The Resident Evil series is famous for its impact on the horror game genre by blending action, puzzle-solving, and gratuitous body horror. Countless monsters and villains have been introduced throughout the history of the series, but regardless of how big the mutant monsters are or how devious the mastermind’s can be, the rotten and undead heart of Resident Evil has always been its zombies.
After the success of 1996’s Resident Evil and 1998’s Resident Evil 2, Wildstorm Comics published Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine as an anthology of stories set within the Resident Evil universe. The comics, while non-canon to the video games, succeeded in expanding and exploring the content introduced in the games. Resident Evil: Fire and Ice by Ted Adams, Kris Oprisko, Lee Bermejo, Shawn Crystal, and John Nyberg, released in 2000-2001 by Wildstorm Comics, is a continuation of a story presented in the comic anthology.
The story begins with S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) Charlie Company fighting a group of infected circus performers in Batavia, Nebraska. Each member of Charlie Company is introduced: Falcon, an ex Army Ranger; Rosa Cardenas, an expert tracker; Quan Williamson, a gifted gearhead and machinist; Jesse Alcorn, a genius computer hacker; and Patrick Brady, a former security guard at the Raccoon City Zoo.
It’s explained that Patrick had been present in Raccoon City during the zombie outbreak event in Resident Evil 2. A clean-up team found Patrick battling a host of infected animals. Patrick was exposed to the G-Virus and nearly died. A team of S.T.A.R.S. doctors operated on Patrick in an attempt to reverse the effects of the G-Virus. In a supreme twist of fate, they were successful.
This information is presented in a small text box as a summary of Patrick’s backstory. The comic continues with its own narrative from there, casually mentioning how Patrick also developed the ability to sense the G-Virus as he recovered from his infection. To recap, S.T.A.R.S was able to not only reverse and cure the G-Virus, but also imbue their patient with the ability to sense it.
This is single-handedly the most important development in the entire Resident Evil universe. The primary mission for all the heroes across the games, movies, and comics is to end the threat of biological warfare. Whether that threat comes from Umbrella Corporation, Tricell Inc., or any other devious bio-engineering virologist, the ultimate goal is to eliminate the bio-weapons that are created. Resident Evil: Fire and Ice states very clearly that S.T.A.R.S has effectively done that by developing an efficient vaccine for the G-Virus.
It is important to state that the games have established that there have been a number of different viruses that have been utilized over the years such as the Progenitor Virus, T-Virus, G-Virus, and T-Veronica Virus. There have also been a number of attempts at making vaccines for these viruses such as Daylight and AT1521, some of which were complete failures with others being destroyed. The idea of curing the viruses is something that has been explored before, but never with a concrete outcome such as this.
The success S.T.A.R.S. achieved is significant because it was not a vaccine that was only effective if taken preemptively or a vaccine that was developed by the creator of the virus itself. It was not created with the intent of being sold into the bio-weapons black market. It was created by an elite team of specialists trained to combat bio-engineered threats. By finding a means to cure the G-Virus the template has been laid in finding cures for the other viruses being as they all stem from the Progenitor Virus.
It’s ridiculous that such an astronomical breakthrough was discovered and S.T.A.R.S. thought it ideal to put their only success out into the field. Patrick needs to be kept safe at all costs so that proper testing can be conducted to replicate their success. If S.T.A.R.S. can copy their vaccine and imbue people with the ability to sense viruses innately there is nothing Umbrella or any other company could do to stop them. The threat is terminated.
Resident Evil: Fire and Ice is non-canon to the games so such a discovery will never reach mainline continuity and being Resident Evil, some other wacky new mega mutant threat would rise up to replace the viruses. Still, it’s undeniable how odd it is that the characters in the comics didn’t stop to consider how monumental an achievement Patrick’s cure was. If the success of 2021’s Resident Evil Village is any indicator, however, the day that such a cure is discovered in the games is very far off.
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