Biohazard. The outbreak occurred in the summer of 1998: it started in the American Midwestern town of
Raccoon City and brought hell to earth. The T-Virus was developed by the Umbrella Corporation as a biological weapon. Proliferating
amongst the unsuspecting public, it metamorphosed them into living death. Zombies. Umbrella's mission
statement had always been "Preserving the health of the people," but beneath this bright statement
lurked the shadow of Ozwell E. Spencer's ambition. - Albert Wesker, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
The first event was known as the mansion incident. The STARS Alpha Team was sent into the Arklay Mountains in search of their comrades, the Bravo Team.
After being attacked by monsters, only Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and a few others made it to the nearby mansion. There, they discovered
the entire mansion (and hidden laboratory) infested with zombies and other mutated creatures. Albert Wesker, captain of the STARS team had led them there
to gather combat data for the BOWs. Only a small number of the STARS team made it out alive as the lab and mansion
were both destroyed in a huge explosion.
Soon after, the virus spread to Raccoon City itself, infecting almost everybody living there. Jill Valentine made her escape
before the US government ordered a missile to destroy the entire city in order to stop the virus from spreading any more.
Chris Redfield, who had been in Europe on a mission to stop Umbrella, later gets sidetracked when he hears his
sister Claire was captured and taken to Umbrella-owned Rockfort Island. Traveling both there and to
an Umbrella lab in Antarctica to save her, he runs into Albert Wesker once again. But before the two can
finish their showdown, they're separated.
Years later, in an infiltration to Umbrella's Russian stronghold by Chris, Jill and unknown to them, Wesker,
their latest BOW project is defeated. Wesker obtains Umbrella's databases and releases them to the government,
causing the company to fall once and for all. All part of Wesker's own plan to, as he puts it "write his
own history for this world."
Within these events is, of course, a lot more information about Umbrella and the many, many other characters
who have played important roles in the story, be it as a hero or a villain. Resident Evil 5 takes place ten
years after the mansion incident, and a lot has happened since.
"I should have seen it coming. It didn't take long after the fall of the Umbrella Corporation for their
bio-weapons to end up in the hands of terrorists. A new era of bio-terrorism descended upon vulnerable
countries, shifting the balance of power throughout the region. People in the destabilized areas soon
feared another incident like Raccoon City was inevitable. As panic spread, governments of the world
turned to the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium, which formed the anti-terrorism unit BSAA. Operatives
of the BSAA were sent to infiltrate and neutralize bioweapon hotspots, restoring safety and stability
to various regions around the globe." - Chris Redfield, Resident Evil 5
Chris arrives in Kijuju, Africa and meets his new partner, Sheva Alomar. There's talk of "Uroboros"
and a doomsday project in the air, a man named Irving is their only lead to more answers. But Chris
isn't on this mission just for that. Still haunted by images of a certain tombstone, he's looking
for his own answers. Little does he or Sheva know just how much they're going to find out. Old enemies
return from the shadows, and many of the questions that were born from the very first Resident Evil game
are about to be answered.