Talos (Resident Evil)

Talos, also known as T.A.L.O.S. or T-A.L.O.S. is a fictional monster from the Resident Evil  series of survival horror games. In the games Talos is portrayed as the ultimate bio-organic weapon, bio-engineered by the Umbrella Corporation. The “T” stands for Tyrant, and the rest of stands for Armored Lethal Organic System. Like the Nemesis and most other specialized Tyrants that appear in the series, Talos' name seems to be inspired from Greek mythology. Talos served as the last boss of the main chapters in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

Character History
Files in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles flesh out Talos' backstory, which is interwoven with the events of previous games in the series. It is stated that the Umbrella research team stationed at the Spencer Mansion originally conceived of the Talos as their answer to the European Nemesis. Before it could be completed, development was interrupted by the events of Resident Evil Zero, where former Umbrella researcher James Marcus caused an outbreak of the T-Virus. Realizing that the Mansion facility's days were numbered, Umbrella founder Ozwell E. Spencer ordered his most trusted enforcer, Sergei Vladimir, to recover the Talos prototype so that its research would not be wasted. This was done, and the prototype was safely brought back into Umbrella's hands before the Mansion was destroyed by Albert Wesker following the events of the original Resident Evil.

After Raccoon City was destroyed in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the Umbrella Corporation was forced underground and most of its activities were shut down. The Talos project was moved to Umbrella's Russian branch, which would be the setting for The Umbrella Chronicles' final scenarios. The Talos was completed before the events of those last scenarios, and tested well against a Special Forces unit, two armored vehicles, and an attack helicopter. Throughout the game players are given a lot of foreshadowing, both in the narrative and in collectible files, that sets Talos up as the ultimate foe.

The Umbrella Chronicles' last chapter, titled "Umbrella's End", takes place in February of 2003. Players can choose between Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine as they attack the Russian stronghold where Talos had been completed. The player penetrates deep into the facility, and its very core finally faces off against Talos, Umbrella's greatest bio-weapon. After its first defeat Talos mutates into a second, more powerful form, but if the player is victorious it is destroyed for good, and years of Umbrella's most sophisticated research ends in failure.

Capabilities
The idea behind the Talos project, both as an enemy in the game and in the story canon, is the creation of a highly advanced bio-weapon that could effectively controlled. This is the same idea behind the Nemesis, though that enemy was controlled by organic parasites which lent it tentacles it could use as weapons against the player. The Talos, however, relies on chip connections to brain cells, making it remote controllable by a supercomputer, though it lacks the Nemesis' tentacles. To compensate for this, Talos is equipped with specialized combat firepower and armor. Even while armed with heavy weaponry, it has mobility unthinkable in a natural organism.

When the player first engages Talos, its heavy armor protects it from serious harm, and it launches missiles in addition to rushing at the player with incredible speed. Its armor must be shot off, at which point it can be damaged. After its first defeat, Talos changes into a second form, as without its armor it is prone to runaway mutation. The player must dodge Talos' attacks in the form of lasers, claw swipes, and robotic tentacles. This form of Talos has three weak points on its front that must be destroyed, at which point it falls to the ground, exposing a vulnerability on its back. After this vulnerability is attacked enough, Talos is defeated for good.