Albert Wesker

Albert Wesker.

Albert Wesker is a male video character who features in Resident Evil.

Biography

Origin

Albert Wesker (Japaeese: アルバート・ウェスカー, Hepburn: Arubāto Wesukā?) was a blonde haired male who was born in the modern age. He was specifically created as part of the Wesker Plan that was an attempt to breed a new superior human race that would lead utopia according to the vision of Ozwell E. Spencer. This plan involved the collection of hundreds of children born from parents with superior intellects and of any nationality. All were given the surname Wesker and were manipulated or indoctrinated in carefully controlled environments around the world where they were under the watchful eyes of the Umbrella Corporation. The children were unaware that they were being monitored and received aid along with the best education that could be afford to them. Albert Wesker was among those children in Project W where he was designated as test subject No. 013 who showed particular promise leading to him being send to the Umbrella Training Facility in Raccoon City. Spencer was quite pleased with Albert's actions and believed that he was a template for the other children in the project. Thus, Albert went through the next stage in the program which was being administered an experimental virus that was designed to screen out the more gifted children. In 1977, the 17 year old Wesker was assigned to work as a prospective manager under Dr. James Marcus where he met fellow trainee William Birkin with the two becoming colleagues ad accomplices in various operations. The pair were regarded as Marcus's best employees and the only people he truly trusted. When the training facility was shutdown in 1978, Wesker and Birkin were transferred to the Arklay Laboratory at the Spencer Mansion located on the outskirts of Raccoon City where he became a chief researcher at the site. Whilst at the laboratory, he was involved in the research of the Ebola Virus that had been discovered and intended to use its impressive death-rate in conjunction with the experimental T-Virus being developed at the facility. Around this time, his partner William Birkin offered him the experimental virus with Albert administering it himself where he turned out to be among the few surviving Wesker children as many had died in the testing phase. Albert disappeared shortly thereafter but this was not a concern as a failsafe was included whereby all the Wesker children did not know Spencer's location and had all the children of the project had it programmed in them to seek him out. As a result, Albert Wesker later sought out the reason for the extensive funding into Bio-Organic Weapon's leading to him joining the Information Department of the Umbrella Corporation. At some point, he encountered and Eastern European woman that had immigrated to America with the two having a relationship though Albert later abandoned her. She returned back to her home in Edonia but she was pregnant with Albert's child and had had never told him that he had a son who was born as Jake Muller.

Wesker later spent the next few years as a commissioned officer in the United States Army. By 1996, he came to join the newly founded STARS division of the Raccoon City Police Department though he actually was a double agent working for the interests of Umbrella. Thus, he provided the company any information from police investigations in order to ensure that the corporation escaped discovery of any of its experiments. Around this time, he came to note he capabilities of a STARS recruit by the name of Chris Redfield. Rarely removing his sunglasses, Wesker was seen as an enigma by his team mate and hardly ever spoke to any of his teammates outside of Barry Burton.

Mansion Incident

In 1998, the new ε strain came to infect a number of staff at the Arklay Laboratory leading to a quarantine of the staff with the guards under orders to shoot any escapees. Wesker and Birkin both personally visited the laboratory after they were concerned that the cloned embryos of the T-002 Tyrant would be damaged during this incident. The B.O.W. was held as the most important asset of the company and represented the culmination of years of work by Umbrella. Wesker put an order that forbid any phone calls from the lab in order to limit the spread of any information. Despite the lockdown measures, escaped MA-39 Cerberus B.O.W.s came to depart the lab where they fled into the Raccoon Forest and began attacking civilians. As a result, the virus spread into survivors who went about trying to kill others in the region of the Arklay Mountains. As the killings continued, the number of deaths came to surpass 20 by July leading to the R.P.D. looking into the matter. They came to believe this to be the result of a cult and conducted an operation to hunt down the culprits after backlash from the press. Thus, the case was assigned to S.T.A.R.S with Umbrella secretly giving Wesker their X-Day plans and a series of tasks to complete the mission. He was the leader of Alpha Team and was the overall commander of S.T.A.R.S. where he had orders to sacrifice his team to the viral mutations. This served multiple purposes for Umbrella as it allowed them to collect combat data and eliminate any witnesses. In addition, Wesker was tasked with recovering the remaining B.O.W. embryos along with the task of destroying the Arklay Laboratory itself to remove any trace of the virus. Albert was responsible for sabotaging the helicopter of Bravo Team in order to prevent any escape thus leading to Alpha Team's own investigation of the case. The team during their foray came to discover the seemingly abandoned Spencer Estate located within the mountains.

Wesker had been paid by Umbrella to ensure that the evidence of their scientists' experiments within the Spencer Estate facility would be destroyed, and that entailed getting rid of the two investigating STARS teams as well. To that end, Wesker sabotaged Bravo Team's helicopter and caused them to crash, thereby ensuring the deaths of Ed Dewey, Kevin Dooley, Kenneth J. Sullivan, and Forest Speyer. Enrico Marini, Richard Aiken, and Rebecca Chambers were all still alive by the time Alpha Team finally arrived.

Wesker disposed of Enrico himself when the Bravos' leader figured out that he was the traitor, shooting him in the head from the shadows before Enrico could warn the others. In the meantime, Wesker had made it down to the Spencer Estate's underground labs and had a look at the T-Virus research that had been conducted there. Impressed, he decided to betray Umbrella and steal their scientists' research for himself, but first he had to dispose of his remaining teammates, including Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. To this end, he unleashed the Tyrant from its stasis tank and sicced it on them. Unfortunately for Wesker, the Tyrant wasn't in the mood to take orders.

Though seriously wounded, the virus in Wesker's body activated and mutated him where it gifted Albert with powerful regenerative abilities. This allowed him to awake afterwards where he found himself alone in the room. It was then that the self-destruct system was prematurely activated with Albert unable to circumvent it after his computer access was restricted by Colonel Vladimir and the RED QUEEN AI. This prevented him from being able to recover any important data or even the embryos for Umbrella's rival company. In fact, he managed to barely escape the destruction of the mansion following a fight with Lisa Trevor where his newfound speed helped ensure his survival. After the Mansion Incident, both S.T.A.R.S. and Umbrella came to believe that Wesker was dead allowing for Albert to find new employment despite his failure in obtaining the samples. Within the new organisation, Albert looked to regain his former status and to achieve that he allied with Ada Wong who was sent to spy on Umbrella. Their target was William Birkin for his G-Virus research that was being conducted in Raccoon City.

The Organization

Maintaining the illusion of death, Wesker avoided showing himself publicly and instead took to being the contact between the organization and its spies. When Dr. Birkin completed Golgotha, the organisation made plans to steal it, and Wesker played a role as an external contact between the group and their spy, Ada Wong, the other being a liaison based within the Apple Inn. With the t-Virus outbreak slowing down Wong's investigation, the liaison killed himself to avoid turning into a Zombie. Through a computer feed, Wesker took over the liaison's role and waited for Wong's arrival on 1 October. When she confirmed the retrieval of a Golgotha sample, Wesker directed her to an Umbrella helicopter ferrying Col. Vladimir and an executive out of the city, which she hitched a ride on to escape the bombing.

Following the acquisition of Golgotha, the organisation began sending their paramilitary group, H.C.F., out on raids to Umbrella bases to recover data and bioweapons samples. Wesker led a raid on Rockfort Island in December 1998. Remember Alexia Ashford's research on t-Veronica, the Ashford-owned island was a logical place to begin the search. Saboteurs arrived on the island ahead of the main assault and planted explosives within the military training center, which released a t-Virus strain into the ecosystem as well as releasing B.O.W.s. Much of the island's infrastructure was destroyed in the subsequent bombing by H.C.F.'s aircraft, followed by the deployment of special teams searching for the t-Veronica samples, of which Wesker took direct involvement. They were unsuccessful in locating samples on the island, though Wesker did discover Claire Redfield, Chris' younger sister, had been taken captive by Umbrella and imprisoned in its concentration camp. Chris arrived the following day, looking for her. Wesker was interrupted on both occasions when about to kill them, and soon after left the island for a submarine after discovering Alexia was alive and well at Umbrella's Antarctic Base.

The facility had itself also fallen to a t-Virus outbreak after refugees from Rockfort Island fled there, but the team succeeded in entering it through a submarine pen. Finding himself in an underground mansion, Wesker met Alexia for the first time and demanded she hand herself over to provide him with a sample. She refused and began mutating into a more powerful form which even Wesker was unprepared for, and he was forced to flee the mansion. Not long after, H.C.F. discovered the body of Steve Burnside, a teenager Alexia had recently used as a t-Veronica test subject, and they returned to the submarine. Having discovered Chris and Claire in Antarctica, Wesker finally took advantage of the opportunity to eliminate the two. Initially taking Claire hostage and dragging her to the submarine, he was persuaded to let her run on the promise of a fight with Chris. Though he was able to dominate Chris with little effort, Chris got the better of him by dropping metal girders onto him. With the facility close to self-destruction and his skin burnt by a fire, Wesker gave up and left for the submarine.

Uroburos

Eventually, Wesker's search led him to the Spencer Estate where he found the founder of the Umbrella Corporation; Ozwell E. Spencer. He found the old man man and learnt that Spencer was responsible for a plot to create a new master race of Humans through genetic engineering and thus elevate himself to godhood through the use of the Wesker children with only Albert being the last survivor of that bloodline. However, the plan failed due to the Racoon City Incident and his dreams began to fall apart. Hearing this, Wesker then murdered Spencer by punching through his crippled old body and stated he would take that right to become a god. After he completed this, he discovered his old comrades Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine who had tracked him to the estate. Easily fighting the two, his enhanced abilities meant that they were quickly defeated. Ready to bring the killing blow, Wester was tackled by Jill Valentine and the two plummeted out the window seemingly to their deaths. The Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance later investigated the incident and discovered no bodies leading them to conclude both had died.

However, Wesker had survived along with Jill Valentine. Forming a partnership with Tricell Pharmaceutical Company leader Excella Gionne to create a new virus that would bring about the birth of the master race. Thus began the Uroborus Project which bred a unique parasite that would bond to human hosts and determine the chosen who were worthy for the evolution of the race. He was also responsible for brainwashing Jill Valentine and turned her into a servant that did his tasks for him such as protecting Excella. Establishing a base of operations in Africa, he began to breed the virus with the intention of loading it into a bomber to high altitude whereupon it would be dispersed throughout the Earth and bring about Wesker's plan.

Ultimately, Albert's plans were thwarted by Chris Redfield and his partner Sheva Alomar who infiltrated his base with the intention of stopping his concept of forced evolution of the human race. Entering the bomber, they managed to cause it to crash into a nearby volcano. Angered, Wesker punctured one of the missile casing and bonded with the virus becoming a monstrous being devoted to getting revenge on Chris and his partner. During the confusion of the battle, Wesker did not notice the active volcano bubbling lava to the surface which consumed his lower body. Seeing Redfield and his partner escape onto a helicopter. Wesker sent a tentacle to bring them both down so they would die with him but Chris and Sheva fired a rocket launcher at him which ended the threat Albert Wesker posed to the world.

Overview

Personality and attributes

The Project W scientists gave to give him the name Albert.

Wesker believed that power was the one constant in the universe. He had said that the only thing that could defeat power was more power. However, he felt that there was no point in power if one allowed themselves to be consumed by it.

Albert was shown to use an enemy to fight a common foe. This way, he used one pawn to eliminate another and emerge with the spoils that he claimed for himself.

For much of his life, Wesker could never ascertain the true intentions of Ozwell. E. Spencer with this being the reason for him eventually seeking out the Umbrella founder. He came to learn that the discomfort Albert had felt throughout his life was a trait programmed into him by Spencer. This was because all the Wesker children were programmed to seek him out and this manifested as a growing sense of anxiety within them. This feature was designed as a failsafe to keep them in line but it only worked so long as it remained a mystery to the Wesker children. After learning of Spencer's plans Wesker was determined to become a god and claimed that right from the founder of Umbrella by killing him. He claimed that Humans often brought themselves to the brink of self destruction and what he was doing was not destroying them but saving them by bringing about a new master race through the Uroburos virus with himself elevated to the status of a deity.

Wesker believed that humans brought themselves closer to self-destruction each day. As such, he came to see himself as a person who was not destroying the world but rather saving it

It was noted that Albert cared little for his business partners and had no attachment to them; his only concern was for himself and his plans. He tended to refer to them as assets and if killed then he lamented the loss of a pawn but otherwise felt they were expendable.

In his early years, he came to be involved with a young Edonian woman who was in her 20s when she emigrated to the United States. During this time, the two were involved but broke up where she returned to her home country. Unknown to Wesker, she was pregnant with his son who came to be named Jake Muller.

Powers and abilities

Within Project W, he was labelled as being test subject No. 013.

It was his intelligence that allowed him to operate as a lead researcher.

His one weakness was the fact that the virus that repaired his body and gave him his enhanced abilities was unstable which required him to take regular doses of a special serum to keep his body under control. However, the serum required precision doses and excessive amounts worked as if it were a poison on him. This resulted in pain and a diminishment in his capabilities.

He came to obtain samples of various organisms and viruses with these including the the T-Virus, the G-Virus, the T-Veronica virus, and Las Plagas.

Notes

• Albert Wesker was created by Kenichi Iwao where he was designed by Isao Ohishi and Jun Takeuchi with him featuring in the Resident Evil universe.
• As with so many characters in the Resident Evil series, a lot of things could happen to Wesker depending on what the player did throughout the game. He could either die when the Tyrant turned on him and impaled him on its claws, or he could've escaped the main lab only to be jumped by a Chimera while setting the entire mansion to self-destruct.
• The fact that he so obviously was killed either way made it extremely jarring when Capcom brought him back for their fourth game, Resident Evil: Code Veronica. As of the events in Code Veronica, Wesker was obviously no longer entirely human, sporting slitted reptilian pupils and enhanced physical strength, but this still did not explain how he survived the events of the first game. In an effort to solve this problem, Capcom released a video called Wesker's Report, which, among other things, detailed Wesker's history with Umbrella and explained away his survival by saying he was given a special virus by Dr. William Birkin that put him into a deathlike state for a time after being whacked by the Tyrant and/or Chimera.
• He later reappears in Resident Evil 4, wherein it is revealed he wishes to obtain a sample of Las Plagas in order to restart Umbrella which had recently become defunct after its experiments were exposed to the public. He used Ada Wong to do his bidding.
• Capcom remade the original Resident Evil, and, in Jill's best ending, Wesker actually escapes at the end rather than dying as his body is nowhere to be found in the Power Generator room, which solves the problem begun by Code Veronica but renders much of Wesker's Report somewhat inaccurate. The other endings still has Wesker being impaled by the Tyrant though.
• Wesker of the novels and comics is almost identical to the Wesker of the games.

In other media

Television

• In Resident Evil, Dr. Albert Wesker appeared in the setting of the live-action Netflix television series where he was portrayed by actor Lance Reddick.

Films

• In Resident Evil: Extinction, Chairman Wesker made his first appearance in the 2007 live-action film continuity where he was portrayed by actor Jason O'Mara. He was the overall head of the Umbrella Corporation, distinguishable by his dark glasses and neatly-pressed suits. After the fall of civilization due to the T-Virus plague, Wesker and the other members of Umbrella's board of directors sought refuge in underground bases, communicating with one another via holographic transmissions. Wesker himself hid on Tokyo, Japan, where he command Dr. Isaacs to try and domesticate the zombies. Instead, Isaacs disobeyed and carried on with Project Alice without Wesker's permission. Following Issacs' mutation and subsequent death at the hands of Alice, Wesker decided to officially revive the Project, but was interrupted by a holographic transmission from Alice herself, promising that she was coming for him and his fellow Umbrella lackeys.
• In Resident Evil: Afterlife, Wesker appeared in the 2010 live-action sequel where he was now portrayed by actor Shawn Roberts.
• In Resident Evil: Retribution, Wesker briefly appeared in the 2012 live-action film where he was again portrayed by actor Shawn Roberts.
• In Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Wesker returned in the final instalment of the franchise in the live-action film where he was portrayed once more by actor Shawn Roberts.

Video games

• In Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds / Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Albert Wesker appeared as a playable character in the crossover fighting video game.

Appearances

• Resident Evil:
• Resident Evil 5:

External Link

• Resident Evil Wiki Entry
• Wikipedia Entry