All Hallow on the Eve - Scariest Video Game Monsters - Nemesis (Resident Evil 3)
When it comes to intimidation and pure strength, no other video game monster really lives up to the infamous Nemesis (T-Type) from the acclaimed Resident Evil series. With Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 making a strong contender, especially after the RE:2 remake was released, the title still remains with the all-powerful, stalking presence of Nemesis.
Unlike his other video game counterparts, Nemesis is more than just a hulking brute, he's also intelligent and capable of using tactician strategies to outmaneuver his targets. He was more than able to lift and throw a grown man to the ground and utilized both a forearm-mounted minigun and a rocket launcher during ranged combat. Easily breaking through brick walls and tearing entire building layouts apart, it became nearly impossible for anyone, including S.T.A.R.S. members, to evade his malicious tyranny.
Also known as "the Pursuer", this behemoth of a creature had one goal. To track and eliminate any member of the S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) team, as an act of vengeance by the Umbrella Corporation...
For those who are unaware of Nemesis, Umbrella, S.T.A.R.S., and the Resident Evil series we're about to give you a quick recap.
Umbrella was technically a pharmaceutical company that behind the scenes was also manufacturing Bio Organic Weaponry for the United States military (sort of like the real-life Kaiser Permenete, but bombs...). They invented what's known as the T-Virus, which was capable of mutating organic life into semi-efficient killing machines, though there was one major drawback to the virus, a lack of intelligence.
When Umbrella designed the Hunter Project (another bio-organic weapon made by the T-Virus) the results proved more promising than their prior endeavors. Yet, the Hunters that were created by said project could only obey up to ten commands, but it was a start.
This is where the origins of Nemesis truly begin...
Umbrella later developed the "Tyrant Project", which supposedly created mutated humans capable of amazing feats without the loss of their intelligence. All the while, Umbrella's European unit was developing the "Nemesis Project", a likeminded and similar weapon's project that sought out the same results as the Tyrant Project. Both, for the most part, failed, with neither showing very promising results at their inceptions.
Yet there were promising results following later years with the T-002 virus and a series of the T-103. Though, no hosts at the time could successfully sustain the T-002. And just as Umbrella was about to reach a historical peak, the S.T.A.R.S. team had infiltrated the Arklay Laboratory and ended up destroying, not only the prototypes to the T-103, but also the T-002 virus in the process. This action had left Umbrella at square one, reconciling their losses and considering S.T.A.R.S. a liability.
Restarting the Nemesis project years later, an NE-α parasite was implemented as a host into the body of a T-002 infected subject, where the project finally became successful. Although some of these T-002 specimens attempted to escape their facilities, a few remained. One of which was dropped into Raccoon City after Umbrella had caught word that their T-Virus had caused an outbreak throughout the city.
The T-Virus is, of course, the same virus that caused corpses to zombify and come back to life...
One particular Nemesis was dropped into Raccoon City with the sole intention of finding and eliminating any S.T.A.R.S. members that reside within its concrete jungle. Its secondary targets, U.B.C.S. (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) team were also in its sights. By targeting both S.T.A.R.S. as an act of vengeance, and U.B.C.S. as a coverup, Umbrella was attempting to leave no trace of its involvement with the city's ultimate destruction.
Jill Valentine (the main protagonist of RE:3) had a different plan in mind. That is, a plan that avoided her death entirely, by endlessly maneuvering away from and at times engaging with Nemesis until, just within the Spencer Memorial Hospital, she managed to eliminate it by the use an experimental weapon (ironically) developed by Umbrella known as the FINGeR (Ferromagnetic Infantry-use Next Generation Railgun). By this time Nemesis had mutated (due to its wounds) as a horrific blob that lost control of its reasoning and was set on destroying whatever was laid before it.
Nemesis, what was once a human and mutated into a weapon by a devious corporation, was once an unstoppable killing machine with no one person or otherwise to stand against it. In turn, its death was brought on by sheer luck and determination. Later redeveloped into the Nemesis-y (featured in Resident Evil Requiem/9), its future self was also eliminated by Leon Kennedy (another Resident Evil protagonist and fan favorite character).
I suppose that's what makes Nemesis so iconic in the horror video game sphere. Something that was once human, transformed into a murderous monstrosity with all of its humanity dissolved, and its one and only resolve becoming the murderous demands of an evil corporate entity. It's design, with the fleshy tubes and black leather outfit, was also a staple to its recognition.
Like Pyramid Head (from our previous Scariest Monsters... article) Nemesis retains certain human qualities, but is far from you and I. And worse, it has lost all ability to recognize itself as something more than a weapon. The horror doesn't lie in Nemesis's kill count, rather its transformation from something normal to a creature most irregular. What's heart-breaking is whether we should feel sorry for its victims, or the circumstances which had created it...
All Hallow on the Eve - Scariest Video Game Monsters - Nemesis (Resident Evil 3)
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