I’ve Given Up Hope for My Favorite Resident Evil Character

An insider has crushed the hopes of Resident Evil 9 for players who were hoping to see Jill Valentine return as a main character by saying she won’t have a large role in the upcoming game. Honestly, this isn’t that surprising. It’s been about 20 years since Jill was the main character in a Resident Evil title, not including remakes. Her most recent appearance in the main games was in Resident Evil 5, where she wasn’t a main character and instead had a side role that included a bit of being a minor antagonist. So, at this point, I’m done hoping that Jill is going to get the return she deserves.

It looks like Resident Evil 9 is going to have Leon as the main character. I don’t have anything against Leon, but he and Chris feel overused compared to the rest of the Resident Evil cast. Chris definitely appears more than Leon ever does, but both characters have sort of become Capcom’s default go-to characters when it wants to have an old character added into a new game.

Jill Valentine Will Never Be a Main Character Again

I feel like it’s time to say that Capcom has no intention of making Jill Valentine the main character of a new Resident Evil game, at least not without rebooting the series from the start. Unfortunately, this seems to be common for the female characters of the series, since you don’t see Rebecca or Claire making more appearances either, although Claire did get another moment in the spotlight with Resident Evil Revelations 2. They’ve all been written into positions where it seems to be difficult for developers to find a setting suitable for bringing back these characters.

In the case of Jill, here’s a recap of where we last saw her. Between the events of Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 5, Jill and Chris take a mission that has them return to Spencer Mansion, where they encounter Albert Wesker. Jill and Chris confront Wesker—who betrayed them in the first Resident Evil—but Wesker is too strong for them. When Wesker grabs Chris, Jill saves him by tackling Wesker, which sends both of them through the window and off the cliff. Jill’s body can’t be found, and she’s presumed dead.

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Of course, she’s not actually dead. Wesker takes her as a test subject for Uroboros. She defies his expectations, however, as her previous T-Virus infection keeps her from being affected by that strain of Uroboros, which allowed Wesker to use her antibodies to strengthen Uroboros into the strain that Chris and Sheva witness. Later, Chris and Sheva save Jill from Wesker, and that’s basically the end of her story. She doesn’t show up in the Resident Evil games after this point, and she’s not even mentioned.

It would make sense to have Jill in a more administrative role in the fight against bioterrorism after what had to be a traumatic experience from being controlled by Wesker. I would be happy to see her in such a role, too. My issue is that the series basically treats her like she doesn’t exist anymore, and that’s disappointing.

Resident Evil Could Use a Reboot

It’s been long enough since the start of Resident Evil that the series could benefit from a reboot. This would let the franchise start fresh and reimagine the games in new ways, which also comes with the chance to change the storylines of characters who ended up in a place where it’s difficult to bring them back. It would also give the series a chance to stay with the smaller-scale stories that have been working for it, as seen with Resident Evil 7 and Village reviving the series after RE5 and RE6 ended up being a bit extreme with their action and scale. Overall, I think there are a lot of benefits that could come from a reboot.

I can’t say with certainty what Jill’s future will be, but I can say that history tells me she won’t exactly have one. Jill Valentine has been my favorite character in Resident Evil from the beginning, so it’s been upsetting to see her continually ignored after RE5 to the point that she’s essentially vanished. At this point, it’s easier to give up on the chance of seeing her return as a main character, since that hope has only ever been met with repeated disappointments.