Raccoon City

In the Resident Evil video game series, Raccoon City was a small urban community located in the Arklay Mountains region of the American Midwest. Originally a quiet mountain hamlet, it became highly industrialised thanks to the investments of the worldwide medical conglomerate Umbrella Inc., who funded several renovation projects in the town and supplied a large percentage of the city's jobs. Thanks to Umbrella, Raccoon became a vibrant urban centre supporting a population of 100,000, though the large contributions Umbrella had made to Raccoon's infrastructure effectively ensured that the city was placed firmly under the corporation's control.

Umbrella provided around 40% of the jobs in Raccoon City, though very few of their employees in the city were aware of the company's illegal genetic research.

History

In September 1998, Raccoon City became a veritable hell-on-earth after Umbrella's mutagenic T-virus was leaked from the company's secret underground laboratory beneath the city. The virus escaped during a struggle between an Umbrella Security Service platoon and one Dr. William Birkin, who was attempting to stop the USS soldiers from taking his newly-developed G-virus strain. Wounded in the struggle, Birkin resorted to injecting the G-virus into his own body, mutating into a horrific creature that hunted down the USS members as they vacated the lab with an attache case containing several vials of T and G-virus. The mutated Birkin consumed the G samples but the T-virus was spilled in the city sewers, where it infected the rats dwelling there which then carried it up to the city, infecting its human population.

In a few short days, Raccoon City descended into absolute chaos as most of its citizens became infected with the T-virus and were transformed into mindless, flesh-craving zombies. As the city's infrastructure collapsed, both the military and Umbrella's own paramilitary forces attempted to stem the tide of the infection, but not only were they hopelessly outnumbered by the undead, but also several of Umbrella's B.O.W.'s had escaped containment as the security in their facilities failed due to the infection of their staff. These genetically-engineered monstrosities started running rampant throughout the doomed city, and before long there would be no one left alive to stop them.

The Raccoon City crater after the incident

At dawn on October 1st, the United States government decreed for Raccoon City to be sterilised by launching a missile upon the town. A non-nuclear ballistic warhead was deployed that completely destroyed the entire city, preventing the T-virus from spreading any further. This action resulted in massive public outrage that would lead to the President resigning from his post and would lead to the implication of Umbrella's involvement and the company's eventual downfall in the years to come.

Since the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, the world has become aware of the dangers posed by bio-organic weapons and the viruses engineered to produce them. Various national and international agencies continue to raise awareness of biological threats and actively combat bioterrorism worldwide.

Key Locations

• RPD Building - The Raccoon police station was formerly an art museum, but was renovated into a police station as the city expanded. This was probably the most heavily fortified location in the city during the outbreak, but the overwhelming number of undead running the police ragged coupled with the insane actions of police chief Brian Irons led to the station eventually being overrun. Almost every survivor of the Raccoon Incident had to come through the station at some point, most notably Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield.
• Raccoon General Hospital - Also known as Spencer Memorial Hospital in the Resident Evil 3 remake. Naturally, the hospital became a hotbed of viral activity early on during the outbreak as infected patients arrived in droves. Umbrella doctors and scientists struggled to devise a vaccine for the T-virus but became infected themselves before their work could bear fruit. A vaccine was synthesized by UBCS grunt Carlos Oliveira, based on existing data and material left behind by the hospital staff. A small B.O.W. laboratory was located in the hospital basement where a number of MA-124 Hunter "γ" specimens were held in stasis. These specimens escaped sometime after the hospital's staff were wiped out and were all destroyed when the hospital was bombed by UBCS operative Nicholai Ginovaef.
• City Hall - Raccoon City's seat of government. Though heavily barricaded, this area was also overrun by zombies. Mayor Michael Warren somehow managed to escape from here and skip town, though his daughter was not so lucky as she was sent to the RPD building where she was murdered by Brian Irons.
• St. Michael Clock Tower - Once a popular tourist attraction, this gothic-style tower was used as an extraction point for Umbrella paramilitary operatives. Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira attempted to escape Raccoon City from here, but the rescue chopper coming to pick them up was shot down by the Nemesis.
• Disposal Plant P-12A - An Umbrella waste disposal facility also called the "Dead Factory". As far as the public were aware, the property was dilapidated and disused, but Umbrella secretly used this plant to destroy many of the toxic by-products of their illegal experiments and dispose of all of their failed specimens from the underground lab beneath Raccoon City. Most of the facility's staff had become infected before the outbreak due to the viral potency of much of the waste material shipped here. It was here that Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira made their last stand against the Nemesis before they escaped the city.

Creatures

The following creatures were present in Raccoon City during the incident.

Irregular mutants

• Zombies - The infected residents of Raccoon City. Around 90% of the population became infected with the virus and their still-moving rotting bodies could be found in all areas of the city.
• Zombie dogs - While the T-virus likely infected all canine breeds, only Doberman hounds are confirmed to have been spotted displaying obvious signs of infection. For the most part, these dogs were found in the vicinity of the RPD building.
• Infected crows - These common carrion-feeding birds would contract the T-virus by feeding on infected flesh. Though they did not appear to change much physically, they became much more aggressive and flocks of them would try and attack survivors even when they were taking shelter.
• Web Spinners - While Umbrella had attempted to produce arachnid B.O.W.'s at their Arklay Laboratory, the mutant spiders seen during the Raccoon Incident were all secondary mutations rather than intentionally engineered. These spiders were encountered by Jill Valentine at the St. Michael Clock Tower and in the city sewers by Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield.
• Grave Digger - A giant mutated millipede. Jill Valentine fought this creature in Raccoon Park where it made its home.
• Drain Deimos - Insectoid mutants that were encountered by Jill Valentine inside a warehouse. A similar creature called the Brain Sucker was also encountered in the Dead Factory.
• Infected alligator - The urban myth about alligators living in the sewers suddenly becomes less mythical. A giant alligator was encountered in the Raccoon Sewage Plant and was killed by Claire Redfield.

B.O.W.'s

• Lickers - Both manufactured and irregular specimens have been confirmed active within Raccoon during the disaster. Several of these creatures were spotted within the RPD and in the subway.
• MA-121 Hunter "β" - Imperfect Hunter specimens that were concentrated in the area around Raccoon Hospital, though some were also found in the park.
• MA-124 Hunter "γ" - Frog-like experimental Hunter models produced in a small lab beneath the hospital.