Throughout Resident Evil's 24-year history, the franchise has produced a cast of amazing characters that have since become beloved icons in the video game industry. Of course, while every Resident Evil fan will have their own favorite character, it is without a doubt that, despite a long absence, Jill Valentine remains to be one of the most popular Resident Evil characters of all time. In just a week from today, Jill Valentine is making a return with the release of the highly-anticipated remake of Resident Evil 3, which chronicles her desperate escape from Raccoon City and the relentless pursuit of Nemesis.
Similar to the 2019 remake of its predecessor, Resident Evil 3 remake is set to bring a lot of new things to the reimagining of the 1999 game. Ever since the announcement of Resident Evil 3 back in December of last year, Capcom has been generous enough to give fans a peek at what to expect in the upcoming game, which includes a major overhaul of the game's protagonist, Jill Valentine. But with physical redesigns aside, is Capcom's portrayal of Jill Valentine in the remake still the same with the original?
Who Is Jill Valentine?
To those who are not so well-versed in Resident Evil's long history, Jill Valentine is one of the first playable characters in Resident Evil, and many claim that she is also the first female playable character in a survival-horror game. When Capcom first introduced Jill, she is described as a capable police officer, whose strengths include her compassionate nature, a strong sense of justice, and her ability to work well under extreme pressure. It is fairly difficult to go in-depth on Jill's personality during the first Resident Evil game, since she barely had any, given that Capcom's priority at this point in Resident Evil's history was to introduce strong survival-horror gameplay.
Given this, the personalities of both playable characters weren't as fleshed-out, especially when compared to modern games. However, based on dialogue alone, Jill did not really embody the traits of a traditional video game heroine, and while she is capable enough to handle the situation she's in, she lacked the flair and personality that is common in today's video game protagonist. But in retrospect, even if it wasn't intentional, Capcom's portrayal of Jill in the first Resident Evil game does make sense, given that this game served as her origin story. Prior to the mansion incident, Jill has no experience in dealing with bioweapons, so it wouldn't really make sense to portray her as a badass bioweapon killing machine when this is the first time that she even knew bioweapons existed.
During her iconic comeback in 1999's Resident Evil 3, players saw a hardened Jill Valentine. Her opening monologue alone showed her desire to take down Umbrella and bring justice to the deaths of her S.T.A.R.S. teammates. In this game, Capcom did a great job in portraying her as a member of an elite police squad, which was obvious in her more confident attitude in dealing with the Raccoon City outbreak, her reluctance to team up with the U.B.C.S., and the way she singlehandedly defeated Nemesis. In succeeding games, Capcom remained consistent with its portrayal of Jill, and many players knew her as a reliable partner to her comrades, but a nightmare to her enemies.
How Much Did Resident Evil 3 Remake Changed Jill Valentine?
Personality-wise, Capcom did introduce some slight changes to Jill Valentine in the upcoming remake. In previous trailers, gameplay previews, and the RE 3 playable demo, it is evident that Capcom has increased Jill's badass traits as compared to previous Resident Evil games. In the opening sequence of the demo alone, we saw Jill make sarcastic comments during a conversation with Carlos Oliveria and Mikhail Viktor. Of course, looking at it closely, the spirit of the scene remains consistent with that of the original. The U.B.C.S. asked to partner with Jill, she was reluctant at first, but she agreed anyway knowing that it would increase the chances of her survival.
However, unlike the original Resident Evil 3, Jill is much more vocal about what she wants to happen, giving her more control of her situation. As previously mentioned, her conversation with Carlos and Mikhail included sarcastic comebacks, which made some fans think that maybe Capcom is trying too hard to portray her as this badass heroine for the sake of just being badass. However, looking at the context of the situation closely, her reaction to Carlos and Mikhail remains consistent with Jill's character.
It is worth remembering that Carlos and Mikhail are mercenaries hired by the Umbrella Corporation, which in Jill's eyes, makes them her sworn enemies. Of course, apart from Jill knowing that Umbrella is behind the Raccoon City disaster that killed most of the city's inhabitants, she also holds a grudge to the company for causing the deaths of her teammates. So at face value, Jill's tone with Carlos and Mikhail does appear mean-spirited, however, it does make sense given the context of the situation.
Of course, some may argue that Carlos and Mikhail are mere mercenaries of Umbrella and are not responsible for the Raccoon City outbreak. While that argument is valid, it is worth pointing out that in today's Jill Valentine-centered trailer, it was revealed that Jill herself realized this later in the game, and even started to apologize to Carlos. The trailer also showed how Jill and Carlos's relationship improved, and how they started to rely on each other to survive the outbreak. This goes to show that after realizing that Carlos was not deeply involved with Umbrella, Jill started treating him like a partner, showing that her sarcastic remarks earlier in the game were not made for the sake of appearing mean-spirited.
Having said all that, is Capcom's portrayal of Jill in the remake different from the original? With everything we know so far, the answer to that would be yes, Capcom did take a different approach in Jill's personality, but the developers were still able to retain her overall character. She remains independent and capable, compassionate to others but tough on her enemies. Sure, she is a little bit sassier than her previous portrayals but her comebacks are always within reason.
Of course, this is not to say that Jill's previous portrayals were bad, in-fact they still remain iconic and became foundations of Capcom's approach to her redesign. But nostalgic glasses aside, Capcom's latest portrayal of Jill Valentine, with her toned-down realistic outfit, and a stronger personality, is a step in the right direction, which hopefully, will remain consistent with any other appearances she may have in future Resident Evil games.
Resident Evil 3 is scheduled to release on April 3, 2020, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
