The Nemesis, also called Nemesis-T Type, or the Pursuer (Japanese: 追跡者, Hepburn: Tsuisekisha) in Japan, is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by Capcom. Although smaller than other Tyrant models, the creature dwarfs a typical human, and possesses vastly superior intelligence and physical dexterity to its undead peers. It was featured in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) before appearing in other games and cameo roles. It is also featured on various merchandise and was portrayed by Matthew G. Taylor in the 2004 film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The character is voiced by Tony Rosato in the original game and Gregg Berger in Operation Raccoon City (2012). In the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3, the character is voiced by David Cockman, with Neil Newbon providing the motion capture performance. Nemesis has also been featured in several other game franchises, including as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom and Dead by Daylight. Taking inspiration from the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Nemesis was conceived by Shinji Mikami and Kazuhiro Aoyama as an enemy that would stalk the player throughout the game and invoke a persistent sense of paranoia. Written by Yashuhisa Kawamura to be a weapon of revenge by the Umbrella Corporation, Nemesis's design was drawn by artist Yoshinori Matsushita, who was instructed to create "a rough guy who attacks with weapons and has an intimidating build" in order to heighten the fear of being pursued. Since his introduction, Nemesis has received a positive response and become one of the franchise's most popular figures. Various publications have praised him as an intimidating villain and critics have highlighted him as one of their favorite and most terrifying monsters in video games. However, his role in the Resident Evil 3 remake was met with mixed reviews.
Conception and creation Introduced in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, producer Shinji Mikami and director Kazuhiro Aoyama wanted to implement a stalker-enemy into the game early on that would chase the player, according to Mikami intended to "introduce a new kind of fear into the game, a persistent feeling of paranoia." Taking inspiration from the T-1000 villain from the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the character was initially meant to be a slime creature that could bypass obstacles such as doors by liquifying past them or melting through them. However, due to the undistinguished nature of the creature, he felt the stalker aspect was lost on the player as there was no recognizable sense of cohesion. They decided to start over, focusing on the early Tyrant enemy introduced in the original Resident Evil as a base. The character was designed under the concept of a "huge, overpowering monster that could use weapons and intelligently track you anywhere", partly inspired by the movie Day of the Dead, where scientists attempt to train zombies, only to be shot by them at the end of the film. The character's backstory and biology was created by writer Yashuhisa Kawamura, who felt the horror aspect of Resident Evil was "stuck in a rut" at that time and wanted to explore new ways to bring horror through Nemesis. Kawamura conceived the character as the result of infecting a T-103 model Tyrant—a humanoid bio organic weapon (BOW) created to be the ultimate lifeform by the Umbrella Corporation—with the Nemesis Alpha parasite (or "NE-α") designed to increase its intelligence. Upon infection, the parasite takes control of the Tyrant's nervous system, forming its own brain and enabling it to follow precise instructions and make decisions without needing constant direction. Upon spotting its target, it says the target's name out loud and attacks. In this backstory, the European branch of Umbrella intended to not only demonstrate their superiority in the company with their creation, but also seek revenge against the "S.T.A.R.S." police group that had destroyed their original Tyrant creation, codenaming their new creature "Nemesis" after the Greek mythology Goddess of Vengeance.
Design
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