Dr. Oswell Earl Spencer (known to many as Earl Spencer, Lord Spencer or Oswell E. Spencer) was a British-born multi-billionaire who was one of the founding members of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. The Spencer family itself was incredibly rich and held some degree of influence across Europe. Oswell was raised in an enormous castle in the United Kingdom and benefited greatly from the wealth of his family who sought the finest teachers, instructors and professionals in order to develop the young boy into whatever he chose to be.
Oswell developed a taste for the arts, literature and hunting - all of which seemed appropriate enough to the rest of his family so they allowed him to pursue all of these. As he grew older, World War II began - and it was during this time he remained hidden and poured himself over his texts and the newsreels. He began to take a strong interest in the sciences, particularly chemistry and biology and travelled the world looking for inspiration. Through chance he stumbled upon Dr. Miranda (whose full name is never revealed) in Eastern Europe and learned of the existence of Mold (a fungus which had the power to augment and control organic matter). While the two disagreed over the best way to utilise the Mold (he wanted to experiment with it in order to product super-humans, and she would rather use its power to revive her daughter).
Despite the two parting ways, they kept in some degree of contact and had a mutual respect for each other. Some years later Spencer travelled to West Africa and discovered a rare flower named the Stairway of the Sun which, when consumed, would either turn the person into a super-human, or (far more commonly) kill them. From here, he created Umbrella Pharmaceuticals along with Dr.
James Marcus, set up a development facility in Africa and then began to experiment on the flower. The resulting product was named the Progenitor Virus and at the time was highly unstable.
Using Umbrella Pharmaceuticals as a way to fund his research, he continued to build on the research and eventually ended up with what would be known as the
t-Virus (or, Tyrant virus). This was far more stable than then Progenitor virus and very rarely killed the host. However, it did reduce the host to a fragile, shambling creature (known as a
Zombie). He had an entire mansion built on top of a high-end laboratory (
Spencer Mansion) so that research could continue in secrecy. However this was eventually destroyed by S.T.A.R.S. members who had happened on the mansion while in the area.
Ultimately, after the
t-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City, Umbrella Pharmaceuticals was caught red-handed as the cause and therefore Spencer went into hiding. After many years he was discovered by
Albert Wesker, a human who had previously been experimented on by Spencer in his earlier years. Now old, infirm and wheelchair bound, the two discuss their histories. This culminates in Wesker punching him right through the chest. He was then thrown from his wheelchair and onto the floor a few feet away.
