When it comes to villainous and notorious evil corporations in games, none could possibly dethrone the infamous Umbrella Corporation. In Capcom's Resident Evil franchise, Umbrella Corporation served as the entity responsible for the outbreaks that plagued the series' first trilogy. Moreover, it's Umbrella's involvement in bioweapons development that would jumpstart a worldwide black market craze into bioterrorism. Essentially, despite Umbrella's fall, its twist legacy still made a huge impact on the world's perspective on bioweapons.
However, despite Umbrella's status and infamy, it seems the company has more secrets to hide aside from its research into zombie-making viruses. Moreover, it seems Umbrella's ultimate goal has more to do with world domination than just zombies. What else is Umbrella hiding from the public?
10 Started With The Eugenics Craze
Despite Umbrella's specialization in pharmaceuticals, the philosophical origins of Umbrella started back in the 1960s. Back when discussions on eugenics dominated North America and Europe, three figures found themselves connected by a similar vision. Doctors James Marcus, Oswell Spencer, and Edward Ashford forged a bond deeper than their status as university classmates. Thanks to their expertise in virology, the trio soon found out that a mysterious flower called Stairway of the Sun bestowed enhancements to those "infected" by its mutagenic viruses.
During their observations of the Stairway of the Sun, the trio discovered that the power can bestow incredible regeneration and superhuman abilities to infected. Moreover, the trio realized that the flower could help them "cultivate" a civilization of superhumans.
9 The T-Virus Project
The trio realized that they needed funding for their eugenics project, which led them to think of the Progenitor virus's potential of being weaponized by the military. In turn, they formed Umbrella Pharmaceuticals as a front for their further research into the virus. Moreover, they formed the T-Virus Project as a means of formally weaponizing the Progenitor virus into a bioweapon.
Unfortunately, their attempts at corporate expansion did result in sad endings for the three founders. Dr. Ashford found his demise in a T-Virus prototype - with only his genetically-engineered daughter Alexia continuing his legacy. Dr. Marcus met his demise on the hands of his proteges and the Umbrella Security Service. Lastly, Dr. Spencer would eventually meet his demise near the start of the Raccoon City outbreak.
8 The Risk Of Immunity
When Umbrella marketed the T-Virus to various groups, they marketed it as a weapon that can annihilate all targets in a vicinity. Unfortunately, Umbrella's discovery of a rare virus immunity opened a flaw in their plan. In turn, Umbrella's laboratories started experimenting on animals to create biological weapons (BOWs) to kill survivors.
With this in mind, Umbrella USA started experimenting with these Bio-Organic Weapons for military use. By the time they got enough funding, Umbrella opened the NEST laboratory in Raccoon City to research the G-Virus, the specific Progenitor strain that can possibly turn people into superhumans, which was the original intention of the three founders.
7 Natural Intelligence Versus Technological Intelligence
Interestingly, Umbrella opened their Umbrella Europe faction as a means to actively research on another angle of bioweapons research. Whereas Umbrella USA researched about creating superhuman Tyrants, Umbrella Europe focused on finding ways to counteract the virus's effect of deteriorating intelligence.
As a result, Umbrella Europe formed the Nemesis-Alpha parasite that can "replace" an infected's deteriorated brain. When Umbrella combined the parasite with a Tyrant, they formed the "intelligent" Nemesis T-Type. They launched this prototype to hunt down STARS members in Raccoon City. To counter this development, Umbrella USA created an alternative solution - this time tasking an AI that served as the Tyrant's artificial brain instead, forming the TALOS. Both projects were destroyed.
6 An Active Military Approach
When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1980s, Umbrella used this opportunity to expand its efforts towards paramilitary groups. They formed the Umbrella Security Service and the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service to protect its assets and combat bioweapon threats. Meanwhile, the Umbrella Intelligence Division and the Monitors served as Umbrella's primary intelligence outfits. Notable figures from these programs included the mysterious soldier and operative named HUNK.
Interestingly, some of its members also helped Umbrella further its ambitions with their Tyrant projects. For instance, the UBCS commander Sergei Vladimir had genes that allowed Umbrella to mass-produce Tyrants. Meanwhile, Albert Wesker and other prominent agents became spies in various military organizations and black market groups.
5 Raccoon City Was An Opportunity
Fans of the Resident Evil games might notice that the Raccoon City virus outbreak came as a result of a monumental eff-up on Umbrella's part to contain the samples of their experiments. However, Umbrella would prove its ingenuity by using Raccoon City as a means of live testing their various experimental bioweapons. As the UBCS helped the Army National Guard and the United States Army evacuate the citizens, Umbrella teams can freely test their various bioweapons.
These included the Nemesis T-Type, the Hunters, and even other types of mutants. Moreover, the possibility of Raccoon City being bombed secured the removal of any pieces of evidence that would implicate Umbrella.
4 Umbrella's Fallout
After the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, Umbrella Corporation started its decline and eventual fall. However, the fallout of the discovery of Umbrella's plans became catastrophic. For instance, the US Congress voted to suspend Umbrella USA's operations and even federalized its assets. Moreover, the US President at the time even resigned due to public criticism, especially when survivor Alyssa Ashcroft wrote an article that the destruction of Raccoon City primarily served to cover-up Umbrella's research.
Moreover, the United States and other countries began forming their anti-bioweapons initiatives, with survivors such as Claire and Chris Redfield as well as Jill Valentine beginning separate efforts to dismantle Umbrella's operations. In turn, these groups eventually destroyed various Umbrella factories, training facilities, and even prison complexes.
3 Fall From Betrayal
Interestingly, Umbrella's own employees would result in the final nail of its coffin. Despite fighting years' worth of battles in court, Umbrella would meet its doom on the hands of former employees - Linda Baldwin and Yoko Suzuki - and their testimonies. Despite Umbrella being able to buy time, the company was already bleeding through its resources to barely survive and operate.
Moreover, authorities would eventually sentence Umbrella guilty when an anonymous tip revealed Umbrella archives that proved their direct involvement in other incidents. Sadly, the "evidence" in question didn't make it to the public to protect the country's interests. However, it's soon revealed that Albert Wesker himself gave the tip that finally ended Umbrella - a sign of Albert Wesker's developing self-interests.
2 There Exists A Company Motto
As with all groups and companies, even Umbrella Corporation has a company motto and slogan. As per James Marcus, employees have a "pledge" that states: "Obedience Breeds Discipline, Discipline Breeds Unity, Unity Breeds Power, Power is Life." However, the game didn't reveal whether this "motto" serves as the official motto of the company, or if it's an inter-company thing.
However, Albert Wesker mentioned an alternate motto: "Preserving the health of the people." Interestingly, the same motto appeared on the now-defunct Umbrella website (in real life). Another alternate motto says "Science for a comfortable life," as seen in advertisements of their other products.
1 Not Entirely About Viruses
Despite the connections between Umbrella Corporation and their inhuman experiments, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals did successfully create various forms of medicines. For instance, Umbrella created a drug called Adravil ("Quick and Easy Relief") that can be applied via paste. Meanwhile, Safsprin is Umbrella's spin on Aspirin, with the motto "The Common Cure." There's another Aspirin-based medicine from Umbrella, called Uspirim.
Meanwhile, Aqua Cure is perhaps Umbrella's best product of all. This ointment, when applied to open wounds, seemed to help cure them quickly. Interestingly, this product seems to be a part of the First Aid Spray in the game. Due to its quick regeneration properties, it's speculated that a portion of the T-Virus must be in this as well.