Sherry Birkin was the daughter of renowned Umbrella Corporation scientists William Birkin and Annette Birkin. Having been the daughter of two of Umbrella's most established scientists, their obsession and passion for their work was often put ahead of their child and as such they were never around to foster a healthy relationship with Sherry as she grew up. Although mature for her age, Sherry was introverted and indifferent, didn't speak much, was very insecure, lacked self-confidence and had a difficult time showing any emotion due to the lack of a proper presence or love from her parents. She later became an agent of the U.S. Government. 1 2
History
Raccoon City Destruction Incident (Sep. 29, 1998)
Following William Birkin's mutation and attack on the Umbrella Security Service of the t-virus outbreak in Raccoon City, Annette contacted Sherry and informed her that the city was dangerous and demanded that she take refuge in the Raccoon Police Department building. Unbeknownst to Sherry or Annette however, the precinct was already infected by the t-virus with many of it's personnel already becoming monsters. Having arrived at the police department, Sherry seeked refuge from the many zombies of former police officers roaming the halls, first being sighted by Claire Redfield on the second floor hallway of the building, and then finally meeting Claire in the office of police chief Brian Irons. It was here that Sherry opened up to Claire and also the point at which the two agreed to co-operate in order to escape from the city. Sherry was very vocal about her fears that a monster was after her, oblivious to the fact that the hideous mutation was in fact her father, instead opting to believe that the cries of her name she heard was him being attacked, rather than him seeking her out. At the same time she was also being pursued by a mass production model Tyrant (T-103 Type) for her pendant, which contained a sample of the G-virus developed by her father. Sherry was oblivious to the hidden sample in one of her most prized possessions, and simply tried to run away.
After briefly being separated from Claire, Sherry encountered an unknown woman and dropped her pendant in a panic. The woman was Ada Wong, who retrieved the pendant. As a result Sherry was no longer in danger of the Tyrant but was still being pursued by 'G', her mutated father. Following their escape into the sewer, Sherry was separated from Claire again. In an attempt to escape, Sherry was knocked unconscious, at which point her father managed to impregnate her with a G-Embryo. Following a confrontation with Annette Birkin, Claire found Sherry, only to hear Sherry complain of her stomach hurting. Claire took Sherry with her into the Underground Laboratory. Claire, who noticed that Sherry was running a very high fever, mentioned that she had to hurry before the embyro would pupate. Sherry soon passed out.
Sherry then awoke in the medical bay within the Underground Laboratory wearing Claire's vest. Sherry mentioned to Claire that she trusts her, and explained her family situation to Claire. Sherry broke into tears as she told Claire she was happy to have someone to rely on, having opened her heart through her interactions with Claire. In the following moments, Claire once again encountered Annette Birkin as she was murdered by her former husband. Annette disclosed to Claire all the information to synthesise DEVIL, a vaccine against the G-virus. With Annette's dying words, she requested Claire to save her daughter and tell her; "I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother, but I always loved her". Soon after, she passed away, and the self destruction mechanism for the laboratory activated.
Claire was able to successfully contact Leon within the laboratory, requesting that he collect Sherry from the medical bay, and bring her to the emergency train. After creating the DEVIL vaccine, Claire and Leon were able to successfully fend off 'G' once again before making it to the emergency train. It was here that Sherry was administered the vaccine, and her life was saved. Leon, Claire and Sherry managed to successfully escape from the city on dawn of September 30.
Post-Raccoon City
After escaping from Raccoon City and watching as Claire walked off into the wilderness alone, Sherry and Leon were taken into protective custody by the U.S. Army after the government sent a force to find and "protect" Sherry due to her possession of a natural antibody against the G-virus. Sherry was questioned by the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency about any relatives she may of had, to which she didn't answer, instead thinking about Claire and saying to herself "She will come back to me... she will..."
The government's interest in her stemmed from the G-antibody she carried due to the administration of the DEVIL vaccine. She is the only human being alive with a natural resistance to the G-virus. After the agreement between Leon and a U.S. intelligence agent named Adam Benford, in which he agreed to become an agent in exchange for her safety, Sherry was kept safe within the custody of the government, where they then began observation and research on the antibody. Although she is safe in the custody of the U.S. Government, among the personnels in the department responsible for her, many of them were spies planted by Albert Wesker. With full access to Sherry, the spies were likely able to extract the antibody from her for their own needs. 3
After several years, she was freed from her house arrest under the condition that she became an agent for the same secret military agency as Leon, the DSO (Division of Security Operations).
Footnotes
- 1. biohazard archives (Page 154)
- 2. INSIDE OF BIOHAZARD THE DARKSIDE CHRONICLES (Page 020)
- 3. INSIDE OF BIOHAZARD THE DARKSIDE CHRONICLES (Page 188)