Summary
Resident Evilcan be said at this point to be the once and future king of survival horror. Capcom’s seminal series played a huge part in inventing and setting genre standards, and remaining relevant for over 25 years. Though it sometimes stumbled and fell out of favor during the course, in recent times Capcom has steered the series back to being an industry leader. Starting withResident Evil 7in 2017, the franchise forged a new path ahead by alternating between completely new titles and high-qualityremakes of classicResident Evilentries.
Following that pattern,Resident Evil 9is currently in developmentas the next mainline title. There is a lot of speculation regarding it, specifically which characterRE 9will star. After the events of 2021’sRE Village, many fans have good reason to assume it will beChris Redfield, who is arguably the face of the franchise. However, given how prevalent his use is, and his sometimes wildly shifting characterization, there are a few others Capcom could choose to go with instead.
RE Village’sDLC starred Rose Winters, and though she also may be an option, the following list will consider more established characters.
Resident Evil 9: 5 Classic Characters It Can Bring Back (That Aren’t Chris Redfield)
Ada Wong
Ada is a perpetualREfan-favorite due to her mysterious nature and cool, slick demeanor. WhileRE 4remake’sSeparate Ways DLCgave Ada her own short campaign, she has never been the star of a game, usually only showing up as a cameo or briefly teased. Ada was completely absent fromRE 7andVillage.RE 9fully featuring her would be a long time coming and well-earned.
Barry Burton
Barry is the grizzled veteran of the series, and in a way, is what Chris could eventually become himself. As anolder survival horror protagonist, Barry’s strong parental instincts were fully displayed inRevelations 2, as he searched for his daughter Moira, while encountering a strange little girl whom he couldn’t help but also try to rescue. This aspect makes him a solid choice to return inRE 9.
Moira Burton
Moira is Barry’s daughter, and has one of the more interesting personalities and histories for anREcharacter. A steadfast pacifist, she embodies the polar opposite of most of the others' action-heavy philosophies. IfRE 9decides to embrace one of the best sectionsofVillageas a design element, though, it could provide the perfect vehicle to star Moira without changing one of her core traits.
Rebecca Chambers
Rebecca was one of the members of the S.T.A.R.S. team who investigated the Spencer Mansion in theoriginal 1996Resident Evil. She was a young, naive rookie at that point, though she still displayed exceptional skills and resourcefulness. Later, Rebecca was one of the two protagonists ofRE Zero, a prequel to the first game, where some of her backstory was further fleshed out. Having her return inRE 9could show how Rebecca has grown and changed since.
Billy Cohen
Billy may be one of thelesser-knownResident Evilprotagonists, as his only appearance as such was inREZero, partnered with Rebecca. However, his dark horse status and currently unknown whereabouts in the overall story could serve as the exact angle needed for Capcom to truly surprise players inRE 9by bringing back Billy as its choice of hero.
