Who was Ada working for in RE4

[Exactly]

Prime Blue, News Bot & Batman, you guys should write for Capcom since you 3 know so much. Maybe you 3 need to refresh their memory on things they produced, lol.

I've always wondered whether or not if Jill and/or Chris ever had any run-ins with Ada, other than the indirect minor involvements like obtaining files about her or using her name for access purposes...

[News Bot]

I see your point about the name. Again, it's just colloquial. I would use "Umbrella's unnamed rival company" but it's not very good as the title of an article and gets quite tedious having to repeatedly use it in one. Not arguing with you or anything, I agree with you. :L As for Separate Ways, I know that they lied etc (I wouldn't strictly say they outright lied, Kobayashi probably just didn't have a clue and just assumed it was brand new), but I don't think that changes much. We still have Assignment Ada there apparently acting as a replacement because it certainly doesn't act as an extra chapter. Maybe we should make that one of the story-related questions for the developers?

Just like they thank the development staff of the games in the soundtracks. Doesn't mean that they composed the music. I think it's an unrealistic notion that a Japanese game company would alot its development staff to proofreading what are – let's face it – pieces of merchandise, and quite extensive ones at that. I don't deny that some guide books might contain material that comes directly from Capcom's development teams, but citing this as a reason to take every last detail in these books for granted is rash. Same goes for developers copying passages out of the books to include in the games – that's a backwards argument (though I've never encountered text "copied and pasted" straight from the Archives). I seem to remember that the Plaga stuff was changed around several times by you based on different guide books. It's just easier to rely on games and interviews than to interpret certain sources again and again.

Thing is, they don't thank them, it literally says that they're supervised by the development teams. Considering most of the information in the guides appears to be from design notes and appears in other official material (enemy descriptions are a prime example of this), it's not exactly unthinkable that the company would alot some staff to supervise it, when they're written and edited by a different company. Square-Enix does the exact same, as does KONAMI (check out some of the MGS books for example). Also, mostly everything in the guide books works in tandem, backs up, clarifies or adds to the games. We don't automatically accept everything in them as fact either, we make sure they don't contradict anything else and make sure to investigate them fully. We haven't found anything worth making the guide books out to be worthless and they have no contradictions. As for text copy-pasted from Archives, just take a look at Archives (and by extension, the guide books it copies from) and the files in UC and DC. Slightly different wording at best, but it's the exact same information, only stripped down. I can't speak for the Japanese versions of them though since we don't have the Japanese files, but I can't see them being a lot different. The Ultimania books aren't written by the FF development teams either, but they generally contain similar information to the BH guides and supplemental books. Just as you say immediately accepting them as fact is unreasonable (and we don't do it), immediately writing them off as nonsense is also unreasonable.

And the Plaga stuff was changed just once, and it was most likely a mistranslation on our part. Still haven't clarified that.

This is something I never understood why it needed to be explained. I always assumed Ashley knew about Ada, because she was right there when Leon freed her from that weird pod/chair thing.

She was hardly awake by then and didn't even look at her. She might as well have thought she hallucinated if she hadn't faced her directly later. Just adds to the pile of evidence.

[Archelon]

Ashley spotting Ada with the hook shot and asking Leon about her).

This is something I never understood why it needed to be explained. I always assumed Ashley knew about Ada, because she was right there when Leon freed her from that weird pod/chair thing.

He is still with Umbrella's rival company as of 2002, since he sells the Jabberwock S3 (developed by the rival company) to Javier. In Wesker's Extra Report, he also refers to "we". He's with the same organization post-Mansion Incident up until the events of biohazard 4. By then, he's apparently "controlling" the organization according to the BH4 Kaitai Shinsho guide. http://www.projectumbrella.net/artic...Kaitai-Shinsho

Yeah, but his affiliation in 2004 is not known. Wesker's Extra Report has of course no personal pronouns in the Japanese version, so that's an interpretation of whoever translated it and decided to include "we" as the subject of some sentence. And I don't think I need to say anything about the guide book reference...since it's a guide book.

(notice how the "two sides of the same coin" line shows up precisely in Darkside Chronicles)

The line is originally from the knife battle in RE4, though I don't understand the significance of it in this context.

These pre-date the release of the PS2 version of BH4 so none of the Separate Ways material comes up. Ada is still loyal to Wesker in this case. The exact details of Wesker's actions within the rival company are still pretty unknown though, there are times where it seems like he's on top and others when he seems like just a pawn.

Capcom lied about it before, but we all know "Separate Ways" was planned right from the start. What we do not know is the precise time of its conception and how much involvement Shinji Mikami and Haruo Murata had with the story, respectively. RE4's scenario, which Mikami apparently exclusively wrote, does not work without "Separate Ways" because certain parts do not make sense (the pursuit of Saddler's sample, Ashley spotting Ada with the hook shot and asking Leon about her).

I do agree that "Umbrella's unnamed rival company" would be the best description to use, but it's not a name.

Neither is the "third organization", which is why I criticize its usage in the first place. It's stupid to use this term as a proper name, and only confuses things further (Umbrella's rival company sure is a more diverse disambiguation from the "organization" than the "third organization" – though, well, we still don't know which is which).

Well I disagree completely on your guide book views but to each his own. Also, they usually have "biohazard 0, biohazard, BIOHAZARD 2, BIOHAZARD 3, BIOHAZARD -CODE:Veronica-, biohazard 4, BIOHAZARD 5 Research and Development Staff" in the credits so I would be inclined to think they had at least some involvement. Especially since some stuff appears in the guide books first, then later in the games themselves. The Progenitor virus (and actually, a lot of the backstory for BIOHAZARD 1.5) was first written into a BIO HAZARD Directors Cut guide book (as the Clay virus) before making its way into BIOHAZARD 2 (though it was scrapped before release, but it's still mentioned in a beta file), then finally rewritten completely for -CODE:Veronica-. Hiroki Kato just happened to know precisely what it was, so that should indicate how much involvement the developers had in that guide book. The Clay virus isn't mentioned anywhere else. There's no real reason to write them off as "fairytale" particularly when the game writers use details from them for other material (biohazard 4 Incubate points showing up in BIOHAZARD 5, information copy-and-pasted from the Archives books to make up the files in UC and DC, etc). Believe they're just a rag-tag bunch of random journalists if you wish. Since there are virtually no errors or contradictions between the games and any of the guides, I'm inclined to think they're pretty valuable sources, particularly when they clear up some stuff not dealt with in the games.

Both Archives books, at the very least, are supervised by the development staff of each game (outright states as such in the credits), and Kobayashi was the producer for at least the first one. And both of those books are 90% comprised of material from the guide books to the point where they might as well be compilations. I don't think you've actually investigated any of the books? They're similar to the "Ultimania" books of the Final Fantasy series. Including vital story info in supplemental material and guide books is not uncommon for Japanese developers.

Just like they thank the development staff of the games in the soundtracks. Doesn't mean that they composed the music. I think it's an unrealistic notion that a Japanese game company would alot its development staff to proofreading what are – let's face it – pieces of merchandise, and quite extensive ones at that. I don't deny that some guide books might contain material that comes directly from Capcom's development teams, but citing this as a reason to take every last detail in these books for granted is rash. Same goes for developers copying passages out of the books to include in the games – that's a backwards argument (though I've never encountered text "copied and pasted" straight from the Archives). I seem to remember that the Plaga stuff was changed around several times by you based on different guide books. It's just easier to rely on games and interviews than to interpret certain sources again and again.

[News Bot]

The latter is true, but his real affiliation is highly debatable. It is not mentioned in any of the games if he was still at Umbrella's unnamed rival company, or self-employed, or already with S/TRICELL by then. The same can be said of Ada, who is either at Umbrella's unnamed rival company or an entirely new, completely unknown organization (the latter of which would possibly retcon the term "organization" post-2004).

I think it's a horribly stupid move of the guide book writer to go with that name. It makes no sense at all outside of RE4 and just unnecessarily complicates things further. Why would anybody refer to it as a "third organization" from a time-independent POV if it was only ever introduced because of the other two organizations in RE4? If Ada happened to be working for Umbrella's unnamed rival company at this point, then "Umbrella's unnamed rival company" would be the best description to use.

And as for the guide books, you know what I think of those: So far only pretty fairytale books assembled by random journalists with their own interpretations, nothing more. Going by the CAPCOM stamp on it is meaningless unless the involvement of the series writers is confirmed (which I guess would receive one of the minute credits if they were).

He is still with Umbrella's rival company as of 2002, since he sells the Jabberwock S3 (developed by the rival company) to Javier. In Wesker's Extra Report, he also refers to "we". He's with the same organization post-Mansion Incident up until the events of biohazard 4. By then, he's apparently "controlling" the organization according to the BH4 Kaitai Shinsho guide. http://www.projectumbrella.net/artic...Kaitai-Shinsho

JACK KRAUSER

The muscular American is fortified with his combat uniform. An ex-comrade to Leon, Krauser was suspected dead in an accident two years before but showed up during Leon's mission to save Ashley. He is working for Saddler, but is in contact with the “organization.” He feels him and Leon are two sides of the same coin, while they have similarities there are things that contrast.

(notice how the "two sides of the same coin" line shows up precisely in Darkside Chronicles)

Key Point: The man named Albert Wesker

Ada works for the man named Albert Wesker who is controlling the “Organization.” He was a member S.T.A.R.S. but was actually a spy for Umbrella. He was part of the mansion incident caused by Umbrella and he led members of S.T.A.R.S., who were sent in to investigate the incident, in and put them in danger while some died. Everyone thought he was dead until he appeared on Rockfort Island.

What is he planning? What is this “Organization”? Wesker came back with incredible strength. Could he be trying to rebuild the Umbrella he used to know?

These pre-date the release of the PS2 version of BH4 so none of the Separate Ways material comes up. Ada is still loyal to Wesker in this case. The exact details of Wesker's actions within the rival company are still pretty unknown though, there are times where it seems like he's on top and others when he seems like just a pawn.

As for the name, it's just colloquial and is only used in material dealing with BH4. I do agree that "Umbrella's unnamed rival company" would be the best description to use, but it's not a name. "3rd Organization" is just for convenience purposes, and helps avoid people confusing the rival company for Ada's organization, which is quite common. Up until the release of Separate Ways, the rival company was referred to as the "organization" since BIO2 (Annette says "a certain organization" instead of "the agency"). So you can see where the confusion comes from.

Well I disagree completely on your guide book views but to each his own. Also, they usually have "biohazard 0, biohazard, BIOHAZARD 2, BIOHAZARD 3, BIOHAZARD -CODE:Veronica-, biohazard 4, BIOHAZARD 5 Research and Development Staff" in the credits so I would be inclined to think they had at least some involvement. Especially since some stuff appears in the guide books first, then later in the games themselves. The Progenitor virus (and actually, a lot of the backstory for BIOHAZARD 1.5) was first written into a BIO HAZARD Directors Cut guide book (as the Clay virus) before making its way into BIOHAZARD 2 (though it was scrapped before release, but it's still mentioned in a beta file), then finally rewritten completely for -CODE:Veronica-. Hiroki Kato just happened to know precisely what it was, so that should indicate how much involvement the developers had in that guide book. The Clay virus isn't mentioned anywhere else. There's no real reason to write them off as "fairytale" particularly when the game writers use details from them for other material (biohazard 4 Incubate points showing up in BIOHAZARD 5, information copy-and-pasted from the Archives books to make up the files in UC and DC, etc). Believe they're just a rag-tag bunch of random journalists if you wish. Since there are virtually no errors or contradictions between the games and any of the guides, I'm inclined to think they're pretty valuable sources, particularly when they clear up some stuff not dealt with in the games.

Both Archives books, at the very least, are supervised by the development staff of each game (outright states as such in the credits), and Kobayashi was the producer for at least the first one. And both of those books are 90% comprised of material from the guide books to the point where they might as well be compilations. I don't think you've actually investigated any of the books? They're similar to the "Ultimania" books of the Final Fantasy series. Including vital story info in supplemental material and guide books is not uncommon for Japanese developers.

He was still part of The 3rd Organization (Umbrella's rival company) in 2004, but not Ada's organization.

The latter is true, but his real affiliation is highly debatable. It is not mentioned in any of the games if he was still at Umbrella's unnamed rival company, or self-employed, or already with S/TRICELL by then. The same can be said of Ada, who is either at Umbrella's unnamed rival company or an entirely new, completely unknown organization (the latter of which would possibly retcon the term "organization" post-2004).

Yeah I know it's only a BH4-context name, but it's better than nothing at all and helps distinguish it from 'the organization'. In a number of BH4 strategy guides (and including BIOHAZARD archives II), Wesker's organization is referred to as The 3rd Organization, and one of the guides actually has his career timeline, which explains that his actions in Raccoon City were the result of a test of loyalty by The 3rd Organization. It's just a name which has stuck and is used to refer to the rival company post-BH4. Also, the 'third party' isn't explicitly Ada, it's her employers. That's why "3rd Organization" is now used as the rival company name.

I think it's a horribly stupid move of the guide book writer to go with that name. It makes no sense at all outside of RE4 and just unnecessarily complicates things further. Why would anybody refer to it as a "third organization" from a time-independent POV if it was only ever introduced because of the other two organizations in RE4? If Ada happened to be working for Umbrella's unnamed rival company at this point, then "Umbrella's unnamed rival company" would be the best description to use.

And as for the guide books, you know what I think of those: So far only pretty fairytale books assembled by random journalists with their own interpretations, nothing more. Going by the CAPCOM stamp on it is meaningless unless the involvement of the series writers is confirmed (which I guess would receive one of the minute credits if they were).

[News Bot]

I wouldn't take her DC profile literally. A lot of the material in the DC files is completely batshit made-up by the translator. The Inside of BHDC book is much more clear:

http://www.projectumbrella.net/articles/INSIDE-BIOHAZARD-DARKSIDE-CHRONICLES

An agent from Umbrella's rival company. Ada is a female who stands on the opposite side of the protagonists starring in the BIOHAZARD series; she built a subtle relationship with Leon, and will always be a great help to this guy. Though her first appearance is in BIOHAZARD 2, in fact her name has been told during the time of the first BIOHAZARD game. Ada's name is written in the letter of an Umbrella reasercher called John as his girlfriend, and it's one of the important passwords in the game. But unlike John who sees her as his lover, at that time, Ada's purpose was to sneak into the Arklay facility to steal information on the t-virus. However, an unexpected virus leakage made her plan come to nothing. She escaped from the hellish laboratory and showed her outstanding abilities as an special agent. In this title, according to our movie director - Mr.Gondou's personal tastes, many spy-customized items like the compact mirror with ampoules and lip stick type micro rocket are added to Ada's pocket. Also, Ada's sexy figure being bandaged around her whole body in the previous game Umbrella Chronicles was also designed as a personal favor of the game's director - Mr.Seto.

[TheBatMan]

Well before the mansion incident.

"Ada had actually been working undercover at Umbrella as a spy for a rival corporation.
Ada, who prior to the incident obtained information about the G-Virus from a researcher at the Arklay Laboratory, received orders to obtain it, and came to the zombie-overrun Raccoon City in search of the virus."
Darkside Chronicles Ada Profile

John told her about the top secret G-Virus project and how it was currently being developed in Raccoon City. Ada then told her employers at the 3rd Org who ordered her to get a sample.
According to the researcher's letter in RE1 dated June 8th, John writes as if Ada is still around the mansion by that point.

[Exactly]

Wait, so when was Ada in the Arklay Lab?

[News Bot]

Since Ada Wong is not her real name, I wonder about the possibility that Ada was NOT the real John's girlfriend from RE1 and just pretended to be her during RE2.

Nope, that was her alright. For one thing, there's the photo in her BH2 inventory. Secondly, it's outright stated that she was there at the Arklay Laboratory gathering info on the t-virus. She escaped during the outbreak of the t-virus.

[Im_just_Paul]

No. Wesker leaves Umbrella for The 3rd Organization in 1998 whom Ada is already working for. They are partnered together to get the G-Virus from Raccoon City. Interestingly, Wesker's Report 2 is addressed to Ada so it may be acting as a kind of 'CV' for his membership.

Sometime after Raccoon City, Ada leaves the 3rd Organization for 'another organization'.

Wesker stays with the 3rd Organization right through to the events of RE4 where he asks Ada to come and work for him. Ada's employers order her to join and then betray Wesker as a test of her loyalty to them, which she does.

Ada's unknown organization is not the 3rd Organization, and Ada Wong is not her real name. It is just the alias that both Leon and Wesker know her as, hence why she is called Ada once more during RE4.

Thank you sir. that was very well explained. Now, I feel they should make Ada the main character in RE:6 and wrap this up.

[Im_just_Paul]

Since Ada Wong is not her real name, I wonder about the possibility that Ada was NOT the real John's girlfriend from RE1 and just pretended to be her during RE2.

Let's not give Capcom any ideas.

[Wrathborne]

To this day I wish they had just left it at Assignment Ada. It would have made things so much simpler.

But I guess they couldn't allow Ada to be an actual villain.

Agreed. But then again with so many different writers and directors in this series and much of the canon events being changed every few years, who knows whats true anymore?

[Grem]

Since Ada Wong is not her real name, I wonder about the possibility that Ada was NOT the real John's girlfriend from RE1 and just pretended to be her during RE2.