Tyrant

Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

The first Tyrant developed by the Umbrella Corporation

Tyrant is a term used by the Umbrella Corporation to refer to a series of humans procedurally mutated by t-Viruses or cloned from the former as part of the Tyrant Project. The purpose of the Tyrant Project was to create a next-generation B.O.W. heavily benefiting from Progenitor mutagenic traits as well as preserving enough intelligence to function  completely as infantry on the battlefield. Following Umbrella's collapse, Tyrant research was continued by third-party organisations.

Development

Main article: Tyrant Project

In 1960s, Dr. Oswell E. Spencer, Dr. James Marcus and his student Brandon Bailey discovered the Progenitor virus in West Africa. The Progenitor virus possessed mutagenic characteristics, which would drastically alter the physical and mental makeup of its host. It was soon discovered that naturally-occurring Progenitor strains were too aggressive for modern humans to survive infection, and Umbrella Pharmaceuticals' dream of creating a new race of superhumans was put in jeopardy. As a workaround, less-aggressive but weaker strains of Progenitor, called Tyrant or t-Viruses, were created and produced mutant animals to be sold to the US military. This was to raise money to create a perfected Progenitor strain to complete the project, now dubbed the Wesker Project.

Earlier versions of the t-Virus were not wholly reliable, and in the 1980s some 10% of humans were projected to be immune. Improvements led to the accidental creation of the T-001, somewhere between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. During this period the Tyrant Project team projected that only one in ten million people were statistically capable of mutating into a Tyrant, owing to a rare genetic trait. Tyrant production was stalled until the development of the more powerful ε strain in 1998, though Umbrella made several attempts to work around this problem, such as the cloning of the Bandersnatches, as well as the cloning of Col. Sergei Vladimir to increase the number of test subjects.

By May 1998 the Arklay Laboratory was already in possession of two Tyrants, the T-002 and T-011. When the ε strain leaked across the mansion, cloned embryos of the T-002 were successfully evacuated to save the project. These resulted in the creation of the T-103 series. This mass-produced species of clones came in several varieties as Umbrella's research continued and later served as the basis of third-party Tyrants such as those used by President Belikova.

Characteristics

Tyrants are characterized by their increased height. While Zombies also mutate due to renewed hormone production, Tyrants grow to more radical proportions, from over seven to as high as twelve feet tall. With improvements to the muscle structure, some models of Tyrants have been seen reaching high speeds or possessing the strength to flip over a tank. Mutations in the arms to create claws are not uncommon.

One characteristic of the Tyrants which is not genetic is the possession of a second or third heart. During the creation of the T-002, the Arklay team saw fit to graft a large animal heart onto his right chest in a major surgical operation. Other Tyrants have been seen with such hearts, which may indicate that surgery on clones is the standard procedure.

Super Tyrant

A "Super Tyrant" or "Tyrant Reborn" is the product of a Tyrant bypassing its Power Limiter, a device developed by Umbrella that prevents a Tyrant from experiencing out-of-control mutations. Usually, this only happens when a Tyrant suffers significant damage and results in the tyrant in question gaining more muscle mass as well as claws. Super Tyrants are noticeably more difficult to dispatch than regular Tyrants. The Super Tyrants also lose the capacity to follow any orders that they were given, instead of deteriorating into a berserker-like state.

Models of Tyrant

Experimental Tyrants

• T-001 - Released unintentionally, defeated by Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen - killed by Albert Wesker.

• T-002 - Released by Wesker, killed by Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, and Rebecca Chambers.

• 091 - First t+G virus Tyrant, killed by Bruce McGivern.

• T-011 - Experimental prototype of T-A.L.O.S.

• Hypnos-T Type - Experimental Tyrant being created in order to establish a more ferocious series of Tyrants following the success of the T-103. Killed by Ark Thompson.

• Bandersnatch - An offshoot variation of the Tyrant line developed on Rockfort Island, released to kill Claire Redfield.

Mass produced models and variants

• T-103 - First mass-produced Tyrant. Six were deployed in Raccoon City. One, batch number T-00, was sent to retrieve the G-Virus sample; it was killed by Leon S. Kennedy with the help of Ada Wong. The other five were sent in to help Umbrella Security Services, and to fight off the United States Army Special Forces.

• Tyrant C - Similar to the T-103 (only appears in a non-canon minigame).

• Nemesis-T Type - A T-103 used to host the NE-α Type parasite and retain higher level intelligence, an off-shoot of the Tyrant project. It was sent into Raccoon City to hunt and kill all surviving S.T.A.R.S. members and anyone who got between it and its objective. Killed by Jill Valentine.

• T-078 - A T-103 variant released by Alfred Ashford and killed by Claire Redfield. Despite its name and the apparent clarification that "T-078" refers to its batch number, this Tyrant seems to have been an experimental model and only one has been seen so far.

• Tyrant R - A variation of the T-103, was released by Carter, absorbed by Nyx, defeated by David King and killed by Ada Wong.

• Ivan - Highly intelligent and human-appearing T-103 variant able to integrate better into human society. At least two were created, serving under Sergei Vladimir. Both were killed by Albert Wesker.

• T-A.L.O.S. - Heavily armoured Tyrant outfitted with cybernetic implants and a multiple-rocket launcher. Killed by Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.

• Thanatos - Created by Greg Mueller as a more effective, unique Tyrant, it was released during the outbreak of Raccoon City. Killed by George Hamilton and his allies.

• Unidentified Tyrant series - A model of Tyrant with a strong resemblance to the T-103 model that appeared in the Eastern Slav civil war. Identified only by the presence of the numbers 013 on the shoulder of one specimen, presumably a batch or model number.

Further notes

• Although no Tyrants were present in Resident Evil 5, there was supposed to be a Tyrant-like creature infected with Uroboros in the initial stages of RE5 development. Excella Gionne was originally scripted to die by, literally, the hands of this creature, by getting stabbed in a similar way to Wesker's Rhino Charge.
• Tyrant is present on one of the cards in SNK vs. Capcom: CardFighters DS.
• Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was going to have a Tyrant as a playable character but the idea was dropped.
• The Tyrant R, Thanatos, and Nemesis (3rd mutation) are the only Tyrants to survive a rocket launcher hit.

Gallery

At the top, Tyrant R and its Super Tyrant form; in the center the Tyrant C; in the bottom what looks like a T-002.

T-001

T-002

T-103 in Operation Raccoon City.

T-103; batch number 078

Nemesis-T Type

Tyrant R

Thanatos

Hypnos-T Type

Tyrant 091

Ivan

T-A.L.O.S.

Bandersnatch

Tyrant C

Tyrant sculpture by Kenzo Okamoto as featured in RESEARCH ON BIOHAZARD 2 final edition

Further notes

Outside of the Mainstream canon, there are a number of other creature said to be Tyrants. In the Perry universe a creature named "Fossil" appears which is a dinosaur-like Tyrant. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City features "Parasite Super Tyrant", the result of the NE-β Type parasitizing a T-103.