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| − | '''William Birkin''' is a fictional character in the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' series. He is a top virologist working for the [[Umbrella Corporation]] and is responsible for the discovery of the [[G-Virus]] and development of the G-Virus project. He is also the husband of [[Annette Birkin]] and the father of [[Sherry Birkin]]. His involvement in the G-Virus project serves as a catalyst for the events of ''[[Resident Evil 2]]''. He also has a supporting role in the prequel, ''[[Resident Evil 0]]'', where he is involved in the events of the game from behind the scenes. His voice was provided by [[Diego Matamoros]] in ''Resident Evil 2'' and by an unattributed actor in ''Resident Evil 0''. |
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| + | {{CharacterCreature tab|biography}} |
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| − | |||
| + | {{Infobox character |
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| − | |||
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| − | {{Character| |
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| + | |jp name = ウィリアム・バーキン |
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| − | image = [[image:WilliamBi.jpeg]]| |
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| + | |image = <gallery> |
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| + | William Birkin (RE2make).jpeg|RE2 (2019) |
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| − | born = 1961| |
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| + | Dr. William Birkin 2000.jpg|DC |
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| − | height = 5'8"| |
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| + | William Birkin in Umbrella Chronicles.jpeg|UC |
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| − | weight = 147 lbs.| |
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| + | Wesker's Report (frame 17697).jpg|RE2 (1998) |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | Birkin t.png|RE0 |
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| − | blood = O| |
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| + | </gallery> |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | |born = c. [[1962]]<ref name="capcom">[http://www3.capcom.co.jp/bio0/chara/william.html CAPCOM]</ref> |
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| − | occupation = Umbrella Resercher| |
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| + | |died = September 30th, [[1998]] |
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| − | married = Marries| |
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| + | |age = 36 <small>(RE0, RE2, DC)</small> |
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| − | relatives = [[Sherry Birkin]] (Daughter), [[Annette Birkin]] (Wife)| |
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| + | |height = {{convert|178|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="capcom"/> |
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| − | status = Desceased| |
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| + | |mass = {{Convert|66.7|kg|lb|abbr=on|0}}<ref name="capcom"/> |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | |blood = O <ref name="capcom"/> |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | |occupation = [[Umbrella Corporation|Umbrella]] researcher<br/>Virologist<ref name="notes">Evident by his research into the Golgotha Virus.</ref> |
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| + | |status = Deceased |
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| + | |first=''[[Resident Evil 2 (1998 game)|Resident Evil 2]]'' <small>(1998 game)</small> |
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| + | |last=''[[Resident Evil 2 (2019 game)|Resident Evil 2]]'' <small>(2019 game)</small> |
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| + | |voice = [[Diego Matamoros]] <small>(''RE2'')</small><br />Uncredited <small>(''RE0'')</small><br />[[Terence J. Rotolo|TJ Rotolo]]<ref>[https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Resident-Evil-2-2019/ Resident Evil 2 (2019)]</ref> <small>(''DC'', ''UC'', ''ORC'', ''RE2'' 2019)</small><br />[[Toshihiko Seki]] <small>(Japanese)</small> |
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| + | |portrayer = [[Jason Isaacs]] |
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| + | |mocap = TJ Rotolo <small>(''RE2'' Remake)</small> |
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| + | |model = [[David Marie]] <small>(''RE2'' Remake)</small> |
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}} |
}} |
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| + | {{For|the William Birkin of other realities|William Birkin (disambiguation)}} |
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| + | {{Quote|G is my creation!|William Birkin to his wife Annette after injecting himself with the G virus}} |
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| + | Dr. {{Nihongo|'''William Birkin'''|ウィリアム・バーキン|Wiriamu Bākin}} was a virologist who worked for [[Umbrella Pharmaceuticals]] in the 1970s-1990s. The head of the [[Golgotha Virus]] research project,<ref>{{Cite game|title=Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles|developer=Capcom|publisher=Capcom Co., Ltd.|file=[[William Birkin (file)|William Birkin]]}}</ref> he turned against the [[Umbrella Corporation]] after failing to achieve a promotion to its executive. The company's attempts to prevent an unauthorized deal with the U.S. military served as a catalyst for the events of the [[Raccoon City Destruction Incident]]. He was the husband of [[Annette Birkin]] and father of [[Sherry Birkin]]. |
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| + | ==Biography== |
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| + | ===Early years=== |
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| + | Birkin was a child prodigy who earned his doctorate as a teenager. In 1977, at the age of fifteen, he was employed by Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, and offered to take the executive training program at a laboratory in Arklay County under the oversight of Dr. James Marcus.<ref name="Assistant">''Resident Evil 0'' (2002), "[[Assistant Director's Diary]]".</ref><ref name="p1">''Wesker's Report II'', part 1</ref> Birkin and Dr. [[Albert Wesker]] developed a friendly rivalry at the school while being conditioned to Umbrella's ethical ideals.<ref name="Assistant" /> Their education was concluded on July 29, 1978 when a decision was made to close the laboratory's school. Birkin and Wesker were offered senior roles at the nearby Arklay Laboratory, and transferred there two days later.<ref name="p1" /><ref name="p1" /> |
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| + | === Arklay Lab (1978-1991) === |
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| + | On their first day as senior researchers, the two were introduced to Lisa Trevor, a young woman who had been a test subject at the lab since 1967.<ref name="p1" /> The laboratory's chief researcher approved Birkin's study into the splicing of their experimental Tyrant Virus (or "t-Virus") with genes from recently collected [[Ebola Virus]] samples Umbrella had acquired for the purpose of vaccine research.<ref name="p1" /> The t-Virus strain at the laboratory had a rapid and high fatality rate, making it useless as a weapon as it was unlikely to spread far. Birkin's study led to a new t-Virus strain which could keep humans alive in an aggressive, brain damaged state.<ref name="p1" /> |
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| + | In July 1981, Umbrella officially employed the child prodigy Dr. Alexia Ashford as a senior virologist.<ref name="p2">''Wesker's Report II,'' part 2</ref><ref>''Resident Evil CODE:Veronica'' (2000), file: "[[Newspaper Clip]]".</ref> Believed at the time to be the granddaughter of the Umbrella co-founder Dr. Edward Ashford, 5th Earl Ashford, the ten-year-old quickly gained an aura of majesty within the company. Birkin was severely affected by this, firstly with it damaging his pride of being a child prodigy, and secondly his fellow researchers' constant discussion of it.<ref name="p2" /> With research having stalled since 1978, Birkin was determined to prove himself and took part in constant research to solve the new problem of some 10% of the population being immune to the t-Virus. This, Birkin solved, with the development of Bio Organic Weaponry, and successfully developed [[Hunter α]], a bio-weapon created through bonding reptilian DNA with a fertilised human egg through the t-Virus.<ref name="p2" /> In 1983, Dr Ashford's death was announced company-wide, though Birkin continued in his own research even with the imagined rivalry over.<ref name="p2" />[[File:Thebirkinfamily.jpg|thumb|right|From left to right: William; Sherry and Annette.]] |
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| + | During his time at the Arklay Laboratory, Birkin began a relationship with another researcher named Annette. They married sometime in the mid-1980s and a daughter, Sherry was born around 1986.<ref name="p3">''Wesker's Report II'', part 4: "Enter Nemesis"</ref> |
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| + | By 1988, the Arklay Lab hit another dead-end in research when its latest project, "Tyrant", was met with a serious flaw. As advantageous, mutagenic properties of the t-Virus were linked to brain chemistry, a strain that caused brain damage was an obstacle. At some point during the research that gave them the [[Proto Tyrant]] and [[T-002]], Birkin created a t-Virus strain which lowered the level of brain damage. However, this strain still required the infected to have certain, rare genetic traits that only one in ten million possessed.<ref name="p3">''Wesker's Report II'', part 3: "Enter Nemesis"</ref> During this year he gained access to Dr. Marcus' t-Virus research to bolster his own, when Dr. Spencer ordered his assassination. Birkin followed the USS raid party and began confiscating the research, gaining the moniker of "''creator''" of the t-Virus while the elderly Marcus laid dying of gunshot wounds.<ref>''Resident Evil 0'' (2003), scene: "[[Confrontation With Marcus]]".</ref><ref>''[[Resident Evil 2 (1998 game)|Resident Evil 2]]''</ref>[[File:Img-23.jpg|thumb|left|Birkin alongside Wesker during Marcus' assassination.]]As another possible solution to the intelligence problem, Birkin arranged with Dr. Spencer himself to acquire one of Umbrella Europe's [[NE-α Type]]s, parasitic creatures able to take-over brain functions. However, the parasites were notorious for killing their hosts in their attempts to bond. After exhausting other options, Birkin resorted to using the parasite on the only viable host, Lisa Trevor, who had still survived the years of experimentation.<ref name="Observe">''[[Resident Evil (2002 game)|Resident Evil]]'' (2002), file: "[[Observation Note]]".</ref> When the parasite was placed within Lisa, her body destroyed the intruder and its DNA was added to her genome, giving her tentacles. An investigation isolated a mutant Progenitor species within her body identified as the cause. Seeing the eugenics potential of a virus capable of mutating humans into a superior subspecies,<ref name=":1">http://www.projectumbrella.net/articles/Yasuhisa-Kawamura-Interview-Project-Umbrella |
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| + | </ref> Birkin sought funding from Umbrella HQ to allow him to work on "Golgotha", known in shorthand as the "G-Virus".<ref name="Observe" /> |
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| + | === Underground Laboratory research (1991-1998) === |
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| + | When Birkin's discovery got Dr. Spencer's attention, Umbrella constructed the NEST adjacent to their chemical plant in the northeast of the city, completed in 1991.<ref name=":0">Tahara (ed) ''Official Guide Book'', p.259.</ref> There, Birkin was chief researcher, and directly led research into Golgotha with his wife, Annette and a team of researchers, with unrelated B.O.W. projects also conducted by other teams in the facility. The Raccoon Police Department's chief, Brian Irons, received bribes to keep any investigations away from the laboratory, and was given updates as to the research. |
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| + | Though work on Golgotha was promising along the 1990s, Birkin began to suspect Umbrella was disinterested in giving him a position as a corporate executive. In May–July 1998, the t-Virus broke out across the Arklay Mountains, leading to dozens of deaths and mutations of civilians as well as the investigating [[Special Tactics and Rescue Service|S.T.A.R.S.]] members, the loss of the Arklay Laboratory itself, the recently re-opened training school, and a train transporting staff to it. Birkin had the training school destroyed, though he and Wesker already drew the ire of Umbrella executive Col. Sergei Vladimir, who blamed the pair for losing control of the school in the first place. Wesker made the decision to leave Umbrella and sell secrets to a rival company, though Birkin, adamant on completing Golgotha, officially stayed with the company. Plotting to betray them from the inside, Birkin entered talks with the US military to sell them Golgotha for their own bio-weapons project in exchange for an asylum for him and his family.<ref>''[[Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles]]'' (2007), file: "[[William Birkin Profile]]".</ref> |
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| + | In early September 1998, Birkin began sabotaging the facilities. The newly-commissioned P12A facility, designed to process contaminated waste, was rendered useless when Birkin flooded the facility with a radically accelerated supply of failed test subjects. The chemical effectiveness was diluted, allowing the virus to mutate and infect the staff with a strain their antiviral medication could not fight. The t-Virus also made its way around the city, infecting the staff at a water treatment plant near the Raccoon Police Station,<ref>''Resident Evil 2'' (1998), file: "[[Watchman's Diary]]".</ref> and sending dozens to the hospital to be treated for the so-called "Cannibal Disease". Umbrella took notice of Birkin's erratic behavior and, knowing only his lab had samples of Golgotha, grew evermore concerned he would prevent them from receiving the virus.<ref name=":0" /> |
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| + | ===Mutation and death (1998)=== |
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| + | {{Quote|SHERR-RY!|William Birkin calls out for his daughter following his G-Virus mutation}}[[File:RE2make P-4 Testing Lab (12).jpg|thumb|left|200px]] |
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| + | With Golgotha complete, the U.S. military sent a team out to meet with Birkin. Having moles within the military, Umbrella HQ's suspicions were confirmed and a USS squad was sent out on a race to confiscate the virus first. With advanced warning, the USS operation was disrupted when a police officer spotted them entering the sewers and recovered C-4 explosives. On the night of 22 September, Alpha Team leader "[[HUNK]]" arrived at the facility with a subordinate to obtain the virus. In the standoff, Birkin was gunned down with automatic fire after attempting to resist Alpha team. Alpha Team retrieved a duralumin case containing "t" and "G" samples and left for the sewers to their extraction point. The injured Birkin infected himself with a remaining G sample, but the virus didn't properly stabilize onto his body and the scientist himself was unable to become a G-human,<ref name=":1" /> and instead transformed into a large creature simply known as "[[G]]". |
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| + | Intent on vengeance, G followed the USS into the sewers and they were all either killed or seriously injured. To guarantee no more samples were at risk of theft, G ate the Golgotha samples.<ref>Tahara (ed.), ''Official Guide Book'', p.260.</ref><ref>{{Cite game|title=Resident Evil 2 remake|developer=Capcom|publisher=Capcom Co., Ltd.|scene=[[VHS recording 1]]}}</ref> In the process, he also destroyed several "t" samples, allowing rats to consume them and spread the virus into the city's water supply. |
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| + | [[File:Dr. William Birkin 12.jpg|thumb|200px|left]] |
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| + | Over the next week the city's population of 100,000 were either killed or infected, and the U.S. military blockaded the city to prevent classified information relating to their dealing from getting out. Driven entirely by basic instincts, G searched for food, whether alive or dead and vessels for reproduction. The sewers fell under the control of rejected G embryos, which had made themselves a colony. |
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| + | [[File:REDC-AnnetteAndWilliam-1.jpg|thumb|200px|right]] |
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| + | Ultimately, G sought out Sherry who, as a blood relation, was a viable carrier for his parasitic larvae. During his search of Raccoon City Orphanage for carriers, he parasitised Chief Irons, who was holding Sherry hostage. He seriously injured T-00 at an elevator to the Umbrella sewer facility as it tried to attack Sherry and another survivor, Claire Redfield, and later moved into the sewers as well. During his confrontation with the survivors in the sewers it became clear he had successfully parasitised Sherry, either in the orphanage or in the sewers, and when she was rushed to NEST for treatment he followed. |
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| + | [[File:William_Fifth_Form_from_Hell_%284%29.jpg|200px|thumb|right]] |
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| + | While in NEST, G was attacked by Annette with an anti-B.O.W. weapon and suffered serious injury. In his further mutation, he threw Annette at a wall, causing internal hemorrhaging. As the facility began to self-destruct, he followed Claire as she headed down to the lower levels of the facility to activate the emergency train. His fourth defeat would leave him severely wounded, but G was able to continue on and boarded the escape train. Mutating into his fifth and final form, a blob with multiple limbs, eyes and tentacles, and entered the rear carriages of the train. After a short fight, the carriage was unbuckled, and he was engulfed in the explosion from NEST. |
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| + | ==Bibliography== |
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| + | *{{cite book|title=[[BIOHAZARD 2 Official Guide Book]]|editor=Tahara, Seiji (田原 誠司)|publisher=Famitsu |location=Japan|year=1998}} |
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| − | == |
+ | ==Sources== |
| + | ;Notes |
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| − | Birkin joined the Umbrella Corporation in 1977 at the young age of 15. He was placed at the Umbrella Management Training Facility under [[James Marcus]]. There, he became a close acquaintance and rival of fellow researcher [[Albert Wesker]], as they were both considered to be Marcus' top apprentices. They were involved in the development of the [[T-Virus]] project, until the facility was closed down in 1978. |
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| − | |||
| − | Afterwards, he and Wesker were transferred to the [[Arklay Research Facility]] on July 31 1978, where they continued their T-Virus research and were made chief researchers of the facility. Birkin was proud of being the youngest researcher ever to work for Umbrella, until the arrival of [[Alexia Ashford]], who was assigned to be chief researcher of Umbrella's Antarctic facility at the age of 10 in 1981. Although she worked in a different facility, Birkin became jealous of her, especially due to all the praise she was receiving from his co-workers. He became completely focused on his work and research, until the announcement of Alexia's death in 1983. Despite his rivarly with Alexia, his research yielded no results until he created the [[Hunter]] Bio-Organic Weapon (B.O.W.) around the mid-1990's. |
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| − | |||
| − | [[Image:Thebirkinfamily.jpg|thumb|left|The Birkin family. From left to right: William, Sherry and Annette.]]He was "promoted" in 1988 to lead the T-Virus project (and completed the development of the [[Tyrant]]) after he and Wesker assassinated their former mentor, Marcus. By this time, Birkin was already married to his assistant, [[Annette Birkin|Annette]] and the marriage had already produced a daughter named [[Sherry Birkin|Sherry]] (born in 1986). When he and Wesker were conducting an experiment with the NE-a parasite (the prototype of the [[Nemesis]] project), they used a female specimen ([[Lisa Trevor]]) as a guinea pig. Lisa was the only test subject to fully accept the parasite. Noticing her strange survival rate, Birkin examined her body structure and discovered that the variation of the [[Progenitor Virus]] that was injected into her in 1967 had absorbed all the mutagenic organisms that she had been implanted with since then and mutated into a new virus, which Birkin named the [[G-Virus]]. |
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| − | |||
| − | He received approval from Umbrella's president, [[Ozwell E. Spencer]], to initiate the G-Virus Project. In 1993, Birkin and his wife were transferred to an Underground Research Facility established specifically for the project. Birkin also bribed the chief of the [[Raccoon Police Department]], Brian Irons, to cover up the project, using his wife as the "middle man". |
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| − | During the events surrounding the T-Virus outbreaks in the Spenecer Estate, the Manangement Training Facility, and the Ecliptic Express, Birkin and Wesker were shocked to learn that their old mentor, Dr. Marcus, was alive and responsible for leaking the virus. Knowing that his career would be over if the truth behind the old conspiracy ever came out, Birkin found and activated the Training Facility's self-destruct system destroying all evidence of his involvement in the decade-old plot. |
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| − | |||
| − | He completed his development of the G-Virus in September of 1998 and planned on using his final research in order to be promoted into Umbrella's executive board. However, he began to disagree with his superiors and planned on keeping his research to himself and sell it to the U.S. Government. He requested to have the Military intervene and retrieve him. However, the team that was sent never came and the Umbrella Special Forces Unit Alpha Team (led by [[HUNK]], under orders from Christine Henri and Spencer) came to steal his work. He was shot by the soldiers and left for dead. Refusing to have his work stolen, he injected himself with a sample of the G-Virus and turned into the mutated creature known as '''G'''. |
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| − | |||
| − | ==The G-Transformation== |
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| − | After his mutation into G, Birkin went after the USFU team that stole his samples and chased them into the sewers. The team was taken by surprise at the sight of the mutated Birkin and were not prepared to handle the creature. During the ensuing onslaught, several vials containing the T-Virus broke out from the containers and were ingested by rats, which served as the cause of the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City. Of the USFU team that Birkin fought, only [[HUNK]] survived. |
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| − | Several days later, on September 29th, Birkin wandered around the RPD Precinct and encountered some of the surviving civilians, his daughter among them. Looking for a host to propagate his species, he implanted his embryos into a few victims (''which varies, depending on the scenario the player is playing''). However, only hosts with the same DNA structure were capable of accepting his embryos (''in the "Claire A/Leon B" scenario, he is successful in implanting an embryo into Sherry''). |
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| − | [[Leon S. Kennedy|Leon]] and [[Claire Redfield|Claire]] encountered G during their escape from the RPD Precinct. He mutated into five different forms while fighting them. In his first form, Birkin retained most of his human appearance, with the most notable difference being his enlarged right arm (with an eye on its shoulder) and a deranged mind that relies entirely on instincts (see image). In his following mutation, he grew a new head (the old one forming part of his left chest) and grew claws from his right hand. By his third transformation, any semblance of a human being was completely gone, with his rest of body having mutated along with his arm. In this form, he grew two additional arms, with his older arms forming part of his back, like wings. After sustaining enough damage from his battles with Leon and Claire, he transformed into his next form, in which he grew a new mouth from his chest and started walking on all fours. This form required G to constantly feed on other creatures, which resulted in his fifth and (as far as known) final mutation, in which he became a malleable lump of flesh with tentacles. |
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| − | |||
| − | During all of these mutations, he chased after Leon and Claire from the sewers to the underground research facility and eventually, to an escape train, which Leon and Claire were riding. His presence in the train caused an Anti-Biohazard Detonating Mechanism to be activated. Leon, Claire and Sherry managed to stop the train and escape while G was inside. The train was destroyed, taking what was once William Birkin with it. Sometime after they left the site, Albert Wesker (now working for "The Organization") managed to salvage what was left of Birkin as a specimen. |
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| + | <references group="excerpt" /> |
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| − | ==In other media== |
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| − | In the first ''[[Resident Evil (film)|Resident Evil]]'' film, William Birkin makes an uncredited cameo appearance as the head of the [[Nemesis (Resident Evil)|Nemesis]] project and is portrayed by actor [[Jason Isaacs]] (who was also the film's narrator). |
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| + | ;References |
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| − | According to a commentary by [[Paul W.S. Anderson]], Isaacs was planned to reprise this role in the sequel ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse]]'', but left the project for undisclosed reasons. An original character named [[Doctor Sam Isaacs|Dr. Sam Isaacs]] (played by [[Iain Glen]] and named after the actor who played Birkin in the first film) was created to fulfill Birkin's role in the sequel. |
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| + | <references /> |
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| − | The first stage of Birkins mutation also has a cameo appearance in the opening of [[Resident Evil Outbreak]]. |
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| + | {{G-virus}} |
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| + | {{Umbrella employees|main}} |
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| + | {{Appearences|RE0=yes|RE2=yes|DC=yes|RE:2=yes}} |
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| + | {{Resident Evil 2 creatures}} |
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| + | {{Resident Evil 2 remake creatures}} |
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| + | {{DEFAULTSORT:Birkin, William}} |
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| + | [[de:William Birkin]] |
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| − | {{RE series}} |
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| − | [[ |
+ | [[es:William Birkin]] |
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| + | [[it:William Birkin]] |
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| + | [[ja:ウィリアム・バーキン]] |
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| + | [[pl:William Birkin]] |
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| + | [[pt-br:William Birkin]] |
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| + | [[Category:Scientists]] |
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| + | [[Category:1998 deaths]] |
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| + | [[Category:Bosses]] |
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| + | [[Category:Resident Evil 2 characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:NEST staff]] |
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| + | [[Category:Resident Evil 2 creatures]] |
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| + | [[Category:G-virus]] |
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| + | [[Category:Resident Evil 0 characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:Resident Evil Outbreak characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:Raccoon citizens]] |
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| + | [[Category:Darkside Chronicles creatures]] |
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Revision as of 08:39, 16 November 2019
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"G is my creation!" — William Birkin to his wife Annette after injecting himself with the G virus |
Dr. William Birkin (ウィリアム・バーキン Wiriamu Bākin) was a virologist who worked for Umbrella Pharmaceuticals in the 1970s-1990s. The head of the Golgotha Virus research project,[4] he turned against the Umbrella Corporation after failing to achieve a promotion to its executive. The company's attempts to prevent an unauthorized deal with the U.S. military served as a catalyst for the events of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident. He was the husband of Annette Birkin and father of Sherry Birkin.
Biography
Early years
Birkin was a child prodigy who earned his doctorate as a teenager. In 1977, at the age of fifteen, he was employed by Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, and offered to take the executive training program at a laboratory in Arklay County under the oversight of Dr. James Marcus.[5][6] Birkin and Dr. Albert Wesker developed a friendly rivalry at the school while being conditioned to Umbrella's ethical ideals.[5] Their education was concluded on July 29, 1978 when a decision was made to close the laboratory's school. Birkin and Wesker were offered senior roles at the nearby Arklay Laboratory, and transferred there two days later.[6][6]
Arklay Lab (1978-1991)
On their first day as senior researchers, the two were introduced to Lisa Trevor, a young woman who had been a test subject at the lab since 1967.[6] The laboratory's chief researcher approved Birkin's study into the splicing of their experimental Tyrant Virus (or "t-Virus") with genes from recently collected Ebola Virus samples Umbrella had acquired for the purpose of vaccine research.[6] The t-Virus strain at the laboratory had a rapid and high fatality rate, making it useless as a weapon as it was unlikely to spread far. Birkin's study led to a new t-Virus strain which could keep humans alive in an aggressive, brain damaged state.[6]
In July 1981, Umbrella officially employed the child prodigy Dr. Alexia Ashford as a senior virologist.[7][8] Believed at the time to be the granddaughter of the Umbrella co-founder Dr. Edward Ashford, 5th Earl Ashford, the ten-year-old quickly gained an aura of majesty within the company. Birkin was severely affected by this, firstly with it damaging his pride of being a child prodigy, and secondly his fellow researchers' constant discussion of it.[7] With research having stalled since 1978, Birkin was determined to prove himself and took part in constant research to solve the new problem of some 10% of the population being immune to the t-Virus. This, Birkin solved, with the development of Bio Organic Weaponry, and successfully developed Hunter α, a bio-weapon created through bonding reptilian DNA with a fertilised human egg through the t-Virus.[7] In 1983, Dr Ashford's death was announced company-wide, though Birkin continued in his own research even with the imagined rivalry over.[7]
From left to right: William; Sherry and Annette.
During his time at the Arklay Laboratory, Birkin began a relationship with another researcher named Annette. They married sometime in the mid-1980s and a daughter, Sherry was born around 1986.[9]
By 1988, the Arklay Lab hit another dead-end in research when its latest project, "Tyrant", was met with a serious flaw. As advantageous, mutagenic properties of the t-Virus were linked to brain chemistry, a strain that caused brain damage was an obstacle. At some point during the research that gave them the Proto Tyrant and T-002, Birkin created a t-Virus strain which lowered the level of brain damage. However, this strain still required the infected to have certain, rare genetic traits that only one in ten million possessed.[9] During this year he gained access to Dr. Marcus' t-Virus research to bolster his own, when Dr. Spencer ordered his assassination. Birkin followed the USS raid party and began confiscating the research, gaining the moniker of "creator" of the t-Virus while the elderly Marcus laid dying of gunshot wounds.[10][11]
Birkin alongside Wesker during Marcus' assassination.
As another possible solution to the intelligence problem, Birkin arranged with Dr. Spencer himself to acquire one of Umbrella Europe's NE-α Types, parasitic creatures able to take-over brain functions. However, the parasites were notorious for killing their hosts in their attempts to bond. After exhausting other options, Birkin resorted to using the parasite on the only viable host, Lisa Trevor, who had still survived the years of experimentation.[12] When the parasite was placed within Lisa, her body destroyed the intruder and its DNA was added to her genome, giving her tentacles. An investigation isolated a mutant Progenitor species within her body identified as the cause. Seeing the eugenics potential of a virus capable of mutating humans into a superior subspecies,[13] Birkin sought funding from Umbrella HQ to allow him to work on "Golgotha", known in shorthand as the "G-Virus".[12]
Underground Laboratory research (1991-1998)
When Birkin's discovery got Dr. Spencer's attention, Umbrella constructed the NEST adjacent to their chemical plant in the northeast of the city, completed in 1991.[14] There, Birkin was chief researcher, and directly led research into Golgotha with his wife, Annette and a team of researchers, with unrelated B.O.W. projects also conducted by other teams in the facility. The Raccoon Police Department's chief, Brian Irons, received bribes to keep any investigations away from the laboratory, and was given updates as to the research.
Though work on Golgotha was promising along the 1990s, Birkin began to suspect Umbrella was disinterested in giving him a position as a corporate executive. In May–July 1998, the t-Virus broke out across the Arklay Mountains, leading to dozens of deaths and mutations of civilians as well as the investigating S.T.A.R.S. members, the loss of the Arklay Laboratory itself, the recently re-opened training school, and a train transporting staff to it. Birkin had the training school destroyed, though he and Wesker already drew the ire of Umbrella executive Col. Sergei Vladimir, who blamed the pair for losing control of the school in the first place. Wesker made the decision to leave Umbrella and sell secrets to a rival company, though Birkin, adamant on completing Golgotha, officially stayed with the company. Plotting to betray them from the inside, Birkin entered talks with the US military to sell them Golgotha for their own bio-weapons project in exchange for an asylum for him and his family.[15]
In early September 1998, Birkin began sabotaging the facilities. The newly-commissioned P12A facility, designed to process contaminated waste, was rendered useless when Birkin flooded the facility with a radically accelerated supply of failed test subjects. The chemical effectiveness was diluted, allowing the virus to mutate and infect the staff with a strain their antiviral medication could not fight. The t-Virus also made its way around the city, infecting the staff at a water treatment plant near the Raccoon Police Station,[16] and sending dozens to the hospital to be treated for the so-called "Cannibal Disease". Umbrella took notice of Birkin's erratic behavior and, knowing only his lab had samples of Golgotha, grew evermore concerned he would prevent them from receiving the virus.[14]
Mutation and death (1998)
"SHERR-RY!" — William Birkin calls out for his daughter following his G-Virus mutation |
With Golgotha complete, the U.S. military sent a team out to meet with Birkin. Having moles within the military, Umbrella HQ's suspicions were confirmed and a USS squad was sent out on a race to confiscate the virus first. With advanced warning, the USS operation was disrupted when a police officer spotted them entering the sewers and recovered C-4 explosives. On the night of 22 September, Alpha Team leader "HUNK" arrived at the facility with a subordinate to obtain the virus. In the standoff, Birkin was gunned down with automatic fire after attempting to resist Alpha team. Alpha Team retrieved a duralumin case containing "t" and "G" samples and left for the sewers to their extraction point. The injured Birkin infected himself with a remaining G sample, but the virus didn't properly stabilize onto his body and the scientist himself was unable to become a G-human,[13] and instead transformed into a large creature simply known as "G".
Intent on vengeance, G followed the USS into the sewers and they were all either killed or seriously injured. To guarantee no more samples were at risk of theft, G ate the Golgotha samples.[17][18] In the process, he also destroyed several "t" samples, allowing rats to consume them and spread the virus into the city's water supply.
Over the next week the city's population of 100,000 were either killed or infected, and the U.S. military blockaded the city to prevent classified information relating to their dealing from getting out. Driven entirely by basic instincts, G searched for food, whether alive or dead and vessels for reproduction. The sewers fell under the control of rejected G embryos, which had made themselves a colony.
Ultimately, G sought out Sherry who, as a blood relation, was a viable carrier for his parasitic larvae. During his search of Raccoon City Orphanage for carriers, he parasitised Chief Irons, who was holding Sherry hostage. He seriously injured T-00 at an elevator to the Umbrella sewer facility as it tried to attack Sherry and another survivor, Claire Redfield, and later moved into the sewers as well. During his confrontation with the survivors in the sewers it became clear he had successfully parasitised Sherry, either in the orphanage or in the sewers, and when she was rushed to NEST for treatment he followed.
While in NEST, G was attacked by Annette with an anti-B.O.W. weapon and suffered serious injury. In his further mutation, he threw Annette at a wall, causing internal hemorrhaging. As the facility began to self-destruct, he followed Claire as she headed down to the lower levels of the facility to activate the emergency train. His fourth defeat would leave him severely wounded, but G was able to continue on and boarded the escape train. Mutating into his fifth and final form, a blob with multiple limbs, eyes and tentacles, and entered the rear carriages of the train. After a short fight, the carriage was unbuckled, and he was engulfed in the explosion from NEST.
Bibliography
- Tahara, Seiji (田原 誠司), ed (1998). BIOHAZARD 2 Official Guide Book. Japan: Famitsu.
Sources
- Notes
- References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 CAPCOM
- ↑ Evident by his research into the Golgotha Virus.
- ↑ Resident Evil 2 (2019)
- ↑ Capcom. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). File: William Birkin.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Resident Evil 0 (2002), "Assistant Director's Diary".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Wesker's Report II, part 1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Wesker's Report II, part 2
- ↑ Resident Evil CODE:Veronica (2000), file: "Newspaper Clip".
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wesker's Report II, part 4: "Enter Nemesis" Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "p3" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Resident Evil 0 (2003), scene: "Confrontation With Marcus".
- ↑ Resident Evil 2
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Resident Evil (2002), file: "Observation Note".
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 http://www.projectumbrella.net/articles/Yasuhisa-Kawamura-Interview-Project-Umbrella
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Tahara (ed) Official Guide Book, p.259.
- ↑ Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), file: "William Birkin Profile".
- ↑ Resident Evil 2 (1998), file: "Watchman's Diary".
- ↑ Tahara (ed.), Official Guide Book, p.260.
- ↑ Capcom. Resident Evil 2 remake. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). Scene: VHS recording 1.
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