Debuting all the way back in 1996, the Resident Evil franchise has been around for almost three decades now, and it shows absolutely no signs of stopping. After the success of Resident Evil 7 back in 2017, the Resident Evil franchise saw a major resurgence, and when Resident Evil 2 Remake dropped in 2019, that resurgence only continued to grow. Now Resident Evil is even bigger and better than ever before, with its latest entries acting as the perfect jumping on point for new fans.
Not every newcomer wants to start with the most recent Resident Evil entries; some want to start at the very beginning. But while other gaming franchises have a definitive starting place, usually being the first game in the series, the Resident Evil franchise is a tad more confusing. Though there are 29 games in the Resident Evil franchise, just over 15 of them are considered canon, and all of those are in a pretty jumbled chronological order.
Resident Evil 0
Released in 2002, Resident Evil 0 is far from the first release in the franchise, but it is technically where the series' chronological timeline starts. Resident Evil 0 puts players in the boots of Rebecca Chambers, a member of Bravo Team of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service who crash-landed in the Arklay Mountains just on the outskirts of Raccoon City while on her way to investigate a series of alleged murders. Chambers runs into ex-convict Billy Coen, and the two discover a hidden Umbrella research facility. Here, they learn that Umbrella's co-founder Dr. James Marcus discovered a Progenitor virus a few decades earlier, and used it to create the T-Virus, resulting in zombie-like transformations.
Resident Evil
The first game to be released, 1996's Resident Evil takes place just after the events of Resident Evil 0. Players either control Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, two members of S.T.A.R.S.' Alpha Team on the search for the missing Bravo Team. Alpha is soon ambushed by a pack of zombie dogs and the team has to hide in the Spencer Mansion, which turns out to be a secret Umbrella laboratory. Albert Wesker, originally part of Alpha Team, reveals himself to be a double agent working for Umbrella, and the team narrowly escapes by blowing up Spencer Mansion.
Resident Evil: Outbreak
The next few games in this list all take place at around the same time, but Resident Evil: Outbreak is technically next. Taking place in the first few hours of the Raccoon City T-Virus outbreak, Resident Evil: Outbreak sees a gang of bar-goers attempt to escape the city before the government nukes it into oblivion. Players control eight different survivors, ranging from a member of the Raccoon City Police Department, to a surgeon at Raccoon General.
Resident Evil 2
Set two months after the first game, Resident Evil 2 sees new R.C.P.D. recruit Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield stumble into the middle of the Raccoon City outbreak, which they attempt to escape. The two make their way through the city and eventually find another hidden Umbrella lab, this one being home to an even deadlier virus known as the G-Virus, which mercenary Ada Wong attempts to steal for herself.
Resident Evil 3
The first half of Resident Evil 3 is set just a day before Resident Evil 2, following ex-S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine as she evades the Nemesis T-Type monster. Eventually Jill meets up with Carlos Oliveira, a member of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service, and the timeline syncs up with Resident Evil 2. After being infected and then cured, Jill wakes up to find out that the government is planning to nuke Raccoon City. The team narrowly escapes the blast, and Nemesis.
Resident Evil: Survivor
A PS1 lightgun game, Resident Evil: Survivor follows the story of pilot Ark Thompson, who was sent to the private Umbrella-owned Sheena island by Leon S. Kennedy. After forgetting his identity for a bit and dealing with a bunch of infected, Ark runs into a new Hypnos T-Type Tyrant, and manages to defeat it and blow up the Umbrella facility using its self-destruct function.
Resident Evil - Code: Veronica
Set three months after Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil - Code: Veronica sees players take control of Claire Redfield once more as she goes in search of her brother Chris. After being captured by Umbrella and escaping, Claire finds herself in yet another secret Umbrella facility, this time in Antarctica. Thanks to a tip from Leon, Chris goes in search of his sister and meets Albert Wesker along the way, seeking the T-Veronica Virus. Claire manages to escape the facility with Chris, blowing it up for good measure, and Wesker retrieves a sample of the T-Veronica Virus.
Resident Evil 4
Skipping ahead by a few years, Resident Evil 4 sees Leon S. Kennedy working for the US government. Sent on a mission to rescue the President's daughter Ashley from cultists, Leon stumbles upon another plan to conquer the world with a virus, this time the mind-controlling Las Plagas parasite. Leon manages to defeat the cult leader Saddler with the help of mercenary Ada Wong, and he and Ashley escape the island facility as it detonates behind them.
Resident Evil: Revelations
Working for the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, Jill Valentine investigates reports of Biological Organic Weapons on a cruise ship called the Queen Zenobia. Together with Chris Redfield, Jill finds that a terrorist organization known as Il Veltro is planning to use a new strain of the T-Virus, called the T-Abyss, to infect the Earth's oceans. The team once again manage to foil the evil organizations plans, and blow up the ship in the process.
Resident Evil 5
Five years after the events of Resident Evil 4 and Revelations, Chris Redfield and BSAA partner Sheva Alomar are tasked with stopping the use of Biological Organic Weapons in West Africa. Along the way, Chris finds evidence that Jill survived a recent encounter with Wesker, where she was presumed to have died. Chris and Sheva find the source of the Progenitor Virus, and discover that a new Uroboros Virus is going to be used by Wesker to usher in the next phase of human evolution. Chris and the team kill Wesker by pushing him into a volcano and launching rockets at him.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 follows Claire Redfield, Moira Burton, and her father Barry Burton as they attempt to track down a T-Phobos Virus. This leads them to an old Umbrella facility on an abandoned island where Alex Wesker, who's simply named after Albert, is continuing to conduct experiments. Along the way, Barry finds a little girl named Natalia who can sense the virus inside someone, and after the whole group defeats Alex and escapes, he decides to adopt her.
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 6 sees players control a multitude of characters at different points in time. The game opens up with players controlling the son of Albert Wesker, Jake Muller, as he escapes from a BOW called Ustanak. Chris Redfield then joins the fray, attempting to take down the new Neo-Umbrella organization. Meanwhile, Leon S. Kennedy is forced to kill an infected President, and join the fight against Neo-Umbrella.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard sees Ethan Winters search for his missing wife after receiving a mysterious message from her after three years of no contact. The message leads Ethan to a rundown plantation in Louisiana where he meets the Baker family, who all attempt to kill him. Ethan eventually finds out that the family has been infected with a virus known as Mold, which is being controlled by a little girl named Eveline, a subject of unknown experiments.
Resident Evil Village
Three years after Resident Evil 7, Ethan Winters goes in search of his missing baby daughter Rose. He eventually discovers that she's been taken by Mother Miranda, an early 20th-century biologist responsible for the creation of the Mold, as well as for the mentoring of Oswell Spencer and the T-Virus. Ethan learns that he actually died when he first met the Baker family, but Miranda's Mold has been keeping him alive. Chris Redfield comes to save the day, destroying the source of the Mold and rescuing Mia, though Ethan is left behind.