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"It's sheer perfection. My precious G-virus. No one will ever take you away from me." — William Birkin, before being ambushed by the U.S.S.[3] |
William Birkin was an executive and chief scientist for the Umbrella Corporation. He was the developer responsible for the discovery of the G-virus and development of the G-Virus Project.[4] He was also the husband of Annette Birkin and the father of Sherry Birkin. His involvement in the G-virus served as a catalyst for the events of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident.
Background
Early years
Birkin joined the Umbrella Corporation in 1977[5] at the young age of sixteen.[6] He was placed at the Umbrella Executive Training Center under first director Dr. James Marcus. There, he became rival of fellow researcher Albert Wesker, as they were both considered to be Marcus' top apprentices.[5] Over time Wesker and Birkin became partners and developed a close and sincere friendship. They were involved in the development of the experimental t-Virus,[citation needed] until the facility was closed down on July 29, 1978.[6]
Two days later, he and Albert were transferred to the Arklay Laboratory; where they continued their t-Virus research and were assigned the roles of chief researchers of the facility by the facility's president.[6] It was around this time that Birkin became interested in the Ebola virus, which had recently been discovered in Africa; Umbrella was, officially, researching a cure for the Ebola virus in the facility.[6] During their research into the Ebola virus, Birkin and Wesker were introduced to Lisa Trevor, who had been experimented on by Umbrella since 1967.[6] It was at this point that he and Wesker began to ponder on what Spencer's plans with the company really were.[6]
Rivalry
On July 27, 1981, Umbrella employed a ten-year-old girl as a chief researcher.[7][8] Alexia Ashford, who was a granddaughter of Umbrella co-founder Edward Ashford, was of an unnaturally-high intellect thanks to the achievements of her father, Alexander.[9] News of her employment by Umbrella reached the Arklay laboratory that very day,[7] having a heavy impact on the still-young William,[7] who took to his own employment at the age of sixteen highly.[7] His frustration was worsened by discussions between older researchers, who held a high opinion for the Ashford family, even discussing over the potential of the young girl working at the facility.[7]
Despite his competitive rivalry with Alexia, his research yielded no results until he created the Hunter Bio Organic Weapon (B.O.W.) in 1981.[7] He became completely focused on his work and research and continued uninterrupted even after the announcement of Alexia's apparent death in 1983.[7]
Promotion
The Birkin family in happier times. From left to right: William; Sherry and Annette.
He was "promoted" in 1988 to lead the "t" project (and completed the development of the Tyrant-class B.O.W.) after he and Wesker helped to assassinate their former mentor, Marcus.[10] Following this, credit for the virus' creation was given to Birkin.[11] By this time, Birkin was already married to fellow researcher, Annette and the marriage had already produced a daughter named Sherry.[12]
Birkin alongside Wesker during Marcus' assassination.
When he and Wesker were conducting an experiment with an NE-α Type, they used a female specimen (Lisa Trevor) as a guinea pig.[13] Lisa was the only human test subject to fully accept the parasite - other hosts were killed shortly after implantation. 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.[13]
He received approval from Umbrella's CEO, Oswell E. Spencer, to initiate the G-Virus Project; Wesker, however, knew he had limitations as a researcher and left the project in the hands of William and Annette, both more competent than him. In 1991, Birkin and his wife were transferred to an underground facility established specifically for the project. Birkin also bribed the chief of the Raccoon City Police Department, Brian Irons, to cover up the project, using his wife as the "middle man".
After his uptaking of "G", he passed the t-Virus research down to one of his subordinates, Dr. Greg Mueller.[citation needed]
Betrayal
During the events surrounding the Mansion Incident, the Research Center infestation, and the Ecliptic Express Incident, Birkin and Wesker were shocked to learn that Dr. Marcus was somehow 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 "conspiracy", as said by Wesker.
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 U.S. military intervene and retrieve him.[14] However, the team never arrived and the Umbrella Security Service unit "Alpha team" (led by HUNK, under orders from Spencer himself) reached the lab before them to retrieve his work. After a tense standoff, Birkin was cut down with automatic fire. His virus research was taken and he was left to die of gunshot wounds. With his last dying breaths, he injected himself with a sample of the G-virus and survived, albeit rapidly mutating into the horrendous monster only known as "G".
The "G"-transformation
After his mutation into G, Birkin went after the U.S.S. team that stole his samples and chased them into the sewers. The team was taken completely by surprise at the sight of the now reborn Birkin and all of them, excluding HUNK were slaughtered, their weapons having no effect on the abomination before them. During the ensuing carnage, several vials containing the t-Virus were smashed by Birkin and the virus was ingested by rats, serving as the main cause of the viral outbreak in the days of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident.
Several days later, on September 29th, Birkin wandered around the R.P.D. and encountered some of the surviving citizens, his daughter among them. Looking for a host to propagate his species, he implanted his embryos into a victim (Brian Irons). However, Irons was not a match and thus was killed. He was successful however, in implanting an embryo into Sherry. He also managed several times to call out "Sherry", which she mistook as her father being attacked by "the monster" (actually himself) which had been following her.
During all of his mutations, caused by the uncontrollable effects of the G-virus, he chased after Leon, Claire, Sherry and Ada from the sewers to the underground laboratory. However, he was defeated by Leon and Claire while struggling to revive himself. Shortly thereafter, the train was destroyed, killing Birkin for good.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 CAPCOM
- ↑ Evident by his research into the G-virus
- ↑ Capcom Production Studio 4. Resident Evil 2. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). Scene: Birkin's Assassination.
- ↑ Capcom. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). File: William Birkin.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Resident Evil Zero, 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 7.4 7.5 7.6 Wesker's Report, part 2
- ↑ Capcom Production Studio 4. Resident Evil CODE: Veronica. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). File: Newspaper Clip.
- ↑ Capcom Production Studio 4. Resident Evil CODE: Veronica. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). File: Veronica Report.
- ↑ Capcom Production Studio 3. Resident Evil Zero. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). Scene: Confrontation With Marcus.
- ↑ Resident Evil 2
- ↑ Wesker's Report II, part 3: "Enter Nemesis"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Capcom Production Studio 4. Resident Evil. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). File: Observation Note.
- ↑ Capcom. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. (Capcom Co., Ltd.). File: William Birkin Profile.
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