Licker

The Licker is a mutation which reforms normal zombies into a more deadly and agile hunter.

History
The name "Licker" was given to this creature by the officers at the Raccoon City Police Department for their incredibly long tongues.

The most striking changes that occur when a zombie, normally in the transition from a Crimson Head to a Licker, are the exposed brain tissue, an increase in muscle development, and the total loss of skin. Because of the lack of skin-constraint and the development of muscular tissue, the Licker is very agile, capable of performing surprising jumps to incredible heights and distances and moving much more rapidly. Their quadrupedal bone structure makes it more suitable for them to crawl about on all fours. The Licker also uses its talons to scale vertical structures and ceilings with ease. This allows the creature to use predatory tactics to surprise their prey. These new hunting strategies also showcase its increased primal intellect. Finally, its elongated tongue is shown to be enormously powerful, capable of piercing human flesh and often being used to decapitate its prey. Although naturally quiet and a master of ambushes, the presence of a Licker can often be hinted at by the sound of their raw flesh and claws scraping against whatever surface they happen to be crawling along, as well as a sibilant hissing sound. When attacking or incurring damage, a Licker will also make a variety of screeching sounds, producing a particularly agonized scream when killed.

Lickers have lost the use of their eyes entirely and cannot track prey by sight. Their super developed hearing however more than compensates for the loss. Upon detecting potential prey it will attack full force with teeth, tongue and claws, often alerting others of its kind in the vicinity as well. Weapons that emit very little sound, such as the bowgun, are especially useful against these blind B.O.W.s.

There has also been confirmation of a further mutation of the Licker in the Raccoon City Underground Laboratory. It differs from the regular Licker in color, durability and claw size. However it appears to have very similar intelligence to normal Lickers, as its attack patterns are similar, however this Licker appears to be even sharper at detecting prey and much harder to sneak around. It is a theory that these creatures were augmented by Umbrella scientists in an attempt to create an even deadlier version of an already formidable being. Both Licker types were also present during the Sheena Island outbreak.

Licker β


A slightly modified variant of this B.O.W. was created by Tricell in response to the high black market demand for Lickers, usually bought by wealthy terrorists for their durability and intelligence. This Licker variant was created by injecting the progenitor virus into standard Lickers to increase their evolutionary potential. While this did not solve the sight problem all Lickers share it did increase their sense of hearing and smell slightly, as well as give them the ability to reproduce. This enhanced version was encountered by Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar in the Tricell African laboratory. In the first Resident Evil film, this mutation occurs when the Licker consumes a live victim infected with the t-Virus.

Evolved Licker


Seen in the Underground Laboratory of Raccoon City and in Sheena Island, evolved Lickers have greenish-grey skin color and large stinger like claws. They tend to be significantly more difficult to kill than ordinary Lickers. It is still unexplained how these Lickers have evolved into this form, since it is unknown if they were created through experimentation by Umbrella scientists, or are just a further mutation of the t-Virus.

Regis Licker


A unique Licker was encountered by a group of survivors in the Apple Inn during a fire. This creature was dubbed the Regis Licker or "Suspended". The subject was clearly a woman prior to infection judging by its remaining clothes, features and body shape, despite the half-transformed state. It did not yet have the ability to decapitate its prey using its already mutated tongue, but displayed the ability to use its tongue as a whip against attackers.

Resident Evil films
In the live-action films, the Licker is created by directly injecting the t-Virus into live human tissue. The Licker could also evolve after consuming fresh human tissue that could increase the infection rate, causing the victim to mutate. This happened to Matt Addison, who was later used by Umbrella in the Nemesis Program. Lickers appeared in Resident Evil, and Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but did not appear in Resident Evil: Extinction, and instead were replaced with a new monster to the films: the crow.

Novels and comics
In the novelization of Resident Evil 2 by S.D. Perry, Lickers are a form of B.O.W. vaguely tied to the Hunter line. It should be noted that this was written before Capcom confirmed that Lickers are a final evolutionary form for Zombies.

A similar error occurred with Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine, which portrayed the Licker as deriving from the G-virus.

Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game
Lickers appear as Infected cards in Resident Evil DBG. They are reasonably powerful infected that have 40 health and hit for 30 damage if they are not defeated. They are removed from the game in Mercenaries Mode and return in the first expansion set, Alliance in the form of Licker Betas. Licker Betas have only 35 Health but deal the same amount of damage as their counterparts. The second expansion set Outbreak introduced another Licker card. its based on the Evolved Licker from RE2, but here they are called Reinforced Lickers. Reinforced Lickers only have 30 Health and deal 30 Damage, but are especially dangerous for their effect. Their effect states that weapons that have an Ammo requirement of 0, deal 0 damage. This makes weapons such as Knives, Grenades, Bows, Flamethrowers, the rocker launcher, and melee weapon cards such as Submission and Stun Rod useless. In essence, this makes characters such as Jack Krauser, Jill Valentine, Mark Wilkins, and David King (who all depend on these types of weapons for their effects) essentially useless against them. The original Licker card is worth 3 Decorations, and its successors are worth the same amount.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Lickers (technically Licker Beta) appear in the Tricell Laboratory stage in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. They are contained in glass cages similar to the ones in Resident Evil 5. The glass will crack and eventually shatter if powerful moves are unleashed, causing the Lickers to escape and begin running around the area. Some will attempt to lash the fighters with their tongues. An interesting attention to detail is shown if more Hyper Combos are used; the Lickers will die, dissolve (like dying enemies in RE4 and RE5), and will spawn items such as in the games. The items that appear include Green Herbs, First Aid Sprays, Grenades, Rifle Ammo, and more.

Appearances

 * Game appearances:
 * Resident Evil 2 (debut)
 * Resident Evil Survivor
 * Resident Evil Outbreak
 * Resident Evil Outbreak File 2
 * Resident Evil 5
 * Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
 * Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City


 * Film appearances:
 * Resident Evil
 * Resident Evil: Apocalypse
 * Resident Evil: Damnation

Trivia
thumb|300px|right|Licker Beta Death scene
 * Resident Evil 5 wasn't the first game in the series to showcase a change in the Licker's design. In the Resident Evil Outbreak series, Lickers were portrayed as spindly creatures with underdeveloped muscles, elongated fingers and toes, where as the Lickers in Resident Evil 2 (and later the Darkside Chronicles) were robust creatures with pronounced muscles and overdeveloped forearms that supported thick talons. While there is no official reason as to why the same creature is portrayed in stark contrast between Resident Evil 2 and the Outbreak series, it is possible that the Lickers in Resident Evil 2 were developed by Umbrella as B.O.W's, while the Lickers in the Outbreak series are Crimson Heads in the advanced stages of "V-ACT". This theory is supported by the fact that Crimson Heads have been confirmed to appear in the upcoming Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, proving that Crimson Heads were in fact present during the Raccoon City incident and the fact that both creatures share many of the same traits.
 * Despite its name being given by the RPD officers, Lickers never given an actual name or codename by Umbrella. However, it is known that Tricell also named them Lickers. Either this is merely a coincidence or a reference to the Raccoon City incident.
 * In the Resident Evil 2's novelization, Sherry refers to them as "inside-out men". Her mother Annette refers to the creature as an Re3 (a title not used anywhere other than the novels) before correcting herself and declaring them as Lickers. The novel implies the Lickers were developed as planned B.O.W.s rather than a stage of zombie evolution, referring to them as reptillian in design.
 * Lickers bear a striking resemblance to the Marvel Comics villain Venom, or more specifically, Venom's offspring, Carnage. Both Lickers and Carnage have red coloration, long tongues, and the ability to climb nearly any surface.
 * Prototype's hunters bear a close resemblance to Lickers.
 * It can be presumed that the Licker has regained the high intelligence level formerly lost in its zombie stage of development; in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, they are seen to be aware of the technology behind security cameras and promptly destroy them.
 * In the upcoming CG Resident Evil movie, Resident Evil: Damnation (which currently has a 2012 release date), multiple creatures heavily resembling the original Lickers were shown in the first teaser trailer for the film when they were closing in on Leon S. Kennedy, the only known character currently confirmed for the film.
 * The Smoker from the Left 4 Dead franchise resembles the Licker in a way, as they are both infected that utilize their tongues as weapons. Also similar with the Hunter, as both crawl and pounce on the player.
 * In the Resident Evil 2 demo, the Licker had a brutal kill move in which it would pounce Leon/Claire and repeatedly smash the characters head into the ground until it caved in. However in the finished product this death scene was removed.
 * In the episode Dream Stalker, of Xiaolin Showdown one of the villain, Hannibal Roy Bean, transforms into a creature bearing a striking similarity with a Licker. Exposed brain, claws and even an extendable tongue.
 * In the Outbreak series the player can avoid confrontation by walking and not ad-libing. This is because the Licker can't hear the player.
 * Also in the outbreak series, Lickers will just get taunt and will respawn shortly after "dying" and go around as if anything happened.
 * In the RE: Damnation trailer, it was shown that a pack of Lickers were capable of taking on a small group of armed soldiers and a tank, thus proving themselves to be one of Umbrella's most effective B.O.W. in the battlefield.
 * In the outbreak series, its tongue attack will inflict the player a great amount of infection rate.
 * The Lickers are the only enemy in Resident Evil 2 that can do an instant death attack; If a player has been bitten 3 times, or is in a caution status, a Licker will jump attack them slitting their throat, killing the players instantly. Additionally, if a player has full health (cured even from a single bite) this attack will put the player into a orange caution status.
 * The Lickers are more agressive and hard to dodge in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 5 than their counterparts in Survivor (where a player can just walk backwards to dodge any of their attacks) and the Outbreak series.