LogFAQs > #952031036

Chapter 0 Origins of Evil (July 1978-July 1998)
Overview
The beginnings of Resident Evil are just as much horrific as they are tragic. Almost all of the early timeline in RE lore is dominated by Umbrella and their seedy inhumane research, primarily led by series antagonist Albert Wesker, his partner-in-crime William Birkin, and other well-known Umbrella execs and scientists, such as the enigmatic Ozwell E. Spencer, the Progenitor creator James Marcus, and down at the Antarctica facility, 10-year old prodigies Alexia & Alfred Ashford. This perfect storm of genius minds and immoral results-driven research will forever change the course of human history, and make it so civilization is in constant fear of the next bio-terror attack. It didnt happen overnight however, & as we will soon see Wesker narrate as such, was a disgusting, grueling process that mined the depths of human depravity.

Canon Entry 0.1: WESKERS REPORT 2
http://projectumbrella.net/articles/Weskers-Report-II#OfficialJapaneseTranscript
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-zBIN_6XhWlWKlX3HPiLTgWkRvmtVVXI

Summary
Weskers Report 2 is a file written by Wesker, detailing his early work and history at Arklay Mansions research facility, his relationship to William Birkin, his plans & ambitions for the future, & cursory details about Umbrellas operations. Despite its name WR2 indeed comes before all events in the series, and works as a prologue to the franchise as a whole. The whole report is actually addressed to Ada Wong, presumably to aid in her mission uncovering Umbrellas secrets.

Part 1 (1978)
20 years before Raccoon City would experience a nightmare, Albert Wesker and William Birkin were simply young, ambitious scientists, Wesker just turned adult and Birkin two years his younger, and assigned to Arklay Laboratory to work on the T-Virus project: a bio-organic weapon created from a strain of the Ebola virus mixed with the Progenitor virus. This powerful & dangerous virus would, in essence, be used to make the dead walk, to create outlandish and indestructible weapons in the form of monsters, and seek out others to infect in the process. Wesker was wary about the whole situation, especially in regards to the man who assigned him there: Spencer, Umbrellas founder. However, Wesker still maintained a keen interest in the research, and at the sight of a certain rotting woman (who well come to know as Lisa Trevor), both Wesker and Birkin had their interested piqued even further.

Part 2 (1981)
As T-Virus research was well under-way, reports of a new head researcher at the Antarctica facility reached Arklay: 10-year old Alexia Ashford. This appointment particularly perturbed Birkin; despite his genius, Birkin was petty and jealous, and no longer being the youngest chief researcher ticked him off to no end. In his jealous rage, Birkin increased his research efforts ten-fold, all the while putting the female specimen through a special kind of hell, with constant injections of the Progenitor virus into her system, but, miraculosly (or not depending on your view-point), she survived every experiment. Meanwhile, Wesker expresses large concerns, as the T-Virus was technically ready to be used as a weapon but was not enough to satisfy Spencer.

Part 3 (1983)
In a surprising turn of events, Alexia, the young head researcher, had just died, a result of clumsy experimentation with her T-Veronica virus (or was it? Find out later in Code: Veronica!). This news perked up Birkins mood quite a bit, even though nothing on the research front was found in quite a long time. As Wesker and Birkin continued to toil away in their seemingly dead-end work, Wesker notes the weird surroundings of the lab, a prominent forest that would be the perfect breeding ground for the spreading the virus even further. It might be time for Wesker to get a change of surroundings, especially since the once promising female specimen has been all but forgotten as a failure.

Part 4 (1988)
A lot has changed. Wesker had already spent ten years of his life toiling away at Arklay. Birkin, now married and a father. The research had advanced just as considerably: a breakthrough on the Tyrant was made, a weapon capable of taking and executing orders. The only problem was it needed a very specific host to avoid the typical mutations like Hunters and zombies from forming. Enter: the Nemesis prototype, a parasitic entity that could assume control of a body and be deployed in to combat. However, bodies possessed by Nemesis had short life-spans and could not contain it; suddenly, the female specimen had a new use. With her ultimate durability, the female ended up absorbing the Nemesis, inadvertently crafting the beginnings of the G-Virus project.

Part 5 (1995)
After the previous breakthrough, Wesker transferred into the Information Bureau to get closer to informatio on Spencer, while Birkin went to continue work on his G-Virus project. Both men had long since left Arklay behind (besides a few visits from Birkin), and had not seen each other for a long time, but had returned to put the female speciment through one last experiment: her termination. Now that that she had accepted the Nemesis parasite and the G-Virus was proceeding well without her, she had outlived her usefulness and had become a danger to the staff due to her slight intelligence boost from the Nemesis. Chief researchers were changing hands again, to John (Adas boyfriend). As Lisa was confirmed dead, Wesker lamented to himself the extents of Spencers planning and manipulation.

FILES:
Albert Wesker
As the origins of Weskers character, Wesker demonstrates his own evolution from a somewhat naive (but still smart & ambitious) scientist to the cunning & calculating individual we eventually see in RE0 & RE1. Its hard to know how twisted certain events are, as its told from Weskers perspective, but to me the report feels clinical & factual like how an actual scientist would present such information. You can tell though Wesker has a certain camaraderie with Birkin that he just doesnt have with any other character, and I think this is definitely a solid piece of characterization for him that is influential for some later events.

William Birkin
Through Weskers eyes, Birkin can be perceived as anti-social, petty, and jealous, but thinking highly of his abilities as a scientist and research partner. I like the touch of Wesker acknowledging that Birkin surpasses his own intellect; you would never picture someone like Wesker admitting that for anyone else. Again, it shows how solid their friendship really is and how important their partnership was in instigating practically all events in the series.

Umbrella
By Weskers account, Umbrella, their leaders, and even their buildings are just grimy hellholes were the worst nightmares you can imagine occur on a daily basis. Dead researchers and outdated, dangerous work environments were commonplace. Spencer, the brains behind it all, is a mystery even Wesker cant crack. When I picture the lab located deep under Arklay, I just picture concrete hallways soiled with mold and soaked through with an unnatural dampness as if the walls were sweating profusely, as twisted creatures writhe behind glass and cages, barely resembling their former selves. Just the most literally toxic work environment you can imagine. Some of the best concepts early RE explores are these very locations.

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I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
https://imgur.com/a/du8zgsT - https://imgur.com/a/VTNzDEW