In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, he and Snake are blamed for the FOX unit's revolt and Zero is supposedly kept in captivity in a military prison, accused of treason. However, he is "exonerated" after the mission's success and greets Snake on his return home.
Zero's stature rose and his influence grew inside the halls of Langley. In 1970, he conspired with Gene to grab the remainder of the Philosophers' Legacy by staging the uprising on the San Hieronymo Peninsula and stealing Metal Gear. But the plot failed due to Gene's intransigence and the exploits of Naked Snake with help from Green Beret Roy Campbell and some of the Soviet soldiers. Ocelot succeeded in assassinating the director of the CIA, and was able to obtain the entire Philosopher's Legacy.
Having lost Gene, Zero joined with Ocelot, Sigint, Para-medic, EVA and Big Boss to form the Patriots, using the Philosophers' Legacy as a source of funding and Big Boss as a charismatic icon. They hoped to carry out The Boss' vision of unifying the world by controlling information. As a result of Big Boss growing weary of the Patriots' activity, in 1972, they launched the Les Enfants Terribles Project, a plan to replicate Big Boss. The project succeeded in producing the three clones, but Big Boss himself condemned the project and parted ways with Zero. Having lost his icon, Zero went into hiding and began to rely on an AI to control the Patriots. By the 21st century, Zero had entrusted management of the Patriots' funds to the neuro-AI, JD.
