Raccoon City: biggest disaster in the gaming world turns 25

Raccoon City is, indisputably, the source of all the evil in the saga Resident Evil — and, of course, all good. It was from there that the fight against bioterrorism took on stratospheric proportions around the world, but also where some of the most iconic characters in video games came from. Without her, nothing would have happened. September 28th is a symbolic date, as it marks the beginning of the nightmare in the city of the dead.

“September 28th, daylight… Monsters took over the city. Somehow… I’m still alive.” Few video game quotes are as iconic as this one from Jill Valentine, right at the beginning of Resident Evil 3 — which, chronologically, tells the story of the first moments of the outbreak in the quiet little town in the Midwest of the United States.

As this Thursday (28th) is a very special occasion for fans of Resident Evil, of course we couldn’t let it go unnoticed. Want to know more about the plot of Raccoon City? So stay with us in this new special from Voxel!

Umbrella Corporation: the root of all evil

Raccoon City is more than just a backdrop for the chaos and biological horrors that permeate the franchise Resident Evil. She is practically a character, a silent witness to the atrocities and nefarious experiments that have turned her into an urban nightmare.

Raccoon City’s sinister trajectory begins with the founding of the Umbrella Corporation, a seemingly harmless pharmaceutical giant that carried out biological research behind the scenes. Much of the testing was carried out at Spencer Mansion, located in the Arklay Mountains, and in the clandestine laboratory in the city’s basement.

Spencer Mansion is the setting for the plot of the first Resident Evil.Source: Capcom

Dark activities at the mansion have led to the development of the fearsome T-Virus, a lethal biological weapon capable of transforming human beings into walking dead or gigantic monsters.

Its variation, the G-Virus, an even more dangerous weapon, was created in the city’s laboratory — the epicenter of the misfortune that plagued the streets of Raccoon City. His cruel fate was already sealed.

The incident at Spencer Mansion

Raccoon City’s nightmare began with a series of mysterious murders outside the Arklay Mountains, caused by a biological weapons leak at Spencer Mansion. The security of the place began to be neglected by the pharmaceutical company and several BOW’s (Bio Organic Weapons — Biological Weapons) escaped, consequently killing most of the scientists present at the site.

The RPD (Raccoon Police Department) decided to investigate these deaths and then sent the STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) BRAVO team to work — an elite team composed of by the best soldiers in the platoon. This decision, in turn, ended up culminating the events of Resident Evil 0starring Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen.

Members of the STARS, Raccoon City’s elite police group.Source: Capcom

Since the BRAVO team had not returned from the mission, the RPD decided to send the ALPHA team to the rescue — this one, made up of the franchise’s best-known characters. Resident Evil: Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker (agente duplo da Umbrella), Barry Burton, Brad Vickers e Joseph Frost.

Well, if you know the plot of the first game, you know that few soldiers returned from the mountains of Arklay — and you also know that the nightmare was just beginning in the sewers of Raccoon City.

Umbrella’s fatal mistake

While the apocalypse was showing its first signs in the mountains of Arklay, William Birkin, one of pharmaceutical companies’ most brilliant scientists, was behind the scenes creating the G-Virus, an even more powerful variation of the T-Virus. Well, Umbrella’s directors took notice and then sent a group of soldiers to steal the research — one of them, in fact, was the iconic Hunk.

Hunk trying to escape the sewers of Raccoon City with a sample of the G-Virus.Source: Capcom

Like any good self-respecting plot, yes, the mission went wrong and some samples of the G-Virus fell into the sewers. Guess what? A week later, infected rats spread throughout the city — thus, the first infected began to appear on the streets of Raccoon City.

As you might imagine, Resident Evil 2 e Resident Evil 3 enter the scene. It is worth mentioning that the third game, in the chronological line, comes before the second, on the fateful September 28th. It is on that day that Jill Valentine begins her “last escape” from the city. On September 29, Leon and Claire arrive in Raccoon City.

Burning of files and end of the nightmare in Raccoon City

One of the coolest ideas in the history of the first games in the franchise Resident Evil It’s Umbrella wanting to solve everything with biological weapons. A zombie epidemic? No problem, we’ll send more monsters to burn the remaining files. That simple.

Tyrant T-103 (Mrs. X) e Nemesis T-Type (Nemesis).Source: Capcom

To eliminate evidence of an imminent apocalypse, Umbrella sent Tyrants to Raccoon City, but they were two specific types of monsters: T-103responsible for killing civilians and special forces soldiers, and the Nemesis T-Typea big guy known to many who had the mission of hunting down only the STARS survivors. However, only Brad Vickers and Jill were in the city.

The nightmare began on September 28, 1998 and only ended the following month. On September 30th, Leon and Claire manage to escape with Sherry. On October 1st, Jill, who had been infected in one of her iconic clashes with Nemesis, wakes up thanks to the antidote made by Carlos Oliveira, an Umbrella mercenary soldier.

Things were bad in Raccoon City — and difficult situations require desperate measures. The North American government implemented a plan to “fix the situation”: blow up the city with a nuclear bomb so that the rest of the country would not be contaminated. And so it was done.

At the end of the incident: a zombie apocalypse of major proportions, a city decimated from the map and three or four new protagonists for the franchise Resident Evil. Yeah… Raccoon City was a very busy little city.

Absolutely EVERYTHING you need to know about the story of Resident Evil

Did you like the summary of the incident in Raccoon City? Well, of course there is much more context behind the events. Luckily, the Voxel has a super complete article with absolutely EVERYTHING you need to know about the history of Resident Evil. If you want to know a little more in depth about all the details of this great franchise, Click here!