Resident Evil is a well-known, well-loved franchise that spans over 25 years and we have written a summarized history to make it a little easier if you are new here.
Resident Evil or “Biohazard” as it is known in Japan is an extremely popular franchise that spans across Games, Movies, Books, and even TV series. With all that’s happening in the Resident Evil world in 2021, we thought it would be helpful to provide an up-to-date summary of the story so far.
The games don’t necessarily happen in chronological order we can start with the vital discovery of the Progenitor virus.
The progenitor virus was discovered and cultivated by three virologists namely James Marcus, Oswell E.Spencer, and Edward Ashford. They cultivated the Progenitor virus from a rare West -African flower named “Stairway To the Sun”.
These three men eventually co-founded Umbrella Pharmaceuticals in 1968. Their plan was to hide the true nature of their work which was to use their research to develop biological weapons.
This is where the Spencer Mansion has its first appearance. The mansion was designed and contracted by architect George Trevor. The abandoned Umbrella Laboratory that our heroes finally discover in the Arklay mountains is housed in the Spencer Mansion.
When the Mansion was finished in 1967, George Trevor’s Wife Jessica and his Daughter Lisa were abducted and subjected to tests for the Progenitor Virus by Umbrella.
Poor Lisa Trevor was experimented on for over a decade and it was during this time that William Birkin discovered a mutant strain of the Progenitor that he dubbed the G-Virus.
Soon after Umbrella was founded, they built the Umbrella Executive Training Center in the Arklay Mountains, headed by Dr.Marcus. The aim of the facility was to train the researchers for the highest ranks of Umbrella but instead, he focused on his Progenitor research.
Dr.Marcus and Spencer started having problems when Dr.Marcus got suspicious of Spencer’s attempts to steal his research and intentions to overthrow him.
William Birkin and Albert Wesker, two student virologists, entered the training facility in 1977.
In 1978 Dr. Marcus had a major breakthrough and figured out that if he combined Leech DNA and the Progenitor virus you could create a new virus called the T-virus.
The T-virus of course when combined with Ebola RNA can turn those infected souls into the undead.
Spencer then wanted more control over Umbrella’s bioweapon efforts and made the decision to shut the facility down and moved Wesker and Birkin to the Arklay Laboratory beneath Spencer Mansion. Dr. Marcus though decided to stay behind and continue his research in the abandoned facility.
Wesker then assassinated Dr. Marcus on Spencer’s orders and Birkin would start researching the first Tyrant……
William Birkin had now earned Spencer’s approval with his G-virus which led to Spencer’s orders to begin construction on the underground Umbrella facility we all know underneath Raccoon City.
In 1996, the Raccoon City Police Department forms the S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) division, which is led by Wesker. (This is the part of the story where the Resident Evil Book series starts).
The Ecliptic Express train owned by The Umbrella Corporation gets attacked by a giant swarm of leeches infected with the virus and in turn, infects everyone on board. Bravo Teams S.T.A.R.S. officer Rebecca Chambers stumbles upon the train while wandering the woods after the team’s helicopter crashed. The team were on their way to investigate a series of gruesome murders in the mountains outside the city.
Rebecca then pairs up with Billy Coen which is an escaped convict that found himself in the vicinity after overpowering his guards while travelling to his execution.
The pair then end up at an abandoned facility that was used to train upcoming Umbrella execs. Here they discover that the creator of the T-virus and the man responsible is Dr. Marcus.
At this point, Birkin and Wesker realize that they can’t contain the virus, and Wesker decides to jump ship and join Umbrella’s rival. He invites Birkin but Birkin refuses on the grounds that he would like to complete his research on the G-Virus.
Wesker has devised a plan to “lure the S.T.A.R.S. members into the mansion” so that he can test them as Combat Training test subjects, which he shares with Birkin.
Birkin then decides he is going to blow up the facility.
Rebecca finds her Team Captain, Enrico Marini that then tells her of the old mansion where the rest of the team will meet up.
In the meantime, Wesker is being confronted by Colonel Sergei Vladimir (Spencer’s right-hand man). He accuses him of messing up and not taking responsibility, Vladimir then sets a Tyrant on Wesker, but Wesker turns out to be the victor.
Rebecca and Billy find each other again and meet “Queen Leech”. “Queen Leech is Marcus’ final experiment; she enters his body and reanimates him, gaining all of his memories and experience in the process.
When Queen Leech is finally killed, the building then self-destructs. Rebecca and Billy escape and she gives him his freedom. Rebecca then goes toward the Mansion to find her team. Vladimir and Wesker are also headed to the mansion on their own.
In July of 1998 The S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team goes to investigate the whereabouts of the Bravo team. Once the helicopter lands, Alpha team member Joseph Frost gets attacked by a mutant dog, forcing the pilot to flee in the chopper.
In the games, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Barry Burton, and Albert Wesker rush to a mansion they have seen in the woods. It now depends on which character you choose to play as either Jill or Chris will spend the night exploring the mansion. They discover the unfortunate fate of the S.T.A.R.S. members and some scary secrets surrounding the mansion, which turns out to be the one and only Spencer Mansion.
You get tipped off by Enrico Marini that there is a mole on the Alpha team. You eventually uncover that Umbrella was behind the experiments that led to the monstrosities that roam the halls. You make your way down to the underground lab and discover that Albert Wesker is the traitor. He then infects himself with a mutant strain of the T-virus to give himself that survival edge. He then introduces the last remaining S.T.A.R.S. members to the Tyrant. Wesker gets killed by his own creation and the team ends up defeating the Tyrant with the help of Brad and his trusty Rocket Launcher and helicopter.
Wesker does not die though as he has the T-Virus now running through his system. While he is trying to escape, he gets confronted by a heavily mutated Lisa Trevor who he defeats. He then goes to join Umbrella’s rival organization as previously planned.
The S.T.A.R.S. remaining members return to Raccoon City and demand an official investigation into Umbrella, which is duly rejected by Chief Irons.
Jill, Chris, Barry, and Rebecca then decide to go rogue and investigate Umbrella themselves. Jill stays in the city to continue her investigation while Chris heads off to Europe.
In mid-1998 Raccoon City is overrun with Zombies when the T-Virus contaminates the water supply and infects most of the populace. Umbrella decides to use the outbreak as an opportunity to test its new bioweapons and sends down the experimental B.O.W. Nemesis T-Type with a mission to kill off any surviving S.T.A.R.S. members.
Jill is trying her best to survive the outbreak and, in the meantime, a rookie officer by the name of Leon S.Kennedy and Claire, which is Chris Redfield’s younger sister arrive in Racoon City.
The pair meet and work together to survive the zombie outbreak. They are separated by a car accident and agree to meet at the police department.
Unfortunately, though they discover that the building is crawling with the undead, this is where Claire runs into Sherry Birkin who is being followed by a monster which turns out to be her father and Umbrella scientist William Birkin.
William Birkin, it turns out tried to sell his new G-virus but was shot by Umbrella. Before he died, he infected himself and the City’s water supply with the virus.
Leon meets Ada Wong which is an FBI agent looking to find the G-virus to prove Umbrella’s corruption.
While Ada and Leon are in the sewers, they meet William’s wife Annette who hates Law enforcement and they end up chasing her to a secret Umbrella underground facility called NEST searching for the G-Virus.
Claire arrives at NEST looking for a vaccine for Sherry who has become infected. In the meantime, Leon has managed to obtain the G-Virus sample but happens upon William Birkin in his monstrous form who has killed his wife.
She tells Leon that Ada is in fact a mercenary who wants to sell the G-Virus. Ada demands the virus and as Leon is about to hand it over Annette shoots Ada who drops the sample while falling to her death.
Claire happens upon the sample and gives it to Sherry that then gets cured, but her mother Annette dies of her injuries. The facility is set to self-destruct and Claire and Sherry board a train to escape with Leon.
NEST is now destroyed and the crew vow to keep fighting against the evil Umbrella corporation.
Jill Valentine is infected with the T-Virus but luckily for her Carlos Oliveria who is a mercenary hired by Umbrella is there to cure Jill and help her find the vaccine. The heroes now found out that the Government is planning to use a missile strike to eradicate the virus as well as Racoon City.
Jill and Carlos go to another underground lab called NEST 2.This is where they find out that Nemesis is still alive and hot on their heels. They destroy Nemesis and escape the city with the vaccine sample before the missile is launched.
At this stage, Carlos’s former colleague and secret operative Nicholai finds them and destroys the Vaccine vial. They manage to take him down leaving him for dead and escapes before the missile strike. Of course, Jill and Carlos vow to take Umbrella down.
Three months go by and Claire is searching for her brother Chris she attempts to raid a European Umbrella facility where she is captured.
She is taken to an island prison which is commanded by Alfred Ashford who is the grandson of one of the founding members of Umbrella. There is an outbreak and after Claire is freed, she gets to work searching for her brother and finding a way off the island. She doesn’t find any sign of Chris though and escapes on a plane.
Ashford which has a split personality and believes he is his twin sister Alexia then remotely controls the plane and crashes it into another Umbrella facility in Antarctica.
Alfred flies over too in a quest for revenge and after he is fatally wounded, he frees his sister Alexia which is cryogenically frozen and has the new T-Veronica virus running all through her system.
Back on Rockford island, Chris is looking for Claire now but he finds Wesker instead who is still alive super strong, and on a mission to find the T-Veronica sample. They both journey to Antarctica where Chris is reunited with his sister who defeats the extremely powerful Alexia, she then escapes and the facility self-destructs. And of course, they vow to take down Umbrella ….again!
In RESIDENT Evil 4 six years have passed and Umbrella is dead, due to stock value crash and government oversight. Leon Kennedy is a government agent now and is sent on a mission to rescue the president’s kidnapped daughter Ashley in Spain. These kidnappers turn out to be part of a cult called Los Illuminados they are also infected by a parasite named Las Plagas which affects their minds.
Leon happens to bump into Ada Wong who is alive and searching for the virus once again.
Leon finally rescues Ashley and confronts the Cult Leader Saddler and he and Ada defeat him. Ada hasn’t changed though and steals a sample of the Las Plagas virus and escapes in a helicopter after setting the base to self-destruct. Leon and Ashley then escape on a Jet-ski.
Two years go by now and Wesker is still on the loose. Jill and Chris are working for the new Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance.
They then follow a lead to the whereabouts of Umbrella’s founder Oswald Spencer but come face-to-face with Wesker, who has already killed Spencer.
Wesker is now super strong and Jill and Chris are no match for his new found power. Jill then sacrifices her life to save Chris and her and Wesker die together leaving Chris devastated.
Jill has been dead three years now and Chris has to catch terrorist RICARDO Irving who happens to be selling Bio-weapons in Africa. Chris and his new partner Shiva discover that the locals are infected by a similar virus to Las Plagas. This virus is called Oroboros. He then finds out that Jill might still be alive……
Chris and Shiva defeat Irving and learn that the company that funds the BSAA (Tricell) has taken over Umbrella’s work and is working with Wesker (who just won’t die) to experiment on humans. One of his victims is Jill Valentine and she is now under his control.
Chris and Sheva manage to subdue Jill and remove her brain-control device. In the meantime, Wesker tries to escape on a bomber but it crashes into a volcano. Chris and Sheva manage to defeat Wesker though.
We are now at Resident Evil 6 in the storyline and there are three storylines spliced together.
We start in 2012 where a new virus emerges out of “Neo-Umbrella”. We meet Jake Muller who is said to be the key to a vaccine as he has the correct antibodies. Muller turns out to be the unknown son of Albert Wesker.
The next year the president of the U.S. decides to tell all about the happenings in Raccoon City, but before he gets the chance, there is another Bioweapon attack and the president turns into a zombie. His loyal agent Leon Kennedy is the one who takes him down.
Leon is then told by Ada that the National Security Advisor, Derek Simmons is with Neo-Umbrella and is behind the terror attack. Leon is also informed that Simmons has created a new virus called the C-Virus. Leon then heads to China after Simmons.
Poor Chris Redfield who is adversely affected by PTSD and wanting revenge also heads to China as well as Jake.
Chris finds out Jakes’s true identity and in an awkward moment he tells Jake he has killed his father; they work things out though.
Piers gets wounded but grows a new arm because of the C-Virus, he then goes on to save his friend Chris Redfield.
Jake ends up killing his boss and, in the meantime, we find out that there is not one but two Ada’s and that the imposter is called Carla.
Now we have reached Resident Evil 7 and it’s 2017 when Ethan Winters is searching for his missing wife Mia. He ends up in Louisiana and finds her imprisoned by one of the creepiest families you have ever seen.
They are the Bakers and they are weird dirty and utterly gross. You play as Ethan and are captured and forced to join a disgusting family dinner with Jack Baker, his wife Marguerite, son Lucas and an old woman. Ethan manages to finally escape and kills Jack and his wife; he ends up finding his wife and develops a serum for her.
The pair then attempt to escape on a boat which is then capsized by a creature who turns out to be Eveline. Eveline is a Bio-Weapon that was being escorted by Mia who is a secret agent.
It turns out that Eveline was the cause of the twisted minds of the Baker family as she was so desperate for her very own family.
When injected with a toxin Eveline reverts back into her true form…The old woman at the table with the Bakers.
Eveline has been rapidly aging and eventually mutates into a giant blob like creature. She then has her final showdown with Ethan and with some help from a military squad she is destroyed.
The leader of the military squad helps Ethan up into the Helicopter and turns out to be none other than Chris Redfield. The helicopter is an Umbrella helicopter though.
This is where it is revealed that Umbrella is alive and well with a new logo and is on the side of good this time. This latest umbrella is collaborating with organizations like the BSAA to help eradicate bioterrorism from the planet.
In the “Not A Hero” DLC we find that after Ethan escapes, Chris and his team are after Lucas Baker. Lucas it turns out was never actually under Eveline’s mind control, because of a serum that he acquired from a mysterious organization called The Connections.
The Connections were behind the creation of Eveline in the first place and Lucas had been gathering information about her for them. He did also plan to betray them though. After working his way through a series of traps Chris eventually finds him and kills him in his massively mutated form.
Chris then returns to base for an urgent phone call…
Resident Evil 8 Village will reportedly use a first-person perspective like Resident Evil 7 and is set in an explorable village.
The game will be set a few years after Resident Evil 7 and Ethan Winters returns as the protagonist. Ethan has been living with his wife Mia when Chris Redfield suddenly appears and kidnaps him to a mysterious European village.
The game also features an antagonist known as Alcina Dimitrescu. Lady Dimitrescu is one of the most highly anticipated villains in gaming history and it will be interesting to see how this new installment plays out and what eventually transpires for Ethan Winters.
That is the story so far but who knows in which direction the developers will take the series next with Resident Evil Village coming soon and a Resident Evil 9 in the works. Only time will tell what twisted tale they choose to weave.