Oswell E. Spencer was a prideful man who held immense wealth as a multimillionaire British aristocrat, and unlimited power as the world famous and enigmatic Chairman and CEO of the Umbrella Corporation. As one of the three company founders, he took part in the search which led to the discovery the Progenitor virus. A cold and ambitious individual, he secretly killed the other two founders and took complete control over the company. He led Umbrella and strongly believed he was one of the "chosen ones," and that people should be ruled by physically and intellectually superior individuals. Upon discovering the Progenitor virus, he put into his plan into motion to realize this philosophy. His ultimate goal was the creation of a new human species through the Progenitor virus. He recognised the virus' potential for military application and advanced research of the variant t-virus for the development of B.O.W.s (Bio Organic Weapons), and additionally approved the development of the G-virus. After the collapse of Umbrella, he went into hiding and was a man who struck untold fear in people around the world, being compared to Adolf Hitler with whom he shared similar ambition. Only a handful of people were ever aware of his true intentions. He collected artwork as a hobby.
History
In 1962, Spencer hired New York architect George Trevor and commissioned the construction of a large European-style mansion in Raccoon Forest, located in the Arklay Mountains region of the American Midwest. The mansion's design was based on a model within Spencer's office, which itself was based on the Spencer Estate in Europe.
Discovery of the Progenitor Virus (1966)
Following the release of the 72-volume "Natural History Conspectus" compiled by Henry Travis in the 1800's, Spencer found the books of great interest, especially for their coverage of African folklore. In them he learnt of the Ndipaya tribe and his interest was piqued by the mention of a particular flower, "Stairway to the Sun", and its role in selecting the tribe's kings, granting them seemingly superhuman abilities. Spencer hypothesized that the flower held some significance and explained this to his biochemist friend, James Marcus, and a fellow aristocrat from the prominent Ashford family, Edward Ashford. The trio ventured to Africa to seek this flower bringing with them Brandon Bailey, one of Marcus' students, armed guards and a research team. They forcefully gained entry into the abandoned ancient city of the Ndipaya and eventually found the flower. With Spencer's hypothesis proven correct.
On December 4, 1966, the expeditionary discovered a virus within the Sun flower. The virus was named as the "Progenitor Virus". It soon became apparent that the current resources available to them were insufficient for their research. Marcus and Bailey returned to America with samples of the flower to cultivate the virus elsewhere. However, these cultivated flowers did not contain the virus and it was discovered that the virus would only manifest in the flower's native conditions. Marcus and Bailey returned to Africa with Spencer. At some point, results were discovered in the form of a weaponized Progenitor virus variant generally called "t-Virus".
Following the discovery of the virus, Spencer ordered for the construction of a secret underground laboratory beneath the mansion in the Arklay Mountains. In order to expedite cultivation and research of the Progenitor virus from Africa, Spencer also commissioned the construction of the Africa Laboratory.
Arklay Laboratory (1967)
Construction of the Spencer Mansion and secret underground laboratory in the Arklay Mountains was completed in 1967. Spencer returned from Africa with samples of the Progenitor virus and commenced research which led to the development of two mutant strains known as "TYPE-A" and "TYPE-B".
Spencer invited Trevor and his family to the estate. Trevor himself was busy with work in New York, and sent his wife and daughter ahead. Spencer gave the Trevor family a guided tour of the mansion. Later that night, Spencer ordered his men to imprison the family to be used as human test subjects of the Progenitor virus. Two mutant strains which were developed by Spencer were to be injected. Jessica Trevor, Trevor’s wife, was administered TYPE-A and died soon after due to being unable to adapt to the virus. Lisa Trevor, Trevor’s daughter, was administered TYPE-B and survived, kept in the laboratory for research purposes and further examination.
On November 13, Trevor himself arrived at the mansion. Spencer took him on a tour of the estate and, as a ruse, informed him that his family had to unexpectedly leave following the sudden hospitalization of aunt Emma. Spencer told George of his plans to establish a pharmaceutical company, called "Umbrella". With George being the only other person aware of the mansion's secrets, Spencer later ordered his execution and had George imprisoned in one of the mansion's many secret rooms, where the architect later perished from starvation. With the Trevor family disposed of, Spencer turned his attention back to his fellow researchers, announcing to them his plans to establish Umbrella.
Umbrella Pharmaceuticals (1968-1978)
In April 1968, Spencer convinced Dr. Ashford and Dr. Marcus to join him and establish the pharmaceutical company "Umbrella Pharmaceuticals" to camouflage their research with the Progenitor virus and their development of biological weapons.
In July, Spencer orchestrated the staged accidental death of Edward Ashford, who died after being infected with the Progenitor virus. With the failure of Alexander Ashford to make any advances in virus research after succeeding his father, the Ashford family's power and authority faded and Spencer was able to seize control of Edward's share in the company. Spencer began to pour his lifeblood into the management of the company and made several requests for Dr. Marcus to become director of the "Umbrella Research Center", the company's executive officer training school. Marcus eventually accepted as long as he was able to continue his research with the Progenitor virus in the training facility's laboratory. With Marcus relegated to the Arklay Mountains, Spencer gradually increased his strength within the company and quietly began to take the world into his own hands.
As the leader of Umbrella, Spencer immediately expanded his company's connections and gained influence in the U.S. Government through political collusion, and poured all of his resources into the research of B.O.W.s, but he had an ulterior ambition: to use viruses to evolve the human race, create an ideal world of this new race, and become the "God" of this world. In pursuit of this flawed-logic goal, he implemented a plan to gather several hundred children from around the world who possessed superior DNA, and inject them with the Progenitor virus to give them even greater intellectual abilities and superhuman strength. This was dubbed the "Wesker Project," named after the chief researcher at the time, all of the children in the project were given the name "Wesker," and they were dispersed around the world and closely monitored.
In 1977, Albert Wesker appeared at the Umbrella Research Center. He was regarded as being the best of the elite Weskers, and was given preferential treatment with Spencer as his guardian. The Wesker Project proceeded under the orders of Spencer, who continued to harbor undying ambition. He oversaw the development of the "Prototype Virus", a variant of the Progenitor virus which was to be administered to the 13 surviving Weskers.
t-Virus Project (1978-1998)
In 1978, Albert Wesker reported the poor research management of Dr. Marcus to Spencer. Spencer had learned of the t-virus research being conducted by Dr. Marcus in the Umbrella Research Center, and ordered for the facility to be shut down. He allowed Dr. Marcus to continue his research, and plotted to steal his results as soon as his research bore fruit. Meanwhile, Spencer appointed Wesker and William Birkin as chief researchers at the Arklay Laboratory and transferred the "t-Virus Project" there. Over the next ten years, Wesker and Birkin made successive improvements to their own t-virus.
In 1988, Dr. Marcus perfected his t-virus. Seeing no further use for him, Spencer ordered for him to be disposed of and ordered Wesker and Dr. Birkin to assassinate him. The credit for the creation of the t-virus was attributed to Dr. Birkin, who took over Dr. Marcus’ research and began to perform research and experimentation which led to the development of the Hunter and Tyrant B.O.W.s. In the summer, he backed Wesker and Dr. Birkin in their attempt to import a prototype specimen of the "Nemesis" parasite.
In 1991, Spencer and Umbrella Headquarters approved the "G-Virus Project" proposed by Dr. Birkin and ordered for the construction of a huge underground laboratory beneath the center of Raccoon City. He also approved Wesker's transfer request to the Umbrella Intelligence Department. In December, a former Colonel in the Soviet Army named Sergei Vladimir contacted Umbrella. After passing the primary field test for Tyrant adaptation, it was discovered that he was one of the rare individuals with a compatible genetic code for the creation of a Tyrant. In exchange for 10 clones of himself, Spencer appointed Vladimir as an executive officer. Eventually, Spencer stopped visiting the Spencer Mansion and never showed his face in public, removing himself from the day-to-day operations of Umbrella.
Collapse of Umbrella (1998-2003)
In 1998, Spencer gave the order for the "Reclamation Project" in an attempt to restore the Umbrella Research Center as a new research facility. Soon after, biohazards began to occur all around the Arklay Mountains, which eventually began to affect the nearby Raccoon City, resulting in a city-wide biohazard. The city was then destroyed by a new-type thermobaric warhead launched by the U.S. Government.
Following the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, Spencer immediately began to put countermeasures in motion. In November 1998, he ordered for the closure of the Africa Laboratory to conceal the location of the Progenitor virus. He then had all Umbrella employees with Level 10 and Level 9 security clearance eliminated to prevent the location from being leaked.
In 1999, an investigation into the cause of the Raccoon City incident began and the U.S. Government issued a worldwide business suspension decree to Umbrella, and the corporation was faced with many lawsuits. Spencer hired the best lawyers and managed to shift part of the blame for the incident towards the U.S. Government.
In 2003, due to the actions of Albert Wesker, who throughout his departure from Umbrella was seeking to undermine the company, the company was declared guilty of all charges related to the Raccoon City Destruction Incident. With the conclusion of the court trial, Spencer escaped from the investigation of his involvement and became a wanted fugitive pursued by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the Russian MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs). He began leading a secluded life and growing old in his ancestral estate, the Spencer Estate, one of his many hideouts prepared all over the world.
Final Years (2003-2006)
Spencer considered himself worthy of being called a 'God' and leading humanity to the next level. However, behind this aspiration and vision, his body was growing old and diseased. Dying without completing this great mission would not be an option. He enlisted the help of one man to again possess a healthy body. That man's name was Alex Wesker, the only other surviving subject of the Wesker Project. He almost completely lost the use of his legs and remained confined to a wheelchair. Depressed that his plans had not succeeded and time continued to ravage his body, Spencer spent almost all of his time in his castle's study. His only company was his bodyguards and faithful butler Patrick, whose family had served the Spencer family for three generations. Patrick had remained fiercely loyal to Spencer. 1.
Spencer's greatest desire following the destruction of Umbrella was to stop his body's ageing. He knew that he was in no condition to be a god over mankind, and thus needed to find the secret of immortality. He relied upon Alex Wesker to find this secret. Through the course of several months, Alex and his subordinates operated at an isolated island in the South Seas, keeping in contact with Spencer, who provided them with thousands of test subjects 2. Eventually, the experiment was a success. Spencer felt rejuvenated and was hopeful that he would soon have his hands on the virus that would restore his health and make him immortal. However, he was distraught to learn that Alex, his researchers, and all test subjects had vanished. 3
Betrayed by a Wesker once again, Spencer realized his death was inevitable and scolded himself for not learning from his mistake with Albert in 1998. He concluded that the last hope of his plan being fulfilled was Albert, and so he had his butler Patrick leak the Spencer Estate's whereabouts to him. He then dismissed his faithful butler from his duties, and was left with his bodyguards at the estate, waiting for Albert Wesker to return to him. 4.
Wesker arrived at the Spencer Estate and murdered Spencer's security guards, then confronted him within the library. Spencer spoke "You're back..." The words barely audible amidst his cough-racked laugh. Appearing to read Wesker's thoughts, Spencer laid out everything about his plan to him. All Wesker children were programmed to seek Spencer out, which manifested itself as a growing anxiety within each of the subjects. Just as Spencer had predicted, Albert had come to him. However, he made one miscalculation. His failsafe only worked for as long as it remained a mystery. As soon as the mystery was revealed, Wesker no longer had a need to restrain himself. As a result, Spencer willingly faced his mortality, and Wesker killed his "creator".
Despite his death, Spencer's will lived on in Albert Wesker. His plan to create an advanced human race was succeeded by Wesker, who began to develop the "Uroboros Virus" to carry out the same objective as Spencer.