Tricell (Resident Evil 5)

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Tricell is a conglomerate organization comprised of shipping, natural resources development, and pharmaceuticals divisions.

Tricell's history dates back to the period known as the Age of Exploration. The forbearer to Tricell was Travis Trading, a company owned by the wealthy European merchant Thomas Travis.

This company profited greatly from expansive trading with the Orient, and laid the groundwork for what would become Tricell's shipping division.

Travis Trading entered the 19th century as a profitable trading venture.

In the 1800s, Henry Travis, the youngest of seven siblings, invested much of his own fortune into the exploration of Africa.

During this period, the exploits of explorers like David Livingstone were creating quite a stir in the newspapers of the day. Henry's expedition was inspired by these accounts, and his decision was to have a great impact on Travis Trading's future.

Henry made five expeditions to the African continent in order to explore all of its regions. The extensive funds of the Travis family allowed him to continue his research into Africa even through times when results were not forthcoming.

After his fifth and final expedition in Africa, Henry Travis returned to his home country a full 34 years after he had first left it.

Henry compiled the records of his expeditions into an impressive 72-volume set entitled "Survey of Natural History." These books covered everything from animals, plants, insects, minerals, and topography to the native inhabitants and their cultures, histories, and traditions. These books also contained extensive records detailing the folklore of various peoples throughout the continent. These tomes were a veritable encyclopedia of the African continent.

Henry's survey was published in its entirety, but his meticulous details were viewed as products of creative license and an overzealous imagination. The books were ultimately discredited by the scientific community. Considered to be a novelty item, only a few copies of the entire series were ever published.

The shock of being shunned by the scientific community sent Henry into a deep state of depression. He passed away only two years after his return from Africa.

It is now believed that the head of Travis Trading at that time (Henry's eldest brother) purposely spread the rumor that Henry's books were nothing more than fiction.

The thought being that he did this because he wanted Travis Trading to be the only company that could exploit the information contained within those books.

Of particular interest was the topographical information contained in volumes 17 through 24.

By the end of the 19th Century, Travis Trading had begun to exploit the mineral resources of Africa. All over the continent, the company was mining for precious metals and discovering/developing oil and natural gas fields. Meanwhile, the company's profits continued to soar. These operations formed the basis of Tricell's natural resources development division.

Travis Trading built a firm foothold in Africa, and beginning in the mid-20th century, they had begun to actively collect samples of plants, animals, and insects.

Henry's books were instrumental in guiding these endeavors.

The collected specimens were used in pharmaceutical research, and before long that research brought commercial success and the subsequent founding of Tricell's pharmaceuticals division.

Travis Trading was the basis for the shipping division.

The natural resources development division was born from the information contained in Henry's journals.

The specimens obtained from the African fauna were used to create the independent pharmaceuticals division.

By the 1960s, these three divisions of Travis Trading were firmly established, and they formed a conglomerate under the name Tricell.

The Travis family, however, were not the only ones privy to the knowledge of Henry's journals.

Umbrella's founder, Ozwell E. Spencer, was interested in them for the folklore recorded therein. Of particular interest were the accounts of the Ndipaya's rituals. Spencer hypothesized that the flower used in their rituals held significance, and this ultimately led to the discovery of the Progenitor virus.