Raccoon City

Raccoon City is a fictional midwestern city depicted in the Resident Evil series of survival horror video games created by Capcom. It serves as the primary setting for Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, as well as the Outbreak series. The city appears in the film adaptations of the series.

Location and economy

Raccoon City map.

Raccoon City is based upon an archetypical industrialized midwestern American city. The economy of Raccoon City is largely dominated by the Umbrella Corporation. The corporation generously financed most of the city's projects, giving the company a positive image to the people of Raccoon City. Although 50% of the citizens are employed by the international corporation, most are unaware of the company's many illegal activities.

At least 100,000 lived there, the ending for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis features a radio broadcast anouncing that the Death toll was "believed to have surpassed the 100,000 mark". The urban area is divided into several districts, including Uptown, Downtown and the more industrialized Health district. The suburbs lie to the south and west of the city center.

The nearest town, east of Raccoon City, is named Stone-Ville, and is connected to the city by a train line. The main thoroughfares in the city include City Hall Street, Central Street, Raccoon Street, and Mission Street.

History

Raccoon City was governed by Mayor Michael Warren, who was elected in 1987 and served in that position for eleven years. Warren was the engineer responsible for the establishment of the cable car transportation system and also made contributions to the city's electrical system. In his campaign to modernize the city, he made a deal with the Umbrella Corporation, which provided funding for several of Warren's projects, including public utilities, welfare work, and law enforcement. The campaign was known as the "A Bright 21st century for Raccoon City".

Because of Warren's campaign, the town gradually transformed from a rural community to an industrialized city. However, the city's expansion and modernization was accompanied by rising crime rates and even terrorist activities. The Raccoon City Police Department (R.P.D.) established the S.T.A.R.S. in 1996 as a countermeasure to the crimewave.

Due to Warren's cooperation with Umbrella, the company became a large part of the people's everyday lives. Many stores fronted for the corporation and its influences had a major say in the City Council, becoming the main leadership of the city with the mayor as a front man for its ambitions.

The Arklay Mountains incident

A series of bizarre cannibal homicides occurred in the forests of the Arklay Mountains north of the city, beginning in May 1998 and continuing through the following months. Victims, usually hikers, picnickers or couples at romance spots appeared to have been mauled by dogs and partially eaten by humans or other unidentified creatures. The Raccoon Police were at a loss to explain or stop the phenomenon, blaming it on cult activity. On July 23, S.T.A.R.S. was deployed to the area to investigate. Bravo Team's helicopter made a forced landing in the area due to mechanical problems, and Alpha Team were sent to rescue them. Of the twelve S.T.A.R.S. members and a R.P.D. backup pilot sent to the Arklay Mountains, only five returned alive. They reported having discovered a mansion, named the Spencer Mansion, where the Umbrella Corporation had been conducting illegal biological weapons experiments with a mutagenic agent called the T-Virus. The grounds were crawling with the results of that research, including zombies. However, the mansion and all evidence had been destroyed, and due to Umbrella's influence on the city and the corrupt Chief of Police Brian Irons, who was under Umbrella's payroll, the survivors' claims were dismissed and no formal investigations were undertaken.

Umbrella scientist James Marcus released the T-Virus at the mansion after being assassinated by Albert Wesker and William Birkin. Marcus had planned to release it in Raccoon City, but was killed by Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen in the Umbrella Management Training Facility in the Arklay Mountains.

Raccoon City incident

Another viral outbreak involving the same virus, occurred two months later on September 22, 1998, when Umbrella attempted to retrieve a sample of the powerful G-Virus from William Birkin, one of its more reclusive researchers. After he was shot multiple times, Birkin was left mortally injured and, knowing its regenerative capabilities, injected himself with a sample of the G-Virus that the Umbrella team overlooked. Unfortunately, its mutagenic properties overtook his humanity and transformed him into an unstoppable mutant, killing machine. He destroyed the paramilitary team which had attempted to steal the G-Virus from him, and in the process, vials containing the T-Virus were dropped, releasing it into the sewers. The T-Virus was then carried by rats throughout the city, leading to a full-scale outbreak.

Recognizing the incident, Umbrella officials began to evacuate the city, placing high priority on essential members. By dawn of September 25, US Army units were called in to evacuate citizens and began setting up barricades around the city's perimeter, effectively enforcing a quarantine. The R.P.D. tried and failed to contain the hordes of zombies created by the T-Virus, using barricades and deadly force. Matters were not helped by the actions of Brian Irons, who attempted to trap officers and civilians within the police station, scattered weapons and ammunition around the building and cut off communication to the outside. The police station itself was besieged on September 26. The officers then made a last attempt to destroy the zombies in the streets on September 27, but failed when their road block was overrun by zombies. The survivors within held off the zombies for days until only three officers remained, Brian Irons, Marvin Branagh, and an unknown officer. Umbrella also sent in several Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (U.B.C.S.) squads for search-and-rescue missions on the 26th and the 27th, which ended disastrously. The supervisors of these squads were also secretly tasked with gathering field data about Umbrella's bio-weapons as well as destroying any incriminating evidence.

By September 29, nearly everyone in the city had either been killed by the monsters and bio-weapons released from Umbrella's laboratories, or had succumbed to the T-Virus and become zombies. The military barricades surrounding the city had begun to fail in some places, allowing unwary visitors to enter the city, and allowing some of the city's few survivors to escape.

Some time between the night of September 30 and dawn of October 1, 1998, the United States government decided to sterilize Raccoon City by completely destroying everything and everyone inside with strategic weapons, despite attempts by Umbrella operatives within the government to convince the Joint Chiefs of Staff to hold off on the strike. The operation, which was codenamed "Mission Code: XX", and called "Operation: Bacillus Terminate" in a news report concerning the destruction of the city, consisted of a strategic strike into the heart of the city. The entire area of Raccoon City was incinerated, and the death toll was estimated to have exceeded 100,000.

Contrary to popular belief, no nuclear warheads were used.

What was left of Raccoon City and the surrounding area was searched and categorized thoroughly for any possible survivors and biohazard threats by US military HAZMAT teams and Umbrella in early October 1998. By late February 2000, the search and categorizing operation ended with no survivors found. But there were small traces of active T-Virus and G-Virus strains found. The ruins of Raccoon City and twenty miles around it were declared a possible biohazard threat and became a highly-classified restricted area that only the US government and Umbrella personnel could enter. As seen at the end of Resident Evil Outbreak, the area that used to be Raccoon City is gated off from the rest of the world, and Umbrella had built a classified research and testing facility. All that is known about this facility is that it is used for experiments and testing and it keeps a close watch for any trespassers or biohazard threats. But as of Resident Evil 4, when Umbrella collapsed, the US government took over the facility. Now that the complex is run by the US military, it focuses on the close watch duties in the gated area and surrounding areas.

Destruction

The end of Raccoon City has been represented in different ways throughout the series.

In Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, a single thermonuclear missile is launched from a distant missile silo or bomber aircraft and destroys the entire city. A blue pulse traveling with the shock wave has been interpreted as an electromagnetic pulse.

In Resident Evil Outbreak, three cruise missiles streak over the city and the blast craters appear consistent with conventional weapons if the warhead were powerful enough, as the blast craters are more than a half mile deep in some places. Other sources agree with this theory [1]. The craters were made by conventional weapons. In Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2, multiple rockets were fired from military aircraft after the three cruise missiles hit, and two of the four possible endings show the main characters escaping the city by highway at the zero hour, nearly overtaken by the explosions.

The Umbrella Chronicles retconned the destruction of Raccoon City again. This time a single missile is show flying over Raccoon city and air bursting as a nuke would, but the files within the game say that the city was destroyed by an extremely powerful conventional missile. Most likely a fuel air bomb.

It is highly likely that it was originally a nuclear missile that destroyed Raccoon City. Raccoon City's destruction was changed in Resident Evil: Outbreak to three cruise missiles with high explosive warheads, this ending is now considered canon The Outbreak ending is also the most realistic as it is highly unlikely that even the US government would use nuclear weapons on its own soil.

Notable locations

The following are sites or locations visited by the characters in the Resident Evil series.

Resident Evil 2

• Raccoon Police Department — This large building houses the R.P.D, along with the S.T.A.R.S. headquarters. It has a library, and the hall is decorated with a fountain. Sewers can be reached from the underground levels of the building

• Umbrella Subterranean Laboratory — One of Umbrella's secret laboratories was located below an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Raccoon City. This lab was used primarily by William Birkin and his staff for research into the T and G viruses. It was here that Birkin injected himself with the G-Virus after being fatally wounded by Umbrella commandos. The laboratory contained facilities for viral research and vaccine synthesis, a station for cryogenic experiments, a smelting pool, and two train terminals (a rotating turntable elevator on the uppermost level and a freight train at the bottom platform). The facility is accessible through the Umbrella training facility in Resident Evil Zero. It is also playable in Resident Evil Outbreak.

• Emmy's Diner — This cafe was Claire Redfield's first stop in Raccoon City. She was nearly killed by a zombie lurking within, but was rescued by Leon S. Kennedy.

• Kendo's Gun Shop — A local gun shop which was run by Robert Kendo. It was invaded by zombies and Kendo was immediately killed and eaten in the onslaught.

Resident Evil 3

• Uptown— Uptown occupied the city's southern portion. This area, also called the Cedar District, contained Jack's Bar, Kendo's Gun Shop, a boutique, the Umbrella sales office, Dario's Warehouse, and the Raccoon City Police Precinct. The area is bordered in part by the Marble River.

• Downtown— Downtown was located north of Uptown. This part of the city contained a restaurant called Cafe 13, a movie theater, the office of the Raccoon Press, City Hall, and a Tram Station.

• St. Michael Clock Tower— Prior to the outbreak, the Clock Tower was a popular tourist site located in the north of the city. The site was an extraction point for the U.B.C.S. but was heavily damaged by the rescue helicopter crashing into it.

• Raccoon City Hospital— Raccoon's largest hospital was established in 1992, a few blocks from the Clock Tower. During the outbreak hospital staff on Umbrella's payroll engineered a vaccine for the T-Virus. Unfortunately, the hospital was overrun before the vaccine could be produced in large quantities. U.B.C.S. supervisor Nicholai Ginovaef destroyed the hospital to eliminate evidence of Umbrella's experiments.

• Raccoon Park— A large park was located behind the Clock Tower. It contained a forest path, a cemetery, and an adjacent cabin. The Park was connected by rope bridge to an Umbrella facility.

• Dead Factory— This structure was used by Umbrella for processing of unwanted or hazardous biological material. In the months leading up to the outbreak this included an increasing number of zombies, which taxed the facility's capabilities. The site contained a small water-treatment facility, a large room used for chemically processing dead experimental subjects, an incinerator room, and a small helipad. At some point, US Army forces attacked the facility, bringing to bear an experimental railgun codenamed 'Paracelsus' Sword'. Umbrella responded by deploying several T-103 Tyrants against the attackers.

Resident Evil Outbreak

• Umbrella Corporation Office and Research Facility— Umbrella's main corporate office was located in Downtown Raccoon City. This facility was Umbrella's public location. The laboratories contained Hunters and a T-103 Tyrant. Umbrella researchers Linda and Carter developed a cure to the T-Virus here. It had access to a water treatment plant which then leads to Main Street.

• J's Bar— A bar located in the Uptown area. Many often confuse this bar with the bar seen in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. However, it is obvious that these are both different bars from the different layouts and different entrances. The neon sign in the bar room on the ground floor does say "Jack's Bar" on it though, suggesting a possible bar chain.

• Raccoon Mall— An exterior sign is seen at the end of the first scenario as the player heads down to the main street although you never are allowed to enter the Mall.

• The Apple Inn— Two fire fighters searching for survivors were killed when a faulty boiler explodes in the heart of the hotel. The resulting explosion spreads fire throughout the building and traps a number of survivors inside with the zombies and mutants roaming the halls. The Apple Inn is near the Umbrella Office and the Raccoon Mall.

• Raccoon University— Located on the east side of the city. As with many establishments in town, Umbrella's influence extended there. Some of the faculty toiled at perfecting biological weapons. Others, somehow previous to Umbrella's T-Virus research, worked at a cure. The university was destroyed by Nicholai Ginovaef.

• Raccoon Zoo— The city boasted a popular zoo near a main trolley hub in the northwest part of town. Its mascot, "Mr. Raccoon", was known throughout the city. When the outbreak spread here, it infected several exotic species including hyenas, lions, and an elephant.

• Raccoon Subway— The city's subway system was little safer than the surface at the height of the outbreak. Wrecked trains congested the tunnels and mutant fleas proliferated among piles of refuse, making the underground a dubious refuge. The line visited by survivors during the events of Outbreak File 2 ran underneath South Raccoon St., a major road which passed through central Raccoon City. Umbrella Chronicles revealed that the subway stops near the R.P.D, Warren Stadium and Raccoon Mall.

Raccoon City in other media

In the Resident Evil film series, Raccoon City was a huge metropolis built by the Umbrella Corporation and was used for conducting scientific research and experimentation.

Resident Evil

Main article: Resident Evil (film)

In the 2002 film Resident Evil, Raccoon City was built by the Umbrella Corporation and staged research in a large top secret underground facility called the Hive. Most of its 853,200 residents were oblivious to the experiments beneath its streets.

On September 28, 2002, the T-Virus escaped into the ventilation systems. Then, the giant supercomputer known as the Red Queen shut down The Hive, gassed some of its employees with Halon, dropped the occupied elevators at high speed, and drowned the others. Umbrella later sent in a special elite team of commandos in order to retrieve information about what had happened.

The team entered the Hive through a secret passage located within the Spencer Mansion. It is later revealed that the viral outbreak was intentionally done in order to smuggle out the T-Virus and sell it on the black market. Just hours later, only two survivors emerged from the Hive, Matt Addison and Alice. Both were seized by Umbrella's scientists and taken to the Raccoon City Hospital for quarantine and experimentation.

Locations

• The Hive— The giant underground complex located below the streets of Raccoon City. The building was created by the Umbrella Corporation to secretly conduct viral research. During the T-Virus outbreak in the Hive, Umbrella dispatched a team to investigate and re-open the facility.

• Spencer Mansion— The mansion that is one of two entry points into the Hive. The mansion is the secret way into the facility and is only known to a few Umbrella personnel.

• Raccoon City Hospital— The general hospital located in downtown Raccoon City. The hospital was used for quarantine center after the viral outbreak.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Main article: Resident Evil: Apocalypse

In the 2004 film Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the Umbrella Corporation sent in a research team to re-open the Hive on September 29, 2002. The team's insertion point was the main entrance beneath Raccoon City. Shortly after entering The Hive the entire team was slaughtered by zombies that had been sealed within the complex. With the entrance now open, Umbrella realized that before long, these highly infectious zombies would make their way to the surface and begin spreading the infection.

Knowing that containing the outbreak would be nearly impossible, an emergency plan to evacuate key Umbrella personnel from the city was activated. Important researchers and administrators were collected by two-man teams and removed from the city. After the completion of this operation, the city was sealed. Raccoon City was considered a loss, and to keep the infection from spreading past the city limits, gates at the entry and egress points of the city were closed. Traffic into and out of the city was halted.

A screening center was established at one such point, Raven's Gate Bridge, the city's primary traffic artery. Manned by medics and heavily armed corporate soldiers, this checkpoint was a minor effort to save some civilians from the rapidly expanding disaster. Uninfected civilians were permitted to pass, and control of the increasingly panicked population was maintained by Raccoon City Police units and Umbrella soldiers. However, once an infected civilian did reach the blockade, orders were given to completely seal the city. The gates were closed and locked down, stranding the helpless civilians within the city.

Mercenary soldiers working for Umbrella attempted and failed to turn the tide of the zombie onslaught. With all units nearly dead, Umbrella's last-line plan was put into motion.

Shortly before dawn on September 30, 2002, a cruise missile equipped with a thermonuclear warhead was launched into the heart of downtown Raccoon City. Umbrella corporation public relations spin doctors were able to feed a convincing story to the media, who then reported that the city's destruction was due to a terrible accident at the Raccoon City Nuclear Power Facility nearby. Attempts by some of the survivors to spread the truth about what had really happened met with failure.

Locations

• City Hall— A towering, post-modern building at the center of the city, Raccoon City Hall was ground zero for the nuclear strike which destroyed the city.

• Arklay Overpass— This bridge carried a secondary road across the river, providing access to and from the city.

• Raven's Gate Bridge— Raccoon City's highway and primary access point, leading to the Raven's Gate suburbs and the Arklay Mountains. During the T-virus outbreak, Raven's Gate Bridge was used as a screening point and was the only entrance into Raccoon City.

• Raven's Gate Church— The biggest church of Raccoon City, near the Raven's Gate Bridge. The church was infested with lickers, but two survivors hid here.

• Raccoon City Junior School— The elementary school in Raccoon City, Ashford's daughter, Angela, attended the school prior to the outbreak. After the mission to extract her from the city failed, she returned to the school and used it as a refuge.

• Raccoon Police Department— The R.P.D. building is a '70s concrete structure. At the beginning of the Raccoon City outbreak, the police try to detain the zombies and to help the survivors, using the building as a center of operations. Some hours later, when Alice comes to the building, fleeing from Nemesis, it is completely deserted.

• Raccoon City Nuclear Power Facility— Raccoon City's only power plant, the R.C.N.P. formed the foundation of Umbrella's cover-up of the outbreak. The story fed to the public explained that the nuclear destruction of the city was a result of a disastrous accident at the plant.

• Raccoon City Entry Point— Access to the Hive research complex below Raccoon City was gained in two places. The main entrance was directly beneath the city's center and was fed by a number of entries from various buildings in downtown to avoid arousing suspicion. These entrances led to the main entry point beneath the city. Later, just prior to the surface outbreak in the city, this entrance was used by a follow-up team to investigate the Hive's status.