Ricardo Irving

Date of Birth: 1966

Height: 177 cm (5ft 10in)

Mass: 73kg (161 lb)

Blood Type: B

"Won't you two just die already? You're making me look bad! Who do you think got this entire operation off the ground? Research like this doesn't fund itself, you know! Yet everyone looks down on me... but not any more!"

Ricardo Irving is a character and the tertiary antagonist in Resident Evil 5. He can be described as a "thorough Mammonite": a person who has become successful through unjust methods. Irving himself served as part of TRICELL Africa, Inc.'s oil resource department, as well as a major seller in the bio-weapons black market.

Irving is the catalyst for the players' involvement in RE5 - the first part of the game is largely dedicated to hunting him down in order to bring him to justice for his crimes of bioterrorism.

Biography
Irving was a member of TRICELL Africa, Inc.'s Resource Development Division, serving as the director to their oil facility in the Kijuju wetlands. Alongside this official career was another, shadier side; Irving was one of the founders of TRICELL Africa's B.O.W. research department, serving alongside the likes of TRICELL Africa CEO Excella Gionne and infamous bioterrorist Albert Wesker. His role involved field-testing and subsequently selling TRICELL's products to bioterrorist organizations in Africa, giving him the reputation of a "death dealer" to those investigating him.

In 2006, Ricardo was contacted by Patrick, the butler of Oswell E. Spencer. Patrick revealed Spencer's location to Ricardo, and requested that he tell Albert Wesker, currently working with TRICELL after providing them the means to create Type-2 Plagas. Given the secrecy of the location, it is possible that Ricardo also told several people within TRICELL, one of whom leaked the location to the BSAA, leading to Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield following Wesker, thus setting into motion the events of 2009.



In 2008, further research into the Plaga parasite that TRICELL had obtained from Wesker led to a third incarnation, "Type-3". In order to test the new parasites, Irving used the local Sodibaya and Ndipaya tribes as guinea pigs, disguising the egg-implantations as a vaccination program to eradicate a dangerous disease moving through the region.

The B.S.A.A began to suspect some involvement after the sudden change in government in an undisclosed West African nation, leading to tensions in the Kijuju Autonomous Zone by the end of 2008. The BSAA agent Reynard Fisher made a number of reports regarding his suspicions of bioterrorist interest in the region, finally confirming it when Irving made an appearance; a photograph was subsequently posted to the BSAA Remote Desktop on February 19, 2009. From there, a link was drawn between Irving and reports of bizarre creatures comparable to the Plaga parasites discovered by Leon S. Kennedy in Spain five years prior.

Believing Irving to be completing another deal with bioterrorists in a warehouse in Kijuju, the BSAA North American branch sent in their Alpha Team alongside SOA agents Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, intent on capturing Irving at the deal coordinates. It was later revealed, however, that Irving was fully-aware of the BSAA's knowledge of him, with he and Jill Valentine releasing an Uroboros test subject into the warehouse, quickly killing off Alpha Team. After he and Sheva disposed of the creature, Chris managed to obtain a hard disk containing sensitive information, including the location of the "actual" deal location: the quarry at the other end of the mine. However, when the BSAA agents reached the quarry, they only found Irving and Jill (of whose identity Chris was unaware), who quickly fled. It became evident that Chris and Sheva were being led on a long 'goose-chase'.



Chris and Sheva tailed Irving through the savannah to a village, followed by the wetlands and finally the oil field supervised by the TRICELL employee. Along the way, Irving made several attempts to eliminate them, including releasing a Popokarimu and a Ndesu upon them. While he succeeded in decimating the BSAA's West African Delta team, he was not able to stop the two agents.

Eventually, Irving realized that nothing he could do would stop Chris and Sheva - instead, he planned to abandon TRICELL with his accumulated wealth. Before he could do so, he was ambushed by Jill Valentine, who forced him to finish the job of eliminating Chris and Sheva. She provided him with a Dominant Species Plaga sample and ordered him to use it against the BSAA agents. In hopes of avoiding such a fate, Irving attempted to destroy his enemies by blowing up the oil field. Unfortunately, due to the field being drier than expected, the agents had time to escape and continue their pursuit of Irving as he fled across the marsh.

Cornered on his boat, Irving had no choice but to inject himself with the Plaga sample, transforming into a massive tentacled monster that attacked Chris and Sheva from beneath the surface of the water. Despite his powerful new form, Irving was defeated by the two agents. As he lay dying on the deck of the boat, Irving refused to explain what TRICELL's ultimate plan was - however, he did tell the agents that all their answers were in a cave up ahead, also letting slip Excella Gionne's involvement.

Strategy
The mutated Irving attacks Chris and Sheva with his tentacles. When his tentacles rise out of the water, you must shoot them with a powerful weapon or the turrets aboard the boat. When Irving surfaces and begins swimming alongside or behind the boat, aim at the orange blob on his monstrous forehead to damage him.

Irving's smaller tentacles will emerge on multiple sides of the boat at once, but can be shot down fairly easily. His larger, claw-tipped tentacles usually emerge on one side of the boat in waves of two to four, and are only vulnerable in the orange band of flesh along their length. If left alone, the tentacles will eventually slam into the boat in an attempt to damage players - the smaller tentacles can be dodged with a button prompt, and the larger tentacles can be evaded by constantly moving around the boat. Irving can also lunge out of the water in an attempt to catch players in his jaws - keep an eye on his icon on the map and move to the opposite side of the boat if it appears to be charging at you.

After taking some damage, Irving will grab the back of the boat and open his mouth, revealing the remains of his human body on his tongue. Both players should open fire on the tongue, retreating to the other side of the deck when Irving submerges himself to avoid his lunging bite. After taking further damage, Irving will begin using his clawed tentacles - at this point, one player should try to disable them while the other continues attacking Irving's tongue.

Eventually, Irving will succumb to the BSAA agents' attacks.

Further notes

 * The "syringe" Irving uses to inject himself with the Dominant Species Plaga is quite strange, as it is an air-injector, compared to more conventional syringes (and does not have a needle).
 * As revealed in a diary entry written by Oswell E. Spencer's butler, Patrick, Irving had connections to a "female spy" who knew Albert Wesker. The spy is most likely Ada Wong.
 * When viewed in the figurines section of the Library, a reflection of a tropical island can be seen in Ricardo's glasses.