# Raccoon City

**Raccoon City** (ラクーンシティ) is a fictional industrial city in the [Midwestern United States](https://www.edgepedia.org/midwestern-united-states) that serves as the central setting of Capcom's *Resident Evil* survival horror franchise. It is best known as the home of the pharmaceutical conglomerate [Umbrella Corporation](https://www.edgepedia.org/umbrella-corporation), which by 1998 employed approximately 30 percent of the city's population, and as the site of the t-Virus outbreak of September 1998 that ended with the city's destruction by a U.S. government missile strike on October 1, 1998.<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Midwestern United States, near the Arklay Mountains<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> |
| Population | 100,000+ before the outbreak<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> |
| Dominant employer | Umbrella Corporation, about 30% of the population by 1998<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> |
| Defining event | The Raccoon City Incident, a t-Virus outbreak in September 1998<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> |
| Destruction | October 1, 1998, by the U.S. government's Sterilization Strategy missile strike<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> |
| Current status | Destroyed and quarantined; remains sealed off from the public<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> |
| Games set there | Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, the Outbreak titles, Operation Raccoon City, and Resident Evil Requiem (2026)<sup>[2](https://news.capcomusa.com/lets/browse/we-are-in-the-midst-of-the-raccoon-city-incident)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/data/pdf/annual/2025/annual_2025_01.pdf?pubDate=20251208)</sup> |

## In-universe history

Raccoon City began as a small hamlet, and urbanization accelerated in the late 1960s, coinciding with Umbrella Pharmaceuticals moving into the area.<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> The GameCube manual for *Resident Evil 2* states that the city was originally a small hamlet before Umbrella became involved.<sup>[4](https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> The city's police department maintained a special tactics unit, S.T.A.R.S., founded with [Albert Wesker](https://www.edgepedia.org/albert-wesker) as captain.<sup>[5](https://static.capcom.com/manuals/re5/RE5_PS3_DMNL_EN.pdf)</sup>

**The outbreak.** In September 1998, a leak of the t-Virus, a biological weapon developed by Umbrella, turned infected people and animals into ravenous zombies, and the infection spread through the city.<sup>[6](https://static.capcom.com/manuals/reorc/REORC_360_DMNL_EN.pdf)</sup> The catastrophe culminated on October 1, 1998, when the U.S. government carried out the Sterilization Strategy, a missile strike that completely destroyed the city to contain the infection.<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> In the present of the game continuity, the remains of Raccoon City are sealed off from the public, with access restricted to U.S. government personnel.<sup>[1](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup>

The one intense week of the outbreak has powered a large share of the series: *Resident Evil 2*, *Resident Evil 3*, both *Outbreak* titles, the *Umbrella* and *Darkside Chronicles* games, and *Operation Raccoon City* all draw on it.<sup>[2](https://news.capcomusa.com/lets/browse/we-are-in-the-midst-of-the-raccoon-city-incident)</sup> *Resident Evil 2* brought the monsters and undead down from the Arklay Mountains to the streets of the city itself, moving the horror closer to home after the first game's mansion setting.<sup>[7](https://blog.playstation.com/2019/01/25/resident-evil-2-out-today-capcom-offers-insight-into-the-terrifying-tyrant/)</sup>

## Return in Resident Evil Requiem

*Resident Evil Requiem*, released in February 2026 for the series' 30th anniversary, returns to Raccoon City, the place where the series began, and follows a new character unraveling the truth behind the Raccoon City Incident.<sup>[3](https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/data/pdf/annual/2025/annual_2025_01.pdf?pubDate=20251208)</sup> Capcom's executive producer Jun Takeuchi described the game as combining the two hearts of the series, horror and action, and reported that Requiem had reached over six million players worldwide.<sup>[8](https://game.capcom.com/residentevil/en/30th.html)</sup> The developers deliberately kept recognizable landmarks in the ruined city; producer Nakanishi said that seeing the ruins of places players knew from earlier games gives a sense of tragedy and loss.<sup>[9](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/resident-evil/you-want-to-keep-some-of-those-iconic-places-even-if-its-not-necessarily-realistic-capcom-is-bringing-us-an-updated-raccoon-city-in-resident-evil-requiem-that-shows-off-the-extent-of-its-destruction/)</sup>

## Design and real-world models

Capcom has never fixed the city to a single real-world location, describing it only as a Midwestern American town. The skyline of Raccoon City seen in the main menu and title sequence of *Resident Evil 2* (2019) is modeled after the real city of Montréal, Québec.<sup>[4](https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup> The 2002 film series, by contrast, portrays the city with Quebec as its stand-in.<sup>[10](https://fictional-cities.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup>

Some city details have documented origins within the games. The Raccoon City Police Department building was reworked from a modern structure into an old art museum during the development of *Resident Evil 2*, a change made when the writer Noboru Sugimura judged the original design too modern and sterile for the series' identity.<sup>[11](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/resident-evil/when-capcom-brought-in-a-professional-screenwriter-for-the-original-resident-evil-2-it-was-his-idea-to-fully-embrace-the-series-goofy-puzzles-well-just-have-to-make-the-police-chief-a-weirdo/)</sup> The city's depiction has also grown over time: early games present a smaller town, while later entries and remakes show a denser urban center with a skyline of multiple skyscrapers.<sup>[12](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)</sup>

## Screen adaptations

Raccoon City has appeared in several separate film continuities, each with its own version of the city and its fate:

- **Paul W. S. Anderson's films.** In this continuity the city is destroyed by a missile in *Resident Evil: Apocalypse* (2004), with Umbrella erasing the outbreak and feeding the media a cover story about an accident at the Raccoon City Nuclear Power Facility.<sup>[13](https://bingerampage.com/ResidentEviltimeline/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City_(Anderson))</sup> The Anderson universe gives the city a population figure of 853,200.<sup>[14](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City_(Anderson))</sup>
- **Welcome to Raccoon City (2021).** Johannes Roberts's reboot retells the first two games in a single night of 1998, depicting a dying Midwestern town abandoned after Umbrella's exodus, with game-accurate locations such as the Spencer Mansion and the police station lobby.<sup>[15](https://alternative-lens.com/2021/12/03/resident-evil-welcome-to-raccoon-city-an-alternative-lens-review/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr4gOSGbVQI)</sup>
- **Zach Cregger's Resident Evil (2026).** Taking place in Raccoon City on the night the t-Virus breaks out, the film follows a brand-new storyline centered on Bryan (played by [Austin Abrams](https://www.edgepedia.org/austin-abrams)), a medical courier, instead of borrowing any particular game's plot or transplanting characters from the games.<sup>[17](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/resident-evil-movie-game-differences/)</sup> It opened in theaters on September 18, 2026, and grossed around $60 million domestically in its opening weekend, the biggest opening of both the director's career and the film franchise.<sup>[18](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/when-is-resident-evil-streaming-heres-our-best-guess)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[19](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/09/resident-evil-2026-movie-zach-cregger-interview/688792/)</sup> The film takes liberties with the setting, updating the timeline to the present day and covering the city in snow, neither of which matches the games' September 1998 outbreak.<sup>[17](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/resident-evil-movie-game-differences/)</sup>

The 2026 film and the game *Requiem* together illustrate a pattern commentators have noted in recent adaptations: building new stories around the setting itself, Raccoon City, rather than around the games' established characters.<sup>[20](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/cyberpunk-edgerunners-2-and-resident-evil-prove-that-game-worlds-not-characters-make-the-best-adaptations/)</sup>

## References

1. [Raccoon City, Resident Evil Wiki (Fandom)](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)
2. [We Are in the Midst of the Raccoon City Incident, Capcom News](https://news.capcomusa.com/lets/browse/we-are-in-the-midst-of-the-raccoon-city-incident)
3. [Capcom Integrated Report 2025](https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/data/pdf/annual/2025/annual_2025_01.pdf?pubDate=20251208)
4. [Raccoon City, Capcom Database Wiki (Fandom)](https://capcom.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)
5. [Resident Evil 5 manual, illustrated history (Capcom)](https://static.capcom.com/manuals/re5/RE5_PS3_DMNL_EN.pdf)
6. [Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City manual (Capcom)](https://static.capcom.com/manuals/reorc/REORC_360_DMNL_EN.pdf)
7. [Resident Evil 2 Out Today, Capcom Offers Insight into the Terrifying Tyrant, PlayStation.Blog](https://blog.playstation.com/2019/01/25/resident-evil-2-out-today-capcom-offers-insight-into-the-terrifying-tyrant/)
8. [Resident Evil 30th Anniversary Website, Resident Evil Portal, Capcom](https://game.capcom.com/residentevil/en/30th.html)
9. [Capcom is bringing us an "updated" Raccoon City in Resident Evil Requiem, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/resident-evil/you-want-to-keep-some-of-those-iconic-places-even-if-its-not-necessarily-realistic-capcom-is-bringing-us-an-updated-raccoon-city-in-resident-evil-requiem-that-shows-off-the-extent-of-its-destruction/)
10. [Raccoon City, Fictional Cities Wiki (Fandom)](https://fictional-cities.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)
11. [When Capcom brought in a professional screenwriter for the original Resident Evil 2, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/resident-evil/when-capcom-brought-in-a-professional-screenwriter-for-the-original-resident-evil-2-it-was-his-idea-to-fully-embrace-the-series-goofy-puzzles-well-just-have-to-make-the-police-chief-a-weirdo/)
12. [Raccoon City, Resident Evil Wiki (Fandom), Prime universe history](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City)
13. [Resident Evil — Which Raccoon City?, Binge Rampage](https://bingerampage.com/ResidentEviltimeline/)
14. [Raccoon City (Anderson), Resident Evil Wiki (Fandom)](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Raccoon_City_(Anderson))
15. [Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City — an Alternative Lens review](https://alternative-lens.com/2021/12/03/resident-evil-welcome-to-raccoon-city-an-alternative-lens-review/)
16. [Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City — Game vs. Movie Comparison, IGN (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr4gOSGbVQI)
17. [Resident Evil movie: the biggest similarities and differences from the games, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/horror-movies/resident-evil-movie-game-differences/)
18. [When is 'Resident Evil' streaming? Here's our best guess, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/when-is-resident-evil-streaming-heres-our-best-guess)
19. [The Right Way to Adapt a Video Game, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/09/resident-evil-2026-movie-zach-cregger-interview/688792/)
20. [Edgerunners 2 and Resident Evil prove that game worlds, not characters, make the best adaptations, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/cyberpunk-edgerunners-2-and-resident-evil-prove-that-game-worlds-not-characters-make-the-best-adaptations/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Film characters and fictional worlds › Horror film characters*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license