The Resident Evil franchise is over 25 years old, and within that time it has featured a large number of protagonists. The list of featured characters in the franchise continues to grow by the year and may do so later in 2022 with the expected Resident Evil: Village DLC. Unfortunately, not every character can stand on the same footing as some of the series' more engaging, seemingly bulletproof (and bite-proof) heroes.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the RE franchise.]
Resident Evil has been a mainstay of the industry for over two decades now, being arguably the biggest horror franchise in the medium. Boasting a blend of action and horror-focused gameplay - with some of the later entries erring more toward the former than the latter - Resident Evil positions players against powerful supernatural and genre staples, starting first with the t-virus-infected zombies and mutated creatures of Raccoon City, before eventually spotlighting werewolves and vampires in its most recent entry, Resident Evil Village. Players have stepped into the shoes of a number of protagonists as the series has progressed, with some ranking among the most iconic in the medium.
Nearly every character in the franchise has been playable at some point, be it DLC, raid mode, mercenaries mode, or other variants. To reign in this unruly cast, this ranking will only cover the mainline canon series, from Resident Evil 0 up to the recent Resident Evil: Village, including the two Revelations titles as they are canon entries. Characters that have never been playable in the primary campaigns of the series will also be excluded. Unfortunately, this means some of the best Resident Evil DLC characters like Joe Baker from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard will be cut from this group. This list will consider each character's journey, personality, combat skill, and story prevalence from game to game, focusing mainly on their modern incarnations and recent appearances, like Resident Evil 2 Remake.
#17 - Natalia Korda (Resident Evil: Revelations 2)
Natalia Korda is by no means a terrible character. But unfortunately, she has very little to offer the series. A child born to be a powerful bioweapon that cannot feel fear and a vessel for the villainous Alex Wesker, Natalia is a character who fills the role of plot device with the gameplay equivalent of being a living heartbeat sensor. She shares her mind with a dark twin, and the door is left open for Natalia to return in the future as a potential villain. However, considering both Alex and Resident Evil villain Albert Wesker have yet to return, it seems more likely that Capcom may want to leave Natalia in the care of the Burton family and move on.
#16 - Jake Muller (Resident Evil 6)
Son of the series' penultimate villain, Albert Wesker, Jake served as a co-lead alongside an adult Sherry Berkin in their Resident Evil 6 campaign. Jake is a mercenary with the expected chip-on-the-shoulder attitude one would expect from a child whose father was responsible for some of the most heinous atrocities the world has ever known. Unfortunately, Jake felt like a strange, clunky attempt to make a Wesker playable, giving him a significant emphasis on hand-to-hand combat in a game meant more for gunplay.
Jake's problem was how generic he and his gameplay were. His character growth was by the numbers, and his combat skill seemed to be a pale imitation of his father's. At the end of it all, Jake was part of one of Resident Evil's worst, or best, depending on who you ask, entries.
#15 - Piers Nivan (Resident Evil 6)
BSAA agent Piers Nivan was designed to fill a character slot. Resident Evil 6 had a significant focus on co-op, so Piers (not Jill) was created to snap Chris Redfield back into shape. Fitting the military-minded self-sacrificing hero archetype, Piers wasn't given a chance to develop in any meaningful way. Instead, he served as a second body to shoot with and a narrative vehicle to reinvigorate Chris. The writers may have felt the same way, too, as he died saving Chris at the end of the sixth entry.
#14 - Helena Harper (Resident Evil 6)
Helena Harper is yet another Resident Evil 6 is unlikely to get a remake, it seems Helena will stay bound to this title.
#13 - Sherry Birkin (Resident Evil 2, RE 2: Remake, RE 6)
Sherry started as a playable segment in Resident Evil 2 that evolved in the remake as a slightly more terrifying sequence that saw the young heroine running and hiding for her life from Brian Irons, a side-antagonist of Claire Redfield's story. For those unfamiliar, remake Sherry was based on Newt from the film Aliens. Sherry's growth from a smart but timid young girl to a federal agent in Resident Evil 6, all while showing the (positive) repercussions of her exposure to and subsequent cure of the G-Virus, was intriguing.
However, this version of Sherry was also attached to the weakest of the campaigns alongside Jake Muller. Character development within the game was pretty minimal for her too. Still, Sherry remains essential to the series' history, primarily due to her being the daughter of William Birkin, the creator of Umbrella's G-Virus in Resident Evil.
#12 - Moira Burton (Resident Evil: Revelations 2)
Daughter of Barry Burton, Moira Burton was another short-tempered character with a good heart but lack-luster gameplay. Moira, however, deserves credit for her growth in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 due to her past trauma regarding guns. The character evolves from being unable to handle weapons to becoming a survivalist alone on an island for six months while finally confronting her fears. Her initial gameplay was reasonably straightforward with melee attacks and providing flashlight for Claire, but her story beats make her journey worthwhile. Seeing Moira's total transformation at the end of Revelations 2 is a fantastic culmination of the five-episode build-up.
#11 - Billy Coen (Resident Evil 0)
Framed for the execution of an entire village and sentenced to death, former marine Billy Coen has had a rough go of things. In his first and only appearance in the also remade Resident Evil Zero, Billy, along with Rebecca Chambers, goes against some of the more terrifying foes in the franchise, including Queen Leech and James Marcus, one of the founders of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. However, Billy proved himself a hardened warrior and a trustworthy ally, and his character arc remains one of the more memorable ones.
#10 - Rebecca Chambers (Resident Evil 0, RE 1, RE 1 Remake)
Rebecca Chambers is always high on the list of characters who went through it. A recent recruit of S.T.A.R.S., this medical prodigy ed the team and was quickly assigned to the cases in the Arklay Mountains. Despite her limited combat experience, Rebecca proves herself a capable survivor and a valuable asset.
Rebecca survives the events of Resident Evil 0 and the circumstances of Resident Evil 1, which occur immediately afterward. The fact that she remains as composed as she does by the end of the two titles is nothing short of a miracle. Athleticism is another talent, as a hidden photo of Rebecca in Resident Evil 2 as a basketball player can be found in the S.T.A.R.S office.
#9 - Sheva Alomar (Resident Evil 5)
An agent of the BSAA West Africa branch, Sheva Alomar is a skilled markswoman and an expert in hand-to-hand combat in Resident Evil 5. Sheva has a tragic backstory - she was a survivor of a bio-terror attack and taken in by a group of guerillas that saved her from the ensuing aftermath. By ing Chris Redfield, Sheva can overcome the Kijuju incident and assists him in putting down the series' greatest foe, Albert Wesker, for good. Sheva is a courageous, intelligent woman that deserves another entry in the series.
#8 - Carlos Olivera (Resident Evil 3, RE 3 Remake)
In his original incarnation for the PlayStation classic, Carlos Olivera was more of a ing character. However, in Resident Evil 3's remake, Carlos shares the spotlight with the series veteran Jill Valentine in the remake. Yet another survivor of tragedy who survived in rebel groups, Carlos' was spared from execution by his country's government via his new employer, Umbrella. In the Resident Evil 3 Remake, Carlos has a strong moral com and a light-hearted attitude with the ability to tap into his military training instantly. This new persona for Carlos is one that, like Sheva, needs more time in the series - if not his own game.
