Resident Evil, known as in Japan, is an
action,
adventure,
horror fiction video game based
media franchise created by
Shinji Mikami and owned by the video game company
Capcom. The franchise focuses around a series of
survival horror video games, but has since branched out into comic books, novels and
novelizations, sound dramas, a
series of live-action films and animated sequels to the games, and a variety of associated merchandise, such as action figures. The overarching plot of the series focuses on multiple characters and their roles in recurring outbreaks of
zombies and other monsters, initially due to the release of the
T-virus, a biological weapon created by the fictional
Umbrella Corporation.