Golgotha Virus

Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

The G-Virus, preserved within a purple liquid.

The Golgotha Virus, abbreviated as G-Virus, is a retrovirus in the Progenitor family of viruses. It is noted for causing extreme mutation unusual in other Progenitor species like the t-Viruses, but also maintaining the biological stability of the organism - whereas t-Viruses cause severe deterioration in a body, rending various organs redundant, Golgotha causes beneficial mutation to the entire body, maintaining the body's ability to reproduce as well as enhancing regenerative abilities. When exposed to a corpse, Golgotha is capable of repairing and reviving dead cells in a process which can bring the dead back to life, something impossible for any naturally occurring virus to do.

History

G-Virus Project

Golgotha was isolated in 1988 by Dr. William Birkin, the chief researcher at Umbrella USA's top-secret Arklay Laboratory. Found in the body of Lisa Trevor, a human test subject, its discovery was made following her immune system's inexplicable destruction of an NE-α Type parasite, and could theoretically have existed since the late 1960s when testing on her began. As Golgotha was determined to be able to genetically alter a living being repeatedly and unpredictably as well as be able to repair damaged cells and revive the dead, it ran counter to Umbrella's plans to create reliable military-grade B.O.W.s that could be controlled by Army trainers. Umbrella Pharmaceuticals' CEO, Dr. Oswell E. Spencer, Earl Spencer, was nonetheless interested in Golgotha for its potential eugenics purposes, and authorised development as an R&D project unrelated to the t-Virus Project. Early research on Golgotha took place in France at an underground research complex led by Dr. Christine Henry, a French countess from a family connected to Dr. Spencer. This partnership ceased in 1991 with the completion of NEST within a limestone cavern in the outskirts of Raccoon City.

The G-Virus Project reached its final stages in 1998 alongside the t-Virus Project which Dr. Birkin also oversaw. Through the abduction of locals, the NEST researchers were able to get their hands on a number of test subjects for both projects, including children at a nearby orphanage. The accelerated use of test subjects was, in fact, so high that the newly-commissioned Incineration Disposal Plant P-12A suffered a biohazard due to having to process too much biowaste. As the months drew on, Dr. Birkin became increasingly frustrated with Umbrella's board of executives, with both becoming increasingly suspicious the other would seize the completed virus for themselves. He entered secret negotiations with the US military, instead, expecting to earn protection as a new addition to their own bio-weapons project. When Umbrella HQ's moles within the US military reported back on this new development, an Umbrella Security Service team was sent out to detain Dr. Birkin for crimes against Umbrella and seize the virus to complete its research under Dr. Henry in France.

On the night of 22 September, the USS made its attack on NEST and fatally wounded Dr. Birkin in their recovery. In his dying actions, he infected himself with a remaining sample of Golgotha and mutated into a powerful G mutant that massacred the security team, and leaked both Golgotha and the Tyrant Virus into the sewers. As Raccoon City soon fell to a t-Virus outbreak, Dr. Birkin continued to wander around, seeking people to implant with G-embryos to propagate his new species. How many Gs were created is uncertain, though it is known some corpses were also infected with the virus and became G-Zombies. Further attempts to steal Golgotha continued during the outbreak. Within NEST itself, Dr. Monica and a man later known as Dr. Frederic Downing both tried to escape Raccoon City with samples. In Dr. Monica's case she stole an embryo from an pre-final G test, and was killed by it during her escape attempt. In Dr. Downing's case, he succeeded in escaping with a virus sample, either from the finalised version or a near-finalised, and tried to make a new life for himself outside Raccoon City. The US Army made an attempt to recover the virus in the form of Delta Force, and used Umbrella's private subway system to get to the lab and retrieve it; unfortunately for them they took the wrong route and were killed at the P-12A plant. Umbrella's own attempt to retrieve Golgotha succeeded in the early hours of 30 September, when Alpha Team leader "HUNK" recovered a sample and got in touch with an Umbrella helicopter.

In the early hours of 30 September, Dr. Birkin parasitised his daughter, Sherry, which led to her being rushed to NEST to be treated with the DEVIL vaccine on the advice of Dr. Birkin's wife, Dr. Annette Birkin, by then the only surviving NEST still in the city. This vaccine was designed to halt mutations caused by the virus, but as a vaccine could not reverse mutation, the recommended procedure was an emergency surgery to remove G-cells in the body. This did not take place due to the severity of the outbreak, made worse by the facility undergoing a self-destruct and Annette's death. At the same time, the facility was infiltrated by Ada Wong, an agent for a rival company sent to retrieve a sample of Golgotha. Wong ultimately failed to retrieve a sample, though escaped with a skin tissue sample taken from Dr. Birkin. Dr. Birkin was himself killed attempting to escape NEST in an underground train, though accounts differ as to if he was killed by the train self-destructing or being consumed by the explosion from NEST.

Post-Raccoon City

Further research and modification of the Golgotha Virus took place in the years after Raccoon City, with Umbrella Europe, the rival company, Dr. Downing and the US military all succeeding in retrieving samples, the latter through placing Sherry Birkin in government custody as a means of both studying her G-cells and keeping her away from those seeking the virus.

Umbrella Europe used Golgotha in research on marrying the G- and t- Projects, in what became known as the t+G Virus. This virus was for the most part a t-Virus mutated from exposure within a hostile environment of G-antibodies, possibly within a G itself. The virus went through at least two iterations as research continued, and all known samples were stolen in September 2002 by terrorist Dr. Morpheus D. Duvall, and later destroyed with the destruction of a missile silo he had based himself in as well as a cruise ship he used to get there.

Golgotha was used by Dr. Downing in late 2005 as part of a black market bioweapons sales pitch to the Republic of Bajirib. Having radicalised Dr. Curtis Miller into using viral weapons as a means of politicing debate on them and revealing the US military's previous involvement with Umbrella USA, Dr. Downing sought to use footage of t-Virus outbreaks caused by Dr. Miller, as well as his own infection with Golgotha, as proof of concept. Bajirib was interested in both viruses, despite Dr. Downing's own recommendation against Golgotha, though the sale failed when USSTRATCOM was able to track him down and detain him.

Though the US military made no known attempts to create bioweapons after Raccoon City, The Family, an American exceptionalist movement with strong ties to the government and civil service, initiated the C-Virus Project on its behalf as a private endeavour, believing the US would inevitably return to developing bio-weapons and not wanting rival countries like China to advance beyond it in the meantime. Through access to Sherry, who herself had been confirmed to possess regenerative and anti-ageing abilities, The Family was able to obtain G-Cells from her body as well as any Golgotha virions being produced. By splicing G cells into a sample of t-Veronica obtained in 2002, the Crysalid Virus was able to cause extreme mutations in humans as well as revive the dead.

The BSAA has so far never been forced to combat a Golgotha outbreak. Nonetheless, their official policy is that if the virus is detected, the entire BSAA force is to be put on alert should the local branch be inadequate to destroying all trace, with that point being determined by the creation of new G-humans.

Transmission

Golgotha is believed to have three methods of transmitting between individuals. As a Progenitor strain, fluidic contact is possible, though has never been confirmed. The second method is the direct injection of the virus into the body, which has only been known to happen to Dr. Birkin and Dr. Miller; this method causes G-Cells to develop at their most extreme at the point of infection, spreading further around the body to a lower extent until a second evolution takes place. The final form is through direct and sustained contact with a G, which occurs when a human is made host to a G-embryo. Hosts with similar DNA to the embryo's parent will successfully bond with the parasite, and their body slowly become mutated by the virus until they become Gs. Those who are not of similar DNA will be rejected by the embryo, which will kill them as it breaks through their chest. Whether or not the host is sufficiently mutated enough to become a G-Zombie is unknown. DNA in a host is required to be similar enough to the embryo's parent that it is essentially limited to the immediate family.

Effects

A third eye on some part of the body (typically the shoulder) was a common feature of creatures imbued with the G-virus.

Golgotha infection can result in a number of types of organism based on circumstances. If infected directly with a large dosage, the virus will quickly mutate the whole organism until they become Gs. Mutant cells, dubbed G-Cells, produce more of the retrovirus and spread the virus further across the body. Unlike the t-Virus, which typically only causes a single mutation outside of the V-ACT process, Golgotha causes continuous mutations in an organism, allowing the organism to not only survive serious injury and recover, but to also mutate further into a more powerful mutant in a processed dubbed "evolution". A common mutation in these Gs are the development of eyes on evolved tissue. Another difference from t-Virus is that, unlike Zombies and many B.O.W.s, these Gs are known to be capable of reproducing, asexually in this case. Through this process, Gs of this type are seen to produce embryos from an organ in their upper body, and release them from their mouths into host organisms.

Another form of "G" is that of hosts who became hosts to the aforementioned embryos. In this case, the virus infects the host from the embryo, and changes their body through a slower rate of mutation, with the retrovirus evolving cells at such a rate that it is possible to vaccinate the host. As Sherry Birkin is the only known successful host, and also the only known host to be vaccinated, it is uncertain what she would have mutated into had her entire body been taken over by evolved G-Cells, though quite possible she would have become a mutant comparable to her father. Having only mutated to a degree, Sherry was able to develop significant regenerative abilities, able to quickly recover severe wounds, and aged at a slower rate. Unlike her father, her brain was not affected by the mutations, and she did not develop the regenerative instincts that took over he and Dr. Miller.

Those embryos that were rejected were able to survive on their own, and within minutes grew into adults. These Gs were known for their deformed human form, though with a large sack on their back and possessing a tail. The Gs were known to reproduce asexually, though their produce were sterile and unable to grow out of their embryonic stage.

The final type of G-mutant known to exist is that of the G-Zombie. These are corpses which were infected with the virus through any means, and were revived through the virus' ability to repair dead cells. G-Zombies do not mutate into organisms akin to Dr. Birkin, his daughter or even the G-Adults.

Microbiology

A primitive strain of the virus was isolated within the body of Lisa Trevor in 1988, and under the G-Virus Project a newer version of the virus was created which would induce more significant mutations than those experienced by Trevor.

Treatment

The G-Virus Project team were successful in their creation of a vaccine for the virus, codenamed DEVIL. Its purpose was to prevent accidental exposure to the staff. As typical with vaccines, it was most effective in patients not yet exposed to Golgotha, though it was also able to save patients already infected with the virus by halting further mutations and spread of G-Cells around the body. In vaccinated patients, the virus was still liable to be produced by G-Cells, though unlikely to cause another infection. Nonetheless, it was standard procedure at NEST to perform emergency surgery upon vaccination of infectees to guarantee the destruction of the virus by way of removing all G-Cells.

Further notes

• The localization for Resident Evil 2 erroneously inferred that the T-00 (referred to as "that monster that is tearing apart the precinct") was created by the G-Virus and that it was the ultimate bioweapon when Brian Irons was explaining its properties to Claire. In the original script, he instead commented that the virus has the ability to rapidly advance human evolution without even mentioning the T-00.

Gallery

G-Virus sample as seen in Resident Evil 2

G-Virus (purple) samples as seen in Resident Evil 2

William Birkin with a G-Virus sample in Resident Evil 2

HUNK taking a G-Virus sample in Darkside Chronicles - Memory of a Lost City

William Birkin injecting himself with the G-Virus in Darkside Chronicles - Memory of a Lost City

G-Virus sample landing near HUNK in Operation Raccoon City