The Patriots (愛国者達, Aikokusha-tachi), also known as the La-li-lu-le-lo (ら･り･る･れ･ろ, Ra Ri Ru Re Ro) are a secret group, revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, that control the United States of America. The group is led by an inner circle consisting of twelve people known as the The Wisemen's Committee (賢人会議, Kenjin Kaigi).
The Patriots were, in fact, the American branch of a secretive group known as the The Philosophers, a group which was formed after the end of World War I when leaders of major Allied powers, China and Bolshevik Russia entered a secret pact for unspecified reasons; but broke away decades later as a result of turmoil following death of the group's original leaders in the 1930's, renaming themselves The Patriots.
The Patriots are dedicated to creating a new world order through acts of blackmail and manipulation on an untold scale, unknown to most of the world. Such an example is the Y2K bug invented by The Patriots in the run up to the new Millennium. This was a cover up to install monitoring software on every computer in America through electronic security patches.
The Patriots' first appearance in the series is in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and their origins are further revealed in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Through covert and deceptive agents, such as Revolver Ocelot, The Patriots control and manipulate the characters and events of the Metal Gear Solid series. The Patriots will play a large role in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. However, at the end of MGS2, Otacon says that The Patriots died about one hundred years ago (at the beginning of the 20th Century).