User login

Navigation

Recent Forum Posts

James Marcus Portrait (Resident Evil Zero)

James Marcus Concept Art (Resident Evil 0)

Personal Data

Date of Birth: 1918
Date of Death: 1988
Gender: Male
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 68.5 kg
Blood Type: A
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Caucasian

Title

James Marcus

Dr. James Marcus was a biochemist and professor who was one of the pioneers who discovered the Progenitor virus and co-founded the Umbrella Corporation. One of his crowning achievements was the creation of the first known strain of the t-virus, which would later become the center for the bio-weapons research conducted by Umbrella. He served as the first director of the Umbrella Research Center. Eventually, he was not counted officially as a discoverer of the Progenitor virus, or a founding member of Umbrella. 1 2 3

Table of Contents [hide]

History

History

Early History

Marcus' early history is for the most part unknown. He was an alumnus of Ozwell E. Spencer and graduated from the same university in 1939 where he acquired a certified doctorate and became a biochemist and professor. One of Marcus' students was Brandon Bailey.

Discovery & Research of the Progenitor Virus (1960s~1977)

In the 1960s, Marcus worked with Spencer and Edward Ashford on the research of an unknown virus which could promote organic evolution. Following Spencer's story of a rare flower in a remote underground region of West Africa, Marcus was the first person to recognize the validity of the story and hypothesized that a virus which could alter DNA may exist. The aristocrats organized an expedition in September 1966 to search for the flower, joined by Marcus along with one of his students, Brandon Bailey. The Progenitor virus was finally discovered on December 4, 1966 after three months of searching and staving off attacks from the native Ndipaya tribe, with Marcus himself being in particularly high spirits due to the discovery and opting to take the virus back home to conduct his research. 4

In March 1968, at Spencer's request, Marcus helped establish a pharmaceutical company which would act as a front for their secret bio-weapons research; Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. Under the circumstances of being unable to cultivate Progenitor outside of its natural environment, both Marcus and Bailey decided to return to Africa in April 1968 in order to be able to use the virus for their research. However, their return was delayed until Umbrella was able to chase the Ndipaya off their land. 5 In order to undermine Marcus' standing and authority within the corporation and take more control for himself, Spencer began to try and convince Marcus to become the director of the company’s executive training school known as the “Umbrella Research Center”.

In August, finally acceding to Spencer's requests under the condition that he could continue his research on Progenitor in the facility's laboratory, Marcus became the first director of the new training facility in the backwoods of Raccoon Forest in the Arklay Mountains. He was tasked with training prospective Umbrella executives. Although he was fully aware that he was being used and had next to no authority in the company, Marcus threw himself into his research in order to develop viable bio-weapons. Two executive candidates, Albert Wesker and William Birkin provoked interest out of the usually isolated Marcus and he provoked a competitive rivalry between the two, who would soon become the only two individuals he trusted.

At some point Marcus wrote a detailed report on his experiments with administering the Progenitor virus to several animal types in an effort to produce a viable Bio Organic Weapon (B.O.W.) 6 Furious with the lack of viable results from the of the experiments, Marcus reached the conclusion that the only viable test subjects would have to be human. Immediately, Marcus began human testing using around twenty Umbrella trainees and employees, some of whom he suspected of spying on him. As a result of the virus' poisonous nature to most humans, none of the test subjects survived and Marcus dumped their bodies in the Arklay Treatment Plant. His ambition and hatred of Spencer gradually warped his mind.

t-Virus (1977~1988)

On September 19, 1977, Marcus made a breakthrough that led to the development of a new variant of Progenitor, which he named "t" for "Tyrant". 7 In response, Marcus ordered five cases of Progenitor in December to accommodate this new discovery for his research. 8 The t-virus was developed through combining the Progenitor virus with leech DNA and completed on January 13, 1978. 9 Between February and June 1978, Marcus conducted an experiment and continued observation of leeches, which he quickly became attached to, treating them like they were his children. 10 He planned to unveil the virus at the next director's meeting to reap his rewards and become the preeminent scientist of Umbrella.

At some point, Wesker leaked information about Marcus’ research to Spencer, who saw an opportunity to push his own research ahead and further undermine Marcus. Soon after, Wesker and Birkin betrayed Marcus and stole the virus in order for Spencer to push his own t-Virus Project ahead. The training facility was shut down in July 1978, but Marcus continued his research with the t-virus and leeches in the adjacent laboratory. In order to take revenge on Spencer, Marcus began attempts at creating his own bio-weapons and eventually managed to create several B.O.W.s with the t-virus (Eliminator, Lurker and Plague Crawler). Despite these results, Marcus used the t-virus to further his research on mutated leeches to create more of his own B.O.W.s, seeing this as the perfect way to take revenge on Spencer.

Assassination (1988)

Before he could complete his research, certain voices within Umbrella called for Marcus' research to be shut down completely. As a result, Spencer ordered Wesker and Birkin to assassinate him and steal his research in order to further the t-Virus Project. In doing so, Birkin took over Marcus' research on the t-virus and claimed it as his own. Marcus' body was dumped and left to rot. Officially, it was stated that Marcus was fired from Umbrella. Meanwhile, a research team evaluated his research on the t-virus and the potential application of his B.O.W.s as products. 11

Following his death, the Queen Leech which Marcus was developing began to inhabit his body, merging with his DNA and birthing a "reborn" clone; a visage of his younger self. This clone reflected his will, memories and his desire for revenge against Spencer. The Queen Leech began his secret activities which later caused the biohazards in the Arklay Mountains with the intention of destroying not only Umbrella, but the entire world. His first act was to leak the t-virus in the Arklay Laboratory, disguising it as an accident. Later, he used his leeches to infect the Ecliptic Express train. However, the Queen Leech merely copied his mind, and upon transforming, lost all of these personality traits.