Albert Wesker

Albert Wesker
is a character in Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. He was first introduced in the original Resident Evil (1996) as the captain of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) unit. Wesker has been one of the series' main antagonists as a member of Umbrella Corporation, manipulating story events behind-the-scenes. To further his own plans, Wesker betrays his allies, fakes his death, gains superhuman abilities, and works with both Umbrella's mysterious rival company and their successors in the field of biological weapons development until his ultimate defeat by Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 5 (2009).
Wesker was conceptualized by writer Kenichi Iwao, who envisioned Wesker as an arrogant, intelligent, and unsympathetic character. Wesker is presented as a virologist focused on advancing human evolution, and later becomes a bio-terrorist obsessed with eradicating humanity. Wesker possesses superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and regeneration, and he mutates into a more powerful form in Resident Evil 5.
Wesker appears in several Resident Evil games, novelizations, and other game franchises, including Marvel vs. Capcom, Teppen, and Dead by Daylight. Wesker has received mostly positive reviews from video game publications, with critics praising him for being one of the most memorable video game villains.
Several actors have portrayed Wesker, including Jason O'Mara, Shawn Roberts, Tom Hopper, and Lance Reddick in the live-action series.
Concept and design
Wesker was created by Kenichi Iwao, who was recruited by Shinji Mikami to work on the original Resident Evil midway through its development. The main characters were originally intended to be cyborg police officers, until Iwao discarded the idea and completely redesigned the characters and the game's backstory. He envisioned Wesker as a former special forces member who possessed exceptional intelligence and physical prowess, with a cold demeanor that matched his egotistical mindset. His co-workers suggested making the character a traitor who betrays the protagonist. The game's designers ultimately developed Wesker into the commander of the protagonists' elite police task force, who is secretly employed as a virologist for the Umbrella Corporation. His drive to develop viral agents and engineer the ultimate lifeform is a central plotline in the Resident Evil series. Wesker is depicted as a white male with blonde hair in the video games and movies. He consistently wears dark clothes with black sunglasses, which conceal his unnatural glowing eyes.
Wesker's presence was initially limited to cutscenes in the main Resident Evil games, where he manipulates the series' events from the background. The character is seemingly killed in the finale of the first Resident Evil game, but Iwao intended to bring him back in future installments. He survives his apparent death due to an experimental virus that not only resurrected him after suffering grievous injuries, but also endowed him with enhanced strength, speed, and agility. Wesker returned to the series after a two-game hiatus in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica as the game's secondary antagonist. He develops a fierce rivalry with Chris Redfield, one of the series' main protagonists, who frequently interferes with Wesker's agenda. He was designed to thematically contrast with Chris in Resident Evil 5, where he is the game's primary antagonist. Critics have noted that whereas Chris fights to protect the innocent, Wesker harbors a deep superiority complex and believes that humanity is inherently unfit for survival.
He appears as a nigh-invincible boss during Resident Evil 5s penultimate battle, who effortlessly dodges and parries most of the player's attacks. Wesker sheds his human appearance during the game's finale when he infects himself with the Uroboros virus, a volatile and mutagenic viral agent. The Uroboros virus grants him more strength, while also transforming his arms into tentacles that allow him to absorb and wield metallic objects as weapons. The early concept sketches of his Uroboros mutation differed significantly from the final version. In the initial design, his combat style would have relied solely on his mental powers to manipulate Uroboros. This concept was shaped by the one-on-one battle between Wesker and Chris, without a co-op partner. However, with the addition of Sheva as a co-op partner, adjustments were made to bolster Wesker's abilities and provide him with additional makeshift weaponry for the final boss battle.
Portrayal
Wesker was originally voiced by Pablo Kuntz, who said that Capcom's staff gave him limited direction and that he did not fully understand the game's plot at the time of recording. He later reflected on his performance, stating: "I know the acting was slightly over-the-top, but you know, the more we played RE1, the more the voices seemed to harmonize with everything the gameplay offered." Kuntz was also surprised at the character's popularity among fans, commenting that it was "a wonderful experience" to voice him.
Wesker was next voiced by Richard Waugh in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica. Waugh's performance of Wesker was influenced by George Sanders, particularly his role as Shere Khan in The Jungle Book. Waugh wanted to give the character a "precise and inhuman" speech pattern by speaking with a "military-type" tone and never using contractions. Waugh reprised his role in Weskers Report, a fictional documentary detailing Wesker's backstory, as well as Resident Evil Zero and Resident Evil 4. Waugh provided voice recordings for Wesker in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, but they were replaced by D. C. Douglas' recordings before launch. Peter Jessop voiced the character in the 2002 remake of Resident Evil.
Douglas then voiced Wesker in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Umbrella Corps, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. He described his inspiration for Wesker's voice as "an amalgamation of Peter Jessop, Richard Waugh, and the spirit of an irritated David Bowie". Douglas was instructed by Capcom's staff to keep his performance for Wesker in Resident Evil 5 closer to the character's previous voice actors, but he also "unleash[ed] his rage and animalistic side, letting it over power his coolness" as Wesker mutated during the course of the game. Ken Lally provided a motion capture for Wesker in Resident Evil 5.
In Dead by Daylight, Wesker was voiced by Connor Fogarty. In the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4, he was voiced and motion captured by Craig Burnatowski. In Japanese, Jōji Nakata voiced Wesker in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Resident Evil HD Remaster, Revelations 2, Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster, and the Resident Evil 4 remake. Satoshi Hino voiced Wesker in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and Fumihiko Tachiki voiced him in Extinction, Afterlife, Retribution and The Final Chapter. Eric Pirius portrayed Wesker in the Resident Evil live-action cutscenes. In Resident Evil: Extinction, Jason O'Mara portrayed Wesker, and Shawn Roberts portrayed him in Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
Tom Hopper portrayed Wesker in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. In contrast to other video game and film characterizations of Wesker, Hopper portrayed Wesker as a sympathetic character with a friendly demeanor, who begrudgingly followed orders from the Umbrella Corporation to betray his compatriots. Hopper explained that the filmmakers did not want Wesker to be a stereotypical villain, stating: "We wanted him to be likable. We're seeing who he really is underneath the sunglasses."
In the 2022 Resident Evil Netflix series, Lance Reddick portrayed the character; he was the first person of color to do so. The series' showrunners did not want to limit themselves to actors who resembled Wesker's in-game appearance; showrunner Andrew Dabb stated that "you're making the show weaker by going with someone that may be more aesthetically a match to the game". Reddick did not know that the character was from a video game series, stating: "When I was doing it, I didn't think of having to play an already established iconic character, I just kept trying to bring what was on the page to life." He further said that "this Wesker, although very very much based on the Wesker in the games, isn't exactly him".
Appearances
In Resident Evil series
Wesker first appears as a non-playable character in the original Resident Evil game, where he is the commanding officer for the Alpha team of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.). He is also secretly a double agent for the Umbrella Corporation, where he is employed as a researcher to develop mutagenic viruses and bio-organic weapons (BOWs). Wesker lures the S.T.A.R.S. teams to a mansion overrun with zombies and other deadly BOWs to study the combat effectiveness of Umbrella's creations. He initially helps the player by providing supplies and useful information, but his true motives are discovered by surviving S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Wesker is seemingly killed after releasing his latest BOW, the Tyrant, which unexpectedly impales him during the game's finale.
He survives his apparent demise due to an experimental virus which grants him superhuman speed, strength, and regeneration. Wesker then begins to work for an unnamed rival to the Umbrella Corporation and conducts a raid on a secret research facility in Antarctica in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica. Wesker is defeated by Chris Redfield, who arrives at the facility while searching for his missing sister Claire. Afterwards, Wesker continues to sell viral agents and BOWs on the black market.
Wesker makes a cameo in Resident Evil 4 and its 2023 remake, where he is revealed to be working with Ada Wong to obtain a specimen sample for further BOW research. In Resident Evil 5, Wesker conspires to release the Uroboros virus across the world. Chris and his partner Sheva ultimately halt his plans and kill Wesker in an active volcano at the end of the game. Despite his demise, his plans continue to drive the plot of the series, as his viral and BOW research causes many of the disasters and outbreaks in the subsequent games. Series producer Masachika Kawata has confirmed that in the mainline video games, Wesker is truly dead. Notwithstanding his appearance in the Resident Evil Netflix series, which delves into his backstory and personal experiments with human cloning.
Wesker also appears in other game in the series. He is a playable character in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, which retells portions of the series' lore through his perspective. He appears in cutscenes throughout Resident Evil Zero, a prequel to the first game. Wesker appears in "The Mercenaries" mini-game for Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, as well as Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. Wesker appears in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 as a playable character in Raid Mode. He is a playable character in the unlockable "Wesker Mode" for Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster, where he replaces one of the game's protagonists. While playing as Wesker, the player can deliver powerful melee attacks, sprint rapidly, and release a chargeable energy blast that damages nearby enemies.
In Resident Evil films
Wesker's character was adapted for the 2007 live-action film Resident Evil: Extinction. This version of Wesker is the head of the Umbrella Corporation, unlike Wesker's role in the games as a renegade high-ranking Umbrella researcher. He runs Umbrella's operations from behind the scenes, holding meetings via hologram with his underground board of directors in Tokyo. Originally, Wesker's character was not intended to be in the film, with his role and lines in the script being given to Commander Okamoto. Shawn Roberts took over the role of Wesker in 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife as a main antagonist of the film. He later appears in Resident Evil: Retribution as a defector from Umbrella, who sends Ada to rescue Alice from an underground Russian Umbrella outpost run by the Red Queen, who has taken over the rest of Umbrella. Wesker returns in the sixth film, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, where he betrays Alice. She then tracks him down to the Hive and kills him. His death triggers a dead man's switch, which destroys the Hive and everyone within, including Alicia Marcus, the Umbrella High Command, and thousands of others held in stasis. In the reboot film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Wesker is played by Tom Hopper, in which he is portrayed as a more sympathetic police officer for the Raccoon Police Department and serves as a secondary antagonist. Lance Reddick played the role of Albert Wesker in Netflix's 2022 live action Resident Evil TV series.
Other appearances
Outside of the Resident Evil series, Wesker appears in the 2019 game Teppen; there are also cards for his character in its "Day of Nightmares" and "A Dark Agenda" expansions. In printed trading card media, he appears in the Bandai-produced Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game. He appears in the crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds as a playable character and a key part of the game's plot, in which he joins forces with Doctor Doom as the two build an army of supervillains and try to conquer both universes. He also makes a guest appearance as an unlockable character skin in Lost Planet 2. In 2016, D. C. Douglas reprised the role in Jim Sterling's short comedy horror film JimSAW. Wesker appears as a spirit in the Nintendo crossover video game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In 2022, he appears as a playable character in the asymmetrical survival horror game Dead by Daylight.
Reception
Game publications, including the 2013 version of the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, included Wesker as one of the best and most memorable villains in video game history. An IGN article from March 2010 titled "Big Boss of the Day: Resident Evil's Albert Wesker" discussed his appearances across the franchise, comparing him with other video game villains including Bowser and Sephiroth and noting that "Wesker defines what it is to be a villain [in] the [Resident Evil] games". GamesRadar+ staff included him among the "best characters in the three decades of Capcom's history" and wrote that, with his appearance as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, "even after his death in Resident Evil 5, Albert Wesker shows no signs of stopping, which is just the way we like it". Matt Cundy of GamesRadar+ praised Wesker's death scene in Resident Evil 5, as it showed the character's strength. Shubhankar Parijat of GamingBolt stated that "Resident Evil hasn't had an overbearing villainous presence since Wesker died", but noted that "his arc was wrapped up very well, and bringing him back might not be the best idea". Kazuma Hashimoto of Polygon noted that the character's light skin and blonde hair design evokes the aesthetic of the Nazi ideal of Übermensch, reflecting the series' "core" theme of eugenics.
The character has also received negative critical reviews. PlayStation Official Magazine listed the battle with Wesker in Resident Evil 5 as one of the worst boss fights in a PlayStation 3 game. Obi Anyanwu of Complex described him as the "second-douchiest" video game character, stating that "Wesker has a following, yes, but there's something very Agent Smith about him that makes us shake our heads". 1UP.com has called him one of the least scary things in Resident Evil, suggesting that, "to accentuate his alleged nefariousness, ... Wesker grow a zombie mustache that twirls itself". Fans were also disappointed that Wesker was initially not playable in the game's downloadable "Mercenaries" mode in Resident Evil 4 remake, though he eventually returned with the release of the "Separate Ways" DLC.
Lance Reddick's portrayal of Wesker in Netflix's Resident Evil series was lauded by critics. Polygon described his performance as the "perfect balance of menacing and mannered". The Verge offered a mixed review of the series, but cited Wesker as the show's best character, which they attributed to Reddick's "steely, menacing energy". While Forbes was critical of the series, they regarded Reddick and his portrayal of a revised Wesker as highlights. IGN noted that the Netflix series' portrayal and characterization of Wesker diverged from his video game counterpart, but commended the character's revised backstory and story arc.
References
External links
Albert Wesker at the Internet Movie Database
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