Resident Evil 0: Locations Lore

The Raccoon Forest serve as the initial setting for Resident Evil 0, where Rebecca Chambers finds herself stranded after a helicopter incident on July 23, 1998, at approximately 22:17. The helicopter is piloted by Kevin Dooley, and the other Bravo Team members onboard are:

• Enrico Marini (Bravo Team leader)
• Edward Dewey (Bravo Team’s vehicle specialist)
• Forest Speyer (Bravo Team sniper)
• Kenneth J. Sullivan (Bravo Team point man and biochemist)
• Richard Aiken (Bravo Team communications expert)

Bravo Team’s original objective was to investigate a series of murders in the suburbs of Raccoon City. However, due to the helicopter crash, they never reached their intended destination. As a result, Raccoon Forest serves as the initial setting for Resident Evil 0.

The Raccoon Forest is characterized by its dense vegetation, comprising various trees such as pine, maple, and oak. It was a popular hiking and camping destination, attracting nature enthusiasts and tourists alike. The team’s presence in the forest is further complicated by the mysterious disappearances of hikers and other individuals, which become a secondary concern as they navigate the dangers lurking within.

In the forest, Rebecca discovers a military police (MP) vehicle, which was transporting former elite military unit member Billy Coen. She also finds a file that contains transport details and information about Billy Coen’s crime, as well as a photo of him. Nearby, multiple dead MP officers are found, and white or transparent residue is seen dripping near the scene. This residue is the first indication of the leech creatures, hinting at the mysterious and deadly forces at play.

During her journey, Rebecca encounters Edward Dewey, who warns her about the dangers lurking in the forest, including zombies and other “monsters.” This highlights that while leeches are the only creatures visibly attacking the train, the presence of zombies and potentially other threats exists within the forest. Cerberus Dogs also jump through the windows of the Ecliptic Express, further emphasizing the threat posed by the various creatures inhabiting Raccoon Forest.

The Ecliptic Express was a luxury train service owned and operated by the Umbrella Corporation. Built in the 1960s, the train’s rail tracks ran throughout Raccoon Forest, and it was used to transport Umbrella’s employees between various facilities, with a key stop being the Management Training Facility. This privately owned train service was designed to avoid public scrutiny and limit exposure of Umbrella’s sensitive operations, including bioweapon transport.

Designed with luxury in mind, the train’s compartments were lavishly furnished, and the train consisted of several carriages, including a dining car, a saloon bar, and sleeping compartments, all reflecting its high-class purpose.

The Ecliptic Express consisted of five carriages:

• Carriage 1: The engine block and driver’s compartment. Access to this area required a key card.

• Carriage 2: The Conductor’s Office and a small baggage compartment. This carriage also housed two small bedrooms for long-haul trips.

• Carriages 3 and 4: These were first-class passenger cars, with luxury sleeping cabins and a bar area known as the Ecliptic Saloon. The roof of the third carriage was accessible via a hookshot, a specialized tool used for inspections and maintenance, with a weight limit of 80kg.

• Carriage 5: The dining car, located near the rear, was locked after hours, and its automatic doors were deactivated once vacated. The final section of the train also included a luggage and cargo storage area, primarily used for transporting research materials and sensitive documents. An emergency brake system was installed on this car, which could be activated in three steps, requiring a magnetic swipe card and a code to release the brakes.

On the night of July 23, 1998, the train was attacked by leech creatures, leading to the death of most of its passengers. Many of the passengers became reanimated as zombies due to exposure to the T-virus, which had been spread by the leeches under the control of Queen Leech, an experimental organism. The outbreak quickly attracted the attention of Umbrella Security Services (USS), a private military unit tasked with handling biohazard incidents. Dressed in black uniforms and gas masks, the USS Delta Team attempted to recover the train but soon fell victim to the leeches themselves.

Coinciding with the events on the train, Billy Coen, a former military convict who had recently escaped, boarded the train after his transport vehicle was attacked in the forest. Rebecca Chambers, a member of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team, also boarded the train. The Ecliptic Express is notable as the site of the first casualty among S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team, as Edward Dewey succumbs to his wounds inside the train after warning Rebecca about the dangers lurking outside. While navigating the train, Rebecca or Billy encounter the Stinger boss, a creature that only appears in this location. The creature causes considerable damage to the Dining Car as it strikes.

To stop the train from derailing, Rebecca and Billy must activate the brakes by entering codes at two separate control panels located on either side of the train. During this process, Rebecca encounters a zombified Edward Dewey. Despite their efforts, the train ultimately fails to halt and crashes, ending up at the Umbrella Executive Training School. This catastrophic event marks the destruction of the Ecliptic Express.

Established in August 1968 in the Arklay Mountains, the facility was designed as a boarding school for child prodigies. Oswell E. Spencer, the founder of Umbrella, appointed his close friend Dr. James Marcus as the director. Despite the academic achievements of the students, many did not fit the criteria Umbrella sought in its executive candidates, leading both Marcus and the Assistant Director to view most of their students each year as useless. At the school, students were taught various subjects, including biology, chemistry, sociology and political science.

The Umbrella Executive Training School comprised several independent structures. The main building, resembling a mansion, was situated on a cliff in the Arklay Mountains. Level 1F included the entrance hall, restrooms, kitchen, dining room, operations room for vaccine research, and a boiler room. Level 2F housed a library, infirmary, faculty room, conference room, CCTV and broadcasting room, bar, workshop, and a gas chamber laboratory. Level 3F featured a caged area for animal test subjects, a clock tower, and a garden.

The basement levels were split into three parts: Level B1, accessible through a hidden passage, served as a site for Marcus’s torturous experiments on child test subjects; Level B2, reached via the boiler room, contained student dorms and a storage room; Level B3 was designated for anti-B.O.W. combat training, allowing the U.S.S. operatives to practice their skills.

When Marcus made a breakthrough in the t-Virus Project, he became merciless and used the children (students) as test subjects. They were infected by being tricked into touching his leech specimens while working in the laboratory, and bloody sheets in the dorm rooms suggested some were left in their beds to mutate. On level B1, students were chained against the walls and forced to sit on iron chairs, be drowned by cranes, or impaled by an iron maiden. In a laboratory, children were tested in gas chambers to study their survival abilities.

The school had an operating room where children were vivisected, and their organs were preserved in culture fluids, while others had their bodies preserved whole for study. The bodies of the deceased children were stored in the morgue; this wasn’t always done with much care, as feet often stuck out of body bags or the bodies appeared to be just ‘stuffed’ in there.

When the school year ended, Umbrella closed the facility. William Birkin and Albert Wesker, the two star pupils, were transferred to the Arklay Laboratory to work as senior researchers. Marcus refused to leave the facility, neededing it to continue his research on the t-Virus. After ten years, in 1988, a U.S.S. unit was sent into the facility to kill Marcus, aided by William Birkin and Albert Wesker. The reason for this was that Oswell E. Spencer growing concern over what James Marcus might create. James Marcus’s body and leech test subjects were dumped and flowed to the treatment plant along with other corpses, while Birkin and Wesker took advantage of any usable data for their t-Virus Project.

In 1998, following a viral outbreak at the Arklay Laboratory, Umbrella instructed Wiliam Birkin and Albert Wesker to prepare to reopen the Umbrella Executive Training School and its facilities. On July 23rd, Wiliam Birkin and Albert Wesker send in the 1st Investigation Unit to dispose of any bio-weapons and destroy paperwork. The team was attacked by mutants and suffered severe casualties; a small group made it to the water treatment plant, which they found to be infested with leeches that very night. None of the 1st Investigation Unit survived. After this failed attempt, they decided to bring in the 2nd Investigation Unit to finish the job, but this unit didn’t even make it to the training facility and was killed on the Ecliptic Express.

Running out of ideas to reopen the Training School, the project was abandoned. Albert Wesker decided to leave Umbrella, and the decision was made to activate the facility’s self-destruct device, a plan orchestrated by William Birkin.

During Rebecca and Billy’s time in the Training School, they encounter the Centurion in the Large Hall on the 3rd floor. Bursting out of a vent, it captures Rebecca but is subsequently defeated by Billy Coen.

After Billy and Rebecca place the Statues of Good and Evil on the scales, the giant portrait of James Marcus in the main hall lowers, revealing a hidden entrance to the basement, where spiders are encountered for the first time.

When Rebecca discovers the torture room, Queen Leech observes her through the cameras and releases a new type of B.O.W., the Exterminators. These mutated monkeys, once used for cruel experiments, attack Rebecca and cause the floor in the torture room to collapse.

In addition to the main structure, the Umbrella Executive Training School housed a chapel (also labeled as Laboratory 1F), built on the orders of Dr. James Marcus, serving as a façade for a hidden laboratory complex. The building had fallen into disrepair, with the roof collapsing above the entrance. Inside the chapel stood an altar, though the area gave off an unsettling and ominous feeling. During their exploration, either Rebecca or Billy encounters a maximum of twenty-eight bats along with an Infected Bat boss in the chapel. On the side of the building, there is an elevator that leads underground.

The underground laboratory beneath the chapel is a hidden facility connected to the Umbrella Executive Training School. The laboratory has two main levels:

• Level B1: This area consists of various research rooms, including laboratories for bio-organic weapons (B.O.W.) research, an operating theater for vivisections, a morgue where test subjects are stored, and a holding area for failed B.O.W. experiments.

• Level B2: The lower level houses Marcus’s personal quarters, including his private room and study. There is also a Reference Room, this is a library for use by laboratory staff. A Machine Room is located nearby, which powers the Cable Car, providing access to the next facility.

The underground laboratory of the Umbrella Executive Training School was the heart of James Marcus’s secret bio-weapons research. This facility, spread across multiple basement levels, was designed to conduct inhumane experiments under the guise of an academic institution. The laboratory housed advanced equipment for viral experimentation, with several areas specifically set up for bio-organic weapons (B.O.W.) research. It was here that the t-Virus was tested on both leeches and human subjects in Marcus’s quest to develop more effective bio-weapons for Umbrella.

The Operating Room on B1 was used for vivisection and organ harvesting, serving as the site for some of Marcus’s most unethical experiments on living subjects. Nearby, the Morgue stored the bodies of failed experiments, with bodies often carelessly stuffed into bags.

The Leech Laboratory and Breeding Room were central to Marcus’s work with the leeches, spaces dedicated to observing and enhancing their growth under the t-Virus. These rooms were equipped with containment units and feeding systems, where the infected leeches were studied as they mutated into dangerous organisms capable of collective behavior. This area played a key role in the early stages of Marcus’s research and was where his obsession with leeches took root.

The Leech Room served as a place where Marcus could directly interact with his leech specimens, controlling their environment and observing their behaviors in more confined conditions. Meanwhile, the Machine Room connected to the cable car system, which acted as a transport route for moving biological materials and specimens to different sections of the facility.

The second level of the underground laboratory, B2, is a crucial junction for both transportation and research. The Machine Room, which houses mechanisms vital to the complex’s operations, connects directly to the cable car, providing an essential link to other parts of the facility.

Marcus’s Study and Private Room are found here, offering a glimpse into the personal life and mind of Dr. James Marcus. His Diary 2, torn but still revealing, is found in this area. It reflects Marcus’s growing paranoia and his desire to protect his creations—his “babies”—from being discovered by Spencer’s agents. Marcus hints at hiding something valuable in a location so obvious it would be overlooked, requiring a special stripping agent to access it. This diary entry gives insight into his cunning and the lengths he went to in securing his work from Spencer’s prying eyes.

The Reference Room contains important research documents and notes related to bioweapons, likely linking to Marcus’s experiments with the Progenitor and T-Viruses. Finally, Marcus’s Private Room holds further evidence of his meticulous nature and obsession with his creations, making B2 a key area where his personal vendettas and scientific genius converge.

The Factory serves as a critical location in Resident Evil 0, situated downhill from the Umbrella Executive Training School, and it is closely connected to the Umbrella Chemical Plant. This area has recently fallen victim to the leeches, which have decimated its personnel, leaving the facility eerily deserted.

Here, Rebecca encounters Enrico Marini, a member of the Bravo Team who has infiltrated NEST through the Arklay Laboratory’s subway tunnel. Enrico is perplexed by the absence of the rest of the team and suggests they should return to search for them. However, Rebecca declines, expressing her determination to find Billy. Enrico reluctantly agrees to let her stay behind while he heads back to the lab.

This is the area where Rebecca confronts the T-001 for the first time, Umbrella’s Tyrant prototype.

An elevator within the Factory grants access to various levels: Level 1, the station where the train crashed; Level 2, leading to B2 of the Factory; Level 3, where Rebecca encounters the T-001, Umbrella’s Tyrant prototype; and Level 4, which leads to the Water Treatment Plant.

The Water Treatment Plant, located roughly eight miles northwest of Raccoon City, was an Umbrella USA facility designed to process wastewater from NEST, the Arklay Laboratory, and the Umbrella Executive Training School. Operational by 1978, the facility was used covertly to dispose of victims from Dr. James Marcus’s t-Virus experiments. Following Marcus’s assassination in 1988, his body was also discarded within the same waterway.

By 1998, poor maintenance had caused significant structural deterioration, with rust issues becoming evident throughout the plant. The facility was also receiving industrial waste far beyond its intended capacity, which contributed to the rapid decline. On July 24, 1998, an order was issued to close the plant, but Queen Leech, having moved from the Executive Training School, attacked soon after. The remaining workers were infected with the t-Virus, mutating into zombies.

The Water Treatment Plant was built within limestone caverns, connected by underground rivers to other Umbrella facilities. Its complex consisted of sewage pools, treatment tanks, dormitories, and recreation areas. Most striking is the inclusion of an Incinerator on Level B9, unusual for such a facility. Within the context of Umbrella’s operations, the Incinerator likely served to destroy bioweapons and contaminated materials.

Rebecca and Billy confront Queen Leech in the Incinerator, initiating its final transformation in the cargo room on 1F. After a fierce battle, Dr. William Birkin triggers the facility’s self-destruct system. While the fate of the entire plant is uncertain due to its underground location, key areas may have survived the explosion. This leaves open the possibility that parts of the facility were later accessed, as seen in Resident Evil 2.

After their battle against the Queen Leech, Rebecca and Billy find themselves outside in the early dawn light, standing on the edge of the Arklay Mountains. In the distance, the Spencer Mansion can be seen, a location that would soon become infamous in the events of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team mission.