November 19, 2016
By Ryan Porzl
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Resident Evil video game series. In that time, we've seen many great and iconic characters from top protagonists Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Leon Kennedy, and Claire Redfield to former top antagonist Albert Wesker to recurring character Ada Wong. However, the series has featured many other characters who have largely been one and done despite surviving their games. What happened to them? There's been a lot of interesting characters and here are ten characters that should return in future Resident Evil games. Keep in mind, Most of the characters I'll be mentioning with one exception will be characters who's games take place at least ten years ago so no RE5, Revelations 2, and Resident Evil 6 characters since those games take place between 2009-2013 and are recent.
10. Ark Thompson- Ark first appeared as a main protagonist in the 2000 light gun shooter Resident Evil Survivor. The game, which took place in November 1998, sees Ark (who is a detective) head to Sheena Island which was an island owned by Umbrella Inc. in an attempt to gather information on Umbrella's shady doings at the request of client and good friend Leon Kennedy. However, an accident sees him suffer from amnesia and now he also has to piece together who he is. Eventually, he meets Lott and Lily Klein with the three of them fighting their way to freedom after the t-virus was leaked into the island by it's commander Vincent Goldman. As has been the case with the other characters on the list, Ark is a one and done character as he hasn't appeared since. Seeing as he's a friend of Leon with Leon also being a former client, it would make sense for Ark to reappear in a game starring or featuring Leon as the two could work together with Ark having maybe joined the US Government along with Leon or he could still be a detective occasionally sent by Leon to places he needs information on.
9. Natalia Korda- Natalia first appeared in the 2015 game Resident Evil Revelations 2. She's a little girl who was brought to a mysterious island along with members of Terrasave (which included Claire Redfield and Barry Burton's daughter Moira) for an experiment from Alex Wesker, the "sister" of Albert Wesker back in 2011. Not to give much else away but Revelations 2's "good ending" ends on a cliffhanger that begs for some sequel and that's why I made an exception with her.
8. Parker Luciani- Parker first appeared in Resident Evil Revelations which was released in 2012 but took place in 2005. Parker was once a member of the Federal Bioterrorism Commission where he barely survived a terrorist attack on the city of Terragrigia where he worked with Jessica Sherawat and saved new cadet Raymond Vester. Afterwards, he and Jessica joined the Bio Security Assessment Alliance where they worked with Chris and Jill as seen during the events of Revelations. During the game, Parker and the BSAA were betrayed by Jessica and he nearly lost his life during the incident before being saved by Raymond. It was revealed at the end of the game that he's still with the BSAA so it would be natural to have him return for any game that features Chris and/or Jill. His history with Raymond and Jessica would also make for interesting stories.
7. Raymond Vester- Raymond debuted in Resident Evil Revelations where he was once a cadet for the FBC but then became an informant for the BSAA (where he assisted Jill and Parker in digging up information on the FBC) while actually serving as a spy for TRICELL (the company Wesker takes over in Resident Evil 5). Though not a good guy, Raymond shows he has a good side when he saved Parker's life during the events of the game likely as payment for Parker saving him a year before. Raymond would be an interesting return since we last saw him working for Tricell but the company shut down after the events of RE5 so where is he? Is he working for another company? Has he reunited with Parker?
6. Jessica Sherawat- Jessica also debuted in Resident Evil Revelations where she also previously worked for the FBC and during the events of the game was a member of the BSAA while serving as a spy for TRICELL. Like Raymond, Jessica was also a triple agent, posing as a member of the BSAA while serving as a mole to the corrupt FBC head Morgan Lansdale, and actually working for Tricell. She mostly worked alongside Chris during the game before betraying the BSAA and activating the self-destruct sequence for the Queen Zenobia (the ship where the game mostly takes place). She also nearly kills Parker when he takes a bullet for Raymond and shows no remorse. Like Raymond, it would be interesting to see what became of her since Revelations as Tricell is over so what did become of her? Also, with the deaths of Wesker and Oswell E. Spencer in RE5, the series could use new recurring villains and she would a good one along with someone else who I'll get to.
5. Carlos Oliveria- Carlos first appeared in the 1999 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis which takes place back from September 27 - October 1, 1998. A member of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS), Carlos was sent to Raccoon City by Umbrella when the t-virus leaked resulting in an outbreak that turned most of the cities residents into zombies while animals and plants also mutated into monsters. Supposedly, the UBCS were sent to help save survivors and control the situation. However, the situation was worse than Umbrella anticipated and Carlos would be one of the few to survive. Eventually, he ran into Jill and the two formed an alliance in an attempt to escape the city before it's destruction at the hands of a US Government missile. The two would be successful in fighting their way from the city including the Nemesis tyrant and escape on a helicopter piloted by Jill's S.T.A.R.S. colleague Barry Burton. Since then, Carlos hasn't been seen since despite Resident Evil 3 taking place 18 years ago. Is he still a mercenary? Is he fighting bio terrorism somewhere? Did he go to a "normal life"? It would be nice to see him return especially in a game featuring Jill as the two could reunite. If not that, then maybe he's still a mercenary and could be hired by someone to fight in another outbreak given his experience with Raccoon City and being one of the few survivors.
4. Nikolai Zinoviev- Like Carlos, Nikolai debuted in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and was a member of the UBCS. Unlike Carlos, Nikolai was a supervisor and thus knew of Umbrella's true motive which was to gather combat data from the zombies and monsters against the UBCS and the Raccoon Police Department. However, Nikolai served as an antagonist in the game as he set out to kill any UBCS specifically the other supervisors in the hope of getting a bigger bonus when he reported back to Umbrella as he would be one of the few living members left with any information. He also had problems as well with Jill given her affiliation with S.T.A.R.S and knew he could get another bonus dealing with her. Nikolai is an interesting case as Capcom hasn't officially said whether he lives or not. In the game, Nikolai has three different endings with one being him getting killed by Nemesis, another being him commandeering the escape chopper only for Jill to kill him, and the final one has him commandeering the escape chopper while successfully escaping Raccoon City. Officially, it's been said that Nikolai does get to the chopper but what happens afterwards is unknown. As I mentioned with Jessica, the series could use recurring villains and Nikolai would be another great choice to fill the void.
3. Billy Coen- Coen first appeared in 2002's Resident Evil 0 which takes place on July 23 - 24, 1998. A former ex-marine, Coen was blamed for murdering villagers in an African village and was sentenced to death. However, Coen escaped when the armored truck carrying him was attacked by zombies and monsters when it crossed the Arklay Mountains. Seeking refuge in the Ecliptic Express, Coen forms an alliance with S.T.A.R.S. member Rebecca Chamber to fight their way through the express and The Umbrella Training Center where they eventually confront and defeat the revived Umbrella co-founder and t-virus creator Dr. James Marcus. After surviving, Rebecca takes his dog tags and declares Billy was killed to give him his freedom. Since then, there has been no update on him or what became of him. Billy would be a good character to bring back and has a story ready to go as the US Government could eventually find him, remind him he's still a convict who could be executed, and then force him to take part in a mission given his experience during the events of Resident Evil 0 and could promise a pardon if he cooperates.
2. Rebecca Chambers- Rebecca debuted with the first Resident Evil in 1996 and co-starred in Resident Evil 0. She became the lone survivor of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team during July 1998 with the others getting killed during the events of Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 1. Debuting in the first game, Rebecca runs into Chris and assists him in escaping The Spencer Mansion and was one of the few survivors. In the prequel Resident Evil 0, She comes into contact with Billy Coen and the two reluctantly form an alliance to escape Umbrella's Ecliptic Express and Training Center alive. Since then, Rebecca has disappeared as she hasn't appeared in new games outside of extra modes but not the main story. I believe it's been said she has worked for the BSAA in the past and it seems natural to have her one day reunite with her fellow remaining S.T.A.R.S. alumni.
1. HUNK- How could I not put "Mr. Death" as #1? HUNK originally debuted in Resident Evil 2 back in 1998 (it also takes place in '98) as he was a member of Umbrella's military team sent to Raccoon City to retrieve the G-Virus from William Birkin who intended to sell it to the US Government. Unfortunately, Birkin was shot during the confrontation due to a misunderstanding and injected the virus into him after HUNK and his men took the other samples. Birkin mutated and attacked the team leaving HUNK as the only survivor (which was common in his missions hence the nickname "Mr. Death") but he was knocked unconscious for days. Eventually, HUNK recovered and fought his way out of the sewers to the roof of the police station where he was picked up and handed the sample to Umbrella. What happens to him after that has been unknown as Umbrella shut down in 2003. Did he retire? Is he working for someone else? HUNK is long overdue to appear again in the main story and it would be interesting to see him interact with the other characters. It would mostly be interesting for him to interact with the protagonists since he's shown to be a man who's priority is always to his mission and will not hesitate to leave others so long as he accomplishes his mission with his belief being in war, you are responsible for your own survival in the warzone. He also looks at the mission objective taking priority to everything else as why he's never failed one.
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