Nemesis (Resident Evil)
The Nemesis, also called Nemesis-T Type, or the Pursuer in Japan, is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by Capcom. Although smaller than other Tyrant models, the creature dwarfs a typical human, and possesses vastly superior intelligence and physical dexterity to its undead peers. It is featured in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis as a titular main villain before later emerging in other titles and cameo roles. It is also featured on various merchandise and was portrayed by Matthew G. Taylor in the 2004 film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The character is voiced by Tony Rosato in the original game and Gregg Berger in Operation Raccoon City. In the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3, the character is voiced by David Cockman, with Neil Newbon providing the motion capture performance. Nemesis has also been featured in several other game franchises, including as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom and Dead by Daylight.
Taking inspiration from the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Nemesis was conceived by Shinji Mikami and Kazuhiro Aoyama as an enemy that would stalk the player throughout the game and invoke a persistent sense of paranoia. Written by Yashuhisa Kawamura to be a weapon of revenge by the Umbrella Corporation, Nemesis's design was drawn by artist Yoshinori Matsushita, who was instructed to create "a rough guy who attacks with weapons and has an intimidating build" in order to heighten the fear of being pursued. Since the introduction of Nemesis, the character has received positive reception and has become one of the series' most popular figures, although his design and role in the Resident Evil 3 remake have been criticized. While some publications have praised him as an intimidating villain, others have highlighted him as one of their favorite and most terrifying monsters in video games.
Conception and creation
Introduced in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, producer Shinji Mikami and director Kazuhiro Aoyama wanted to implement a stalker-enemy into the game early on that would chase the player, according to Mikami intended to "introduce a new kind of fear into the game, a persistent feeling of paranoia." Taking inspiration from the T-1000 villain from the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the character was initially meant to be a slime creature that could bypass obstacles such as doors by liquifying past them or melting through them. However, due to the undistinguished nature of the creature, he felt the stalker aspect was lost on the player as there was no recognizable sense of cohesion. They decided to start over, focusing on the early "Tyrant" enemy introduced in the original Resident Evil as a base. The character was designed under the concept of a "huge, overpowering monster that could use weapons and intelligently track you anywhere", partly inspired by the movie Day of the Dead, where scientists attempt to train zombies, only to be shot by them at the end of the film.The character's backstory and biology was created by writer Yashuhisa Kawamura, who felt the horror aspect of Resident Evil was "stuck in a rut" at that time and wanted to explore new ways to bring horror through Nemesis. Kawamura conceived the character as the result of infecting a T-103 model Tyrant—a humanoid bio organic weapon created to be the ultimate lifeform by the Umbrella Corporation—with the Nemesis Alpha parasite designed to increase its intelligence. Upon infection, the parasite takes control of the Tyrant's nervous system, forming its own brain and enabling it to follow precise instructions and make decisions without needing constant direction. Upon spotting its target, it says the target's name out loud and attacks. In this backstory, the European branch of Umbrella intended to not only demonstrate their superiority in the company with their creation, but also seek revenge against the "S.T.A.R.S." police group that had destroyed their original Tyrant creation, codenaming their new creature "Nemesis" after the Greek mythology Goddess of Vengeance.
Design
Nemesis' appearance was designed by Yoshinori Matsushita, with Aoyama instructing him to create "a rough guy who attacks with weapons and has an intimidating build" in order to heighten the fear of being pursued. Although some elements remained consistent among them, the early designs featured several different degrees of surface damage as well as various options for clothing, such as a protective vest instead of a coat, or a nude design similar to the original Tyrant. Clothed in black trousers, an overcoat, boots, and gloves, the Nemesis is armed with a rocket launcher mounted on its left arm. A parasite was added to help further characterize it. To emphasize its design as a prototype, the game developers left exposed muscles on its body and added stitches to cover its right eye. It lacks lips and a nose, with the underneath facial muscles and teeth completely exposed. As Nemesis is damaged, its appearance does not change as drastically as previous Tyrants, due to Matsushita wanting to keep him visually different from Resident Evil 2s William Birkin.The secretions from the parasite give the Nemesis massively heightened regenerative abilities, which result in the creature being almost impervious to damage. Although it can be put down with enough fire from small arms, it will eventually repair itself and resume the pursuit of its targets. However, this resulted in unexpected side effects, including damage to the skin and the emergence of additional tentacles, as well as unpredictable mutations caused by further attacks. In Resident Evil 3, the creature's survival instincts eventually override Nemesis' programming, causing the host's body to reject the parasite and transform into a giant digestive organ. Featuring large central bone protrusions and elongated tentacles, it crawls looking for prey, yet continues trying to complete its mission despite its now diminished intelligence. This design proved to be the most difficult for Matsushita, as he worked to try to make it appear as unique as possible. To this end he designed it to be a quadrupedal creature facing upwards, with the fang-like protrustions from the body being Nemesis's exposed ribs.
In the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3, the producer indicated that the reinvention of Nemesis was influenced by Mr. X from Resident Evil 2. According to producer Peter Fabiano, "During development, our director saw what the team did with Tyrant in last year's RE2 and was determined to surpass that with Nemesis." He also goes on to say that the team intends to transform Nemesis into its own brand of terror, "a relentless pursuer with its own arsenal of weapons." The parasite's origins are partially retconned in the 2020 remake to be a genetically engineered copy of the Las Plagas parasite, introduced in Resident Evil 4. Since Nemesis is a prototype and not a completed model, its body is covered in haphazard restrictive gear from head to toe consisting of thick black plastic and various warning labels over the body. A large metal device on its chest regulates the parasite, and also keeps it from going out of control. It now retains both eyes and the Tyrant's original nose, but with the skin stretched drastically on the face resulting in a broken crooked nose. The aim was to contrast between Nemesis and Mr. X, with the latter having the more completed look. As with the original, the remake Nemesis also mutates after suffering heavy damage. However, the development team chose to give it a more animalistic, quadrupedal body with diminished intelligence, the in-universe reasoning being that the parasite could no longer maintain a humanoid form. Dubbed "Type 2", it was designed so the player could not evade it as easily as the original, but that its movements could be better anticipated.
Appearances
In video games
Nemesis first appears in the 1999 PlayStation game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis as the title character and primary antagonist. The product of years of research, the prototype is deployed by the Umbrella Corporation as a field test to hunt and kill the STARS police team before they can expose Umbrella's activity in the Arklay mountains. The protagonist, Jill Valentine, first encounters the Nemesis outside Raccoon City's police station where it kills Brad Vickers and then pursues her, uttering "STARS..." on sight. The Nemesis continues to stalk Valentine throughout the game, attacking with physical blows and grabs, and later, armed with a rocket launcher. After losing its overcoat as a result of heavy damage, the Nemesis mutates, and gains the ability to attack with long, extendable tentacles. Despite later being doused in acid, the Nemesis continues its pursuit, and mutates into a much larger, tentacled monster after absorbing a dead Tyrant, gaining the ability to spew poison. Jill finally defeats the Nemesis using a rail cannon, and then depending on the choice of the player, she either kills it once and for all by unloading her weapons into it, or leaves it to die in the nuclear explosion that destroys Raccoon City.After its initial appearance, it shows up in other Resident Evil titles such as Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica, in which it will chase the player if they fail to complete a level before the time limit expires and kill them instantly if it hits them. It can also be fought as a secret boss armed with a rocket launcher if the player has met the proper conditions upon finishing the game. The Nemesis returns for the Resident Evil 3 chapter of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, in which it pursues Jill in the same manner as the original game and mutates into its secondary form as a boss. The Nemesis also appears in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, in which its programming is damaged and Umbrella dispatches a task force to find a NE-Alpha parasite to repair it. Once the parasite is found, they defeat Nemesis and inject it with the parasite. In the game, it uses a gatling gun for the fight and is mainly based on its film counterpart. However, once the task force completes their mission, the Nemesis awakens to find its rocket launcher and proceeds to hunt after the STARS police team. In the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3, Nemesis returns as the game's first boss fight, wielding a flamethrower. Nemesis also appeared as a playable character in Resident Evil: Resistance and in Resident Evil Re:Verse, a companion game to Resident Evil Village.
The character has been featured in other games outside of the Resident Evil franchise as well, such as in the Capcom title Under the Skin alongside Jill, and serves as a boss the player must steal coins from in a Raccoon City-inspired level. In an interview, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds producer Ryouta Niitsuma stated a desire to use the Nemesis in the title as a "monster-type" character from the Resident Evil series, but was dropped after considering it too "grotesque and disgusting" and in consideration of ESRB ratings. The character would instead appear briefly in the game's ending sequence for the Hulk. However, despite the initial concerns about its inclusion, the Nemesis appears as a playable character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The Nemesis returns as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. In the story, following the Convergence, it is captured by A.I.M.brella leader M.O.D.O.K. and reprogrammed as his enforcer; it later battles and is defeated by Chris Redfield and Mike Haggar. In the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone, Nemesis appears as a rival unit. He reappeared as a recurring rival unit in Project X Zone 2 as well. Nemesis appeared in an online multiplayer battle royale game Knives Out as a costume from July 29 to August 12, 2021. Nemesis, along with Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine, appeared in Dead by Daylight as playable characters.
Cards based on Nemesis appear in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series. He was also included in the 2012 mobile games Minna to BIOHAZARD Clan Master in both its regular and damaged states from Resident Evil 3. In the 2019 game TEPPEN, a card for the character was added in its "Day of Nightmares" expansion, and later another in its "A Dark Agenda" expansion, this one modeled after its appearance in the Resident Evil 3 remake. His outfit also appears in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster for Frank West. In printed trading card media, he appears in the Bandai produced game Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game.