It was hoped that Resident Evil 3 remake would reveal more about the origins of Nemesis and the NE-a parasite that provides its mutative powers. Unfortunately, the game didn’t do much to expand the lore, but we do know that the devs gave Umbrella’s creation of Nemesis quite a bit of thought. Previously, concept art showed us some of the process behind the manufacturing of the iconic enemy, and now the devs have given some backstory in an interview on PlayStation Blog about the NE-a parasite that creates an important bridge between RE3 and RE4.
In the remake of Resident Evil 3, Nemesis gains an ability that wasn’t in the original. Nemmy can infect Zombies with the NE-a parasite, creating a creature very reminiscent of the Las Plagas. It turns out the similarities were completely intentional.
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According to the devs behind Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil Resistance, the Nemesis Project was started to create a Plagas parasite artificially. After years of experimentation, the European branch of Umbrella developed the NE-a parasite. However, they were unable to find a host that NE-a didn’t immediately kill. The project was shelved, but after Umbrella America developed the Tyrant, Umbrella Europe obtained samples of the T-103 mass-produced Tyrant and tested NE-a on them.
It was found that the Tyrants could withstand the NE-a, and the parasite formed a symbiotic pairing with the T-103s. However, the newly created Nemesis T-Type was required to have a regulating chest piece fitted as well as retraining gear to prevent it from mutating unchecked. An initial Nemesis prototype was deployed to Raccoon City to take out the remaining STARS team members to prevent them from making Umbrella’s involvement in the Arklay Mansion and Raccoon City incidents public.
Its nature as a prototype explains why Nemmy’s redesign in RE3 remake seems more haphazardly outfitted than Mr. X. The black wrapping was hastily improvised as part of its restraining gear. It’s too bad the Plagas connection wasn’t explained in-game, as that would have made for a great bridge to the Resident Evil 4 remake that’s rumored to be currently in production.
