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This document contains spoilers about Resident Evil Gaiden. Don't read
this document if you want to discover the game's story by yourself. If
you did play the game, or if you don't mind knowing its story in
advance, then read on. Remember, you've been advised.
1. Revision history
2. TITANIC meeting ALIEN meeting ZOMBIES: RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
3. Fire on the water: A summary of the plot of RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
4. The conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
5. Conclusions about the conclusion
6. Unanswered questions
7. Musings on RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
8. Credits
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1. Revision history
=====================================================================
Version 1.0 [March 7, 2002]
Created document. The plot summary is complete, but I believe the
other sections may grow larger in time.
After the destruction of Raccoon City, an underground organization
consisting of former S.T.A.R.S. members and ex-Umbrella employees was
formed, in an attempt to stop Umbrella Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s
criminal activities. The hideout of such organization is somewhere in
North America, and it's here that Barry Burton is summoned at 2:30 on
a not specified morning.
The Chief of the organization has a mission for Barry. A new type of
Bio-Organic Weapon has escaped from Umbrella's laboratories, and it
is believed to be currently onboard the luxury ocean cruiser
Starlight, headed towards Europe.
Leon S. Kennedy has been sent to track down the B.O.W., but contact
with him has been lost after his last report, which came in more than
24 hours ago. Moreover, the Starlight has been reported to be sailing
aimlessly over the Atlantic. Contact with the ship has been lost,
too.
Barry's mission is to locate Leon and to eliminate the B.O.W. An
helicopter brings Barry aboard the Starlight, where the mission
begins.
=====================================================================
3. Fire on the water: A summary of the plot of RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
=====================================================================
The helicopter leaves Barry on the side deck of the ship. There's an
innatural silence on the ship, and as Barry explores the deck he
finds out that most doors are locked. When he tries the door to the
lobby, though, he finds that it's not locked, so he decides to go
inside.
As soon as he enters the ship's lobby, Barry is greeted by a couple
of creatures that he hoped he'd never see again. Their shape is
obviously human, but they're not human anymore. They are living dead,
exactly like the ones Barry met in the mansion on the Arklay
mountains.
The zombies come for Barry, but they're slow and he can easily
overrun them. He makes it to the adjacent corridor, where the HQ
contacts him. They suggest that Barry tries to locate Leon by using
the security cameras on the fourth floor. Accepting the suggestion,
Barry heads West towards the elevators. On the way there, he is
ambushed by more zombies, and the corridors are so tight he can't
avoid fighting. Fortunately, in a niche in the wall he finds a
shotgun, which he gladly takes. On one of the zombies he finds the
key to the elevators, and he uses it at the end of a corridor.
The elevators take Barry to the third floor, where he has no other
options but to climb the stairs to the upper part of the ship. Here
he meets undead sailors, who try to attack him with crowbars, and
some female zombies. On the bridge he finds a strong rope, and as he
kills more zombies blocking his way, he finds a security card that
opens the room he's heading to.
In the security room, Barry manages to use the cameras to search the
ship. On one of the monitors he sees something that doesn't look to
be a zombie, and he tries to establish vocal contact. The figure
answers, asking if he's Leon. Surprised, Barry asks the girl if she
knows Leon. The girl introduces herself as Lucia, and she says that
Leon went off to find the monster that is turning everyone into
zombies. However, she's been alone for quite a long time since then,
and she doesn't know where Leon may be.
Suddenly, Lucia jumps in terror, and she says that the monster is
banging on the door of the room she's hiding in. Telling her to calm
down, Barry asks her where she is. Lucia answers that she's on the
sun deck, and Barry hurries there.
Following Lucia's screams, Barry makes it to the sun deck. Once
there, he can see something hideous and large chasing the girl. Barry
draws his shotgun and points it at the monster. As the creature comes
into the light, he can see it better - a large, white-skinned
humanoid. Thinking this may be just the B.O.W. he's looking for,
Barry optimistically thinks this is his lucky day, but he realizes
he's spoken too soon as the creature's belly literally explodes,
revealing fleshy tentacles with which the B.O.W. tries to get Lucia.
The girl screams in terror, and Barry starts shooting the monster.
After some hits, the B.O.W. dissolves into an amoeba-like form that
quickly disappears into the shadows of the deck. Barry checks Lucia's
arm, but he is amazed as he finds that the girl doesn't even have a
scratch! In an uncertain voice, Lucia says she's been just lucky.
Telling her not to push that luck, Barry orders the girl to stay
close, as the creature may still be nearby - but Lucia denies it,
saying the monster has gone. She doesn't know how, but she just
knows. Doubtful about the girl, but resoluted to find Leon, Barry
suggests to move on.
Suddenly, the HQ calls in. Barry tells them about the B.O.W., and
he's informed that Leon's last message has been unscrambled. It seems
he is somewhere in the 1st class cabin area. Barry and Lucia take the
elevators down to the third floor, but they find out that the room to
1st class is locked. However, Lucia has a key to 2nd class, so they
head that way.
In 2nd class Barry and Lucia find an assault rifle, as well as a key
to 1st class. With the key in their possession, they head for 1st
class, but just before they can unlock the door, Lucia suddenly tells
Barry that the monster is somewhere around there. She can't pinpoint
its location, but she's sure it's definitely nearby.
Suddenly a wall near them collapses, and the B.O.W. emerges from
behind it and attacks them. Using his newfound assault rifle, Barry
forces the creature to flee, but now he's definitely got the feeling
that Lucia is not telling him something. Before she can reply though,
she senses the creature's presence still near them, and before any of
them can do anything, the B.O.W. grabs Lucia and disappears.
Alone again, Barry has no choice but to look for Leon. He unlocks 1st
class and finds out that this area too is crawling with zombies.
However, in the last room he visits, he finds out that the floor has
collapsed. Looking down the hole, Barry can barely make out a figure.
Thinking it's Leon, he uses the rope he found earlier to go to the
floor below.
Leon is unconscious, but when Barry calls his name he slowly regains
consciousness. His head throbbing, he's surprised to see Barry, and
he asks him what he's doing there. Barry explains that when Leon
failed to report in, somebody pushed the panic button and sent him -
Barry - to look for him. Leon is grateful to Barry, but he suddenly
remembers about Lucia. When Leon speaks about the girl, Barry
explains that he has met her, but she's been captured by the monster.
He also says that there's something about the girl that bothers him,
namely her weird power. He even suspects she may be the B.O.W.
they're looking for. When he says that, Leon refuses to think such a
thing, as he's convinced that that the amoeba thing is a good
candidate for what they're looking for, and he wants to do what he
can to save what may be the only survivor on the ship. Barry agrees,
and suggests that the two of them go back to the security room to
look for Lucia with the cameras.
In the security room, Barry and Leon use the cameras and see the
monster heading for the upper deck, carrying Lucia in its arms. Barry
can't understand why the B.O.W. just doesn't kill the girl, as it has
already wiped out everybody on board. Leon angrily tells him to quit,
pointing out the fact that if Lucia is the B.O.W., then she should be
wiping the floor with the creature. He tells Barry that before the
B.O.W. appeared on the ship, he had some time to talk to Lucia. He
tells that about two years ago, she was adopted from an orphanage.
About the same time, her ears started ringing. Apart from hearing,
her other senses are very acute, and she also heals quicker than
most. That's why local kids picked up on her for being different, and
the situation got so bad that her foster parents decided to send her
to some relatives in Europe. That's the reason why she's aboard the
Starlight. Barry isn't totally convinced, but Leon tells him to
assume she's innocent until proven guilty. Right now their concern is
the monster, so they both head for the upper deck.
On the upper deck, Leon and Barry fight the B.O.W., saving Lucia.
However, the monster is back on its feet quickly, so the three
passengers run away. They hide in a corridor nearby, and just as
they're starting to think they're safe, an explosion rocks the
Starlight.
Fire starts spreading, and Leon is afraid that it may reach the
engine room and blow up the entire ship. Barry contacts the HQ,
requesting a helicopter for immediate evacuation. Unfortunately, the
ongoing storm is too much for a chopper to be sent, but they promise
they'll send one as soon as the sky's clear. They also have news
about the B.O.W. - apparently, the creature Leon and Barry are
looking for has green blood. Hearing the news, Barry recognizes he
was wrong about Lucia, as her blood is unquestionably red. He then
asks Leon and Lucia to go looking for a sprinkler system, or anything
that may slow down the fire. Leon asks him what he's going to do in
the meanwhile, but Barry just tells him to trust him.
Leon and Lucia head for the ship's computer room, but the computer
needs to be re-booted, and they don't have the card needed to do it.
As one of the rooms on the second floor is jammed, they can't do
nothing but to use the elevators to explore the rest of the ship, and
they eventually find the computer card needed to re-boot the system.
However, the sprinkler system must be activated from the data control
room, on the first floor. They head there, only to find that fire is
blocking the way to the room. In the area they find a crowbar, which
they use to open the jammed door on the upper floor, and in the crew
room they find what they're looking for - a fire extinguisher. Back
to the first floor, they use the extinguisher to put out the fire and
access the data control room. Using a data disk found in the pocket
of a dead crewman, they finally activate the sprinkler system and buy
them some time. They also find out that there's an emergency fire
system that can be activated from the security room, so they head
there.
Back to the security room, Leon sees Barry on one of the security
cameras. He appears to be talking to someone. Listening carefully,
Leon and Lucia can hear Barry talking over a radio. He says that he
has the girl, and he wants to have an answer. The voice over the
radio tells him to proceed as planned, but he mustn't get any strange
ideas, as "they" have eyes watching his every move. As Leon tells
Lucia, it seems Barry is trying to sell them out to Umbrella or
something. However, Lucia says Barry is Leon's partner, and Leon
admits he at least owns Barry the benefit of the doubt. But he wants
to know what's going on, so he locates Barry's position - the piano
bar - and the two of them go there.
At the piano bar, Leon abruptly asks Barry what's going on. As an
answer, Barry points his gun at Leon, and tells him to give him the
girl. Leon protests, but he doesn't have any choice. The three of
them go to the upper deck, where Barry forces Lucia to descend a rope
ladder to a submarine waiting below. Leon notices that the submarine
has the markings of the Umbrella Corporation.
For a moment, Leon considers trying to get aboard the submarine, but
suddenly armed guards appear on the deck of the sub, yelling Leon to
get back and not to approach the submarine. Incredulous, Leon asks if
they're going to shoot him, and immediately, the guards open fire.
Leon shoots back, then the guards reenter the submarine, which
leaves.
Leon can't believe the guards opened fire on him, but he has no more
time to think about it, as a second explosion rattles the Starlight.
This one seemed to occur in the engine room. Another explosion like
that would surely destroy the ship for good.
The HQ contacts Leon, warning him that their sensors indicate a
massive build up of power around the engine room - just as Leon had
thought. It could blow in minutes, so Leon decides to hurry there and
see if he can stop whatever is causing the build up.
Leon remembers that the door leading to the engine room is locked,
but he also remembers that he hasn't visited the East part of the
fourth floor. He takes the elevators up and finds the ship's
operation room. Dealing with the zombies there, he finds the boiler
room key on a corpse, and he hurries back to the second floor. He
then unlocks the boiler room and descends the stairs to the engine
room.
Here, Leon sees the B.O.W. as it proceeds to wreck the ship's fuel
converter, in an attempt to blow the ship up and destroy all the
evidence of its activities. Leon challenges the monster, which turns
towards him and attacks him. Using all the ammo he has left, Leon
manages to defeat the B.O.W. once and for all, but the damage the
creature has done is too severe. There's no way back. The ship is
going to blow up anyway. With nothing else to do, Leon sits back and
waits for the end to come.
Meanwhile, on board the submarine, the captain is happy that Barry
has finally come through for Umbrella. He asks him to hand over the
girl, but suddenly Barry points his own gun at Lucia's head, saying
that the deal is off. Telling his men to hold their fire, the captain
understands that Barry pretended to help Umbrella only to hijack
their sub and escape the sinking Starlight. Barry confirms the
captain's theories, but he still can't undestand why Umbrella wants
the girl, as he thought it was the amoeba thing they were after. The
captain doesn't know what he's talking about - they were after the
girl all this time! Barry says that the B.O.W. is supposed to have
green blood, while Lucia's is red, and the captain replies that the
B.O.W. he's talking about is actually a parasite. It's inside Lucia's
body, and in ten days it's going to mature and reach a stage where it
ca eat its way out of the girl. Lucia is horrified, but Barry forces
the captain to "lend" them the ship's surgeon to extract the
parasite. The captain warns Barry about the risks an early extraction
may cause, but Barry leaves him no choice. While the ship's surgeon
operates on Lucia, Barry keeps his own gun pointed at the captain's
head all the time.
The operation is a success, and the parasite is extracted without any
complications through Lucia's mouth. Barry and Lucia have a look at
the parasite enclosed in a glass container, wondering whether it's
dead or not. Suddenly, the parasite moves, and in a quick movement it
breaks free from the glass and attacks the captain, draining his life
and turning him into a zombie before escaping.
Barry shoots the undead captain down, but judging by the screams he
hears, it seems that the B.O.W. is attacking just anything in sight.
However, they have to go back to the Starlight and rescue Leon, so
they head for the control room.
On the upper floor of the submarine, Barry and Lucia witness a
horrible scene. The parasite has turned everyone on the sub into
zombies, gaining enough life energy to grow to a full-developed
B.O.W. in a matter of minutes. This creature has a slighly less
humanoid appearance than the one they met on the Starlight, and Barry
notices it has some resemblances with the fierce, skinned creatures
he met in Umbrella's lab on the Arklay mountains - the hunters. The
two survivors barely escape the incoming creature, making it to the
bridge and slamming the hatch shut on the B.O.W. Then they reach the
control room.
Barry operates the control and turns the sub back towards the ship.
He also tells Lucia he's sorry for treating her so rough back there.
She says there's no need to apologize, as she somehow felt what he
was doing was right. Barry tells her that's probably due to the fact
that he has a daughter about Lucia's age, and he offers her to go and
live with them if they ever make it out of this mess alive. Lucia
gladly accepts.
The sub reaches the Starlight, and Barry and Lucia prepare to board
the ship, which is barely floating. Suddenly, the B.O.W. bursts from
a hatch on the sub's deck, and before Barry can get a shot, the
monster dives towards the side of the ship and disappears.
Barry and Lucia head for the engine room. Many passages are
obstructed by fire, so they have to take the long way round. At the
boiler room, they meet Leon. An odd expression on his face, he
doesn't seem too surprised to see they've come back. Lucia warns
Barry - that's not Leon, and she means it.
Suddenly Leon starts morphing, and within a few seconds he has
transformed into the B.O.W. Barry throws everything he has at it, but
the creature can't be stopped so easily. Barry and Lucia run for
their life, and they descend the stairs to the engine room. Here,
they find Leon sitting on the floor. Doubtful, Barry orders him to
hold it right there, but Leon's angry reaction leaves him no doubt -
that's the real Leon. Together, the three of them make it back
towards the submarine. On the way back, they find a rocket launcher,
and they take it along, just in case.
Just before they can reach the upper deck, the B.O.W. confronts them.
The corridor is too tight to use the rocket launcher, so they stick
to the rifle and shotgun to put the creature down. Oozing green
blood, the B.O.W. escapes, and the three survivors reach the upper
deck.
Outside, the monster lunges from the darkness, grabbing Lucia and
pulling her into the sea. Barry dives after them while Leon waits for
them on the ship's deck. Barry surfaces and pulls Lucia back from the
ocean, and onto the deck. But as he's helping her to catch her
breath, Leon says something unbelievable. Eerily standing behind
Barry and Lucia is another Lucia! The two girls are identical to each
other, so Barry points his gun at them, ordering them not to move a
muscle. But the real Lucia has an idea - she produces a knife and
nicks her own hand with it, oozing red blood. Seeing this, the other
Lucia quickly starts turning into another creature.
The B.O.W. is now fiercer than ever, and it's grown spikes all over
its body. While Leon and Lucia keep the creature at bay, Barry aims
the rocket launcher and unloads a barrage of rockets at the monster,
finally blowing it out of the Earth's surface.
=====================================================================
4. The conclusion of RESIDENT EVIL GAIDEN
=====================================================================
Barry, Leon, and Lucia finally make it onto the deck of the sub. As
they board the sub, they can see the Starlight as it tilts upright
and prepares to sink in the freezing depths of the Atlantic ocean.
As Barry renews his promise to take Lucia home with him, he notices
that the girl's hand is still bleeding. She also tells him that her
ears aren't ringing anymore. Apparently, her power is lost. She's a
normal girl again.
Leon gets through to headquarters, signaling that their mission has
been accomplished, and that they're heading home. However, nobody
seems to notice that a small wound on his neck is oozing green
blood...
=====================================================================
5. Conclusions about the conclusion
=====================================================================
- Barry Burton is alive, and he's still committed to stop Umbrella's
plans. He has also decided to return to his family, and he now has a
stepdaughter.
- Leon S. Kennedy has apparently declined the offer by the U.S.
government he was made after the events of Raccoon City.
- Leon has probably been infected by the B.O.W., but the methods and
gravity of the infection are unknown.
- Umbrella is confirmed to have its own private army. They have also
developed a new kind of Bio-Organic Weapon - no more a virus, but a
parasite that requires more than two years of incubation before
growing to an actual hunter lookalike. Such parasite is able to grow
on its host, draining its life force little by little, but if
extracted before incubation is complete it becomes very fierce and
powerful, and is able to grow in very little time. Furthermore, this
creature can morph into just anything it wants, and it can also speak
human language.
- The presence of the parasite in a person's body causes that
person's ears to ring frequently. It also improves the host's senses,
and causes him/her to heal from wounds quickly. Moreover, it keeps
other Bio-Organic Weapons from killing its host, and it makes him/her
able to detect the presence of other B.O.W.s as well. Apparently,
Umbrella made sure the parasite had the best chances to fully grow in
its hosts without being damaged.
- Umbrella used a child from an orphanage as a host for their
parasite. Their cruelty has no limits.
- Either Umbrella has developed a new type of Tyrant, or some other
organization has. Suspects about another company making experiments
on Bio-Organic Weapons, already raised in Code Veronica, seem to be
confirmed.
- Where did the first B.O.W. come from? Although working for
Umbrella, the captain of the submarine knows nothing about it. And,
it looks different to the one grown from the parasite, although being
phisically similar to it.
- What happens to the first B.O.W. after Leon fights it in the engine
room?
- Why did the second B.O.W. get aboard the Starlight?
- When and how, exactly, did Barry contact Umbrella for the first
time during this mission?
- Has Leon really survived?
- Leon has returned, but Sherri Birkin has not. Since he was in care
of her, what did he do to protect her after the events of Raccoon
City?
=====================================================================
7. Musings on Resident Evil Gaiden
=====================================================================
- The game manual says that Leon is a former S.T.A.R.S. member, but
this isn't true.
- Throughout the game, we're never told what Lucia's last name is.
- Lucia didn't seem to have any problems with her stepparents, but
she still immediately accepted Barry's offer to live with his family.
- Barry obviously has a talent at finding ropes.
- The first B.O.W. is so committed to destroy evidence about its
activities, it actually tries to blow itself up with the Starlight.
