Resident Evil has been sustained as a survival-horror franchise for multiple reasons, one of which is its ability to introduce interesting characters that players latch onto as fan-favorites. Each game is strongly associated with the unique batch of featured characters that fans will play as or work with through the story. Part of this iconography has to do with how many times fans have been able to play as a certain character, such as the prolific roles that Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield have had in the Resident Evil franchise, but the opposite is also true.
Some Resident Evil characters have only been featured once or twice. This could obviously lead to less of a fandom centered around them if they are forgettable, but if they happened to make their respective installments unique then that is incredibly special. Purist fans of Resident Evil may not think that any characters are obscure or forgettable, but certain faces may be completely unknown to a casual audience that had its first experiences with Resident Evil through Capcom’s modern remakes. Still, these relatively unfamiliar characters should either be given closure or returned to the franchise.
Resident Evil Characters Who Deserve to Come Back
Many characters could fall under the category of legacy character to individual fans, but essentially any character who has not been reprised since Resident Evil 7 or the Resident Evil 2 remake could technically be considered a character that Capcom has left behind. Certain characters do come to mind when considering Resident Evil’s rich history: Claire Redfield, Sheva Alomar, Carlos Oliveira, Rebecca Chambers, Billy Coen, and Barry Burton, to name a handful. These characters may be beloved by some fans, but there is currently no reason to believe that Capcom would choose to use them again in a later installment.
There is always a chance that more legacy characters could appear, but Resident Evil has proven that it might want to push forward with new characters as playable protagonists instead. That said, if Resident Evil 9 follows Chris Redfield, it would be terrific to hear from his sister Claire or other legacy characters he might have kept in contact with. Otherwise, Capcom would likely find favor from fans by finding ways to reinserting Claire, Rebecca, or Barry into the franchise again.
Resident Evil Remakes Give Forgotten Characters a Fighting Chance
The longer that Capcom decides to put out remakes, the better chance these characters will have of returning to the franchise. It is unknown what Capcom’s plans are after Resident Evil 4, but if it continues through mainline Resident Evil remakes, that well of content will run dry sooner rather than later.
At that point, Capcom may decide that it would be lucrative to start dipping its toes into entries such as Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Resident Evil 0, or Resident Evil: Revelations. These games have important narratives contributing much to the franchise’s lore, and the characters involved would then receive the treatment they deserve. It might not be the most surprising turn of events if one of these characters appeared in a new mainline game, since Chris Redfield seemingly demonstrated that legacy characters can return at any time.
But if Claire Redfield or any lesser-known characters are brought back, it will hopefully be with significant narrative importance and not an elementary name-drop. Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine is an esteemed character that fans would love to see back after her last appearance in Resident Evil 5, for example, but only time will tell if remakes or fresh installments will ever put her back in the player’s hands.