Virus The Mold

[Evil Resident]

The Mold is currently a mystery, with no definate origin yet revealed. We don't even know what it's called. Some have expressed frustration trying to understand it, while others have gone so far as to dismiss the idea of trying to take it seriously. I've heard similiar statements made towards the C-Virus, yet like C, so much of how it operates can be seen simply by studying subtle (and obvious) tendencies in mutant hosts. I decided to place this in the 2018+ section, as even though it currently relies on information from RE7, we will no doubt see the Mold again, and this can be a place to compile future information and discuss it. For now, I will attempt to explain how I percieve the Mold, relying both on established fact and plausable speculation.


What is The Mold?



The Mold is a fungus (the term bacteria is used, but this is a mistranslation). It resembles typical mold, and is black in color. While it gives off the illusion of possesing intelligence, the Mold is simply controlled by a "Subject", and is no more capable of thought than my fingers can think independantly of me. It is capable of growing at an alarming rate, and without a Subject to control it's growth, poses an extremely high biohazard risk. It is parasitic, and invades biological organisms to feed on hosts at the cellular level. It is highly toxic, and it's presence is often marked by the corpses of birds and fish.

The Mold is able to grow across an enviroment and invade animals directly, but is also able to infect animals directly from other hosts via skin contact. As a fungus, it can travel in spores that can be inhaled. It can also quickly spread through ingestion, either directly or through contaminated foods. These factors make the Mold one of the most virulent plagues in the series, which is really saying something.




The Mold produces chemicals related to telemores that have extremely powerful regenerative capabilities. These can cause animal cells to divide and heal so rapidly that wounds will disappear in mere seconds. These also may effect how host cells age, and can even cause the restotration of already dead cells.



In it's natural, the Mold does not seem to actually invade and mutate cells like a virus would. Rather, it literally devours animals from the inside out. The resulting Mold takes on the shape of the host it is "eating", and repurposes organic tissue to form muscle and bone that allow the colony of Mold to walk, move it's arms and bite. Like Mimicry Marcus, these colonies, or "Molded", are not infected animals, but merely mimic them. Molded based on humans are so far the only encountered. The Mold is also capable of creating Molded from it's own biomass, so their numbers are indefinate.

Infection and Symbiosis



While the Mold naturally acts more like a parasite and predator than a disease, by controlling how it spreads using a Subject, it can infect host cells rather than devour them.
After invading the body, it can then enter a sort of dormancy, using it's energy not to grow, but to release it's regenerative chemicals and manipulate the host, forming a symbiotic relationship where the host is protected and the Mold can feed on what the host ingests. This seems to cause hosts to engage in strictly carnivouras acts, including cannibalism.

Upon reaching the brain, the Mold develops fungal tumors which gradually damage the forebrain, reducing inhibitions and causing hallucinations. The Mold itself induces psychosis and makes hosts become delusional, prone to rage, and filled with violent, even sadistic tendencies. These result in actions of violence against non infected, infected, and even towards themselves. These hallucinations are triggered and controlled by the Subject, but more on that later.

While the Mold degrades the ego and damages the host's perception of reality, it does not eliminate individual personality, nor does it technically use mind control, at least not in the same sense as Las Plagas. Rather, it breaks down inhibitions, creates an obsession with pleasing the Subject, and puts the host in a state where they are vulnerable to suggestion, like hypnosis.
For example, Jack Baker's fatherly nature and desire to protect and preserve his family remained after infection, but it was perverted to protect Eveline's "family". Marguerite's motherly instincts were used to cause her to feed captured people infected food, and she treated her insects like children. When Eveline ordered Mia to kill Ethan, she rationalized it as a nessesary measure to contain the outbreak.




As the Mold manipulates the biological makeup of hosts, it causes visual, yet superficial mutations. Large bumps appear on the head, likely the Mold tumors, deforming host faces. The skin becomes pale, and black spots sometimes appear as the Mold infects the skin.
The regenerative augmentation the Mold provides also affects host strength, allowing amazing feats like tearing apart cars and walking through walls.

Just look at Jack and Marguerite's appearance before and after infection yourselves:

Jack



Marguerite






If the Subject allows the Mold to operate without proper direction (the entire infection process is completely dependant on Subject intervention), host mutations escalate until the host's form is compromised, and they are twisted and mutated into monsters. This stage is triggered by increased Mold activity due to a response to host damage, like V-ACT. This was seen with Jack at the boathouse, Marguerite at the greenhouse, and Lucas at the labs.

The Mold is also said to mutate infected plants•, and mutant Alligators have also been encountered. I will talk about insects later.

Subject



A Subject is a human host fused with the Mold at the embryonic stage, like Eveline. Subjects develop a unique relationship with the Mold, and are able to secrete a variant of the fungus that they are biologically linked to. The Subject uses chemicals similar to pheremones, the nature of which are poorly understood even by the Connections, to establish control over the Mold they produce.

The Subject and the Mold collective act as a single organism. In a sense, the Mold is a part of the Subject. When no Subject is present, the Mold is an uncontrollable plague that spreads and consumes everything in it's path. When a Subject is present, the Mold is an intelligent super organism that is only as dangerous as the Subject wills it to be. If the Subject itself is perfected, the Mold would be the perfect bioweapon.

Molded, while posessing little to no intelligence, can behave in a coordinated and cooperative manner when a Subject is present. As stated before, Subjects can also create "Mold Humans", which become obsessed with pleasing the Subject. Even the Mold itself grows and receeds according to the will of the Subject, to such a degree that it becomes capable of autonomy, like The Blob.



Even deeper, the Subject seems to maintain a sort of hive mind between hosts. Mold Mutants' minds may be literally "stored" in the actual Mold, explaining how hosts like Jack could retain memories despite having his brain destroyed on multiple occasions.

The Subjects themeselves are highly unstable, and prone to insanity without regular treatments. These treatments also slow ageing, as Subjects otherwise mature then decay rapidly. Eveline wasn't old enough to start school when she was already a frail old woman.
Control is also an issue, and relies on traditional conditioning.

Bugs



The Mold has a curious relationship with arthropods, particularly insects, arachnids, and centipedes. In the cases of Marguerite and "Swamp Man" Jack, insects were drawn to and/or produced by them. Marguerite's Mold was used as hives, and her own body housed many creatures that frequently travelled outside through her mouth. The fact spiders were often used to cover doors and flying insects to guard choke points suggests they too are a part of the hive mind, explaining Marguerite's affection for them as a part of her family.
(EDIT: According to the Kaitia Shinso Guide, Insects in RE7 are not controlled by Eveline due to being secondary infected. This resulted in their separation from the hive mind.)

A mutation seen in flying insects is a dramatic size increase, and genetic recombination resulting in insect chimeras, like Plague Crawlers. Sound familiar?*

* The Mold's regenerative and mutagenic prowess and the ability of a single Subject to control lesser hosts, combined with it's effects on plants and insects, makes me believe a connection to t-Veronica is highly plausable, especially with the technical assistance from HCF in 2000. This would mantain Progenitor as the series constant, and a virus/mold connection has already been hinted at.

That's enough for one post. I plan on also covering the different variants of Mold, as well as the different types of Molded. In the meantime, do you agree or disagree with anything I wrote? Have any Mold related questions, thoughts or theories? What opinions do you have? Personally, I really like the Mold, and find the concept incredibly interesting and disturbing.

 

[Mark5]

One thing that i didn't quite understand about evie and the molded is How the game put different serum and vaccines for the player to fetch and each one had their own special properties, for instance during the main game we see 2 types: 1) made by zoe which calcified jack but saved Mia and 2) the one Ethan made from necrotoxin which the files affirm can kill evie however the necrotoxin one apparently just mutated her into a uncontrollable big messed up blob and was only properly destroyed by the special Wesker gun. And Joe makes another vaccine during End Of Zoe DLC, is it yet another type of agent? It looks like It is, perhaps because Zoe infection seems to be of the white mold type. Perhaps you can shine some light about It, or provide a bit more insights regarding these agents.

 

[Weskers Report]

It’s plausible that T-Veronica was utilized with the E series type given HCF’s involvement.

The mold didn’t only have an effect on plants and insects however, we also saw molded gator.


The series has also been toying with B.O.W.’s being controlled from day 1.

We get to see through technologies Umbrella (Carter) writing data for Fuckin Trenchies (as Leon called them) to attack Hunters and Umbrella Europe with the Nemesis program.

Then we move onto Plagas and the Dominant Plagas with the Master plaga controlling all.

Then we see Buddy controlling Lickers with a more advanced Plaga type and we see the Trigger Virus in Vendetta doing the same exact thing (essentially).

0 covered the premise of ‘Queen Leech’ controlling the lesser leeches years prior.

The script is getting a little stale and Capcom is running out of ideas.

Another ongoing plot arc in the series that is getting stale is a villain slaughtering millions just to prove the world needs protection from him.

 

[Evil Resident]

@Weskers Report , I started reading your post and thought you were giving them credit for consistency and building onto past plot points, yet you did the opposite! This series is about living biological weapons. Control is always important.

Why so negative lately? You even critisized CAPCOM for reusing textures, which is commonplace. Try making a game, then accuse them of laziness and cast shame.


@Mark5 , I'm glad you asked! The serum Ethan and Zoe create from the head and arm was created from a D-Series BOW, and as such was inneffective against Mold made from Eveline, who is the more advanced E-Series. It hurt Jack, but he recovered. He is smaller in EoZ after losing all that mass to calcification.

The D serum fails to cure Mia and Zoe in both endings, with Mia still having hallucinations and Zoe calcifying.


The serum used on Eveline (and later on Zoe in EoZ) was E-Series, as it was created from Eveline's own tissue. It cured Zoe, and was actually 100% successful with Eveline. The files say it takes around 15 minutes for the serum to kill the Subject. The Albert Handgun just held her off from killing Ethan long enough for it to work.

She turned herself into a blob of Mold. Her final form looks like the budding stalk in some fungi, actually. Her being able to seamlessly meld with the Mold like that is another example of the Subject being linked with the Mold collective. In a sense, it's merely an extension of her.


The Serum kills mold cells, and like Daylight and Anti-C, is lethal to those too far along in infection, as the Mold has fused with every cell in the body. It is both a cure and a poison.

 

[Weskers Report]

@Evil Resident...forgot to say good post and topic.

if the goal of Bilogical warfare was to have a Tyrant sized man appear like a human from a distance than the mold is without a doubt the next evolutionary step of said goal.


no one would bat an eye lash at a little girl, would they?

a 10 year old WMD. fuck.


one thats easy to produce at this stage.

given a two week embryotic pregnancy period and applying the e type mold with a virus (possible T-Veronica) base.


as the great Kenichi Iwao said in his interview:


“The goal of the Tyrant was to make the ultimate soldier, though a bunch of zombies were also made in the process, so it had an extremely low success rate… kind of like a sniper who targets multiple people. That soldier was meant to put fear into the mind of the players.”


Evie would’ve been that sniper, wherever she would’ve been deployed.

walking amongst the ranks of her enemies, unseen.

except this is even fuckin better.

you don‘t just kill your enemy, you take over them, control them.


one thing I didn’t like about the mold though was the inconsistency of it.


why did every family member react to it differently?

just for the sake of having variety for boss fights?

Zoe’s transformation being the most bizarre one of them all.

I read your comments on this:

“If the Subject allows the Mold to operate without proper direction (the entire infection process is completely dependant on Subject intervention), host mutations escalate until the host's form is compromised, and they are twisted and mutated into monsters. This stage is triggered by increased Mold activity due to a response to host damage, like V-ACT. This was seen with Jack at the boathouse, Marguerite at the greenhouse, and Lucas at the labs.“


but why once compromised would their mutations differ?

@Mark, I know you love theorizing, nothing wrong with that.l! Zoe being white molded, calcified etc. but atlas, we just don’t know.


good stuff though guys, Evil Resident, you do always go into great detail, much appreciated



btw, I know I’ve been quite negative with the series latley but not to worry, I’m sure I’ll perk up come E3, just need some good RE news man.

 

[Evil Resident]

The multiple arms and faces on Jack's mutant form implies he didn't regenerate properly from a pair of legs after Eveline lost interest in him. His body, in attempting to regain his upper half, became a tumor of uncontrollable growth without the guidance of the Subject. His head is even upside down.



Marguerite looks like she took on traits from her insects. Lucas has the same hardened black shell that Jack did. He also has the extra faces, which may be a common Mold mutation tendency.



Viruses (and thus Virus-affected Mold) are incredibly unpredictable IRL, and randomly mutate frequently. Having a random mutation every once in a while makes sense, as long as it fits the context of what caused the mutation. Random mutations were in classic games too - the Suspended, G, the first Crimson Head, the fire blood of t-Veronica, etc.

The Mold is indeed a huge evolution for BOW development. BU may even want to destroy it, as it could render all BOWs on the market obsolete... as soon as the Subject is refined with a reliable means of control, that is.

Don't worry about it. I'm anxious for news too - shouldn't be long now! And thank you.

 

[Mark5]

thanks for the explanation @Evil Resident .

The E-Series (evie) was probably quite a new batch and The Connections must have finished its production by early 2014? The necrotoxin to kill Evie could at the time (I think 2017 isn't it) be the only workaround solution able to consistently eliminate Evie (The connections probably was using the lab area where Ethan finds the files and special suitcase to develop that agent.) I don't think Mia had access to that necrotoxin during the Anabelle incident or Else she could have eliminated Evie on the spot? And just two more questions i have: Are there people completely immune to the mold infection? Joe Baker didn't seem to mind exposing himself to the molded? Maybe he did get infected, and he just got lucky that the mold takes some time to mutate or kill him? And question 2 is about BU, if BU wants the molded destroyed are they going to kill Ethan and Mia (and possibly Zoe even though she was apparently cured) or they will simply apply the correct vaccine to both Ethan and Mia? And what about the big quarantined zone how they could make sure other shady companies doesn't notice it and catches samples? Destroying every bows and mold traces in the area seems quite a hard task.

@Weskers Report : i really dig theories, and you guys from the boards here really help because you are very open to debate and expose every little detail about the games, anyway the theories and the likely outcomes for future games are what really keeps me entertained!

By the way... even after the vaccine was administered to her Zoe´s hair still looks strange (all white?)

 

[Evil Resident]

Either the Connections didn't specify that only the E series Necrotoxin would work to Mia, they didn't know themeselves, or D series worked at first but Eveline built up an immunity to it.

She couldn't eliminate her on the ship even if she had the serum, as Eveline was playing hide and seek. Ethan barely managed to get close enough himself.


The files mention some of the Baker victim's were't used to create Molded due to being "tainted". It could be the Mold doesn't like certain hosts, and that could be the case with Joe. If he isn't immune, then it's almost definately an oversight, as he went around punching Molded with his bare hands and lived in those swamps during the entire outbreak


I think Ethan, Mia, and Zoe are safe for now. If they suddenly disapeared, Chris would notice. They have been cured and should pose no risk

The best course of action is to probably just firebomb the swamp. Maybe they were going to, but quarantined the area long enough to find Zoe, since Ethan demanded Chris find her.


As for Zoe's hair, it could meen anything. Her genetics could have been permanantly altered, or it could be due to pigmentation damage. Same thing happened to Jill, after all.

 

[TheBatMan]

Just a brief aside; I personally have no issue whatsoever with the term Mutamycete. Its a localised term sure, but then so is Progenitor. If you insist on calling the Mutamycete as just 'Mold', then really you should always refer to Progenitor as 'Founder Virus'. Obviously Progenitor sounds much better in this respect for Western audiences, which is the intention behind localisation. Muta (for mutation) and Mycete (Greek and Latin origin for 'fungus'). It is also used primarily in mycology to form words used for categorising fungi based on their evolutionary origin, life-history, growth-form or ecological preferences. An example would by 'Mycelium/Mycelia which are the filaments inside the vegetative part of the fungus.


Like Progenitor, Mutamycete sounds much better than 'Specific Fungus' in this respect. It should not necessarily be discarded because there is no equivalent term in Japanese vocabulary.

 

[Evil Resident]

I see your point, and it's a good one. But I don't think even "Special Fungus" is the official title, which was redacted. I'll just play it safe for now and call it Mold, capitalized for clarification. If localization continues using Mutamycete, I'll probably adopt it, like Hunnigan.

 

[TheBatMan]

'Specific Fungus' 特異菌 is the term used in the R&D report and is repeated in the 'Eveline Observation Log' in NAH. 菌 'fungus' can also be completely interchangeable with 'bacteria' or 'germ' which is what has led to all the confusion with the English referring to it as a bacterium.

薗糸 is the meaning for Mycelium.

Normally I wouldn't adopt Mutamycete, but its prominent use throughout Not A Hero made me reconsider. I suspect the term will be kept for future references.

 

[Weskers Report]

There’s so many examples here I can give of how badly mistranslations have butchered and destroyed scripts for the U.S. fanbase but I hear ya Bats, these are more like ‘changes’ done to touch up dialogue to cater to Western gamers.

Harmless stuff, and in the end, it does sound better.

 

[News Bot]

"Mutamycete" is only prominently used in Not A Hero to fit with the main story's localization. As far as I'm aware it is the same translator too, so there is no reason to assume it being used in Not A Hero lends it more credence.


The Mold is an "anomalous bacterium" which has probably evolved into a fungus after being exposed to a virus courtesy of H.C.F. A bacterium is a single-celled organism while a fungus is multicellular. A virus with evolutionary potential would be able to give the bacterium the kick it needs to become multicellular. It just so happens that the developers call it a "virus-accentuated mold."

If you insist on calling the Mutamycete as just 'Mold', then really you should always refer to Progenitor as 'Founder Virus'. Obviously Progenitor sounds much better in this respect for Western audiences, which is the intention behind localisation.

The Japanese term for Founder/Progenitor makes no preference towards either, that is all in the English interpreter. The developers specifically chose Progenitor, just as they spell out "Mold" in katakana.

 

[Evil Resident]

There are currently four known types of Mold. These are not the A-E series classifications, but variant strains of the E-Series encountered in Dulvey. I have labeled them by their appearance.


1. Black

This is the standard strain produced by Eveline. It's darker color may protect it from sunlight. Black Molded and hosts (like Jack) bleed a yellow liquid, perhaps the chemicals the Mold secretes?

As suggested in a lab file by Lucas, the Subject controls what form each Molded take


Molded (standard) - These walking Mold colonies are almost devoid of intelligence, being unable to even open doors. Their bodies are tough yet malleable and flexible, but their heads are soft. Like Oozes, they can disolve and resolidify.

Their name is a play on words, referencing both the Mold and the fact they were molded into a humanoid creature from inanimate material.

Quick Molded - The body structure of these allow quick movements and the ability to jump and scale surfaces. Their frame makes them weaker to damage, but their speed more than makes up for this.

Blade Molded - These Molded have developed a sharp claw on their arms and are more resiliant. A further stage is seen in EoZ, with both arms bladed and spikes growing on the head and body. These sharp sections appear similiar to the hardened Mold shells seen on Mutant Jack and Lucas.

Fat Molded - These bloated Molded carry large ammounts of that yellow liquid, which they vomit at foes. They explode on death, perhapes due to expansion, pressure, or some explosive compound in their bile. A couple in NaH lack heads, and perform suicide attacks.

2. Gray

This variant covers the first floor of the Old House and the Green House. It emerged originally from Marguerite's body. While Black Mold creates Molded, this type causes insects to grow in size and become a part of the Mold ecosystem. It appears to attract insects to it, perhaps with t-Veronica pheremones, which use it as a hive. This type may be a natural mutation, with it's properties emerging from either t-Veronica or as a response to it's enviroment.


Man Eating Insect (Young and Adult) - These appear to take on the traits of multiple insect species, essentially being flying Plague Crawlers. Multiple insect breeds coexisting in the Mold hives probably led to these hybrids.

Swamp Man - Jack Baker appears in EoZ covered in a material very similiar looking to the Gray Mold, and he is always covered in centipedes. His Black Mold has apparently become Gray.

There are also the Man Eating Spiders and giant Centipedes.


3. White

This seems to be a strain created from Black in the Salt Mines by the Connections using data taken from the Bakers. By studying the family, along with the victims they caprured, they were able to create an advanced Mold strain even more desireable as a bioweapon. It creates Molded that obtain the regenerative prowess the Bakers possess, able to withstand all traditional damage. In addition, White Mold constantkly expells a thich spore cloud, making infection much more of a threat.

Mutant Lucas expelled a spore cloud as well, but the Mold is already able to propegate this way to a lesser degree, so him aquiring a sore potent cloud as a random mutation isn't too far fetched.

White Molded have more human-like details, like hair and eyes. This could be due to human DNA getting mixed into the Mold as a result of recombination with prior hosts.


Fumer (WM-02) - White Mold equivalent of standard Molded. They are immune to damage, excluding RAMRODS, and constantly expell a spore cloud, hence the name. The head resembles a human skull.

Mama Mold (WM-01) - White Mold equivalent of Fat Molded, she is the toughest known Molded type. Like the Fumer, she is invincible to most forms of damage, and even RAMRODs only serve to halt regeneration, rather than killing her outright. Her cranium is split open, and she has exposed red tissue on her body.

Little Crawler (WM-01a) - These animated chunks of Mold are "birthed" from red growths on the Mama Mold and from the White Mold itself. Small and fragile, they clamp onto prey with their legs then explode. Unlike other Molded, they do not resemble humans, yet still develop some human traits, like straight teeth on their undersides, an eye, and vaguely human feet.

4. Lumpy

Appearing in lumps in the quarantine zone, this Mold is black with white/gray lumps. The only clue to it's nature can be found by seeing identical lumps on Mold Gators:

Since the Mold is normally toxic to many types of animals, like birds and fish, perhaps this strain adapted to survive in alligator hosts, making it the reptile equivalent of the arthropod-friendly Gray Mold.

 

[TheBatMan]

More from the kaitaishinsho:


There are not four variants of E-Type Mutamycete. They are all the same strain (aside from the modified white in the DLC which is obviously not covered in the book). Eveline can simply create different Molded variants via her own will because she controls the Mold.


The insects found in the Old House are infected with the Mold, but because they were secondarily infected and not orally or physically touched and infected by Eveline, she cannot control them.


As I long theorised, the Baker's are restricted to Stage 2 of the infection throughout the game. Examples given are Ethan's leg amputation as stage 1, Mia in the prologue as stage 2 and Mutated Marguerite as Stage 3. Jack also lost control of his regeneration ability after Eveline discarded him as her father which is why he appears as a mutant in the boathouse.

 

[Evil Resident]

There are not four variants of E-Type Mutamycete

How do you explain the fourth one I mentioned? Eveline was dead.
The Mold in the Greenhouse and first floor of the Old House was a different color, and used exclusively with insects.

So Eveline only controls hosts whom she touches? Why does eating it matter?

 

[An Herb Sandwich]

This is all well thought out, but this still doesn't solve the biggest issues with the Mold in the story.


1. How did Zoe survive calcification? They wrote up an explanation (a hamfisted one that I'm sure was just made to handwave Jack being back as another boss, but that's besides the point) for Jack, saying he's just unique, but how and why did Zoe survive? Especially since she explicitly dies through the same manner in the Zoe choice ending process. Hell, how was she never corrupted by Eveline in the first place despite also being infected? Why did she become a crystal person?


2. Why and how was Joe never infected despite living in the same swamp for years during the outbreak? As well as touching up and all over Molded and never experiencing any symptoms.


3. How is Marguerite able to produce regular insects from her body? Controlling them I can understand, possibly through pheromones (but the game never specifies or states that method, but whatever), how does being infected by a fungus cause you to produce random insects out of your body? With T-Veronica, it makes sense given how it's expressly stated and clear it was made with ant genes and things infected by it show a consistent theme with it. With Marguerite it's just "Surprise! centipedes coming out of her throat and bees out of her hoohah from nowhere". And while it's a neat little theory that the Mold has T-Veronica in it, it's just that. A theory, not confirmed or supported by anything in the game or story.


4. The consciousnesses of the infected somehow being "backed up" in some form of Cloud and being able to go to it even upon death in the Mold makes no fucking sense.


5. How did Mia become infected again so quickly after being given the serum? She may as well not have not even taken the serum since she still is experiencing hallucinations and still has her possessed look from before. How did the serum not kill Mia upon injection since she's been infected even longer than the Bakers? All of her cells should be infected by that point, even with Eveline controlling the Mold, it's been three years! On that note, how was Zoe able to be calcified and killed if she was given the serum as well in her choice cutscene when it also should have cured her? Seriously, what was even the point of gathering the serum in the first place if it doesn't even do anything?


6. Why are there contradictions on how infection progresses in both the files and story itself? This is the biggest issue with the Mold and one of the biggest issues of 7's story. In the main game the files detail, repeatedly, that the process is gradual and the stages take time over the course of days.


This is said in the files you find in the labs.


This is also supported and shown in Marguerite's diary in the Old House and in the doctor's note in Grandma's Room.


Yet in Daughters, where the events in it are supposed to be canonical, Jack and Marguerite (plus presumably Lucas) immediately jump to Stage 2 of infection, upon the first night they encounter Eveline, within minutes! On that logic, Ethan, Mia, Clancy, and even Alan Droney should have all become thralls upon being infected by the Mold.


This guy talks in depth about point 6's issues and his video is what brought it to my attention.

And before some of you jump to the "English mistranslations!" excuse, the Japanese files show the same contradictions. You can ask News Bot, Batman, or any other reliable Japanese reader as that's where I found that out in the first place. Unfortunately, those translations were on the old Biohaze and are now lost, so I can't show you myself.

 

[Evil Resident]

1. Dusk Golem provided further info on Jack. Eveline bestowed greater powers of regeneration on him because she was looking for a father (it is even implied Eveline made him rape Mia). That file in EoZ is speculation on the part of BU, who know very little about Eveline's family obsession.

Zoe never crumbled like Marguerite (nor did Jack), so calcification never went past skin level.

Why Zoe wasn't brainwashed is open to interpretation, as the Mold only operates according to the will of the subject.


2. That is possibly an oversight indeed, although files claim the Mold doesn't work on some hosts.


3. She doesn't produce them - her Mold attracts them. In Daughters, she is consuming them, and in her mutant form it is shown they have made a nest inside of her from which they breed.

t-Veronica contains a virus found in a Queen ant that produces insect mutations, like how the Abyss produces fish mutations. That's why Javo grow things like grasshopper legs and butterfly/moth wings and turn into caccoons, the Gnezdo is a swarm of bees, and why Nosferatu has praying mantis arms.

It's a theory because the origins of the Mold haven't been revealed yet, like T prior to RE0 or G prior to Wesker's Report II, but it is most probable considering it's a mind control mutagen that alters plants and the enviroment, was created with help from HCF, and has such bug-related effects.

It's already confirmed a virus is involved anyway.


4. The mind is like computer data. The Queen Leech did it with Marcus, and Alex with computers.


5. That Serum didn't work. All it could do was calcify Jack's outside layers. Play again and notice you are creating a D-Series Serum, not E-Series like the one used on Eveline and in EoZ.

Again, Eveline controls how far the Mold spreads. Not the ammount of time infected.

She left Mia "human" for so long because she thought she really loved her and cared more about her.


6. And at the end of Daughters, they are back to normal. Like how Mia goes back and forth in the main game. The process is gradual, but hosts go through "episodes" in this process until they are eventually stuck in that crazy state.


RE7 actually has some of the best translation work, aside from "NEXBAS" and the term "BOW" being omitted. In most horror-mysteries i've played, stories are told in an indirect manner, where the answers are told through observational storytelling. It keeps you thinking about the game long after you finished it. Besides that, we don't have the full story yet, according to Dusk Golem.

 

[An Herb Sandwich]

1. Dusk Golum has said a lot of things that ended up not being true. He's also not an official Capcom source and has gotten his info (where some of it ended up false) from scrapped story elements. And from what I heard, duck and ran when people started calling him out on what he said not being in the DLC's. Relying on this as concrete proof is like relying on your friend who says his uncle works at Nintendo. You, Dark Chris, and News Bot need to stop putting him on this infallible pedestal of gospel truth. He's a dataminer, not a prophet.


2. Can you provide me with some files stating that the mold doesn't work on certain people? Nothing I've read or found on the Mold says anything about that.


3. How do you explain the centipede in her mouth that springs up from inside her body in Daughters and Bedroom? We never see her actively eat bugs or there is nothing that says that's the process that happens. Plus things you eat don't end up in your womb. In her boss fight you can clearly see and read in the interluding screens for the fight that she gives birth to the bees. They didn't come out of nowhere and swarm up her cooch, they obviously come from there, from her hivegina.


And I stated before that those viruses made more sense since they didn't produce entirely normal insects and are confirmed to have insect genes used to create said viruses. They produced Insect-like mutations. T-Abyss produced Fish-like mutations. Emphasis on like. As in based off animals. Not just normal insects you could dig around outside in a park and find. Even the C-virus (which was way too on the nose with mutations, but I digress), had mutations that produced insect parts. Not plain regular ol' insects from nowhere. And the Gnezdo makes no sense either. How does an entire person dissolve entirely into bees?! But this isn't about C, so moving on.


I don't think it's probable, since again nothing exists that confirms that. HCF provided technical assistance, that is a fact. But technical assistance can mean anything, and it's not a confirmation that they gave the Connections viruses to work on the Mold with. You're going off speculation and theory and trying to paste it as a fact. There is no info about a virus, much less T-V, being used in the Mold, what are you talking about? If this really is true, show me the receipts.


4. That doesn't amount to anything if the subject dies on calcification, or if the brain (the thing that holds your memories, personality, so on) gets obliterated. Like it did for Jack and Zoe. Brains do not have back up drives for your personality and so forth if the cerebral cortex gets damaged or destroyed. It's not that literal. Where does the consciousness even go? How does it get uploaded into the Mold? There are no IT servers for the Mold or Eveline. If you're trying to convince me there's some kind of Playstation Home somehow in the Mold by biotechnology, then its not going to work.


5. It certainly worked like the files said said in the main game about how if it gets injected into a host that's too compromised it's fatal and the person calcifes. Something we're supposed to believe is what happened to Jack, since that's what is shown in the scene. Eveline was set on having Marge and Jack as her parents too for three years and they still were filled with infected cells. So was Lucas, Zoe, and Mia. Even with Eveline controlling the rate she can't possibly hold it forever since it takes over slowly regardless whether Eveline is there or not. The files and game itself seem to hold that the serum works. If it didn't then what was the point of going through at least a third of the game gathering it up to do nothing? And not even stating or suggesting at all that it doesn't do anything?


6. Except the game outright lays out the process of infection:

Stage 1: Slowly takes over body's cells, grants regenerative abilities. Ethan is shown to be in stage 1 through being able to move and use his severed clean off hand. Jack, Marge, Lucas, and Zoe in Daughters should be right in this stage. Given the time frame and following this logic, Mia should also still be in this stage. Unless several days have passed since the Annabelle's sinking, which in that case Mia is in Stage 2.

Stage 2: Mold reaches brain and thoughts are "in-tune", starts to have auditory and visual hallucinations and soon becomes under Eveline's complete control. Mia is potentially already in this state in Daughters. Here is where the plot holes start. Jack, Marge, and Lucas immediately come under Eveline's control and in the mid-stage in not even 30 minutes. Hearing her and seeing her in their heads. Remember, the first stage slowly takes over the body's cells until it reaches the brain. 30 minutes or less is not slow.


Another contradiction rises when you take into account Ethan's infection progress. Ethan enters Stage 2 at the time of him getting the E series arm in the Old House at the backroom. He should, by the file, be under Eveline's complete control soon. However, he stays the whole time himself and not under Eveline's thrall at all the entire rest of the game, the hallucinations only really flaring up at the end. And unlike Zoe, there's nothing hinting that he has some sort of unexplained immunity or is just mentally strong, as Zoe never even shows any sign of being in the mid-stage unlike Ethan.


This gets especially egregious when you also take into account Marge's diary. She starts undergoing the turn to Stage 2, starting at October 11 and ends up under complete control by the 23rd. That's nearly 2 weeks of transition time! And since we are told in Daughters and implied through common sense with the files in the main game that the Bakers all got infected at the same time, if you want to stretch it, two or so days earlier at most through Mia, that means the other two should have succumbed at around the same time as Marge. Whereas Ethan undergoes initial infection stage 1 to stage 2 in a matter of hours. I repeat, it slowly takes over the body's cells till it reaches the brain and presumably soon after the whole body is infected and is in the final stage.

Final Stage: complete infection, all cells in the body are contaminated, the all hosts gain super strength aside from other mutations.


Jack, Marge, Mia and Lucas are at this stage. All of them have super strength, with Jack and Mia being the main ones to exhibit this. This means that when either of them gets the serum injected in them, they will calcify and die. Jack should be permadead in the main game due to this, as every cell in his body was affected and calcified.

Zoe should also automatically perish upon being upon being given the serum ( even if she still exhibits the signs and symptoms of Stage 1) since she has already been infected for three years and the treatment window is very small.


One more plot hole is how Lucas is supposed to be permadead at the end of Not A Hero, through a shotgun round to the head, but he doesn't calcifiy which signals death for an infected.



Remake, RE2, RE3, and CV all had files and moments that didn't contradict each other each other even nearly as hard as 7's has. And those are all more horror leaning games in this series.


I know you love to put 7 on a pedestal, and that it's your favorite game in the series, but you can't just ignore obvious flaws like these and try to do the writer's job of trying to fill these plot holes in with headcanons. When they should logically have come in filled to start with.

 

[Evil Resident]

1. Dusk has been right enough. NaH and EoZ went through major overhauls. But I'm confident with this info, as it fits with what we see in the game. News Bot. and cvxfreak vouch for him.


2. A file by Jack says some people are "tainted" and that they won't work with the Mold, so he gives them to Lucas. I think it's in the basement of the main house.


3. They bred inside her body. The Kaitai Shinsho guide says they were infected with the Mold, not created by it.

In Daughters, she has her back turned and is making sounds like she is putting them in her mouth. She is essentially a walking hive.


I never said it was absolute fact, just probable.

A presentation by CAPCOM was held where it was called "virus-accentuated". It's only in Japanese, so NB translated it. It was the same show where the "melting man" Molded was shown.


4. How the Mold deals with the mind after the host is assimilated is open to speculation. It appears to be a sort of hive mind that Eveline can manipulate. If you dislike the idea, that's absolutely fine.


5. - 6. The Mold spreads naturally and creates Molded, but infection is totally dependant on subject intervention. Eveline can stall the infection process, halt it, or totally consume someone (like Alan) by will. The stages of infection each represent how far the Subject has allowed the Mold to spread in the body. Jack and Marguerite only reach Stage 3 after being damaged and abandoned by Eveline.

Here's what the Batman got from the guide:

As I long theorised, the Baker's are restricted to Stage 2 of the infection throughout the game. Examples given are Ethan's leg amputation as stage 1, Mia in the prologue as stage 2 and Mutated Marguerite as Stage 3. Jack also lost control of his regeneration ability after Eveline discarded him as her father which is why he appears as a mutant in the boathouse.

She only truly cared about Mia. The Bakers were just dolls to be played with. She considered Jack as a potential father, but eventually decided to look elsewhere with Ethan (hence Jack's jealousy in dialogue).


The D-Necrotoxin doesn't work on E-Series Mold. It's as simple as that. The "arm" and "head" are labeled "D-Series", while the serum used on Eveline was made with a tissue sample from her. In the alternate ending, Eveline calcifyes Zoe right away.

People speculated Jack wasn't dead long before EoZ because his body doesn't crumble like Marguerite and Eveline. And he just so happens to be smaller in EoZ, like he lost biomass.


Lucas not calcifying is indeed an oversight/mistake.


A big part of why I love RE7 in the first place is because it is a good mystery that leaves things open. so the player can piece things together, and the pieces certainly fit.

A lot of info is missing because we haven't seen the last of the Mold. Dusk said A LOT of material exists that we haven't seen yet.

You get almost nothing about the t-Virus and Wesker's true goals of human extinction in RE1, but we all know they put a great deal of thought into it that was revealed over time.

I don't see the supposed contradictions.