The Umbrella Corporation is an international pharmaceutical company in the Resident Evil universe that serves as one of the primary antagonists of the series. Founded in the late 1960s by prominent British royal descendants Ozwell E. Spencer and Edward Ashford, it is portrayed in the games as a major international player in pharmaceutical goods and medical supplies, along with more clandestine operations utilizing genetic engineering, their legitimate status being only a front for their secret research of bio-organic weapons, developed through the use of a unique virus discovered by the company founders shortly after World War II.[5] The company is also presented as having a more public face, producing cosmetics, consumer products and foods. One of Umbrella's subsidiaries is UBCS (Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service), a private military company with a highly trained security force composed mostly of war criminals and exiled soldiers[6] and capable of rescue and reconnaissance paramilitary operations; the corporation also uses its top-secret special forces group to secure and protect its assets and high profile employees. Umbrella established multiple secret research facilities to develop various bio-weapons. Its most prominent research facility is located in the Arklay Mountains, just outside of Raccoon City, which was able to develop the "T-virus", a powerful mutagen that could dramatically alter living and recently dead organisms. The virus leaks and contaminates most of the Arklay Facility and its surrounding area, setting the stage for the first Resident Evil game.
