Resident Evil 5 takes place 10 years after the first game in the series chronology, Resident Evil Zero. The series' story has become complicated over the years, as side stories and spin offs complicate the canon. However, as far as Resident Evil 5 is concerned, it is the latest game in the main series, which itself is comprised of the core games Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil (the GameCube remake version), Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X, Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 4.
There are also side stories in the series, that focus on "behind-the-scenes" aspects of the plot line. These games are Resident Evil Outbreak, Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, Resident Evil Survivor, Resident Evil Survivor 2: CODE: Veronica and Resident Evil Dead Aim. These games have a bearing on the plot, but are not crucial to the main plot encompassing Wesker, the Redfields, Jill, Leon, Rebecca, and others.
The series began as a relatively isolated incident in the forest outside Raccoon City. Over the years, it became a struggle of a small group of fighters against a man named Albert Wesker. Resident Evil 5 looks to finally bring this epic struggle to an end, perhaps paving way for another.
July 23, 1998
For two months, the Midwestern American town, Raccoon City, had experienced gruesome murders within its vicinity. Some of the murders occurred in Raccoon Forest just outside town in the Arklay Mountains. A smaller number occurred in the town itself. Yet, the perpetrators were still at large.
The Raccoon City Police Department (RPD) decided to send its local terrorism countermeasure force to investigate the murders. That team was the Special Tactics and Rescue Service, S.T.A.R.S., divided up into two teams, the Bravo Team and the Alpha Team. On the night of July 23, 1998, Bravo Team flies its chopper into Raccoon Forest, intent on solving the murder cases once and for all...
At the same time, a young man in a robe sits atop a cliff in the middle of Raccoon Forest. As he gazes down on a train passing through, the luxury train itself, the Ecliptic Express, carrying passengers, is suddenly attacked by mysterious, slimy leech creatures. These leeches pour into the train from the ceiling and cling onto the helpless passengers as they're overtaken. The conductors are overwhelmed as well, and the train comes to a stop.
The Bravo Team chopper is now over Raccoon Forest. Suddenly, mysterious engine failure causes the chopper to crash; however, everyone is safe. The members of the Bravo Team, Captain Enrico Marini, Kenneth Sullivan, Edward Dewey, Richard Aiken, Forrest Speyer, and the rookie, Rebecca Chambers, leave the chopper to survey the area. Kevin Dooley, the pilot, stays behind to keep guard.
Bravo Team quickly locates an overturned MP vehicle. As they investigate, they discover two dead bodies and a clipboard containing information regarding Billy Coen, an ex-Leutenant who was being transported to a certain Ragathon Base for execution. Billy is nowhere to be seen, prompting Bravo Team to do a search of the area for Billy. Rebecca wanders off, and stumbles upon the train. She steps inside, not realizing just what's in store.
Inside the train, Rebecca discovers the zombies for the first time. She manages to kill and avoid them before finally running into Billy, who managed to escape arrest. She tries to arrest Billy, but being the rookie, Rebecca is powerless to enforce the law against him. As Billy runs off, Edward is thrown into the train from outside through a window, and dies after warning Rebecca of the presence of monsters in the forest. As Rebecca continues on, Enrico, via radio, sends Rebecca more information regarding Billy: Billy was responsible for the murder of 23 people, and was institutionalized.
Billy reappears and asks Rebecca to work with him to increase their chances of surviving the zombie outbreak. Rebecca refuses, but soon changes her mind after she encounters a mysterious zombie composed entirely of leeches that nearly overpowers her. Billy saves Rebecca, finally earning some, though not all, of her trust. At the same time, from the train's window, they witness the leeches gather onto the cliff with the young robed man standing atop it, smiling at them.
The train begins moving again, so Billy and Rebecca opt to stop it via cooperation. As Rebecca and Billy investigate the train, a distance away, two men, one named Albert Wesker, and the other William Birkin, sit idly as they monitor the situation on the train. Wesker and Birkin want the train destroyed, and instruct their team to do so; however, suddenly Wesker and Birkin witness the leeches as they overpower their soldiers.
Soon enough, Billy and Rebecca manage to stop the train, as it crashes into a mysterious tunnel. They survive and recover, only to stumble into a mysterious mansion-like structure, the Umbrella Research Center (URC), owned by the pharmaceutical enterprise, Umbrella Inc., a powerful force in the local Raccoon City economy as well as throughout the world.
As Billy and Rebecca begin exploring, a recording by the old director, Dr. Marcus, plays. Elsewhere, Birkin wonders why the Umbrella-engineeered T-Virus, the ultimate cause of the zombie outbreak as everyone discovers soon enough, was spilled. The young man in the robe, in a different location, makes video contact with Wesker and Birkin. The leeches recreate Dr. Marcus in front of the robed man, shocking Birkin. The young man accuses Wesker and Birkin in helping with the murder of Dr. Marcus, and laughs maniacally.
Billy and Rebecca investigate URC for a few hours, discovering files that explain the situation they're in. The URC, just like the train, is filled with zombies and all kinds of monsters. At the same time, Wesker decides that it is time he leaves Umbrella for other opportunities, and decides to lead the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team into the Spencer Mansion, also in Raccoon Forest (using the disappearance of the Bravo Team as a pretense) in order to gather combat data for the Bio-Organic Weapons (B.O.W.), the official name for the zombies and creatures running loose. Birkin can't leave Umbrella just yet; he needs more time to complete his current pet project, the G-Virus. Wesker lets Birkin stay; Birkin decides to destroy the robed man as well as the URC by blowing it up.
At one point, Rebecca nearly falls into a sewer below the URC, but Billy saves her in time. Rebecca realizes that Billy couldn't possibly be an evil killer, and gets Billy to explain his story. A year earlier, he and several others were dispatched to an African jungle to intervene in a civil war, but because the information was faulty, instead they discovered a peaceful village. Despite there being no army base, some of the soldiers had died of heat exhaustion and enemy fire; the captain of the unit orders Billy and his comrades to kill the villagers. Billy disagrees and attempts to stop the murders, but is knocked out. Billy was accused and convicted, with his only option, assuming he survives, is to keep on the run.
Rebecca and Billy escape the URC and explore Dr. Marcus' laboratory, uncovering more information regarding the history of Umbrella and the original virus, the Progenitor Virus. They're temporarily separated; while alone, Rebecca sees Enrico again, who directs Rebecca to meet the rest of the Bravo Team at the Spencer Mansion. Enrico goes ahead, while Rebecca, at her insistence, reunites with Billy after encountering the Proto-Tyrant, a humanoid-shaped creature with strength far beyond that of the zombies. Billy and Rebecca take it down when it continues chasing them, and continue onward.
They eventually make it to an abandoned facility, where they finally meet the robed man in person. Turns out, the robed man is Dr. Marcus himself, who was assassinated by Wesker and Birkin under the orders of Ozwell E. Spencer, the other founder of Umbrella along with Marcus himself. Marcus managed to return thanks to the power of the leeches, which brought him back to life with new powers. Marcus mutates into the Queen Leech and attempts to murder Billy and Rebecca, just as Birkin finally sets off the URC's bomb, with only a few minutes left to go.
Rebecca and Billy hold off Marcus long enough for the URC to begin exploding; Rebecca finds a magnum strong enough to send the Queen Leech into the explosion; Billy fires the last shot. Billy and Rebecca escape into Raccoon Forest at last. Rebecca decides to let Billy run off, taking his dogtag as proof that he, officially, is dead. Billy thanks Rebecca as she heads off towards the Spencer Mansion in the distance. Billy heads the other way, and has not been seen since...
