(Capcom's primary storyline)
The Marhawa Desire,[1] otherwise known as the Marhawa Incident,[1] was a series of cannibalistic homicides and other murders that occurred at the exclusive Christian academy, Marhawa School, located in Ellnaul, Northern Kudahnkan. The instigators of the violence, students Bindi Bergara and Nanan Yoshihara, deliberately infected a number of other students with C-Virus, a bioweapon developed by The Family and Neo Umbrella. Based on comments by Bergara, the murders were intended as a crusade, with Bergara and Yoshihara fulfilling divine orders.[2] Following several days of targeted attacks on students, Bergara and Yoshihara released the virus to the general population. In spite of BSAA attempts to contain the situation, the entire population of the boarding school including staff were killed, either from severe injuries, suicide or killed in self-defence.
In addition to the massacre, Bergara and Yoshihara were themselves working on behalf of Dr. Carla Radames, a senior researcher for the American fraternity, The Family, who was perfecting the C-Virus bioweapon by radicalizing and aiding potential customers to accumulate research data. Due to the disappearance of Radames before she could be identified, the incident's connection to later uses of C-Virus was not identified in spite of multiple uses over the following year. In agreement between the UN and Kudahnkan authorities, the incident was subjected to a media blackout.[3]
Background[]
A Map of the school in 2011. The south side consisted of administrative buildings, with dormitories on the west, and the church to the north.
Marhawa School was a prestigious Christian boarding school located within the expansive forests of Ellnaul. Under the leadership of Mother Gracia Delenikas, the school maintained a policy of near-total isolation from the outside world, with students provided with recreation and on-site shops to eliminate the need for interaction with people from outside the school.[4][5] Due to Delenikas' iron grip on the academy, the only transportation too and from the school during semesters was by staff, with a large garage of vehicles that could be used for security patrols. Due to this concentration of people in an isolated, prison-like existence, the school made the perfect target for bioweapons testing.
The Marhawa school crest, usually worn on students' uniforms.
Dr. Carla Radames took interest in using the school three months before the initial attacks after witnessing schoolgirls Bindi Bergara and Nanan Yoshihara attempting to escape into the forest, where Yoshihara suffered a terminal head injury and was declared dead.[6] When provided with samples of C-Virus, Bergara was able to restore Yoshihara to life as a Lepotica mutant, and made plans to destroy the school form the inside as her revenge. While not directly coordinated with Radames from this time onward, the actions were done so with Radames' constant watch.[6]
Events[]
Initial attacks[]
Ra-Na Bae, chained up by school security ahead of her euthanising.
Rather than attack the school as a whole right away, Bergara and Yoshihara spent the next three months planning out their attacks before being ready. With Yoshihara believed dead, she frequently hid in Bergara's bedroom.[7] The first victim of the two was Ra-Na Bae, who was infected by Yoshihara while alone in a class-room.[8] Quickly developing Cannibal Disease, Bae attacked and killed another student arriving soon after.[9] The incident was successfully covered-up by Delenikas, and school security moved Bae and the corpse away and cleaned-up the room.
Later in the week, BSAA advisor Dr. Doug Wright and his nephew Ricky Tozawa arrived at the school on invitation from Delenikas.[10] Though they verified the use of a bioweapon and recommended Daylight be provided to the students as a precaution, Delenikas refused his suggestion of alerting the BSAA. In the night, Bergara and Yoshihara caught Alisa Lin heading out to snoop on Tozawa and was infected.[8] Lin entered Tozawa's room and mauled him while he was in bed. Tozawa was saved by school security, who proceeded to hack Lin to death. As Cannibal Disease caused by C-Virus is not typically contagious, Tozawa himself was merely injured and recovered.[11] The following morning, the contaminated bodies were incinerated in an abandoned building, which was covered-up as an accident waiting to happen.[12] In the evening, Delenikas herself was the target of an assassination attempt, with a male student infected outside her office. The attack failed, however and the student was shot dead. As Bergara was resting at the nurse's office after inhaling fumes from the fire, this may have been Yoshihara acting alone.[13]
Machinery room incident[]
The following day, workmen arrived to perform maintenance checks on the school's underground machinery room, making them another target. A meeting between Radames and Bergara was put on hold by the interruption of Tozawa, which may have been regarding this.[4] Yoshihara had already been placed in the room before the workmen arrived, and they were quickly set-upon. Four of the workmen were infected, and they went on to mutilate the fifth, who lost his hand in the attack before hiding in a control room.[14] A teacher was also badly mauled when he checked on their progress, which alerted school security.[4] In the night, Wright and Tozawa, as well as senior guard Tahir Kapoor and teacher Ray Hsu ventured into the machinery room in the evening to kill the workmen. Bergara herself joined the group; having already been told of the biohazard by Tozawa, she could join their group as a mole and be able to rescue Yoshihara.[4][8]
During the investigation of the facility, the team killed a workman and made their way to the control room, where they found the fifth workman. Dying of severe blood loss, he warned them of Yoshihara, who he could only describe as a hooded girl. This information was crucial for Wright, who could now confirm the virus was being purposely spread to individuals, rather than being uncoordinated and infecting random people.[15] The other workmen soon arrived, resulting in Hsu dying after his carotid artery was torn open. Both he and the fifth workman were however revived by the C-Virus nonetheless and turned their focus on Kapoor's team.[16] Using the attack to her benefit, Bergara was able to escape into the sewers with Yoshihara.[8][16] When Tozawa unexpectedly followed, she pretended to have feinted upon seeing her friend.[17] Following the slaying of the five workers and Hsu, the remaining members of the group were given aide by Delenikas, with Bergara taken away for medical treatment. Unable to cover-up the deaths of the workers, this incident was declared to be a fatal electrical accident.[5]
School Festival incident[]
In spite of the incident at the machinery room and warnings of the hooded girl,[5] Delenikas allowed the Marhawa School Festival to go ahead as planned two days later.[18] The school's security was given handguns to better deal with any more mutants, including Wright and Tozawa.[18] In a climb from previous incidents, Bergara and Yoshihara escalated their planning towards public attacks. Keeping at a distance, Yoshihara infected two male students who had skipped out on the festival,[18] and they themselves began attacking students at the main event in the central garden. Bergara began shooting the two with crossbows and warned the students of the biohazard to drive a panic.[19]
In spite of the public nature of the killings, Delenikas was able to cover-up the incident once more, where she declared the attacks to be a prank that had gone out of hand. To keep Bergara from causing more problems, Delenikas removed her from the student council and suspended her from the school for three months, during which she was to restrict herself to her room.[20]
Main attack, first stage[]
Students praying for salvation before Bergara's attack on the church.
Bergara's suspension failed to stop the killings from taking place and, arguably, pushed her to more extreme actions. In the day following the festival attack, Radames delivered a new set of C-Virus vials and medicines for both herself and Yoshihara, which convinced her to infect herself with the virus.[7][8] Either with Radames' help, or by Bergara herself earlier in the week, the security cars were sabotaged to prevent mass-escape.[21] In the meantime, Yoshihara herself had tracked down and confronted by the Kapoor on one of the rooftops. Confronted by armed men, Yoshihara fought back, stabbing Wright and severing Kapoor's right arm before breathing C-Virus into his lungs to turn him into Zombie. Rather than kill Tozawa, she fled back to Bergara's room to sleep, while the whole fight was recorded by Radames on a neighboring rooftop.[22]
After Yoshihara's identity as the hooded woman at the machinery room was confirmed, Tozawa correctly deduced Bergara was behind the attacks. His attempt to detain her failed, however, as she had already infected herself. Beating Tozawa up, she ran out into the school grounds and caused a scene. Having woken up, Yoshihara walked into the crowd and began attacking students, both perforating them with her tentacles and releasing C-Virus as an airborne pathogen to turn the campus residents into Zombies.[8] While Yoshihara travelled around the school spreading the C-Virus further, Bergara searched for Delenikas herself, killing any student in her way.[21]
The spontaneous nature of the outbreak made it difficult for students and staff to hold-out. During the attack, there were instances of children sacrificing one another to the Zombies to give themselves a chance to escape.[21] One student, Xiao, developed Cannibal Disease and was thrown out of a window with her boyfriend as part of a murder-suicide. Some other students had hung themselves to avert the fate of being eaten alive.[23] Some students like Nguyen Thi Quan were prepared to fight their way out, though knew only to go to Delenikas for protection.[21] Others still flocked to the church for spiritual protection.[2] Quan and Tozawa worked together to reach Delenikas, who had been stalked towards a conference room by Bergara.[24]
Many students chose to kill themselves rather than face the Zombies.
Bergara herself succeeded in locating Delenikas, and was shot in the head almost immediately upon confronting her for the headmistresses' crimes. Being a mutant, this failed to kill Bergara and she began mutating outwardly. After several more attempts, the rogue student grew a powerful right arm which she used to fatally wound Mother Gracia. When Quan saw Delenikas' body, she attacked Bergara with a baseball bat. However, this did nothing to her, and Bergara used her unaltered arm to throw her out the window where Quan was hounded and cannibalized by the zombies.[25]
BSAA intervention[]
In spite of Delenikas' refusal to alert the authorities, a three-man BSAA team made its way into Marhawa School. The three, Cpt. Chris Redfield, Merah Biji and Piers Nivans, were investigating the apparent disappearance of Wright and were unprepared to deal with the situation. From the rooftops, Nivans scoured the school and reported a lack of any uninfected students in the courtyards. Redfield rescued Tozawa in a building about to shoot himself, who warned them over their radio of the situation.[23] Nivans departed in the team's Gambit to get a radio signal to alert the BSAA Far East Branch, while Redfield and Tozawa fought their way up to the sick ward to find Wright.[26] When he did make contact, however, he was notified it would take another day for reinforcements to arrive, forcing Nivans to instead turn back to pick up his team.[27]
Redfield and Tozawa meanwhile arrived at the medical ward too late to save Wright, who had been discovered by Yoshihara and infected. When the order came in to euthanize him, Tozawa insisted on doing it himself.[26] On his possession the two found a letter from Delenikas to Wright, which urged him to escape via a secret heliport accessed through the machinery room if the outbreak progressed.[2] After infecting Wright, Yoshihara escaped outside, where she met-up with Radames at the swimming pool. Answering only to Bergara, Yoshihara instead attacked Radames, foiling a plan to snatch her away to keep as a research specimen.[27] She then retreated back to the machinery room to hide.[28]
After investigating the school's admin rooms,[23] Biji left to discover the school's church had been broken into with considerable force in what was quickly determined to be Bergara herself killing the remaining students.[2] Biji identified Bergara from her student files, and attempted to place her under arrest. When Bergara refused to cooperate, she was deemed a hostile threat. Bergara suffered a number of injuries in the subsequent fight, with her throat being slit, her arm severed and suffering a gunshot would through the head from her neck up.[27] The damage became extreme enough that Bergara formed a chrysalis to prepare for more an extreme mutation.[29] When Bergara awoke from her crysalis, she had mutated into a large insect-like creature. Biji was saved from certain death with the arrival of Nivans, who drove the team's Gambit into the church and ramming Bergara into a wall.[30] Having anticipated using the Gambit in this manner, Nivans detonated off C4 charges in the back-seat.[28] Bergara's defeat was witnessed by Radames, who waited until Nivans and Biji were gone to gloat about her plans to snatch Yoshihara.[28]
With Bergara assumed dead and the Gambit totaled, Redfield gave the order to regroup at the machine room and prepare to evacuate.[30] Redfield and Tozawa arrived first, with Nivans and Biji held off by mutant students who were starting to mass outside. Stopped in their tracks by Yoshihara, Redfield realised the pressured gas pipes made it too great a risk for combat, as any stray shot could kill them all.[31] Yoshihara began chasing the two around the basement, swinging from the ceiling pipes. Her close proximity ultimately eliminated the risk of strays, and Redfield was able to fire.[31] During the fighting, Tozawa spotted Radames watching the battle from an upper level walkway and confronted her. Radames was quickly able to knock him down, though Yoshihara would foil an attempt by her to infect Tozawa with another strain of C-Virus.[32][33] Tozawa then ran too the control room where he turned on the underground air conditioning system, which prevented Yoshihara from using her gas. Redfield was then able to use his combat knife and slice her in half, remaining alive as a head and upper chest.[34]
Though Yoshihara's condition eliminated her as a major threat, Bergara had herself mutated once more and tracked Biji and Nivans to the basement as they caught-up with Redfield and Tozawa.[34] Due to her large size, it was difficult for her to move through the basement, allowing the four to safely reach the heliport and prepare the helicopter for take-off.[35] Bergara, carrying Yoshihara, would eventually catch-up, however and pursued them up a shaft to the surface, in full view of the surviving mutant students.[35] The four began firing at Bergara simultaneously, with Nivans using his dedicated anti-materiel rifle.[36] As Redfield piloted the helicopter out of the school, Yoshihara was able to impale Biji with her remaining tentacles and grabbed hold of the helicopter, attempting to get on board. She was shot at reputedly by Nivans and killed.[37]
Cleanup operation[]
Following the departure of Redfield, Nivans and Tozawa, helicopters of the BSAA Far East Branch arrived at the school to begin pacify the reanimated student body.[1] Radames, having tracked down Yoshihara's remains, took a blood sample for further study and escaped before she could be identified.[38]
Aftermath[]
The tragedy was subject to a cover-up by the Kudahnkan government, in agreement with the United Nations. Prime Minister Enoell announced the discovery of the bodies and the total loss of the student and faculty body, but refused to explain more on the grounds the investigation was on-going. The parents of those students who were identified were themselves forced to sign documents agreement to not discuss the events openly after having seen their bodies at the morgue. Media attention instead focused on Delenikas herself, after evidence of a culture of cover-ups under her leadership became public.[39]
Perpetrators[]
Bindi Bergara and Nanan Yoshihara[]
Bergara in her first mutant form.
- Main article: Bindi Bergara
- Main article: Nanan Yoshihara
Bindi Bergara and Nanan Yoshihara were both third-year students at the Marhawa School. Yoshihara's father, a restaurateur, had incurred debts putting her into the school. With many other students coming from prestigious backgrounds, Yoshihara was ostracized by her fellow classmates and developed a loathsome reputation.[40] Bergara herself was becoming disillusioned with the school, which was breeding a toxic environment that went unchallenged. After a successful campaign for student president, she realized nothing could be done to sort out the school's problems as the faculty perpetually censored her protests for their own benefit.[22][40]
Yoshihara in her first mutant form.
With the two girls becoming close friends, Yoshihara began to act out on Bergara's behalf, which escalated social ostracism to physical bullying by the other students, particularly Ra-Na Bae and Alisa Lin, herself the student vice president.[40] After Yoshihara was beaten up by Lin and five boys in her own bedroom, Bergara demanded police action, which was turned down to avoid bad publicity.[40] The two girls then agreed to run away from the school, which they did so two months later. During the escape they were confronted by school security led by Delenikas herself, and Yoshihara suffered irreparable brain damage after falling over and striking a rock; resulting in being declared dead.[6] In a final act of humiliation, Yoshihara's death was covered-up and it was announced she had departed to another school.[8] The tragedy destroyed what hope Bergara had left, leaving her open to zealotism by Radames, who personally gave her vials of prototype C-Virus. Urging her to take her wrath out upon the decadent school.[6]
Carla Radames[]
- Main article: Carla Radames
Dr. Radames during the attack.
Dr. Carla Radames was the leading researcher for The Family, an American fraternity developing a bioweapon on behalf of the United States. Following her forced participation in an experiment, Radames began making plans to unleash the virus across the world, with Marhawa School being one of several test sites before the main attack. Radames was responsible for the fanaticizing of Bergara and provided her with experimental C-Virus after seeing her and Yoshihara's failed escape attempt. She kept a distance during the attacks to record data.[22] Radames would however continue meeting Bergara between attacks to provide her with more medicines and viral samples.[7]
Sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, Vol.5, chapter: "Part 39: Encroaching Darkness".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 25: "Letter Left Behind".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue: "Part 39: Encroaching Darkness".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 6: "Underground Suicide Corps".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 11: "Nanan".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 18: "Prelude to Destruction".
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 16: "My Friend".
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, Vol. 3, chapter: "Part 19: Time's Up".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, Vol. 1, chapter: "Prelude".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, Vol. 1, chapter: "Part 1: Academy of Tragedy".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 2: "Virus Terror".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 3: "Power and Loyalty".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 4: "Respective Resolve".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 7: "Academy Survival".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 8: "Within a Deep Darkness".
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 9: "Instant Hero".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 10: "At the End of the Battle".
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 12: "Rooftop Alliance".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 13: "Equilibrium Collapse".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 14: "Bindi Falls".
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 20: "Judgment Day".
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 15: "Night of the Beginning".
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 23: "At the End of Despair".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 21: "Pandemic".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 22: "Devil's Smile".
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 24: "Decision".
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 26: "Immortal Woman".
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 30: "Piers Nivens".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 27: "Pupa".
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 29: "Ace of the Far East".
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 31: "Chris vs. Nanan".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 32: "Ricky's Battle".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 33: "Comeback".
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 34: "Victim of Desire".
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 35: "Impending Hatred".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 36: "The Bloody Battle of Marhawa Academy".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 37: "With One's Life".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 38: "Pride of the B.S.A.A.".
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 39: "Encroaching Darkness".
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, issue 17: "Girls' Rebellion".
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