Resident Evil: Every Umbrella Subsidiary Explained

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Resident Evil: Every Umbrella Subsidiary Explained

As a die-hard Resident Evil fan who’s spent countless hours navigating through the eerie corridors of Umbrella Corporation’s facilities and battling their monstrous creations, I can confidently say that this conglomerate is nothing short of terrifying.

In the universe of Resident Evil, there are viruses that spread rapidly and transform ordinary people into either zombies or enhanced biological weapons. This disaster can be traced back to a potent and corrupt conglomerate known as the Umbrella Corporation. Much like any other company with an overblown sense of greed, Umbrella has various subsidiaries operating in diverse industries globally. These companies under the control of Umbrella provide valuable clues about the true intentions of their parent organization.

Ever since I first dived into the gripping world of Resident Evil, Umbrella Corp has been at the heart of it all. In the initial game, I was part of a Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS) team, alongside Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, who were investigating a seemingly ordinary mansion in Raccoon City – little did we know it was an Umbrella research facility! It quickly became clear that this corporation had a sinister agenda: creating bio-organic weapons using mutagenic viruses. The city soon fell victim to a devastating viral outbreak, unleashed by Umbrella during the climax of Resident Evil 1. This tragic event set off a chain reaction of conflict that has defined the franchise ever since.

The Umbrella Corporation’s Subsidiaries in Resident Evil Paint a Complete Picture of Its Frightening Power

Since the launch of the Resident Evil series, Umbrella Corporation has remained actively involved. As gamers delve into other Resident Evil games, they’ll uncover that Umbrella has been experimenting with Bio-Organic Weapons (BOWs) since its establishment in mid-20th century.

Umbrella Pharmaceuticals

This company originated as a venture by American virologists Oswell E. Spencer, Edward Ashford, and James Marcus in the 1960s. Their aim was to apply the concept of eugenics, a theory since discredited by the National Human Genome Research Institute as scientifically flawed, which posits human improvement through selective breeding. They sought to validate this controversial idea using a mutagenic virus known as Progenitor, derived from a West African flower species.

With financial support from Spencer, Ashford and Marcus explored the alleged capacity of the Progenitor to accelerate natural selection within a chosen group of individuals. These people were born from parents that Spencer considered to be genetically superior in terms of strength and intelligence. To secure further funding and government backing for this endeavor, they engineered a variant of the Progenitor specifically for sale to the U.S. military.

As they were involved in this activity, they maintained a low profile as a typical drug manufacturing company. Over time, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals managed to increase its power even amidst internal disputes among its founders. Eventually, it branched out globally and into various industries under the name of the Umbrella Corporation.

Umbrella Corporation’s Multinational Companies

  • Umbrella U.S.A.: This Chicago-based company oversaw Umbrella Pharmaceuticals laboratories and plants across the United States from the 1980s until its downfall in the early 2000s. One of its facilities is the Arklay Laboratory, which created the Tyrant bio-weapon in Resident Evil.
  • Umbrella Japan Co., Ltd.: Not much is known about this company apart from being a research institute that focused on biotechnology.
  • Umbrella Europe: This company was known for its Nemesis Project, which focused its research on significantly enhancing its BOW’s intelligence rather than strength.

Following the closure of its U.S. headquarters by the government, both Umbrella Europe and Japan experienced a swift decline in operations.

Umbrella Corporation’s Side-Projects

  • Umbrella Medical Equipment: This global medical research operation had the task of creating a vaccine for the Tyrant Virus, which caused the Raccoon City incident.
  • Umbrella Industries: This company is Umbrella’s foray into developing actual weapons. One of its creations is a Flamethrower which its labs used to kill escaped lab subjects.
  • Parasol: This is the corporation’s electronics arm, which developed its digital storage solutions and other security-related tech.
  • Umbrella T.V. Channel: This was a pay-per-view TV station that aired a violent game show where human contestants fought against the company’s bioweapons and zombies for survival and a financial reward.
  • Paraguas Line Company: This cruise line company was essentially a front for the intercontinental transportation of the Umbrella Corporation’s BOWs.

Umbrella-Adjacent Splinter Organizations

  • Neo Umbrella: This is a terrorist organization founded by virologist Carla Radames. Despite having no real relation to the actual corporation, this group used the Umbrella name to further its goal of destroying the world. It collapsed after the death of Radames in 2013.
  • Blue Umbrella: This private military firm was created by former Umbrella U.S.A. members to atone for the defunct corporation’s sins and develop anti-BOW products and services. Despite its altruistic cause, some people still suspect its motives.

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2024-10-23 20:03