Albert Wesker

"Every day, humans come one step closer to self destruction! I'm not destroying the world, I'm saving it!"

- Albert Wesker

Albert Wesker is the diabolical former leader of the S.T.A.R.S. team and formerly the main antagonist of the Resident Evil video games. Specifically, he is the hidden main antagonist of Resident Evil, one of the two secondary antagonists in Resident Evil 0 (the other being William Birkin), a background antagonist in Resident Evil 4, the tertiary antagonist of Resident Evil: Code Veronica X, and the main antagonist of ''Resident Evil 5. He is also the main protagonist in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.''

Early Life
Albert Wesker had parents who possessed superior genes. He and a number of other children were raised as the “Wesker children”, a project by the Umbrella Corporation, which gave Albert his surname. He demonstrated even greater potential than the others, which caught the attention of Ozwell E. Spencer, Umbrella’s president, who saw the boy had what he was looking for. Albert became one of Umbrella’s employees at age 17 and became a promising member of the corporation with Spencer secretly watching over him. Wesker became a researcher at the Management Training Facility working under Dr. James Marcus in 1977. While there, he befriended William Birkin, another trainee who would also be his rival, and the pair acted as accomplices for years afterwards. The two were some of the few people Marcus trusted. When the Training Facility was shut down, the two were transferred to the research facility in the Arklay Mountains where they continued research on the T-Virus for 13 years.

Wesker and Birkin went though 3 stages of the T-Virus during their research, finally culminating in the Tyrant in 1988. The two then received orders to eliminate Dr. James Marcus and steal his research on the T-Virus. Later, when Spencer approved Birkin’s research into the G-Virus in 1991, Wesker grew suspicious about the president and requested to be transferred into Umbrella’s Intelligence Bureau.

Traitor of the S.T.A.R.S.
"I will follow my initial plan and lure the S.T.A.R.S. members into the mansion. Their superior combat training should make them perfect test subjects."

- Albert Wesker explaining his plan

Five years later, Wesker joined a newly founded branch of the Raccoon City Police Department (whom he decided to call the "Special Tactics and Rescue Squad". or "S.T.A.R.S for short.) He acted as a double agent, informing Umbrella of any police investigations, so that their illegal actions would not be discovered. In 1998, a series of cannibalistic homicides were springing up in the Arklay Mountains, which were originally thought to be the work of a cult. However Wesker and Umbrella knew that this was really the sign of a T-virus outbreak. Though originally ordered by Umbrella to keep the S.T.A.R.S. team out of the situation, public outcry forced Wesker to send them in. Then new orders were given, dispatch S.T.A.R.S. to the outbreak area and use them as test subjects against the B.O.W.s Wesker first sent in the Bravo Team and he and Birkin were then ordered to retake control of the Umbrella Training Facility. Realizing this was impossible thanks to the resurrected James Marcus, Wesker decided to destroy the facility and came to the realization that this was the perfect time to leave Umbrella and look into his own interests. He encountered and destroyed the failure experiment, the T-001 Tyrant, before running into Sergei Vladimir, leader of Umbrella’s paramilitary organization. He reminded Wesker that his mission was to reclaim the facility, though Wesker pointed out that the T-Virus outbreak had infected too much of the area and that he was just going to destroy the now useless facility. Sergei reminded Wesker that he couldn’t just do what he wanted and ordered his Ivan Tyrant to attack Wesker, who battled the B.O.W. quite happily, seeing it as a chance for some real entertainment. During the fight, the explosions in the facility began to go off, allowing Wesker to take his leave.

The next day, there was no word from the Bravo Team and so Wesker sent in the Alpha Team. No sooner had they arrived then they were attacked by a pack of Cerberus (dogs mutated by the T-Virus) and abandoned by their pilot, Brad Vickers. They were forced to retreat into a nearby mansion, actually the Umbrella facility where Wesker had worked, and Wesker ordering everyone to split up. He then disappeared and left the survivors, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, and Barry Burton, to fight off the B.O.W.S. running loose in the mansion. To ensure his success, Wesker got Barry to follow his commands by threatening his family. However Jill found Enrico, who had discovered what was going on, but before he could compromise Wesker’s plans, Wesker killed him. Despite this, Chris and Jill eventually managed to learn the truth and destroyed the T-002 Tyrant, along with the facility. But unknown to everyone else, Wesker had injected an experimental virus into himself that he had obtained from William Birkin. He allowed the tyrant to seemingly kill him and, when everyone was gone, the virus reanimated him, giving him superhuman strength, agility, speed, and regeneration, at the cost of Wesker’s humanity. Upon his reanimation, he realized his tyrant had been destroyed and attempted to steal the data from the facility. But Wesker found that the data had been transferred to the Umbrella base in Russia and that he had been locked out by the advanced computer program, the Red Queen. Swearing he would pay back both S.T.A.R.S. and the Red Queen, Wesker made his escape from the facility, easily fighting his way through the remaining B.O.W.s and marveling at his new powers. However as he was escaping, Wesker found himself pursued by Lisa Trevor, who seemed determined to destroy the man who had made her so twisted. Noting how she seemed almost invincible after pumping every bullet he had into her, Wesker eventually used his new abilities to shoot down a chandelier onto Lisa, finally ending her.

Raccoon City Outbreak
Though much of his plot had failed, Wesker still managed to find a high-ranking position in one of Umbrella’s mysterious rivals “The Organization”. Deciding that he wanted to continue to fool his enemies into thinking he was dead, Wesker operated through spies and the Organization. When the T-Virus outbreak hit Raccoon City, he sent in a spy, Ada Wong, to retrieve a sample of Birkin’s G-Virus. She was successful, much to Wesker and the Organization’s pleasure.

Rockfort Island/Antarctic Lab Incident
"Sure I'm not Human anymore, but just look at the power I've gained!"

- Wesker gains his new abilities

Wesker led an assault by the H.C.F, a heavily armed team of commandos, in an attack on the Rockfort Island Umbrella base, releasing the T-Virus in the process, so as to gain a sample of the T-Veronica Virus, the creation of Alexia Ashford. With the T-Virus contaminating the area and the B.O.W.s released from containment, Wesker was easily able to move throughout the facility and look for his objective. However he and his men found no sign of Alexia herself, who was the only known person to host the virus. Wesker set out to find the Antarctic Facility, which had also suffered a T-Virus outbreak from the employees who fled there from the Rockfort Facility. While there, Wesker ran into Chris Redfield, who had come looking for his sister, Claire, and eventually found Alexia. After attempting to force her to give him a T-Veronica virus sample, he was driven back by Alexia’s powers. Wesker then left Chris to take care of Alexia and succeeded in getting a sample of the virus from the body of Steve Burnside. Once the base started its self-destruct sequence, Wesker captured Claire so as to force Chris to fight him. While he managed to dominate the battle with his superhuman abilities, Chris refused to go down easily. Wesker was about to finally kill him when an explosion sent a flaming pillar between them. He stated that Chris had won on pure luck, which wouldn't be enough to save him next time. Wesker escaped into an Organization Submarine as the base continued to explode.

Business with Javier Hidalgo
Four years later, Wesker was contacted by Javier Hidalgo, the leader of a powerful South American drug cartel, “The Sacred Snakes”. Javier’s wife, Hilda, had contracted a fatal disease ten years before and a former Umbrella researcher had given him T-Virus to help her. Now his daughter, Manuela, had been infected by the same disease and Javier wanted Wesker’s help. Wesker gave Javier T-Veronica virus, as well as specific instructions on how to use it, in exchange for generous financial compensation and a share in Javier's dealings. Wesker later watched Javier’s mutated body fall through binoculars after he mutated himself and was killed by Leon S. Kennedy and Jack Krauser.

Russian Facility Incident
"Chris, it appears our fates are forever intertwined..."

- Wesker to Chris Redfield

One year later, Wesker made his way into the Umbrella Facility in Russia while Chris and Jill were launching an assault on it in order to destroy the new B.O.W., T-A.L.O.S. Wesker fought his way through the sub-levels until he finally confronted Sergei Vladimir again, who ordered his two Ivan Tyrants to kill Wesker. With his new superhuman abilities, he defeated the two Ivans easily and continued into the facility, eventually finding his way to the Red Queen control room. While Jill and Chris fought and destroyed T-A.L.O.S., Wesker took on a mutated Sergei, finally killing him. He then downloaded the files from the Red Queen and deleted the computer’s data. Shortly afterwards, Wesker presented strong evidence against Umbrella in court, claiming he was a personal friend of the CEO, ensuring the company was shut down. With all the information he needed at hand, Wesker swore to be the one to bring about a new world.

Joining with Tricell
Wesker later contacted Tricell, another pharmaceutical company, who paid him well for all of Umbrella’s information. He began working with them and started iwork on his own plans, which he kept secret from the Organization. One person who caught Wesker’s interest was Excella Gionne, a Tricell employee and a descendant of the company’s original founders, thanks to her intellect and ambition, very much like his own. After deciding she could be a valuable ally, Wesker helped Excella to climb up Tricell’s corporate ladder. She was also romantically attracted in Wesker, but he didn’t return these feelings at all, though he didn’t let Excella know this so as to keep her on his side.

Stealing Las Plagas
"Our goal is to retrieve the sample. Take out anything that might interfere with our plans..."

- Wesker informing Ada Wong of her mission

After Umbrella’s fall, Wesker began creating a new Umbrella using the data he had retrieved from Umbrella’s Caucasus Facility. But to complete it, he was going to need a great deal of resources and wealth, so he began selling samples of Umbrella’s viruses to their competitors. He continued to keep his plans secret to his superiors in the Organization, but they had begun to grow suspicious of Wesker.

Tricell had recently become interested in the newly discovered Las Plagas parasite and sought to acquire an advanced Control Plaga, which had been developed by Osmund Saddler. Wesker made a deal with them and sent in his old subordinate, Ada Wong to steal a sample, while he monitored and contacted her with a video feed. Because of the deadline they were on, Wesker sent in his new recruit, Jack Krauser to help her, despite the fact that the two were  constantly at odds. Eventually Ada returned successful but double crossed Wesker, giving him a modified Subordinate Plaga while sending the real one to the Organization. However he took a dominant species Plaga from Krauser's body and started performing research on it. Wesker then brought his Plaga samples to Tricell, who began developing more evolved breeds of the parasite. Wesker left the Organization soon afterwards, easily managing to hide from them since he had been doing it for years from Umbrella.

Final Meeting with Spencer
"The right to be a god...that right is now mine."

- Wesker, before killing Spencer

Wesker had everything he needed for his plans, but he still wanted to know why Spencer had created the B.O.W.s and fortunately for him, he caught wind of some information pointing to Spencer’s whereabouts. Wesker headed there one Autumn night and slaughtered his former employer’s bodyguards, before confronting Spencer himself. He expected this to surprise Umbrella’s CEO, but the old man actually expected to see him. It was then that Wesker realized Spencer had arranged for the information leak and had wanted this meeting. In fact he had controlled everything from the very beginning, including Wesker’s actions. Spencer revealed that the reason he had created B.O.W.s was to force humanity to evolve through viruses, creating a superior human race with himself as its god. Wesker had been molded from the need for Spencer to find people who would share his ideals.

Spencer explained the Wesker plan  and that he'd seen to it each child was given an experimental virus, in Albert’s case, it was the virus he got from Birkin. However, he was the only one to survive it. But now that Wesker knew this, he also knew that the only thing that prevented him from becoming a god was a sickly, dying old man. He killed his “creator” by driving his arm through Spencer’s chest and noted how arrogant Spencer had been, to think someone like him could become a god. Wesker then stated that only one able to become a god had the right to be one. He then decided that a pharmaceutical company could not bring him the godly power he desired and set out to succeed in his former master’s dream of creating a world of superior humans. Wesker was then confronted by his old enemies, Jill and Chris, who had learned of Spencer’s location and hoped he could lead them to their former leader. Wesker took their appearance as a sign that "the weak would always resist the will of the chosen”. Wesker began fighting them and easily matched them with his powers. In the fight, he knocked Jill away after she attempted to pull a knife on him and was about to finally finish off his most hated enemy, Chris. However Jill threw herself at Wesker and knocked them both of them out of the window they were in front of, falling off a cliff. Though declared dead, they both survived and Jill was placed in cryogenic sleep by Wesker, who intended to use her against Chris.

Uroboros
"Uroboros is on eve of its appearance. Six billion cries of agony will birth a new balance."

- Wesker's plan

Wesker worked with Tricell again and formed a full alliance with Excella, who came to share his vision for the future. With his help, she continued to rise to work her way up the corporate ladder of Tricell, until she was CEO of the Africa Division. They reopened the abandoned Africa Research Center of Umbrella and found the source of the Progenitor virus. With this, Wesker created the most powerful virus of all, the Uroboros virus. At first, the virus proved deadly to any human, but he found a way to counter this through Jill. After becoming briefly infected by the T-Virus, Jill had developed powerful antibodies that Wesker used to perfect Uroboros. He hired a Tricell tanker within which he placed a specialized stealth bomber. With use of the newly created chemical, P30, Wesker placed a device on Jill’s chest that would continuously pump it into her system, making her his willing subordinate and enhancing her abilities, creating a perfect asset for his plans and a form of payback against Chris. Wesker began placing the Uroboros virus into missiles so that he could release it into the planet’s atmosphere. He and Excella then placed Las Plagas into the residents of Kijuju, bringing them under their control. Everything seemed perfect for Wesker until Chris, along with another B.S.A.A. agent, Sheva Alomar, showed up to investigate what was going on. After the two took out Ricardo Irving, who sold B.O.W.s on the black market and was presumably Wesker and Excella's supplier of Las Plagas, they pursued a disguised Jill. When she reported Chris and Sheva’s arrival in their facility, Excella stated that she “sensed concern” from Wesker, but he simply replied that he was not going to allow failure at this stage of the plan. While Excella and Jill went to deal with Chris and Sheva, Wesker thanked Spencer for providing him with a great vision for the world and the means of becoming the god that Spencer never could be. He then went to the Monarch room to prepare for his upcoming confrontation with Chris. After sending one of Tricell’s advanced Uroboros mutants against their enemies, Excella and Jill joined him. Upon Chris and Sheeva’s arrival, they were attacked by and fought against the cloaked person they had been pursuing, only for Wesker to appear. He called this “one big family reunion”, saying that Chris should be happier to see them.

Wesker then revealed that the hooded woman was Jill and the four engaged in a two on two fight while Excella went to prepare the tanker. After his spare time was expended, Wesker left Chris and Sheva to Jill, but the two managed to free Jill by pulling the device off her chest. With Excella finally having outlived her usefulness, Wesker infected her with Uroboros, which killed her, and left her on the deck of the ship. This resulted in an enormous monstrosity after it absorbed dead bodies scattered across the deck. Chris and Sheva managed to destroy it and were then informed by Jill that Wesker needed to inject a special serum into himself so as to keep the virus inside him stable. However this dosage needed to be exact so if there was too much in his system at once, Wesker would weaken. Sheva had managed to get vials of the serum in an earlier encounter with Excella and so she and Chris pursued Wesker into the hold of the tanker, where they realized his plan to use the stealth bomber to release Uroboros into the atmosphere. They engaged Wesker in a final confrontation, gaining an advantage by turning off the lights around the platform they were fighting on. By working together, Chris and Sheva hit him with an RPG and manage to inject some of the serum into Wesker’s neck. Though he was weakened, he was far from out and attempted to flee using his jet, only for Chris and Sheva to board as well just before take off. As the jet gained altitude, Wesker continued to fight them, only to get injected again by Chris, who called him, “another Umbrella reject” and opened the bomber’s underside hatch.

The lost of pressure caused the jet to crash into an active volcano. By some miracle, they all survived and Wesker stated that he should have finished Chris years ago. Chris replied that his plans were finished, only for Wesker to laugh and say that he was just getting started. He turned to an Uroboros missile and punched into it, absorbing the virus into himself. The tendrils wrapped around several metal shards and gave him a powerful tentacle like appendage to swipe with. Wesker proceeded to attack Chris and Sheva, all the while ranting on about natural selection and his loathing of the human race. It was clear that the cool and calm Wesker was gone, along with what remained of his sanity. As the fight went on, Wesker’s other arm succumbed to the Uroboros, but he managed to keep the rest of himself intact. Finally the fight ended up on the last platform on the lava river and Chris and Sheva managed to stab Wesker from both sides of his one weakpoint, before the ground gave way beneath him, dropping him into the lava. Chris and Sheva managed to grab onto a ladder from a helicopter piloted by Josh Stone and Jill. However Wesker grabbed the helicopter with his tentacles, determined to take them down with him. But Chris and Sheva fired a pair of RPG’s at him that destroyed him completely. Finally the malicious mastermind that had been so hellbent on world domination had been destroyed.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Wesker makes an appearance as a playable character in both Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and it's Ultimate edition. He is also one of the main antagonists in said game. Wesker also appears as one of four characters that Galactus had selected as heralds. The others are Akuma, Dormammu, and Dr. Doom. Before any of the three selected characters can fight Galactus, Galactus will summon one of the four heralds with a one in four chance of Albert Wesker being one of the heralds. About ten seconds later, a second herald will join. Wesker can also join as the second herald, if the first herald is either Dormammu or Doctor Doom. However, if the Akuma was selected as the first herald, Wesker will not participate as the second herald.

Ending
After Wesker managed to defeat Galactus, he somehow managed to capture certain characters from both the Marvel and Capcom roster. He hope that he can use them for more test and to become more powerful.

Personality
Albert Wesker is power-hungry, cunning and manipulative and seeks power and dominance over everything. It is implied that his personality was largely stemmed from his being raised as part of Spencer's Project Wesker. He is a skilled schemer, constantly plotting to achieve his own goals and everything he does is meant to serve his purposes. Wesker works constantly behind the scenes, often using others to do his dirty work for him. He maintains a calm and collected manner most of the time and is always looking to payback anyone who wrongs him. Wesker is able to manipulate others to work for him, but doesn't care for anyone except himself. He believes that he is destined to be the god of a new world, one that he would create by purifying it.

Abilities
Thanks to his injecting himself with that experimental virus, Wesker has superhuman strength, reflexes, speed, and agility and seems to take great pleasure in demonstrating his power so as to intimidate his foes. Wesker's speed and reflexes are perhaps his most notable abilities since they allow him to dodge bullets at almost point blank range, perform short dashes of speed faster than the brain could comprehend, giving him the appearance of teleporting, and leap great heights. Wesker's strength is so much that he can throw large missiles with one hand, lift steel girders off his body, and kill a B.O.W. with one strike. However he must take regular injections of a serum to keep the virus stable and this serum proves to be his biggest weakness, as overdoses of it weaken him significantly.

The injection also resulted in his developing of a rapid healing factor that, when combined with his great endurance, makes him almost invincible. A rocket exploding in his hands only incapacitated Wesker for a moment, thousands of pounds of steel falling on him from a few stories dazed him for a few seconds, and he quickly healed from his face getting hideously burned. The healing factor also appears to have stopped Wesker from physically aging.

Despite Wesker mainly relying on his physical abilities, he is a skilled gunman from his days as a S.T.A.R.S. member and keeps his Samurai Edge pistol holstered with him at all times, since Wesker never, never, lets his guard down. Also, even without the enhancements of his virus, Wesker is an extremely skilled martial artist, enough to go toe-to-toe with a Tyrant.

Resident Evil Film Series
Main Article: Albert Wesker

Albert Wesker also appears in the Resident Evil film series where he serves as the main antagonist, although he doesn't appear until Resident Evil: Extinction. He appears in Resident Evil: Retribution, but not as the antagonist as he teams up with Alice to help her escape an Umbrella facility at the Antarctic.

Quotes

 * "Ya gotta love Barry! He must really be afraid of Umbrella."
 * "Jill and Barry together...in Hell!"
 * "Sure I'm not Human anymore, but just look at the power I've gained!"
 * "I don't know where you get you're confidence, Chris."
 * "Let's just say I'm a ghost...coming back to haunt your dear brother."
 * "The only thing that can defeat power, is more power."
 * "Chris, it appears that our fates are forever interwined."
 * "Time to take this Virus out for a test drive."
 * "Nobody's perfect. Not even you, Lisa."
 * "We shall meet again before the conclusion of this drama. Then you will learn of the history...I will write for this world."
 * "Your lack of creativity disappoints me. I expected more from you."
 * "Isn't this one big, family reunion."
 * "Your future hinges upon this fight!"
 * "You're merely postponing the inevitable!"
 * "Remarkable! Still resisting at such an advanced stage. Commendable, yet futile! No more games Chris, I've got work to do. Have fun watching Jill suffer."
 * "The right to be a god? You? Arrogant even until the end. Only one truely capable of being a god, deserves that right. The right...with Uroboros, I have that right."
 * "Six billion cries of agony will birth a new balance."
 * "Let me clarify something for you, Chris. I don't think of myself as a King. No, I'm a god! And even Kings bow down to Gods."
 * "Well then, I'll just have to kill you quickly."
 * "Uroboros will be released into the atmosphere, ensuring complete global saturation."
 * "I don't need anyone else! I have Uroboros!"
 * "The entire world will be infected. A new genesis is at hand and I will be the creator!"
 * "You'll pay for that!"
 * "The Human race requires judgement!"
 * "You haven't changed."
 * "Let's finish this!"
 * "Natural selection leaves the survivors stronger and better! Humans have escaped this winnowing for far too long!"
 * "CCCCHHHHRIIISS!!!!"
 * "It was in you're best interest to assist me!"
 * "You failed me!"
 * "Worthless!"
 * "How is this possible!?"
 * "Your assistance is required!"
 * "I believe I should thank you, Spencer."
 * "Good teamwork."
 * "Show yourself!"
 * "You're getting better!"

Trivia

 * Wesker has the most appearances throughout the Resident Evil series, appearing in 7 games in total.


 * IGN cited Wesker as number three on their Top 10 Most Memorable Villains, saying that "Res Evil fans know that when Wesker shows up, trouble isn't far behind."


 * In one of the endings in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Wesker's eyes are seen as the normal blue instead of burning with cat like slits, though this may be a production error.


 * In Resident Evil 5: The Mercenaries and the Versus Mode, Wesker had a move called "Tiger Uppercut", named after a move used by Sagat, as well as one called the "Jaguar Kick", named after one used by Sagat's apprentice, Adon, who are both from another popular Capcom series, Street Fighter.


 * Jake Muller, one of the playable characters in Resident Evil 6, is revealed to be Wesker's biological son. He shares his father's special blood type which holds a vaccine for the new C-Virus being used in a global bio-terrrost attack, though unlike Wesker, Muller himself is not evil and in fact one of the good guys, albeit initially an anti-hero. This is referenced by Piers Nivans in Resident Evil 6, claiming "That's irony for you. A man who spent his entire life trying to destroy the world. Now, his son is the only one who can save it."
 * Wesker's Marvel vs. Capcom 3 theme is a remix of Wind of Madness, his second boss theme from Resident Evil 5.
 * Wesker's Outfit from Resident Evil 5 and abilities has similarities to Neo from the Matrix. Coincidentally, his facial features and to some degree his character and abilities bore a large resemblance to that of Agent Smith.
 * Wesker has some similarities to Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars:
 * Both are Power Hungry-Complete Monsters that seek to rule their own worlds respectively (Wesker wants to rule as a god and Tarkin wants to be ruler of the Empire).
 * Both only care about themselves (Tarkin, despite him following Palpatine's orders, is eager to see the end of Palpatine's rule so he can have the Empire for himself).
 * Lastly, both villains are considerably wealthy (Wesker was a former CEO, at least in the film series).
 * Adam D. Clarke compared Wesker and Spencer's relationship to that of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, respectively.
 * Wesker's ending in Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a reference to Marvel Zombies.
 * Wesker's voice, more specifically Richard Waugh's rendition of his voice, was based on Shere Khan from the Disney animated film The Jungle Book.