The T-virus (short for Tyrant Virus) was Umbrella's breakthrough in viral weaponry spawned from an attempt to weaponize the Progenitor virus for military use and application. A mutagenic toxin, the T-virus would prove to be the basis for the majority of Umbrella's research. The very first strain of the T-virus was created by Dr. James Marcus, one of the original three founders of Umbrella who had helped to discover the base for the T-virus: Progenitor. Research was then carried out on the virus simultaneously by Albert Wesker and William Birkin and progress excelled at the Arklay Research Facility.
History
Origins and Loss
On September 19th 1977 during his research into leeches, Marcus had discovered a method of creating a new, more powerful virus using the Progenitor virus as the base element and mixing it with leech DNA. The result was the T-virus, a weaponised variant of Progenitor. The virus was completed on January 13th 1978. Shortly after, Marcus conducted experiments on several animal species including monkeys, insects and frogs (eventually leading to the development of the Eliminator, Lurker and Plague Crawler). While definite results were observed, Marcus ended the experiments with the belief that humans were the only viable test subjects. In the time that followed, many unwilling human test subjects were victims of Marcus' experiments - including several trainee researchers at the Umbrella Management Training Facility. Soon after his discovery, Ozwell E. Spencer, another founder of Umbrella who Marcus had recently come into bitter terms with, ordered a set few Umbrella employees to retrieve a sample of the virus from Marcus. However, they were unsuccessful, instead becoming specimens for Marcus' research.
However, this was remedied by Spencer's use of Albert Wesker and William Birkin, top pupils at Marcus' Management Training Facility who both Spencer and Marcus fiercely trusted. The two successfully managed to retrieve a sample of the virus, allowing Umbrella to continue its own research. In 1988, while Marcus was experimenting with the effects of the T-virus on his leeches, he was assasinated by Umbrella agents led by Wesker and Birkin. As Marcus was dying, Wesker and Birkin announced to him that his research was now in their hands.
New Owners
At this point, research on the T-virus was handed over to Wesker and Birkin, who were made chief researchers at the Arklay Research Facility. It was here that development on the virus rapidly advanced. The T-virus was shipped to all various branches and divisions of Umbrella who all began working on the virus itself, as well as the biological weapons it was capable of creating. Countless experiments were conducted, and countless products were produced. At first, the T-virus was experimented on average creatures such as dogs, which were given the B.O.W. codename of "Cerberus".
Soon enough, experimentation began on the more fierce creations of Mother Nature. Great White Sharks were injected with the virus, becoming even larger, even more fierce aquatic creatures dubbed "Neptune".
Thereafter, development was at a stand-still, as T-virus infection alone would not produce adequete weapons. However, to remedy this problem, genetic engineering was introduced. This method was widely successful even though the results were hit-or-miss depending on the subject(s), as evidenced by the "Chimera". Umbrella's most successful B.O.W.s were created through genetic engineering, such as the "Hunter" species which was created through splicing reptilian DNA into a human egg. Once the T-virus was added, the result is a dangerous creature that is agile, swift and strong. Due to this success, development on the T-virus continued in order to find even more successful B.O.W.s.
Human Infection
As observed by Albert Wesker, any human infected with the T-virus would become a "Zombie", a mindless shell of a human being limited to an existence of feasting on human flesh. From this initial infection, the T-virus continues to shift the genetic structure of the host, resulting in the development of the "Crimson Head", and later the "Licker". This process was observed by the researchers at the Arklay Research Facility and dubbed "V-ACT", and begins once a typical Zombie is incapacitated. 1
Despite the disastrous effects of the virus, it's effect on human beings was only with a 90% infection rate. The remaining 10%, even if infected directly by a Zombie, would be immune to the effects of the virus. This is due to subtle differences in the human genetic code which affect compatibility. Ozwell E. Spencer scoffed at this notion, seeking a true 100% infection rate. In order to remedy this, the concept of using B.O.W.s to wipe out survivors was developed.
The Tyrant Program
Soon enough, the team at the Arklay Facility led by chief researchers Wesker and Birkin announced the pinnacle of biological weaponry. The B.O.W. in question is given the codename of "Tyrant", after the virus itself. The reason being that the Tyrant was to push the T-virus to its full potential. Unlike previous experiments, the Tyrant would not be an animal, but a human subject. The idea was to administer the maximum amount of T-virus to a human subject and adapt it fully to the host. However, a huge problem lay with the fact that only a set few people had the ability to become a Tyrant. As well as this, the strain of the T-virus used to create Zombies and Hunters was deemed unsuitable due to its tendency to destroy the subject's brain cells, limiting intelligence, which was required to successfully develop a Tyrant. In order to correct this issue, William Birkin developed a T-virus variant which would cause the least amount of damage to the brain.
However, the Genetic Analytic team at the Arklay Research Facility turned up another issue, only 1 in 10 million people would possess a genetic compatibility to the virus.
Although Wesker and Birkin succeeded in gathering a handful of compatible subjects, only two successfully became Tyrants, and yet only one was deemed a success. These two Tyrants were given the model numbers "T-001" and "T-002", the T again standing for Tyrant. Named after the virus which they utilize fully. T-001 was a success in theory, it presented all of the characteristics of a successful B.O.W, however the lack of further development into controlling the mutative and erosive nature of the T-virus meant that it was far from perfect. The T-002 was aimed at rectifying this issue. The T-002, unlike the T-001, was kept in development for a longer time to make further improvements, and was nurtured so as to reach its full potential. The T-002 was a vast improvement over the T-001, stronger, refined and able to be controlled and follow simple orders. However, even with the success that was the T-002, Umbrella still had the problem of finding compatible subjects.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, a one Col. Sergei Vladimir came to Umbrella, looking for work. Spencer, who was now majority shareholder of Umbrella, took Sergei in. Sergei became Spencer's chief enforcer and right hand man. However, there was another reason for Sergei's admission and quick rise to such a position; he was a compatible specimen for the Tyrant program. However, rather than take the risk of losing such an effective member of the company and run the risk of being the last Tyrant, Sergei allowed Umbrella to make ten clones of him. These clones would later go on to solidify Umbrella's place in the bioweapons industry, becoming the most successful B.O.W. which Umbrella had created; the T-103 line of Tyrants. Shortly after this, another team at Arklay announced development of the T-A.L.O.S., which used the T-103 as a base.
Nemesis
As usual, research on the T-virus continued, however focus was shifted to developing other viruses and methods in order to create better, more effective B.O.W.s. The major breakthrough lay in Umbrella's most-used sample specimen, Lisa Trevor. At this point, Lisa had been injected with almost every experimental virus developed at the time. Umbrella Europe had put virus development as a secondary priority, and had developed a parasite which would be able to boost the effectiveness of a B.O.W. by a large margin. The parasite was tested on the Hunter B.O.W., and results were satisfactory. Albert Wesker convinced William Birkin to order such a parasite, which was dubbed "NE-alpha". Once the parasite was delivered to the Arklay Facility, Wesker and Birkin immediately began running tests and gathering data, finally injecting the parasite into Lisa Trevor. The revelation that would succeed this event would become the basis for the G-virus, one of the aformentioned developments into a virus superior to the T-virus.
Research into the T-virus, as well as the Progenitor virus continued, becoming an example of corporate rivalry between the various Umbrella branches in order to see who could develop the best B.O.W.s. The main objective of this rivalry was to increase the intelligence of the B.O.W. while maintaining, or even improving overall effectiveness in the field. The Umbrella U.S.A. branch at the Arklay Research Facility headed by Wesker and Birkin had two projects, the T-002 and the T-A.L.O.S. project which used computer chips and machinery, while Umbrella Europe focused on the use of organic parasites such as the NE-alpha. Both methods achieved each research division's dreams of an intelligent, more effective B.O.W. At the heart of it all, development on the T-103 line became a mainstay for all branches.
Other Avenues
The research team at Rockfort Island, Umbrella's prison island and the training facility for the members of the Umbrella Special Forces, succeeded in developing a new strain of the T-virus. Unlike previous strains, this experimental version had major improvements. It was possibly transmitted by air, and had instant effects that took place within minutes. It also had a faster, wider infection rate, infecting the entire island within minutes of it's leak. The original T-virus normally had to spread from person to person or through a leak and the amount of time it took for transformation to take place ranged from hours, days to even weeks depending on the subject and whether the infection was secondary or tertiary. Both of these issues were supposedly resolved with the latest strain.
Another example of the new strain of the virus was showcased at the Umbrella Antarctic Base, several planes had taken off from Rockfort and crashed into the facility, carrying containers with the T-virus and spreading the virus. Within an extremely short time, the entire base was completely decimated. By the time Steve and Claire had arrived, monsters were literally crawling throughout the facility. This strain of the virus is deemed lost, however. The only known samples were on Rockfort and the planes that crashed in Antarctica. All of which have been destroyed.
Other attempts at developing new strains of the T-virus were the T-Veronica virus, developed by Alexia Ashford and the T+G-virus, aimed at harmonising both the T and G viruses in order to bring the full potential out of both and correct the volatile nature of the G-virus while producing a deadlier, more effective B.O.W. This was developed by Umbrella Europe, the only remaining branch of Umbrella that was still in full operation (albeit it's activites were more underground) during Umbrella's trial before the Supreme Court in 2002.
Post-Umbrella
By March 2004, the last remnants of Umbrella were finally dismantled and research on the T-virus by Umbrella was brought to an end. Taking no chances after Raccoon City, the United States government authorised research on the T-virus in the hopes of creating a vaccine that could be distributed to the public. WilPharma, a pharmaceuticals firm, was tasked with this responsibility and as such set about researching samples of the T-virus - no doubt provided to them by the U.S. government. Unfortunately, part of this research involved the experimentation of the T-virus in India.
Following Umbrella's dissolution, countless strains of the T-virus wound up on the black market, likely perpetuated by former Umbrella employees, leading to a new age of bioterrorism. Due to this, the B.S.A.A. (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) was founded under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, with one it's it's founding members being Chris Redfield.
In 2005, an outbreak of the T-virus afflicted an airport in Harvardville. It is unknown what particular strain was leaked. Another outbreak occurred at WilPharma's own research facilities. This leak was commited by the duo of Frederic Downing and Curtis Miller. This incident was only one such example of bioterrorism involving the T-virus, with numerous incidents occuring all around the world.
With the creation of a 100% effective vaccine, it is assumed that the T-virus is no longer a threat to developed nations.
Traits
The T-virus is the only known Umbrella-made virus that possesses the ability to infect almost all animal and plant species. Whether this attribute is an inherited trait from the Progenitor virus is unknown at this time. It is also known to go through rampant and sudden mutations on its own, depending on its environment, thus leading to the redundancy of many of Umbrella's own developed viral anti-bodies.
Seconadary infection of an animal normally leads to:
・ rotting of the skin, congestion
・ deterioration of muscle fiber
・ extreme degeneration of intelligence
・ paralysis of pain sensations
・ metabolic activation
These physical traits can be found in almost all secondary infected T-virus creatures, namely Zombies, Cerberus and Eliminators. However, some species such as bats, scorpions and centipedes have been known to exhibit an extreme increase in size. This is a rare condition however and is more evidenced by plants than by animals. The extreme degeneration of intelligence is also dependant on species.
On humans, T-virus infection is only 90% effective, with the remaining 10% of the population having a natural immunity to the virus, even when directly bitten by a Zombie. As well as this, the rate of the infection is unique to each person, and can be influenced by several factors which may speed up or slow down infection.
While the T-virus' application ability as a viral weapon is minimal on its own, proper genetic engineering in conjunction with the virus and several animal species has led to the creation of the highly successful Hunter B.O.W.s. However this method is also relatively hit-or-miss depending on the animal species used, evident by failures such as the Chimera.
Plants, once infected with the T-virus, generally gain some form of sentience and, depending on species, increase in size. Some have also been known to gain a poisonous attributes. The first recorded T-virus infected plant with such an ability was the Plant 42 within the guardhouse of the Arklay Research Facility.
Treatments
There were three known vaccines to the T-virus that were developed in 1998, before and during the outbreak in Raccoon City. A perfect vaccine was later created in 2005. Anti-bodies were a pr
Raccoon Hospital Vaccine (Raccoon General Hospital)
The first was developed by Douglas Rover of the Umbrella Medical Service, which was developed in very small quantities but not enough to help stem the outbreak. This particular vaccine was later synthesised by Carlos Oliveria in an effort to cure Jill Valentine, who had been infected by the Nemesis T-Type. It is unknown if the vaccine was completely effective, as the T-virus within Jill was not destroyed, but merely put into a dormant state. Due to the lack of further samples of the vaccine, this cannot be ascertained.
Daylight (Raccoon University)
The second was the brainchild of Greg Mueller and Peter Jenkins, and was codenamed "Daylight". Developed at Raccoon University by the pair, it was a unique reagent that could suppress the growth of the T-virus. Daylight was comprised of the following components - P-base, which acted as the base for the vaccine. V-poison, derived from wasp venom as a culture catalyst, and finally T-blood - essentially blood taken from a creature infected with the T-virus.
However, the project was not entirely a valiant effort, as Greg Mueller had selfishly aimed to use the vaccine to destroy Umbrella, believing that a vaccine against their most valued viral agent would severely cripple the organisation. Unfortunately, no samples of the reagent were retrieved from Raccoon University, which was destroyed by Nicholai Ginovaef.
AT1521 (Umbrella)
The final vaccine was developed at the Umbrella Raccoon City Headquarters in Raccoon City, primarily by Michael Jenkins. It was Umbrella's only official attempt at synthesising a vaccine for the T-virus. Despite this, it was only effective on those who did not show any symptoms. It does not eliminate the virus (unlike Daylight), instead it inhibits the virus' growth rate and slows it down. It was tested on lab mice with a 99.91% success rate. The only known sample was destroyed by the Tyrant (T-0400TP), however, additional samples may have been cultivated by former Umbrella researcher Linda, who knew how to re-create it. 2
T-Vaccine (WilPharma)
Developed by WilPharma. Following the Raccoon City Incident, extensive government sponsored research was carried out in the hopes of finding a vaccine. WilPharma was a key pharmaceutical company that worked on such a vaccine. To achieve their goals, WilPharma conducted human experimentation on test subjects in India with the resulting findings being used in the development and synthesis of a vaccine. In 2005, the vaccine had a successful trial run following a terrorist incident in India and soon after, samples of this vaccine were distributed to Harvardville Airport in response to an outbreak. All of the U.S. Marines involved in the clean-up operation were injected with the vaccine, who proved its success when they reclaimed the entire airport without any infections. All of the trucks carrying the vaccine were destroyed, but the last remaining sample was recovered from Frederic Downing by Leon S. Kennedy.
Anti-Bodies (Umbrella)
As well as vaccines, Umbrella made several attempts at creating viable anti-bodies to fight off infection. While some of these anti-bodies provided some results at slowing down the infection rate, their overall effectiveness was quashed due to the virus' mutative nature, rendering them virtually useless after a set period of time. Anti-bodies were administered to the many U.B.C.S. troops deployed during the Raccoon City Incident. T-virus anti-bodies actually find more use in the manufacture of other viral agents such as the T+G-virus and Uroboros virus.
Umbrella did however develop stronger, better quality anti-bodies. Whilst not 100% effective, they had a much higher defense than the ones administered to normal U.B.C.S. members. These anti-bodies were administered to the Supervisors among the U.B.C.S. 3
Anti-Bodies (Jill)
Due to the vaccine administered to Jill Valentine and her subsequent stasis in 2006, it was found that the vaccine actually did not immediately destroy the virus, instead putting it into a dormant state. When the virus reactivated, it soon disappeared due to an abundant amount of powerful anti-bodies within her body. These anti-bodies rendered her completely immune to the virus, and allowed Albert Wesker to correct the potent nature of the Uroboros virus.
Footnotes
- 1. V-ACT
- 2. Reagent Refinement File
- 3. Resident Evil Archives - pg259