Highlights
- Legacy Resident Evil characters like Jill Valentine deserve a well-thought-out return, not just for fan service.
- Jill Valentine's appearances in the series have been few but impactful, cementing her as a beloved character.
- With Resident Evil 9 possibly featuring a crowded cast, Jill Valentine's return must add substance to the narrative.
The Resident Evil franchise has no shortage of iconic characters, and it's a roster that keeps growing with each new entry. When thinking about Resident Evil's most iconic characters, classic legacy heroes like Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, and Leon S. Kennedy, or legacy villains like Albert Wesker and Ada Wong, tend to come to mind first. But in the last few years, another handful of iconic characters have joined the franchise, appearing at just the right time.
From Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu to the 'faceless' protagonist Ethan Winters, the newer Resident Evil games have tried their best to expand the series' cast. But despite its best efforts to move on, the Resident Evil series keeps being asked to return to one legacy character in particular, though it now needs to time her reappearance carefully.
Resident Evil 9: Every Rumor So Far Explained
Resident Evil 9 still hasn't been officially confirmed by Capcom, but that hasn't stopped a mountain of rumors and leaks coming out surrounding it.
Resident Evil's Jill Valentine Should Only Return When the Time is Right
Resident Evil's Jill Valentine Hasn't Been Seen for a While
Debuting alongside the series back in 1996, Jill Valentine has been one of the most beloved Resident Evil characters for almost three whole decades now, even despite having surprisingly few appearances in the mainline series. After appearing in the series' debut, Jill Valentine would go on to be the main playable character in Resident Evil 3, where she continued to cement her place as one of the series' most capable characters, managing to take out the monstrous Nemesis.
Jill wasn't seen again in the mainline series until Resident Evil 5, where her character takes a bit of a divisive turn. After raiding the Spencer Estate alongside fellow BSAA partner and long-time friend Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine comes face to face with Albert Wesker, the hidden villain of the first Resident Evil game. Using his newfound superhuman abilities, Wesker brings the duo close to death, and in an attempt to save her partner, Jill grabs Wesker and throws herself out of the mansion's window. Jill then returns as an antagonist in Resident Evil 5's story, suffering the effects of Wesker's mind-control.
Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar eventually manage to free Jill from Wesker's control, and that marks her last canon video game appearance to date. Technically, though, Jill's canonical story continued in last year's CG movie, Resident Evil: Death Island, where she teams up with other legacy RE characters to take down some new threats in San Francisco, one of her first major missions since being controlled by Wesker.
Resident Evil often plays fast and loose with the canon in its CG movies, so this could end up being retconned in a future game.
Resident Evil 9 Might Be Too Crowded for Jill Valentine
Though fans got to play as Jill Valentine again in Resident Evil 3 Remake, and Death Island gave some teases about what the character has been doing since the events of Resident Evil 5, a proper return for her character in the mainline Resident Evil series is in high demand, just like Chris Redfield got in Resident Evil 7 and Village. But at this point, Capcom needs to be careful about when and where it decides to bring Jill Valentine back.
There have been a ton of leaks surrounding Resident Evil 9 over the last two years or so, and while all rumors should always be taken with a big pinch of salt, many signs are pointing to the game possibly being a tad crowded already. Some leaks suggest that Chris Redfield will be the main playable protagonist of Resident Evil 9, and if that's true, then it would make a lot of sense for Jill Valentine to accompany him once more as his long-time partner.
But other leaks suggest that both Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield are also set to appear in the sequel. While a big reunion would be a lot of fun to see, Jill Valentine's long-awaited return is worthy of a bit more fanfare. Her return must make complete sense for the story, and genuinely add substance to the narrative—she can't be a simple throwaway cameo just for the sake of fan service.
Resident Evil
Resident Evil is a long-running survival horror franchise developed by Capcom. Spread across numerous mainline and spin-off entries, the series is known for it’s third and first-person action horror, zombie-related monsters and references, and challenging puzzles.
Summary
Capcom's survival horror franchise.
