Alice (Resident Evil)

Alice Abernathy is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the video game series of the same name. Though she is not a character in the game series, she does eventually interact with a number of characters from the games, including Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, Carlos Olivera (whom Alice would have a love interest in), Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy, Barry Burton, Ada Wong, Albert Wesker and Nemesis. Alice, portrayed by Milla Jovovich, plays the principal role in each film, the storylines all somewhat revolving around her and the struggle with the Umbrella Corporation. Apart from the films, she appears in the film's novelizations where her background is explained.

History

In film

Resident Evil

In Resident Evil, Alice is a security officer working for the Umbrella Corporation. She and Spence Parks, posing as a married couple for cover, were placed at a mansion outside Raccoon City that is an entrance to The Hive, a functional large top secret underground laboratory owned and operated by the Umbrella Corporation, built a half mile underground. Some time before the events of the first film, Alice betrays her employers and begins to secretly work to expose them to the world, after learning of their dangerous and unethical experiments.

Waking up with amnesia, she recalls nothing of this and joins Matt Addison, an environmentalist posing as a police officer, and a team of commandos who take them and venture into the Hive to investigate why the artificial intelligence computer, the Red Queen, killed all the employees. Spence is found, appearing to suffer from amnesia like Alice, and it is revealed that the memory loss was caused when a nerve gas was released into the mansion by the Red Queen to prevent a viral outbreak from spreading. Despite working for Umbrella, it's revealed Alice was willing to expose Umbrella's dangerous and illegal experiments in order to bring the company down. She is shown to be the contact of Matt's sister, Lisa Addison, who was trying to smuggle out a sample of the T-virus; Alice tells this to Matt. However, at the end of the film, Spence, who was having a real relationship with Alice while playing the part of her husband, is revealed to have found out about her plans. Misinterpreting Alice's intention to bring Umbrella down, Spence had stolen T-Virus samples with the intent to sell them on the black market for both of them, releasing the virus in the Hive to cover their tracks. Upon getting on the train with the anti-virus, Spence is killed by the Licker which the Red Queen released from captivity. Kaplan, who disables the Red Queen and escapes with the team, is also killed by the Licker. Rain, despite being given the anti-virus had turned anyway and she is eventually killed by Matt as they battle the Licker on the moving train. Alice and Matt are the only survivors to escape the Hive. Upon returning to the mansion, both are seized by Umbrella scientists and taken into quarantine at the Raccoon City Hospital. Alice awakens on an operating table in a white room with no knowledge of what has happened, heading outside, she sees the infection has ravaged Raccoon City.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Alice discovers that she has been genetically altered by exposure to the T-virus. Alice is explained to have adapted to the changes from the T-Virus, merging human characteristics and heightened strength, speed, and agility. During the evacuation of Raccoon City, Alice is released by the Umbrella employee Major Timothy Cain to combat their latest bio-weapon Nemesis.

She joins survivors led by S.T.A.R.S. officer Jill Valentine. The group makes a deal with Umbrella scientist Dr. Charles Ashford to rescue his daughter, Angela Ashford, in exchange for a safe route out of the city, knowing that at sunrise a nuclear bomb will level the city. She finds Angela and joins U.B.C.S soldier Carlos Olivera and civilian L.J. They head to City Hall for the evacuation, but Major Cain overrules Dr. Ashford's plan and captures the group. He forces Alice to fight Nemesis, and they engage in battle, in which Alice emerges victorious, however, she discovers Nemesis was once Matt Addison and Alice refuses to kill him. Major Cain orders Nemesis to kill Alice, but Nemesis instead aids Alice's group in their escape; Nemesis perishes protecting Alice. In the helicopter, Alice is impaled by a loose pole when protecting Angela; the helicopter then crashed in the Arklay Mountains. Later an Umbrella team led by Dr. Isaacs retrieve Alice from the helicopter wreckage for further experimentation.

Three weeks later, Alice, fully healed, is released from suspended animation and escapes the facility using her new telekinetic powers. Leaving the facility, Alice is confronted by a group of armed guards and is saved by Jill, L.J, and Carlos (accompanied by Angela), posing as Umbrella agents. During their departure, Isaacs orders the security guards to let them go. As they depart, Isaacs orders the activation of "Program Alice" and the Umbrella logo flashes in Alice's eyes.

Between the end of Apocalypse and Extinction there are certain events that happened mentioned only once or twice during the third movie: Alice kills Angela under Dr. Isaacs' control and finally breaks loose and moves away from the group to keep them safe. After a while Carlos and L.J. join Claire Redfield's convoy and set out to find a safe haven while rescuing a number of survivors. Jill Valentine separates herself from Carlos' group wanting to stay on her own. She founded a haven on Baltimore, before being captured by Umbrella.

Resident Evil: Extinction

In Resident Evil: Extinction, five years after the incident of the Hive, the world has succumbed to the T-virus. Alice stays on the move to avoid capture by the Umbrella Corporation after she learned Umbrella could track her through satellites. She left the group to protect them, using the satellites trajectories to stay off the grid. On her travels she finds a journal detailing the possibility of Alaska as a sanctuary, isolated from the rest of the T-virus infested world. However, the Umbrella Corporation is utilizing the White Queen, a more advanced artificial intelligence computer that is able to find Alice. Early in the film, she uses her mental powers to save Claire Redfield's Convoy — the convoy which L.J. and Carlos have since joined. However, in doing so, the massive psionic activity produced by Alice is detected by the White Queen through their Umbrella satellites, and Isaacs is then made aware of her location. The leaders of the convoy decide to make the trip to Alaska, but first refuel in Las Vegas. Isaacs decides to go after Alice, defying orders from Umbrella Chairman Albert Wesker.

During a battle between the zombies and survivors, Isaacs attempts to shut down Alice; the Umbrella logo flashes in her eyes, Alice freezes in place. She is able to overcome it, "frying" the satellite's processor through her advanced mental powers. She then goes after Isaacs, but he manages to escape, however, not before being bitten by an advanced version of a zombie which he had tried to domesticate using blood samples from Alice's clones (which Isaacs, as seen at the beginning of the film, had been testing for any similarities to the authentic Alice's physical and mental capabilities). Those left head to the Umbrella base and the now-infected Carlos briefly kisses Alice before driving an oil truck loaded with dynamite into a horde of zombies to clear the way. The convoy leaves on helicopter while Alice stays behind. She meets with the White Queen who informs her that the cure to the infection would lie in Alice's blood. Alice pursues Isaacs into the lower levels, even seeing a clone of herself, but is soon attacked by Isaacs, who has since mutated into a monster called "the Tyrant". The clone awakens, seemingly dying soon after. Alice follows Isaacs into a replica of the mansion from the first film. The two fight, both using telekinesis, and eventually make their way into the laser room, also from the first film. The lasers cut Isaacs into pieces and just as Alice is going to meet the same fate, the lasers dissipate, turned off by Alice's clone.

Afterwards Alice, via holographic technology, interrupts a meeting between Wesker and the other Umbrella executives. She tells them that she is coming after them and will bring "a few friends." Standing beside the awakened clone, they look out into a room filled with hundreds more, and as other clones begin to wake, the film ends.

Resident Evil: Afterlife

In Resident Evil: Afterlife, taking place some time after Resident Evil: Extinction, Alice and her clones invade an Umbrella underground facility located in Tokyo, Japan, in order to eliminate the corporation and Albert Wesker. Wesker gets injured by grenades released by an Alice clone, but is immediately healed after and then he escapes and activates a bomb that destroys the facility and all of the clones. The real Alice escapes from the Tokyo facility by hiding on the helicopter that Wesker is on. Wesker injects Alice with a serum that seemingly deprives her of all her super-human powers, including her telekinesis. Alice thanks him for this, as she is now fully human again. Just right before Wesker shoots the now defenseless Alice, the helicopter crashes into a mountain. Thanks to her not-yet-fully-disaappeared, super-human powers, Alice survives the crash. After barely escaping with her life, Alice flies to Alaska to find the chopper from Umbrella completely deserted, and the book that she gave K-Mart in Resident Evil: Extinction.

She then finds Claire Redfield beaten up in the woods, wearing a mind control apparatus that Umbrella forced onto her. Alice removes the apparatus and finds out that Claire has lost all of her memory. They then fly together to Los Angeles Prison, where they stumble upon Claire's brother Chris Redfield and other survivors: Bennett, Angel, Wendell, Kim Young, Crystal, and Luther West. As they try to get out of the prison when the zombies invade, Bennett kills Angel out of frustration, then escapes by himself with Alice's plane, Crystal and Wendell get killed by zombies, and Axeman (The Executioner from the fifth video game) chops Kim Young in half, leaving only Chris, Claire, Alice, and Luther in the prison. Claire and Alice kills Axeman and then escapes with Chris and Luther, using the prison's sewer systems.

On the way, Luther is attacked and, presumably killed by a zombie. Alice travels with Chris and Claire Redfield to an abandoned oil tanker, the "Arcadia", that is broadcasting a message stating that it's infection free. This is however a trap for Alice. They find Albert Wesker waiting for them. In the final battle, Alice, along with Claire and Chris, face Wesker, whose powers prove too much for Claire and Chris and he locks them up. However, Alice, with the help of K-Mart, defeats Wesker and apparently kills him with a shot to the head.

Wesker somehow survives even though his head is blown open and Claire and Chris unload their pistols onto him. Later, Wesker completely regenerates from his wounds by consuming Bennett and escapes on a helicopter and then activates a bomb. However, Alice has placed the bomb on Wesker's chopper and it explodes. Afterward, a parachute is seen in the air after its explosion. Unbeknownst to the group, Luther survives his zombie attack in the tunnel, staggers out from a massive drainage pipe.

After releasing all of the survivors on the Arcadia, Alice decides to turn it into a real sanctuary and broadcasts a message giving the ship's location and that it's infection-free before spotting a massive fleet of Umbrella helicopters heading their way loaded with soldiers. The fleet is revealed to be led by her former comrade and fellow Raccoon City survivor Jill Valentine, who is now under the control of the Umbrella Mind Control apparatus (one of which was used on Claire).

Resident Evil: Retribution

In Resident Evil: Retribution, Umbrella forces reach Arcadia and open fire on the survivors. Alice fights in the battle aboard Arcadia and was injured in the destruction of a Umbrella osprey, leaving her thrown overboard. The fates of Claire, Chris and K-Mart remains unknown. Recovered from the waters by the Umbrella Corporation, Alice is taken to a bio weapons testing facility known as Umbrella Prime. When Alice wakes, Jill Valentine begins an interrogation. After several unsuccessful attempts, the power unexpectedly goes out allowing Alice to escape from her cell. After escaping a laser grid defense measure, Alice finds herself in a simulation of Tokyo where she battles a horde of zombies that include Japan's patient zero. About to be overwhelmed, Alice flees through a door that leads back into the facility and enters the Operations Center only to find the personnel dead. Alice encounters Ada Wong - immediately recognizing her as the associate of Wesker. Wesker appears on a monitor and Ada explains that she and Wesker no longer work for Umbrella as the supercomputer Red Queen has taken over the Umbrella Corporation.

While Alice wants to blast her way out of a window to escape, Ada reveals to her that they are located beneath an ice field. Wesker informs Alice that he has sent her help in the form of a team led by Leon Kennedy. They set out to reach the suburban recreation of Raccoon City after a brief conversation with the Red Queen, who promptly threatens them that they are going to die.

Alice and Ada are able to reach the simulation of Raccoon City - after a brief battle in the New York simulation against two Axemen. During their trip, Alice locates a young girl named Becky who believes Alice is her mother. Alice recognizes the girl from her remembrances of the clone's experience and vows to protect her. While trying to escape the house, the group encounters Jill and a group of soldiers including Rain Ocampo, Carlos Olivera, and One. A shootout occurs, resulting in Ada's capture and Alice and Becky's escape. Entering the Moscow simulation, they encounter a second clone of Rain who Alice asks to look after Becky as she goes forward to meet the rescue team. Alice enters the Moscow environment and rescues the group from a collection of Plaga undead and a Licker. They return to Becky and Rain to escape.

With time to spare the team reaches the elevators; however, the Licker captures Becky while Jill and the clones return and open fire. Alice pursues the Licker to rescue Becky, finding her in a cocoon with the Licker. Alice disables the Licker and rescues Becky. After she recovers explosives, Alice and Becky travel through a tunnel and find the cloning chamber where they find hundreds of clones of themselves. Alice reassures the girl that she is her mother and they are again attacked by the Licker. Using the explosives from earlier, Alice destroys the Licker and escapes with the child. They reach the surface and reunite with the rescue team while Umbrella Prime floods beneath them when the explosives go off.

Shortly afterward the rescue team is intercepted by a surviving Jill and her enforcer, the clone of Rain. While Rain fights Leon and Luther, Jill and Alice fight. Despite being severely injured, Alice manages to break the Scarab free from Jill's chest and frees her from the Red Queen's influence. Alice joins Leon in fighting Rain - who has injected herself with a Plaga parasite - but both are overpowered by the enhanced clone. After being severely injured by a hit to her chest, Alice notices a collection of Plaga undead beneath the ice. With the help of the freed Jill, Alice stops Rain by breaking the ice beneath her feet. A rescue vehicle arrives to save them, but Alice collapses from her injuries.

When she awakens, Alice is taken to the Oval Office in the White House. Escorted into the room alone, Alice finds herself facing Wesker. He immediately injects her with a sample of the T-Virus and she collapses again. He informs her he has returned to her her gifts in exchange for her help in defeating the Red Queen, who is set on destroying all that remains of humanity. She vows to kill him for what he's done to her and he taunts her by showing her the waves of undead that wait outside the White House barricades.

In literature

Alice appears in the three novelizations of the films. The novels, for the most part, retell the events of the film in greater detail and provide some additional information. In the novels, such concepts such as Alice's surname (revealed to be Abernathy) and her home town are identified. It is never revealed in the film if Alice remembers any of her past beyond the flashbacks in Resident Evil, but in the novel, she has regained that memory. The novels explain in greater detail her relationships. The first focuses on hers with Spence and the third has the possible relationship of her with ex-U.B.C.S soldier, Carlos Olivera. It is revealed, in the third novel, that Carlos does have feelings for her and that some of Alice's thoughts rest on him while she is away from him.

Concept and creation

Alice was an original character created for the films, although writer Paul W.S. Anderson noted that Alice was based on the strong women in the Resident Evil games. Anderson initially toyed with the idea of the film being an allegory to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but the idea was not followed through completely. Despite this, the film contains various references to the work, which included Alice's name.^[1]

Although the name Alice was given as the character's name prior to Resident Evil's release and is listed in the credits, her name is not actually spoken in the first film, it is first spoken in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Also in Apocalypse, at the end of the film, Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, posing as Umbrella personnel, produce an identification document in which Alice is called Janus Prospero. A promotional document released by Screen Gems called The Raccoon City Times further confirm that Alice is a nickname and Janus Prospero is the character's real name.^[2] However, in the novelization of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, her name is Alice Abernathy.

Characteristics

In Resident Evil, Alice is depicted as suffering from amnesia. In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, her character is portrayed as tough and rugged, as she is more familiar with the situation surrounding her. She plays a similar role in Resident Evil: Extinction. Since then she has been an "iconic figure and is closely associated with the series," becoming far more skilled and rugged since her first appearance.^[3] She is primarily portrayed in Apocalypse and Extinction as "a supremely efficient killing machine"^[4] and bio-weapon, while in the first film, she is shown first recognizing her abilities as a highly trained yet human security operative. Alice's superhuman abilities, as well as the use of various styles of martial arts and gun play have made her an almost super hero style of character and has one "cheering for her instead of wondering how the hell she managed to suddenly become Spider-Man."^[5] For example, in Apocalypse, after her exposure to the T-virus, she displayed psychic powers (akin to those of Alexia Ashford, in the video game Resident Evil Code: Veronica) and was able to use those powers to kill a security guard with a glance (through a monitor). She also had the ability to jump long distances, as seen in her initial confrontation with Nemesis. In Extinction, her powers had developed further, for example, she displays even greater control over her telekinesis (however she still experiences blackouts and massive headaches if she pushes her powers too far). As of Resident Evil: Afterlife, Alice has had all of her superhuman abilities taken away from her by the T-Virus via the serum Chairman Wesker injected her with by disabling her T-Virus cells.

Weapons

Alice has shown a supreme level of ability with all sorts of weapons. In each film she is shown using a number of weapons, but only a few function as her principal tools of death. The first film was the only one where she only used what weapons she could salvage, as she had amnesia and wasn't armed properly. In Apocalypse, she used a Mossberg 500 shotgun and a pair of Heckler & Koch MP5K submachine guns and Para-Ordnance P-14 pistols as her main weapons. In Extinction, she carried two Para-Ordnance Nite-Tac pistols, Mossberg 500 shotgun and a pair of kukri knives,^[6] and used them to great effect. They were shown but never used in Afterlife, where Alice had many clones besides herself. The Alice clones in the beginning mainly used straight-bladed odachi blades and Brügger & Thomet MP-9's. The original Alice preferred to use a pair of 10-gauge double-barrelled shotguns (oddly loaded with quarters, killing zombies with American currency in Afterlife) and a pair of Smith & Wesson Model 460V revolvers.^[7]

See also

• List of female action heroes

References

External links

• Alice's profile at IGN
• Alice - The Resident Evil Wiki