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Resident Evil 7 Let's talk about Ethan!!!

arrman6

Well-Known Member
A thousand of peoples are talking that Ethan is a rip off and discrace of Re main characters.Why is people so mad about him.Is it because he can't use martial arts or kicking Zombies.

So what's your opinion guys.Is Ethan exciting or boring.

And also if you choose one of them,can you please explain why he is boring or exciting.
 

Jen

Girly Gamer
Premium Elite
Premium
In my opinion, Ethan is extremely bland. He barely reacts to anything that happens around him. He hardly had any personality. We also don't find out much about him as a person during the course of the game.

I think that cutscenes of some kind might have helped with fleshing him out. Since we don't see Ethan's face the only thing we have to go on is his dialogue, and in my opinion, most of the time he's either neutral or angry. Maybe some facial expression may have helped his character.

One of my biggest gripes with Ethan, though, is the fact that Capcom said that they wanted a fresh, inexperienced character because the current cast had become too good at killing BOWs. However, there's no evidence of Ethan's inexperience because he's blasting his way through molded left, right and centre pretty soon into the game, and takes down some pretty major bosses too. Now, I don't object to new characters in RE under normal circumstances, but when Capcom give a reason for replacing old characters that is entirely untrue, then I have an issue with it.
 

black 93

Well-Known Member
Could have fooled me that Ethan was a civvie. Dude picked up weapons like it was second nature and blew everything in his path away. He barely reacted to anything when in reality as a civvie he should have been freakin terrified. The most reaction i heard from Ethan was at the dinner table scene. I get that capcom wanted us to feel like we were Ethan rather than playing as Ethan, but for a new protagonist in a series as big as Resident Evil, they could have done much better. To me it felt as if Ethan was nothing more than a pair of eyes for the player to see through. His banter with Jack and a few badass lines here and there aside, i don't see how anyone could say Ethan was memorable. Tbh i felt more for Clancy the cameraman than i did for Ethan and i know for sure im not alone with that.
 

Venomous Oddball

Also Known as Maddy
One of my biggest gripes with Ethan, though, is the fact that Capcom said that they wanted a fresh, inexperienced character because the current cast had become too good at killing BOWs. However, there's no evidence of Ethan's inexperience because he's blasting his way through molded left, right and centre pretty soon into the game, and takes down some pretty major bosses too. Now, I don't object to new characters in RE under normal circumstances, but when Capcom give a reason for replacing old characters that is entirely untrue, then I have an issue with it.
Could have fooled me that Ethan was a civvie. Dude picked up weapons like it was second nature and blew everything in his path away. He barely reacted to anything when in reality as a civvie he should have been freakin terrified. The most reaction i heard from Ethan was at the dinner table scene. I get that capcom wanted us to feel like we were Ethan rather than playing as Ethan, but for a new protagonist in a series as big as Resident Evil, they could have done much better. To me it felt as if Ethan was nothing more than a pair of eyes for the player to see through.
Ethan seemed scared enough to me. He probably knew about B.O.Ws, so it makes sense that he wasn't completely surprised. And civilians in past games have just picked up guns and started shooting too.
 

Turo602

The King of Kings
Why? There really isn't much to talk about. He's a faceless, generic, bland protagonist. As some people seem to have already stated, he didn't seem like much of a character and Capcom's reasoning for why we didn't play as a returning protagonist was straight up bullsh*t considering how cool and collected Ethan was throughout his entire ordeal. He even had his f*ckin hand sawed off and has very little reaction to it. Seems pretty hardcore compared to the other "superhero" characters.
 
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Hel

Goddess of the Dead
Premium
Ethan... has a wife.

There, I talked about him. Is there anything else to say?
 

Jen

Girly Gamer
Premium Elite
Premium
Ethan seemed scared enough to me. He probably knew about B.O.Ws, so it makes sense that he wasn't completely surprised. And civilians in past games have just picked up guns and started shooting too.
It's not about Ethan being a civilian, necessarily. When Capcom take away the series mainstays because they want an inexperienced character to bring back the horror, and then that supposedly inexperienced character just goes off shooting like a pro and is pretty much unfazed by the majority of things in his path, then it just destroys the logic behind the decision to leave out the characters.

I also feel that there is a difference between knowing about B.O.Ws and encountering one in the flesh. I know about snakes, but if I came across one I'd be scared and it would show, because I'm not accustomed to seeing them in my life and I'd expect the same of any new character encountering a B.O.W. for the first time. Ethan may be aware of B.O.Ws existing, but I bet that he didn't expect to come across them in the Baker house after Mia sent him an email to come and get her.
 

Cheer

Kamen Rider
Well to be fare Ethan did show more emotion and expressions than Jill and Barry when they encountered the first zombie in the remake.
 

black 93

Well-Known Member
Jen and Turo said it best. Capcom's whole mentality about classic characters being too much like superheros now is where my problem with Ethan was. Ethan did nothing Chris, Jill, Leon or Barry weren't capable of. Plus imagine the impact of seeing a character like Chris get his hand chainsawed off. Ethan just wasn't a necessary character in my opinion, especially as one who was carrying the entire game. Capcoms whole mentality was wrong, because it's not about the characters feeling the terror, it's about US feeling the terror. The game could have been just as scary with an established character. Great examples of this are RE3 and RE4. RE3 we play as Jill, who survived the mansion and took down the tyrant. Yet we all sh*t bricks when Nemesis showed up. RE4 we play as Leon, now a badass agent who survived Raccoon city and took down Birkin. Yet we all sh*t bricks at the first chainsaw guy.
 
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Venomous Oddball

Also Known as Maddy
It's not about Ethan being a civilian, necessarily. When Capcom take away the series mainstays because they want an inexperienced character to bring back the horror, and then that supposedly inexperienced character just goes off shooting like a pro and is pretty much unfazed by the majority of things in his path, then it just destroys the logic behind the decision to leave out the characters.

I also feel that there is a difference between knowing about B.O.Ws and encountering one in the flesh. I know about snakes, but if I came across one I'd be scared and it would show, because I'm not accustomed to seeing them in my life and I'd expect the same of any new character encountering a B.O.W. for the first time. Ethan may be aware of B.O.Ws existing, but I bet that he didn't expect to come across them in the Baker house after Mia sent him an email to come and get her.
I get what you're saying, but I mean, while it would make sense for him to be scared, and he probably didn't expect all the monsters, he probably wasn't surprised by their existence.
Sorry if I'm making no sense. :razz:
 

arrman6

Well-Known Member
Jen and Turo said it best. Capcom's whole mentality about classic characters being too much like superheros now is where my problem with Ethan was. Ethan did nothing Chris, Jill, Leon or Barry weren't capable of. Plus imagine the impact of seeing a character like Chris get his hand chainsawed off. Ethan just wasn't a necessary character in my opinion, especially as one who was carrying the entire game. Capcoms whole mentality was wrong, because it's not about the characters feeling the terror, it's about US feeling the terror. The game could have been just as scary with an established character. Great examples of this are RE3 and RE4. RE3 we play as Jill, who survived the mansion and took down the tyrant. Yet we all sh*t bricks when Nemesis showed up. RE4 we play as Leon, now a badass agent who survived Raccoon city and took down Birkin. Yet we all sh*t bricks at the first chainsaw guy.

I like what you've said.

I get what you're saying, but I mean, while it would make sense for him to be scared, and he probably didn't expect all the monsters, he probably wasn't surprised by their existence.
Sorry if I'm making no sense. :razz:

It makes sense.When you see a big ass giant monster infront of you,normal people will scream like a little bitch.But Ethan,no expression.It's like he's don't care anything.He only cares about Mia.He's like"Fuuck out of my away.I have no time".When he got hurt he just use pain killer to heal them.Even when he got stabbed.Ethan is badass then normal people.No!he is more than a normal people.
 
Hey all! I could be wrong, but I feel Im one of the few people who really like Resi 7, ( I don't dislike any Resident Evil, they are all special in certain ways, 6 has an all-star cast, and is the longest in terms of hourly playthough) as for Ethan, I get that the makers of the game wanted an everyday "joe". One thing I must say, is that they didn't even make a face model for him.

Like, are "we?" supposed to be Ethan? To me, the main character of Resi 7, is Mia, and Eveline. (and hopefully Chris Redfield!!!!) The only reason we're playing as Ethan, is because of what Mia did in 2014, try to rescue Eveline.
I love the hell out of Resi 7, nothing really bothered me about it. 1st person, the Baker estate, my inventory management. Keys, puzzles, a lot of good elements all from previous entries. The way you get the shotgun, returning to locations with new keys, Finding the power cable and fuse for the wrecked ship. Really loved it all.

So back to the thread, I just wish maybe they could have made a model for Ethans face. Ya know?

And member that file in Resi 5. The names of the last people with something like a red level 10 clearance to the lab in Spencers notes, one of them was Ethan W. and in Resi 7 his name is Ethan Winters. Is that a missed coincidence?
 

black 93

Well-Known Member
Hey all! I could be wrong, but I feel Im one of the few people who really like Resi 7, ( I don't dislike any Resident Evil, they are all special in certain ways, 6 has an all-star cast, and is the longest in terms of hourly playthough) as for Ethan, I get that the makers of the game wanted an everyday "joe". One thing I must say, is that they didn't even make a face model for him.

Like, are "we?" supposed to be Ethan? To me, the main character of Resi 7, is Mia, and Eveline. (and hopefully Chris Redfield!!!!) The only reason we're playing as Ethan, is because of what Mia did in 2014, try to rescue Eveline.
I love the hell out of Resi 7, nothing really bothered me about it. 1st person, the Baker estate, my inventory management. Keys, puzzles, a lot of good elements all from previous entries. The way you get the shotgun, returning to locations with new keys, Finding the power cable and fuse for the wrecked ship. Really loved it all.

So back to the thread, I just wish maybe they could have made a model for Ethans face. Ya know?

And member that file in Resi 5. The names of the last people with something like a red level 10 clearance to the lab in Spencers notes, one of them was Ethan W. and in Resi 7 his name is Ethan Winters. Is that a missed coincidence?
If you ask me Capcom really missed a great chance to connect RE7 and Ethan to the lore with that file from RE5. "Ethan W" should have been Ethan Winters in my opinion, it would have explained a hell of a lot about how he was barely phased by BOW's while at the same time, being inexperienced in battle. Would have also made RE7 feel a hell of a lot more connected to the rest of the series than it currently does.
 

TJay

Well-Known Member
Premium
I think what people have to keep in mind about RE7 & Ethan, is that the experience is geared toward VR. It doesn't matter what fancy spin Capcom put on it, or even the fact there is a non-VR version of the game outside of PS4 (because the PS4 VR version is timed-exclusive). It's a VR experience & like most VR games/experiences the protagonist is as flat as day old cola because the experience (quite rightly) is focused on player/viewer immersion. You could also argue this point for many first person viewpoint games, which obviously RE7 is outside of VR.

It's the player reaction that is important. If Ethan was reacting to everything he saw, it would take away from the immersion & somewhat defeat the point in the game.

With that said I'm in agreement with pretty much everyone's points, Ethan was clearly no civvie & somewhat of a wasted opportunity.
 

PinkHerb

Healing Item
To me, Ethan is on the bland side in some cases. Its not all the time, but its seems like he is bored.
 

Airaku

Stray Jedi
First of all Ethan is a rip off of who? The Doom guy? Skyrim characters? Any other more generic first person protagonist character?

Ethan was created to be bland on purpose and Capcom made it quite clear prior to release that he's the player and the player is Ethan. Ethan is more or less scared if you are. He might say a few things but over all he's an extension of the player and this is a simple design choice to make use of VR as a major selling point of this game. To create an immersive experience. A choice which clearly wasn't very thought out and left out a large portion of the Resident Evil fanbase; basically all its female fans. The game offers no solution to rectify that for those fans. Ethan's small backstory also offers little in making them feel immersed as it relates to his wife. This alone is problem with the design choice of Ethan Winters because he doesn't universally fulfill his designed purpose for the game.

Ethan is nothing more than an extension of the player in a character driven universe where it doesn't belong. While there is no denying that RE7 is a great game, perhaps it would have been better accepted as a canon spinoff or it's own IP.

Mia on the other hand is a rather interesting character with a backstory I'd be interesting in learning more about; as well as where she goes from here. I only really care about Ethan's future because of Mia.
 
Not much to say. He is boring and I never want to see or hear from him again.

I understand why Capcom made him this way.. so geeky fans can 'pretend' to be Ethan. Personally, I think the series is loved alot because of the characters and the personality the characters bring us.

The only interesting characters in RE7 are all dead, so this entry in the series has so far not done anything to evolve the story. Maybe not a hero will change that, if it ever do get released.
 
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