Where are the toilets in Resident Evil?

In 'Where are the Toilets?' we take a look at some of the absurdities in video game design and try and discover an in-universe caption for them. For the first edition of the manufactures, we take a wait at Resident Evil's Raccoon City and its startling lack of restrooms.

Raccoon Urban center is one of gaming's most iconic locations. We watched this midwestern town become wiped off the map in 1998 later a massive zombie outbreak across multiple titles. In that location's a good chunk of the city we never got to explore, just the areas we did visit were then effective because they felt so existent, at least for the most office. However, at that place'southward a deeper mystery surrounding places similar the RPD and the Umbrella Labs, which isn't mentioned in-game — where are the toilets? These people have to pee, right?

Raccoon Urban center'southward architecture issues

Resident Evil Remake Mansion Bathroom

Ameliorate hope it's not chili night at Spencer Mansion.

In the original Resident Evil 2 and 3, at that place are no bathrooms at all. Nosotros travel through the RPD, a eatery, a bar, a infirmary, offices, labs, factories, and there's not a single toilet to exist plant. Heck, there are merely a few sinks. Even the Spencer Mansion itself only has ane lonely bathroom (oddly, the dormitories behind the mansion have the highest bathroom density in the series, with one in each bedroom).

The Resident Evil ii remake rectified the lack of bathrooms somewhat, but fifty-fifty it only has a public men'southward and women's restroom in the 1F east wing. Any fashion you cutting it, Raccoon Metropolis has a startlingly depression density of sanitary facilities.

Let's have the RPD, for instance. Raccoon City is a Midwestern city with around 100-150,000 citizens. An splendid real-life analog would be Topeka, Kansas. According to the Topeka Capital-Periodical, the Topeka Constabulary Department has a total of 331 employees stationed in one precinct. Much similar Topeka, it seems Raccoon City is served by just the main RPD building.

Then, from the higher up information, we can assume that the RPD employs effectually 350 people, a quarter of which are on the bounds at any one time. That means 88 people have to go their whole shift with either no toilets (original RE2) or around half dozen toilets (RE2 remake). Even with the best-case scenario, at that place are 14.6 RPD workers for every toilet in the station. That'south a lot of numbers ones and twos being confined to a single bathroom.

Did poor sanitary conditions advance the Raccoon Urban center outbreak?

Resident Evil 2 Remake RPD Bathroom

Working at the RPD was tough long before the t-Virus outbreak.

From what we can stitch together from the various Resident Evil games set in Raccoon City, the t-Virus infection that came to affect most of the residents merely took about a week to spread throughout the expanse. Plainly, the t-Virus was incredibly infectious, specially with all the zombies and other nasty critters running around biting it. This explains why the infection so apace depopulated the city, but there's a fact the games never accost.

By design, the t-Virus was meant to be lethal, but Wesker's Report 2 — a supplement to the 2002 remake of the original Resident Evil —stated that around 10% of humans were naturally allowed to it. Still, no one, also the actor characters, shows whatsoever resistance to the illness. Fifty-fifty if a person didn't become infected, they could undoubtedly succumb to traumatic injury, but nosotros should run into at least a few people manage to survive their wounds. Statistically, i in x people who are bitten should recover. And then, what'south the deal? I postulate that it was the lack of bathrooms that was the terminal straw for Raccoon City.

Resident Evil 2 Sewers

Luckily, past the time Leon fabricated it to the sewers, they were filled with delicious spring water due to lack of utilise.

Since it'due south almost certainly Umbrella's error that Raccoon City has a lamentable amount of toilets and sinks, what'due south the bending? Some might think information technology was a ploy to create the perfect surround for a biological weapon to spread, just I don't give them that much credit. Instead, I think they overbuilt in the sewers without whatever regard for using them for their intended purpose. Subsequently all, in that location are multiple labs, factories, and other installations beneath Raccoon City's streets connected past the sewer arrangement. You lot can't have all that real estate downwards there when there's 150,000 people'southward worth of pee and poop flying around.

If I had to approximate, Umbrella discovered that their new facilities made water treatment impossible and lobbied to have Raccoon City'south building codes modified to make new bathroom structure a plush and lengthy process. Umbrella-employed plumbers had probably painstakingly run new lines to each new toilet built at that place to create a 2nd sewer system that didn't affect the subterranean city the visitor concluded upwardly building. Unfortunately, most of the citizens couldn't afford the permits, which severely impacted hygiene and sanitation. Notice how no i ever mentions smelling a zombie? That's why.

Alas, the T-Virus might have destroyed Raccoon City, only the town was a ticking timebomb regardless. Even a veteran police force officer like Marvin Branagh didn't follow the most basic first aid guidelines when bitten as we see him running around multiple days beyond multiple titles with a open and festering gut wound. I recollect Ada bandaging Leon is the just form of medical aid we run across throughout the series, and she manages to bungle information technology by doing it over his clothes. Fortunately, by this point, Umbrella had rerouted the city's plumbing to the point where the sewer water was clean plenty to drink, which at least prevented Leon'due south arm from turning gangrenous and falling off.