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Raccoon City is a fictional ''), as well as the '' Outbreak '' series. LOCATION AND ECONOMY logo.'']] ''Raccoon City'' is based upon an archetypical Industrial and Commercial Mid-western American city. It is never revealed in which U.S. State Raccoon City is located. The population of the city is over 100 thousand, as stated at the end of Resident Evil 3. The novelizations of the games by S.D. Perry state that Raccoon City is located in Pennsylvania ; however, the novels are not officially recognized by Capcom as part of the series' Canon . The areas surrounding the city contain a large forest, a lake, and the Arklay Mountains to the north, suggesting that the city is located near the Appalachian or Rocky Mountain ranges. It is possibly based on the city of Cumberland in Western Maryland or Charleston West Virginia, as both are fairly isolated, border mountains, and are connected by highway systems. The city is largely under the economic thumb of the Umbrella Corporation , a chemical and pharmaceutical giant which contributed 50% of the city's Income ). 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 who also made contributions to the city's electric 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" Project. Because of Warren's campaign, the town gradually transformed from a rural community to an industralized city. However, the city's expansion and modernization was accompanied by rising crime rates and even terrorist activities. The Local Police established the Special Tactics And Rescue Service in 1996 as a countermeasure to the wave of crime. The Arklay Mountains Incident A series of bizarre homicides occurred in the forests of the Arklay Mountains north of the city, beginning in May, 1998 , and continuing through the following months. Victims appeared to have been mauled by dogs and other, unidentified creatures. The Raccoon Police were at a loss to explain or stop the phenomenon, and in July, 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 was sent to rescue them. Of the thirteen S.T.A.R.S. members sent to the Arklay Mountains, only five returned alive. They reported having discovered a Mansion where the Umbrella Corporation had been conducting illegal Biological Weapon s experiments with an agent called the T-Virus . The grounds were crawling with the results of that research, including Zombie s. However, the mansion and all evidence had been destroyed, and due to Umbrella's influence on the city and their bribing of Police Chief Irons, the survivors' claims were dismissed and no formal investigation was undertaken. Raccoon City Outbreak A second viral outbreak occurred two months later, on September 23rd. When Umbrella attempted to retrieve a sample of the powerful G-Virus from William Birkin , one of its more reclusive researchers, Birkin was left mortally injured. He injected himself with a sample of the G-Virus, knowing its regenerative capabilities. 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, and in the process, the T-Virus was released into the sewers. The T-Virus was then carried by rats throughout the city, leading to a full-scale Outbreak . Recognizing a disaster, government officials began to evacuate the city. By dawn of September 24th, Army units began setting up barricades around the city's perimeter, enforcing a Quarantine . The Raccoon City Police Department tried and failed to contain the hordes of Zombie s created by the T-Virus, using barricades and heavy force. The U.S Army also attempted to stop the outbreak by bringing in an experimental railgun called Paracelsus Sword. Two Tyrants were dispatched by Umbrella to stop them. They were quickly wiped out. Matters were not helped by the actions of Police Chief Brian Irons, who attempted to trap officers and civilians within the police station, scatter weapons and ammunition around the building and cutting off communication to outside of the city. The Police station itself was besieged on September 26th and the survivors within held off the zombies until only two living officers remained by the night of the 29th September. Umbrella also sent in several U.B.C.S. squads for search-and-rescue missions on the 26th and 27th September, which ended disastrously. The supervisors of these squads were also secretly tasked with gathering field data about Umbrella's bio-weapons. By September 29th, nearly everyone in the city had either been killed by mutants and bio-weapons released from Umbrella's laboratories, or had succumbed to the T-Virus and become zombies. The police and Army barricades surrounding the city had begun to fail in some places, allowing unwary visitors to enter the city, and allowing some of Raccoon's few survivors to escape. Some time between the night of September 30th and the dawn of October 1st, the President and the U.S. Congress decided to sterilize Raccoon City with strategic weapons. The operation, which was called "Bacillus Terminate" by the government and "Order XX" by Umbrella operatives, consisted of a barrage of high-yield cruise missiles or ICBMs fired from high-altitude bomber aircraft. The entire area of Raccoon City was incinerated. The death toll was estimated to exceed 100,000. In late December of 1999 , the search and categorizing operation ended with no survivors found. Small traces of active T-Virus and G-Virus strains were found, so everything within 20 miles of the border of what was once Raccoon City was quarantined and declared a highly classified restricted area. This area was made accessible only to the United States Government and, for a time, the Umbrella Corporation. A small research facility was established among the ruins. The End of Raccoon City There is some confusion about the means of Raccoon City's destruction, due to its different depictions in different games in the series. In , it is shown that multiple rockets were fired from military aircraft, and two of the four possible endings show the main characters escaping the city by highway at the zero hour, nearly overtaken by explosions. As unlikely as such a scenario is with conventional weapons, it is far less probable with nuclear weapons: the heat flash would have instantly incinerated the survivors and their vehicle, and even if they had survived, they would quickly perish from radiation exposure. Notes found throughout the Resident Evil series suggest that isolated T-Virus infections were occurring between May and September of 1998. If this is true, it shows that the virus released in the Arklay Mountains Incident escaped the destruction of the mansion and had been slowly creeping into the city. Some have argued that after that first spill, the death of Raccoon City was inevitable; the second spill in September merely accellerated the outbreak. NOTABLE LOCATIONS The following are sites or locations visited by the Characters in the Resident Evil Series . Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3
Resident Evil Outbreak
RACCOON CITY IN OTHER MEDIA In the Resident Evil Films Raccoon City was a huge Metropolis that was very busy conducting scientific Research . '' Resident Evil '' '']] Displaying The Dead Walk'']] In the 2002 Film Resident Evil , Raccoon City was built by the Umbrella Corporation and staged research in a Top-secret underground facility known as The Hive . On September 29 , 2002 , the T-Virus escaped into the Ventilation systems. A giant Super Computer known as the Red Queen shut down the Hive-gassing its employees with Halon . Umbrella later sent in a special Elite team of Commando s in order to retrieve information about the incident. The team entered the Hive through a secret passage located within the Spencer Mansion . The viral outbreak was intentionally released in order to Smuggle out the T-Virus and sell it on the Black Market . During the outbreak only two Survivor 's emerged from the Hive, Matt Addison and Alice . Both were seized by Umbrella Scientist 's and taken to the Raccoon City Hospital for Quarantine and experimentation. Locations
'' Resident Evil Apocalypse '' , depicted as Raccoon City as seen in '']] In the 2004 Sequel , Umbrella sent in a research team to re-open The Hive . The team's insertion point was the main entrance beneath Raccoon City. Shortly after entering the Hive, the entire team was slaughtered by T-virus zombies that had been sealed inside the complex. With the seal now broken, Umbrella realized that, before long, these highly infectious zombies would make their way to the surface and begin an unstoppable amplification of 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 it 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 control 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 incresingly panicked population was maintained by Raccoon City Police units and Umbrella soldiers. However, once an infected civilian did reach the blockade (and was subsequently killed), orders were given to completely seal the city. The gates were closed and locked down, stranding the helpless civilians still within the city limits. Mercenary soldiers working for Umbrella attempted, and failed, to turn the tide of the zombie onslaught. Losses were staggering and effectiveness nearly nil. With all units either dead, infected, or evacuated, Umbrella's last-line plan was put in motion. Shortly before dawn on 30 September , 2002 , a cruise missile equipped with a Neutron warhead was launched into the heart of downtown Raccoon City. Umbrella Public Relations spindoctors 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. Locations
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