The Umbrella Corporation in ‘Resident Evil‘ is a shadowy organisation that is responsible for the viruses that caused the zombie and mutant outbreaks in the game series. Most gamers who have played a ‘Resident Evil’ game still get goosebumps when they see the iconic red and black umbrella.
The name and symbol of the Umbrella Corporation were inspired by the “umbrella” symbol of the Four Houses.
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From the 1980s to the early 2000s, the Umbrella Corporation was a multinational conglomerate with subsidiary companies active in a variety of industries. Umbrella had an influence on the manufacturing and sale of cosmetics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, industrial machine production, consumer goods, health foods, the transportation industry, and tourism.
Umbrella’s substantial percentage of subsidiaries was typical for large corporations, but it was purposefully created to conceal illegal activities.
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Soon after the formation of its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals, Umbrella began developing biological weaponry for militaries all over the world as part of a global conspiracy to amass fatal viruses, which is expressly prohibited by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.
As a front, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals was able to conceal its real intent by researching vaccines for the same viruses.
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Umbrella had several other subsidiaries, including Umbrella Medical Equipment and Umbrella Industries, which was in charge of developing anti-B.O.W. weaponry. Their tourism company, the Paraguas Line Company, made money by transporting passengers across the Atlantic while also transporting viral weapon samples from West Africa.
Umbrella’s true goal was not a capitalistic ambition to monopolise a lucrative industry. It was called eugenics. This information was only known to corporate executives who shared the belief that their primary goal was to fund the Wesker Project.
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This project aimed to create a new race of virally-enhanced and well-educated superhumans who would advance human civilization for future generations, with Umbrella’s founders ruling over them as gods. This project was never completed, due to the deaths of all but two candidates by 1998.
The new ‘Resident Evil’ series aired on July 14, on Netflix.