Spence Parks

Spence Parks is a fictional security guard and a central character featured in the Resident Evil film series. In retrospect, it could be argued that he is the single-most important character in the franchise, as it is through his actions that the entire world goes to shit. Spence Parks appeared in the 2002 film, Resident Evil, where he was played by actor James Purefoy.

Biography
Spence Parks was a man in his mid-thirties with dark hair. He worked as an agent of the Umbrella Security Service for the Central Security Administration of the Umbrella Corporation and was based out of Raccoon City. As part of the company's public cover, Spence was placed into an fake marriage with another agent named Alice. They were in charge of security of a mansion safe house, which was served as the central access point to a top-secret underground laboratory called the Hive. Although their marriage was a falsified affair, Spence and Alice did become intimate with one another over time. Spence learned that Alice had been secretly conspiring with a Hive researcher named Lisa Addison to expose Umbrella's more unscrupulous projects as it pertained to viral warfare. Whereas Alice saw treachery, Spence saw opportunity. Using his Umbrella access credentials, he entered Lab 13 of the Hive and stole a sample of the deadly T-Virus, which he intended to sell to the highest bidder on the black market. To cover his tracks, Spence released another sample of the virus into the air, forcing the Hive's artificial intelligence system, the Red Queen, to seal off the infected area, leaving everyone to die. The Red Queen then released nerve gas into the remainder of the facility, rendering everyone else unconscious. A side effect of the nerve gas was temporary amnesia, which both Spence and Alice suffered from.

When Spence revived, an Umbrella commando unit had arrived at the mansion in response to the crisis. Along with Alice, they journeyed by underground train to the depths of the Hive, where they discovered that the T-Virus had turned all of the personnel into reanimated monsters. The group fought their way through the various levels, killing as many zombies as they could, but most of the commando unit were killed either by the dead, or by the Hive's security measures. As they came to Lab 13, Alice discovered that an antivirus was also created, and it could provide a means of reversing the process. By this point, Spence's memory had returned, and with it, his inherent greed.

Spence was attacked by a zombie and bitten. His only hope of survival was to get his hands on the antivirus. He betrayed Alice and the other survivors, which consisted of an environmentalist named Matt Addison, and two commandos, Rain Ocampo and Chad Kaplan. His snide parting words to his former wife were, "I'm missing you already". He stole the suitcase containing the antivirus, and locked the others inside the Red Queen's chamber. The Red Queen, seeking to contain the contagion at all costs, released a mutant known as a licker and guided it towards the cargo bay, where Spence hoped to escape back to the surface on the train. The licker attacked him before he could administer the antivirus, advancing the rate of infection, ultimately turning him into a zombie.

Alice, Matt, Kaplan and Rain eventually made their way down to the loading bay. When Alice saw zombie-Spence crawling across the floor, she mockingly intoned his earlier comment, "I'm missing you already", and then finished him off with an axe.

Notes & Trivia



 * In the film, the character is identified only as Spence.


 * In addition to being the perpetrator of a global viral outbreak, Spence is also quite a rude fellow. He bumped into Mister Grey while exiting the Hive, spilling the man's coffee all over him, without even so much as an apology. What a dick.


 * Spence is one of three security agents shown to become zombies in this film. The others are J.D. Salinas and Rain Ocampo.


 * Archival footage of Spence Parks was seen in the 2012 sequel, Resident Evil: Retribution.


 * James Purefoy wore his own blue jeans in the film, rather than pants provided by costuming.