Nicholai Zinoviev (Николай Зиновьев), also known by the codename "Silver Wolf", was a former member of Russian Special Forces and one of the secret "Monitors", agents of a top-secret internal espionage organization of the Umbrella Corporation. His experience made him well-suited to the dangerous nature of his missions. He possessed adept hand-to-hand combat skills and excelled particularly well in stealth, being well experienced in both urban and woodland combat and highly skilled in the art of assassination, with knowledge of first-aid and accomplished at placing and disarming traps. He also spoke several foreign languages. He was an extremely cold and ruthless individual motivated only by money, and his skills as a stealth agent bordered on mythical. Even when faced with a hopeless situation, he would always find a way to gain the upper hand. 1 2 3
History
Early History
Zinoviev originated from Moscow in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика) where he joined the Soviet Army. He became a member of the Russian Army Special Forces known as Spetsnaz GRU, the best trained units of the former Soviet Union and current Russian Federation originally established during World War II. During the Cold War, Zinoviev participated in a number of political assassinations and insurgency operations, but due to the secretive nature of these operations, much of his history is shrouded in mystery. It was during this time that he met Colonel Sergei Vladimir, and earned the codename "Silver Wolf". With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he was forced to resign.
New Employment
Zinoviev joined the Umbrella Corporation looking for employment, and became an agent. At some point, Zinoviev helped persuade Sergei Vladimir to turn over 10 clones of himself to the Tyrant Project. 4 After Vladimir helped establish the U.B.C.S. (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) and an internal espionage organization of agents known as "Monitors", Zinoviev became a "Monitor" and was assigned to the U.B.C.S. as leader of B Squad of Delta Platoon, holding the rank of Sergeant. Part of his work as a Monitor involved the destruction of evidence that might implicate Umbrella, covert assassinations on rogue Umbrella employees and general observation of all Umbrella employees.
During his time as an Umbrella operative, his high survival ratio sparked an unspoken rivalry with HUNK, a leading Special Agent of the U.S.S. (Umbrella Security Service) who held a similarly high ratio. It also raised criticism from his own men, making him very disliked among his subordinates. However, the higher-ups within Umbrella recognized his impressive skills, earning him a fairly high position within the company for an operative.
Raccoon City Incident (Sep. 26-Oct. 1, 1998)
On September 26, 1998, Zinoviev was deployed into Raccoon City along with the rest of the U.B.C.S. In truth, he was sent into the city in order to gather combat and research data on Umbrella's biological weapons and secondary infections that arose from the biohazard, collect medical data, destroy key research buildings to cover up Umbrella's activities and carry out the assassination of rogue Umbrella employees. During the chaos of the overwhelming zombie attacks, Zinoviev's entire team was wiped out and he sought refuge in a cable car with Captain Mikhail Victor and Corporal Carlos Oliveira. After encountering Jill Valentine, Zinoviev immediately attempted to distance himself from her in order so as to not interfere with the objective of the Nemesis-T Type. He faked his own death and disappeared to carry out his objectives. He systematically trapped and assassinated his fellow Monitors to increase his own reward from the mission through exclusivity of information.
While in the clock tower, Zinoviev submitted a report to Umbrella. 5 He resurfaced on October 1 in Raccoon General Hospital, where he gathered medical data related to the virus and killed fellow Monitor Tyrell Patrick and encountered Oliveira, but failed to kill him. He planted explosives within the hospital and destroyed it. He made his way to Raccoon Park, where he encountered Jill Valentine again and revealed his true nature to her. They were interrupted due to the sudden appearance of an irregular mutant known as the "Grave Digger", and Zinoviev fled to safety and observed Valentine's combat with the creature before moving on.
Afterwards, he carried out the assassination of rogue Umbrella scientist Greg Mueller, the destruction of Raccoon University and also attempted a supplemental objective to acquire a sample of the "Daylight" t-virus vaccine developed by Mueller and Peter Jenkins, known as "Operation Emperor's Mushroom". He completed the first two mission objectives but failed to retrieve a sample of the vaccine due to failing to retrieve the necessary T-Blood sample from the Thanatos, due to it becoming enraged and the impending missile strike forcing him to abort the mission before it was completed.
By the time the U.S. military launched the "Sterilization Operation" to wipe out the city, Zinoviev had completed most of his objectives and everything had gone exactly as he planned. After stealing a helicopter from the abandoned plant to make his own escape, he attempted to collect the bounty on the confirmation of Valentine's death just prior to the imminent missile strike. He showed the full extent of his ruthlessness by leaving her and Oliveira to be killed in the missile strike. However, both of them managed to escape the city alive. The live combat data recorded by Zinoviev during the incident was later utilized by Umbrella to improve their B.O.W. products and make several new ones, including the Gulp Worm and Black Widow.