Games - The Patriots

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	Games - The Patriots

The Patriots, A.K.A. The La-li-lu-le-lo (or La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo), is a fictional Illuminati-like organization that controls the United States of America, and which is also dedicated to creating a new world order in the Metal Gear video game series
. Although its precise plans and goals are not entirely known, this organization seems to be the primary antagonist in the series, due to their acts of blackmail and manipulation. They were originally the American arm of the Philosphers (revealed in Snake Eater), that later renamed themselves the Patriots.

The organization's first appearance in the series was Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (although its existence was implied earlier in Metal Gear Solid by Colonel Campbell) and its origin was further enhanced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Through its main secret agent, Revolver Ocelot, the Patriots are often times implied in the storyline to be the cause of almost all the trials faced by the main protagonists of the Metal Gear Solid series (Solid Snake, Raiden, and Naked Snake), presenting it as the ultimate antagonist of the series.

The actual members of the Patriots, whose personalities are unknown, are presided over by a council of twelve individuals called the "Wisemen's Committee". There is no further information regarding the organization's depth apart from this in terms of structure and hierarchy. However, the Patriots employ numerous spies and agents spread throughout the government agencies of the U.S.A.

The President of the United States himself is subordinate to the Patriots. There are also hints that suggest that to become President, one must first be an agent of the Patriots (U.S. President George Sears was also agent Solidus Snake). The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Scott Dolph, knew of their existence, having referred to them as the "La-li-lu-le-lo". A man named "Richard Ames," identified as a former colonel, Secret Service agent, and a member of the DIA, was an agent of the Patriots before his death. Revolver Ocelot is also another Patriot spy.

In Metal Gear Solid 3, it was revealed that the Patriots are an offshoot of a larger international group known as the Philosophers. The Philosophers consisted of the leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union, and China. After the end of World War I, they formed a secret pact for unknown reasons, thus creating the Philosophers. By the time World War II had broken out, all of the original members were dead and the organization ran out of control, focusing on creating useless wars to keep the masses in line. During World War II, they agreed to pool together their respective countries' financial and military resources in order to defeat the Axis Powers. Atomic testing and its subsequent weaponry, rocket technology, and the Cobra unit were the results of this pact. The father of Colonel Volgin, the villain of Metal Gear Solid 3, was assigned to the money laundering activities of the group, and during the war, stole the money they had amassed. In 1964, the events of Metal Gear Solid 3 explain how the U.S. branch of the Philosophers retrieves the money from Volgin. Upon finally acquiring all the funds from the various banks throughout the world in 1970, the U.S. branch of the Philosophers split from the international group and became the Patriots. Although Metal Gear Solid 3 explained the names on the disc that Otacon and Solid Snake had at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, it still left the identity or identities of the Patriots at the time of Metal Gear Solid 2 as a mystery. However, Metal Gear Solid 3 established that Ocelot was a Patriot spy during that game, and that he was reporting to the Director of Central Intelligence of the United States.

What are the Patriots?

There have been numerous theories about their origin, as the only piece of information available occurs at the ending of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, when they converse with Raiden through his CODEC radio. The Patriots insinuate that they are not quite "human." They appear to have all the characteristics of a disembodied computer AI, but claim to have existed for 200 years as a consciousness developed in the "primordial soup" of the White House. Near the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, they appear as a skull-like visage that briefly flashes on and off in the middle of a codec conversation. One of the strongest theories, backed up by the declaration of the themes for each game by creator Hideo Kojima during the E³ 2004, is that they are beings born out of information, and are therefore memes. This is reinforced by a conversation the player has at the end of the game:

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