Triscene''': A mother-fucking T-REX! The aliens brought back a T-Rex, slung two sonic cannons onto its sides, and let it loose in battle. These guys are the sectopods of TFTD, without the sectopod's weaknesses. However they have one glaring flaw, which is they have no under armour, and one well placed grenade will severely hurt them, or outright kill them if powerful enough.

'''Xarquid''': An overgrown Nautilus that swims in reverse, the things act like sniper tanks, preferring to sit in one corner of the map, usually several levels up, and snipe your squad from a safe distance. Other than the reaction fire you'll inevitably take when hunting these things down, they're not particularly dangerous, just use cover and explosives if they're on the ground, or get underneath them and take out their weak underbelly.

====X-COM: Apocalypse====

'''Brainsucker''': Because Facehugger was already taken. Why is the first alien you encounter in this game another GOD-DAMNED CHRYSSALID? FOR FUCK'S SAKE! These guys are fairly weak, and can be dealt with simply in RT mode, in TB however, their movement speeds enough to take them from outside your field of vision and into attack range, considering that their melee attack is a one hit kill keep enough time units back for reaction fire.

Multiworm

Hyperworm

Chrysalis

Anthropod

Psimorph

Spitter

Megaspawn

Popper

Skeletoid

Micronoid Aggregate

Queenspawn

Overspawn

===Reboot Continuity===

The reboot continuity has its own array of different monsters, with some changes in variety between the first and second game.

====X-COM Enemy Unknown / Enemy Within====

'''Sectoid''': Tiny little grey men in the first game, these are the first Psionic enemy you'll meet, with the ability to boost each other in combat. This can be rather nasty giving them an extra hit point and a +10 to hit and dodge, although if you kill the booster, you'll kill whatever Sectoid they're boosting as well thanks to Psychic feedback.

'''Sectoid Commander''': Only in the first game, these guys are Sectoids on psychic steroids. You'll see one on the tutorial mission and get a taste of what they can do, even if you don't fight it. They're stronger, tougher, and more psionically powerful than the basic sectoid, and are the first unit that can possess your guys mid-firefight.

'''Thin Man''': Apparently an "Infiltrator Unit" nobody (other than the Ethereals) would mistake these guys for human at close distance as they have snake scales running up their necks, and are skinny enough to make a supermodel jealous. Apparently they were made from genetically modifying Snake-women as they can spit clouds of poison at great distance, and will explode into one when they're killed. Otherwise they're real flimsy.

'''Muton''': How you know the aliens are stepping up their game. Everything up till now has been child's play (for a particularly psychotic child), then these guys come along. Big, tough, cunning, brutal, and dangerous, these guys will mulch a squad equipped with regular weapons and armour without breaking a sweat, and capturing one of these guys alive brings one of the better upgrades. Have fun.

'''Muton Berserker''': Ha, ha, ha. These girls are melee monsters, capable of soaking up bullets by the magazine, and slowly getting angrier and angrier as they do. If they can get in close they'll unleash the melee hurt, but thankfully they're not amazingly fast. Thankfully, their instinctive charge of the last person who shot them means you can set them up to run a gauntlet of Overwatch fire, with a bit of luck.

'''Muton Elite''': As much health as the Berserkers, plus armor, and lacking the berserk charges. Instead, they carry heavy plasma cannons.

'''Floater''': Apparently reject Mutons, stripped down to an upper torso and fitted up with cybernetic implants, mainly a jetpack. They're your first hint that the aliens may not be one big happy family, as they have an idle animation consisting of them ripping at their flesh and bionics until blood spurts. They're basically the fastest unit in the game, great Overwatchers, and pack about as much punch as a standard Muton. They have a special ability that sacrifices all their actions for the turn to instead fly to any single spot on the map, which they love to use to get the drop on your team.

'''Heavy Floater''': A tougher, armored version of the standard Floater, with a bigger gun. Basically just replace floaters in the late game to keep them competitive, but they've got no new tricks up their sleeves.

'''Outsider''': Strange "digital" lifeforms that serve as the technicians of the alien forces. You need to capture one of these in order to advance the game. They're wimpy, but their light plasma rifles are deadly accurate, so they can gun down whole teams if you're careless.

'''Sectopod''': The aliens' equivalent of a tank; an enormous, heavily armored killer robot with insanely high health, high armor, a 50% damage reduction ability with the Enemy Within expansion, and the ability to blaze away with both a fuck-off huge laser and to launch showers of cluster bombs. They also blow up when you kill them. Your most hated enemy.

'''Cyberdisk''': A ridiculously fast flying robot that can shapeshift between a flying saucer-like flight-mode (in which it's harder to hit) and its unfurled combat mode. Not quite as killy as the sectopod, but still really adept at ruining your day.

'''Drone''': Small flying robots that basically zip around like laser-spitting wasps. They don't do much damage, but they can repair mechanical aliens and they explode like a grenade when killed. And they're extra-hard to hit, for added nuisance factor.

'''Chryssalid''': An absolute fucking nightmare, just like the original series. These bugs are lightning fast, vicious, and if they kill anyone they'll automatically plant an egg in the corpse, which will turn into a zombie before hatching a new chryssalid three turns later. And these zombies are tough enough to weather several turns of shooting. One of the standout points of Enemy Within is a pre-baked mission where you get to investigate a whaling ship that crashed ashore in Newfoundland after being infested by Chryssalids who turned the catch into their personal hive. Your job is to first investigate the area, and then light the place up for your bombers so they can carpet bomb the place into fire and rubble, running your squad away the whole time.

'''Ethereal''': The leaders of the alien forces, physically frail but masters of [[psionics]], which they can use to ''really'' fuck up your day.

'''Seeker''': A relatively weak squid-like robot that uses camouflage to sneak up on its prey and then tries to crush it to death with its tendrils. They like to go after isolated members of your squad, which can be used to bait them into going after Assault troopers with Close Combat Tactics for hilarious effects.

'''Mechtoid''': An armored exoskeleton piloted by a sectoid, carrying twin plasma mini-cannons. Sectoids can use their mind merge ability to give a layer of shielding to mechtoids; killing the sectoid removes the shield and causes some damage to the mechtoid.

====X-COM 2 / War of the Chosen====

'''ADVENT'''

The end results of what the Ethereals want to do with humanity. Puppet soldiers controlled by a series of psionically linked chips that feed back to command nodes. It's stated that the commander was supposed to be one of these before XCOM manages to rescue him in the tutorial mission.

*'''Trooper''': The grunts, they come in three flavours, with increasing HP, Dodge, and Accuracy. Challenging only in numbers, and then only thanks to the fact that a shot will hit you at some point, and they can take fire away from the actual threats.

*'''Officer''': These guys aren't a threat on their own, however they can Holo-Target one of your guys for free, granting their allies a +10 to hit against that soldier. either take out everyone around them, or take them out, before that becomes a problem.

*'''Shield-Bearer''': The most annoying ADVENT type in the base game, these guys can pop a shield that gives every ADVENT and Alien soldier in range +3 or +5 temporary HP. Combined with their armour these guys can take a licking and keep on ticking. Taking them out will drop the shield on everybody else, so they should be a target priority otherwise the fight is going to take far longer than it should. They also kinda look like Robocop so they have that going for them.

*'''Stun-Lancer''': Melee focused, these guys are noticeable by the fact they were far less armour than any other ADVENT soldier. They'll charge forwards if in range, and attempt to stun your guys for a turn with their Melee beatsticks. Otherwise they've just got regular ADVENT Rifles.

*'''Priest''': Introduced in WotC, these guys are the ADVENT Psions, they can boost another ADVENT soldier, much like Sectoids could in Enemy Unknown (and like that game if you kill the priest the soldier will suffer psionic feedback and die), or they can put one of your guys in Stasis for a turn, preventing them from doing anything. Advanced and Elite priests have additional tricks that allow them to Mind-Control your guys, and place themselves in Stasis if they would be killed, instead staying around with 1 HP for another turn.

*'''Purifier''': Flamethrower wielding ADVENT troops that only appear in WotC. The guys are kept "secret" from the public (despite that fact they can appear in any mission if the RNG says so) as they are supposed to hunt down and kill the lost in the old, abandoned cities. As stated they use flamethrowers, alongside incendiary grenades, and when you kill them there's a good chance they will explode, so don't kill them with melee unless you want to lose your eyebrows. Although that can lead to some hilarious chain reactions if you're lucky.

*'''General''': Only appears in assassination missions in WotC. Essentially just a beefed up Officer with a shit ton of HP, and the ability to throw Flash-Bangs.

*'''MEC / Heavy MEC''': The first truly heavy ADVENT Unit. These things come with an absurd amount of HP for the early game, and multiple armour pips. They're not particularly smart however and do not use cover at all, instead relying on their durability to weather your shooting so take advantage of this. Remember not to bunch your guys up as they have a shoulder mounted missile launcher that they will use on your guys if they're clustered together. MECs can also use suppression at the end of their turn if they can't target a group. The Heavy MEC is just tougher and more accurate, you can think your way through this fight. The best way to deal with them is hacking or anti-machine equipment such as EMP rounds and grenades.

*'''Turrets / Heavy / Superheavy''': It's a turret. What more do you want? They have some armour and a decent amount of HP, but they can't move, and are fairly easy to hack to your side. If all else fails tossing a frag grenade at it is a guaranteed kill. As they are never encountered on the ground and will almost always be mounted on top of buildings. With few exceptions.

*'''Sectopod''': The final, and toughest ADVENT unit. It's just as much of a nightmare as it was in the first game. With the ability to shoot and enter overwatch, extend its legs to give itself a height advantage while standing on the ground, and use a charged-up laser blast that will kill anyone it hits. When they are finally defeated it will explode. Likely killing or injuring any unit for months next to them. As with any robotic unit they can be hacked by a properly specced specialist, although its nearly impossible to turn these guys to your side, so settle for stunning them for several turns. Anti mechanical weapons and equipment a must for defeating Sectopods if you don't have Plasma Weapons.

'''Aliens'''

*'''Sectoid''': Tougher than you remember due to the infusion of human DNA. Now have the ability to resurrect dead troopers - yours and ADVENT - as zombies, and all sectoids from the get-go can lay a mind whammy on your troops, randomly panicking, disorientating or controlling them.

*'''Chryssalid''': Because why the fuck wouldn't the Ethereals keep their most effective terror weapon. These guys have changed from scuttling horrors to burrowing, venomous, scuttling horrors, capable of turning anyone they kill, either with their venom or their claws into a slowly metamorphosing cocoon that, if it reaches maturity, will spit out '''THREE''' new chryssalids, because Firaxis hates you. They are rendered mostly harmless by being set on fire, so if you think you're going to run into them bring incendiary rounds, fire bombs, and hell weave vests.

*'''Viper''': The most famous of the new aliens because they look like [[serpentfolk|humanoid snake-women]] with [[furry|nice tits and a sweet pair of hips]]. Appear pretty early in the game; not much tougher than sectoids, but quite annoying. They can drag you out of cover with their tongue whip attack, spew toxic clouds like the Thin Men, and strangle you in melee like a Seeker. These gals represent the true form of the Thin Man alien from the last game.

*'''Andromedon''': One of the cooler new alien designs, it could almost have been ripped out of the old X-COM series. It looks like a combination of an old diving suit and an iron lung, filled with green sludge, and a single pickled alien who apparently needs that sludge to live. When you kill it the first time the suit reboots and come to life by itself, dropping its heavy plasma cannon and charging into melee. In its first form, an Andromedon is a tough customer, with more armour & health than a Muton while packing the same firepower. In its second form it will only ever try to hit you with its fists, but it leaves behind trail of acidic and poisonous sludge that hurts your guys if they try to move through it (because jumping isn't a thing, despite the ability to haul yourself up drainpipes) which makes navigating the battlefield a hassle, especially in densely packed urban missions. Thankfully their second form will be easier to deal with. As these Powered Armor wearing little shits will Overwatch to hamper squad mobility and toss Acid Bombs at [[your_dudes]] if not killed ASAP.

*'''Faceless''': A new enemy that should only appear in Terror Attack missions. Shapeshifters that look like ordinary humans until your troops get too close, then they turn into ''fucking huge'' moaning melted-wax men with claws the length of shotguns. Can take quite a beating and will literally tear down houses to get at your troops. They can be seeded in regular missions if you pull the Dark Event that allows them to mingle with the regular citizens during missions. Isn't that lovely.

*'''Muton''': Remaining as the ethereal's shock infantry, these Mutons have apparently been crossbred with humanity, making them smaller, faster, and deadlier. Apparently, they're smarter too, but considering just how badly the A.I can flub up sometimes, you have to wonder about that. They aren't packing any more HP, but they're now armoured, so they'll soak up more damage unless you can shred their armour with heavy weapons and explosives. They'll still be a threat until you get Plasma weapons, and 3rd tier armour, but once you're there, they pretty much become chaff beneath the scythe. They also like tossing grenades if they don't have a direct line of sight on your troops. Along with the ability to use suppression if a Muton can't get into melee. Making them an annoyance well into the late game.

*'''Berserker''': Now visually more distinct from the regular muton instead of just having a fancy costume. Still the same extremely tough melee combatants with the same instinctive berserker charge. Apparently, these are actually the muton ''women''. Gives a whole new meaning to the term [[amazon]], huh?

*'''Codex''': A replacement for the Outsider, but far more annoying. The Codex first appears when you Skulljack an ADVENT officer, and it looks like a weirdly sexy woman made of pure energy, but with a cybernetic brain & spinal column. They can teleport around the battlefield, and when struck by an attack that fails to kill them, they split into two Codexes with half of their remaining health. They can also create temporary zones of energy that suck all the ammo out of your guns, and then close with deadly force. Naturally you want Snipers or Magnetic/Plasma Weapon chain attacks to kill them quickly. Which you should have by the time of encountering them. Unless of course you rush the skull-jack out in your first run, and get one of these while you still have conventional weapons, in which case... have ''fun''.

*'''Specter''': Another WotC specific enemy. These guys look like the Codex if they were made out of Necron Scarabs rather than pure energy. It's fitting too as they are a collection of Psionic nanobots that can grab your guys, stun them, and create a shadowy doppelgänger with all of your guy's skills and gear, and none of their bad luck. Thankfully killing the Specter will also kill this doppelganger and bring your guy back into the fight, but if you're not ready losing a guy and the enemy gaining that guy can turn the tides right back against you. Oddly, attacks that harm biological targets without requiring a will test can harm the Specter.

*'''Gatekeeper''': A giant, floating, psionic ball. No, we're not joking. For all the goofiness of trying to summarise this thing, it's a shockingly vicious threat. That big metal ball containing a psionic powerhouse in the shape of several fleshy tentacles, which if it gets close will shed its armour, and proceed to bitchslap your soldiers into the ground. And you'll want it to do this because it has 4/5 pips of armour that need to be shredded away depending on difficulty. It also has the ability to mind control your guys, raise the dead, and fire an insanely powerful laser beam, and it'll try to use cover despite being a 2x2 giant, floating, metal, psychic ball of doom. One of them is are always encountered during the Psi Gate and will likely be the first time seeing them. As a final FU, when killed they explode with a blast that will reach all tiles around them, heavily wounding or outright killing any of your squad next to them. So melee units should be kept far away unless they're a fully upgraded Templar. Hilariously these tiny Eldritch Abominations can be mind controlled by Psi Operatives. Another way of dealing with them is using explosives and heavy weapons that shreds their armor. These would be the first targets to use Frost Grenades on if you encounter them early in the maps. You should have Magnetic or Plasma Weapons by the time Gatekeepers start showing up or they will be nearly impossible to defeat.

*'''Archon''': So someone in the Aliens' side realized that having a heavily mutilated torso mounted on jetpacks, which actively tore at its implants and constantly mounted suicide charges so it could be put out of its misery was bad for PR, so they replaced the Floaters with these guys. They look almost angelic, and their design incorporates a lot more white and gold and less obviously chop-shop cybernetics. The nigh-constant pain going away has made them far smarter too. They still like to jump around the battlefield, but now they can also use a new ability called Blazing Pinions to rain rockets down on your guys after a turn's delay and will actually take advantage of cover.

*'''Avatar''': The Ethereals' plans are revealed when you discover these creatures. Avatars are genetically engineered lifeforms created from the genes of the most psi-capable humans, crafted to house the essence of the Ethereals, whose own bodies are breaking down irrevocably. Extremely tough, powerful psionics, kill on sight. The Commander gets one of his own at the end of the game. This is because they plugged him/her into their psionic network and never bothered to remove or change anything after XCOM recovered them. [[Fail|As the Ethereals are really quite stupid despite claiming to be a superior race.]] While lacking the full skill set of the Psi Operative. They have useful abilities. Their equivalents doing more damage or allowing multiple uses of mind control. Avatars also come with a pretty cool gun that ignores armor values and can be acquired through modding.

'''The Alien Rulers''':
If you played the previous game, you may have been wondering: "what happened to Dr. Valen?" Well, the first DLC for XCOM 2, "Alien Hunters" reveals that she went off and set up her own base in an abandoned alien genetics lab, where her experiments in undoing the genetic suppressants on three cryogenically suspended subjects created three amped-up alien variants so powerful that the Ethereals couldn't control them. Great work, doc! Alien Rulers have a huge health bar and many unique abilities, but one of their more bullshit traits is that they get a free turn in reaction to ''every'' action your troops take. The best way to deal with is using Venom Bombs that damages them every turn and prevents them from taking an action. Along with abilities that allow your troops to take use multiple attacks that count as one action. Something you should have before facing them in mid to late game. Because fuck these guys. While you could choose to face them as early as your first Blacksite mission in WotC. Doing so means missing out on controlling Bradford and seeing his gun with [[cheese|every possible upgrade in action.]] The only real way to use it outside of the Alien Ruler introduction mission is through using game mods.

*'''The Viper King:''' The only male Viper in existence, this creature shows why the Ethereals removed the male gender from the viper species with how rampantly he set about fertilizing every female viper he could encounter, filling an entire base with a huge array of hatchling vipers you have to fight through. His unique abilities allow him to spit a freezing gas instead of the normal venom. The weakest of the Alien Rulers, the Viper King is usually the first one you encounter. If you manage to tag 'n' bag Subject Gamma, you can turn his carcass into a unique Spider Suit, the Serpent Suit, that can scare the scales off of normal vipers and lash out with freezing whips.

*'''The Berserker Queen:''' Even bigger and scarier than normal Berserkers, Subject Beta can not only unleash a howl that can panic your whole squad, but is equipped with cybernetically integrated hammers she can use to create earthquakes. From her carcass, you can build the R.A.G.E Suit, which not only terrifies mutons and berserkers, but lets your trooper make a berserker-style charge attack themselves.

*'''The Archon King''': Subject Alpha is the nastiest Alien Ruler in the game, and has the most health. His special attack "Devastate" is a version of Blazing Pinons (the Archon's "shower an area with rockets" ability) that does less damage, but which can also disorient, stun and knock unconscious. Worse, it hits on the next Ruler Reaction, meaning you have no chance to get away from it the way you do from Blazing Pinions. He also has a unique attack where he grabs a trooper, hauls them into the air, and then power dives them into the floor. If you can take down this asshole, his corpse can be refashioned into the Icarus Armor, a superior Warden Armor suit that grants the Vault ability and the ability to pull off the Archon's "move to any point on the map you wish" twice per mission. Give it to your best Sniper. As this allows them to keep up with the rest of the squad and find the nearest vantage point.

'''The Chosen''':
The new Dragons aka Second in Command below the Ethereals. Coming with a bunch of BS abilities that can wreck your troops at lower levels. You also want to find their base ASAP as they gain upgrades through the game like you do and can hurt your income. Getting their OP shit is also a nice bonus.

When first encountered they'll attempt to stun and capture one of your troops. If they appear during a Blacksite mission, The Chosen AI will just straight up murder a squad member. [[Rage|Despite the game not giving hints to this change in behavior.]] So if you're counting on manipulating their AI into kidnapping a soldier who is near death during those missions. The Chosen will just slaughter your squad like the rest of Advent. Because all bets when are off when your trying to kill mommy? and/or err daddy? Shklee? Maybe?
Thankfully, the game rolls to give them permanent weakness, along with an arch enemy who will deal extra damage to a Chosen among the new Hero classes. They will also roll for one immunity and a special ability, though the immunities are things that many players will hardly ever use against a boss regardless. The special power can either be meh, or fuck you right over. Good thing for the player the summoning powers are mutually exclusive and can't gain strengths that counter most of their weaknesses.

They can also be countered by researching Mindshields, your own (fully upgraded) Psi operatives and the buffed Sparks. When you have the latter two the Mindshields are redundant as the last two are right out immune to being stunned and mind controlled. Too bad there aren't new lines for a Spark with Julian's voice. As hearing a GlaDOS expy with the attitude of Bender snark back at The Chosen would have been hilarious.

*'''The Assassin''': The first of the Chosen you'll meet if you're playing the "Lost and Damned" mission to introduce yourself to the new mechanics introduced in WotC, the Assassin is a dark reflection of the Ranger class. The biggest [[Weeaboo|weeb]] in all of Advent. She attacks mostly with her Katana (although she does have a rarely used shotgun called Arashi, and you'll thank the programmers she rarely uses it), striking out of concealment to stun one of your guys (Who you'll then have to revive or risk them getting kidnapped), before running away. In the same turn. Because the Bad Guys get to move, shoot, move, but the player doesn't get nice things. To top this all off she's immune to overwatch so you either have to try and escape from the current mission, or take the fight back to her just as hard. Oh yeah, and avoid bunching your guys up, or she will stun half the squad at a time with an area of effect special attack, but don't get too spread out or you won't be able to revive stunned soldiers before she kidnaps them. Thankfully, her concealment works by the same rules as yours, and it'll break if one of your guys flanks her, so if you've got a good idea of where she is, you can move someone in to reveal her, and then light her up with the rest of the squad. To make her easier to deal with make sure to take a Specialist with Scanning Protocol. After killing The Assassin you can build Arashi and her Katana. Though many will find her Katana redundant after they have tier 3 Axes and late game Templars.

*'''The Hunter''': While you would expect a roided up [[Space Wolves|Craven the Hunter cosplaying furfag]] by name alone. He is instead a more or less a [[Vindicare|hit man armed with a pistol and sniper rifle]] with an Affably Evil personality. He's also known to have team killed some of the weaker Advent aliens when he got bored. Unlike his siblings he outright admits that he is a psychopath who likes killing things. The Hunter's abilities are a bit mundane compared to the other Chosen. While still being effective none the less. His Tracking Shot can aim at your troops from the other side of the map, and if they don't move he will kill them the next. This makes mind controlling Advent and hacking MECs for recon useful for once. He also come with a grappling hook with no cool-down, stun grenades and pistol tranq shots that never miss. So don't be stupid and send in a lone Reaper. Even if he rolls them as a weakness. As they don't put out enough damage to out snipe him and will end up killed or captured instead. His Sniper rifle Darklance and pistol Darkclaw are obviously weapons that are meant for your Snipers. So Reapers can't use it.

*'''The Warlock''': Probably the most dangerous of The Chosen, if you don't have Mindshields. If you do he's about as dangerous as the final boss of the game. If you don't he's damned near impossible as he'll mind control your entire squad a once. Otherwise he'll summon waves of exploding spectral zombies, or psionic copies of Stun Lancers. On his direct offense he has a buffed up plasma rifle that will do extra damage to psionics (i.e. your Psi Operative and Templar), a mind bullet that will split off to affect up to two additional targets, and the ability to teleport his own allies into flanking positions. Sometimes his AI does some stupid shit such as teleporting an Advent next to him. Bonus points if said Advent is the target your supposed to kill during the mission. Once you get his Disruptor rifle, it has every possible upgrade in the game. Though only Rangers, Psi-Operatives and Specialist can take it. A waste on the latter two as by the time you get it. Their late game abilities and equipment make giving them a 3.5 tier weapon redundant.

'''The Lost'''

*'''Regular''': Introduced in WotC, these are the zombie horde style enemies of the game. They have a unique mechanic where if you kill one, you get a free action point to continue killing. A soldier with decent Aim, an auto-loader, and an extended mag can decimate entire swarms if lucky.

*'''Dasher''': Faster, and with slightly more HP (4-5, as opposed to 2-3) these guys aren't exactly more of a threat than the regular lost. They're just more likely to pull off a successful ambush.

*'''Brute''': These guys have a lot of HP for a Lost, and can actually deal some melee punishment, and will start coming out in decent numbers by endgame. Then again, by endgame you'll have the best weapons and armour, so once again... only really a threat if you're unlucky, and there's a lot of them.

== See Also ==

*[[X-Com Play By Post]], experimental rules for playing X-Com on a forum.
*[[XCOM: Tomorrow's War edition]], a conversion of [[Tomorrow's War]] for playing X-Com on the tabletop.

== Gallery ==
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</gallery>

== External Links ==

* [http://ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page UFOpaedia.org], a wiki dedicated to X-COM (and sequels, and mods, etc.).
* [http://openxcom.org/ Open Source engine for the original game]
* [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=269&enmi=XCOM:%20The%20Board%20Game Fantasy Flight Games's official X-COM game.]
* [http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/88/? Long War main page.]
* [http://ufoai.org/wiki/About UFO: Alien Invasion]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BqoEJUWKVRFSKXOA2Ks3Ce7Kvphmg0kAFKcuXJHgmr0/mobilebasic?pli=1 Things X-COM operatives are not allowed to do], a list in the vein of Mr. Welch's list. Occasionally hilarious
* [https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=5026.0] A 40k mod for openxcom NO idea as to why it hasn't shown up here.
[[category:Video Games]]
[[Category:Software]]

Metal Gear

2019-01-05T11:58:02Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty */

[[File: MSG Title.jpeg|thumb|right|Metal Gear Solid title]]
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{{Spoilers}}
{{topquote|Nanomachines, son!|Senator Armstrong, explaining how Metal Gear gets away with anything it can't explain with traditional technobabble. (replace with parasites for pre-nanomachine era).}}

If you're here on the Internet and have ''not'' heard of Metal Gear or Metal Gear Solid, you're obviously pretty new or just straight up ignorant... But for the sake [[/tg/]] and everyone, we'll help.

Metal Gear and the subsequent games coming after it are action-adventure stealth games starting in 1987. While Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 on the <strike>EN EE ESS</strike> EM ES EX TWO were well-received and iconic, it was Metal Gear Solid in 1998 on the PEE ESS JUAN that changed not only the franchise but third-person shooters in general and practically being the herald of stealth games. Though each game has a different story, it typically follows the supersoldier agent Solid Snake or Big Boss during the 21st century and the Cold War as he infiltrates something, destroys whatever's inside, and is a badass while doing it. We would explain more of the story here, but honestly it gets stupidly complicated with government conspiracies, clones, ghosts, [[meme|sudden but inevitable betrayals]], and many more. While somewhat grounded in reality, it has a very obvious sci-fi feel to it, similar to [[BattleTech]], [[Shadowrun]], and in some ways [[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K]]. Besides its well-crafted game play and frequently uneven and twisty plot, Metal Gear is mainly known for its [[memes]].

==Metal Gear and /tg/==
Like much of the Internet and 4chan, /tg/ has a pretty distinct love for Metal Gear. We've had several quest threads following the Metal Gear universe, most notably [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Metal%20Gear:%20Rise%20from%20Ashes%20Quest| Rise from Ashes] and [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Revengeance%20Quest| Revengeance Quest]. While there's not a definitive homebrew for it, there's limitless potential and [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/38662709/| that certainly hasn't stopped us from trying].

[[Metal Gear Vindicare]] is a pretty obvious /tg/-MSG relation, being inspired by the famous codec used by Solid Snake in the game. Centers around [[Love Can Bloom]] with <s>[[Doomrider]] as a special guest.</s> '''DO COCAAAAIIIINNE!'''

A lot of things about Metal Gear correlate with the interests of fa/tg/uys. Despite what most people think, /tg/ loves their [[tau|giant]] [[Adeptus Evangelion|robots]], which Metal Gear Solid has in spades. There's also a good enough amount of both [[grimdark]] and [[Orks|hilarious stupidity]] to keep a wide variety of neckbeards entertained.

==Characters==
===Solid Snake===
[[File: Solid Snake codec.png|thumb|left|I ''am'' happy]]
The protagonist for most of the games. He starts out his career in Metal Gear as a rookie FOXHOUND agent, uncovering the existence of the Metal Gear and the double-crossing of his superior, Big Boss. He later discovers that he's actually the clone-son of Big Boss, created for reasons that change from game to game. Snake spends the rest of the games fighting Big Bosses' other clones as well as uncovering the grand conspiracy his father had been retconned into fighting, while people talk about how hard the life that he chooses to live is even though it's his own fucking choice. He finally ends his career in Metal Gear Solid 4, his clone-genes rapidly degenerating and near the end of his life (by the time he's in his mid-thirties he's in his late sixties biologically, complete with heart problems and seizures). But he doesn't get to die before finally making amends with his father in a rather hilarious moment where Big Boss is convinced that unless he kills a really old man who was essentially a vegetable the whole series could happen again. In terms of personality there's not much to say, besides him wanting to lead huskies in the Iditarod if he were to ever retire.

===Big Boss===
[[File:Big Boss Salute.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|Good night, sweet prince.]]
Basically [[General Sturnn]]. But with an eye-patch. [[Farsight]] seems to take a lot of inspiration from him too.
While initially portrayed as the villain due to how much he loved war so he could get child soldiers to train into regular soldiers, one could argue whether or not his actions were justified given the later retcon of the Patriots existence (and then they'd remember that whole child soldier bit - then again, who knows if that was actually Big Boss or Venom Snake). Big Boss stars as the protagonist of all the Metal Gear games before Solid begins his career, dating back to the 1960s when he was known as Naked Snake (get it?). Naked Snake discovers the progenitor of Metal Gear in Soviet Russia while also being "betrayed" by his former leader, The Boss. After an arms deal goes wrong, he chooses to kill her to cover up America's involvement, which leaves a lasting impact for the rest of his life and was betrayed by his love interest, EVA, because nobody on the team realized that the agent he was supposed to meet (a man) was actually replaced by EVA (a woman). He decides to abandon the United States (even though patriotism was the theme of the previous game) and create his own military group "Militaires Sans Frontieres," the very mercenary group to have ever existed in the MGS world, later called "Diamond Dogs," while fighting his own shadow war against former comrade Zero who turned evil offscreen and is the founder of the Patriots (also happens offscreen). After fighting a number of early Metal Gear models, Big Boss began building a few Metal Gears of his own to try and even the odds. During a battle against one of the Patriots' splinter groups, Cypher, Big Boss pussies out and decides "Fuck this war, somebody else can deal with this shit" and leaves a body double, Venom Snake, to become the public face of his PMC while he fucked off to who knows where. Originally Big Boss fought Solid Snake in MG1 and died, this was retconned in MG2 where they said he didn't die, just had lots of his body replaced with machinery, and retconned into Venom Snake died instead in MG1, while Big Boss entered into a coma after MG2 until he was revived just after the patriots were defeated (nobody bothered to check to make sure he was dead).
He can also bench press 200 simi odd ton tanks and recharge batteries by eating glowing mushrooms for [[Orks| some reason.]]
TL:DR, he's a ubersoldier. Also has done enough shit to make James Bond look like a pansy. Made a cool base.

===Gray Fox===
Initially just an NPC with some backstory as FOXHOUND's best soldier. In Metal Gear 2 he's retconned as Solid Snake's best friend in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.([[Fail| To differentiate it from the load of fail that was Metal Gear 2 on the NES]]) Mid-way into the game in he is revealed as the second in command of Zanzibar Land under Big Boss & the pilot of the first real Metal Gear battle and first of the melee only boss battles, with [[Mekboy | land minds surrounding boss arena]]. Because the AI was shit (and he isn't the player character) he loses to Snake. He also kills his girlfriend accidentally in one of the most heavily foreshadowed scenes of all time.
In Metal Gear Solid he comes back as the first [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Cyborg Ninja]] as a tutorial battle for the game's melee system. [[Railroading| In short telling the player how to beat him.]] His final act is damaging Metal Gear Rex with some kind of [[Skub|laser or plasma weapon]] that he didn't have in previous appearances before being squished by Metal Gear. So Snake can finally defeat Rex with his Stinger Missiles. Also appears in a prequel game of [[C.S. Goto|questionable canon]].
Later on his backstory was expanded a little more, and it was revealed that he was a child soldier fighting in an area well known for their child soldiers, and he was able to amass a large kill-streak because none of his enemies thought that child soldiers existed, [[Fail|in an area full of them.]]
His ability to lower the intelligence of everyone he met impressed the CIA, who decided to make him into the perfect soldier, unfortunately this ability affected the CIA too and they assumed that wiping all of his memories, including the memory of any martial art he knew or fought against, would make him a better fighter.
He also later murdered the parents of Naomi, then chose to adopt her, because why not? Naomi is also the person who turns him into a cyborg and then lets him loose, knowing full well that he'll want another rematch against Snake, and knowing full well that if Snake failed to complete the mission a Nuke could be launched against the US, though luckily assisting in the act of nuclear terrorism only gets you a verbal reprimand, so she gets away just fine.

===Liquid Snake===
[[File:Brother Liquid.png|thumb|right|Liquid quite literally most of the time. This even extends to when Ocelot brainwashed himself to become Liquid.]]
The antagonist of Metal Gear Solid and Snake's clone brother. Liquid has a distinctly British accent and blond hair. According to the game's very loose grasp of genetics (later ret-conned into Ocelot convincing Liquid this is how genetics work, which is even more dumb since this implies Liquid, an elite ex-British SAS member, could not pick up a goddamned high-school science textbook to do extra research), Liquid inherited all the recessive genes of Big Boss, while Snake inherited all the dominant genes, and because of this he believed he was made from "inferior genes" and that's the reason he's evil. No seriously, the entire reason he's evil is because he doesn't like how he looks, and thus becomes Doctor Doom. Even as a child, he was a surprisingly competent soldier, giving Venom Snake (who he believed was his father Big Boss) a lot of headaches when he started acting out, he also murdered kids and stole the Metal Gear Venom Snake had before vanishing in a cliffhanger that never got resolved in the main series (you'll have to look to youtube to see what they wanted to do, and even then that still ends up on a cliff-hanger).

Liquid would have died from Skull Face's parasite had he not become BFFs with his future comrade, Psycho Mantis who had the ability to do pretty much everything, and was retconned into being possessed by Liquid since Psycho Mantis now gets possessed by non-Psychic people, even though he's wearing his mask which was designed to stop peoples thoughts from entering his head. Liquid has massive Daddy issues (the aforementioned genes) and is incredibly stupid, which lead him to rebel against the US government and seize Metal Gear REX for himself. He also really hates Snake for the same aforementioned gene issue, possessing a really intense inferiority complex and needing to constantly prove himself. Also turned Gray Fox into a blood puddle, because can't aim a [[fail|laser for crap]]. Snake fights him several times, including shooting down his helicopter and Metal Gear Rex, but the bastard JUST. WON'T. DIE. Of course he finally does die from an engineered virus... sort of. "Liquid" takes possession of Ocelot but this was retconned out later so it doesn't matter.

===Ocelot===
A Russian gunslinger and a guy with a LOT of mixed loyalties that make no sense when you think about it. Formerly a member of GRU (the Soviet Military's version of the civilian KGB) and a secret agent for the USA, Ocelot joined with Big Boss (due to a combination of charisma and because Ocelot has a major crush on Big Boss, bordering on actual romance.), helping him in secret despite nominally being a member of the Patriots (and later deciding to destroy them, for Big Boss' sake). Ocelot joined Liquid's rebellion, but only to act as the Patriot's inside man and steal the plans for Metal Gear REX, even though as the governing intelligence they would already have had them. He also manages to steal Metal Gear RAY, but at this point he starts acting out his secret plan to destroy the Patriots from within. How does he do this? Well....

# [[What|Pretend to be possessed by the ghost of Liquid]] and steal Metal Gear RAY which was later retconned into him using hypnosis to make himself think he's Liquid, which gives him all of Liquid's personalities and skills, because that's what happens in this universe (it's how Big Boss made his body double too).
# Use one of the Patriots' AI to infiltrate their system and take effective control over their military assets, because AI who know that the new AI will be under Liquid's control will just hand it to him and wait to die.
# When the patriots send Snake after him, put up a convincing show of resistance by attempting to kill him multiple times.
# Steal the railgun off of Metal Gear REX and aim it at the Patriots' main satellite, which is still armed with a live nuke because nobody in the government told their successors about the nuke, because written logs don't exist in this world, everything is passed down through word of mouth, and the patriots forgot that the nuke was there too. If it makes you feel any better, the US government also forgot they have a fully-armed (we're not even kidding, come MGS4, and the thing's weapon systems are fully armed and operational) 15-ft bi-pedal mech, fully equipped with classified next-generation technology, sitting in an abandoned nuclear storage facility.
# Hope that Snake is still alive at this point and that he's developed the worm necessary to kill the Patriots AI, which Liquid could have done at any time so he wouldn't have had to worry about all the earlier bullshit.
# Fistfight him bare-chested until you die of exhaustion.
# Realize how hilariously dumb Kojima's story-telling ability is, after reading everything in this section
# ???
# Profit!
Yeah... when we talk about how convoluted the story is, it's usually Ocelot's fault. Still, for an elderly old bastard, he's pretty damn badass. Dude can also pull off some [[/co/|Taskmaster]] level shit and bite CQC moves from his opponents. He's also the third canon cyborg via replacing Liquid's Arm with a prosthetic and [[What|dented his own ship with it (but somehow, couldn't break Solid Snake's face during their fist-fight).]]

Also, he has a [[Slaanesh| torture fetish]] and is a [[Furry|furry old fuck, the "Ocelot" code-name was before Fox Hound decided to go full-furry with operative code-names.]]. TLDR, he is [[Wat]] incarnate.

===Otacon===
The [[weeaboo]] of the series. We're not exaggerating, by the way. He wanted to work on Metal Gear REX specifically because he's obsessed with [[anime]]. Otacon is your typical nerdy support character, giving Snake technical assistance in his fight against the Metal Gears and is the only reason REX was able to be defeated because he intentionally developed it with an exploitable weak spot that would have made it a hindrance against on the battlefield. This carries over to the next several games where he'll design something far inferior to what already existed, only to let you use that better thing later on anyway. He's also a quite literally hopeless romantic, as his two romantic interests ended up dying. Though to be honest, the first was a terrorist who showed no real interest in him, and the second was Naomi, who upon realizing she had cancer that wasn't doing a fucking thing because she stopped it with nanomachines, decided to commit suicide. Also we learn that his dad committed suicide because he had sex with his stepmom. Yeah.

===Huey===
Otacon's dad. Despite having the same general appearance, voice actor, and role as Otacon, Huey deserves special mention for how much of a [[that guy|cock]] he is and how despite all his faults, Otacon is infinitely more tolerable. So, he's a paraplegic engineer who got drafted by the CIA into helping to build Peace Walker, not realizing how insane the project really is (this is a persistent theme for him). After being rescued by Big Boss, Huey works for him and develops Metal Gear ZEKE as a counter to the various AI weapons the CIA had built. He also ended up marrying his design partner, the heavily-implied-to-have-had-a-lesbian-crush-on-The-Boss Dr. Strangelove, with whom they had a son named Hal (aka Otacon). Now, here's where the dark shit settles in: <s> after getting tricked by Cipher into letting them onto Mother Base to destroy it </s> after selling out Big Boss and MSF to Cipher, Huey gets abducted and is forced to work on a new Metal Gear, Sahelanthropus. Because the cockpit can't fit a full-sized human, he tries to get his son Hal to pilot it. Strangelove vehemently opposes this, so he ends up stuffing her inside an AI pod to suffocate. After getting recaptured by Big Boss, he insists that he never betrayed him and that he wasn't willingly working for Cipher. But after Big Boss succeeds in defeating Skull Face, Huey steals the vocal chord parasite and makes it more deadly by making it immune to its original antidote in an attempt to sell it to Cipher for protection, even having the gall to call Big Boss a murderer for mercy-killing the men Huey infected. Naturally, this pisses off Big Boss, so he sends him adrift on a tiny life raft. Huey lives out the rest of his days being a bad parent, eventually drowning himself (and nearly drowning his stepdaughter) when he found out Hal had sex with his new wife. After learning all that, one can only imagine how badly Hal was treated and feel some genuine pity for him.

===Meryl===
Colonel Roy Campbell's daughter (he told everyone she was his niece because he didn't want them to know her mother had an affair with him) and the only FOXHOUND agent to not join Liquid's rebellion. She starts out as a rookie way in over her head, but she helps out Snake by providing him with useful information. Snake also starts to develop a romantic interest in her after all the shit they go through, and then dumps her to go hunt Metal Gears because Snake decided that Metal Gears shouldn't exist, a plan which was doomed to failure since their design was on the internet and literally everyone could download it. In Metal Gear Solid, depending on whether Snake submits to Ocelot's torture, Meryl lives or dies at the end of the game. This is later retconned in Metal Gear Solid 4, where she lives but also learns the truth that she's Roy's daughter, not his niece, which pisses her off. Meryl becomes the commander of her own unit which she names after the group who tried to kill her, and decides that because at this point Snake's turned into a crusty old fart, she's going to marry her perpetually incontinent subordinate stalker (he saw her once and was then pining for her years after the fact), who's also a weeaboo.

===Raiden===
He's introduced as the "true" protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2, but his original appearance is nowhere near as badass as Snake. He's a [[Fulgrim|white-haired effeminate Bishie]] that tends to rile up most people who loathe anime stereotypes. Raiden starts out as a Child Soldier in Africa (despite being whiter than white-out) before being taken in by the Patriots as their successor to Solid Snake. He's lived nearly his entire life in simulations and being fucked over by AIs. Once he's actually let out into the real world to stop Solidus and his terror cell, he meets Snake, and together they discover the existence of the Patriots.

Raiden gets a significant upgrade after MGS2, where he gets kidnapped by the Patriots and has his entire body below his upper jaw cut off and replaced by a cyborg ninja body (akin to a reverse [[Ferrus Manus]]). Everyone agrees that his version of Raiden is much better, and he ends up starring in the spin-off game Metal Gear Rising, where he uses his sword and ninja athleticism to fight other cyborgs and a regular human who was stronger than him due to having [[Flash Gitz| a better weapon, Power Armor]] and skills. In the Metal Gear verse your top of the line upgrades are [[Games Workshop|barely useful in less than four years]].

===Solidus===
The last of Big Bosses' clones, Solidus was much more under the control of the Patriots, sometimes. He spent some time fighting in Africa, where he picked up an orphaned Raiden and turned him into a pawn of the Patriots. While he was eventually made President, this really didn't count for much as the Patriots still made all the decisions and he was basically a puppet. Solidus decides that he's had enough of this shit and steals the Patriots' new warship, Arsenal Gear, and decides to take the fight directly to them. Of course, this didn't end well for him when Snake and Raiden interfere and the ship crashes into Manhattan. He gets killed by Raiden, sort of-not really as nobody bothered to check the body (falling into a coma instead of dying), but his body ends up being a macguffin because his DNA is an exact match to Big Boss, allowing Ocelot to hack into the Patriots network, because even though the Patriots know what's happening and could stop it they let it happen anyway.

===The Patriots===
Also known as "Cipher", or "La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo" if you're under their direct control since they decided the best way to hide their name is telling everyone that they can't say their name. Financed by the inheritance of the 20th Century's wealthiest men, the Patriots control literally everything. Originally this was a group formed by Big Boss, Zero, Sigint, Para-Medic, Ocelot, and Eva in order to fulfill The Boss' wishes of creating a world without borders and ending the Cold War since the entire series is based around people wanting to do what The Boss wanted to do, despite most of them having minimal attachment to the boss at best. However, this group split in half over differences on how to fulfill this vision. Zero wanted to control the entire world and all facets of human life through all-knowing AIs, while Big Boss wanted to create "Outer Heaven," a place where soldiers would always belong and not be the puppets of governments (because having people always ready to fight would obviously mean everyone becomes peaceful and happy). When Zero went comatose, the group was taken over for a short time by Skull Face, the guy responsible for cleaning up the mess in MGS3 even though there wasn't anyone like that originally (retcon) and the location should have made it impossible. He wanted to fulfill the Boss' vision by eliminating language itself using a language-based parasite because he believed that a persons personality and way of thinking had everything to do with the language they spoke (he was also retarded). Eventually the Patriots was controlled by Five AIs: JD, GW, TJ, AL, & TR (John Doe, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt respectively) who had no self preservation whatsoever. These AIs decided that the best thing to unite the world was to plunge it into perpetual conflict and proxy wars, bringing together the worst of Zero's and Big Boss' visions and directly working against everything the series said they were working towards. The Patriots AI were killed off when Snake unwittingly uploaded a worm that killed all of them, finally freeing the world from their influence.

==Types of Metal Gears==
If the title of the game didn't hint at it enough, a prominent part of the game(s) are these giant mechs called (you guessed it) Metal Gears. In the beginning they're simply mobile platforms to launch nuclear weapons, but they evolve to fulfill many other roles and become far more dangerous in general.

'''Shagohod''': Technically not a Metal Gear, but created the precedent for mobile nuclear platforms. This crazy contraption was basically a giant armored hovercraft (Move Trough Cover) that would rocket-boost (one-turn Fast Tank) in order to give its nuclear payload an extra boost and was designed to launch nukes from any surface, giving the Soviet Union the edge in the Cold War. Of course the whole point of the Cold War was that both sides were fucked if ANY nukes were launched so it became pointless before it was built. It also had point-defenses up the wazzoo.

'''Metal Gear RAXA''': The first proper Metal Gear ever built. A four-legged Metal Gear that could be launched from a ICBM. If you're asking why in the fuck they have to use a Metal Gear as a middleman nuclear platform when they're already launching it from an ICBM, supposedly it's because the missiles are harder to intercept on the Metal Gear than on the ICBM... but who's to say they can't intercept the ICBM carrying the Metal Gear?

'''Peace Walker''': A four-legged walker that was fully AI controlled. It's described as having a stealth frame, but it wouldn't exactly be hard to spot considering the size of the thing. It could only fire nukes defensively, but could be tricked into launching a premature attack through a faked nuclear launch signal sent through the hacked NORAD system. Was intended to be the ultimate assurace of Mutually Assured Destruction by being an mobile, autonomous, and intelligent AI system that would guarantee a retaliatory strike upon whoever fired their nukes first. Originally created because a branch of the government didn't believe people would be able to launch nukes and kill millions of innocent people (which he'd prove by launching a nuke himself). Turns out it wasn't needed at all because the final act (and anyone with common sense) proved him completely wrong.

'''Metal Gear ZEKE''': Big Boss' first attempt at a Metal Gear, this one was fully bipedal. Originally it was AI controlled too, but was modified to use a human pilot when Cypher attempted to steal it, the modifications being completed in days or minutes depending on when you last checked it, and nobody guarding it thought that it was a good idea to stop the modifications that weren't supposed to happen, and the two people doing them would never have been able to make them in the first place. This metal gear was also customizable and could be sent out on combat missions alongside MSF soldiers.

'''Sahelanthropus''': This one was designed by Otacon's Dad, Huey. While technically more advanced than Metal Gear REX in that it could walk upright, one flaw was that the cockpit was too small for a full-sized human. Cypher got around this by using Pyscho Mantis to control it psychically, because in Phantom Pain Psycho Mantis could do whatever he wanted, which makes you question why they need robots when they already have control over a superhuman. Sahelanthropus is also the absolute proof of why Metal Gears are useless (as if Metal Gear: Rising didn't already do that), despite costing millions to make and countless resources, it's easily defeated by a man on a man-sized robot that would have cost a fraction of the resources to develop, and if it didn't have the ability to create clouds that destroyed metal, it could have been easily defeated by one tank.

'''TX-55''': The Metal Gear that appears in the first game (which is now chronologically not the first one). This model didn't have that many frills, though it could fire two nukes despite being relatively tiny. It does nothing while Snake just uses C4 to blow it up and dodges the [[Rage|annoying laser cameras]]. Presumably it's the most durable one because the only way to hurt it is to use a shitload of C4 on its legs in a certain order, because that's how explosives work.

'''Metal Gear D''': The first real Metal Gear the player ever fights in the release order. An upgraded version of TX-55. It only had a machine guns and missiles during it's boss battle, but apparently it could also fire [[Anal_circumference|six nukes one after another]].

'''Metal Gear REX''': This dinosaur-looking motherfucker takes the original Metal Gear concept one step further by firing nukes from a [[Tau|railgun]] instead of a ballistic missile, making nukes nearly impossible to track (though it was never designed to do so, it just happened to work out that way). It also had a badass assortment of weaponry, from Gatling Guns to crotch lasers and a crap-ton of missiles. Even after Snake battled it in MGS1, it was still tough enough to take on RAY in MGS4. After MGS1, hundreds of REX knockoffs started spreading throughout the world thanks to Ocelot's douchebaggery.

'''Metal Gear RAY''': Designed to be the ultimate anti-Metal Gear weapon, RAY failed fucking hard in that regard. It's amphibious by design, and instead of carrying nukes, its weapons include a powerful water cannon that can cut metal. Despite being built specifically to fight Metal Gears, it still loses in a fight against an already damaged Metal Gear REX. For some reason Ocelot never uses the missile spam attack seen in Metal Gear Solid 2 when he pilots the manned version in MGS4. Still not a cake walk though since you need too spam the fire button instead of holding it down to make this fight easier. Since Metal Gear battles that are not the first boss hardly ever are.
The others seen in MGS2 and Rising are smaller unmanned knockoffs.

'''Metal Gear RAY MOD0''': An upgrade over RAY seen in Metal Gear Rising. With the rise of carbon nano-tube tech; the armor was made lighter and stronger, allowing it to carry more weapons. Upgrades include: 4 limb-mounted twin-linked gatling guns, micro and macro missile launchers, an HF arm blade roughly the size of a small building, and a mouth-mounted plasma cannon. Despite all this, every last one of these guys encountered were destroyed by some Rhodesian weeaboo ninja with a sharp stick and a smart-talking Brazilian samurai with an incomprehensibly powerful sword and fighting technique.

'''Metal Gear EXCELSUS''': Not really a Metal Gear, it was only named so for marketing reasons, but still impractically awesome either way. Seen only in Metal Gear Rising; EXCELSUS was meant as an anti-cyborg gear, because cyborgs were becoming too powerful for conventional warfare. Due to this, people thought the only counter to this was to go back to making giant mechs with impractically large and powerful weapons (under the logic that if you can't outmanuver them; outgun them). EXCELSUS is basically a scorpion-shaped mech roughly as tall and wide a sports stadium and armed with two giant HF blades and twin plasma cannons. Its destroyed by Raiden in the most hilariously over-the-top way possible; he SUPLEXES THE DAMN THING, rips one of it's arm blades off, and engages it in an arm-wrestling match with one of it's severed arms. Reminder, this was designed to kill cyborgs.

'''Gekko''': Small Metal Gears made up of a combination of synthetic organic muscle and mechanical technology. They have the head/upper body of a REX, but they have a pair of lizard legs to walk around on. You'd think that those legs would be easy pickings for bullets, but actually they won't buckle for anything less than explosives. They also allow the GEKKO to jump really high, climb on walls, and sweep kick you, so good luck running away from them. They also moo like cows and take shits. Seriously. We're not fucking joking.

==Plot==
===Metal Gear ===
The original story on the NES. While the future 3D games are the stuff of legends, the old ones didn't get better with age (they're good for nostalgia, but gameplay as expected during the pioneer age of vidya gaems, is unpolished at best).

It has rookie FOXHOUND operative Solid Snake infiltrating Outer Haven, a mercenary empire led by a mysterious legendary mercenary. Big Boss, leader of FOXHOUND, originally sent one of their best operatives named "Grey Fox" to infiltrate the area, but was captured, leaving only the message "Metal Gear" before disappearing. BB then only sends Snake to investigate, in an operation dubbed "Operation Intrude N312".

So to make a long-story less long and all the obligatory plot twists: Big Boss is actually the leader of Outer Haven (this was later ret-conned to being Big Boss' body double: Venom Snake) and the real Big Boss (we think) only sent in Snake thinking that he would be killed as he didn't have the experience to go up against hardened war veterans (all those guys you fultoned in MGS5? They're these guys). Metal Gear is actually a bi-pedal tank capable of launching nuclear weapons from anywhere. Also Grey Fox is alive, and wants to kill you after being convinced by Big Boss to turn on the US government.

===Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake===
Sequel to the first game. The game now features the fictional nation of Zanzibar, another mercenary empire led by another "legendary mercenary". Zanzibar kidnapped Dr. Kio Marv, a scientist who created a compound named "OLIX" which could create an oil-substitute compound at little cost. Due to diminishing oil supplies, Zanzibar plans to hold the world hostage by controlling the only new reliable source of oil. They plan to enforce their position using OLIX and of course, a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank. Snake retired after the events of the first game, but was pressed by Campbell into service, due to this new crisis. Now, Snake must rescue Dr. Marv and bring an end to Zanzibar.

Surprisingly, this mission also goes well for Snake, managing to save Dr. Magnar and destroy Zanzibar's Metal Gear. But you guessed it, plot twists: Grey Fox is still alive, and this would be his final days as he dies after fighting Snake (but is forcibly brought back from the grave by the Patriots later), and Big Boss is actually still alive (although technically he was always alive, you just killed his body-double at first, with recent retcons considered), but Snake puts him down, once and for all (And this is the actual Big Boss now, but he didn't actually die, rather he was saved by the Patriots after the battle, but was in a coma. This plot point gets wrapped up in MGS4.).

===Metal Gear Solid===
Metal Gear Solid is a bit of a "reboot" of the franchise, where most of future games will follow this style of gameplay (or improve upon it).

The story involves Solid Snake being forced back into service after Liquid Snake, his brother, stages a coup with the Next-Generation Special Forces, and Fox Hound, taking Metal Gear REX and several personalities hostage. Their demands are money and for the US government to surrender the remains of Big Boss, as they require his DNA to fix their genetic flaws. Failure to do so, will cause the terrorists to launch a nuclear weapon from REX.

As a solo infiltrator; Snake must alone; defeat the members of the NGSF and Fox Hound, save the DARPA chief and president of the ArmsTech corporation, and retrieve Metal Gear REX. But as much as it was intended; he wasn't alone. He's assisted by an operations team that he contacts via codec that's currently operating from a submarine, an NGSF defector named Meryl, and REX's designer; Otacon. Also a mysterious cyborg ninja who is there to both assist and kill you, specifically in a first-fight.

But, plot twist, the ninja was Grey Fox all along and only got you here as a duel to the death with you was his final wish, you were just there to be a carrier of the FOXDIE virus, to ensure the members of Fox Hound are killed either way, then allow the US government to retrieve REX undamaged. Snake sort of "succeeds" in his mission (Revolver Ocelot is still alive, two of the hostages are dead, and REX is "kind of" destroyed.), failing most of his objectives, but managing to prevent nuclear holocaust from occurring.

As an additional Plot Twist: Revolver Ocelot planned everything with then-president George Sears (AKA: Solidus Snake), and everything went [[Just as Planned|all according to plan]] from his stand-point (Whether him losing his gun hand is part of it or not, is up to debate).

===Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty===
Known mostly as where the story of the Patriots and information control started.

After MGS1, Ocelot leaks plans of REX to the world, causing numerous countries to start making their own home-grown nuclear weapons programs through this data. Due to this, the US Marines are commissioned Metal Gear RAY, a not-metal gear that's designed to take on other giant robots, rather than launch nukes. [[Rage|Why they needed their own is only explained in optional dialogue that you have to go out of your way to find]]. As conventional weaponry (anti air and anti tank mostly or just a crap ton of explosives) can easily defeat Metal Gears. In short the USMC want to stick it to the Navy who have their own Metal Gear project.

This is caught by Snake's and Otacon's attention, who infiltrate the tanker transporting RAY to get photo evidence of the US government building another Metal Gear (never actually considering that in the age of Photoshop, the USG can easily deny these claims). Things go not as planned after Ocelot and a bunch of Russian mercenaries take over the tanker. Things are even more complicated after Ocelot betrays the mercenaries, then takes RAY for himself, sinking the oil tanker, and pinning the entire incident on Snake. Snake is assumed to have died during the tanker incident. Also Snake meets Olga Gurlukovich, daughter of the mercenary commander's daughter, for....reasons.

Fast forward a few years, and a facility called "Big Shell" is built on-top of the oil spill, to facilitate clean-up of the patch of water. Said facility is then taken over by the "Sons of Liberty" a disenfranchised US Special Forces group, led by former president George Sears, who intends to rid the world of the Patriots' influence, supported by a group of Russian mercenaries. He plans to do this by gaining access to nuclear weapons and requires the President's authorization to allow him to use it. During this time, they take the US president, and his cabinet hostage during a routine visit from them.

Along with a SEAL team, the US government sends "Raiden" a bishie "rookie" (he's trained with VR, but has no field experience to speak of. If you discount his stint as a child soldier) of Fox Hound. Also there's this SEAL named Iroquis Pliskin who sounds, looks, and acts a lot like Solid Snake, but it can't be him because he's dead. Plus there's also this female cyborg ninja with a thick Russian accent, who's....just there, I guess.

His objectives were to rescue the president, prevent the terrorists from blowing-up Big Shell (as the chemicals used for de-contaminating the oil would poison the area around Manhattan), and neutralize the Sons of Liberty....atleast that was the plan. As with the first game; Raiden fails his original mission as the Big Shell is eventually destroyed, the US President is dead, and Solidus gains access to another superweapon that he was able to use. But he was able to prevent Armageddon by stopping Solidus by having a sword-duel to the death. Anyways:

PLOT TWEEST: Pliskin is actually Solid Snake (whether this can still be considered a twist is debatable, but meh), the Ninja with the feminine Russian accent was Olga all along, Big Shell was just a cover for the Patriots attempting to build another Metal Gear called "Arsenal Gear", the oil spill was [[Just as Planned]] to allow it's construction and the Big Shell was never doing any clean-up work at all, and this entire flubdubbery was actually an exercise to allow the Patriots to gather data on the SSS program or "Solid Snake Simulator", a program that would allow them to train a soldier at-par with Solid Snake with Raiden's experiences, using Ocelot as an observer. Ocelot was actually working with the Patriots, if that was ever a surprise. Also the Colonel Campbell and Rosemary advising you were actually the Patriot AIs, bringing into question whether everything Raiden has been told by the two is real or not. Snake also comes off looking like an asshole in this game as he does things such as using Raiden as bait for Solidus and withholds information. Which is kind of the point. As being a super spy for twenty years some odd years would make just about anyone else into a jerkass. He also knew that the Patriots were monitoring Raiden. A proper reason for keeping somebody you don't trust in the dark about your plans.

A TWIST TO THE PLOT TWIST: Ocelot was just a pawn (or so the Patriots think), SSS was actually for "Selection for Societal Sanity", a program enacted by the Patriots to gather data on how they can filter and censor information, to ensure the world only listens to the Patriot's point of view, as they deem that humans are incapable of forming context for information, resulting in dozens, to hundreds of opinions and interpretations, that inevitably cause either a stagnation of progress and conflict. By creating a context for everyone to adhere to, it is that much easier to influence the masses on how to think.

Another twist: Everything Raiden knows may or may not be a lie, but the validity of it is left ambiguous to allow the player to decide whether its truth or a lie.

===Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater===
Chronologically the first game in the series, MGS3 is pretty much a Fix Fic for the [[C.S. Goto|half assed story of MGS2]]. The game is still plays out like the old games, but as most of the activity is now in outdoor environments, additional features are added like the need to hunt and eat food for stamina, and the wound system that would cripple the player in certain areas due to injury (which was later pulled out of later games, because its just kinda dumb and needlessly slows the action down).

MGS3 follows the adventures of "Jack", code-named "Naked Snake" (named so because he has little gear during missions, hence "naked"). He was selected to be the pioneer of the Fox group, a military initiative aimed at training elite operatives for deep-infiltration missions, which is overseen by an ex-SAS operative known only as Major Zero (why the blue blazes the American government would enlist a British national as the leader one of their black ops groups is only something Kojima could explain) and also by The Boss, Jack's Mentor.

Their original mission that acts as a trial for fox is to help scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov defect to the West, growing tired of his creations becoming weapons of war (not really realizing the west will pretty much press him for the same ends), by rescuing him from a stronghold deep in Russian territory. Said weapon is a giant tank, capable of launching nuclear missiles without the use of a silo named the "Shagohod". Things originally went well, up until the ambush led by GRU officer: Major. Ocelot (who is appears to have mellowed with age, as he's an insufferable fanboy during his youth), which Snake manages to overcome, thanks to Ocelot's cockiness. But things went [[Not as Planned]] when he realized his mentor, The Boss, defected to a Soviet seperatist faction led by Colonel Volgin. This led to Sokolov being kidnapped again, the Shagohod being stolen, and Snake being left almost for dead after a fight with The Boss. Things went even more not as planned after Volgin uses one of the portable nuclear weapons The Boss gave him, in order to destroy one of Russia's top-secret nuclear facility, blowing up any chance of the US keeping this operation a secret, completely out of the water.

Due to America being implicated by Russia on the destruction of one of their top-secret facilities (mainly because despite their intentions to make sure America can't be traced in the attack, [[Fail|everything they used in the operation were equipment used by America)]]. Naked Snake is re-deployed in the "Virtuous Mission" to infiltrate Russia and accomplish several objectives. These are: rescue Sokolov (again), neutralize the Shagohod before it becomes a threat, and kill Colonel Volgin and The Boss (the former due to a request by Russia, and the latter as a way to prove the US' innocence). Standing against him are rogue Russian spec ops groups of the KGB, GRU, and most infamously the "Cobra Unit", The Boss' elite squad of quirky misfits, who served with her during WW2.

Surprisingly, Naked Snake actually accomplishes more than future protagonists ever could, with the help of another Soviet spy named Eva. Sokolov kinda "died" (he's alive in Portable Ops after being rescued, but how canon this is, is dubious as the game wasn't written by Kojima, but he doesn't really impact the story past MGS3 so its kinda moot overall), but Volgin kinda "died" aswell (apparently he was only in a near-death coma, kept alive by his unfaltering rage against Snake. Its kinda irrelevant in the long run.), the Shagohod was destroyed, and The Boss is killed in what is probably one of the saddest moments in video games (mostly because of reasons listed below).

If you haven't gotten used to it yet, too bad, PLOT TWEESTS: The Boss was never really a traitor. Her original objective was to gain the trust of Colonel Volgin to obtain the "Philosopher's Legacy", fucktons of money left behind by a secret cabal of world leaders during WW1, but this was compromised after Volgin used an American nuclear weapon on Russian soil. To ensure that the US had a way out of starting WW3: The Boss was forced to accept the role of the villain, and had to rely on Snake to have the skills and fortitude to kill her, absolving the US of it's crimes. And by killing The Boss, the Snake is heralded as a hero in the US and Russia, earning him the title of "Big Boss", [[Lamenters|but the trauma of sacrificing so much for his country made it feel like he was anything but a hero.]]

Also Eva was actually a Chinese spy (if that wasn't kinda obvious, given Sigint's hints and her actions) and Ocelot was a triple agent (A GRU officer, working for a separatist faction, while working with the US government) who was actually Adam, the person meant to support Snake but was beaten to the punch (given this is his character trope, this probably should stop counting as a plot twist).

===Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops===
A game of questionable canon not directed or written by Hideo Kojima. The main antagonist is a bigger Villain Sue than Armstrong and Ocelot put together. Which is saying something because either would whip the floor with him. It was also a considered the worst game until recently (see Survive). Which is what you get when the primary writer is known for making shitty harem novels for morbidly obese otaku and directed by a script writer instead of a real director.

===Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots===
MGS4 is officially the "end" of the Solid timeline, as MGSV is in the past about Big Boss' wacky misadventures. The game is constantly criticized for basically being one long cutscene, due to the fact a lot of the game has a ''lot'' of cinematic content, than actual gameplay, to the point that MGS4 actually holds the world record for the longest cutscene in videogame history, who's finale spans a whopping 71 minutes (and reminder, this is JUST the ending).

The game follows Solid Snake, who has rapidly aged to an old man in his 60s due to FOXDIE, and apparently he's going to be a WMD as the FOXDIE virus injected in him in the first game is evolving into a dangerous bio-weapon. He's called in for one last mission by Colonel Campbell to assassinate Revolver Ocelot, who has now become the leader of one of the largest PMCs in the world, who has amassed too much power and is deemed a threat by world leaders. He reluctantly take to the field again, as this is his final mission to end the madness he and his extended family was responsible for, before finally dying (by his hand if necessary). Along the way he's helped by just about every MG character from the previous game as one big nostalgiafest, including:

*Otacon, who's there for exposition
*Raiden, who is now an impractically awesome near-immortal cyborg ninja
*Dr. Naomi Hunter, who's attempting to atone for her sins
*Colonel Campbell, who married Raiden's wife after becoming estranged to him
*Rosemary, Raiden's wife who after a miscarriage, separated from him. Acts as a psychologist to Snake.
*Vamp, who's trope as a bi-sexual vampire is ''really'' drilled into your skull here
*Ocelot, because Kojima killed Liquid too early in the series (we're not kidding, this is the main reason why Ocelot became the series' big bad)
*Solidus, who's now in a coma
*Meryl, who is now working for the US as an observer for PMCs.
*Johnny Sasaki, who somehow turned from comic relief to part-time action hero (because.....eh?)
*Mei Ling, who due to certain assets, is now a USN captain of her own ship
*Big Boss, who finally woke up from his near-death coma
*Eva, who's now leading an Eastern-European resistance group under the name "Big Mama".

To wrap up Kojima's decade-long fever dream: Big Mama dies attempting to protect Solidus' unconscious body body after she thought it was the real Big Boss (also Solidus is dead, so nuts to that I guess), Vamp dies after being heavily wounded by Raiden and put down, Naomi dies after being guilt-tripped by Vamp's death, Snake manages to upload a computer virus that finally destroys the Patriots for real (but their influence continues on) and manages to kill Ocelot for real after one of the most nostalgia-drilling fist-fights in the series (who, moments before dying, reveals, that "Liquid's ghost" in him was just a scam and that he worked both for and against Patriots. Go figure), Rosemary's marriage to Campbell was a sham to protect her and Raiden's child and got back together at the end, Meryl and Johnny get married (because Kojima), and Snake relents in committing suicide and has one last heart-felt exchange with Big Boss, before BB finally dies due to being exposed to FOXDIE, finally realizing The Boss' message and dying in peace.

===Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker===
The other direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 on the PSP. A much better game between the two. It should have been released on consoles instead as Big Boss can't move and be in the prone position at the same time. This is where the series started it's slow decline that was fast tracked by Konami's sabotage of MGSV and the release of Survive. As the real brains behind Metal Gear. Tomokazu Fukushima, left the company during the early development of MGS4.

===Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance===
Set four years after Guns of the Patriots, Revengeace is a completely different beast from any other Metal Gear game. First off, you play as Raiden for the entire game instead of Snake or Big Boss. Second, since this game was developed by Platinum Games instead of Konami, [[Flesh Tearers|stealth is mostly thrown out the window for glorious carnage]] (you can still try to use stealth when it's applicable to make the game easier, as enemies are vulnerable to insta-kills while you're undetected, but nothing's stopping you from just going in and murderfucking everyone.). And third, the stupid over-the-top tropes Metal Gear Solid was known for are hitched up to eleven. Seriously, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpeFE4QhU0| look at this shit.] That's the equivalent of tossing around a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)| Warhound Scout Titan]] like a rag doll.

Long story short, Raiden receives a far more powerful cyborg body and is sent to eliminate Desperado; an off-shoot faction of the Patriots led by U.S Senator Armstrong, known for the "Nanomachines, son" [[meme]] and the most patriotic villain ever known. Besides that the plot is pretty much nonexistent, with Raiden running around and pretty much being the living avatar of [[rip and tear|RIP N' TEAR]]. The plot though did have some really funny moments where Raiden discovered the villains plan to create an army, kidnap children from third-world countries, put their brains in jars, have them remote control robots/cyborgs, and once they were skilled enough put their brains in those bodies so that they could get killed on the battlefield, not to mention there's a part where Raiden just lets a bunch of children die because he's too busy posing to help them out. Much like most of the series, this plan is doomed to failure before it starts when you realize that there's already a far better alternative in the form of nanomachines that make you invincible, they only stop working when it's plot convenient. It also regresses Raidens' character a bit (because much like every MGS sequel, the theme of the previous games are ignored), but nobody really gave a shit about that because of all the over-the-top ninja bullshit he constantly pulls off.

===Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain===
==== Ground Zeroes ====
The story begins with Ground Zeroes, set one year after the events of Peace Walker. It turns out Paz, a former friend of Big Boss and secret agent for Cipher, is alive and is being held in an American Interrogation camp on the southern tip of Cuba. Big Boss originally wanted to assassinate Paz because of her ties to the mysterious Cipher organization and suspects she might may have leaked critical information about the Militaires Sans Frontières. Miller on the other hand doesn't believe this and convinces Big Boss to bring her back alive for questioning. Coincidentally, Mother Base (formerly Outer Heaven, formerly Mother Base) is scheduled for a United Nations nuclear weapon inspection. After rescuing Paz and Chico, they find out that Paz had a bomb surgically planted in her abdomen as a setup. After a very gruesome scene of surgically removing the bomb from Paz's body, Big Boss successfully disposes the bomb as Paz tries to recover. They return to Mother Base only to see that it has come under attack by Cipher's covert strike force XOF, meaning the inspection was only a smokescreen for an attack. Big Boss manages to save Miller and an unnamed soldier (we find out his real alias is Mosquito, but he comes back later on). They all escape as Mother Base collapses and cue for Miller's famous meme quote "They played us like a damn fiddle!". Miller realizes Big Boss was right and demands answers from Paz. That is until Paz claims there is another bomb inside of her (heavily implied to be in her vagina, what the fuck Kojima) as she falls out of the helicopter and the second bomb inside her explodes causing the helicopter to lose control and crashes into another helicopter.

==== The Phantom Pain ====
Big Boss manages to survive the crash but falls into a coma for nine years. A pretty cool opening scene of Big Boss waking up to ''The Man Who Sold the World'' in a hospital bed in Cyprus. The doctors show Big Boss after the explosion that not only did he get shrapnel sticking out of his head and the inside of his body, but he also lost his left forearm in the process. The following night an assassin kills the doctors who took care of Big Boss and nearly kills Big Boss himself. That is until another patient stops the assassin and sets her on fire causing her to jump out the window. The patient reveals himself as 'Ishmael' and helps Big Boss escape (This isn't the only reference to the book Moby Dick, Ishmael calls Big Boss 'Ahab' while Big Boss is equipped with a hook hand prosthetic). As they both approach the elevator, they encounter a child wearing a gas mask and a straight jacket floating in the air (we know what you're thinking and yes, that is Psycho Mantis as a little kid) and a man covered in fire. Since gunfire is useless against him his only weakness is water. They both see that XOF units start killing the patients and hospital staff to ensure there are no witnesses. It becomes clear that they were sent in to eliminate Big Boss after finding out he had just woken up. After facing certain death against XOF soldiers and the Man of Fire, Big Boss and Ishmael escape the hospital using an ambulance. Unfortunately, the ambulance gets attacked by XOF forces and crashes. Big Boss survives, but Ishmael has disappeared leaving Big Boss to fend for himself. Just as an XOF helicopter is hovering over Big Boss, Psycho Mantis shows up then suddenly a giant fucking whale covered in fire swallows the helicopter and destroys it. To make things even more ridiculous, the Man of Fire shows up again riding a fucking winged unicorn made of fire. Luckily, a man riding a horse shows up to Big Boss' aid and that man is none other than Revolver Ocelot (now voiced by Troy Baker). After a chase ensues between the Man of Fire and Big Boss and Ocelot, they both manage to escape. Ocelot reminds Big Boss of what has happened before he fell into a coma and wants to help him and Miller rebuild their private army. It turns out Miller was captured by the Soviets and is being held for interrogation in Afghanistan. Big Boss joins up with Ocelot and sets out for Afghanistan. And that's all just the prologue.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story isn't nearly as awesome or cinematic, partly due to Konami's budget cuts forcing the game to be left in an unfinished state. Here's the gist; Big Boss slowly starts rebuilding his army by recruiting (read: kidnapping) Soviet and African soldiers, stealing tanks with balloons, and completing various contracts for money. However, its not long before he runs back into XOF forces, this time using mutant supersoldiers called the "Skulls" who use modified versions of the superpowered parasites used by the Cobra Unit, giving them freaky abilities like mind-controlling nearby soldiers or turning rock-solid. XOF is working on a new Metal Gear in Afghanistan, while working on a brand new superweapon on the Angola-Zaire border to eliminate entire languages through vocal-cord parasites, which are actually related to the Cobra Unit parasites. Actually these parasites have a lot of strange and unexplained abilities, like somehow being able to refine uranium ore or being used in the walking mechanisms for metal gears, or destroying metal. Whatever the case, Big Boss captures and falls in love with XOF sniper Quiet (who he learns is the same assassin who tried to kill him in the hospital), who is in turn won over by him because he's the motherfucking Big Boss. He also accidentally unleashes a parasite outbreak in Angola, which infects his own men, until he gets to the bottom of the infection. Finally after a big showdown in Afghanistan, Big Boss finally corners and kills Skull Face and his Metal Gear.

So, story over, right? HA no. Huey causes a second outbreak to try to bribe his way back into Cypher's hands, Quite is forced to speak to rescue Big Boss (and thus runs away so she doesn't infect anyone, presumably to kill herself to avoid a slow and painful death), and baby Liquid runs away with all the child soldiers and steals the Metal Gear with him. And... that's pretty much it. The entire final battle was cut from the game, which according to plans would have been ''far'' more challenging and climactic than the two previous Metal Gear encounters, but unfortunately it never came to pass and likely never will. The only real ending we got was the reveal that Venom Snake was never Big Boss to begin with, just a brain-washed body double who would distract Cypher while the real Big Boss fucked off to do who-knows-what. We did get a decent epilogue, however, when several years after the game released, an Easter Egg was activated after every player-owned nuclear warhead was successfully deactivated in the PvP section of the game.

===Metal Gear Survive===
A portal in the sky transports you to an alternate dimension after Mother Base was destroyed by XOF, where nanomachines has mutated everyone into Romero-like [[zombie]]s (we're not kidding, this is as "Nanomachines son" for a plot device as it gets). As the name implies; your objective is to survive. Its basically every indie survival horror game you see on Steam, except this comes in with a hefty pricetag of 40 USD/EUR.

As the first game ever worked on without Kojima's input, it was originally suppose to be a testament if Konami can indeed replicate Kojima's brand of absurdly hilarious yet engaging writing, or if Kojima was indeed the only thing keeping Metal Gear afloat, and it indeed shows: it can easily be called the worst Metal Gear yet. The story is worse than Snake's Revenge and makes Bethesda era [[Fallout]] look good with sentient nanomachines from the 22nd century via time travel as the main villain.

Right out plagiarizing another video game made by Sqaure Enix, Gunslinger Stratos. Just without the alternate universe dopplegangers. One could also argue that it ripoffs the premise from [[Doctor Who]] two parter "The Empty Child". However, unlike Steven Moffat the people behind Survive have no idea how to make a coherent plot. Proving for a second time that [[C.S._Goto|Gakuto Mikumo]] (who wrote the shitty story of Portable Ops) is a [[Isekai|no talent hack like most light novel writers]]. Blatantly ignoring that the real future of the Metal Gear universe is the much superior Zone of the Enders.(Sahelanthropus looks like a much less advanced Jehuty.)

The game mechanics are something the olden survival games of yore (which aged about as well as bread left out in the open for 6 years), with you having to build a base using resources that you grind for, and such.

The characters are bland and calling you every 30 seconds for who knows what. You are reminded to take food and drink often but it's very difficult to get either. The main character from the single player campaign is a [[Original_character,_do_not_steal|blatant ripoff of Chris Redfeild.]] While the player character is a mute because they couldn't afford to hire real voice actors after blowing their money on Matt Mercer. And do not forget that this piece of crap demands always online compatibility even for the single-player, and asking $10 for an extra save slot. Yes, 10 bucks for an extra save slot, not even F2P mobile games have that audacity. Also the zombie AI is crap, who's biggest opponents are world objects like vehicles (even an open-topped vehicle like a jeep can make you invincible), and the entire experience just feels like a game that's stuck in 2012, and never bothered to evolve to be better. There is really nothing worth picking-up about this game, that you can't get anywhere else for cheaper and better.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. After 30 years, this is how Metal Gear ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper as it's dying body cannibalized by Konami to salvage whatever profit they can from it, before it finally dies. (Well, that and a return of Snake to Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, but that's Nintendo doing all the work, and Konami not needing to do jack anything.)

==See Also==
*[[Metal Gear Vindicare]]
*[[BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
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<gallery>
Image: Absolutely disgusting.jpg
Image: Metal Gear-Titan Comparission.png
Image: Nanomachines, boy.png
Image: Metal Gear Model.jpeg
Image: MSG Agent Chart.png|Create your own MSG Agent!
</gallery>
[[Category: Video_Games]]
[[Category: Under_Development]]
[[Category:Meme]]

AT Land Rover

2019-01-05T04:17:57Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* IRL */

[[File:TAU121-03.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Cunts, ya be serious??]]
{{topquote|The thing about crazy people: they don't know they are crazy. That's what makes them crazy!|Jim Jefferies}}

==In Team Yankee==
[[File:TAU121-13.jpg|300px|left|thumb|Crikey! Look at those stats Mate!]]

The epitome of glass cannon, the land rover invests all its value into a what is basically a tank cannon. At 1 point per vehicle in a section of 2 or 4, it is too squishy for practical use as a frontline unit. When used in defensive roles however, you might be able to pop a couple of BMPs or T55s and make your points back. It excels against infantry lists when enemy vehicles are kept away. With brutal and 2+ firepower, it delivers tank quality firepower for a dirt cheap price, with 4 shots for slightly less than the cost of a single Leopard 1.

A fun unit, but niche.

==IRL==
[[File:Gb00.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Its like a Humvee, but with even less armour and a big fuckin' cannon.]]
With the introduction of the American Jeep during WWII, the Brits decided that they needed their own version, thus creating the Land Rover series of four wheel drive off-road vehicles. Throughout the British Empire, the Land Rover became the dominant light utility vehicle for both civilians and military alike. This specific model used by Australians was nicknamed the “gunbuggy,” using the M40 Recoilless Rifle to fill the role of light anti-tank. Despite the Vietnam-era M40 being replaced by the BGM-71 TOW and other similar missile launchers in many countries, the M40 remains popular to this day as a cheaper alternative, as its HEAT ammunition was eventually upgraded to penetrate up to 700mm of armour.

The current model is called the Land Rover Defender for the Brits. While the Aussies have the Land Rover Perentie. It ever comes in a 6x6 version known as the Long Range Patrol Vehicle used by the SAS. Since they were adopted in the 80s. Supacat HMTs where bought because the special forces boys need better toys than the grunts.

{{ANZAC Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Vehicles]]

Metal Gear

2019-01-05T03:55:16Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty */

[[File: MSG Title.jpeg|thumb|right|Metal Gear Solid title]]
{{autism}}
{{Template:/vg/}}
{{Spoilers}}
{{topquote|Nanomachines, son!|Senator Armstrong, explaining how Metal Gear gets away with anything it can't explain with traditional technobabble. (replace with parasites for pre-nanomachine era).}}

If you're here on the Internet and have ''not'' heard of Metal Gear or Metal Gear Solid, you're obviously pretty new or just straight up ignorant... But for the sake [[/tg/]] and everyone, we'll help.

Metal Gear and the subsequent games coming after it are action-adventure stealth games starting in 1987. While Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 on the <strike>EN EE ESS</strike> EM ES EX TWO were well-received and iconic, it was Metal Gear Solid in 1998 on the PEE ESS JUAN that changed not only the franchise but third-person shooters in general and practically being the herald of stealth games. Though each game has a different story, it typically follows the supersoldier agent Solid Snake or Big Boss during the 21st century and the Cold War as he infiltrates something, destroys whatever's inside, and is a badass while doing it. We would explain more of the story here, but honestly it gets stupidly complicated with government conspiracies, clones, ghosts, [[meme|sudden but inevitable betrayals]], and many more. While somewhat grounded in reality, it has a very obvious sci-fi feel to it, similar to [[BattleTech]], [[Shadowrun]], and in some ways [[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K]]. Besides its well-crafted game play and frequently uneven and twisty plot, Metal Gear is mainly known for its [[memes]].

==Metal Gear and /tg/==
Like much of the Internet and 4chan, /tg/ has a pretty distinct love for Metal Gear. We've had several quest threads following the Metal Gear universe, most notably [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Metal%20Gear:%20Rise%20from%20Ashes%20Quest| Rise from Ashes] and [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Revengeance%20Quest| Revengeance Quest]. While there's not a definitive homebrew for it, there's limitless potential and [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/38662709/| that certainly hasn't stopped us from trying].

[[Metal Gear Vindicare]] is a pretty obvious /tg/-MSG relation, being inspired by the famous codec used by Solid Snake in the game. Centers around [[Love Can Bloom]] with <s>[[Doomrider]] as a special guest.</s> '''DO COCAAAAIIIINNE!'''

A lot of things about Metal Gear correlate with the interests of fa/tg/uys. Despite what most people think, /tg/ loves their [[tau|giant]] [[Adeptus Evangelion|robots]], which Metal Gear Solid has in spades. There's also a good enough amount of both [[grimdark]] and [[Orks|hilarious stupidity]] to keep a wide variety of neckbeards entertained.

==Characters==
===Solid Snake===
[[File: Solid Snake codec.png|thumb|left|I ''am'' happy]]
The protagonist for most of the games. He starts out his career in Metal Gear as a rookie FOXHOUND agent, uncovering the existence of the Metal Gear and the double-crossing of his superior, Big Boss. He later discovers that he's actually the clone-son of Big Boss, created for reasons that change from game to game. Snake spends the rest of the games fighting Big Bosses' other clones as well as uncovering the grand conspiracy his father had been retconned into fighting, while people talk about how hard the life that he chooses to live is even though it's his own fucking choice. He finally ends his career in Metal Gear Solid 4, his clone-genes rapidly degenerating and near the end of his life (by the time he's in his mid-thirties he's in his late sixties biologically, complete with heart problems and seizures). But he doesn't get to die before finally making amends with his father in a rather hilarious moment where Big Boss is convinced that unless he kills a really old man who was essentially a vegetable the whole series could happen again. In terms of personality there's not much to say, besides him wanting to lead huskies in the Iditarod if he were to ever retire.

===Big Boss===
[[File:Big Boss Salute.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|Good night, sweet prince.]]
Basically [[General Sturnn]]. But with an eye-patch. [[Farsight]] seems to take a lot of inspiration from him too.
While initially portrayed as the villain due to how much he loved war so he could get child soldiers to train into regular soldiers, one could argue whether or not his actions were justified given the later retcon of the Patriots existence (and then they'd remember that whole child soldier bit - then again, who knows if that was actually Big Boss or Venom Snake). Big Boss stars as the protagonist of all the Metal Gear games before Solid begins his career, dating back to the 1960s when he was known as Naked Snake (get it?). Naked Snake discovers the progenitor of Metal Gear in Soviet Russia while also being "betrayed" by his former leader, The Boss. After an arms deal goes wrong, he chooses to kill her to cover up America's involvement, which leaves a lasting impact for the rest of his life and was betrayed by his love interest, EVA, because nobody on the team realized that the agent he was supposed to meet (a man) was actually replaced by EVA (a woman). He decides to abandon the United States (even though patriotism was the theme of the previous game) and create his own military group "Militaires Sans Frontieres," the very mercenary group to have ever existed in the MGS world, later called "Diamond Dogs," while fighting his own shadow war against former comrade Zero who turned evil offscreen and is the founder of the Patriots (also happens offscreen). After fighting a number of early Metal Gear models, Big Boss began building a few Metal Gears of his own to try and even the odds. During a battle against one of the Patriots' splinter groups, Cypher, Big Boss pussies out and decides "Fuck this war, somebody else can deal with this shit" and leaves a body double, Venom Snake, to become the public face of his PMC while he fucked off to who knows where. Originally Big Boss fought Solid Snake in MG1 and died, this was retconned in MG2 where they said he didn't die, just had lots of his body replaced with machinery, and retconned into Venom Snake died instead in MG1, while Big Boss entered into a coma after MG2 until he was revived just after the patriots were defeated (nobody bothered to check to make sure he was dead).
He can also bench press 200 simi odd ton tanks and recharge batteries by eating glowing mushrooms for [[Orks| some reason.]]
TL:DR, he's a ubersoldier. Also has done enough shit to make James Bond look like a pansy. Made a cool base.

===Gray Fox===
Initially just an NPC with some backstory as FOXHOUND's best soldier. In Metal Gear 2 he's retconned as Solid Snake's best friend in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.([[Fail| To differentiate it from the load of fail that was Metal Gear 2 on the NES]]) Mid-way into the game in he is revealed as the second in command of Zanzibar Land under Big Boss & the pilot of the first real Metal Gear battle and first of the melee only boss battles, with [[Mekboy | land minds surrounding boss arena]]. Because the AI was shit (and he isn't the player character) he loses to Snake. He also kills his girlfriend accidentally in one of the most heavily foreshadowed scenes of all time.
In Metal Gear Solid he comes back as the first [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Cyborg Ninja]] as a tutorial battle for the game's melee system. [[Railroading| In short telling the player how to beat him.]] His final act is damaging Metal Gear Rex with some kind of [[Skub|laser or plasma weapon]] that he didn't have in previous appearances before being squished by Metal Gear. So Snake can finally defeat Rex with his Stinger Missiles. Also appears in a prequel game of [[C.S. Goto|questionable canon]].
Later on his backstory was expanded a little more, and it was revealed that he was a child soldier fighting in an area well known for their child soldiers, and he was able to amass a large kill-streak because none of his enemies thought that child soldiers existed, [[Fail|in an area full of them.]]
His ability to lower the intelligence of everyone he met impressed the CIA, who decided to make him into the perfect soldier, unfortunately this ability affected the CIA too and they assumed that wiping all of his memories, including the memory of any martial art he knew or fought against, would make him a better fighter.
He also later murdered the parents of Naomi, then chose to adopt her, because why not? Naomi is also the person who turns him into a cyborg and then lets him loose, knowing full well that he'll want another rematch against Snake, and knowing full well that if Snake failed to complete the mission a Nuke could be launched against the US, though luckily assisting in the act of nuclear terrorism only gets you a verbal reprimand, so she gets away just fine.

===Liquid Snake===
[[File:Brother Liquid.png|thumb|right|Liquid quite literally most of the time. This even extends to when Ocelot brainwashed himself to become Liquid.]]
The antagonist of Metal Gear Solid and Snake's clone brother. Liquid has a distinctly British accent and blond hair. According to the game's very loose grasp of genetics (later ret-conned into Ocelot convincing Liquid this is how genetics work, which is even more dumb since this implies Liquid, an elite ex-British SAS member, could not pick up a goddamned high-school science textbook to do extra research), Liquid inherited all the recessive genes of Big Boss, while Snake inherited all the dominant genes, and because of this he believed he was made from "inferior genes" and that's the reason he's evil. No seriously, the entire reason he's evil is because he doesn't like how he looks, and thus becomes Doctor Doom. Even as a child, he was a surprisingly competent soldier, giving Venom Snake (who he believed was his father Big Boss) a lot of headaches when he started acting out, he also murdered kids and stole the Metal Gear Venom Snake had before vanishing in a cliffhanger that never got resolved in the main series (you'll have to look to youtube to see what they wanted to do, and even then that still ends up on a cliff-hanger).

Liquid would have died from Skull Face's parasite had he not become BFFs with his future comrade, Psycho Mantis who had the ability to do pretty much everything, and was retconned into being possessed by Liquid since Psycho Mantis now gets possessed by non-Psychic people, even though he's wearing his mask which was designed to stop peoples thoughts from entering his head. Liquid has massive Daddy issues (the aforementioned genes) and is incredibly stupid, which lead him to rebel against the US government and seize Metal Gear REX for himself. He also really hates Snake for the same aforementioned gene issue, possessing a really intense inferiority complex and needing to constantly prove himself. Also turned Gray Fox into a blood puddle, because can't aim a [[fail|laser for crap]]. Snake fights him several times, including shooting down his helicopter and Metal Gear Rex, but the bastard JUST. WON'T. DIE. Of course he finally does die from an engineered virus... sort of. "Liquid" takes possession of Ocelot but this was retconned out later so it doesn't matter.

===Ocelot===
A Russian gunslinger and a guy with a LOT of mixed loyalties that make no sense when you think about it. Formerly a member of GRU (the Soviet Military's version of the civilian KGB) and a secret agent for the USA, Ocelot joined with Big Boss (due to a combination of charisma and because Ocelot has a major crush on Big Boss, bordering on actual romance.), helping him in secret despite nominally being a member of the Patriots (and later deciding to destroy them, for Big Boss' sake). Ocelot joined Liquid's rebellion, but only to act as the Patriot's inside man and steal the plans for Metal Gear REX, even though as the governing intelligence they would already have had them. He also manages to steal Metal Gear RAY, but at this point he starts acting out his secret plan to destroy the Patriots from within. How does he do this? Well....

# [[What|Pretend to be possessed by the ghost of Liquid]] and steal Metal Gear RAY which was later retconned into him using hypnosis to make himself think he's Liquid, which gives him all of Liquid's personalities and skills, because that's what happens in this universe (it's how Big Boss made his body double too).
# Use one of the Patriots' AI to infiltrate their system and take effective control over their military assets, because AI who know that the new AI will be under Liquid's control will just hand it to him and wait to die.
# When the patriots send Snake after him, put up a convincing show of resistance by attempting to kill him multiple times.
# Steal the railgun off of Metal Gear REX and aim it at the Patriots' main satellite, which is still armed with a live nuke because nobody in the government told their successors about the nuke, because written logs don't exist in this world, everything is passed down through word of mouth, and the patriots forgot that the nuke was there too. If it makes you feel any better, the US government also forgot they have a fully-armed (we're not even kidding, come MGS4, and the thing's weapon systems are fully armed and operational) 15-ft bi-pedal mech, fully equipped with classified next-generation technology, sitting in an abandoned nuclear storage facility.
# Hope that Snake is still alive at this point and that he's developed the worm necessary to kill the Patriots AI, which Liquid could have done at any time so he wouldn't have had to worry about all the earlier bullshit.
# Fistfight him bare-chested until you die of exhaustion.
# Realize how hilariously dumb Kojima's story-telling ability is, after reading everything in this section
# ???
# Profit!
Yeah... when we talk about how convoluted the story is, it's usually Ocelot's fault. Still, for an elderly old bastard, he's pretty damn badass. Dude can also pull off some [[/co/|Taskmaster]] level shit and bite CQC moves from his opponents. He's also the third canon cyborg via replacing Liquid's Arm with a prosthetic and [[What|dented his own ship with it (but somehow, couldn't break Solid Snake's face during their fist-fight).]]

Also, he has a [[Slaanesh| torture fetish]] and is a [[Furry|furry old fuck, the "Ocelot" code-name was before Fox Hound decided to go full-furry with operative code-names.]]. TLDR, he is [[Wat]] incarnate.

===Otacon===
The [[weeaboo]] of the series. We're not exaggerating, by the way. He wanted to work on Metal Gear REX specifically because he's obsessed with [[anime]]. Otacon is your typical nerdy support character, giving Snake technical assistance in his fight against the Metal Gears and is the only reason REX was able to be defeated because he intentionally developed it with an exploitable weak spot that would have made it a hindrance against on the battlefield. This carries over to the next several games where he'll design something far inferior to what already existed, only to let you use that better thing later on anyway. He's also a quite literally hopeless romantic, as his two romantic interests ended up dying. Though to be honest, the first was a terrorist who showed no real interest in him, and the second was Naomi, who upon realizing she had cancer that wasn't doing a fucking thing because she stopped it with nanomachines, decided to commit suicide. Also we learn that his dad committed suicide because he had sex with his stepmom. Yeah.

===Huey===
Otacon's dad. Despite having the same general appearance, voice actor, and role as Otacon, Huey deserves special mention for how much of a [[that guy|cock]] he is and how despite all his faults, Otacon is infinitely more tolerable. So, he's a paraplegic engineer who got drafted by the CIA into helping to build Peace Walker, not realizing how insane the project really is (this is a persistent theme for him). After being rescued by Big Boss, Huey works for him and develops Metal Gear ZEKE as a counter to the various AI weapons the CIA had built. He also ended up marrying his design partner, the heavily-implied-to-have-had-a-lesbian-crush-on-The-Boss Dr. Strangelove, with whom they had a son named Hal (aka Otacon). Now, here's where the dark shit settles in: <s> after getting tricked by Cipher into letting them onto Mother Base to destroy it </s> after selling out Big Boss and MSF to Cipher, Huey gets abducted and is forced to work on a new Metal Gear, Sahelanthropus. Because the cockpit can't fit a full-sized human, he tries to get his son Hal to pilot it. Strangelove vehemently opposes this, so he ends up stuffing her inside an AI pod to suffocate. After getting recaptured by Big Boss, he insists that he never betrayed him and that he wasn't willingly working for Cipher. But after Big Boss succeeds in defeating Skull Face, Huey steals the vocal chord parasite and makes it more deadly by making it immune to its original antidote in an attempt to sell it to Cipher for protection, even having the gall to call Big Boss a murderer for mercy-killing the men Huey infected. Naturally, this pisses off Big Boss, so he sends him adrift on a tiny life raft. Huey lives out the rest of his days being a bad parent, eventually drowning himself (and nearly drowning his stepdaughter) when he found out Hal had sex with his new wife. After learning all that, one can only imagine how badly Hal was treated and feel some genuine pity for him.

===Meryl===
Colonel Roy Campbell's daughter (he told everyone she was his niece because he didn't want them to know her mother had an affair with him) and the only FOXHOUND agent to not join Liquid's rebellion. She starts out as a rookie way in over her head, but she helps out Snake by providing him with useful information. Snake also starts to develop a romantic interest in her after all the shit they go through, and then dumps her to go hunt Metal Gears because Snake decided that Metal Gears shouldn't exist, a plan which was doomed to failure since their design was on the internet and literally everyone could download it. In Metal Gear Solid, depending on whether Snake submits to Ocelot's torture, Meryl lives or dies at the end of the game. This is later retconned in Metal Gear Solid 4, where she lives but also learns the truth that she's Roy's daughter, not his niece, which pisses her off. Meryl becomes the commander of her own unit which she names after the group who tried to kill her, and decides that because at this point Snake's turned into a crusty old fart, she's going to marry her perpetually incontinent subordinate stalker (he saw her once and was then pining for her years after the fact), who's also a weeaboo.

===Raiden===
He's introduced as the "true" protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2, but his original appearance is nowhere near as badass as Snake. He's a [[Fulgrim|white-haired effeminate Bishie]] that tends to rile up most people who loathe anime stereotypes. Raiden starts out as a Child Soldier in Africa (despite being whiter than white-out) before being taken in by the Patriots as their successor to Solid Snake. He's lived nearly his entire life in simulations and being fucked over by AIs. Once he's actually let out into the real world to stop Solidus and his terror cell, he meets Snake, and together they discover the existence of the Patriots.

Raiden gets a significant upgrade after MGS2, where he gets kidnapped by the Patriots and has his entire body below his upper jaw cut off and replaced by a cyborg ninja body (akin to a reverse [[Ferrus Manus]]). Everyone agrees that his version of Raiden is much better, and he ends up starring in the spin-off game Metal Gear Rising, where he uses his sword and ninja athleticism to fight other cyborgs and a regular human who was stronger than him due to having [[Flash Gitz| a better weapon, Power Armor]] and skills. In the Metal Gear verse your top of the line upgrades are [[Games Workshop|barely useful in less than four years]].

===Solidus===
The last of Big Bosses' clones, Solidus was much more under the control of the Patriots, sometimes. He spent some time fighting in Africa, where he picked up an orphaned Raiden and turned him into a pawn of the Patriots. While he was eventually made President, this really didn't count for much as the Patriots still made all the decisions and he was basically a puppet. Solidus decides that he's had enough of this shit and steals the Patriots' new warship, Arsenal Gear, and decides to take the fight directly to them. Of course, this didn't end well for him when Snake and Raiden interfere and the ship crashes into Manhattan. He gets killed by Raiden, sort of-not really as nobody bothered to check the body (falling into a coma instead of dying), but his body ends up being a macguffin because his DNA is an exact match to Big Boss, allowing Ocelot to hack into the Patriots network, because even though the Patriots know what's happening and could stop it they let it happen anyway.

===The Patriots===
Also known as "Cipher", or "La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo" if you're under their direct control since they decided the best way to hide their name is telling everyone that they can't say their name. Financed by the inheritance of the 20th Century's wealthiest men, the Patriots control literally everything. Originally this was a group formed by Big Boss, Zero, Sigint, Para-Medic, Ocelot, and Eva in order to fulfill The Boss' wishes of creating a world without borders and ending the Cold War since the entire series is based around people wanting to do what The Boss wanted to do, despite most of them having minimal attachment to the boss at best. However, this group split in half over differences on how to fulfill this vision. Zero wanted to control the entire world and all facets of human life through all-knowing AIs, while Big Boss wanted to create "Outer Heaven," a place where soldiers would always belong and not be the puppets of governments (because having people always ready to fight would obviously mean everyone becomes peaceful and happy). When Zero went comatose, the group was taken over for a short time by Skull Face, the guy responsible for cleaning up the mess in MGS3 even though there wasn't anyone like that originally (retcon) and the location should have made it impossible. He wanted to fulfill the Boss' vision by eliminating language itself using a language-based parasite because he believed that a persons personality and way of thinking had everything to do with the language they spoke (he was also retarded). Eventually the Patriots was controlled by Five AIs: JD, GW, TJ, AL, & TR (John Doe, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt respectively) who had no self preservation whatsoever. These AIs decided that the best thing to unite the world was to plunge it into perpetual conflict and proxy wars, bringing together the worst of Zero's and Big Boss' visions and directly working against everything the series said they were working towards. The Patriots AI were killed off when Snake unwittingly uploaded a worm that killed all of them, finally freeing the world from their influence.

==Types of Metal Gears==
If the title of the game didn't hint at it enough, a prominent part of the game(s) are these giant mechs called (you guessed it) Metal Gears. In the beginning they're simply mobile platforms to launch nuclear weapons, but they evolve to fulfill many other roles and become far more dangerous in general.

'''Shagohod''': Technically not a Metal Gear, but created the precedent for mobile nuclear platforms. This crazy contraption was basically a giant armored hovercraft (Move Trough Cover) that would rocket-boost (one-turn Fast Tank) in order to give its nuclear payload an extra boost and was designed to launch nukes from any surface, giving the Soviet Union the edge in the Cold War. Of course the whole point of the Cold War was that both sides were fucked if ANY nukes were launched so it became pointless before it was built. It also had point-defenses up the wazzoo.

'''Metal Gear RAXA''': The first proper Metal Gear ever built. A four-legged Metal Gear that could be launched from a ICBM. If you're asking why in the fuck they have to use a Metal Gear as a middleman nuclear platform when they're already launching it from an ICBM, supposedly it's because the missiles are harder to intercept on the Metal Gear than on the ICBM... but who's to say they can't intercept the ICBM carrying the Metal Gear?

'''Peace Walker''': A four-legged walker that was fully AI controlled. It's described as having a stealth frame, but it wouldn't exactly be hard to spot considering the size of the thing. It could only fire nukes defensively, but could be tricked into launching a premature attack through a faked nuclear launch signal sent through the hacked NORAD system. Was intended to be the ultimate assurace of Mutually Assured Destruction by being an mobile, autonomous, and intelligent AI system that would guarantee a retaliatory strike upon whoever fired their nukes first. Originally created because a branch of the government didn't believe people would be able to launch nukes and kill millions of innocent people (which he'd prove by launching a nuke himself). Turns out it wasn't needed at all because the final act (and anyone with common sense) proved him completely wrong.

'''Metal Gear ZEKE''': Big Boss' first attempt at a Metal Gear, this one was fully bipedal. Originally it was AI controlled too, but was modified to use a human pilot when Cypher attempted to steal it, the modifications being completed in days or minutes depending on when you last checked it, and nobody guarding it thought that it was a good idea to stop the modifications that weren't supposed to happen, and the two people doing them would never have been able to make them in the first place. This metal gear was also customizable and could be sent out on combat missions alongside MSF soldiers.

'''Sahelanthropus''': This one was designed by Otacon's Dad, Huey. While technically more advanced than Metal Gear REX in that it could walk upright, one flaw was that the cockpit was too small for a full-sized human. Cypher got around this by using Pyscho Mantis to control it psychically, because in Phantom Pain Psycho Mantis could do whatever he wanted, which makes you question why they need robots when they already have control over a superhuman. Sahelanthropus is also the absolute proof of why Metal Gears are useless (as if Metal Gear: Rising didn't already do that), despite costing millions to make and countless resources, it's easily defeated by a man on a man-sized robot that would have cost a fraction of the resources to develop, and if it didn't have the ability to create clouds that destroyed metal, it could have been easily defeated by one tank.

'''TX-55''': The Metal Gear that appears in the first game (which is now chronologically not the first one). This model didn't have that many frills, though it could fire two nukes despite being relatively tiny. It does nothing while Snake just uses C4 to blow it up and dodges the [[Rage|annoying laser cameras]]. Presumably it's the most durable one because the only way to hurt it is to use a shitload of C4 on its legs in a certain order, because that's how explosives work.

'''Metal Gear D''': The first real Metal Gear the player ever fights in the release order. An upgraded version of TX-55. It only had a machine guns and missiles during it's boss battle, but apparently it could also fire [[Anal_circumference|six nukes one after another]].

'''Metal Gear REX''': This dinosaur-looking motherfucker takes the original Metal Gear concept one step further by firing nukes from a [[Tau|railgun]] instead of a ballistic missile, making nukes nearly impossible to track (though it was never designed to do so, it just happened to work out that way). It also had a badass assortment of weaponry, from Gatling Guns to crotch lasers and a crap-ton of missiles. Even after Snake battled it in MGS1, it was still tough enough to take on RAY in MGS4. After MGS1, hundreds of REX knockoffs started spreading throughout the world thanks to Ocelot's douchebaggery.

'''Metal Gear RAY''': Designed to be the ultimate anti-Metal Gear weapon, RAY failed fucking hard in that regard. It's amphibious by design, and instead of carrying nukes, its weapons include a powerful water cannon that can cut metal. Despite being built specifically to fight Metal Gears, it still loses in a fight against an already damaged Metal Gear REX. For some reason Ocelot never uses the missile spam attack seen in Metal Gear Solid 2 when he pilots the manned version in MGS4. Still not a cake walk though since you need too spam the fire button instead of holding it down to make this fight easier. Since Metal Gear battles that are not the first boss hardly ever are.
The others seen in MGS2 and Rising are smaller unmanned knockoffs.

'''Metal Gear RAY MOD0''': An upgrade over RAY seen in Metal Gear Rising. With the rise of carbon nano-tube tech; the armor was made lighter and stronger, allowing it to carry more weapons. Upgrades include: 4 limb-mounted twin-linked gatling guns, micro and macro missile launchers, an HF arm blade roughly the size of a small building, and a mouth-mounted plasma cannon. Despite all this, every last one of these guys encountered were destroyed by some Rhodesian weeaboo ninja with a sharp stick and a smart-talking Brazilian samurai with an incomprehensibly powerful sword and fighting technique.

'''Metal Gear EXCELSUS''': Not really a Metal Gear, it was only named so for marketing reasons, but still impractically awesome either way. Seen only in Metal Gear Rising; EXCELSUS was meant as an anti-cyborg gear, because cyborgs were becoming too powerful for conventional warfare. Due to this, people thought the only counter to this was to go back to making giant mechs with impractically large and powerful weapons (under the logic that if you can't outmanuver them; outgun them). EXCELSUS is basically a scorpion-shaped mech roughly as tall and wide a sports stadium and armed with two giant HF blades and twin plasma cannons. Its destroyed by Raiden in the most hilariously over-the-top way possible; he SUPLEXES THE DAMN THING, rips one of it's arm blades off, and engages it in an arm-wrestling match with one of it's severed arms. Reminder, this was designed to kill cyborgs.

'''Gekko''': Small Metal Gears made up of a combination of synthetic organic muscle and mechanical technology. They have the head/upper body of a REX, but they have a pair of lizard legs to walk around on. You'd think that those legs would be easy pickings for bullets, but actually they won't buckle for anything less than explosives. They also allow the GEKKO to jump really high, climb on walls, and sweep kick you, so good luck running away from them. They also moo like cows and take shits. Seriously. We're not fucking joking.

==Plot==
===Metal Gear ===
The original story on the NES. While the future 3D games are the stuff of legends, the old ones didn't get better with age (they're good for nostalgia, but gameplay as expected during the pioneer age of vidya gaems, is unpolished at best).

It has rookie FOXHOUND operative Solid Snake infiltrating Outer Haven, a mercenary empire led by a mysterious legendary mercenary. Big Boss, leader of FOXHOUND, originally sent one of their best operatives named "Grey Fox" to infiltrate the area, but was captured, leaving only the message "Metal Gear" before disappearing. BB then only sends Snake to investigate, in an operation dubbed "Operation Intrude N312".

So to make a long-story less long and all the obligatory plot twists: Big Boss is actually the leader of Outer Haven (this was later ret-conned to being Big Boss' body double: Venom Snake) and the real Big Boss (we think) only sent in Snake thinking that he would be killed as he didn't have the experience to go up against hardened war veterans (all those guys you fultoned in MGS5? They're these guys). Metal Gear is actually a bi-pedal tank capable of launching nuclear weapons from anywhere. Also Grey Fox is alive, and wants to kill you after being convinced by Big Boss to turn on the US government.

===Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake===
Sequel to the first game. The game now features the fictional nation of Zanzibar, another mercenary empire led by another "legendary mercenary". Zanzibar kidnapped Dr. Kio Marv, a scientist who created a compound named "OLIX" which could create an oil-substitute compound at little cost. Due to diminishing oil supplies, Zanzibar plans to hold the world hostage by controlling the only new reliable source of oil. They plan to enforce their position using OLIX and of course, a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank. Snake retired after the events of the first game, but was pressed by Campbell into service, due to this new crisis. Now, Snake must rescue Dr. Marv and bring an end to Zanzibar.

Surprisingly, this mission also goes well for Snake, managing to save Dr. Magnar and destroy Zanzibar's Metal Gear. But you guessed it, plot twists: Grey Fox is still alive, and this would be his final days as he dies after fighting Snake (but is forcibly brought back from the grave by the Patriots later), and Big Boss is actually still alive (although technically he was always alive, you just killed his body-double at first, with recent retcons considered), but Snake puts him down, once and for all (And this is the actual Big Boss now, but he didn't actually die, rather he was saved by the Patriots after the battle, but was in a coma. This plot point gets wrapped up in MGS4.).

===Metal Gear Solid===
Metal Gear Solid is a bit of a "reboot" of the franchise, where most of future games will follow this style of gameplay (or improve upon it).

The story involves Solid Snake being forced back into service after Liquid Snake, his brother, stages a coup with the Next-Generation Special Forces, and Fox Hound, taking Metal Gear REX and several personalities hostage. Their demands are money and for the US government to surrender the remains of Big Boss, as they require his DNA to fix their genetic flaws. Failure to do so, will cause the terrorists to launch a nuclear weapon from REX.

As a solo infiltrator; Snake must alone; defeat the members of the NGSF and Fox Hound, save the DARPA chief and president of the ArmsTech corporation, and retrieve Metal Gear REX. But as much as it was intended; he wasn't alone. He's assisted by an operations team that he contacts via codec that's currently operating from a submarine, an NGSF defector named Meryl, and REX's designer; Otacon. Also a mysterious cyborg ninja who is there to both assist and kill you, specifically in a first-fight.

But, plot twist, the ninja was Grey Fox all along and only got you here as a duel to the death with you was his final wish, you were just there to be a carrier of the FOXDIE virus, to ensure the members of Fox Hound are killed either way, then allow the US government to retrieve REX undamaged. Snake sort of "succeeds" in his mission (Revolver Ocelot is still alive, two of the hostages are dead, and REX is "kind of" destroyed.), failing most of his objectives, but managing to prevent nuclear holocaust from occurring.

As an additional Plot Twist: Revolver Ocelot planned everything with then-president George Sears (AKA: Solidus Snake), and everything went [[Just as Planned|all according to plan]] from his stand-point (Whether him losing his gun hand is part of it or not, is up to debate).

===Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty===
Known mostly as where the story of the Patriots and information control started.

After MGS1, Ocelot leaks plans of REX to the world, causing numerous countries to start making their own home-grown nuclear weapons programs through this data. Due to this, the US Marines are commissioned Metal Gear RAY, a not-metal gear that's designed to take on other giant robots, rather than launch nukes. [[Rage|Why they needed their own is only explained optional dialogue that you have to go out of your way to find]]. As conventional weaponry (anti air and anti tank mostly or just a crap ton of explosives) can easily defeat Metal Gears. In short the USMC want to stick it to the Navy who have their own Metal Gear project.

This is caught by Snake's and Otacon's attention, who infiltrate the tanker transporting RAY to get photo evidence of the US government building another Metal Gear (never actually considering that in the age of Photoshop, the USG can easily deny these claims). Things go not as planned after Ocelot and a bunch of Russian mercenaries take over the tanker. Things are even more complicated after Ocelot betrays the mercenaries, then takes RAY for himself, sinking the oil tanker, and pinning the entire incident on Snake. Snake is assumed to have died during the tanker incident. Also Snake meets Olga Gurlukovich, daughter of the mercenary commander's daughter, for....reasons.

Fast forward a few years, and a facility called "Big Shell" is built on-top of the oil spill, to facilitate clean-up of the patch of water. Said facility is then taken over by the "Sons of Liberty" a disenfranchised US Special Forces group, led by former president George Sears, who intends to rid the world of the Patriots' influence, supported by a group of Russian mercenaries. He plans to do this by gaining access to nuclear weapons and requires the President's authorization to allow him to use it. During this time, they take the US president, and his cabinet hostage during a routine visit from them.

Along with a SEAL team, the US government sends "Raiden" a bishie "rookie" (he's trained with VR, but has no field experience to speak of. If you discount his stint as a child soldier) of Fox Hound. Also there's this SEAL named Iroquis Pliskin who sounds, looks, and acts a lot like Solid Snake, but it can't be him because he's dead. Plus there's also this female cyborg ninja with a thick Russian accent, who's....just there, I guess.

His objectives were to rescue the president, prevent the terrorists from blowing-up Big Shell (as the chemicals used for de-contaminating the oil would poison the area around Manhattan), and neutralize the Sons of Liberty....atleast that was the plan. As with the first game; Raiden fails his original mission as the Big Shell is eventually destroyed, the US President is dead, and Solidus gains access to another superweapon that he was able to use. But he was able to prevent Armageddon by stopping Solidus by having a sword-duel to the death. Anyways:

PLOT TWEEST: Pliskin is actually Solid Snake (whether this can still be considered a twist is debatable, but meh), the Ninja with the feminine Russian accent was Olga all along, Big Shell was just a cover for the Patriots attempting to build another Metal Gear called "Arsenal Gear", the oil spill was [[Just as Planned]] to allow it's construction and the Big Shell was never doing any clean-up work at all, and this entire flubdubbery was actually an exercise to allow the Patriots to gather data on the SSS program or "Solid Snake Simulator", a program that would allow them to train a soldier at-par with Solid Snake with Raiden's experiences, using Ocelot as an observer. Ocelot was actually working with the Patriots, if that was ever a surprise. Also the Colonel Campbell and Rosemary advising you were actually the Patriot AIs, bringing into question whether everything Raiden has been told by the two is real or not. Snake also comes off looking like an asshole in this game as he does things such as using Raiden as bait for Solidus and withholds information. Which is kind of the point. As being a super spy for twenty years some odd years would make just about anyone else into a jerkass. He also knew that the Patriots were monitoring Raiden. A proper reason for keeping somebody you don't trust in the dark about your plans.

A TWIST TO THE PLOT TWIST: Ocelot was just a pawn (or so the Patriots think), SSS was actually for "Selection for Societal Sanity", a program enacted by the Patriots to gather data on how they can filter and censor information, to ensure the world only listens to the Patriot's point of view, as they deem that humans are incapable of forming context for information, resulting in dozens, to hundreds of opinions and interpretations, that inevitably cause either a stagnation of progress and conflict. By creating a context for everyone to adhere to, it is that much easier to influence the masses on how to think.

Another twist: Everything Raiden knows may or may not be a lie, but the validity of it is left ambiguous to allow the player to decide whether its truth or a lie.

===Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater===
Chronologically the first game in the series, MGS3 is pretty much a Fix Fic for the [[C.S. Goto|half assed story of MGS2]]. The game is still plays out like the old games, but as most of the activity is now in outdoor environments, additional features are added like the need to hunt and eat food for stamina, and the wound system that would cripple the player in certain areas due to injury (which was later pulled out of later games, because its just kinda dumb and needlessly slows the action down).

MGS3 follows the adventures of "Jack", code-named "Naked Snake" (named so because he has little gear during missions, hence "naked"). He was selected to be the pioneer of the Fox group, a military initiative aimed at training elite operatives for deep-infiltration missions, which is overseen by an ex-SAS operative known only as Major Zero (why the blue blazes the American government would enlist a British national as the leader one of their black ops groups is only something Kojima could explain) and also by The Boss, Jack's Mentor.

Their original mission that acts as a trial for fox is to help scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov defect to the West, growing tired of his creations becoming weapons of war (not really realizing the west will pretty much press him for the same ends), by rescuing him from a stronghold deep in Russian territory. Said weapon is a giant tank, capable of launching nuclear missiles without the use of a silo named the "Shagohod". Things originally went well, up until the ambush led by GRU officer: Major. Ocelot (who is appears to have mellowed with age, as he's an insufferable fanboy during his youth), which Snake manages to overcome, thanks to Ocelot's cockiness. But things went [[Not as Planned]] when he realized his mentor, The Boss, defected to a Soviet seperatist faction led by Colonel Volgin. This led to Sokolov being kidnapped again, the Shagohod being stolen, and Snake being left almost for dead after a fight with The Boss. Things went even more not as planned after Volgin uses one of the portable nuclear weapons The Boss gave him, in order to destroy one of Russia's top-secret nuclear facility, blowing up any chance of the US keeping this operation a secret, completely out of the water.

Due to America being implicated by Russia on the destruction of one of their top-secret facilities (mainly because despite their intentions to make sure America can't be traced in the attack, [[Fail|everything they used in the operation were equipment used by America)]]. Naked Snake is re-deployed in the "Virtuous Mission" to infiltrate Russia and accomplish several objectives. These are: rescue Sokolov (again), neutralize the Shagohod before it becomes a threat, and kill Colonel Volgin and The Boss (the former due to a request by Russia, and the latter as a way to prove the US' innocence). Standing against him are rogue Russian spec ops groups of the KGB, GRU, and most infamously the "Cobra Unit", The Boss' elite squad of quirky misfits, who served with her during WW2.

Surprisingly, Naked Snake actually accomplishes more than future protagonists ever could, with the help of another Soviet spy named Eva. Sokolov kinda "died" (he's alive in Portable Ops after being rescued, but how canon this is, is dubious as the game wasn't written by Kojima, but he doesn't really impact the story past MGS3 so its kinda moot overall), but Volgin kinda "died" aswell (apparently he was only in a near-death coma, kept alive by his unfaltering rage against Snake. Its kinda irrelevant in the long run.), the Shagohod was destroyed, and The Boss is killed in what is probably one of the saddest moments in video games (mostly because of reasons listed below).

If you haven't gotten used to it yet, too bad, PLOT TWEESTS: The Boss was never really a traitor. Her original objective was to gain the trust of Colonel Volgin to obtain the "Philosopher's Legacy", fucktons of money left behind by a secret cabal of world leaders during WW1, but this was compromised after Volgin used an American nuclear weapon on Russian soil. To ensure that the US had a way out of starting WW3: The Boss was forced to accept the role of the villain, and had to rely on Snake to have the skills and fortitude to kill her, absolving the US of it's crimes. And by killing The Boss, the Snake is heralded as a hero in the US and Russia, earning him the title of "Big Boss", [[Lamenters|but the trauma of sacrificing so much for his country made it feel like he was anything but a hero.]]

Also Eva was actually a Chinese spy (if that wasn't kinda obvious, given Sigint's hints and her actions) and Ocelot was a triple agent (A GRU officer, working for a separatist faction, while working with the US government) who was actually Adam, the person meant to support Snake but was beaten to the punch (given this is his character trope, this probably should stop counting as a plot twist).

===Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops===
A game of questionable canon not directed or written by Hideo Kojima. The main antagonist is a bigger Villain Sue than Armstrong and Ocelot put together. Which is saying something because either would whip the floor with him. It was also a considered the worst game until recently (see Survive). Which is what you get when the primary writer is known for making shitty harem novels for morbidly obese otaku and directed by a script writer instead of a real director.

===Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots===
MGS4 is officially the "end" of the Solid timeline, as MGSV is in the past about Big Boss' wacky misadventures. The game is constantly criticized for basically being one long cutscene, due to the fact a lot of the game has a ''lot'' of cinematic content, than actual gameplay, to the point that MGS4 actually holds the world record for the longest cutscene in videogame history, who's finale spans a whopping 71 minutes (and reminder, this is JUST the ending).

The game follows Solid Snake, who has rapidly aged to an old man in his 60s due to FOXDIE, and apparently he's going to be a WMD as the FOXDIE virus injected in him in the first game is evolving into a dangerous bio-weapon. He's called in for one last mission by Colonel Campbell to assassinate Revolver Ocelot, who has now become the leader of one of the largest PMCs in the world, who has amassed too much power and is deemed a threat by world leaders. He reluctantly take to the field again, as this is his final mission to end the madness he and his extended family was responsible for, before finally dying (by his hand if necessary). Along the way he's helped by just about every MG character from the previous game as one big nostalgiafest, including:

*Otacon, who's there for exposition
*Raiden, who is now an impractically awesome near-immortal cyborg ninja
*Dr. Naomi Hunter, who's attempting to atone for her sins
*Colonel Campbell, who married Raiden's wife after becoming estranged to him
*Rosemary, Raiden's wife who after a miscarriage, separated from him. Acts as a psychologist to Snake.
*Vamp, who's trope as a bi-sexual vampire is ''really'' drilled into your skull here
*Ocelot, because Kojima killed Liquid too early in the series (we're not kidding, this is the main reason why Ocelot became the series' big bad)
*Solidus, who's now in a coma
*Meryl, who is now working for the US as an observer for PMCs.
*Johnny Sasaki, who somehow turned from comic relief to part-time action hero (because.....eh?)
*Mei Ling, who due to certain assets, is now a USN captain of her own ship
*Big Boss, who finally woke up from his near-death coma
*Eva, who's now leading an Eastern-European resistance group under the name "Big Mama".

To wrap up Kojima's decade-long fever dream: Big Mama dies attempting to protect Solidus' unconscious body body after she thought it was the real Big Boss (also Solidus is dead, so nuts to that I guess), Vamp dies after being heavily wounded by Raiden and put down, Naomi dies after being guilt-tripped by Vamp's death, Snake manages to upload a computer virus that finally destroys the Patriots for real (but their influence continues on) and manages to kill Ocelot for real after one of the most nostalgia-drilling fist-fights in the series (who, moments before dying, reveals, that "Liquid's ghost" in him was just a scam and that he worked both for and against Patriots. Go figure), Rosemary's marriage to Campbell was a sham to protect her and Raiden's child and got back together at the end, Meryl and Johnny get married (because Kojima), and Snake relents in committing suicide and has one last heart-felt exchange with Big Boss, before BB finally dies due to being exposed to FOXDIE, finally realizing The Boss' message and dying in peace.

===Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker===
The other direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 on the PSP. A much better game between the two. It should have been released on consoles instead as Big Boss can't move and be in the prone position at the same time. This is where the series started it's slow decline that was fast tracked by Konami's sabotage of MGSV and the release of Survive. As the real brains behind Metal Gear. Tomokazu Fukushima, left the company during the early development of MGS4.

===Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance===
Set four years after Guns of the Patriots, Revengeace is a completely different beast from any other Metal Gear game. First off, you play as Raiden for the entire game instead of Snake or Big Boss. Second, since this game was developed by Platinum Games instead of Konami, [[Flesh Tearers|stealth is mostly thrown out the window for glorious carnage]] (you can still try to use stealth when it's applicable to make the game easier, as enemies are vulnerable to insta-kills while you're undetected, but nothing's stopping you from just going in and murderfucking everyone.). And third, the stupid over-the-top tropes Metal Gear Solid was known for are hitched up to eleven. Seriously, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpeFE4QhU0| look at this shit.] That's the equivalent of tossing around a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)| Warhound Scout Titan]] like a rag doll.

Long story short, Raiden receives a far more powerful cyborg body and is sent to eliminate Desperado; an off-shoot faction of the Patriots led by U.S Senator Armstrong, known for the "Nanomachines, son" [[meme]] and the most patriotic villain ever known. Besides that the plot is pretty much nonexistent, with Raiden running around and pretty much being the living avatar of [[rip and tear|RIP N' TEAR]]. The plot though did have some really funny moments where Raiden discovered the villains plan to create an army, kidnap children from third-world countries, put their brains in jars, have them remote control robots/cyborgs, and once they were skilled enough put their brains in those bodies so that they could get killed on the battlefield, not to mention there's a part where Raiden just lets a bunch of children die because he's too busy posing to help them out. Much like most of the series, this plan is doomed to failure before it starts when you realize that there's already a far better alternative in the form of nanomachines that make you invincible, they only stop working when it's plot convenient. It also regresses Raidens' character a bit (because much like every MGS sequel, the theme of the previous games are ignored), but nobody really gave a shit about that because of all the over-the-top ninja bullshit he constantly pulls off.

===Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain===
==== Ground Zeroes ====
The story begins with Ground Zeroes, set one year after the events of Peace Walker. It turns out Paz, a former friend of Big Boss and secret agent for Cipher, is alive and is being held in an American Interrogation camp on the southern tip of Cuba. Big Boss originally wanted to assassinate Paz because of her ties to the mysterious Cipher organization and suspects she might may have leaked critical information about the Militaires Sans Frontières. Miller on the other hand doesn't believe this and convinces Big Boss to bring her back alive for questioning. Coincidentally, Mother Base (formerly Outer Heaven, formerly Mother Base) is scheduled for a United Nations nuclear weapon inspection. After rescuing Paz and Chico, they find out that Paz had a bomb surgically planted in her abdomen as a setup. After a very gruesome scene of surgically removing the bomb from Paz's body, Big Boss successfully disposes the bomb as Paz tries to recover. They return to Mother Base only to see that it has come under attack by Cipher's covert strike force XOF, meaning the inspection was only a smokescreen for an attack. Big Boss manages to save Miller and an unnamed soldier (we find out his real alias is Mosquito, but he comes back later on). They all escape as Mother Base collapses and cue for Miller's famous meme quote "They played us like a damn fiddle!". Miller realizes Big Boss was right and demands answers from Paz. That is until Paz claims there is another bomb inside of her (heavily implied to be in her vagina, what the fuck Kojima) as she falls out of the helicopter and the second bomb inside her explodes causing the helicopter to lose control and crashes into another helicopter.

==== The Phantom Pain ====
Big Boss manages to survive the crash but falls into a coma for nine years. A pretty cool opening scene of Big Boss waking up to ''The Man Who Sold the World'' in a hospital bed in Cyprus. The doctors show Big Boss after the explosion that not only did he get shrapnel sticking out of his head and the inside of his body, but he also lost his left forearm in the process. The following night an assassin kills the doctors who took care of Big Boss and nearly kills Big Boss himself. That is until another patient stops the assassin and sets her on fire causing her to jump out the window. The patient reveals himself as 'Ishmael' and helps Big Boss escape (This isn't the only reference to the book Moby Dick, Ishmael calls Big Boss 'Ahab' while Big Boss is equipped with a hook hand prosthetic). As they both approach the elevator, they encounter a child wearing a gas mask and a straight jacket floating in the air (we know what you're thinking and yes, that is Psycho Mantis as a little kid) and a man covered in fire. Since gunfire is useless against him his only weakness is water. They both see that XOF units start killing the patients and hospital staff to ensure there are no witnesses. It becomes clear that they were sent in to eliminate Big Boss after finding out he had just woken up. After facing certain death against XOF soldiers and the Man of Fire, Big Boss and Ishmael escape the hospital using an ambulance. Unfortunately, the ambulance gets attacked by XOF forces and crashes. Big Boss survives, but Ishmael has disappeared leaving Big Boss to fend for himself. Just as an XOF helicopter is hovering over Big Boss, Psycho Mantis shows up then suddenly a giant fucking whale covered in fire swallows the helicopter and destroys it. To make things even more ridiculous, the Man of Fire shows up again riding a fucking winged unicorn made of fire. Luckily, a man riding a horse shows up to Big Boss' aid and that man is none other than Revolver Ocelot (now voiced by Troy Baker). After a chase ensues between the Man of Fire and Big Boss and Ocelot, they both manage to escape. Ocelot reminds Big Boss of what has happened before he fell into a coma and wants to help him and Miller rebuild their private army. It turns out Miller was captured by the Soviets and is being held for interrogation in Afghanistan. Big Boss joins up with Ocelot and sets out for Afghanistan. And that's all just the prologue.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story isn't nearly as awesome or cinematic, partly due to Konami's budget cuts forcing the game to be left in an unfinished state. Here's the gist; Big Boss slowly starts rebuilding his army by recruiting (read: kidnapping) Soviet and African soldiers, stealing tanks with balloons, and completing various contracts for money. However, its not long before he runs back into XOF forces, this time using mutant supersoldiers called the "Skulls" who use modified versions of the superpowered parasites used by the Cobra Unit, giving them freaky abilities like mind-controlling nearby soldiers or turning rock-solid. XOF is working on a new Metal Gear in Afghanistan, while working on a brand new superweapon on the Angola-Zaire border to eliminate entire languages through vocal-cord parasites, which are actually related to the Cobra Unit parasites. Actually these parasites have a lot of strange and unexplained abilities, like somehow being able to refine uranium ore or being used in the walking mechanisms for metal gears, or destroying metal. Whatever the case, Big Boss captures and falls in love with XOF sniper Quiet (who he learns is the same assassin who tried to kill him in the hospital), who is in turn won over by him because he's the motherfucking Big Boss. He also accidentally unleashes a parasite outbreak in Angola, which infects his own men, until he gets to the bottom of the infection. Finally after a big showdown in Afghanistan, Big Boss finally corners and kills Skull Face and his Metal Gear.

So, story over, right? HA no. Huey causes a second outbreak to try to bribe his way back into Cypher's hands, Quite is forced to speak to rescue Big Boss (and thus runs away so she doesn't infect anyone, presumably to kill herself to avoid a slow and painful death), and baby Liquid runs away with all the child soldiers and steals the Metal Gear with him. And... that's pretty much it. The entire final battle was cut from the game, which according to plans would have been ''far'' more challenging and climactic than the two previous Metal Gear encounters, but unfortunately it never came to pass and likely never will. The only real ending we got was the reveal that Venom Snake was never Big Boss to begin with, just a brain-washed body double who would distract Cypher while the real Big Boss fucked off to do who-knows-what. We did get a decent epilogue, however, when several years after the game released, an Easter Egg was activated after every player-owned nuclear warhead was successfully deactivated in the PvP section of the game.

===Metal Gear Survive===
A portal in the sky transports you to an alternate dimension after Mother Base was destroyed by XOF, where nanomachines has mutated everyone into Romero-like [[zombie]]s (we're not kidding, this is as "Nanomachines son" for a plot device as it gets). As the name implies; your objective is to survive. Its basically every indie survival horror game you see on Steam, except this comes in with a hefty pricetag of 40 USD/EUR.

As the first game ever worked on without Kojima's input, it was originally suppose to be a testament if Konami can indeed replicate Kojima's brand of absurdly hilarious yet engaging writing, or if Kojima was indeed the only thing keeping Metal Gear afloat, and it indeed shows: it can easily be called the worst Metal Gear yet. The story is worse than Snake's Revenge and makes Bethesda era [[Fallout]] look good with sentient nanomachines from the 22nd century via time travel as the main villain.

Right out plagiarizing another video game made by Sqaure Enix, Gunslinger Stratos. Just without the alternate universe dopplegangers. One could also argue that it ripoffs the premise from [[Doctor Who]] two parter "The Empty Child". However, unlike Steven Moffat the people behind Survive have no idea how to make a coherent plot. Proving for a second time that [[C.S._Goto|Gakuto Mikumo]] (who wrote the shitty story of Portable Ops) is a [[Isekai|no talent hack like most light novel writers]]. Blatantly ignoring that the real future of the Metal Gear universe is the much superior Zone of the Enders.(Sahelanthropus looks like a much less advanced Jehuty.)

The game mechanics are something the olden survival games of yore (which aged about as well as bread left out in the open for 6 years), with you having to build a base using resources that you grind for, and such.

The characters are bland and calling you every 30 seconds for who knows what. You are reminded to take food and drink often but it's very difficult to get either. The main character from the single player campaign is a [[Original_character,_do_not_steal|blatant ripoff of Chris Redfeild.]] While the player character is a mute because they couldn't afford to hire real voice actors after blowing their money on Matt Mercer. And do not forget that this piece of crap demands always online compatibility even for the single-player, and asking $10 for an extra save slot. Yes, 10 bucks for an extra save slot, not even F2P mobile games have that audacity. Also the zombie AI is crap, who's biggest opponents are world objects like vehicles (even an open-topped vehicle like a jeep can make you invincible), and the entire experience just feels like a game that's stuck in 2012, and never bothered to evolve to be better. There is really nothing worth picking-up about this game, that you can't get anywhere else for cheaper and better.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. After 30 years, this is how Metal Gear ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper as it's dying body cannibalized by Konami to salvage whatever profit they can from it, before it finally dies. (Well, that and a return of Snake to Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, but that's Nintendo doing all the work, and Konami not needing to do jack anything.)

==See Also==
*[[Metal Gear Vindicare]]
*[[BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
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Image: Absolutely disgusting.jpg
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Image: MSG Agent Chart.png|Create your own MSG Agent!
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[[Category: Video_Games]]
[[Category: Under_Development]]
[[Category:Meme]]

Metal Gear

2019-01-05T03:54:57Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D: /* Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty */

[[File: MSG Title.jpeg|thumb|right|Metal Gear Solid title]]
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{{topquote|Nanomachines, son!|Senator Armstrong, explaining how Metal Gear gets away with anything it can't explain with traditional technobabble. (replace with parasites for pre-nanomachine era).}}

If you're here on the Internet and have ''not'' heard of Metal Gear or Metal Gear Solid, you're obviously pretty new or just straight up ignorant... But for the sake [[/tg/]] and everyone, we'll help.

Metal Gear and the subsequent games coming after it are action-adventure stealth games starting in 1987. While Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 on the <strike>EN EE ESS</strike> EM ES EX TWO were well-received and iconic, it was Metal Gear Solid in 1998 on the PEE ESS JUAN that changed not only the franchise but third-person shooters in general and practically being the herald of stealth games. Though each game has a different story, it typically follows the supersoldier agent Solid Snake or Big Boss during the 21st century and the Cold War as he infiltrates something, destroys whatever's inside, and is a badass while doing it. We would explain more of the story here, but honestly it gets stupidly complicated with government conspiracies, clones, ghosts, [[meme|sudden but inevitable betrayals]], and many more. While somewhat grounded in reality, it has a very obvious sci-fi feel to it, similar to [[BattleTech]], [[Shadowrun]], and in some ways [[Warhammer 40,000|Warhammer 40K]]. Besides its well-crafted game play and frequently uneven and twisty plot, Metal Gear is mainly known for its [[memes]].

==Metal Gear and /tg/==
Like much of the Internet and 4chan, /tg/ has a pretty distinct love for Metal Gear. We've had several quest threads following the Metal Gear universe, most notably [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Metal%20Gear:%20Rise%20from%20Ashes%20Quest| Rise from Ashes] and [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Revengeance%20Quest| Revengeance Quest]. While there's not a definitive homebrew for it, there's limitless potential and [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/38662709/| that certainly hasn't stopped us from trying].

[[Metal Gear Vindicare]] is a pretty obvious /tg/-MSG relation, being inspired by the famous codec used by Solid Snake in the game. Centers around [[Love Can Bloom]] with <s>[[Doomrider]] as a special guest.</s> '''DO COCAAAAIIIINNE!'''

A lot of things about Metal Gear correlate with the interests of fa/tg/uys. Despite what most people think, /tg/ loves their [[tau|giant]] [[Adeptus Evangelion|robots]], which Metal Gear Solid has in spades. There's also a good enough amount of both [[grimdark]] and [[Orks|hilarious stupidity]] to keep a wide variety of neckbeards entertained.

==Characters==
===Solid Snake===
[[File: Solid Snake codec.png|thumb|left|I ''am'' happy]]
The protagonist for most of the games. He starts out his career in Metal Gear as a rookie FOXHOUND agent, uncovering the existence of the Metal Gear and the double-crossing of his superior, Big Boss. He later discovers that he's actually the clone-son of Big Boss, created for reasons that change from game to game. Snake spends the rest of the games fighting Big Bosses' other clones as well as uncovering the grand conspiracy his father had been retconned into fighting, while people talk about how hard the life that he chooses to live is even though it's his own fucking choice. He finally ends his career in Metal Gear Solid 4, his clone-genes rapidly degenerating and near the end of his life (by the time he's in his mid-thirties he's in his late sixties biologically, complete with heart problems and seizures). But he doesn't get to die before finally making amends with his father in a rather hilarious moment where Big Boss is convinced that unless he kills a really old man who was essentially a vegetable the whole series could happen again. In terms of personality there's not much to say, besides him wanting to lead huskies in the Iditarod if he were to ever retire.

===Big Boss===
[[File:Big Boss Salute.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|Good night, sweet prince.]]
Basically [[General Sturnn]]. But with an eye-patch. [[Farsight]] seems to take a lot of inspiration from him too.
While initially portrayed as the villain due to how much he loved war so he could get child soldiers to train into regular soldiers, one could argue whether or not his actions were justified given the later retcon of the Patriots existence (and then they'd remember that whole child soldier bit - then again, who knows if that was actually Big Boss or Venom Snake). Big Boss stars as the protagonist of all the Metal Gear games before Solid begins his career, dating back to the 1960s when he was known as Naked Snake (get it?). Naked Snake discovers the progenitor of Metal Gear in Soviet Russia while also being "betrayed" by his former leader, The Boss. After an arms deal goes wrong, he chooses to kill her to cover up America's involvement, which leaves a lasting impact for the rest of his life and was betrayed by his love interest, EVA, because nobody on the team realized that the agent he was supposed to meet (a man) was actually replaced by EVA (a woman). He decides to abandon the United States (even though patriotism was the theme of the previous game) and create his own military group "Militaires Sans Frontieres," the very mercenary group to have ever existed in the MGS world, later called "Diamond Dogs," while fighting his own shadow war against former comrade Zero who turned evil offscreen and is the founder of the Patriots (also happens offscreen). After fighting a number of early Metal Gear models, Big Boss began building a few Metal Gears of his own to try and even the odds. During a battle against one of the Patriots' splinter groups, Cypher, Big Boss pussies out and decides "Fuck this war, somebody else can deal with this shit" and leaves a body double, Venom Snake, to become the public face of his PMC while he fucked off to who knows where. Originally Big Boss fought Solid Snake in MG1 and died, this was retconned in MG2 where they said he didn't die, just had lots of his body replaced with machinery, and retconned into Venom Snake died instead in MG1, while Big Boss entered into a coma after MG2 until he was revived just after the patriots were defeated (nobody bothered to check to make sure he was dead).
He can also bench press 200 simi odd ton tanks and recharge batteries by eating glowing mushrooms for [[Orks| some reason.]]
TL:DR, he's a ubersoldier. Also has done enough shit to make James Bond look like a pansy. Made a cool base.

===Gray Fox===
Initially just an NPC with some backstory as FOXHOUND's best soldier. In Metal Gear 2 he's retconned as Solid Snake's best friend in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.([[Fail| To differentiate it from the load of fail that was Metal Gear 2 on the NES]]) Mid-way into the game in he is revealed as the second in command of Zanzibar Land under Big Boss & the pilot of the first real Metal Gear battle and first of the melee only boss battles, with [[Mekboy | land minds surrounding boss arena]]. Because the AI was shit (and he isn't the player character) he loses to Snake. He also kills his girlfriend accidentally in one of the most heavily foreshadowed scenes of all time.
In Metal Gear Solid he comes back as the first [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Cyborg Ninja]] as a tutorial battle for the game's melee system. [[Railroading| In short telling the player how to beat him.]] His final act is damaging Metal Gear Rex with some kind of [[Skub|laser or plasma weapon]] that he didn't have in previous appearances before being squished by Metal Gear. So Snake can finally defeat Rex with his Stinger Missiles. Also appears in a prequel game of [[C.S. Goto|questionable canon]].
Later on his backstory was expanded a little more, and it was revealed that he was a child soldier fighting in an area well known for their child soldiers, and he was able to amass a large kill-streak because none of his enemies thought that child soldiers existed, [[Fail|in an area full of them.]]
His ability to lower the intelligence of everyone he met impressed the CIA, who decided to make him into the perfect soldier, unfortunately this ability affected the CIA too and they assumed that wiping all of his memories, including the memory of any martial art he knew or fought against, would make him a better fighter.
He also later murdered the parents of Naomi, then chose to adopt her, because why not? Naomi is also the person who turns him into a cyborg and then lets him loose, knowing full well that he'll want another rematch against Snake, and knowing full well that if Snake failed to complete the mission a Nuke could be launched against the US, though luckily assisting in the act of nuclear terrorism only gets you a verbal reprimand, so she gets away just fine.

===Liquid Snake===
[[File:Brother Liquid.png|thumb|right|Liquid quite literally most of the time. This even extends to when Ocelot brainwashed himself to become Liquid.]]
The antagonist of Metal Gear Solid and Snake's clone brother. Liquid has a distinctly British accent and blond hair. According to the game's very loose grasp of genetics (later ret-conned into Ocelot convincing Liquid this is how genetics work, which is even more dumb since this implies Liquid, an elite ex-British SAS member, could not pick up a goddamned high-school science textbook to do extra research), Liquid inherited all the recessive genes of Big Boss, while Snake inherited all the dominant genes, and because of this he believed he was made from "inferior genes" and that's the reason he's evil. No seriously, the entire reason he's evil is because he doesn't like how he looks, and thus becomes Doctor Doom. Even as a child, he was a surprisingly competent soldier, giving Venom Snake (who he believed was his father Big Boss) a lot of headaches when he started acting out, he also murdered kids and stole the Metal Gear Venom Snake had before vanishing in a cliffhanger that never got resolved in the main series (you'll have to look to youtube to see what they wanted to do, and even then that still ends up on a cliff-hanger).

Liquid would have died from Skull Face's parasite had he not become BFFs with his future comrade, Psycho Mantis who had the ability to do pretty much everything, and was retconned into being possessed by Liquid since Psycho Mantis now gets possessed by non-Psychic people, even though he's wearing his mask which was designed to stop peoples thoughts from entering his head. Liquid has massive Daddy issues (the aforementioned genes) and is incredibly stupid, which lead him to rebel against the US government and seize Metal Gear REX for himself. He also really hates Snake for the same aforementioned gene issue, possessing a really intense inferiority complex and needing to constantly prove himself. Also turned Gray Fox into a blood puddle, because can't aim a [[fail|laser for crap]]. Snake fights him several times, including shooting down his helicopter and Metal Gear Rex, but the bastard JUST. WON'T. DIE. Of course he finally does die from an engineered virus... sort of. "Liquid" takes possession of Ocelot but this was retconned out later so it doesn't matter.

===Ocelot===
A Russian gunslinger and a guy with a LOT of mixed loyalties that make no sense when you think about it. Formerly a member of GRU (the Soviet Military's version of the civilian KGB) and a secret agent for the USA, Ocelot joined with Big Boss (due to a combination of charisma and because Ocelot has a major crush on Big Boss, bordering on actual romance.), helping him in secret despite nominally being a member of the Patriots (and later deciding to destroy them, for Big Boss' sake). Ocelot joined Liquid's rebellion, but only to act as the Patriot's inside man and steal the plans for Metal Gear REX, even though as the governing intelligence they would already have had them. He also manages to steal Metal Gear RAY, but at this point he starts acting out his secret plan to destroy the Patriots from within. How does he do this? Well....

# [[What|Pretend to be possessed by the ghost of Liquid]] and steal Metal Gear RAY which was later retconned into him using hypnosis to make himself think he's Liquid, which gives him all of Liquid's personalities and skills, because that's what happens in this universe (it's how Big Boss made his body double too).
# Use one of the Patriots' AI to infiltrate their system and take effective control over their military assets, because AI who know that the new AI will be under Liquid's control will just hand it to him and wait to die.
# When the patriots send Snake after him, put up a convincing show of resistance by attempting to kill him multiple times.
# Steal the railgun off of Metal Gear REX and aim it at the Patriots' main satellite, which is still armed with a live nuke because nobody in the government told their successors about the nuke, because written logs don't exist in this world, everything is passed down through word of mouth, and the patriots forgot that the nuke was there too. If it makes you feel any better, the US government also forgot they have a fully-armed (we're not even kidding, come MGS4, and the thing's weapon systems are fully armed and operational) 15-ft bi-pedal mech, fully equipped with classified next-generation technology, sitting in an abandoned nuclear storage facility.
# Hope that Snake is still alive at this point and that he's developed the worm necessary to kill the Patriots AI, which Liquid could have done at any time so he wouldn't have had to worry about all the earlier bullshit.
# Fistfight him bare-chested until you die of exhaustion.
# Realize how hilariously dumb Kojima's story-telling ability is, after reading everything in this section
# ???
# Profit!
Yeah... when we talk about how convoluted the story is, it's usually Ocelot's fault. Still, for an elderly old bastard, he's pretty damn badass. Dude can also pull off some [[/co/|Taskmaster]] level shit and bite CQC moves from his opponents. He's also the third canon cyborg via replacing Liquid's Arm with a prosthetic and [[What|dented his own ship with it (but somehow, couldn't break Solid Snake's face during their fist-fight).]]

Also, he has a [[Slaanesh| torture fetish]] and is a [[Furry|furry old fuck, the "Ocelot" code-name was before Fox Hound decided to go full-furry with operative code-names.]]. TLDR, he is [[Wat]] incarnate.

===Otacon===
The [[weeaboo]] of the series. We're not exaggerating, by the way. He wanted to work on Metal Gear REX specifically because he's obsessed with [[anime]]. Otacon is your typical nerdy support character, giving Snake technical assistance in his fight against the Metal Gears and is the only reason REX was able to be defeated because he intentionally developed it with an exploitable weak spot that would have made it a hindrance against on the battlefield. This carries over to the next several games where he'll design something far inferior to what already existed, only to let you use that better thing later on anyway. He's also a quite literally hopeless romantic, as his two romantic interests ended up dying. Though to be honest, the first was a terrorist who showed no real interest in him, and the second was Naomi, who upon realizing she had cancer that wasn't doing a fucking thing because she stopped it with nanomachines, decided to commit suicide. Also we learn that his dad committed suicide because he had sex with his stepmom. Yeah.

===Huey===
Otacon's dad. Despite having the same general appearance, voice actor, and role as Otacon, Huey deserves special mention for how much of a [[that guy|cock]] he is and how despite all his faults, Otacon is infinitely more tolerable. So, he's a paraplegic engineer who got drafted by the CIA into helping to build Peace Walker, not realizing how insane the project really is (this is a persistent theme for him). After being rescued by Big Boss, Huey works for him and develops Metal Gear ZEKE as a counter to the various AI weapons the CIA had built. He also ended up marrying his design partner, the heavily-implied-to-have-had-a-lesbian-crush-on-The-Boss Dr. Strangelove, with whom they had a son named Hal (aka Otacon). Now, here's where the dark shit settles in: <s> after getting tricked by Cipher into letting them onto Mother Base to destroy it </s> after selling out Big Boss and MSF to Cipher, Huey gets abducted and is forced to work on a new Metal Gear, Sahelanthropus. Because the cockpit can't fit a full-sized human, he tries to get his son Hal to pilot it. Strangelove vehemently opposes this, so he ends up stuffing her inside an AI pod to suffocate. After getting recaptured by Big Boss, he insists that he never betrayed him and that he wasn't willingly working for Cipher. But after Big Boss succeeds in defeating Skull Face, Huey steals the vocal chord parasite and makes it more deadly by making it immune to its original antidote in an attempt to sell it to Cipher for protection, even having the gall to call Big Boss a murderer for mercy-killing the men Huey infected. Naturally, this pisses off Big Boss, so he sends him adrift on a tiny life raft. Huey lives out the rest of his days being a bad parent, eventually drowning himself (and nearly drowning his stepdaughter) when he found out Hal had sex with his new wife. After learning all that, one can only imagine how badly Hal was treated and feel some genuine pity for him.

===Meryl===
Colonel Roy Campbell's daughter (he told everyone she was his niece because he didn't want them to know her mother had an affair with him) and the only FOXHOUND agent to not join Liquid's rebellion. She starts out as a rookie way in over her head, but she helps out Snake by providing him with useful information. Snake also starts to develop a romantic interest in her after all the shit they go through, and then dumps her to go hunt Metal Gears because Snake decided that Metal Gears shouldn't exist, a plan which was doomed to failure since their design was on the internet and literally everyone could download it. In Metal Gear Solid, depending on whether Snake submits to Ocelot's torture, Meryl lives or dies at the end of the game. This is later retconned in Metal Gear Solid 4, where she lives but also learns the truth that she's Roy's daughter, not his niece, which pisses her off. Meryl becomes the commander of her own unit which she names after the group who tried to kill her, and decides that because at this point Snake's turned into a crusty old fart, she's going to marry her perpetually incontinent subordinate stalker (he saw her once and was then pining for her years after the fact), who's also a weeaboo.

===Raiden===
He's introduced as the "true" protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2, but his original appearance is nowhere near as badass as Snake. He's a [[Fulgrim|white-haired effeminate Bishie]] that tends to rile up most people who loathe anime stereotypes. Raiden starts out as a Child Soldier in Africa (despite being whiter than white-out) before being taken in by the Patriots as their successor to Solid Snake. He's lived nearly his entire life in simulations and being fucked over by AIs. Once he's actually let out into the real world to stop Solidus and his terror cell, he meets Snake, and together they discover the existence of the Patriots.

Raiden gets a significant upgrade after MGS2, where he gets kidnapped by the Patriots and has his entire body below his upper jaw cut off and replaced by a cyborg ninja body (akin to a reverse [[Ferrus Manus]]). Everyone agrees that his version of Raiden is much better, and he ends up starring in the spin-off game Metal Gear Rising, where he uses his sword and ninja athleticism to fight other cyborgs and a regular human who was stronger than him due to having [[Flash Gitz| a better weapon, Power Armor]] and skills. In the Metal Gear verse your top of the line upgrades are [[Games Workshop|barely useful in less than four years]].

===Solidus===
The last of Big Bosses' clones, Solidus was much more under the control of the Patriots, sometimes. He spent some time fighting in Africa, where he picked up an orphaned Raiden and turned him into a pawn of the Patriots. While he was eventually made President, this really didn't count for much as the Patriots still made all the decisions and he was basically a puppet. Solidus decides that he's had enough of this shit and steals the Patriots' new warship, Arsenal Gear, and decides to take the fight directly to them. Of course, this didn't end well for him when Snake and Raiden interfere and the ship crashes into Manhattan. He gets killed by Raiden, sort of-not really as nobody bothered to check the body (falling into a coma instead of dying), but his body ends up being a macguffin because his DNA is an exact match to Big Boss, allowing Ocelot to hack into the Patriots network, because even though the Patriots know what's happening and could stop it they let it happen anyway.

===The Patriots===
Also known as "Cipher", or "La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo" if you're under their direct control since they decided the best way to hide their name is telling everyone that they can't say their name. Financed by the inheritance of the 20th Century's wealthiest men, the Patriots control literally everything. Originally this was a group formed by Big Boss, Zero, Sigint, Para-Medic, Ocelot, and Eva in order to fulfill The Boss' wishes of creating a world without borders and ending the Cold War since the entire series is based around people wanting to do what The Boss wanted to do, despite most of them having minimal attachment to the boss at best. However, this group split in half over differences on how to fulfill this vision. Zero wanted to control the entire world and all facets of human life through all-knowing AIs, while Big Boss wanted to create "Outer Heaven," a place where soldiers would always belong and not be the puppets of governments (because having people always ready to fight would obviously mean everyone becomes peaceful and happy). When Zero went comatose, the group was taken over for a short time by Skull Face, the guy responsible for cleaning up the mess in MGS3 even though there wasn't anyone like that originally (retcon) and the location should have made it impossible. He wanted to fulfill the Boss' vision by eliminating language itself using a language-based parasite because he believed that a persons personality and way of thinking had everything to do with the language they spoke (he was also retarded). Eventually the Patriots was controlled by Five AIs: JD, GW, TJ, AL, & TR (John Doe, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt respectively) who had no self preservation whatsoever. These AIs decided that the best thing to unite the world was to plunge it into perpetual conflict and proxy wars, bringing together the worst of Zero's and Big Boss' visions and directly working against everything the series said they were working towards. The Patriots AI were killed off when Snake unwittingly uploaded a worm that killed all of them, finally freeing the world from their influence.

==Types of Metal Gears==
If the title of the game didn't hint at it enough, a prominent part of the game(s) are these giant mechs called (you guessed it) Metal Gears. In the beginning they're simply mobile platforms to launch nuclear weapons, but they evolve to fulfill many other roles and become far more dangerous in general.

'''Shagohod''': Technically not a Metal Gear, but created the precedent for mobile nuclear platforms. This crazy contraption was basically a giant armored hovercraft (Move Trough Cover) that would rocket-boost (one-turn Fast Tank) in order to give its nuclear payload an extra boost and was designed to launch nukes from any surface, giving the Soviet Union the edge in the Cold War. Of course the whole point of the Cold War was that both sides were fucked if ANY nukes were launched so it became pointless before it was built. It also had point-defenses up the wazzoo.

'''Metal Gear RAXA''': The first proper Metal Gear ever built. A four-legged Metal Gear that could be launched from a ICBM. If you're asking why in the fuck they have to use a Metal Gear as a middleman nuclear platform when they're already launching it from an ICBM, supposedly it's because the missiles are harder to intercept on the Metal Gear than on the ICBM... but who's to say they can't intercept the ICBM carrying the Metal Gear?

'''Peace Walker''': A four-legged walker that was fully AI controlled. It's described as having a stealth frame, but it wouldn't exactly be hard to spot considering the size of the thing. It could only fire nukes defensively, but could be tricked into launching a premature attack through a faked nuclear launch signal sent through the hacked NORAD system. Was intended to be the ultimate assurace of Mutually Assured Destruction by being an mobile, autonomous, and intelligent AI system that would guarantee a retaliatory strike upon whoever fired their nukes first. Originally created because a branch of the government didn't believe people would be able to launch nukes and kill millions of innocent people (which he'd prove by launching a nuke himself). Turns out it wasn't needed at all because the final act (and anyone with common sense) proved him completely wrong.

'''Metal Gear ZEKE''': Big Boss' first attempt at a Metal Gear, this one was fully bipedal. Originally it was AI controlled too, but was modified to use a human pilot when Cypher attempted to steal it, the modifications being completed in days or minutes depending on when you last checked it, and nobody guarding it thought that it was a good idea to stop the modifications that weren't supposed to happen, and the two people doing them would never have been able to make them in the first place. This metal gear was also customizable and could be sent out on combat missions alongside MSF soldiers.

'''Sahelanthropus''': This one was designed by Otacon's Dad, Huey. While technically more advanced than Metal Gear REX in that it could walk upright, one flaw was that the cockpit was too small for a full-sized human. Cypher got around this by using Pyscho Mantis to control it psychically, because in Phantom Pain Psycho Mantis could do whatever he wanted, which makes you question why they need robots when they already have control over a superhuman. Sahelanthropus is also the absolute proof of why Metal Gears are useless (as if Metal Gear: Rising didn't already do that), despite costing millions to make and countless resources, it's easily defeated by a man on a man-sized robot that would have cost a fraction of the resources to develop, and if it didn't have the ability to create clouds that destroyed metal, it could have been easily defeated by one tank.

'''TX-55''': The Metal Gear that appears in the first game (which is now chronologically not the first one). This model didn't have that many frills, though it could fire two nukes despite being relatively tiny. It does nothing while Snake just uses C4 to blow it up and dodges the [[Rage|annoying laser cameras]]. Presumably it's the most durable one because the only way to hurt it is to use a shitload of C4 on its legs in a certain order, because that's how explosives work.

'''Metal Gear D''': The first real Metal Gear the player ever fights in the release order. An upgraded version of TX-55. It only had a machine guns and missiles during it's boss battle, but apparently it could also fire [[Anal_circumference|six nukes one after another]].

'''Metal Gear REX''': This dinosaur-looking motherfucker takes the original Metal Gear concept one step further by firing nukes from a [[Tau|railgun]] instead of a ballistic missile, making nukes nearly impossible to track (though it was never designed to do so, it just happened to work out that way). It also had a badass assortment of weaponry, from Gatling Guns to crotch lasers and a crap-ton of missiles. Even after Snake battled it in MGS1, it was still tough enough to take on RAY in MGS4. After MGS1, hundreds of REX knockoffs started spreading throughout the world thanks to Ocelot's douchebaggery.

'''Metal Gear RAY''': Designed to be the ultimate anti-Metal Gear weapon, RAY failed fucking hard in that regard. It's amphibious by design, and instead of carrying nukes, its weapons include a powerful water cannon that can cut metal. Despite being built specifically to fight Metal Gears, it still loses in a fight against an already damaged Metal Gear REX. For some reason Ocelot never uses the missile spam attack seen in Metal Gear Solid 2 when he pilots the manned version in MGS4. Still not a cake walk though since you need too spam the fire button instead of holding it down to make this fight easier. Since Metal Gear battles that are not the first boss hardly ever are.
The others seen in MGS2 and Rising are smaller unmanned knockoffs.

'''Metal Gear RAY MOD0''': An upgrade over RAY seen in Metal Gear Rising. With the rise of carbon nano-tube tech; the armor was made lighter and stronger, allowing it to carry more weapons. Upgrades include: 4 limb-mounted twin-linked gatling guns, micro and macro missile launchers, an HF arm blade roughly the size of a small building, and a mouth-mounted plasma cannon. Despite all this, every last one of these guys encountered were destroyed by some Rhodesian weeaboo ninja with a sharp stick and a smart-talking Brazilian samurai with an incomprehensibly powerful sword and fighting technique.

'''Metal Gear EXCELSUS''': Not really a Metal Gear, it was only named so for marketing reasons, but still impractically awesome either way. Seen only in Metal Gear Rising; EXCELSUS was meant as an anti-cyborg gear, because cyborgs were becoming too powerful for conventional warfare. Due to this, people thought the only counter to this was to go back to making giant mechs with impractically large and powerful weapons (under the logic that if you can't outmanuver them; outgun them). EXCELSUS is basically a scorpion-shaped mech roughly as tall and wide a sports stadium and armed with two giant HF blades and twin plasma cannons. Its destroyed by Raiden in the most hilariously over-the-top way possible; he SUPLEXES THE DAMN THING, rips one of it's arm blades off, and engages it in an arm-wrestling match with one of it's severed arms. Reminder, this was designed to kill cyborgs.

'''Gekko''': Small Metal Gears made up of a combination of synthetic organic muscle and mechanical technology. They have the head/upper body of a REX, but they have a pair of lizard legs to walk around on. You'd think that those legs would be easy pickings for bullets, but actually they won't buckle for anything less than explosives. They also allow the GEKKO to jump really high, climb on walls, and sweep kick you, so good luck running away from them. They also moo like cows and take shits. Seriously. We're not fucking joking.

==Plot==
===Metal Gear ===
The original story on the NES. While the future 3D games are the stuff of legends, the old ones didn't get better with age (they're good for nostalgia, but gameplay as expected during the pioneer age of vidya gaems, is unpolished at best).

It has rookie FOXHOUND operative Solid Snake infiltrating Outer Haven, a mercenary empire led by a mysterious legendary mercenary. Big Boss, leader of FOXHOUND, originally sent one of their best operatives named "Grey Fox" to infiltrate the area, but was captured, leaving only the message "Metal Gear" before disappearing. BB then only sends Snake to investigate, in an operation dubbed "Operation Intrude N312".

So to make a long-story less long and all the obligatory plot twists: Big Boss is actually the leader of Outer Haven (this was later ret-conned to being Big Boss' body double: Venom Snake) and the real Big Boss (we think) only sent in Snake thinking that he would be killed as he didn't have the experience to go up against hardened war veterans (all those guys you fultoned in MGS5? They're these guys). Metal Gear is actually a bi-pedal tank capable of launching nuclear weapons from anywhere. Also Grey Fox is alive, and wants to kill you after being convinced by Big Boss to turn on the US government.

===Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake===
Sequel to the first game. The game now features the fictional nation of Zanzibar, another mercenary empire led by another "legendary mercenary". Zanzibar kidnapped Dr. Kio Marv, a scientist who created a compound named "OLIX" which could create an oil-substitute compound at little cost. Due to diminishing oil supplies, Zanzibar plans to hold the world hostage by controlling the only new reliable source of oil. They plan to enforce their position using OLIX and of course, a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank. Snake retired after the events of the first game, but was pressed by Campbell into service, due to this new crisis. Now, Snake must rescue Dr. Marv and bring an end to Zanzibar.

Surprisingly, this mission also goes well for Snake, managing to save Dr. Magnar and destroy Zanzibar's Metal Gear. But you guessed it, plot twists: Grey Fox is still alive, and this would be his final days as he dies after fighting Snake (but is forcibly brought back from the grave by the Patriots later), and Big Boss is actually still alive (although technically he was always alive, you just killed his body-double at first, with recent retcons considered), but Snake puts him down, once and for all (And this is the actual Big Boss now, but he didn't actually die, rather he was saved by the Patriots after the battle, but was in a coma. This plot point gets wrapped up in MGS4.).

===Metal Gear Solid===
Metal Gear Solid is a bit of a "reboot" of the franchise, where most of future games will follow this style of gameplay (or improve upon it).

The story involves Solid Snake being forced back into service after Liquid Snake, his brother, stages a coup with the Next-Generation Special Forces, and Fox Hound, taking Metal Gear REX and several personalities hostage. Their demands are money and for the US government to surrender the remains of Big Boss, as they require his DNA to fix their genetic flaws. Failure to do so, will cause the terrorists to launch a nuclear weapon from REX.

As a solo infiltrator; Snake must alone; defeat the members of the NGSF and Fox Hound, save the DARPA chief and president of the ArmsTech corporation, and retrieve Metal Gear REX. But as much as it was intended; he wasn't alone. He's assisted by an operations team that he contacts via codec that's currently operating from a submarine, an NGSF defector named Meryl, and REX's designer; Otacon. Also a mysterious cyborg ninja who is there to both assist and kill you, specifically in a first-fight.

But, plot twist, the ninja was Grey Fox all along and only got you here as a duel to the death with you was his final wish, you were just there to be a carrier of the FOXDIE virus, to ensure the members of Fox Hound are killed either way, then allow the US government to retrieve REX undamaged. Snake sort of "succeeds" in his mission (Revolver Ocelot is still alive, two of the hostages are dead, and REX is "kind of" destroyed.), failing most of his objectives, but managing to prevent nuclear holocaust from occurring.

As an additional Plot Twist: Revolver Ocelot planned everything with then-president George Sears (AKA: Solidus Snake), and everything went [[Just as Planned|all according to plan]] from his stand-point (Whether him losing his gun hand is part of it or not, is up to debate).

===Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty===
Known mostly as where the story of the Patriots and information control started.

After MGS1, Ocelot leaks plans of REX to the world, causing numerous countries to start making their own home-grown nuclear weapons programs through this data. Due to this, the US Marines are commissioned Metal Gear RAY, a not-metal gear that's designed to take on other giant robots, rather than launch nukes. [[Rage|Why they needed their own is only explained optional dialogue that you have to go out of your way to find]]. As conventional weaponry [[anti air and anti tank mostly or just a crap ton of explosives]] can easily defeat Metal Gears. In short the USMC want to stick it to the Navy who have their own Metal Gear project.

This is caught by Snake's and Otacon's attention, who infiltrate the tanker transporting RAY to get photo evidence of the US government building another Metal Gear (never actually considering that in the age of Photoshop, the USG can easily deny these claims). Things go not as planned after Ocelot and a bunch of Russian mercenaries take over the tanker. Things are even more complicated after Ocelot betrays the mercenaries, then takes RAY for himself, sinking the oil tanker, and pinning the entire incident on Snake. Snake is assumed to have died during the tanker incident. Also Snake meets Olga Gurlukovich, daughter of the mercenary commander's daughter, for....reasons.

Fast forward a few years, and a facility called "Big Shell" is built on-top of the oil spill, to facilitate clean-up of the patch of water. Said facility is then taken over by the "Sons of Liberty" a disenfranchised US Special Forces group, led by former president George Sears, who intends to rid the world of the Patriots' influence, supported by a group of Russian mercenaries. He plans to do this by gaining access to nuclear weapons and requires the President's authorization to allow him to use it. During this time, they take the US president, and his cabinet hostage during a routine visit from them.

Along with a SEAL team, the US government sends "Raiden" a bishie "rookie" (he's trained with VR, but has no field experience to speak of. If you discount his stint as a child soldier) of Fox Hound. Also there's this SEAL named Iroquis Pliskin who sounds, looks, and acts a lot like Solid Snake, but it can't be him because he's dead. Plus there's also this female cyborg ninja with a thick Russian accent, who's....just there, I guess.

His objectives were to rescue the president, prevent the terrorists from blowing-up Big Shell (as the chemicals used for de-contaminating the oil would poison the area around Manhattan), and neutralize the Sons of Liberty....atleast that was the plan. As with the first game; Raiden fails his original mission as the Big Shell is eventually destroyed, the US President is dead, and Solidus gains access to another superweapon that he was able to use. But he was able to prevent Armageddon by stopping Solidus by having a sword-duel to the death. Anyways:

PLOT TWEEST: Pliskin is actually Solid Snake (whether this can still be considered a twist is debatable, but meh), the Ninja with the feminine Russian accent was Olga all along, Big Shell was just a cover for the Patriots attempting to build another Metal Gear called "Arsenal Gear", the oil spill was [[Just as Planned]] to allow it's construction and the Big Shell was never doing any clean-up work at all, and this entire flubdubbery was actually an exercise to allow the Patriots to gather data on the SSS program or "Solid Snake Simulator", a program that would allow them to train a soldier at-par with Solid Snake with Raiden's experiences, using Ocelot as an observer. Ocelot was actually working with the Patriots, if that was ever a surprise. Also the Colonel Campbell and Rosemary advising you were actually the Patriot AIs, bringing into question whether everything Raiden has been told by the two is real or not. Snake also comes off looking like an asshole in this game as he does things such as using Raiden as bait for Solidus and withholds information. Which is kind of the point. As being a super spy for twenty years some odd years would make just about anyone else into a jerkass. He also knew that the Patriots were monitoring Raiden. A proper reason for keeping somebody you don't trust in the dark about your plans.

A TWIST TO THE PLOT TWIST: Ocelot was just a pawn (or so the Patriots think), SSS was actually for "Selection for Societal Sanity", a program enacted by the Patriots to gather data on how they can filter and censor information, to ensure the world only listens to the Patriot's point of view, as they deem that humans are incapable of forming context for information, resulting in dozens, to hundreds of opinions and interpretations, that inevitably cause either a stagnation of progress and conflict. By creating a context for everyone to adhere to, it is that much easier to influence the masses on how to think.

Another twist: Everything Raiden knows may or may not be a lie, but the validity of it is left ambiguous to allow the player to decide whether its truth or a lie.

===Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater===
Chronologically the first game in the series, MGS3 is pretty much a Fix Fic for the [[C.S. Goto|half assed story of MGS2]]. The game is still plays out like the old games, but as most of the activity is now in outdoor environments, additional features are added like the need to hunt and eat food for stamina, and the wound system that would cripple the player in certain areas due to injury (which was later pulled out of later games, because its just kinda dumb and needlessly slows the action down).

MGS3 follows the adventures of "Jack", code-named "Naked Snake" (named so because he has little gear during missions, hence "naked"). He was selected to be the pioneer of the Fox group, a military initiative aimed at training elite operatives for deep-infiltration missions, which is overseen by an ex-SAS operative known only as Major Zero (why the blue blazes the American government would enlist a British national as the leader one of their black ops groups is only something Kojima could explain) and also by The Boss, Jack's Mentor.

Their original mission that acts as a trial for fox is to help scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov defect to the West, growing tired of his creations becoming weapons of war (not really realizing the west will pretty much press him for the same ends), by rescuing him from a stronghold deep in Russian territory. Said weapon is a giant tank, capable of launching nuclear missiles without the use of a silo named the "Shagohod". Things originally went well, up until the ambush led by GRU officer: Major. Ocelot (who is appears to have mellowed with age, as he's an insufferable fanboy during his youth), which Snake manages to overcome, thanks to Ocelot's cockiness. But things went [[Not as Planned]] when he realized his mentor, The Boss, defected to a Soviet seperatist faction led by Colonel Volgin. This led to Sokolov being kidnapped again, the Shagohod being stolen, and Snake being left almost for dead after a fight with The Boss. Things went even more not as planned after Volgin uses one of the portable nuclear weapons The Boss gave him, in order to destroy one of Russia's top-secret nuclear facility, blowing up any chance of the US keeping this operation a secret, completely out of the water.

Due to America being implicated by Russia on the destruction of one of their top-secret facilities (mainly because despite their intentions to make sure America can't be traced in the attack, [[Fail|everything they used in the operation were equipment used by America)]]. Naked Snake is re-deployed in the "Virtuous Mission" to infiltrate Russia and accomplish several objectives. These are: rescue Sokolov (again), neutralize the Shagohod before it becomes a threat, and kill Colonel Volgin and The Boss (the former due to a request by Russia, and the latter as a way to prove the US' innocence). Standing against him are rogue Russian spec ops groups of the KGB, GRU, and most infamously the "Cobra Unit", The Boss' elite squad of quirky misfits, who served with her during WW2.

Surprisingly, Naked Snake actually accomplishes more than future protagonists ever could, with the help of another Soviet spy named Eva. Sokolov kinda "died" (he's alive in Portable Ops after being rescued, but how canon this is, is dubious as the game wasn't written by Kojima, but he doesn't really impact the story past MGS3 so its kinda moot overall), but Volgin kinda "died" aswell (apparently he was only in a near-death coma, kept alive by his unfaltering rage against Snake. Its kinda irrelevant in the long run.), the Shagohod was destroyed, and The Boss is killed in what is probably one of the saddest moments in video games (mostly because of reasons listed below).

If you haven't gotten used to it yet, too bad, PLOT TWEESTS: The Boss was never really a traitor. Her original objective was to gain the trust of Colonel Volgin to obtain the "Philosopher's Legacy", fucktons of money left behind by a secret cabal of world leaders during WW1, but this was compromised after Volgin used an American nuclear weapon on Russian soil. To ensure that the US had a way out of starting WW3: The Boss was forced to accept the role of the villain, and had to rely on Snake to have the skills and fortitude to kill her, absolving the US of it's crimes. And by killing The Boss, the Snake is heralded as a hero in the US and Russia, earning him the title of "Big Boss", [[Lamenters|but the trauma of sacrificing so much for his country made it feel like he was anything but a hero.]]

Also Eva was actually a Chinese spy (if that wasn't kinda obvious, given Sigint's hints and her actions) and Ocelot was a triple agent (A GRU officer, working for a separatist faction, while working with the US government) who was actually Adam, the person meant to support Snake but was beaten to the punch (given this is his character trope, this probably should stop counting as a plot twist).

===Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops===
A game of questionable canon not directed or written by Hideo Kojima. The main antagonist is a bigger Villain Sue than Armstrong and Ocelot put together. Which is saying something because either would whip the floor with him. It was also a considered the worst game until recently (see Survive). Which is what you get when the primary writer is known for making shitty harem novels for morbidly obese otaku and directed by a script writer instead of a real director.

===Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots===
MGS4 is officially the "end" of the Solid timeline, as MGSV is in the past about Big Boss' wacky misadventures. The game is constantly criticized for basically being one long cutscene, due to the fact a lot of the game has a ''lot'' of cinematic content, than actual gameplay, to the point that MGS4 actually holds the world record for the longest cutscene in videogame history, who's finale spans a whopping 71 minutes (and reminder, this is JUST the ending).

The game follows Solid Snake, who has rapidly aged to an old man in his 60s due to FOXDIE, and apparently he's going to be a WMD as the FOXDIE virus injected in him in the first game is evolving into a dangerous bio-weapon. He's called in for one last mission by Colonel Campbell to assassinate Revolver Ocelot, who has now become the leader of one of the largest PMCs in the world, who has amassed too much power and is deemed a threat by world leaders. He reluctantly take to the field again, as this is his final mission to end the madness he and his extended family was responsible for, before finally dying (by his hand if necessary). Along the way he's helped by just about every MG character from the previous game as one big nostalgiafest, including:

*Otacon, who's there for exposition
*Raiden, who is now an impractically awesome near-immortal cyborg ninja
*Dr. Naomi Hunter, who's attempting to atone for her sins
*Colonel Campbell, who married Raiden's wife after becoming estranged to him
*Rosemary, Raiden's wife who after a miscarriage, separated from him. Acts as a psychologist to Snake.
*Vamp, who's trope as a bi-sexual vampire is ''really'' drilled into your skull here
*Ocelot, because Kojima killed Liquid too early in the series (we're not kidding, this is the main reason why Ocelot became the series' big bad)
*Solidus, who's now in a coma
*Meryl, who is now working for the US as an observer for PMCs.
*Johnny Sasaki, who somehow turned from comic relief to part-time action hero (because.....eh?)
*Mei Ling, who due to certain assets, is now a USN captain of her own ship
*Big Boss, who finally woke up from his near-death coma
*Eva, who's now leading an Eastern-European resistance group under the name "Big Mama".

To wrap up Kojima's decade-long fever dream: Big Mama dies attempting to protect Solidus' unconscious body body after she thought it was the real Big Boss (also Solidus is dead, so nuts to that I guess), Vamp dies after being heavily wounded by Raiden and put down, Naomi dies after being guilt-tripped by Vamp's death, Snake manages to upload a computer virus that finally destroys the Patriots for real (but their influence continues on) and manages to kill Ocelot for real after one of the most nostalgia-drilling fist-fights in the series (who, moments before dying, reveals, that "Liquid's ghost" in him was just a scam and that he worked both for and against Patriots. Go figure), Rosemary's marriage to Campbell was a sham to protect her and Raiden's child and got back together at the end, Meryl and Johnny get married (because Kojima), and Snake relents in committing suicide and has one last heart-felt exchange with Big Boss, before BB finally dies due to being exposed to FOXDIE, finally realizing The Boss' message and dying in peace.

===Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker===
The other direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 on the PSP. A much better game between the two. It should have been released on consoles instead as Big Boss can't move and be in the prone position at the same time. This is where the series started it's slow decline that was fast tracked by Konami's sabotage of MGSV and the release of Survive. As the real brains behind Metal Gear. Tomokazu Fukushima, left the company during the early development of MGS4.

===Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance===
Set four years after Guns of the Patriots, Revengeace is a completely different beast from any other Metal Gear game. First off, you play as Raiden for the entire game instead of Snake or Big Boss. Second, since this game was developed by Platinum Games instead of Konami, [[Flesh Tearers|stealth is mostly thrown out the window for glorious carnage]] (you can still try to use stealth when it's applicable to make the game easier, as enemies are vulnerable to insta-kills while you're undetected, but nothing's stopping you from just going in and murderfucking everyone.). And third, the stupid over-the-top tropes Metal Gear Solid was known for are hitched up to eleven. Seriously, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpeFE4QhU0| look at this shit.] That's the equivalent of tossing around a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)| Warhound Scout Titan]] like a rag doll.

Long story short, Raiden receives a far more powerful cyborg body and is sent to eliminate Desperado; an off-shoot faction of the Patriots led by U.S Senator Armstrong, known for the "Nanomachines, son" [[meme]] and the most patriotic villain ever known. Besides that the plot is pretty much nonexistent, with Raiden running around and pretty much being the living avatar of [[rip and tear|RIP N' TEAR]]. The plot though did have some really funny moments where Raiden discovered the villains plan to create an army, kidnap children from third-world countries, put their brains in jars, have them remote control robots/cyborgs, and once they were skilled enough put their brains in those bodies so that they could get killed on the battlefield, not to mention there's a part where Raiden just lets a bunch of children die because he's too busy posing to help them out. Much like most of the series, this plan is doomed to failure before it starts when you realize that there's already a far better alternative in the form of nanomachines that make you invincible, they only stop working when it's plot convenient. It also regresses Raidens' character a bit (because much like every MGS sequel, the theme of the previous games are ignored), but nobody really gave a shit about that because of all the over-the-top ninja bullshit he constantly pulls off.

===Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain===
==== Ground Zeroes ====
The story begins with Ground Zeroes, set one year after the events of Peace Walker. It turns out Paz, a former friend of Big Boss and secret agent for Cipher, is alive and is being held in an American Interrogation camp on the southern tip of Cuba. Big Boss originally wanted to assassinate Paz because of her ties to the mysterious Cipher organization and suspects she might may have leaked critical information about the Militaires Sans Frontières. Miller on the other hand doesn't believe this and convinces Big Boss to bring her back alive for questioning. Coincidentally, Mother Base (formerly Outer Heaven, formerly Mother Base) is scheduled for a United Nations nuclear weapon inspection. After rescuing Paz and Chico, they find out that Paz had a bomb surgically planted in her abdomen as a setup. After a very gruesome scene of surgically removing the bomb from Paz's body, Big Boss successfully disposes the bomb as Paz tries to recover. They return to Mother Base only to see that it has come under attack by Cipher's covert strike force XOF, meaning the inspection was only a smokescreen for an attack. Big Boss manages to save Miller and an unnamed soldier (we find out his real alias is Mosquito, but he comes back later on). They all escape as Mother Base collapses and cue for Miller's famous meme quote "They played us like a damn fiddle!". Miller realizes Big Boss was right and demands answers from Paz. That is until Paz claims there is another bomb inside of her (heavily implied to be in her vagina, what the fuck Kojima) as she falls out of the helicopter and the second bomb inside her explodes causing the helicopter to lose control and crashes into another helicopter.

==== The Phantom Pain ====
Big Boss manages to survive the crash but falls into a coma for nine years. A pretty cool opening scene of Big Boss waking up to ''The Man Who Sold the World'' in a hospital bed in Cyprus. The doctors show Big Boss after the explosion that not only did he get shrapnel sticking out of his head and the inside of his body, but he also lost his left forearm in the process. The following night an assassin kills the doctors who took care of Big Boss and nearly kills Big Boss himself. That is until another patient stops the assassin and sets her on fire causing her to jump out the window. The patient reveals himself as 'Ishmael' and helps Big Boss escape (This isn't the only reference to the book Moby Dick, Ishmael calls Big Boss 'Ahab' while Big Boss is equipped with a hook hand prosthetic). As they both approach the elevator, they encounter a child wearing a gas mask and a straight jacket floating in the air (we know what you're thinking and yes, that is Psycho Mantis as a little kid) and a man covered in fire. Since gunfire is useless against him his only weakness is water. They both see that XOF units start killing the patients and hospital staff to ensure there are no witnesses. It becomes clear that they were sent in to eliminate Big Boss after finding out he had just woken up. After facing certain death against XOF soldiers and the Man of Fire, Big Boss and Ishmael escape the hospital using an ambulance. Unfortunately, the ambulance gets attacked by XOF forces and crashes. Big Boss survives, but Ishmael has disappeared leaving Big Boss to fend for himself. Just as an XOF helicopter is hovering over Big Boss, Psycho Mantis shows up then suddenly a giant fucking whale covered in fire swallows the helicopter and destroys it. To make things even more ridiculous, the Man of Fire shows up again riding a fucking winged unicorn made of fire. Luckily, a man riding a horse shows up to Big Boss' aid and that man is none other than Revolver Ocelot (now voiced by Troy Baker). After a chase ensues between the Man of Fire and Big Boss and Ocelot, they both manage to escape. Ocelot reminds Big Boss of what has happened before he fell into a coma and wants to help him and Miller rebuild their private army. It turns out Miller was captured by the Soviets and is being held for interrogation in Afghanistan. Big Boss joins up with Ocelot and sets out for Afghanistan. And that's all just the prologue.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story isn't nearly as awesome or cinematic, partly due to Konami's budget cuts forcing the game to be left in an unfinished state. Here's the gist; Big Boss slowly starts rebuilding his army by recruiting (read: kidnapping) Soviet and African soldiers, stealing tanks with balloons, and completing various contracts for money. However, its not long before he runs back into XOF forces, this time using mutant supersoldiers called the "Skulls" who use modified versions of the superpowered parasites used by the Cobra Unit, giving them freaky abilities like mind-controlling nearby soldiers or turning rock-solid. XOF is working on a new Metal Gear in Afghanistan, while working on a brand new superweapon on the Angola-Zaire border to eliminate entire languages through vocal-cord parasites, which are actually related to the Cobra Unit parasites. Actually these parasites have a lot of strange and unexplained abilities, like somehow being able to refine uranium ore or being used in the walking mechanisms for metal gears, or destroying metal. Whatever the case, Big Boss captures and falls in love with XOF sniper Quiet (who he learns is the same assassin who tried to kill him in the hospital), who is in turn won over by him because he's the motherfucking Big Boss. He also accidentally unleashes a parasite outbreak in Angola, which infects his own men, until he gets to the bottom of the infection. Finally after a big showdown in Afghanistan, Big Boss finally corners and kills Skull Face and his Metal Gear.

So, story over, right? HA no. Huey causes a second outbreak to try to bribe his way back into Cypher's hands, Quite is forced to speak to rescue Big Boss (and thus runs away so she doesn't infect anyone, presumably to kill herself to avoid a slow and painful death), and baby Liquid runs away with all the child soldiers and steals the Metal Gear with him. And... that's pretty much it. The entire final battle was cut from the game, which according to plans would have been ''far'' more challenging and climactic than the two previous Metal Gear encounters, but unfortunately it never came to pass and likely never will. The only real ending we got was the reveal that Venom Snake was never Big Boss to begin with, just a brain-washed body double who would distract Cypher while the real Big Boss fucked off to do who-knows-what. We did get a decent epilogue, however, when several years after the game released, an Easter Egg was activated after every player-owned nuclear warhead was successfully deactivated in the PvP section of the game.

===Metal Gear Survive===
A portal in the sky transports you to an alternate dimension after Mother Base was destroyed by XOF, where nanomachines has mutated everyone into Romero-like [[zombie]]s (we're not kidding, this is as "Nanomachines son" for a plot device as it gets). As the name implies; your objective is to survive. Its basically every indie survival horror game you see on Steam, except this comes in with a hefty pricetag of 40 USD/EUR.

As the first game ever worked on without Kojima's input, it was originally suppose to be a testament if Konami can indeed replicate Kojima's brand of absurdly hilarious yet engaging writing, or if Kojima was indeed the only thing keeping Metal Gear afloat, and it indeed shows: it can easily be called the worst Metal Gear yet. The story is worse than Snake's Revenge and makes Bethesda era [[Fallout]] look good with sentient nanomachines from the 22nd century via time travel as the main villain.

Right out plagiarizing another video game made by Sqaure Enix, Gunslinger Stratos. Just without the alternate universe dopplegangers. One could also argue that it ripoffs the premise from [[Doctor Who]] two parter "The Empty Child". However, unlike Steven Moffat the people behind Survive have no idea how to make a coherent plot. Proving for a second time that [[C.S._Goto|Gakuto Mikumo]] (who wrote the shitty story of Portable Ops) is a [[Isekai|no talent hack like most light novel writers]]. Blatantly ignoring that the real future of the Metal Gear universe is the much superior Zone of the Enders.(Sahelanthropus looks like a much less advanced Jehuty.)

The game mechanics are something the olden survival games of yore (which aged about as well as bread left out in the open for 6 years), with you having to build a base using resources that you grind for, and such.

The characters are bland and calling you every 30 seconds for who knows what. You are reminded to take food and drink often but it's very difficult to get either. The main character from the single player campaign is a [[Original_character,_do_not_steal|blatant ripoff of Chris Redfeild.]] While the player character is a mute because they couldn't afford to hire real voice actors after blowing their money on Matt Mercer. And do not forget that this piece of crap demands always online compatibility even for the single-player, and asking $10 for an extra save slot. Yes, 10 bucks for an extra save slot, not even F2P mobile games have that audacity. Also the zombie AI is crap, who's biggest opponents are world objects like vehicles (even an open-topped vehicle like a jeep can make you invincible), and the entire experience just feels like a game that's stuck in 2012, and never bothered to evolve to be better. There is really nothing worth picking-up about this game, that you can't get anywhere else for cheaper and better.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. After 30 years, this is how Metal Gear ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper as it's dying body cannibalized by Konami to salvage whatever profit they can from it, before it finally dies. (Well, that and a return of Snake to Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, but that's Nintendo doing all the work, and Konami not needing to do jack anything.)

==See Also==
*[[Metal Gear Vindicare]]
*[[BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
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Image: Absolutely disgusting.jpg
Image: Metal Gear-Titan Comparission.png
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Image: MSG Agent Chart.png|Create your own MSG Agent!
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[[Category: Video_Games]]
[[Category: Under_Development]]
[[Category:Meme]]

Castellans of the Rift

2019-01-05T00:57:34Z

2601:147:4300:1949:7DA2:2F3A:A3B3:B37D:

{{wh40k-stub}}
[[File:Castellans_of_the_Rift_color_scheme.png|250px|thumb|left|Color Scheme of the Castellans of the Rift]]
{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Castellans of the Rift
|Heraldry = [[File:Castellans_of_the_Rift_heraldry.png]]
|Battle Cry = "Guard the gate! Hunt the hellspawn!"
|Founding = [[Ultima Founding]]
|Successors of = [[Ultramarines]]
|Successor Chapters = None
|Chapter Master = Unknown
|Primarch = [[Roboute Guilliman]]
|Homeworld = Unknown
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Pale green
}}
Castellans are a [[Primaris Space Marines|Primaris Space Marine]] chapter created during the [[Indomitus Crusade]]. They were instructed to clear the Nachmund Gauntlet, one of the few stable routes through the [[Great Rift]], of [[Daemon Engine|daemon engines]] and [[Daemon Knights|renegade knights]].

They resemble loyalist Primaris Death Guard. Puke green. Skull symbols. Wars of attrition. You get it. Leading one to suspect Guilliman might be trolling [[Mortarion]] for starting the Plague Wars.

{{Marines-Official}}

[[Category:Primaris Marines]]