“He’s coming for us… we’re both gonna die. He’s after STARS members, and there’s no escape!”

That’s your first introduction to the hulking, unyielding mass that is Nemesis. Ever since his first imposing steps in Resident Evil 3, this towering foe has become one of the most beloved (or is it feared?) villains in all of gaming – IGN placed him in its “ Top 100 Videogame Villains ” feature, among other awards from around the webternets. All these accolades mean Nemesis is a hardened fighter and thus a perfect fit for Ultimate MvC3, and today we’re gonna brush up on his bloody history…

Without diving too deep into the dense, untamed brush of the Resident Evil canon, Nemesis is essentially a Tyrant (the final boss of the first RE) that has been infected with a deadly parasite. Typically, said parasite kills the host within minutes, but in this case, when combined with a Tyrant, the Nemesis T-Type was produced. Soon after his creation, he gained the added descriptor, “The Pursuer.”

His mission? Well, pursue. Forever, under any circumstance. Throughout all of RE3, Jill Valentine must flee Nemesis, who will stop at nothing to murder any and all STARS members – plus anyone who gets in the way. This makes Nemesis a sort of Jason Vorhees villain, in that he soaks up seemingly infinite amounts of damage and keeps on coming. The idea that, somewhere in the world this tentacle-spewing monstrosity is always making a beeline for you, is uniquely terrifying. Hordes of zombies? Meh, got plenty of ammo. Giant plant monster? Been there, burned that. Unstoppable juggernaut with a melted face and cartoon-sized bazooka? Uh… run!

The first to fall… poor Brad Vickers!

Even more frightening was the fact that Nemesis, like a newly cloned velociraptor, could open doors and chase you from room to room. In past Resident Evil games, you knew you were generally safe if you made to a screen-transitioning door; not the case in RE3, as Nemesis would (fittingly) pursue you from area to area. And then there’s his film incarnation seen in 2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse…

Say what you will of the movie itself (and I’ll probably agree with you, having seen it on opening night with thunderous indifference), Nemesis certainly looks the part. Even though there’s additional story elements crammed into his creation, Nemesis is still huge, clad in black and toting that same huge rocket launcher.

Which is great for clichéd action movie explosions

Oh what the heck, here’s the whole scene

As is the case with just about every Resident Evil villain, Nemesis has a variety of (increasingly grotesque) forms. We’re most familiar with the iconic, stoic form seen in in this post, but he does have a final form that’s… well y’know, all Resident Evil’d. That form appears in Ultimate MvC3 as his level three hyper combo, seen here:

And if you happened to miss the hyper-bizarre PS2 game “Under the Skin,” Nemesis (along with Jill and other aspects of Resident Evil) appear in the Racoon City level. I missed this when it came out, but upon discovering this adorably ugly version of Nemesis, I just had to share:

D’AWWWW

That does it for today’s post – be sure to check back tomorrow for our next look at the new Capcom roster in UMvC3, and if you missed yesterday’s, head here for the deets on Frank West.