Capcom needs to include more women protagonists in Resident Evil sequels

[Deleted member 17184]

Note: By sequels, I don't count remakes, but games that move the story forward.

It's baffling to me that, after Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, every mainline sequel to Resident Evil games focused on men as protagonists. There was Sheva in RE5, but she was there as a co-op partner/AI bot, and her characterization was... well, not good. Ashley and Jill were damsels in distress in RE4 and 5. RE6 had three playable campaigns with... three white men.

Meanwhile, Jill and Claire were relegated to protagonists in the spin-off series Revelations. Ethan (another white man) became the next protagonist in the mainline series, once again on a damsel in distress situation with Mia. She's presumably dying at the beginning of RE8, too.

This is especially frustrating because Claire, Ada, and Jill were great characters in the remakes. As much as I love all the recent games since RE7, and I am looking forward to RE8, these women deserve more prominent roles. And while we're on this topic, the series really needs more women of color with good characterization as protagonists. I hope this will happen in future sequels.

I also want to mention that I have no idea if any of these characters show up in RE8 as I don't know anything about the leaks. There are threads to discuss these, so please keep them out of this one.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Black/brown people too.

Jill is the one character out of every character in the series I want to see more of. Her final appearance is RE5 and they pretty much assassinated her character there. I want her to return and slay.

 

[AuthenticM]

Yes.

Bring back Sheva. Have her face be that of Selamawit Shiferaw.

 

[jwhit28]

Not arguing the OP's point but Revelations was a much better place to be at the time than main series.

 

[blitzblake]

Even more baffling is they're leaving that cheerleader/sexy nurse alternate outfit mtx money on the table!

 

[Cerulean_skylark]

Mia up here being Umbrella paramilitary and she's relegated to mom who gets a bullet to the head in the trailer. :S

 

[Lord Fanny]

It's worth nothing that RE6 had 4 campaigns, not three, and one had Ada as the main protagonist and you left out Code Veronica, which was pretty evenly split between Claire and Chris. Besides that, though, you aren't really wrong.

 

[Labyrinthe]

Funny since i find Claire, Ada, Jill and even Sheva more interesting then the protagonists from their games.

If it wasn't for Ada, Leon would be a jackass.

 

[Weiss]

It is pretty disappointing that a series whose first four games had main heroines then basically gave up on that with every successive main title.

 

[Strings]

Claire was the protag again in Revelations 2. It's better than most of the recent mainline games anyway :P

 

[Badpsychometry]

It's a friggin shame that they have Ethan in another game with him being a new character and leave others in the dust. I really want a woman protagonist that isn't you know in a side game

 

[Manu]

It's worth nothing that RE6 had 4 campaigns, not three, and one had Ada as the main protagonist and you left out Code Veronica, which was pretty evenly split between Claire and Chris. Besides that, though, you aren't really wrong.

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I'd argue Sherry was as much of a protagonist of Jake's campaign as Jake himself.

 

[Neoxon]

Since RE8 now was Rev3 for a while, it stands to reason that the current RE9 was 8 for a while. And between 2 & 3's remakes, I wouldn't be surprised if they were setting the stage for Jill returning to the spotlight in RE9 (Leon as well, but he hasn't been gone for as long).

So yeah, I 100% agree with you, OP. In particular, we need more PoC main characters such as Sheva taking the lead. Though given Capcom's leaked internal push to do better with regards to gender & ethnic diversity, we may see these changes in the not-too-distant future.

 

[IDreamOfHime]

Note: By sequels, I don't count remakes, but games that move the story forward.

It's baffling to me that, after Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, every mainline sequel to Resident Evil games focused on men as protagonists.

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Rebecca in RE0 and Claire in code Veronica? Both are mainline titles.

 

[Xterrian]

They need to stop using Chris and Ethan tbh. When people are asked their favorite re protagonist it's almost always one of the following:
Jill, Leon, Claire

I'd throw in Ada too since she's a favorite, though I don't think she's had a protagonist spot yet.

Shiva too I think is liked. So yeah, let all the ladies get the lead in future games.

 

[Neoxon]

They need to stop using Chris and Ethan tbh. When people are asked their favorite re protagonist it's almost always one of the following:
Jill, Leon, Claire

I'd throw in Ada too since she's a favorite, though I don't think she's had a protagonist spot yet.

Sheva too I think is liked. So yeah, let all the ladies get the lead in future games.

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I could legit see RE8 being Chris' last game, especially with how the initial trailer teased that "His story ends here" or something like that.

 

[akilshohen]

Half or most of the playable women have been out color... If you count one of Jill's boo's saying she's half Japanese as Canon and the fact that Rebecca's last appearances being based on
Ayumi Hamasaki.

The series really does need more playable women however. I'll take Ethan as the MC once more this last time, since RE8 was supposedly Revelations 3 at first, but I'd like a female protagonist in the next one.

 

[Vashetti]

Make Jill and Sheva co-protags in Rev 3 🙏🏻

 

[Neoxon]

Make Jill and Sheva co-protags in Rev 3 🙏🏻

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This is the dream, but it's probably too good to be true. Knowing my luck, it'll probably Jill & Leon at best (not bad, as at least Jill would return).

 

[Deleted member 17184]

Black/brown people too.

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Absolutely!

Mia up here being Umbrella paramilitary and she's relegated to mom who gets a bullet to the head in the trailer. :S

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I know, right? It'd be amazing if she had her chance, too.

It's worth nothing that RE6 had 4 campaigns, not three, and one had Ada as the main protagonist and you left out Code Veronica, which was pretty evenly split between Claire and Chris. Besides that, though, you aren't really wrong.

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Yeah, in a way Ada was also playable in RE4. Code Veronica seems somehow between a mainline entry and a spin-off, as it's often forgotten by Capcom. But I do agree it needs to be highlighted more often.

 

[SofNascimento]

I've already said this, Jill was an accident. If you look at the main RE titles (besides RE3), their primary protagonists have all been male characters. I guess you could also say REmake is an exception, but that's also part of the accident.

 

[Valcrist]

Ada Wong game
Ada Wong game
Give me an Ada Wong game
I've waited long enough. It's time, Capcom.

 

[Hours Left]

They need to stop using Chris and Ethan tbh. When people are asked their favorite re protagonist it's almost always one of the following:
Jill, Leon, Claire

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Chris is very popular, and has a very large queer fan base, so let's not write him off so flippantly.

Alternatively, Ethan is a nothingburger.

 

[BloodRayne]

Leon

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They need to stop using Leon too.

Making Chris the de-facto main character was a mistake. It was to jump into the dudebro shooters of the time with their typical military protagonist.

Claire and Jill were very mistreated by Capcom. Jill even worse.

 

[MonadL]

Jill and Claire are amazing in the remakes so I agree. Bring back Sheva and give her a personality this time too.

 

[Keym]

Imagine making a nothing character like Ethan the protagonist of two mainline games

Bring Back Sherry/literally anyone else from the girls

 

[RoboPlato]

I want to see Jill back and Ada get to be a full-fledged lead

 

[leng jai]

Big Capcom hate Jill for some reason. They went all the effort to make her great in Remake and then gave us 2 hours of game to use her in.

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

If Jill isn't the protagonist of REIX or any of the other unannounced RE games in the pipeline, so help me.

 

[Neoxon]

Chris is very popular, and has a very large queer fan base, so let's not write him off so flippantly.

Alternatively, Ethan is a nothingburger.

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Then they should commit to making Chris outright gay. We could use more major openly LGBTQ+ characters in gaming.

 

[Hours Left]

Then they should commit to making Chris outright gay.

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Yes, they should.

I've said as much millions of times.

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

They should attempt to make Chris an interesting character. Though it looks like they could succeed with Village.

 

[Haze]

I demand Sheva

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Erm, didn't RE6 have 3 playable female characters?

Helena, Sherry and Ada?

 

[Het_Nkik]

I played through RE6 co-op and I was Helena and Sherry in those respective campaigns so I didn't even realize this was a problem with this game. Does the game make you use the dudes only in single player?

 

[RedSwirl]

Resident Evil is not only unusual here among video games but it's also sort of broken its own pattern. It sort of had two different groups of heroes, one for the even-numbered games (Leon, Claire, Sherry, Ada, etc.) and one for the odd-numbered (Chris, Jill, etc.). RE6 made a big deal out of kinda breaking that by making Chris and Leon meet for the first time, and now 7 and 8 are soft-rebooting things by having Ethan (and Chris) twice in a row.

Capcom doesn't seem to know what to do with the original heroines because all the characters have been aging in real time. Being a Japanese franchise, it has a real Logan's Run issue with its women. That's not even getting started on its women of color.

 

[SirKai]

One of the silver linings, at least with RE7, is that even though it does have a male lead, you do still play as Mia for a pretty major chunk of the game, and RE7 has a LOT of very important female characters (RE8 looks to be similar in this regard).

Moira, as much as Sheva, deserves to return. She's the best RE character introduced in the series since probably RE2. Revelations 2 deserves a LOT more recognition and spotlight, and a lot more credit. It's hella low budget but is an absolute slam dunk.

Spoiler

And is better than all the RE games that have come out after it.

 

[BloodRayne]

Erm, didn't RE6 have 3 playable female characters?

Helena, Sherry and Ada?

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Helena is a horrible character. Ada isn't much better after RE2.

Sherry was a nice surprise and I wish she would spearhead some sort of "new generation" along with Rebecca.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Give Sheva her own game. You can make Parker her sidekick. It will be lit.

 

[Trisc]

Mia up here being Umbrella paramilitary and she's relegated to mom who gets a bullet to the head in the trailer. :S

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I suspect that might be misdirection, but putting it in the trailer isn't a good look. Folks are rightfully perturbed by fridging, so to see it as an aspect of a game's marketing seems a little tone deaf.

 

[Hours Left]

They should attempt to make Chris an interesting character. Though it looks like they could succeed with Village.

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I'd say of all the RE protagonists, Chris is the only one that has had a true narrative arch.

 

[Lord Fanny]

I've already said this, Jill was an accident. If you look at the main RE titles (besides RE3), their primary protagonists have all been male characters. I guess you could also say REmake is an exception, but that's also part of the accident.

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Jill was in the first game in the same capacity as the remake, and Claire and Leon were split evenly in the second game. So, no, this is nonsense.

Absolutely!

I know, right? It'd be amazing if she had her chance, too.

Yeah, in a way Ada was also playable in RE4. Code Veronica seems somehow between a mainline entry and a spin-off, as it's often forgotten by Capcom. But I do agree it needs to be highlighted more often.

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Yeah, but Ada was just a side-story in RE4. Her campaign in RE6 was a full campaign as long as all the others. You did have to unlock it in the original release for story reasons, but they patched that relatively quickly and all later re-releases had it unlocked from the beginning.

Rebecca is also the main character in Zero, I forgot to mention, but no one cares aboutthat.

 

[Sanox]

Bit of a weird thing to say when

Re1 shared mc spot between Jill and Chris
Re2 shared mc spot between Claire and Leon and Ada as extra
Re3 had Jill as the mc with Carlos as extra
Re4 had Leon as mc with Ada as extra in her sidestory
Re5 had Chris and Sheva
Re6 had Leon/Helena, Jake/Sherry, Ada's solo story and only Chris/Piers as a all male duo
Revelations had Jill
Revelations 2 had Claire and later Barry each with someone tagging along
Re0 has Rebecca and Billy
Code Veronica has Claire

Re games without female characters weren't really a thing only Re4 really stands out with Ada only being a side character.. that is until now where for whatever reason its Ethan out of all characters to get to be the mc in 2 Re game back to back when it only happened before with Chris in 5 and 6 because Re6 had multiple teams in the story. Its so crazy to me that freaking Ethan out of all characters gets 2 solo games

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Helena is a horrible character. Ada isn't much better after RE2.

Sherry was a nice surprise and I wish she would spearhead some sort of "new generation" along with Rebecca.

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Whether you like her or not is Subjective, She's still there in the game.

 

[MondoMega]

I have a good feeling about Jill and Rebecca being given major roles over the next few years.

 

[KillLaCam]

Capcom needs to feature more anyone who isn't Ethan

 

[Neoxon]

I have a good feeling about Jill and Rebecca being given major roles over the next few years.

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Hopefully Sheva isn't far behind.

 

[Lord Fanny]

Erm, didn't RE6 have 3 playable female characters?

Helena, Sherry and Ada?

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It did, but the default for Sherry and Helena was Jake and Leon, respectively, and as the story goes on the men become more and more of the focal point. Most people consider them the side characters in those stories, though a lot of people ended up way more interested in Sherry and her arch than Jake by a mile.

 

[BloodRayne]

It did, but the default for Sherry and Helena was Jake and Leon, respectively, and as the story goes on the men become more and more of the focal point. Most people consider them the side characters in those stories, though a lot of people ended up way more interested in Sherry and her arch than Jake by a mile.

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To me Sherry was the main character in that story. She has motivation and moves the plot forward. Jake is a passive character, he doesn't have much going on.

 

[MrCibb]

Eh, I don't really agree here. I think Resident Evil does alright in this regard. 7 and 8 stand out a bit now Ethan seems to be the main guy going forward but before that it's been a pretty even split with having a male and female combo each time, and then 3 being just Jill and 4 being just Leon. Also RE6 had 4 campaigns, not 3. Leon/Helena, Chris/Piers, Sherry/Jake, and Ada. I think you forgot about Ada, since that makes it a 50/50 split. And then the Revelation series starred Jill and Claire.

It's only 7 and 8 that have kind of broken the chain now by sticking with Ethan.