Despite being one of the most iconic horror gaming franchises of all time, the Resident Evil series doesn't usually take itself too seriously. While recent entries like Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village have definitely focused more on the horror part of survival horror than its immediate predecessors. They've still had their wackier moments, and for the most part, Capcom fully embraces those cheesier moments, often openly pointing at them with a tongue-in-cheek tone.
Whether it's the over-the-top nature of campy villains like Albert Wesker or bombastic action set pieces that don't otherwise fit with the game's tone at all, the Resident Evil franchise can get pretty goofy, and there's one particularly infamous sequence involving Chris Redfield that's transcended the series to become one of gaming's most iconic memes. And it's a meme that future Resident Evil games should continue mocking.
Resident Evil Should Keep Mocking Chris Redfield's Infamous Boulder Punch Scene
Of all of Resident Evil's wackier moments, the Chris Redfield boulder-punching sequence is by far the most infamous. Coming right at the end of Resident Evil 5, Chris Redfield finds himself inside an active volcano, attempting to put an end to Albert Wesker's world domination plans. Along the way, Chris runs into a gigantic boulder blocking his path and decides the most logical course of action is to start punching the boulder, with players having to mash buttons in a quicktime event to do so.
The Resident Evil franchise has had plenty of absurd moments, but for many fans, especially at the time, this boulder-punching sequence took things just one step too far. This moment became one of Resident Evil 5's most iconic sequences, and it quickly gained notoriety among fans. Eventually, this sequence reached enough infamy to become a meme, and a popular one at that. In more recent years, fans have been a bit kinder to Chris Redfield's boulder-punching antics, viewing the sequence as more of an epitome of the series' inherently campy nature and celebrating that fact.
Even Capcom itself hasn't been afraid of mocking the infamous scene. Towards the end of Resident Evil Village, Chris Redfield leads the BSAA in an assault on the game's titular European village, right as Ethan Winters begins a boss fight with the mutant cult leader Karl Heisenberg. Enraged and near death, Heisenberg screams that he'll kill that "boulder-punching asshole," of course referring to Redfield and the iconic Resident Evil moment. While this line brings up a fair few questions on how Heisenberg would know about the notorious moment, it's a fun bit of fan-service regardless, and it shows that Capcom isn't afraid of taking its lumps, and openly mocking them.
It's been heavily rumored that Chris Redfield is set to appear in Resident Evil 9, and if that is the case, then Capcom should definitely make another reference to the boulder-punching scene, just as it does with other tongue-in-cheek references like "Jill Sandwich" and the "Master of Unlocking." Though rather than being a direct voiceline referencing the moment, Resident Evil 9 could include something more subtle, such as an item or weapon description or the name of a trophy or achievement.
But where there is room for more overt references is in a potential Resident Evil 5 remake. With Resident Evil 4 Remake's post-credits scene paving the way for a remake of Resident Evil 5, it seems like a safe bet to assume that fans will get to see a fully remade version of the iconic boulder-punching scene soon enough, and Capcom has the perfect opportunity to make it more over-the-top than ever before, enhancing the absurdity of the moment.