Fans ofCapcom’sResident Evilfranchise love not just its remarkable set of protagonists, but also its cast of persistent villains. For instance, Albert Wesker and his signature black garb and sunglasses already gave him an air of mystery for the firstResident Evilgame. However, his deception and the subsequent mystery surrounding his identity made him all the more interesting for fans.
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Moreover, Wesker’s eventual take on humanity and his quest for power will eventually climax in his and Chris Redfield’s battle inResident Evil 5. And while the game officially closes Wesker’s story in that fateful encounter, many mysteries still surround the superhuman villain. Essentially, just what other secrets Albert Wesker holds behind his mask?
10Born Out Of A Revision
As fans might remember, the original vision of Shinji Mikami forResident Evilinvolved little plot. Rather, four police officers would simply find themselves in a mansion with a ton of zombies. However, Kenichi Iwao’s arrival as the lead writer further expanded the plot of the story. Character artist Isao Oishi had to design new replacement characters to fit a more realistic military setup, as per Iwao’s vision. As a result, the team created Albert Wesker as an Umbrella Corporation spy tasked to infiltrate STARS.
In the resulting story, Wesker now led STARS inside the Spencer Mansionto eliminate bioweaponsthere to test the team’s efficiency. However, near the end of the story, it’s revealed that Wesker is actually spying on Umbrella as well, and he will steal relevant research data for another third party.
9Umbrella Eugenics
As with otherResident Evilcharacters, not much is revealed regarding Wesker’s backstory - including his real name. However, Oswell Spencer did take Wesker from his parents as a young child thanks to his advanced genetics. Throughout his childhood, the Spencer Foundation would fund Wesker’s training and education.
Eventually,Umbrella infected Wesker with the Progenitor Virusto see if he can outlast the strain and gain its superhuman benefits. Unfortunately, only Albert and his fellow eugenics sibling Alex would survive the Progenitor Virus.
8A Deeper Backstory
Aside from his rather tragic canonical backstory, Wesker would have a more grounded history that would explain his unique position in both Umbrella Corporation and STARS. For instance, Iwao’s intentions for Wesker became apparent in theInside of BIO-HAZARDguidebook. In there, it’s revealed that Wesker previously worked as a biotechnology specialist for the US Army prior to infiltrating both Umbrella Corporation and STARS.
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In turn, Iwao’s interpretation of Wesker would hint at other bioweapons-invested groups outside Umbrella Corporation. Unfortunately, none of the games would mention this path.
7Flagship Revisions, Rise To Villainy
Wesker’s rise to fame as aResident Evilvillain would come courtesy of the Flagship creative team. Flagship intended Wesker to return as a secondary villain inCode: Veronica. Thanks to their ideas, Wesker would come back as a mutant.Wesker would reveal that he infected himself with a virus before the Tyrant’s attack, allowing him to cheat death as the virus grew inside of him. Additionally,Code: Veronicareveals that Wesker has joined the elusive Organization, the same company that Ada Wong worked for inResident Evil 2.
Moreover, Flagship also intendedResident Evil 0to also feature Wesker as a villain. However, the game would eventually revolve around James Marcus, one of Umbrella’s founders. Wesker would remain in the game, but this time as a supporting character. It’s in this game that would reveal that both William Birkin and Wesker served as students in the executive training school that Marcus himself headed.
6Las Plagas Became A Setup
Interestingly, Wesker’s appearance in the “Separate Ways” storyline ofResident Evil 4served as yet another means to further his villainous ways. In Mikami’s original iteration ofRE4, Leon would discover that not only does Ada report to Wesker, but his “teammate” Jack Krauser has his loyalties with Wesker as well.
However, Wesker would have a shorter role inRE4in the original release. Again,Wesker serves as Ada’s superior during her time infiltrating the Los Illuminados. Additionally, Wesker would reveal his plans to betray the Organization. Interestingly, this subplot appears to tie directly into his involvement inResident Evil 5.
5Superhuman Zombie
Unlike other bosses in the series, Wesker used his advanced knowledge of genetics to utilize the game’s various viruses to his advantage. After his “training” as part of Umbrella’s eugenics project, Wesker becomes infected with the Prototype Virus and survived. Aside from his bright red eyes (which he needed glasses for),Wesker’s mutation would erase all shreds of humanityand make him more self-centered. With the Uroboros Virus, Wesker would have a new organ on his chest and his upper body would become wrapped in various tentacles.
Thanks to these viruses, Wesker would receive advanced genetics that made him more “superior” than most humans. His blood became immune to various viruses. Moreover, he would receive remarkable strength, speed, and durability.
4A Boss, An Unlockable Character
Interestingly, Wesker barely becomes an active playable character in anyResident Evilgame. In fact, his prominent appearance inResident Evil 5had players fight him in various battles. For instance, in all their three fights,Wesker displays incredible strength and speed- forcing Chris and Sheva to get crafty in catching him off-guard. The final battle with Wesker involves fighting a mutated version of the villain.
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Interestingly, Wesker’s status as an unlockable playable character does give players great perks. For instance, in “The Mercenaries” minigame ofResident Evil 4andRevelations 2, Wesker has extremely powerful melee attacks that can easily one-hit kill enemies. InThe Umbrella Chronicles, Wesker has more advanced melee moves. InThe Mercenaries 3D, Wesker trades off his remarkable damage with low recovery.
3Variety Of Destinies, Part 1
Thanks toResident Evil’s slew of spinoffs, characters receive slight alterations to their stories throughout the canon. Unfortunately, Wesker’s tale inResident Evilalso changes depending on the game in question. For instance, Wesker’s fate in the first game depends not just on whether gamers play the original or the remake. Wesker’s fate also depends on what they do in a particular scenario.
For instance, in the original game, Barry and Jill encounter Wesker’s decapitated corpse in the Power Room. In other situations, the Tyrant impales Wesker before fighting the player. However, in theRemake, the Tyrant knocks Wesker off to the side and allow him to escape the battle. In other circumstances here, the Tyrant still impales the Tyrant.
Moreover, Chris and Wesker’s fight against Lisa Trevor might have Lisa knock Wesker off the platform. However, Wesker still appears in the Tyrant Room after the encounter.
2Variety Of Destinies, Part 2
Interestingly, even Wesker’s involvement inResident Evil 5would come in many ways. Firstly, it’s always been intended forResident Evil 5to have Wesker kidnap Jill Valentine. Moreover, the game would serve as the entry where the protagonists ultimately kill him. However, the things leading up to this became mixed up within the drafts.
For instance,Wesker’s initial role in Seashell served as Excella Gionne’s partner in their Kijuju operations. Eventually, Capcom thought Wesker would become the head of a three-person op under Gionne. In terms of Jill, her involvement in the plot would first have her as a brainwashed partner for Wesker. Eventually, the plot would revolve around Wesker experimenting on her and transforming her into his agent. In the final draft, Wesker will be experimenting on himself with the Uroboros Virus.
1Height Improves Intimidation
As with other characters, Wesker himself received some revisions based on his appearance in the games. However, aside from keeping his design close to his black shadowy themes, it seems height played a huge role in Wesker’s fate as an antagonist. For instance, Wesker originally had a height of exactly 6'0''. However, Capcom changed his height to 6'3'' inResident Evil 5’s files to make him seem more threatening.
Interestingly, in actual gameplay, Wesker seems to have a height of a massive 6'7''. At this point, it’s yet to be known whether the change in height has more to do with him being an actual boss, or if the lore had Wesker increase his height due to his superhuman nature.
