William Birkin and the G-Virus
William Birkin is the Umbrella researcher behind the G-virus in Resident Evil 2. When an Umbrella team comes to seize his work and leaves him mortally wounded, he injects himself with the virus. The attempt to survive creates the mutating creature known as G.
Researcher and Experiment Become One
Birkin's changing body, with its enlarged arm and prominent eye, makes his obsession with research visible as body horror. He loses more of his human form as the game progresses. The scientist who sought control over a new virus becomes its most disturbing demonstration.