Capcom officially announced Resident Evil 8, officially called Resident Evil Village, at Sony's PlayStation 5 event in June. Since then, the studio has released another teaser trailer that showed a little bit more of the upcoming game. Today, a new video for the game has been unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show, where developers of Resident Evil 8 shared some insights on the ideas behind the upcoming installment to the survival-horror franchise.
Of course, even with these new footages of Resident Evil 8, its general plot is still shrouded in mystery. In previous trailers, players witnessed new enemy types, which include the rumored werewolf-type creatures. However, it is worth remembering that werewolves are nothing new in the franchise, at least in the comic series. But as such, the inclusion of werewolves in Resident Evil 8 creates a strange connection with series veteran Jill Valentine, who has not been linked to Resident Evil 8 until now.
Jill Valentine's Strange Connection with Werewolves in Resident Evil 8
During Resident Evil's infancy back in 1998-1999, Capcom released a comic book series that explored the story of Resident Evil outside of the games. In its third issue, Capcom introduced a new storyline called "Wolf Hunt," which takes place a week before S.T.A.R.S. Bravo and Alpha Teams stumbled upon the Spencer Mansion as explored in Resident Evil 0 and 1. In Wolf Hunt, a terrifying werewolf is reported to be causing mayhem in Raccoon City College, forcing RPD's S.T.A.R.S. to interfere.
During the investigation, RPD sent Jill Valentine to go undercover as a student to see whether the claims of a werewolf stalking the campus ground were true. In her investigation, Jill did encounter the werewolf, but unfortunately, its origins were never revealed. It is unknown whether the creature is a product of the Umbrella Corporation or whether it was the actual supernatural monster found in folklore. After successfully killing the werewolf, Jill witnessed as it reverted back to its human form, which does imply that the monster may not be a bioweapon after all.
Does This Strange Connection Suggest That Jill Will Appear in Resident Evil 8?
At the moment, the origins of the werewolves in Resident Evil 8 and whether they are true werewolves still remain a mystery. However, it is unlikely that the same type of creature that Jill encountered in the comics is the same as the one featured in Resident Evil 8 given the massive time difference. To add to that, it is worth noting that while the comic series is officially licensed by Capcom, it was never deemed canon, so the connection is most likely a bare minimum.
However, fans who are hoping to see the return of Ms. Valentine in Resident Evil 8 shouldn't rule out her possible appearance in the game entirely. Although there was no mention of Jill in previous trailers or even by reliable leakers, Jill still has a strong connection to Resident Evil 8, and that connection is with Chris Redfield. It is worth remembering in all of the trailers revealed for Resident Evil 8, Chris has been made to appear as if he is the villain of the upcoming game, but players should know that this too remains unconfirmed.
How Jill Could Play A Role To The End of Chris' Story
Moreover, in the debut trailer of Resident Evil 8, Capcom tells players that "His story comes to a close." At the moment, no one knows who Capcom is referring to, but in all likelihood, the studio is most probably referring to either Ethan Winters or Chris Redfield. If the latter turns out to be true, then it wouldn't make sense if Jill is not present in the conclusion of Chris' story. To the uninitiated, Chris and Jill are longtime professional partners and have proven themselves to have each other's backs throughout the franchise.
Given this, if Chris' story will truly end in Resident Evil 8, then fans won't get a proper closure without Jill making some sort of an appearance. Interestingly enough, today's Resident Evil 8 developer video unveiled a mansion in the game, which is ironically similar to the Spencer Mansion in the first Resident Evil where players were first introduced to both Chris and Jill.
But how likely is Jill to make an appearance in Resident Evil 8? Well, it is worth noting that following Resident Evil's timeline, Jill hasn't been seen since Resident Evil 5, which was set in the year 2009. There has been a mention of her through an email to Barry Burton in Resident Evil Revelations 2, but no one knew what happened to her afterward. Given this, Resident Evil 8 would be a perfect time for Jill to make a comeback, especially if her return is in relation to the end of Chris' time in the franchise. If Resident Evil 8 will really see the conclusion of Chris' story, then it only makes sense for Jill to be there, especially if this is Capcom's way of passing the torch from the old characters to the new generation of Resident Evil protagonists.
Resident Evil 8 is set to release in 2021 for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
