Albert Wesker

Albert Wesker
'Resident Evil' character
File:Albert Wesker RE5.JPG Albert Wesker in Resident Evil 5
First game	Resident Evil (1996)

Albert Wesker (アルバート・ウェスカー, Arubāto Wesukā) is one of the main antagonists in Capcom's Resident Evil series. He appears in the very first game and dies in the fifth part of the franchise.

History

Initially introduced as a supporting character in the first game, he has been one of the primary antagonists throughout the series, where he usually manipulates story events behind-the-scenes. Power-hungry, knowledgeable and infinitely cunning, he was a man who sought power and domination over the entire human race, all for his own gain. To this end, he was affiliated with the Umbrella Corporation, as one of its most promising researchers, and at the same time participated in illicit activities by going undercover as an officer in the Raccoon City Police Department (RPD) and the leader of S.T.A.R.S. in Raccoon City. Through the course of much betrayal of his allies to further his own plans, Wesker faked his death, gained superhuman powers from a Prototype virus, and worked alongside both the mysterious "Organization" and Tricell, Inc. He would eventually enact a plot, originally created by Oswell E. Spencer, to transform the human race into powerful superhumans like himself, and be a god to rule over them in a new age. Wesker was the main antagonist for much of the series, surpassing even Oswell E. Spencer. The film actor of Wesker is played by Jason O'Mara in Resident Evil: Extinction and Shawn Roberts in Resident Evil: Afterlife and Resident Evil: Retribution. He has a son named Jake Muller who is introduced in Resident Evil 6.

Appearances

In video games

Wesker made his first appearance as a non-playable character in the original Resident Evil game, assisting the player character against Lisa Trevor in the remake. In that game, he is the commanding officer of Alpha team of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (STARS). It is eventually revealed that Wesker is a double agent working for the Umbrella Corporation; ordered by his superiors to lure the STARS into the Spencer mansion to be used as test subjects against the mutated creatures to gather battle data. Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and the others come to learn of Wesker's true motive, but after releasing the Tyrant monster, Wesker is seemingly killed. The Sega Saturn port of Resident Evil features a Battle Mode minigame where the player can fight a zombified version of Wesker.

However, this is part of an even bigger plan. In the special giveaway fictional documentary titled Wesker's Report, Wesker reveals that he survived his apparent death in the first game by injecting himself beforehand with an experimental virus, provided by his former Umbrella colleague William Birkin, that revived and augmented him with superhuman strength, speed and regeneration, but at the expense of his humanity. Wesker returned in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, augmented with superhuman powers and working for an unnamed secret organization against Umbrella. When Chris knocks his sunglasses off during a brief struggle, Wesker's cat-like eyes are seen for the first time. He confronts both Chris and Alexia and he took the corpse of Steve Burnside for tests. In the remake, Code: Veronica X, he briefly confronts Chris' younger sister Claire and nearly kills her in order to torment Chris, but is called away by his associates and thus chooses to spare her life.

Wesker then appeared alongside William Birkin in Resident Evil Zero, a prequel to the original game, and later in Resident Evil 4 as a conspirator manipulating events from behind the scenes, where he would issue orders to Ada Wong. He is also the protagonist of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and a playable character in several of the game's scenarios, expanding upon events alluded to in early games, as well as his involvement in Umbrella's downfall after the events of Code: Veronica and his development in Resident Evil 4. In the end he kills Sergei Vladimir, a loyal Umbrella enforcer.

Wesker returns in Resident Evil 5 as the main antagonist conspiring with Tricell Pharmaceutical Company to create a potent virus called Uroboros which he ultimately plans to release into the Earth's atmosphere, ensuring complete global saturation. Before being killed by Wesker, Ozwell Spencer reveals that Wesker was the survivor of a genetic engineering experiment on children - Project Wesker. (It is implied in the RE5 downloadable content "Lost In Nightmares" that another Wesker, Alex, survived as well). Chris and Sheva Alomar prevent the worldwide infection and ultimately kill Wesker inside a volcano at the end of the game. Masachika Kawata, the game's producer, confirmed that Wesker perished in the game's finale. Some concept artwork for Resident Evil 5 also indicated that Wesker was to have been in his human form while in lava and then blasted with missiles from a F-16 Fighting Falcon, before eventually being shot in the head on the landing platform by Chris and Sheva.

Wesker appears in the spin-off title Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D as a playable character along with various other Resident Evil characters. Albert Wesker's voice is heard on the 15th anniversary special video narrating the events.

Wesker appears in the crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds as a playable character and a key character in the game's plot, in which he joins forces with Doctor Doom as the two build an army of supervillains, attempting to merge the two dimensions in the hopes of conquering both. During the final battle, if Wesker is not one of the playable characters, he will also be revealed to be one of Galactus' heralds along with Doom, the Marvel villain Dormammu, and a fellow Capcom villain Akuma. He also makes a guest appearance as an unlockable character skin in Lost Planet 2.

In other media

Wesker's character was adapted for the 2007 live-action film Resident Evil: Extinction. Played by Jason O'Mara, this version of Wesker is the head of the Umbrella Corporation, as opposed to Wesker's role in the games as a renegade high-ranking Umbrella researcher. He runs Umbrella's operations from behind the scenes, holding meetings via hologram with his underground board of directors in Tokyo. Shawn Roberts took over the role of Wesker in 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife, where the character is closer to his Code Veronica and especially his Resident Evil 5 incarnations, complete with superhuman abilities and glowing red eyes; he even wears the same outfit as in the latter game. Wesker says some of his lines from the game as well. He later appears in Resident Evil: Retribution as a defector from Umbrella, who sends Ada Wong to rescue Alice from an unground Russian Umbrella outpost run by the Red Queen who has taken over the rest of Umbrella.

In merchandise

An action figure of Wesker was released by Palisades Toys in 2002; two more were released by Hot Toys in 2009.

Reception

The character of Albert Wesker has been well received by video game publications. In 2006, IGN ranked Wesker number three on their list of "10 Most Memorable Villains", claiming that "Res Evil fans know that whenever Wesker shows up, trouble isn't far behind" and also ranked him as the 14th best video game villain in 2010. In 2008, GamePro ranked Wesker as the 40th most diabolical video game villain of all time. An IGN article from March 2010 titled "Big Boss of the Day: Resident Evil's Albert Wesker" discussed his appearances across the franchise, comparing him with other video game villains including Bowser and Sephiroth as well commenting it is strange to have a Resident Evil without him. GameSpot featured him in the "All Time Greatest Game Villains" poll, where Wesker lost to Ganondorf from The Legend of Zelda. In 2009, GamesRadar listed Wesker as one of the top seven characters who never stay dead, describing him as the "proverbial man behind the curtain" in the Resident Evil series. Similarly, 1UP.com also placed him number eight in their article "They is Risen" in response to his apparent resurrection in the Resident Evil series. GamesRadar gave praise to Wesker's death in Resident Evil 5 as it showed the character's strength due to the requirements to defeat him while D. C. Douglas's performance as the character also received positive comments during the self-bloopers from the series. According to PlayStation Universe, "From his perpetual shades, stoic persona and swanky haircut, Wesker has all the makings of an iconic – albeit somewhat stereotypical – videogame villain."

On the other hand, Play listed such fight as the third worst boss fight in the PlayStation 3 games, emphasizing how many times the player had to fight him until he is defeated. 1UP.com also ranked him as the top thing in the series that Resident Evil 5 "could do without" prior to its release. In 2012, Complex ranked him as the second "douchiest" video game character, stating, "Wesker has a following, yes, but there’s something very Agent Smith about him that makes us shake our heads."

External links

• IGN: Albert Wesker
• Albert Wesker at the Internet Movie Database