Nikolai Zinoviev

I am one of the supervisors, that's all you need to know!

Nicholai Zinoviev (based on Russian Николай Зиновьев), codenamed "Silver Wolf", was a ruthless U.B.C.S. operative and Monitor agent in the Umbrella Corporation.

Raccoon City
You can either accept it with dignity or die with regret! It's entirely up to you!

Nicholai served as a squad leader, with the rank of Sergeant, when the U.B.C.S. was sent into Raccoon City by Umbrella in an effort to contain the t-Virus outbreak. The company, save for a few monitors planted within, was given false orders intentionally by Umbrella in the guise of protecting the city's population. His true nature was as a member of the company's secret internal espionage organization known as the "Monitors", with the covert mission to gather combat data on Zombies and B.O.W.s, along with any other dangers in the infested city. With each collection of information, the agent in question would receive a large monetary reward.

Delta Platoon - which he was assigned to - suffered heavy casualties, with only he, corporal Carlos Oliveira and Lieutenant Mikhail Victor surviving; Nicholai had already betrayed his unit by locking them in a room full of zombies. Upon the inclusion of former S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine into the group, he knew that the Nemesis-T Type was after her and decided to fake his death in order to not interfere with it's mission. They prepared for evacuation to the Saint Michael Clock Tower. Before the tram could be started however, Nicholai was either attacked by zombies or trapped inside the Gas Station (his fate may change depending on where the player finds Carlos).

Two days later, in the early hours of October 1, he was in the Raccoon General Hospital where he was seen by Carlos, either attacking a fellow U.B.C.S. member named Tyrell Patrick, or with Tyrell telling him that Nicholai shot him. Carlos later has to run away from C4 charges planted by Nicholai which later blew up the building.

Nicholai used his position to assume command of a U.B.C.S. team tasked with "Operation: Emperor's Mushroom"; to retrieve a sample of blood from a Tyrant named Thanatos. Thanatos proved to be too much for the team to handle, so Nicholai was forced to enact the contingency plan; he killed Greg Mueller with a silenced pistol and then destroyed Raccoon University. This failed, resulting in Thanatos mutating into its super Tyrant form. However, he had escaped long before the buildings, and thus the Tyrant's destruction.

He went to the Raccoon Park where he met Jill again, revealing his real plans, before escaping to the "Dead Factory" upon the arrival of a giant worm.

Jill met him for a final time within the factory grounds, where he commandeered a helicopter - the same helicopter Carlos told Jill about.

Fate

 * The player's choice affects Nicholai's fate.
 * 1) If Jill jumps off the bridge (canon), Nicholai takes the last helicopter, and Jill has the choice to either blow up his helicopter and kill him, or try reason with him, which allows him to escape.
 * 2) If Jill didn't jump off the bridge, then Nicholai is killed by Nemesis.

A copy of a report written by him was available to personnel on Sheena Island the following month, though the final entry dated after the city's destruction was signed by a member of Umbrella B.O.W. Development Staff, rather than Nicholai.

The BradyGames strategy guide for CODE:Veronica features a report written by Nicholai to Umbrella, dated October 13, 1998, he detailed some of the data he gathered there during his mission, which included information regarding the Arklay Mountains outbreak; the Special Tactics And Rescue Service's investigation of the Arklay Laboratory, and the subsequent destruction of the mansion facade. He correctly speculated on Albert Wesker faking his death to betray Umbrella. He informed Umbrella of the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members and his encounter with Jill, warning them that they were a grave threat to the corporation and should be eliminated. The report is written by Dan Birlew and is not canon.

A timeline in RE5 confirmed that Nicholai took the last helicopter (which in turn also confirms that Jill did indeed jump off the bridge) but does not confirm whether Jill shot down the helicopter or tried to reason with him.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
"Nicholai Genovaef, U.B.C.S. D-Platoon, B-Squad.

My team was sent here to rescue citizens, but there's no time for that..."

- Nicholai, upon meeting Wolfpack.

Early Confirmation
Nicholai's appearance in Operation Raccoon City was first hinted during the Inserted Evil ARG. His presence was later confirmed when he was added to the list of "Key Persons" on the Japanese website for the game. Furthermore, he appeared in the Gamer's day trailer. released on October 31.

Appearance/Role
"They have served their purpose most excellently. Just as YOU will too!"

Wolfpack first encounters Nicholai in Raccoon City Hall, during the level Corruption. Nicholai's appearance is similar to his original look in Resident Evil 3. His exact role in the game's storyline is unknown, although he is involved in activities similar to those of RE3. He is seen using a SIG P226 and a Heckler & Koch PSG-1.

At a security console in Raccoon City Hall, Wolfpack sees footage of Nicholai betraying his team earlier that day. This footage can also be seen in the Inserted Evil ARG.

He later sets up a trap for the Wolfpack in the level Lights Out, having set up explosives in the Raccoon City Hospital, going so far as to rig bombs onto zombies. Over the hospital loudspeaker, he mentions a "side project" he's working on for another client, without specifying who this new client is.

Multiplayer
Nicholai will be a playable character in the game's Heroes Mode. He is shown utilizing a sniper rifle and explosives.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Zack Ward portrayed Nicholai in the second film: Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

Trivia

 * In the novelization of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, author Keith R.A. DeCandido changes Nicholai's surname to "Sokolov."
 * This might be a reference to the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater character of the same name.
 * Although "Ginovaef" is not actually a Slavic name, its pronunciation in Russian is the same as the real name "Zinoviev", leading one to believe that this was a translation error on the part of the game's translator in an attempt to romanize the name based on pronunciation. As with "Laboratory"'s routine translation to "Research Facility" and "Oswell" to "Ozwell", it can be assumed that one localization team copied another.
 * Nicholai is the only major character of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis to not appear in any FMVs.
 * In Russian translation of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Nicholai's name was changed to "Nicholai Zhukov/ Николай Жуков".
 * Nicholai and Mikhail were originally intended to be brothers with Nicholai as the younger and darker of the two.
 * In recently released REORC footage, his name is spelled Genovaef in the subtitles.