☣︎ A L B E R T W E S K E R ☣︎

☆ Complicated, tragic villain with a fascinating story arc and character progression

☆ Very intelligent, academically inclined, has many skills and talents (I like his big brain)

☆ Despite being a genius, still somehow gets his plans ruined by one of the biggest himbos ever, Chris Redfield (very entertaining)

☆ Charismatic, witty & so sassy

☆ Posh nasally accent and so many funny iconic lines and quotes

☆ Acts like he is above human emotions and isn't affected by others' opinions but loses his temper so easily when things go wrong

☆ Cool martial arts moves

☆ Very stylish and looks cool with his sunglasses and skintight leather fit

☆ Hawt old man 

☆ Has relatable daddy issues

☆ The way his face scrunches up and his nose and forehead creases appear when he makes faces like this :^)







HIS STORY

Wesker is a terrible person, who has done terrible things, but I find his character very multi-faceted and complex. His personality and psychology are really interesting to analyse and the way they affect his actions and motivations in the games is fascinating to me. Unlike a lot of the other villains in the RE universe, he is not evil just for the sake of being evil. In his worldview, he is doing the right thing. I also enjoy the more jokey antagonists in the series, but Wesker's story is so fleshed out and it makes him feel impactful as a villain. We can understand what made him the way he is, as we follow him step by step through his journey. And sometimes we as the player even get to play a part in progressing his goals, playing missions as him or assisting him through others like Ada.

If only Wesker had the self-reflection skills to realise he was never truly the hyper-independent carver of his own path he thought he was, but a victim of systematic, lifelong indoctrination whose destiny was always shaped by Spencer acting in the shadows throughout every stage of his life.

The ideologies he was raised with were so deeply ingrained to him that, when presented with the truth, the only way he could see to get past it was to kill his abuser and take over his destined place as the rightful 'god' ruling over mankind. Personally, as someone who also was a gifted child raised as a 'trophy' and 'tool' for someone else and taught that their intelligence and achievements related to it were the primary determiners of their worth, Wesker's background resonates with me and I can relate to his rage at such injustice. At one point or another, all of us have probably wanted to punch a hole through someone's chest after being mistreated by them. No? Just me? Okay.

In any case, I think Wesker's fate is tragic, and his inability to face the issues and break the cycle instead of repeating it all the more so. There were so many points he could have backed off and taken a chance at redemption, but by RE5 he was so deep into his senseless plans there was no turning back anymore. I think having to admit to the faults in Spencer's worldview, and thus also his own, and then needing to accept the idea that the 'utopia' they wished to create was not a utopia at all would have been too much for Wesker. His whole life and identity were built around this destiny and discarding it would leave him with no identity of his own. Uroboros being his final achievement carries such an ironic symbolism in it: he was stuck in a self-perpetuating cycle and in the end his own obsessions were what devoured him.



HIS VISUAL DESIGN

Now, moving on to a less depressive and philosophical side of Wesker's character that I enjoy discussing: his visual character design.

I am not a fan of his RE4make design for various reasons (which I will discuss some other time) but I love all other versions of him. His RE5 design is by far my favourite but the RE1HD/Umbrella Chronicles eras are a close second in my books.

In general, the visual design choices made for him are such a cool reflections of his overall character and personality. He always appears put-together, well-groomed, visually symmetrical, controlled, sleek, tidy, almost clinical in a way, and always in one way or another detached from other characters and his environment. His hair stays styled the same throughout the years, perfectly neat and gelled back, he always wears gloves (except in RE4make dammit!!), dresses in his signature shades of black and wears sunglasses in all possible environments; all of it together creates a subtle sense of distrust and makes him appear distant and difficult for others to read.



Also, interestingly, while me (and I would also say most other fans) usually associate him with aesthetically with the Umbrella colour palette of black, red and white, his design has never featured any red except for his eyes and for the subtle colourations in Uroboros! Perhaps we make the connection because of his past or because red is often the colour of villains and evil in media.

And speaking of colour choices, here's one other neat design detail I recently noticed while playing Umbrella Chronicles:



Towards the end of the game, Wesker wears a long black coat (pictured above) that is lined with blue fabric. We know his colour palette is very limited and prior to this point, the only other primary colour in his costuming has also been blue, previously found in his S.T.A.R.S uniform. UC is a turning point for Wesker design-wise, and in the scene above he transitions to a new, all-black, unaffiliated style. With this context, the blue on the inside of the coat feels almost like one last remnant of his S.T.A.R.S. days clinging to him. As he discards the garment, so does he attempt to sever any remaining connection to his former team. This, of course, proves impossible, as we see throughout the series with Wesker's inability to let go of his grudge towards Chris. As he says himself, their "fates are forever intertwined."

I will talk more about the parallels between Chris and Wesker's character designs another time. It's kind of ironic how much they resemble each other in some of the games. I also want to write some of my thoughts on why Wesker despises Chris specifically.