Umbrella Corporation

The Umbrella Corporation is an international pharmaceutical company. Founded in the late 1960s by prominent British royal descendants Ozwell E. Spencer and Edward Ashford, it is portrayed in the series as a major international player in pharmaceutical goods and medical supplies, along with more clandestine operations utilizing genetic engineering. Their legitimate status is only a front for their secret research of "bio-organic weapons"(BOWs), developed through the use of a unique virus discovered by the company founders shortly after World War II. The company is also presented as having a more public face, producing cosmetics, consumer products, and foods. Umbrella established multiple secret research facilities to help develop various bio-weapons. Its most prominent research facility is located in the Arklay Mountains, just outside Raccoon City, which was able to develop the "T-virus", a powerful mutagen that could dramatically alter living and recently dead organisms. The virus leaked and contaminated most of the Arklay Facility and its surrounding area, setting the stage for the first Resident Evil game. Following the destruction of Raccoon City, all of Umbrella's assets were frozen by the U.S. Government and its trading rights were revoked, effectively terminating its operations. However, it did not stop the rise of several bioterrorist organizations around the world, some of them making use of its research, leading to the foundation of B.S.A.A. biohazard, it is revealed that Umbrella has been reinstated and seemingly reformed as a Mercenary group. Ozwell E. Spencer