Resident Evil 9: Will Chris Redfield Be the Brainwashed One This Time?

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Aside from confirmation that it’s in development, no official information has been given about Resident Evil 9‘s plot or gameplay. Though, that hasn’t stopped an onslaught of Resident Evil 9 leaks from hitting the internet over the last year or so.

There have been countless leaks and rumors surrounding Resident Evil 9, theorizing about practically every aspect of the game, from a possible open-world level structure to a potential North American setting. One consistent point of speculation among various leakers is which legacy characters are going to appear in Resident Evil 9, with just about every major RE character having been rumored to show up at one time or another. But if there’s a grain of truth amid all the speculation and Resident Evil 9 does end up going all-in on legacy characters, then there might be a fun opportunity to flip one Resident Evil 5 plot point on its head.

Resident Evil 9 Could Flip Jill Valentine’s RE5 Role On Its Head

It Could Be Fun to See a Brain-Washed Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 9

At the start of Resident Evil 5, it’s stated that Jill Valentine is Missing In Action following a run-in she and Chris Redfield had with Albert Wesker a few years prior. Partway through Resident Evil 5‘s campaign, it’s revealed that not only is Jill alive, but she’s working with Wesker to spread the new Uroboros Virus throughout Africa.

This sets up an intriguing mystery and raises the stakes of Resident Evil 5‘s story dramatically, tying the fate of a fan-favorite character directly to the villain’s plans. Of course, Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar are able to quickly destroy the device on Jill’s chest that emits the brainwashing P30 drug, thus restoring Jill Valentine back to her old zombie-slaying self, but the plot point itself is still an intriguing one while it lasts.

It might be fun to see Resident Evil 9 flip this plot point on its head. In RE9, Chris Redfield could be the one controlled by some kind of antagonistic force, and Jill Valentine could be the one to track him down and rescue him. Not only could this be a fun nod to Resident Evil 5, but it could give RE9 a strong emotional core and some personal stakes right off the bat.

Resident Evil Village Already Did a Villainous Chris Redfield Fake-Out

Released back in June 2020, Resident Evil Village‘s announcement trailer ended with the shocking scene of Chris Redfield gunning down Mia Winters while player-character Ethan Winters watches on in horror and utter bewilderment. This ended up being the opening sequence of Resident Evil Village, and the reason why Ethan ends up in Eastern Europe.

In approximately half of the main plot in “Resident Evil Village”, players are initially led to think that Chris Redfield brutally killed Mia Winters. However, the encounter between Ethan and Chris leaves their relationship intentionally unclear. Later on, it is disclosed that Chris didn’t actually kill Mia; instead, he aimed to eliminate Mother Miranda, who had been masquerading as Mia but was in fact a bio-weapon.

It’s a bit of an odd plot twist that feels as though it could have been resolved right at the beginning of the game if Chris had just said something to Ethan rather than order his men to knock him out, and Chris’ excuse of not wanting to involve civilians falls a bit flat. With this plot twist being so recent, another Chris Redfield heel-turn fake-out might not go down so well in Resident Evil 9.

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2025-03-16 15:12