This year marks Resident Evil's 25th anniversary, which is why it is no surprise that the franchise has developed some complex lore, filled with characters playing essential roles in key events that propelled the series forward. In Resident Evil's classic-era, which mainly revolves around the Raccoon City Incident, Dr. William Birkin is one of those people whose actions served as a catalyst to the fall and eventual destruction of Raccoon City.
Last week, the first official trailer released for the new film adaptation, called Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and eagle-eyed fans would notice how William Birkin also plays a huge role in the upcoming film. However, for fans of the video games which are more familiar with the modern entries, Birkin's importance in the events leading to Raccoon City's destruction could easily be missed. So, who is William Birkin, and what was his involvement during the Raccoon City incident?
William Birkin Before the Raccoon City Incident
In the video game franchise, Dr. William Birkin was a virologist who worked for the Umbrella Corporation from the early '70s to the late '90s. In his early years, Birkin became a child prodigy after earning a doctorate as a teenager. Given his immense talents, he was offered a position at Umbrella Corporation at the early age of fifteen. He was sent to Arklay County under the mentorship of Dr. James Marcus, one of Umbrella's founders.
In his training under Dr. Marcus, William met fellow researcher Albert Wesker, who would eventually become one of Resident Evil's most iconic villains. For years, Birkin and Wesker developed a friendly rivalry. However, after their education was concluded in 1978, both were transferred to the Arklay Laboratory. On their first day in the lab under the Spencer Mansion, Birkin and Wesker were introduced to Lisa Trevor, who was kidnapped by Umbrella and used as a test subject.
Birkin's relationship with Umbrella started to go sour after the company employed Dr. Alexia Ashford as a senior virologist. Alexia's entry to Umbrella severely bruised William's ego as he is no longer the only child prodigy that garnered the company's interest, and because his colleagues are in constant awe of Alexia's talents. However, sometime in his tenure at Umbrella, Birkin met and married fellow researcher Annette, and the couple later welcomed their daughter Sherry, born around 1986.
In 1988, one of Umbrella's founders, Ozwell E. Spencer, assigned Wesker and Birkin to facilitate the assassination of Dr. James Marcus. After Marcus was dead, Birkin took over his research of the T-Virus, taking credit as its creator. However, due to the T-Virus' aggressive nature, Birkin discovered that only 10% of the population could tolerate its properties. However, Birkin obtained Umbrella Europe's NE-α parasite and used it on Lisa Trevor, who immediately bonded with it and successfully integrated its DNA with her genome.
With this breakthrough, Birkin lobbied Umbrella HQ to grant him funding for his work on the Golgotha, also known as the G-Virus. Umbrella granted Birkin's request and immediately funded the construction of the NEST lab, located underneath Raccoon City. There, Birkin served as the chief researcher and conducted experiments to complete his G-Virus research.
William Birkin's Involvement in the Raccoon City Outbreak
In May-July 1998, the T-Virus was leaked in the Spencer mansion, the Arklay research facility, and the surrounding forest. In Resident Evil 0, it was revealed that the Queen Leech dumped together with Marcus' corpse, entered his body, and merged its DNA into its genome as well as absorbing his memories. This creature later went on a rampage and was behind the T-Virus leak in an attempt to avenge the death of Dr. Marcus.
After losing control of the Spencer Mansion and the Umbrella Training facility nearby, Birkin decided to obliterate the training facility. On the other hand, Wekser traveled back to Raccoon City to lure S.T.A.R.S. into the Spencer Mansion, obtain combat data, and betray Umbrella by selling said data to a rival company. However, Birkin was adamant about leaving Umbrella right away, given that his work on the G-Virus was still incomplete. However, after Umbrella failed to promote him as one of its executives, Birkin decided that he would eventually leave Umbrella and betray it from within.
Months after the destruction of the Spencer Mansion, Birkin completed his G-Virus research and decided to sell the virus to the US military. Unfortunately, Umbrella was made aware of his plans, and on the night of September 22, 1998, Umbrella sent a USS squad to retrieve the virus from Birkin. During the encounter, Birkin was gunned down by Umbrella's soldiers after resisting to give up the G-Virus. The USS obtained samples of both the T and G viruses and left for the sewers to their extraction point.
The injured Birkin then injected himself with the G-Virus. However, the G-Virus failed to stabilize itself into Birkin's body, and instead of becoming a G-human, Birkin mutated into a powerful G-mutant. Despite his infection, Birkin still retained some of his memories and went after the USS for vengeance. Birkin caught up with the USS in Raccoon City's sewer system. During the encounter, vials containing the T-Virus were destroyed, consumed by rats, and leaked into the city's water system. This incident led to the T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City, which infected most of its citizens, turning them into zombies.
William Birkin's Mutation and Death
During the Raccoon City outbreak, the mutated Birkin went into the city searching for his daughter Sherry. Given their biological relation, Sherry was a viable carrier for his parasitic larvae. After locating Sherry in Raccoon City's orphanage, Birkin was able to infect Sherry with the G-Virus. At this point, his mutation got out of control that he lost all humanity. With the help of Claire Redfield and Anette Birkin, Sherry was cured of her infection.
In the early morning of September 29, 1998, Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, and Sherry Birkin boarded a train to escape the city. However, Birkin was able to catch up with the trio in a final attempt to kill them. Luckily, Claire and Leon were able to neutralize Birkin by activating the train's self-destruct system, killing Birkin once and for all. Although Birkin never made it out alive of Raccoon City, his contribution to Umbrella's bioweapons research, specifically the G-Virus, continued to impact succeeding Resident Evil games, making him one of the franchise's most important villains.