Tyrant is the code name of a series of boss characters in the Resident Evil horror video game series by Capcom, introduced in the original Resident Evil in 1996. Tyrants are towering, biologically engineered supersoldiers created and used by the sinister Umbrella Corporation. Tyrant creatures make appearances as boss characters in most Resident Evil games and the desire to create an obedient bioweapon lies at the core of the series' storyline. Tyrants also appear in other media and merchandise of the Resident Evil franchise, as well as in some unrelated games.
Since their debut, the Tyrant series became one of the most recognizable and popular characters of the franchise. A particularly notable Tyrant is Nemesis, the titular antagonist of the video game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
In video games[]
The game series features many types of Tyrants as the result of several different experiments. Following the discovery of the Progenitor virus, the Umbrella Corporation’s founders become eager to create a Bio-Organic Weapon (B.O.WV.) that is both powerful and capable of following orders. Prior to the events of Resident Evil Zero, Umbrella used the Progenitor virus to create the Tyrant virus (T-Virus), which they believe can be used to manufacture powerful organisms. A problem with the virus’ compatibility with humans set the project back, as only humans with a very rare genetic makeup are capable of mutating into potent and manageable life forms; only one in a million people are estimated to be compatible. Umbrella eventually overcame this setback by resorting to using clones of Sergei Vladimir, one of their executives who happens to be genetically compatible. These mass-produced Tyrants were given the label, T-103.
The events of Resident Evil Zero and Resident Evil chronicle the Umbrella Corporation's development of the Tyrant prototypes, the T-001 (the Proto-Tyrant) and T-002. Though the early Tyrants are defeated in their first encounters, Umbrella manages to use the battle data from those defeats to produce other, more efficient Tyrants in the later installments of Resident Evil. Numerous Tyrants have been created throughout the game series' storyline, such as Tyrant T-078 and the mass-produced Bandersnatches from Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Hypnos from Resident Evil Survivor, Thanatos from Resident Evil Outbreak and Tyrant R from Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2 each with its own defining characteristics. A revamped version of Tyrant also existed in Resident Evil 5 during the game's development, but not in the finished product. The final boss battle of Resident Evil: Revelations might also be called a variation of the Tyrant (created by that game's T-Abyss virus), but this is debatable.
Tyrants have been consistently depicted as grotesque and brutally violent creatures, but their intelligence has varied. The first two Tyrants in Resident Evil Zero and Resident Evil are depicted as unintelligent, while the T-103 models such as the T-00 (more popularly known as "Mr. X" and sometimes also as "Trenchcoat") in Resident Evil 2 and the titular Nemesis T-Type in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis are shown to possess limited intelligence and the ability to carry out specific instructions. Both Nemesis-T Type and the T-103 series (two more T-103 Tyrants, code-named Ivan, appear in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles) are prone to uncontrolled mutation when damaged. Alexia Ashford in Code Veronica retains her full intelligence after being exposed to the T-Veronica virus and gains psychic abilities, including pyrokinesis; similarly, the T+G virus mutated Morpheus D. Duvall in Resident Evil: Dead Aim (Tyrant T-092) gains bio-electric abilities. The weapons used by Tyrants have also varied; while most Tyrants in the Resident Evil series rely on sheer physical force to subdue opponents, Nemesis, retaining some intelligence due to the Nemesis parasite, is able to use a shoulder-fired hand-held rocket launcher (and a minigun in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City) and T-ALOS (Tyrant-Armored Lethal Organic System) in The Umbrella Chronicles is equipped with a shoulder-mounted multiple rocket launcher.
Outside of the Resident Evil franchise, there is a Tyrant card in the NDS version of SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Jill Valentine has a special move that calls forth a Tyrant. A prototype Tyrant appears in the background of the Tricell Laboratory stage in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds; Tyrant was considered for addition as a playable character, but was rejected over concerns about the game's ESRB rating. The Nemesis T-Type was later added as a playable character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It also appeared in Monster Hunter: World, along with Leon.
In other media[]
The Tyrant Fossil appears only in the novel Resident Evil: Underworld. In the third Resident Evil live-action film, Resident Evil: Extinction (and its novelization), Umbrella's researcher Dr. Alexander Isaacs tries to subdue his mutation with an antivirus after being bitten by an enhanced zombie. He is shot for insubordination by an executive, Alexander Slater, and is immediately reanimated as a Tyrant. Compared to most of the Tyrants from the games, Isaacs retains his mental faculties and personality even after his mutation. A new version of Tyrant resembling the T-078 with the power limiter appears in the CG film Resident Evil: Damnation.