Where Is Chris Redfield? I Miss Him In Resident Evil

The Resident Evil series has a large number of playable characters, which has benefited the franchise’s ability to introduce new settings and threats per game. Even beyond the numerous survivors of the original Raccoon City outbreak, spin-offs and legacy sequels have established new generations of heroes who have driven the series forward in their own ways. It allows the games to easily set up new characters or bring back old favorites with ease.

Resident Evil Reqiuem gets to have it both ways, using the contrast between newcomer Grace and franchise mainstay Leon to add more layers to the gameplay. However, not every fan favorite has gotten the chance for a comeback, with one of the original stars of the series failing to even appear in the game despite his important role in the modern lore. It’s a shame, because I’ve been wanting another chance to fully play the character for years, and he doesn’t even really appear in the new game.

Chris Redfield Is Mentioned In Resident Evil Requiem, But Doesn’t Show Up

Chris Redfield isn’t really a factor in Resident Evil Requiem, which continues the franchise’s sidelining of the character. In Resident Evil‘s canon, Chris Redfield has shifted from primarily working in the field to a command position within the BSAA. Players got to briefly play as Chris in the latter half of Resident Evil Village, where his efforts to help Ethan Winters lead to the exposure of a division within the organization over the use of the same bioweapons that they’ve been dedicated to destroying. However, he takes a backseat once again for the latest game in the series.

Chris seems to still be working with part of the organization by the time of Requiem. While Chris himself does not appear in the new game, he does send reinforcements to try and assist Leon when they can. They only arrive in the aftermath of the game’s final boss, but provide some much-needed assistance to Leon and Grace following the former’s battle with the mutated Victor in the game’s canon ending. While this does at least confirm that Chris is still an active figure in the war against bioweapons, it also lays the groundwork for the game’s post-credits scene, where a group of the Connections’ Elite Guard takes down some of the BSAA soldiers to recover something from the ruins of the battle.

Chris Redfield being the overall leader of Resident Evil‘s heroic characters makes sense, especially given his time as a leader among S.T.A.R.S. and taking charge with the BSAA in the aftermath of the first game in the series. It also gives the games a handy justification for why the character is largely absent from the action of recent games, positioning him less as a fighter on the ground and more as a strategist working from afar. However, it is a bit of a disappointment for fans of the character who want to see more of him in action — even if it is consistent with the history of the series.

Chris Hasn’t Been The Lead In A Resident Evil Game For A While Now

Chris Redfield has been a central fixture of the franchise since the earliest days of Raccoon City. Chris is one of the playable characters in Resident Evil, alongside Jill Valentine. While Jill got another starring role in the third game, Chris was largely off-screen in the next few games in the series. Instead, finding him served as the motivation for his sister Claire in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Chris was back in a big way in Resident Evil 5, however, before becoming one of the playable heroes in Resident Evil 6. The franchise’s shift away from the action-heavy design of those latter two games has led to Chris being moved back to the sidelines.

While Chris is still very much a major figure in the lore of the series — and animated films like Resident Evil: Death Island have kept him front and center — the games haven’t really used him for much more than exposition and mystery. Even his brief appearance in Resident Evil Village as a playable character is more in service of Ethan Winters, helping draw more attention to Ethan’s mundane qualities and heroic resolve. Chris Redfield has effectively become the “big good” of the franchise, serving as a leader and faraway mascot for the series. As a result, however, it means that Chris doesn’t really have much of a major role in the game series.

Instead, characters like Leon, Ethan, and Grace have taken charge as main characters. This is even reflected in the recent remakes of the game, which have focused more on games where Chris wasn’t the protagonist (like Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis). I really miss playing as Chris, a character who works as a great subversion of action heroes in gaming. Like Leon in Resident Evil Requiem, there’s an awareness of the trauma and loss at the center of the series in Chris that makes him especially compelling. Village initially presented Chris doing unforgivable things, only to reveal he’s been forced to continue making hard choices for the betterment of the world.

As overly bombastic as the Chris Redfield-led games in the series became, he did offer a natural catharsis in response to the anxiety-inducing terror that drives most of Resident Evil Requiem. His return could be similar to Leon in the new game, wherein his expertise and physical strength make him a natural contrast to the more horror-heavy segments of a Resident Evil game. I understand why Chris has been absent from the series, especially as it continues to build new characters like Grace into the future of the franchise. I’m still sad I haven’t gotten to fully play a game with him in years.