A DETAILED PLOT ANALYSIS OF THE
---------------------------------------
----         RESIDENT EVIL         ----
---------------------------------------
VIDEOGAME SERIES BY CAPCOM ENTERTAINMENT
Begun by Dan Birlew, 1998
Updated by Thomas Wilde with permission, 2000-2003
*****************************CONTAINS SPOILERS**************************
This thesis contains spoilers. If you have not already played the games,
the authors strongly suggest that you do so before reading the document.
The best introduction to the games is to play them.
************************************************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.  Introduction, Legal Stuff, Disclaimers, and Update History
2.  Dead Men Telling Tales: RESIDENT EVIL
i. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL
ii. Story Differences Between Chris and Jill's Games
iii. Differences Between RESIDENT EVIL and RESIDENT EVIL "2.0"
iv. Random Musings
3.  Things To Do In Raccoon When You're Dead: RESIDENT EVIL 2
i. The Plot Thickens
ii. Events Between RE and RE2/RE3
iii. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL 2
iv. A Summary of the Conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL 2
v. Differences Between Claire A/Leon B and Leon A/Claire B
vi. The 4th Survivor Minigame
vii. Conclusions About The Conclusion
viii. Random Musings
4. Nobody Here Gets Out Alive: RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS
i. The Death of Raccoon City
ii. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS
iii. A Summary of the Conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS
iv. Different Paths
v. Different Endings
vi. The Epilogue Files
vii. Conclusions About The Conclusion
viii. Random Musings
5. Ten Thousand Bullets: RESIDENT EVIL: SURVIVOR
i. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL: SURVIVOR
ii. A Summary of the Conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL: SURVIVOR
iii. Different Routes
iv. Conclusions about the Conclusion
v. Random Musings
6. Sibling Rivalries: RESIDENT EVIL: CODE VERONICA
i. A Lovely Island Hideaway: CODE VERONICA, Part One
ii. The Return of Chris Redfield: CODE VERONICA, Part Two
iii. A Summary of the Conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL: CODE
VERONICA
iv. Conclusions About The Conclusion
v. The Ashford Family Diaries
vi. Random Musings
7. Becky's Big Adventure: RESIDENT EVIL ZERO
i. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL ZERO
ii. A Summary of the Conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL ZERO
iii. Conclusions About the Conclusion
iv. Random Musings
8. Ghost Ships: RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
i. Coming So--Aw, To Hell With It
9. Ten Thousand *More* Bullets: RESIDENT EVIL: GUN SURVIVOR 2
10. We Cover the Waterfront: RESIDENT EVIL: DEAD AIM
i. Introduction
ii. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL: DEAD AIM
ii. A Summary of the Conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL: DEAD AIM
iii. Conclusions About the Conclusion
iv. Random Musings
11. A Long Time Dying: RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK
i. Introduction
12. Unanswered Questions
i. RESIDENT EVIL v2.0
ii. RESIDENT EVIL 2
iii. RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS
iv. RESIDENT EVIL: SURVIVOR
v. RESIDENT EVIL: CODE VERONICA
vi. RESIDENT EVIL ZERO
vii. RESIDENT EVIL: DEAD AIM
viii. RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK
vi. A Look At Wesker's Report
vii. Wesker's Report 2
13. Frequently Asked Questions
i. Document and Series Questions
ii. RESIDENT EVIL
iii. RESIDENT EVIL 2
iv. RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS
v. RESIDENT EVIL: SURVIVOR
vi. RESIDENT EVIL: CODE VERONICA
vii. RESIDENT EVIL: THE MOVIE
viii. RESIDENT EVIL ZERO
ix. RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
x. RESIDENT EVIL: DEAD AIM
xi. RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK
xii. RESIDENT EVIL 4
14. Say What?!
i. The Weirdest of the Lot
15. Mistakes
16. Easter Eggs
17. About the Authors
18. Conclusion
=============================================================
1. Introduction, Legal Stuff, Disclaimers, and Update History
=============================================================
And just like the movies
We play out our last scene
I won't cry, you won't scream
-- Alien Ant Farm, "Movies"
Dan Birlew began this thesis in 1998. I lucked across it in
1999, just when I was starting to get good and obsessed with
Resident Evil, and found it to be a useful resource.
After the release of Resident Evil 2 for the N64, I wrote a
transcription of the EX Files from that game, combined with
some notes on the RE storyline for the sake of the N64 crowd.
That transcription is currently hosted by gameFAQs.com (among
others), and after I wrote it, I got a lot of e-mail from N64
owners asking about the finer points of the storyline.
After about the twelfth e-mail I got, I went back to look
at Birlew's analysis for help, and wound up deciding that it
needed an update; rather than answering a flood tide of
e-mail, I could just point at this document and say, "Lo!
I have come down from the mount with answers!"
Birlew had already told me earlier that he wasn't planning on
updating this document and, in fact, was legally prohibited
from doing so. I asked him if I could do it. Please note the
following, which was not extracted under duress of any sort:
> Thomas Wilde has my full permission to continue the
> Resident Evil Thesis in my place. He has full permission
> from me to use any materials from my former versions that
> he sees fit. I relinquish these materials to him, since I
> am unable to continue or update the Thesis due to certain
> agreements I have made with certain companies.
>
> Sincerely,
> Dan Birlew
> formerly known as "President Evil"
Every time I say "me" or "I" in this document, it's Thomas
talking; every time I say "we," I refer to the audience of RE
as a whole. This document is copyright 2000-2003, Thomas Wilde,
except for those clearly labeled parts that are copyright 1998,
Dan Birlew. All recognizable concepts from the Resident Evil
series are copyright Capcom, and their usage in this document
does not constitute a challenge to that copyright. And so on.
And so forth. All rights reserved; violators will be fed to
the Neptune.
+------------ READING THIS DISCLAIMER *COULD* SAVE YOUR LIFE -----------+
|                                                                       |
|  Before we begin, I'd like to issue a general disclaimer. I don't     |
|  mind people e-mailing me to ask questions that aren't covered in     |
|  this FAQ, but:                                                       |
|                                                                       |
|               I'M NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR "THEORIES."                  |
|              I'M NOT INTERESTED IN "ANONYMOUS SOURCES."               |
|        I'M NOT INTERESTED IN INFORMATION "FROM THE RE STAFF."         |
|                                                                       |
|     This document deals in actual, documented, in-game plotline       |
|  information. Don't send me your dissertation on why Rebecca is a     |
|  spy, don't tell me anything that you got out of one of S.D. Perry's  |
|  novels, don't tell me anything that a friend of a friend was told by |
|  a friend who had a friend who delivered pizza to the RE staff, and   |
|   don't e-mail me naked pictures of your sister because "she looks    |
|     just like Jill" (wait... actually, go ahead and send those).      |
|    I don't mind questions, but I do mind having my time wasted.       |
|      If you *do* send me a theory, don't expect me to reply.          |
|          If I don't reply, don't get upset. I warned you.             |
|      Read this entire document before you send me any questions.      |
|         If you send me some kind of outlandish claim, have an         |
|               official source ready to back it up.                    |
|                                                                       |
|    Please note that for my purposes, an "official source" does not    |
|     mean that you make something up about there being someone who     |
|     works for Capcom who is willing to risk his job by answering      |
|     spoilery questions about one of their flagship series at the      |
|    behest of some dork with no noticeable English skills and an       |
|    AOL account. I am comfortably certain that anyone who writes me    |
|     to claim that they have such an acquaintance is lying to me,      |
|      in an attempt to get my attention. I would like to point         |
|     out that not only am I wise to this scam, but there is an         |
|     an entire wing built onto Bellevue to house the surviving         |
|      morons who tried, and succeeded, to get my attention by          |
|        acting stupid. Trust me; you and I both have better            |
|                    things to do. Seriously.                           |
|                                                                       |
|         All power to the people, and ban the $%#&ing bomb.            |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-------- NOT READING THIS DISCLAIMER CAUSES CANCER IN LAB RATS --------+
|                                                                       |
|    This is a *storyline* FAQ. It deals strictly with plot             |
|    elements of the Resident Evil series. It is not a gameplay         |
|    FAQ. If you're having trouble getting through the game, I          |
|    encourage you to seek out the various online FAQs written          |
|    for the Resident Evil games (particularly those by Dan             |
|    "President Evil" Birlew, Brett "Nemesis" Franklin, Vincent         |
|    Merken, Henry LaPierre, Vesther Fauransy [although I recommend     |
|    him with slight reservations; his FAQs are a little weird],        |
|    and "Stinger 3:16"). They are all available on www.gameFAQs.com,   |
|    among other places, and can probably be found at the same place    |
|    where you found this document.                                     |
|                                                                       |
|    In short, send the gameplay questions to one of those              |
|    talented gentlemen, and/or check out their FAQs. They're           |
|    very well-written, and have helped me with my own                  |
|    gameplay problems in the past.                                     |
|                                                                       |
|  I *WILL NOT* reply to e-mail asking for gameplay information, Game   |
|         Shark codes, cheats, secrets, or file transcriptions.         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-- IF YOU DON'T READ THIS DISCLAIMER, I GET TO HIT YOU WITH A PICKAX --+
|                                                                       |
|     No, you are *not* Shinji Mikami. I'm comfortably certain that     |
|   you don't work for Capcom of Japan, either, especially if you're    |
|            e-mailing me from an America Online account.               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
=======
Updates
=======
[Old updates deleted.]
June 5th, 2003:
-- hi! Did you see me at E3? I was the guy wandering around
with a leather laptop bag, looking vaguely like he'd
been hit in the face with a brick. I have updated with
my impressions of the playable Resident Evil: Outbreak,
formerly known as Resident Evil Online.
June 30th, 2003:
-- Resident Evil: Dead Aim is both easy and now in the analysis.
It's Resident Evil... in the *future*.
September 13th, 2003:
-- letters, I get letters. And they make me tweak things.
For example, I screwed up on a Dead Aim FAQ; it's fixed
now.
September 26th, 2003:
-- stupid Paul Anderson, making me rewrite the FAQs on the
movie, mutter grumble snarl moan.
October 3rd, 2003:
-- a long-overdue cleaning of the links list.
========================================
2. Dead Men Telling Tales: RESIDENT EVIL
========================================
In 1996, Capcom released Resident Evil for the PlayStation. RE
was, and is, a strangely difficult adventure game which put the
player up against an ancient mansion, filled with secrets, puzzles,
and, incidentally, ravenous flesh-eating zombies. While the game
gained a degree of deserved notoriety for some of the worst dialogue
and voice acting in console history, it also gained a fanatical
following.
In 2001, Capcom announced that they were remaking the original
Resident Evil for the Nintendo GameCube. The remake, released
in North America on May 1st, 2002, represents a new beginning
for the series; it boasts ridiculously realistic graphics, a
much-improved script, a better cast of voice actors (albeit
that isn't saying much, as fourth-grade nativity plays have
better voice acting than the original RE), and the same
difficult gameplay that characterized the original, as well
as a number of story elements that were left out of the
original game (such as the infamous Trevor's Letters).
This synopsis covers the storyline of the 2002 remake of RE.
If you're looking for the original game's synopsis and FAQs,
you can check them out as a separate file (eventually) at:
http://www.dimfuture.net/elsewhere/writing/birlew-re.txt
===============================================
i. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL
===============================================
Following the strange deaths of a number of citizens of Raccoon
City, the local police department has put the Special Tactics
and Rescue Squad, a special force dedicated to stopping local
terrorist activity, on the case. The STARS immediately sent
its Bravo team, led by Enrico Marini, into the Raccoon Forest,
where several of the murders occurred.
The Bravo team promptly disappears. On the night of July 24th,
the STARS Alpha team follows the Bravos into the forest by
helicopter, looking for clues as to their disappearance.
They soon find the Bravo team's helicopter... and the helicopter's
pilot, dead and mangled beyond recognition. The architects of this
massacre, a pack of wild dogs, soon spring an ambush, which kills
Joseph Frost, a member of the Alpha team. The rest of the team
attempts to fight the dogs off, but the dogs don't seem to mind
gunshot wounds.
The whole situation proves too much for Brad Vickers, also known
as "Chickenheart," the helicopter pilot for the Alpha team. He
panics, and takes off, leaving the rest of the Alpha team stranded
on the ground. After a headlong flight through the woods, the Alpha
team takes shelter inside the nearby Spencer mansion, an old estate
which was supposedly abandoned.
The player's role in the game begins at this point. As either Chris
Redfield or Jill Valentine, two of the five survivors of the Alpha
team, the player must find out just what's happening here, while
defending himself against the mansion's current inhabitants. Chris
will run into Rebecca Chambers, the field medic and lone survivor
of the STARS Bravo team, while Jill will be assisted by Barry Burton,
a police veteran and fellow Alpha team member. The game unfolds
differently depending on which character is chosen.
The character's investigation of the mansion begins with Albert Wesker,
the captain of the STARS Alpha team, instructing the character to
check out the source of a nearby gunshot. Upon investigating, the
character finds Kenneth Sullivan, a member of the Bravo team, dead
on the floor... and crouching over him is the zombie that killed him.
When the character tries to report back to Wesker, he's vanished.
Wesker's disappearance is the beginning of a long stretch of bad luck.
The mansion is inhabited by hordes of flesh-eating zombies, killer
crows, more dogs, and a giant snake. Even worse, the zombies must
be decapitated or incinerated, or a second "death" will simply cause
a zombie's mutation into the berserk clawed monster that the mansion's
former inhabitants have nicknamed a "Crimson Head." Fortunately,
there are more powerful weapons and ammunition hidden within the
mansion, as well as stores of kerosene to use against the zombies.
As the character advances through the mansion and the outlying
buildings, discarded papers and uncovered journals begin to hint
at what's really happened here. Apparently, the people who once
lived here were working on some kind of experiment, and that
experiment has gone awry. Notes from the mansion's original
architect, George Trevor, reveal how the mansion's new owners
left him to die in the mansion's hidden labyrinths, and how
they may have tortured his wife and daughter in a similar fashion.
Eventually, the character manages to unlock a door at the back
of the mansion, opening the way to the graveyard and dormitories.
Here, in an isolated cabin, the character is ambushed by a twisted
parody of a woman. Clad in a tattered dress and shuffling towards
the character on legs that have been chained together, the creature
screams as it attacks. Conventional weapons do no good, and the
character is forced to retreat.
In the scientists' lodgings, the mystery only deepens. Other
experiments have produced a massive, bloodthirsty plant, codenamed
Plant-42, as well as a trio of mutated sharks. The character manages
to dispatch the plant with the help of the scientists' notes, and
the sharks die easily enough when the flooded observatory is drained.
It's in the dormitories that new clues to the nature of this mansion
are discovered; the powerful Umbrella corporation would appear to
have something to do with these scientists, and for whatever reason,
the scientists are very interested in the STARS.
After Plant-42 is dispatched, Wesker reappears, claiming to have
been separated from the rest of the team following a monster
attack. He tells the character to return to the mansion and finish
the investigation there.
Upon the character's return to the mansion, a new monster joins
him. These "Hunters" are powerful and relentless, and rarely show
up alone. Evading this new threat, the character is able to visit
areas in the mansion that were previously locked, using a key
found in the dormitories, and is thus able to find the materials
to reactivate an elevator in the courtyard behind the mansion.
The elevator lets the character through a secret door, which leads
to an old series of mining tunnels, the purpose of which is unknown.
At one end of the tunnels, hiding in a darkened dead end, the
character finds Enrico Marini, the captain of the Bravo team. He's
wounded, and tells the character to stay away. STARS, he says, has
been betrayed. Just as he's about to reveal the identity of the
traitor, a single gunshot rings out from behind the character,
killing Enrice. The character gives chase to Enrico's assassin,
but the arrival of a pack of Hunters covers the assassin's escape.
At the tunnels' end, yet another elevator takes the character to
an underground river and a loading dock. After another encounter
with the twisted creature from the cabin, the character unlocks
yet another door, this one leading to a candle-lit hideaway.
In this hideaway, which looks like nothing so much as a young
girl's room, the character finds the last thing he needs to
open the last door back in the mansion. A ladder in the hideaway
leads back up to the cabin in the graveyard, where the twisted
creature was first encountered. When combined with the information
in Trevor's letters, and recently discovered research notes, a
sick suspicion may begin to grow in the player's mind.
The last door in the mansion leads down a long flight of stairs,
to the crypt of Jessica Trevor. It is guarded by the twisted
creature from the cabin, which has somehow reached this area
by unknown means. The character, assisted by either Barry or
Wesker, manages to open Jessica Trevor's sarcophagus, and the
creature jumps into a nearby pit after taking Jessica's skull.
A letter in the coffin removes all doubt; the twisted creature
is, in fact, Lisa Trevor, who was experimented on by Umbrella's
scientists. She has spent the last thirty years in agonizing
pain, locked inside a constantly mutating body that cannot
die, and has been driven quite insane.
The character proceeds on alone. Trevor's crypt leads directly
to an ornate fountain, which conceals the entrance to the real
laboratories, deep underneath the Spencer estate. The character
descends, into the dank corridors of the laboratory, where more
surprises await.
Not only has Wesker betrayed the STARS, but he has been complicit
in this mansion's experiments all along. A slideshow in the lab's
audiovisual room identifies Wesker, wearing his characteristic
sunglasses, as one of the leaders of this group. He has been
instructed by his supervisors at the megacorporation Umbrella
to sacrifice the STARS, in the name of covering up the accident
and generating combat data on Umbrella's monsters. As if that
wasn't enough, the team member that Wesker claimed to be
"separated" from was instead taken prisoner. He or she is
inside a dark cell in the laboratory, awaiting release.
Wesker himself is preparing for his last and greatest betrayal,
deep in the laboratory's storage room. He explains himself to
the character, almost as if he needs someone to tell his
secrets to. He plans to doublecross Umbrella by blowing up
the mansion and all its secrets; the betrayal of STARS was
simply to cover his tracks as well as the company's. To this
end, he's blackmailed Barry Burton to help him destroy evidence.
As the horrified character watches, Wesker unleashes the
most powerful bioweapon in Umbrella's arsenal: the Tyrant,
a humanoid creature built to kill. Unfortunately for Wesker,
it isn't very good at taking orders, and its first act is
to turn on the man who thought he was its master. Its second
is to come after the player's character, who will discover
that for all the Tyrant's power, it has a glass jaw. A few
Magnum rounds or acid grenades drop it in its tracks.
The character must now run for his life. The laboratory's
self-destruct sequence has been activated (either by Wesker
or by a well-meaning Rebecca), and very little time remains
before the entire mansion is blown sky-high. Rescuing the
captive STARS member in the back room, the character runs
out to the mansion's helipad and signals Brad "Chickenheart"
Vickers. Brad has been circling above the forest all this
time, awaiting word from one of his teammates, and upon seeing
the character's signal flare, he begins to descend to the
helipad.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. With two minutes to
go until the mansion's destruction, the Tyrant bursts from
the rooftop. It has shaken off the sluggishness from its
months of storage, and now moves with the controlled strength
and speed of a freight train. Even with help from Barry or
Rebecca, the character is barely able to stay alive.
With seconds to go before detonation, Brad Vickers drops a
rocket launcher onto the helipad. An anti-tank rocket proves
to be more than even the Tyrant can handle, and it's blown
to pieces.
The surviving STARS climb onto Brad's helicopter. As Brad
lifts off, the Spencer estate explodes into a pillar of
flame. The STARS are left battered and bloodied, but alive...
with a story to tell that no one will believe.
====================================================
ii. Story Differences Between Chris and Jill's Games
====================================================
1. At various points in Jill's game, you may run into Barry,
who's acting very suspicious. You'll find him in the aquarium
room on the second floor at one point, where he's destroying
evidence (he'll already have torn the first couple of pages
off of the Researcher's Will file). You can also overhear a
conversation between him and Wesker outside Dormitory 002.
To trigger the encounters with Barry, discover Kenneth's
body, and return to the dining room without fighting the
zombie.
2. If Chris is poisoned by the giant snake, you'll take control
of Rebecca, who'll have to go get Chris some serum from the
infirmary. If Jill's poisoned, she'll pass out in the hall
outside the attic, and wakes up in the infirmary at full health.
3. Jill can manufacture V-Jolt by herself, then use it in the
boardroom in the Aqua Ring to weaken Plant-42. When she enters
that room, Plant-42 will grab her, and Barry will come in with
a flamethrower to rescue Jill. Chris has to fight the plant on
his own, unless Richard died in the mansion attic; if that's
the case, Rebecca will have to save Chris by making V-Jolt.
4. In the final encounter with Lisa Trevor, Jill will find
Barry standing over Jessica's coffin. When Barry tries to
point his gun at her, Jill takes it away from him and points
it at him. Then, when Lisa arrives, the player can choose
whether or not to give Barry his gun back. If you do, Barry
will help out in the ensuing fight with Lisa; if you don't,
Lisa will kill Barry. In Chris's scenario, you'll run into
Wesker in Jessica's tomb, who'll aid you against Lisa. If
Wesker gets knocked off of the platform, he'll reappear in
the lab at the end of the game, offering no explanations.
5. If your supporting character is still alive, it will change
the final encounter with Wesker:
-- Chris, with Rebecca: inside the lab, Wesker will
explain his motivations and shoot Rebecca in the
chest. While Wesker's standing in front of the
Tyrant's tank, it will wake up and gut him like a trout,
stabbing right through the side of its containment
tank. After Chris defeats the Tyrant, he'll find
that Rebecca's still alive, thanks to her bulletproof
vest, and that Wesker's definitely dead. Upon leaving
the laboratory, Rebecca will set the charges in the
power room, which will trigger an emergency evacuation
procedure and unlock all the doors in the lab. You
may then rescue Jill and get to the helipad.
-- Chris, alone: Wesker will be slain by the Tyrant, and
will drop the Master Key. You can use that key to open
Jill's cell door and to get to the helipad.
-- Jill, with Barry: Barry will hold Jill at gunpoint
when she enters the lab. Wesker will gloat to Jill
about his plan, but in so doing, will let slip that
the threat he's been holding against Barry was a
bluff; his family isn't in any danger. Barry will
unexpectedly overhear that and knock Wesker
unconscious. He doesn't do that in time to prevent
Wesker from draining the fluid from the Tyrant's
tank, however, and the Tyrant will escape shortly
thereafter. It knocks Barry unconscious before it
turns on Jill. After the fight, you'll find that
Barry's okay, but that Wesker's slipped away in
the confusion. You soon find out that he's set the
charges in the power room, as with Rebecca, above.
-- Jill, alone: almost identical to Chris's scenario
without Rebecca, as above.
==============================================================
iii. Differences Between RESIDENT EVIL and RESIDENT EVIL "2.0"
==============================================================
1. If you're a veteran player of the first game, the remake is
expressly designed to mess with your head. In the event that
a puzzle or ambush has carried over to the remake from the
first game, there's usually a different solution, another
wrinkle to the puzzle, or monsters come from completely
unexpected directions. (Zombies and Hunters can open doors.)
2. Richard Aiken would die no matter what you did in the
first game, regardless of how quickly you brought him the
serum. In the remake, saving Richard will let him survive
until you fight the giant snake (Jill's game) or enter the
Aqua Ring (Chris's game), whereupon something large will
eat him. If you save him, he'll give you his radio, and
you'll be able to take his combat shotgun after his death.
Richard's death also affects what options you have when
you deal with Plant-42.
3. The Chimera that haunt the power room now look a great
deal like RE3's drain deimos.
4. As mentioned above, zombies that are "killed" without
being decapitated must be incinerated. Otherwise, they'll
eventually rise again as the vicious Crimson Heads.
5. It is *much* easier to get your support character killed
in the remake.
6. Naturally, the biggest addition to the remake is that of
the unfortunate Lisa Trevor, as mentioned above. More about
Lisa can be found by reading Wesker's Report 2, as detailed
below.
7. If Wesker "dies" in the encounter with the Tyrant, you
can search his body to find a file written by William
Birkin. In it, he writes about how the G-Virus is almost
finished, and how he wishes he could rub his success in
Alexia Ashford's face.
8. If your support character manages to make it to the end
of the game, he'll help you in the final battle with the
Tyrant, on the helipad. During this time, if the Tyrant
manages to knock your character down, it'll leave you
alone in favor of grabbing your support character and
lifting him into the air by his neck (I use the male pronoun
so I don't have to type "he or she" a lot). Unless you
shoot the Tyrant at this point, it'll kill your support
character, which will cue the fifth possible ending.
9. In the original game's best ending for Jill, you could
return to the power room after the self-destruct sequence,
and you'd find a Chimera standing over Wesker's dead body.
Such is no longer the case with the remake; the power room
is empty.
10. The mansion wardrobe is now hidden in the darkened
closet in the east statue room. Check the large painting
against the back wall. It's actually a door.
11. Chris meets Rebecca when he enters the mansion attic;
she is no longer lurking evilly in the infirmary with a
can of bug spray. In REv.2, this is the first time Chris
and Rebecca meet, period, since as we learn in RE0, the
Raccoon Forest investigation is Rebecca's first case as
a member of STARS.
12. In the helipad encounter, the Tyrant can, and will,
bat an incoming rocket out of the way with its claw.
===================
2iv. Random Musings
===================
1. I have to admit that I'm disappointed with the remake.
They kept some of the stupid things, like Chris's low item
capacity, and didn't address the issue of Rebecca's survival.
2. The Lisa Trevor subplot appears, at first glance, to be
almost completely meaningless; it's just there to add another
Tyrant-esque monster. To understand her true significance, it
helps to hunt down a translation of Wesker's Report 2, which
is discussed further below.
3. The existence of Crimson Heads in RE lends additional
credence to the statement, in Survivor, that Lickers are
mutated zombies. If a zombie can mutate into a faster
form that's sporting vicious claws, it's entirely feasible
for it to mutate further, into the still-vaguely-humanoid
Licker.
4. Cinematic references in RE:
-- the deer head in the study is from the 1990 remake of
_Night of the Living Dead_. It might've been in the
original, but if it was, I didn't see it.
-- I may be on crack, but the end sequence of the game,
with the Tyrant bursting from the rooftop, seems to
be taken almost frame-for-frame from a 1990 Japanese
sf film called _Zeram_.
-- alert reader Jay Yencich writes to say that the
opening title-screen sequence of RE is much akin to
the death and zombification of Roger in _Dawn of
the Dead_.
-- according to Dan's official RE strategy guide, Chris
and Jill's alternate costumes are from _The Mexican_
and _Terminator 2: Judgement Day_, respectively. Chris
is dressing like the Brad Pitt character in the former
film, while Jill is dressing like Linda Hamilton in
the latter.
============================================================
3. Things To Do In Raccoon When You're Dead: RESIDENT EVIL 2
============================================================
=====================
3i. The Plot Thickens
=====================
The original Resident Evil is a relatively straightforward
horror game. Its sequels have been entirely different,
mixing horror with equal parts of action, mystery, and
conspiracy. Each RE game since the second has had an
intricate series of subplots, as well as at least a few
independent mysteries to solve. Furthermore, each game
has left a lot of questions unanswered at the end. In other
words, things get a lot more complicated from here on out.
One of the stranger wrinkles in the RE storyline is the
weird way that RE2 and RE3 relate to each other. I have the
two games listed separately here for the sake of maintaining
some kind of order, but in actuality, half of RE3 takes
place before RE2, and the other half takes place well
afterwards. This is noted in RE3's plot summary, below.
==================================
3ii. Events Between RE and RE2/RE3
==================================
After the "mansion incident" in July of 1998, Chris Redfield
attempts to start an official police investigation of
Umbrella, but Chief Brian Irons sabotages it. Suspecting that
Irons might be on the take, Chris requests an investigation
of Irons's background and a federal probe into Umbrella.
With typical government efficiency, the FBI doesn't respond
to Chris's requests until the night of September 29th, when
Claire gets their fax in Chris's old office.
Chris begins investigating Umbrella alone. He manages to
uncover a great deal about Umbrella's operations inside
Raccoon City, including the work on the G-Virus and the
location of the labs underneath the city. He's apparently so
intent upon his work that, to his sister Claire, it looks
as though he's dropped off of the face of the Earth.
In August of 1998, Chris finally tells Jill Valentine about
what he's been doing. In mid-September, without telling Claire,
he and Barry Burton leave for Europe to further investigate
Umbrella. Jill elects to stay in Raccoon City for a while,
intending to investigate Umbrella's underground labs.
At some point, Jill resigns from the S.T.A.R.S. and the Raccoon
City police department for unknown reasons. (We can make all
sorts of guesses, though, most of which involve Brian Irons.)
====================================================
3iii. A Summary of the Basic Plot of RESIDENT EVIL 2
by Dan Birlew
====================================================
On the night of September 29th, 1998, Claire Redfield
motorbikes into Raccoon City. She is a college student, and
is searching for clues in the disappearance of her older
brother Chris. On the other side of town, Raccoon Police
Department recruit Leon Kennedy is making his way to the
Precinct for his first day of duty. Stopping to investigate
a mysterious corpse in the middle of the street, he fails to
notice the figures closing in behind him. Claire pulls up to
a diner for a late meal, but finds that she is intended to
be the next course.
Both characters are surrounded by zombies. They collide in
the alley behind the diner, where Leon saves Claire. Finding
an abandoned police cruiser, they make a run for it.
In the car they get acquainted, while Claire finds a gun in
the glove compartment. But they are not alone. In an amazing
sequence, a zombie leaps out of the backseat and struggles with
Leon. The rookie loses control of the vehicle and they crash into
a wall. The zombie flies through the windshield. Before they can
catch a breath, a dying trucker bears down on them in a massive
gas tanker. The two leap out of the wreck as the tanker collides
and flips over, exploding in a huge ball of flame. The characters
are separated by the blaze, and each must make their individual
way through the game.
This is the point at which the player begins, choosing which
character to assume based on which of the 2 game disks are
loaded. When the player finishes with one character's adventure,
the save file enables the player to approach the same game from
the other character's perspective, in a reverse game. Thus, the
scenarios progress as either Claire A & Leon B, or Leon A &
Claire B. There are differences in each game, and there are
differences in each combination. In addition, whatever the
first character does in their scenario affects the second
character's game.
For the purpose of brevity, this synopsis will follow the
plot as it occurs in the Claire A & Leon B combination, by
far the more structurally sound of the two scenario
combinations.
Claire begins on the Raccoon City streets, now overrun by the
zombies who have come out due to the crash. By baiting them
in a certain direction, she figures out that she can create
openings in their ranks and slip past them. She ducks into a
gun shop, hoping to find ammo for her weapon.
Inside, the clerk points a crossbow at her. After she
convinces him that she's not a zombie, he locks his door.
With a slightly sexist attitude, he admits he doesn't know
what is happening in Raccoon City or where the zombies have
come from. Claire finds some ammunition for her gun and
starts to move on just as the undead lay siege to the store.
Crashing through the display window, they tackle the shop's
employee and chew him to pieces on the floor. Unable to save
the man, Claire's only hope is to run through the back door.
(In the N64 RE2 'port, we find out this man's name is Robert
Kendo, and he's the owner of the gun shop.)
Weaving her way through the slow moving ghouls, she makes
her way to the police station. S.T.A.R.S. helicopter pilot Brad
Vickers is encountered near the precinct, recently deceased
and come back by diabolic means. Executing this former hero,
Claire enters the Raccoon Police Department. She finds that
the place has been electronically locked and barricaded
against an apparent siege by the undead.
Leon finds himself directly behind the Police Department. He
has a shorter run than Claire, but must find the key to get
into the maintenance shed at the back of the Precinct. All
the while, flesh eaters converge on him. He gets lucky and
finds a back stairway to the roof of the station, but he
witnesses a rescue attempt fail.
A helicopter appears overhead. There is a lone precinct
survivor on the roof, signaling to it. Zombies attack the
unfortunate wretch. He sprays random machine gun fire
everywhere, accidentally killing the helicopter's pilot.
The helicopter crashes into the station and explodes into
flames. There's a water tank near the wreckage that can be
used to put out the fire, but Leon will need a valve handle.
Claire finds a cop lying on the floor of an office, seriously
wounded and dying. (In RE3, we learn that the cop's name is
Marvin Branagh.) In a brief speech, he tells Claire that her
brother Chris, and the other S.T.A.R.S., tried to get them to
believe that they'd encountered zombies in the woods outside
Raccoon, but no one would listen to them. He gives her the
card key that will open the electronic locks in the Precinct.
He tells her to rescue the other survivors in the police
station and get out. When she starts to protest, the
half-disemboweled officer sticks a gun in her face and
rudely orders her out. He locks the door behind her. Claire
accesses the computer in the main hall, unlocks the doors,
and continues on.
In the zombie-infested office on the first floor, Leon finds
the necessary tool to put out the fire. When he opens the
water tank and douses the blaze, another helicopter appears
overhead. This one is towing a rack of huge cylinders. One
of them detaches and drops. The bomb-like container blows
apart, revealing a huge humanoid creature. The giant crashes
through the roof of the precinct. The trenchcoated menace
heads right for Leon, who empties his weapon into the
stalking monstrosity before it falls. When Leon leaves the
room, the sinister intruder rises... and follows. Little
does Leon know, but anyone who had survived the mansion
incident might recognize this creature as a new and improved
version of the Tyrant.
At the same time on different sides of the station, Claire
and Leon both encounter a new and deadly lifeform.
Amphibious and spider-like, these creatures look like
crawling people turned inside out. They lash out with claws
and an incredibly long and sharp tongue. Police documents
refer to these creatures as "lickers," and no one knows
where they came from.
On the second floor of the west wing of the precinct house,
Claire finds the S.T.A.R.S. office and the log kept by her big
brother Chris. This document explains that he and the other
S.T.A.R.S. members had no luck investigating the involvement
of the Umbrella Corporation in the mansion lab incident. They
departed for Europe to search for Umbrella's main
headquarters. Suddenly a fax comes in, addressed to Chris. A
federal investigation on Umbrella has yielded naught for
clues, but an inquiry posted to the internal affairs
division by Chris regarding Raccoon Police Chief Brian Irons
has been answered. By his record, the Chief would appear to
be a deranged genius and former rapist.
Back outside the office, Claire catches sight of a young
girl being pursued by a zombie. While Claire dispatches this
thing, the fleeing little girl bumps into Leon. Frightened
out of her mind, she ducks into a small opening in a broken
door before he can stop her. Leon and Claire reunite. Leon
admits that this place is dangerous, and Claire suggests
that they split up and look for the girl and a safe exit. The
rookie cop gives her a radio so they can keep in contact.
Leon finds the two parts of a police operation report,
detailing the events of the past few days. The courageous
citizens of Raccoon made a grim standoff in the precinct
house against the flesh-eating undead. But some escaped the
precinct through the exit to the basement in the east wing.
He also finds a note addressed to him from the RPD, and the
party favors for a surprise welcome party they were planning
to throw for him. It seems his party has been cancelled.
He heads for the basement while Claire is startled by a
woman's screaming on the second floor. In order to save
whoever's in trouble, she needs a bomb to clear the helicopter
wreckage. Nearby, she finds the key to unlock the door
downstairs and save the wounded cop. When she returns to
him, he has been fighting off zombies unsuccessfully. Claire
now learns why he rudely forced her to leave him. He
rises, transforms into a zombie, and attacks her. Sadly,
Claire incinerates him. She finds a detonator and a chunk
of plastique, and heads back upstairs.
In the basement, Leon is fired upon by a beautiful woman
named Ada Wong. She's looking for a reporter named Ben
Bertolucci in one of the basement jail cells. After Leon
graciously helps her clear some wreckage out of the way, she
ditches him. He tries to catch up to her, but instead finds
the incarcerated reporter in one of the jail cells. Ada
catches up to them now, but where she went first is a
mystery. Questioning Ben, Ada reveals that she's looking for
her boyfriend John, who works out of an Umbrella branch
office in Chicago. He disappeared in this area some months
ago. Ben refuses to tell her what he knows about what's
happening in Raccoon City. Just then, a monstrous roar fills
the air. Ben has locked himself in his cell for protection
and refuses to leave, but directs the others how to get out
of the Precinct. Ada takes off, and Leon runs after her.
Claire detonates the plastique near the helicopter wreckage
upstairs. She finds an office full of stuffed trophy
animals... and a more gruesome trophy on the desk. The
Mayor's daughter lies sprawled out, a medium-sized wound at
her abdomen. Behind the desk sits Police Chief Brian Irons.
He has completely lost his mind. Although the girl's wound
looks like a bullet hole, he claims that she was attacked by
a zombie, and that she will resurrect within an hour. The
only way to stop the zombification is to decapitate the
victim or put a bullet through the brain. He admits that
taxidermy used to be his hobby (which links him to the
Umbrella mansion, because of all the stuffed trophies found
by the S.T.A.R.S. team there). He asks to be left alone,
and Claire is only too willing to get away from him.
In the room next to the Chief's office, Claire hears the quick
footsteps of someone fleeing from her. She finds the little
girl crouched in the dark. She radios Leon to let him know
that she cleared the helicopter wreckage and found the
little girl. The little girl says her name is Sherry Birkin,
and her parents work at the Umbrella plant. Her mother
called her during the T-virus outbreak and instructed her to
go to the police station for safety. She has heard her
father's voice in the station, but can't find him. Also, a
creature is stalking her. A mighty roar emanates from
nearby. Sherry runs off, and Claire tries to pursue her. In
the office, the Chief and the dead woman's body have
disappeared. However, he has left behind his diary detailing
the extents of his depravity. Thanks to Irons, there are
no survivors of the RPD's siege besides himself.
Leon has found the sewer system that runs under the city. In
the processing plant, he comes across what appears to be the
exit door but doesn't have all the necessary keys to get
through. Going back, he finds Ada also investigating the
sewage plant. She has found an open vent shaft that she can
get through with a boost. She hits the ground on the other
side, startling the same little girl Leon and Claire
encountered previously. As she runs off, Ada notices that
the little girl dropped her pendant. Amused, she decides to
keep it in case they meet again. After a quick search, she
finds a precinct key and returns to where Leon waits. She
throws the key back through the vent, but she can't get back
herself because the vent is too high. Once again, Ada runs
off on her own against Leon's orders.
Leon returns to the precinct house, searching for the last
few keys he needs to get out. While looking for clues on the
first floor, the horrible Tyrant bursts through the wall, and
only falls after Leon empties his shotgun into it. Leon races
upstairs and finds more items he needs. The Tyrant follows.
Again, Leon is forced to shoot it out with this brute. The
thing is finally subdued, even if only for the moment.
After gathering several keys of her own, Claire finally
catches up to Sherry in the Chief's office. Behind the desk
is a secret elevator, and Claire makes Sherry stay behind
while she goes to investigate. The elevator lowers her into some
kind of custom dungeon beneath the precinct, lit by flickering
torches. As Claire cautiously creeps down the hall, she hears
the Chief scream.
In his private chamber, Chief Irons is backed into a corner
by a hideous mutating creature. Something shoots out of this
thing's hand and down Irons's throat.
In a hideous torture room, Claire finds the Chief, ranting,
raving, and armed. He explains to Claire that his town has
been torn apart by the experimental monsters of the Umbrella
corporation. He tells her that a man named William Birkin is
to blame. Claire recognizes the name. Irons states that
Sherry is Birkin's daughter. Completely paranoid, the Chief
is ready to kill Claire. Before he can execute her, something
bursts through his upper torso from within. A small creature
leaps out of Irons and falls down an open chute nearby. Claire
follows this thing, only to see it quickly grow into some kind
of horrible infant. The thing attacks her, but she destroys it
fairly easily. She runs back to the second floor to get Sherry;
their escape route is now clear.
Leon makes his way to the precinct's clock tower where he
finds the final piece in the Chief's bizarre architectural
puzzle. Now able to exit the police station, he finds an
open dust chute and slides back down to the basement. Upon
landing, he hears Ben screaming in the jail cell nearby.
Leon runs to the reporter's aid, but is too late. The same
thing that impregnated Irons has gutted Ben. The dying
reporter gives Leon a document which entangles Raccoon
City's chief of police in a government conspiracy. In terrible
pain, Ben dies. Ada finally catches up to Leon, and they
read this document together. It is a series of letters from
William Birkin to the police chief, describing in detail how
Umbrella was bribing the chief to keep secret their actions
in the town. Birkin had learned that Umbrella sent spies to
steal his research. Ada then rushes off, explaining only
that she has to find John. She thinks he's in the chemical
plant. Leon is prevented from following by another call from
Claire. She has found a different exit from the precinct and
will join him in the sewers.
Leon runs after Ada, but in the sewage plant, he is