Albert Wesker/development

Appearances
First seen as a supporting character in the first Resident Evil, Wesker appears in the game as the captain of the S.T.A.R.S. unit and leader of its Alpha team division. He was given the appearance of the cool guy archetype, as evidenced by his character title screen in the original game, where he slicked his hair back and then entered a cool-type pose, as well as his wearing shades. Wesker disappears early in the game and only makes one sporadic appearance through the course of the story. Near the end of the game, the player (as either Chris or Jill) discovers that Wesker is a double agent working for Umbrella and either witnesses the death of Wesker at the hands of the Tyrant (in nearly all the endings) or finds his decapitated body inside the power generator next to the self-destruct module (in Jill's best ending in the original version). It should be noted, however, that in the remake of Resident Evil for the GameCube, Jill's best ending allows Wesker to escape completely, as his body is not found in the Power Room. In addition, it is implied in both versions that he was responsible for the disappearance of the character the player chose not to play as (in Jill's campaign, Wesker is implied to have somehow captured Chris and locked him up in the prison cell of Arklay Laboratory around the time Jill and Barry investigated the Tea Room for a gunshot, while in Chris's scenario, Wesker had been implied to have subdued Jill while Chris was away investigating the aforementioned gunshot and left her pistol behind).

His role in PACHI-SLOT biohazard, a Pachinko-based version of the first Resident Evil (more specifically the REmake), is similar, although it instead shows Wesker directly observing Chris, Jill, Barry, and Rebecca's progress via a hidden control room. In addition to his role in the main story, he is also the main antagonist of Wesker Mode, where he unleashes 49 monsters to attack the player from within his hideout. Winning Wesker mode by taking out all 49 monsters will have the player character catch Wesker off-guard as well as winging him in the shoulder before holding him up and presumably arresting him.

Wesker makes a surprise return in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, having been revived with new superpowers and apparently working for one of Umbrella's competitors. He later appears as a supporting character in Resident Evil Zero and an incidental role in Resident Evil 4 (which is explored further in the PlayStation 2 and Wii version, due to the inclusion of the Separate Ways scenario and Ada's Report). He is also the narrator of the fictional documentary, Wesker's Report, a DVD which covers the events of the previous installments and was released as a pre-order bonus with Resident Evil Code: Veronica X (an updated version of the original Code: Veronica). It was followed by an Internet sequel, titled Wesker's Report II.

From both Wesker Reports, it is learned that Wesker is a Machiavellian schemer who had a hand in the events of nearly all the games in the series, except Resident Evil: Survivor and Resident Evil: Dead Aim, where the entire scenarios were created by rogue operatives outside of Wesker's control. Although his physical presence is not constant and indeed quite rare, the effects of his plans can be visibly seen in almost every game of the series.

In Umbrella Chronicles, players further explore how Wesker survives and escapes the mansion incident during the final moments before the explosion. As he narrates a series of events he either witnesses or takes part in, the player learns how he helps Ada escape Raccoon City as well as how he manages to seize control of the Umbrella Corporation.

Albert Wesker is the main antagonist within Resident Evil 5, in which the truth of his upbringing, and the extent of his connection to Oswell E. Spencer, is revealed by Spencer himself. He serves as the final opponent for Chris and Sheva in a three-part boss battle. He also appears in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles in a flashback of Code: Veronica and during the end of Operation Javier, where he is seen peering below at Javier's body through binoculars.

He appears as one of playable characters in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.

Gameplay


Wesker was an unlockable character in the Battle Mode featured in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, as well as in the "Mercenaries" mini-games for Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. A (non-canonical) "zombified" version of Wesker also appeared as an enemy in the bonus Battle Mode featured in the Saturn version of the original game. In Umbrella Chronicles, Wesker is playable in unlockable chapters that further delve into his involvement behind-the-scenes.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica
In Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Wesker follows the tradition of the villain getting only a knife in the minigame just like Tofu and U.B.C.S. operative Nikolai Zinoviev. Wesker's run is quite challenging, but he has incredible stamina and very damaging knife attacks to cover for this. He later has the option of getting a Magnum out of a slot machine for the upcoming boss fight but gets no additional ammunition for it so its use must be highly regulated. Sometimes the slot machine will give Wesker a file instead of the Magnum, leaving the player to fight the boss with nothing more than the knife and their own wits. It should be noted that this file does not help the player in the least, as it is just a diary of the mouse Claire encountered in the main game.

Resident Evil 4
In the Resident Evil 4 minigame the Mercenaries, Wesker is considerably better equipped and capable of destruction. He starts with all 3 types of grenades (4 frag, 3 flash and 1 incendiary), a moderately upgraded Killer7, a fully upgraded standard handgun with a silencer not seen anywhere else in the game, an almost fully upgraded semi-automatic rifle without the enhanced scope, and a first aid spray. His stamina is the same as Leon's. He also has some of the most powerful melee attacks in the game (a "thrust punch" that can strike several enemies with titanic force and a "chikyo chagi" axe kick that can crush an enemy's head). While his starting inventory is strong, it does have 2 downsides: firstly, there is little room for anything else in the inventory, and secondly, Wesker starts with no reserve ammunition for any of his weapons. Despite the lack of extra ammunition, Wesker can easily take on any foe. The Killer7 Magnum allows him to kill strong foes such as the Garrador and the fearsome Giant Chainsaw Man. The rifle is immensely powerful and is virtually a one hit kill weapon against all normal enemies, and the player can find ample ammunition for it. The pistol, though not a greatly effective weapon on its own, enables Wesker to stun enemies to allow for his immensely powerful special attacks. When an enemy is stunned by a headshot, Wesker is able to perform the "Thrust Punch" attack, which deals heavy damage (enough to generally be considered an instant kill) to the target and all other enemies directly in front of Wesker. Although the Thrust Punch is powerful and resourceful, it make take a couple seconds for a kill to be recognized (if the enemy wasn't damaged enough before using it) and has the potential of ending a combo. Shooting foes in the knees may also allow for Wesker's "chikyo chagi" axe kick, which will crush the head of the target while also damaging nearby enemies as well as kill any fallen enemies in its radius. The handgun also has a decapitation rate that is five times greater than normal, rarely allowing the Plaga to show themselves; a useful feature. Wesker does not have a knife, thus he cannot simply slash an enemy to perform a melee move.

Resident Evil (REmake)
Though Wesker is not playable in any form in the remake of the first game, he is an NPC in Chris' scenario during the battle with Lisa Trevor. Wesker is not quite as active as Barry is in this fight, and simply stands close to the ladder leading out of the tomb firing at Lisa. He never misses a shot unless Lisa is knocked off a ledge by the player. Unfortunately, Wesker can be targeted by Lisa and "killed" if she knocks him off a ledge, though it will not cause a game over. Despite this, he is later seen in the lab.

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
In Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, the Nintendo DS version of the first Resident Evil, Wesker is a playable character in the game's multiplayer mode. He is unlockable by completing the Master of Knifing minigame once with either Jill or Chris. In the multiplayer mode, he wields a specialized version of the Samurai Edge handgun.

Resident Evil 5


Wesker is a playable character in Resident Evil 5. He has a whole new barrage of martial arts to employ on his unlucky adversaries. He comes in his "Midnight" (30,000 exchange points.) and "S.T.A.R.S." (50,000 exchange points.) outfits, and he is outfitted with an H&K P8, S&amp;W M500, Grenades, Proximity Bomb,handgun bullets, and magnum rounds in his first outfit, and his Samurai Edge, Lightning Hawk, and Hydra, as well as ammo in his second. These are his attacks in Resident Evil 5.

His Windfall is similar to Chikyo Chagi, his leg drop/axe kick move from Resident Evil 4, and his Cobra Strike is akin to the lethal killing Thrust Punch from Resident Evil 4. Wesker has an easier time instant killing enemies in Mercenaries due to his Cobra Strike, which only needs a headshot or Flash Grenade to enable. His Windfall also deals a high damage. His magnum will kill the Big Man Majini and Reaper in one shot, the latter if on the weak spot, and in some cases it will also down weaker bosses like Giant Majini in one hit. However, players should be wary of damage, as he does not start the mission with a healing item. He also has a dash move accessible through clicking the movement stick as well as the ability to use Knee Cannon chained off of dash. However, health is depleted during the use of the dash function. Getting an A rank on "The Mines" unlocks "Midnight", While getting an A rank on "Prison" unlocks "S.T.A.R.S."

Marvel vs. Capcom
Albert Wesker was unveiled as a playable character along with Spider-Man at the Tokyo Game Show 2010, appearing in his Resident Evil 5 attire. He has been shown using martial arts, his Samurai Edge and the ability to "teleport" with a move called Phantom Move, and also packs the Windfall, Panther Fang(as his standing medium), and Tiger Uppercut (also as a special) as normal moves, Cobra Strike, Ghost Butterfly, Mustang Kick (as a throw attack), and Jaguar Kick (Renamed from Knee Cannon and can be done from a new move called Jaguar Dash) as special moves, and the Rhino Charge as a Hyper Combo, this time done as a reversal/counter move. A new move which is a stronger version of his Collide attack acts as one of his Hyper Combos, named the Phantom Dance. (Jokingly called "Maximum Wesker" by Seth Killian due to resembling Spider-Man's Maximum Spider, which is even referenced by Deadpool in UMVC3.)

Gameplay
In his Level 3 Hyper Combo, Lost in Nightmares (named after the Resident Evil 5 DLC), Wesker attacks the opponent with fast attacks while "teleporting" from one side to the other, and at the end he launches the opponent then drops a missile on them, similar to the second time you fight Wesker in Resident Evil 5 (where if you waited too long he will start to launch missiles at Chris Redfield or Sheva Alomar). His rival in this game appears to be Spider-Man, since both characters acquired super human strength through genetic manipulation (radioactive spider bite, and virus injection respectively), both have very fast reflexes and have a lot of stamina. Spider-Man quotes: "You have great power Albert, but you're not very responsible with it" upon defeating him in battle. He is also one of the few characters to have a counter move.

Wesker can also lose his shades in battle, either by constantly getting hit to have them shatter, or by performing the Phantom Dance (he'll remove them at the start of the attack). If tagged out, then tagged back in however, oddly enough his sunglasses will be back on in normal condition, even if his glasses are broken part-way instead of being removed. He can also regain his glasses by taunting. This aesthetic detail surprisingly changes his gameplay. In the game, characters can activate a "super mode" called X-Factor, which increases their speed, damage output, and regenerates their health. Its level is determined by how many partners the player's character has lost (Level 2 for one partner down, Level 3 for both, etc.). He seems to shout "damn it!" during its activation possibly nodding to the amount of control needed for his virus (his X-Factor may be Wesker's virus out of control for a brief moment).

In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Wesker's health levels were nerfed (1,100,000 to 1,000,000, the same amount as Ryu). He also can increase the damage of Phantom Dance by rapidly tapping buttons, a new feature given to several if not almost all characters' Hyper Combos in UMVC3. Also an added feature is the removal of Wesker's shades increases his speed and damage equivalent to a level 1 X-Factor, and can be stacked with the additional levels. Therefore, after Wesker has lost his sunglasses and both of his partners, he can activate what is essentially a Level 4 X-Factor, making him the fastest character in the game.

Wardrobe
Wesker wears a different outfit for each of his appearances, but they are always black. He always keeps his trademark sunglasses, even in situations that seem inappropriate, such as during S.T.A.R.S. operations in the middle of the night. However, the sunglasses he wore from Code Veronica onward were a different pair, as he destroyed his prior sunglasses after stepping on them in the beginning of the Rebirth side-mission of Umbrella Chronicles, in a symbolic act of how he was going against Umbrella (due to the sunglasses being Umbrella standard-issue). In Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero, he wears a standard S.T.A.R.S. uniform similar to those of Chris and Barry, but completely black, with a navy blue under-shirt. He wears a more streamlined outfit in Resident Evil Code: Veronica with the acronyms H.C.F (Hive/Host Capture Force) written on the back. During a fist-fight with Chris Redfield, his sunglasses are knocked from his face, revealing that his eyes have changed from normal human eyes to slitted eyes with a red-orange hue. He wears a different, more sophisticated outfit during his appearance in Resident Evil 4 and the Dark Legacy levels in Umbrella Chronicles, sporting a black turtle-neck sweatshirt, black trousers and jacket over his turtle neck, as well as black gloves. In Resident Evil 5, his attire becomes more sinister and supports a leather trench coat with black leather boots, gloves, pants and a short sleeve shirt all complete with his trademark sunglasses.

Voice
Wesker's voice has been supplied by Sergio Jones for the original Resident Evil as well as the DS port Resident Evil: Deadly Silence; Richard Waugh in CODE: Veronica, its expanded rerelease CODE: Veronica X, Resident Evil Zero, and Resident Evil 4, Peter Jessop in the REmake, and DC Douglas in The Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil 5, The Darkside Chronicles, and Revelations 2. Richard Waugh's performance as Wesker was influential enough to influence Jason O'Mara's portrayal of the character in Resident Evil: Extinction as well as DC Douglas's portrayal of the character. Waugh's portrayal of Wesker was modeled after George Sander's role of Shere Khan from the Disney film The Jungle Book, while DC Douglas's portrayal was modeled after the British singer and actor David Bowie.