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In the Resident Evil video game series, the T-Virus, or Tyrant-Virus, was the second mutagenic virus developed by the Umbrella Corporation. The T-Virus was responsible for the creation of the majority of their Bio-Organic Weapons or BOWs. However, its intended purpose was to create the perfect BOW: the Tyrant. The T in T-Virus is an acronym for Tyrant, as it was designed, in the game, for death and destruction.
History
Research for the virus began in 1978 in Arklay Labs. Umbrella saw potential in the recently discovered Ebola virus that had just been found in Africa. The corporation saw limitless potential in the virus due to its nearly 90% death rate. Umbrella was very careful about its research. The Biological Weapons Convention prohibited the research and development of such things. So to get around this obstacle, Umbrella masqueraded their research, claiming they were trying to find a cure for it.
However, their research was halted. The Ebola virus proved to be unable to survive outside a human host for more than a few days due to its extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation. It also killed its host too quickly, which limited the chances for the host itself to infect others. Lastly, Ebola could only infect via direct contact with others, even further limiting the chances of infection.
Umbrella researchers asked themselves: "What if a heavily-infected host could continue to still be mobile, and what if the host could continue to infect others, as well?" This idea would eventually give birth to the T-Virus.
After the development of the Progenitor virus, three men would finally succeed in the creation of the T-Virus on December 4th,1978 after combining it with leech DNA. These men were James Marcus, Albert Wesker, and William Birkin.
The T-Virus would serve as the basis of most of the other viruses developed by the Umbrella Corporation, such as the T-Veronica Virus and the NE-T Virus.
William and Albert assassinated Marcus and took his research for Umbrella. With their experimentation with the Ebola Virus, William Birkin combined the original T-Virus with the Ebola Virus to create a more suitable and dangerous virus that was used to create the Tyrants. The Progenitor virus and original T-Virus have been used for many purposes as stated above.
Effects of Infection
The T-Virus is like any other virus. It is a protein crystal with an RNA core. As the crystal makes contact with a cell's membrane, it destroys it and inserts its RNA into the cell. The cell absorbs the viral genome into its own DNA, which takes over the cell's functions. The cell begins to produce offspring of the original virus. The new viruses are then released from the host cell and infect the neighboring cells, which starts the process all over again.
What the T-Virus does is kills any living mitochondria and replaces the dead ones with itself. The virus then combines with other cells to produce energy. The energy produced is just enough to power the motor neurons and the basic lower brain functions. Not only that, but this bypasses the entire circulatory system, which makes the heart and lungs redundant systems that can be disposed of.
However, the T-Virus can only properly function by consuming the cell in order to produce its energy and to divide via mitosis to spread around the body. This slow breakdown of cells leads to the necrotizing effects seen on most BOWs. The virus also incorporates itself into the host's RNA, which substantially alters it. This is why creatures, such as bees and spiders, only have very minor mutation, such as increased size, when compared to the human mutation caused by the virus. This is due to their lower stance in the evolutionary chain.
Should the human host be alive at the time of T-Virus infection, all higher brain functions are destroyed as the virus simply dissolves away the frontal lobes. This leaves only the telencephalon, better known as the cerebrum, to govern behavior. This leaves the infected host with a very animalistic behavior. As the virus spreads, it damages the hypothalamus. This produces a massive flood of neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine. These effects, combined with the painful symptoms of the infection, induces a psychotic rage, persistent hunger, and increased aggressiveness in those infected.
Should the human host be dead at the time of infection, only enough energy is produced to power the lower brain functions. These functions are responsible for the most primal instincts, such as walking and eating.
In either case, their late-stage appearance and behavior are characteristics of their name-sake, that of the zombie.
Should a late-stage human host be rendered unconscious, the body will lay in a dormant phase appearing to be dead. In actuality the host is rapidly mutating due to the T-Virus becoming hyperactive. Within the timeframe of an hour, the decayed skeletal and muscular system is reconstructed into a stronger and more durable form, development can be seen of sharp canine teeth and razor claws, fresh blood seeps into remaining skin giving it a reddish hue, advances in decomposition, and intact eyes become a bright white. Umbrella researchers at the Arklay Laboratory have dubbed this stage as an V-ACT, commonly referred to as a Crimson Head. The brain is then jolted back to consciousness with a slight but important increase in intelligence, and large increase in agility and aggressiveness. As a consequence of this rapid mutation, cellular breakdown hits a critical point where the host cannot regenerate properly any longer and can effectively be killed permanently, given enough damage.
In other media
Resident Evil (Movies): The T-Virus was developed by Dr. Charles Ashford in order to reverse the inevitable cellular breakdown in his daughter Angela. The virus acts by stimulating pre and post-mortem cellular growth, with the unfortunate side-effect of basically killing the host in the process. To counter this, Ashford developed an anti-virus. When the T-Virus was used, and kept in check by the anti-virus, Angela Ashford could avoid the debilitation that had kept her father confined to a wheelchair.
Effects of Infection
The effects of the virus in the movies do not differ widely form the game virus. There are a few exceptions:- The rate of infection varies, but is generally much shorter than the games, depending on the severity of an infected person's wounds. Case in point: In Nemesis, Jill was able to survive for an extended period of time (a lot of minutes but not an hour). In Outbreak, the virus accelerates when dropped on the floor.
- In the movies, a severely injured Rain lasts less than two and a half hours, while Carlos goes for more than three before showing any outward signs of infection. In both cases, the subject lasts longer in the games.
- Bio-weapons like the licker are produced differently in the movies. A licker is created by direct injection. Similarly, a scratch from a licker can cause mutation.
Means of Infection
The T-Virus is capable of various methods of subject infection. Research files supplied by the Red Queen computer system in the Arklay Mountains facility identifies the virus as having a protein structure. As such, it is likely that any known methods of viral transmission could apply to the T-virus at any time. Observed forms of infective transmission include:
- Direct injection. Many of Umbrella's experimentations (known as Bio-Organic Weapons) with the T-Virus were initiated by direct injection of the virus into the host. This was considered Umbrella’s primary means of infection.
- Water. One of the theories for the initial outbreak at the Arklay Research Facility is that the scientists and researchers there were infected once the T-Virus contaminated the water supply. However, this theory is practically confirmed to be false because Dr. Marcus admitted he was the one who released the T-Virus at the Spencer Mansion, in addition to contaminating the Umbrella-owned train in Resident Evil Zero. However, the virus really can be transmitted by water, as proven in Resident Evil 2, in which rats which had eaten samples of the T-Virus infected the water supply of Raccoon City, leading to the historical zombie epidemic that led to the city's destruction.
- Air. Though there are discrepancies between canonical and uncanonical material over whether or not the T-Virus is an airborne virus, when the virus broke out in the Arklay Research Facility the cleanup workers wore bio-chemical protection suits. This is the main argument for those who feel that the virus is an airborne pathogen, if only for a short period of time. However, the use of hazmat protective suits does not prove that the virus is airborne, but only that the workers thought it could possibly be and wore hazmat suits as a precaution. Reporter Ben Bertolucci (in Resident Evil 2) states that the virus is not airborne in one of his notes. In the uncanonical Resident Evil movie, the Red Queen states that T-Virus is airborne, but only briefly.
- Direct Fluidic Transmission. Anyone attacked by an infected host in close combat, be it by bite, scratch, gash, or stab will have the virus transferred to their bloodstream via contact with infected bodily fluids and tissues. The Umbrella Corp. believes this to be a secondary means of infection. For story purposes, however, most of the main characters in the games are immune to this form of infection.
Known Antigens
There are four known serums that will cure those infected by the T-Virus, but only in its earlier stages, before it becomes completely active.
The first one is called anti-virus is a dedicated, engineered antivirus created by Umbrella. This one is only effective if the patient has not a very large amount of virus in its body or if he/she has spent too much time. This one was shown in the first and second movie but its effects where different and it was developed by Dr. Ashford for his daughter.
The second is an unnamed vaccine developed by Douglas Rover of the Umbrella Medical Service at Raccoon Hospital (depicted in Nemesis) as a last-minute effort to halt the rapid spread of the T-Virus. However, most of the hospital's staff had already succumbed to infection before the vaccine could be properly produced even in small amounts. This vaccine could be cultivated by using a specialized synthesizer and inserting a medium base into the system, then combining the necessary chemicals using the control panel. The exact components that were used to create this prototype are unknown; as most of the documentation regarding its production were either stolen by Nicholai Ginovaef or destroyed after Ginovaef used C-4 explosives to demolish the hospital, taking with it any evidence of the Umbrella Corporation's involvement with the hospital in the process. However, Carlos Oliveira was able to create a vaccine for Jill Valentine (who had been infected by the T-Virus) and manage to escape moments before the hospital's destruction.
The third serum is Daylight (depicted in the semi-canonical Resident Evil Outbreak), developed by Greg Muller and Peter Jenkins of the City College of Raccoon. The actual ingredients for Daylight are T-Blood (a blood sample of a T-virus infected creature, namely T-Thanatos), V-Poison (a sample of poison from an infected Wasp) and P-Base (an unknown chemical liquid that requires preparing before being mixed). Once all the ingredients have been collected, they can be mixed together in a special chemical mixer. The mixture takes about five to seven minutes to make and thirty seconds to one minute to duplicate.
The fourth is a reagent designated "AT1521," developed by the research team operating from within Umbrella's official Raccoon City facility. Surviving members of the team (including Linda and Carter) return to the facility in order to retrieve the serum for full-scale production of a cure to help prevent the spread of the T-Virus in Resident Evil Outbreak File #2. It has similar features to the Daylight serum; and it was suggested that it was a prototype or, as Carter states, a 'sample'. The exact details of the serum itself are unknown due to the short role it played in the storyline (the sample being destroyed by the rampaging Tyrant not long after its initial appearance).
- There are also some prototype antibodies for the T-Virus used by the U.B.C.S.. They were only mentioned by in a pocketbook kept by a deceased mercenary in the Raccoon City Clock Tower.
Trivia
- In the theatrical teaser trailer of Apocalypse, the T-Virus is satirized in the form of Umbrella Corporation's newest miracle drug known as Apocalypse#Regenerate. The product is introduced as a slick commercial featuring a beautiful model, cool colors, and soft curves. It is claimed that it brings dead cells to life, in order to make one look and feel younger. They also disclaim that 'Some side effects may occur...' at which point, as a typical teaser element, the model starts to become zombie-like.
- In the music video for the Gorillaz song Clint Eastwood, the lead singer of the band, 2-D, is wearing a shirt with T-Virus emblazoned on the front.
- There is now a Swedish rock band that carries the name T-Virus based on the Resident Evil video game. The genre is called "Horror Rock" or "Horror Punk." They seem to stay true to the movie with their songs about zombies, such as their song titled Resident Evil. The band's home page is at http://www.t-virus.nu/.
See also
External links
- The official Resident Evil website
- Official website for the Resident Evil series from Capcom Japan
- reHorror Resident Evil fansite
Resident Evil | Computer and video game weapons | Fictional diseases
"T-Virus"