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I'm sure we're all familiar with the fact that, in this series, things get put into viruses quite a bit.
The first example is when Marcus injects the Progenitor virus into leech DNA. Suddenly, he notices that the virus is different (strengthened by leech DNA, although it's important to note he doesn't actually say it has leech genes or anything in it now) and goes about extracting it and then injecting it into a bunch of other creatures hoping that leech DNA magically made it capable of creating a Bio Organic Weapon. He failed, despite probably incorporating the DNA of insects, frogs and monkeys through his experiments. Then he decided he needed to use humans. Through these human experiments, he managed to stabilize the virus to a degree and created Zombies. It is at this point that Wesker steals the virus for Spencer, and it is well-worth noting that at this stage, it's not officially called "t-virus", it's still the Progenitor virus. That is why it is called as such in the Report on B.O.W. and Wesker's Report II. It isn't officially called the t-virus until around 1998 although it is called it colloquially a lot... it's complicated.
Once research is transferred to Arklay, development of the "Clay Virus" is basically one big extended example of this. The prototype for what would directly lead to the t-virus was initially found after injecting the virus into spiders (producing the "Clay prototype"). This was then injected into sharks (because they were rather ancient organisms, the virus wasn't strengthened much but this may have produced Beta I). Then that into dogs (producing Beta II). Wesker's Report II fills in the gaps as to how the Tyrant was created, although not in any detailed form but it does outright reference Beta II. Birkin just extracted a variant which didn't go as nuts on brain cells but needed a genetic compatibility to become a Tyrant, and when they had Sergei's clones to work on as test subjects, this variant was perfected into what is known as Epsilon-- the Tyrant Virus. It's unknown where Ebola's genes fit into the development process but presumably near the beginning.
Similarly, this thinking led me to solve another strange plot hole. Why does Alexia only mention combining genes of a queen ant which harbored an ancient virus with the Progenitor Virus, when other sources state she also used insect and plant genes? The simple answer is that shortly after she created t-Veronica, she went straight to strengthening the sun'bitch by injecting it into some plant (producing the Alexia Pod and incorporating plant genes into the virus) and presumably then into insects (ants, moths, grasshoppers, etcetc, incorporating their genes). Probably even reptiles.
The C-Virus' mutations express the insect genes of t-Veronica, which is why you get seemingly random and yet oddly specific looking mutations, like a fucking yellowjacket wasp/human hybrid. It's not a stretch to assume that it produces that weird bird-like mutation because some ass in The Family thought a pigeon would make a good weapon. If Alexia did infact inject t-Veronica into reptiles (explaining the Jabberwock and Monster Steve mutations) and birds (explaining...whatever) then that would explain why the C-Virus also produces reptile and bird-like mutations on top of all the insect... stuff.
Essentially; the viruses in the series are one big snowball effect. They just threw shit into a primordial soup (Progenitor) and kept going until it coughed up something that may have been able to kill someone. Assimilation to different hosts strengthens the virus' properties and somehow also incorporates parts of a host's DNA into its own genome. Another thing worth noting is that it is mentioned in several places throughout the series that the older the organism actually is, the less of an effect it has on strengthening the virus and the less chance the virus has of causing more unpredictable mutations. This is also somewhere I'm shocked the writers kept remarkably consistent. Wesker's Report II and the Clay Virus development backstory actually complement each rather extremely well. It's not a stretch to think the writers of WRII probably referred back to the older material.
The first example is when Marcus injects the Progenitor virus into leech DNA. Suddenly, he notices that the virus is different (strengthened by leech DNA, although it's important to note he doesn't actually say it has leech genes or anything in it now) and goes about extracting it and then injecting it into a bunch of other creatures hoping that leech DNA magically made it capable of creating a Bio Organic Weapon. He failed, despite probably incorporating the DNA of insects, frogs and monkeys through his experiments. Then he decided he needed to use humans. Through these human experiments, he managed to stabilize the virus to a degree and created Zombies. It is at this point that Wesker steals the virus for Spencer, and it is well-worth noting that at this stage, it's not officially called "t-virus", it's still the Progenitor virus. That is why it is called as such in the Report on B.O.W. and Wesker's Report II. It isn't officially called the t-virus until around 1998 although it is called it colloquially a lot... it's complicated.
Once research is transferred to Arklay, development of the "Clay Virus" is basically one big extended example of this. The prototype for what would directly lead to the t-virus was initially found after injecting the virus into spiders (producing the "Clay prototype"). This was then injected into sharks (because they were rather ancient organisms, the virus wasn't strengthened much but this may have produced Beta I). Then that into dogs (producing Beta II). Wesker's Report II fills in the gaps as to how the Tyrant was created, although not in any detailed form but it does outright reference Beta II. Birkin just extracted a variant which didn't go as nuts on brain cells but needed a genetic compatibility to become a Tyrant, and when they had Sergei's clones to work on as test subjects, this variant was perfected into what is known as Epsilon-- the Tyrant Virus. It's unknown where Ebola's genes fit into the development process but presumably near the beginning.
Similarly, this thinking led me to solve another strange plot hole. Why does Alexia only mention combining genes of a queen ant which harbored an ancient virus with the Progenitor Virus, when other sources state she also used insect and plant genes? The simple answer is that shortly after she created t-Veronica, she went straight to strengthening the sun'bitch by injecting it into some plant (producing the Alexia Pod and incorporating plant genes into the virus) and presumably then into insects (ants, moths, grasshoppers, etcetc, incorporating their genes). Probably even reptiles.
The C-Virus' mutations express the insect genes of t-Veronica, which is why you get seemingly random and yet oddly specific looking mutations, like a fucking yellowjacket wasp/human hybrid. It's not a stretch to assume that it produces that weird bird-like mutation because some ass in The Family thought a pigeon would make a good weapon. If Alexia did infact inject t-Veronica into reptiles (explaining the Jabberwock and Monster Steve mutations) and birds (explaining...whatever) then that would explain why the C-Virus also produces reptile and bird-like mutations on top of all the insect... stuff.
Essentially; the viruses in the series are one big snowball effect. They just threw shit into a primordial soup (Progenitor) and kept going until it coughed up something that may have been able to kill someone. Assimilation to different hosts strengthens the virus' properties and somehow also incorporates parts of a host's DNA into its own genome. Another thing worth noting is that it is mentioned in several places throughout the series that the older the organism actually is, the less of an effect it has on strengthening the virus and the less chance the virus has of causing more unpredictable mutations. This is also somewhere I'm shocked the writers kept remarkably consistent. Wesker's Report II and the Clay Virus development backstory actually complement each rather extremely well. It's not a stretch to think the writers of WRII probably referred back to the older material.
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