Chimera (Resistance)

"The Chimeran threat began in Russia. The origin of the virus is unknown but it's effects were devastating and swift. In the nineteen thirties reports of biological experiments began leaking out of Russia. Then reports of villages destroyed overnight. Then entire cities. We feared the Russians had developed a new superweapon, the truth was far worse."

- British Colonel and Intelligence Operator, Rachel Parker describing the Chimera

The Chimera are the main antagonists in the game and other franchises in Resistance. They are a parasitic alien species. They were originally suspected to be biological weapons developed by the Russians, because their invasion started in Russia. It was later revealed that the Chimera are extraterrestrial in nature and were revealed, through archaeological finds, they had been present on Earth for millions of years long before humanity existed.

Backstory
The Chimera's origins are mainly unknown, but what is known is that at least 60 million years ago a race of beings, presumably the original or "Pure" Chimera, had colonized Earth and established a foothold on the planet. During this era, the Chimera came into conflict with another alien race (this race used Gray Tech). It is unknown what happened afterwards, but it's highly likely that the damage dealt to the Chimera was devastating. The Chicxulub Crater was created as a result of the conflict, and the effects of the impact forced the Chimera to completely abandon Earth. Remnants of this war known as Gray Tech were discovered by human scientists to conclude that the non-Chimeran artifacts may have some ties to the Chimera's absence on Earth.

Resistance: Fall of Man
Over 60 million years later, the Chimera had finally returned to Earth during the Tunguska Event of 1908. Their arrival was initially interpreted as a small asteroid or comet strike. The object descending through the Earth's atmosphere was presumably a spacecraft or capsule. The Chimera had preplanned the attack on Earth since the time of their departure, as shown by the presence of the Chimeran Tower network that were found underneath the Earth's crust across the world. Some towers were coincidentally under major population centers, such as London, Paris, Chicago and New York.

After they arrived on Earth, the Chimera proceeded to infect and/or kill almost every living organism in Russia before making themselves known in 1927. Russia would be completely conquered by the Chimera by the late 1930s. Originally, knowledge of the Chimera's existence was unknown to the rest of the world due to Russia's strict isolationist policies. However, Western intelligence agencies became aware of strange events transpiring in Russia, such as abnormally cold weather changes, but erroneously believed that the Chimera were the byproduct of a Russian military experiment gone wrong.

During the 1940s, the Chimera gathered their forces before breaking through the Red Curtain and swiftly invading Europe on December 1949. In a matter of weeks, continental Europe was conquered before the United Kingdom, the last European nation, was eventually invaded after the Chimera dug under the English Channel. This ambush easily overwhelmed its defenders. Noted changes in the environment/climate of Britain and the excavation of many Chimeran towers by the Chimera happened shortly after their brutal takeover of the country. However, it was not until the intervention of the United States during the Battle of London resulted in the decimation of the Chimera throughout the United Kingdom and the knowledge of the Chimera's delicate hive-like connection to the Angels through the destruction of the Chimeran tower network caused a turning point for humanity which eventually led to Western Europe's liberation during Operation Overstrike.

Resistance 2
Although they suffered defeat and their plans were set back, the Chimera were quick to adapt from their mistakes and made progressive changes in creating newer and stronger strains, and made use of advanced technology to continue their onslaught over the western hemisphere. With the fall of the Angels, the Chimera came under the leadership of Daedalus, a former human being known as Jordan Shepherd who was a severe mutated byproduct of Project Abraham. It was under Daedalus that the Chimera were able to invade Canada, Africa, and South America within two years before setting their focus on the United States. The Chimera intended to activate the tower network across the planet, and sought to reach the inactive towers remaining in America.

Ultimately, the Chimera reached and invaded the U.S. on May 15, 1953, deploying a large fleet of Chimeran airships which totally decimated the country and its military within over a month. By this time, the Chimera activated the tower network and channeled its energy towards the Chicxulub Crater which was being harnessed by the Chimeran fleet's flagship. SRPA attempted to prevent Daedalus and the Chimera by destroying the fleet with a fission bomb. However, the detonation of the bomb only served to "kick-start" the tower network, causing a large energy surge that opened a wormhole in the Earth's atmosphere. This wormhole led to the home system of the Chimera, presumably allowing for the Chimera to send numerous reinforcements to Earth.

Resistance 3
By 1957, the Chimera had succeed in taking over the planet. As a result, the Chimera, for unknown reasons, had abandoned the need to capture and convert human beings (most likely due to the Hale vaccine which negated the effects of the Chimeran virus). They therefore began an extermination campaign to wipe out whatever remained of the human race, and with the goal of terraforming Earth into a frozen wasteland using massive orbital weapons known as Terraformers. The wormhole above the New York City Chimeran Tower would then be used for its sole purpose: to transport countless numbers of Pure Chimera from their homeworld to Earth. Furthermore, the Chimera have for unknown reasons removed some Chimeran strains, such as Grims and Leapers, from the Chimeran military structure, and consequently becoming 'feral' and hostile to their own kind. A possible explanation for the hostilities between military Chimera and the feral strains can be identified as an issue of expired usefulness.

Following the Chimeran War, and the opening of the wormhole to the Chimera's home world, the Chimera on Earth had potential access to a near unlimited flow of Pure Chimera reinforcements to fight against small pockets of human resistance. Previously the wilder, more aggressive Chimeran strains had been useful in providing a more random and unpredictable fighting force to weaken and hinder humanity. However, once any real opposition to the Chimeran occupation had been reduced to small bands of survivors, they lost their usefulness and became the targets of a purge focused on removing the less advanced strains of Chimera. What remains unknown is how far this purging would have extended. It is possible that once the Pure Chimera retook and resettled the Earth, other strains would face elimination for the same reasons. This reinforces the image that the impure strains of Chimera were simply a means to an end, paving the way for the domination of the Pure Chimeran race.

By August 1957, the Chimera were dealt a sudden and devastating blow when former Sentinel, Joseph Capelli, launched a desperate attack that destroyed the New York Tower, closing the wormhole and ending the Chimera's terraforming process. The attack on the terraformer in New York appears to be humanity's own turning point as temperatures change rapidly on the Eastern Coast of the United States just as human resistance fighters across the planet are reporting their successes against the Chimera, who appear to be at a severe in-cohesive state. Over time it became apparent that humanity may have finally won the war against the Chimera.