Ozwell E. Spencer

Overview

Ozwell E. Spencer is an important, but rarely seen character in the Resident Evil series. He was first mentioned in files found in the original game and onwards but had never appeared in physical form before his cameo in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and his full appearance in Resident Evil 5.

Little is known about Spencer's life, but it is known that he founded the Umbrella Corporation with Dr. James Marcus and Edward Ashford for the sole purpose of developing Bioweapons derived from the Progenitor Virus that the trio discovered. In the 1980s, a paranoid Spencer had Dr. Marcus assassinated by Marcus's own research assistants, Albert Wesker and William Birkin.

From a diary found in the Spencer Mansion written by the mansion's architect George Trevor, we learn that Spencer hired him to design the elaborate estate with many secret passages and hidden compartments. Fearing Trevor might divulge the secrets of the mansion, Spencer invited the entire Trevor family for a stay at the estate. Trevor's wife and the couple's daughter Lisa arrived first and were quickly abducted. When George arrived afterward, he was told that they had left in order to deal with a sick relative.

Spencer kept Trevor prisoner in the mansion and toyed with him. Trevor was eventually led to discover what was to become his final resting place and died, thus keeping the secrets of the mansion in tact. The interior design of the Spencer Mansion would later be copied and replicated in the Umbrella Corporation's antarctic facility. However, the original mansion is destroyed after S.T.A.R.S. investigates the T-Virus Outbreak in the Arklay Mountains.

Spencer was present in Raccoon City just before its destruction. He personally escorted the U.M.F.-013, which contained all of Umbrella's data and research, from the doomed city.

Spencer's Death

Many years later, Spencer is confronted by Albert Wesker. Spencer reveals the details of his "Wesker Children" project in which several children of superior intellect were imbued with advanced knowledge by any means necessary and then studied. Among those children, only one showed greater potential compared to the others, Albert. Wesker coldly rejects Spencer's claim to be a god and kills him in his estate adapting his motto of inheriting "the right to be a god."

The extra scenario in Resident Evil 5's Alternative Edition is supposed to take place immediately before Wesker kills Spencer in the Spencer Estate. It is not known yet whether Spencer will have any more involvement in it.