Highlights
- Jill has featured in several Resident Evil games over the years, but some of her appearances have been better than others.
- Resident Evil 3 gave Jill Valentine depth and turned her into a horror icon, making it her most important game. Jill's return in Resident Evil Revelations marked a revitalization for the franchise and showcased her as the primary protagonist.
- While Jill's involvement in Resident Evil 5 is essential to the story, the game's flaws and weak storytelling don't do justice to her character. Operation Raccoon City being set an alternate universe means Jill's appearance is meaningless.
Jill Valentine is a beloved character from the Resident Evil series and one of the most important figures in the canon of its story. With her debuting in the very first entry up and appearing in some of the series' most recent games, Jill is definitely one of the characters with the most appearances in all of Resident Evil.
However, considering the long and sometimes tumultuous history of Resident Evil, some of Jill Valentine's appearances are bound to stand out more, in terms of both quality and importance, than others.
S Tier
Resident Evil 3: Although the original Resident Evil may be Valentine's most important game, as it's the one that brought the series and her character into existence, Resident Evil 3 is where she gets the most depth as her own character. This game sees her venturing out on her own in an attempt to stop the goliath Nemesis and save what's left of Raccoon City. It's undoubtedly the game that turned Jill Valentine from a simple protagonist to a horror icon.
Resident Evil Revelations: The game that many consider a revitalization for the franchise also marked an impressive return for Jill Valentine as the primary protagonist. She isn't the sole protagonist here like in Resident Evil 3, but the core of the story does revolve around her harrowing exploration of the Queen Zenobia ship.
A Tier
Resident Evil: With this game being responsible for ushering in an iconic horror franchise, it is no surprise that Jill Valentine herself is naturally worthy of much respect. Ultimately, there isn't as much focus on Jill as a personality here as in the S Tier entries, and one of Resident Evil 1's biggest flaws is how most of its characters feel fairly one-dimensional, but it's still the game that started it all - even if it's one of the main Resident Evil titles that hasn't aged well.
B Tier
Resident Evil 5: Jill Valentine isn't a playable character in the fifth main-series entry, but she is essential to the story. While Resident Evil 5 is far from a bad game, it's not known for being one of the better stories in the franchise, and that reflects in everything relating to Jill's involvement with this game. It is sadly Jill Valentine's final/most recent appearance in a numbered Resident Evil game, and many are hoping she'll pop up again sometime soon.
C Tier
The Umbrella Chronicles: This little-known on-rails shooter from the Wii and PS3 is surprisingly canon, and contains some insight from Albert Wesker about the Umbrella Corporation and its doings during the first three games of the series. It's similar to Leon's appearance in Darkside Chronicles in that it's mostly just a retelling of older games events, but Darkside Chronicles includes some new information about Leon's whereabouts during other games, whereas Umbrella Chronicles doesn't give anything particularly new or significant about Jill.
Re:Verse, Revelations 2, and The Mercenaries: All of these games are essentially non-canon multiplayer or minigame modes in that Jill Valentine appears as an optional playable character. It's great for fans who love this character and want to play around as her in these various fun additions to the world of Resident Evil, even though they obviously don't do anything at the end of the day to explore or develop her character.
D Tier
Operation Raccoon City: This is a non-canon Resident Evil story that utilizes Jill Valentine and a number of other major RE characters in a hypothetical alternate version of the events of the Raccoon City Outbreak. It's interesting to explore different possibilities of what could have happened during this major event, but ultimately, the lack of depth this game brings to Jill Valentine's character, and the Resident Evil story as a whole, makes it pretty unimportant.