Who should be the main character in RE8?

[RedfieldFan]

It's rumored that RE8 will be a direct continuation of RE7's story. Who should be the central character in the story? To answer that I'll start by listing the three things that bother me about RE7.

1. The 1st person gameplay. Hopefully they'll switch to 3rd person in RE8 or at least give you the option to choose. The RE2 remake certainly proved that the new RE games can be scary in 3rd person.

Imo the 3rd person perspective makes it easier for the player to 'bond' with their character in any video game. It also adds the joy of unlockables like alternate costumes.

2. RE7 felt like a spinoff/side story. Imo the best RE stories are the ones that elaborate and expand on existing lore. Sadly RE7 felt a bit too separate from all the other main titles. As mentioned, rumor says that RE8 will continue the story. That can be good but only if they tie it more into the overall RE lore.

3. Ethan Winters wasn't a very good character. Maybe it's just me, but I found Ethan to be kinda boring. He is just a random and faceless guy. I would have loved for him to be explored more in depth. In the end, a character like Mia felt a lot more fleshed out and that's a shame.

This brings me to my point. Who should be the protagonist and main playable character in RE8?

I am one of those people who prefer one of the original four (Chris, Jill, Leon and Claire) to be in every main game as a major character. Therefore there can only be one contender the main protagonist of RE8 and that's Jill Valentine.

Within the world of RE, Jill hasn't appeared since 2009 (RE5). The last we from her, was an undated e-mail from her to Barry in Rev2. That alone makes her the prime candidate for a comeback.
There's so much we don't know about her: Is she still a BSAA agent? Has she fully recovered from Wesker’s mind control? Is she still blonde (this is actually implied in the e-mail)?
If Jill’s still with the BSAA, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to write her into the whole Eveline mess. Maybe she's sent to investigate the people responsible or something like that.

We all know that the next RE title is the RE3 remake which also feature Jill. If the game is a success, Jill might regain much of her former popularity making it the perfect time for her to be in another game. Normally I’d say that they shouldn't focus on the same characters two games in a row, but RE3 is still a remake so it doesn't really count imo.

Jill is already an established character in RE lore and will therefore have players invested from the start, also if the game is in 1st person. Her presence will also automatically tie the story of RE8 to the other games.

Who do you want as the main character in RE8 and why?

Hopefully we'll get a remake of Code Veronica, RE8 and Rev3 within the next few years.

 

[Jonipoon]

I've said Jill before and I'll say her again, because she truly deserves redemption after having been butchered in recent games.

Even if her return to AAA gaming with the RE3 remake proves to be very popular, I don't think it will affect which character Capcom chooses for RE8 anyway. RE8 has been in some kind of development since at least September 2017, when Capcom announced that work on RE8 was "already in motion".

I'd like to see them go back to having 2 playable protagonists, like they did in the classic games up until RE3.
EDIT: By that I mean 2 playable protagonists for 2 full unique story playthroughs that are different in some ways.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

I would like to have jill valentine as the main protagonist, but i think it will be better to have a nee character like re 7 and have jill beign a secondary main character that help the player...

I would like the game to be in first person because it give more tensione than third and i would love to playing as a character in first person and seeing jill or other main character moving around and you can see them in first person...

 

[Hel]

I can only repeat what the previous posters said, it's about time for Jill to return to the limelight in a game that isn't a remake, a what-if scenario, or a non-canon extra mode. 2009 was her last chronological appearance in the games' timeline, but in that game she was only playable in Mercenaries and a short DLC campaign, so technically she hasn't been the hero of a canon story since 2005 (or whatever year Revelations 1 takes place in).

I am one of those people who prefer one of the original four (Chris, Jill, Leon and Claire) to be in every main game as a major character.

I tend to be like that too, but then again, I wouldn't even mind a new set of recurring main characters as long as they're more exciting than Ethan (and that's setting the bar very low). RE6 could have been a step in that direction, but then the writers killed off Piers, made Helena extremely unlikeable and Jake extremely divisive. Under different circumstances, I think the three of them plus Sherry would make a great team. With their vastly different backgrounds, Piers and Jake hating each other, Sherry and Helena bonding over losing family to a virus, the potential love story between Sherry and Jake and possibly a few other things that don't come to my mind right now, I can only imagine the interesting stories that could have been told with these characters.

So to answer the original question: Give me anything other than Ethan, okay?

 

[Vergil]

I'd prefer Leon or Jill with a slight preference for Leon since Jill is going to be getting her own game this year anyway. As long as it's not Ethan or Chris I'd be okay with it, just please not first person again.

 

[UniqTeas]

I voted Jill. I think it has been a long time since we had a real good Jill game. We are over saturated with Chris at this point. But if Jill is the main character, a Chris cameo would be welcome.

If not Jill, then I want some Leon and Ada shenanigans. Just give us some info about what Ada's real f*ing goal is. Keep some mystery sure, but they've been playing at this story since 1998.

 

[KennedyKiller]

I vote Jill as well...But I really don't wanna see her without seeing Leon, because I feel like we need those two to interact on screen. We have NEVER had that in all these years. But I don't want Leon to be a main/playble character. Make it Jill's story.

Also, Ethan gets a lot of flack, and I feel like he's severely misunderstood. He doesn't HAVE to be a deep character. Not everyone does. In fact...Resident Evil Traditionally was about a "Normal" person overcoming insurmountable odds. We know everything about him we need to. His names Ethan. He Loves a girl. Thinks girl is dead. Finds out she's a live. Goes to save her. A normal person doesn't have to have some grandios over the top back story to validate their appearance in a popular franchise, or to be a good character. In fact...Chris and Jill are relatively boring surface level characters in RE1. They're just...folks with guns. Ones good at unlocking sh*t. The other is a really good aim. We don't get much more characterization than that until it's built into other games, and the lore is explored. So...hating on Ethan doesn't make sense from a narrative standpoint.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

I vote Jill as well...But I really don't wanna see her without seeing Leon, because I feel like we need those two to interact on screen. We have NEVER had that in all these years. But I don't want Leon to be a main/playble character. Make it Jill's story.

Also, Ethan gets a lot of flack, and I feel like he's severely misunderstood. He doesn't HAVE to be a deep character. Not everyone does. In fact...Resident Evil Traditionally was about a "Normal" person overcoming insurmountable odds. We know everything about him we need to. His names Ethan. He Loves a girl. Thinks girl is dead. Finds out she's a live. Goes to save her. A normal person doesn't have to have some grandios over the top back story to validate their appearance in a popular franchise, or to be a good character. In fact...Chris and Jill are relatively boring surface level characters in RE1. They're just...folks with guns. Ones good at unlocking sh*t. The other is a really good aim. We don't get much more characterization than that until it's built into other games, and the lore is explored. So...hating on Ethan doesn't make sense from a narrative standpoint.

Yeah you totally right... Chris and Jill were probably more likable because of their unique design , but what would have happened if re 1 was in first person? Everyone hates ethan but in re 1 You just pick two character called chris and jill whit no actual back story...
Re 3 jill isn't that much of a character too, he just serve the game plot purpose just like Ethan and almost every other character in the re universe...

Leon and Claire where the only good character from the start

Also people didn't get the fact that Capcom wanted the player to be the protagonist, so they give Ethan minimal information so that you immerse yourself directly into the game

 

[Hel]

People may very well get it, but in the end it all comes down to personal preferences. I'd rather control a boring character who at least has a visible face, a cool outfit and some traces of back-story (which the RE1 characters actually have, it's just hidden in the manual) than a relatively blank slate I'm supposed to identify with, but don't. A common complaint from RE7 players is that despite this premise of Ethan being a normal everyday kind of character with no military background, he doesn't feel like it because he barely reacts to the scariness around him and once you hand him a proper gun, he becomes Chuck Norris just like everybody else. Having not played the game myself, I can't say if I agree with this, but there are other games I do play that have the same problems.

I'm prone to reading too much into things sometimes, but I do feel like many RE characters have a lot more personality and background than is shown in the games. You get glimpses of that here and there, like the boyfriend / dog photo on Jill's desk and her perfect rendition of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14, all things that are ultimately not important to the plot, but give us a bit of an idea of who this person is, and I appreciate that. Maybe RE7 gives similar little hints about Ethan, but as I said, I haven't played it, only watched one walkthrough three years ago, and my memory is a little hazy. If not, then that's probably because Capcom really wanted you to be Ethan, but... that's just not everybody's thing. So yeah, Jill for RE8, please!

 

[RedfieldFan]

People may very well get it, but in the end it all comes down to personal preferences. I'd rather control a boring character who at least has a visible face, a cool outfit and some traces of back-story (which the RE1 characters actually have, it's just hidden in the manual) than a relatively blank slate I'm supposed to identify with, but don't. A common complaint from RE7 players is that despite this premise of Ethan being a normal everyday kind of character with no military background, he doesn't feel like it because he barely reacts to the scariness around him and once you hand him a proper gun, he becomes Chuck Norris just like everybody else. Having not played the game myself, I can't say if I agree with this, but there are other games I do play that have the same problems.

I'm prone to reading too much into things sometimes, but I do feel like many RE characters have a lot more personality and background than is shown in the games. You get glimpses of that here and there, like the boyfriend / dog photo on Jill's desk and her perfect rendition of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14, all things that are ultimately not important to the plot, but give us a bit of an idea of who this person is, and I appreciate that. Maybe RE7 gives similar little hints about Ethan, but as I said, I haven't played it, only watched one walkthrough three years ago, and my memory is a little hazy. If not, then that's probably because Capcom really wanted you to be Ethan, but... that's just not everybody's thing. So yeah, Jill for RE8, please!

I agree with you. I'd also rather control a 3rd person character (in any game) rather than a faceless one, but that's just my personal gaming preference.
I get that Capcom wanted a blank slate with Ethan - a normal guy players could identify with. While that could have worked, it sadly didn't. He ended up being a guy with next to no personality and that is hard to identify with.

You could argue that Chris and Jill had the same issues in the original RE1. But games have changed a lot since then both in terms of graphics and storytelling. The original character models couldn't show emotions and the dialog is notoriously bad. Already in RE2 this changed a lot, hence why Leon and Claire were more fleshed out characters.
Both Chris and Jill (as well as Rebecca, Barry and Wesker for that matter) got a lot more development in later games.
It might have been necessary that way round with them but Ethan should have been better from the start.

I vote Jill as well...But I really don't wanna see her without seeing Leon, because I feel like we need those two to interact on screen. We have NEVER had that in all these years. But I don't want Leon to be a main/playble character. Make it Jill's story.

It's true that Jill has never interacted with Leon on screen but then again she hasn't interacted with Claire either... Or Ada... Just like Leon never met Wesker before he died.

If it fits the story, I'm all for Jill meeting or talking to Leon. Maybe she could contact him for some information or something during the game. And I agree, it should be Jill's story.

 

[xMobilemux]

I don't want to see a withered 42+ year old Jill Valentine come back, it's hard enough getting used to her new look in REmake 3.

It's likely to be Chris again since Leon, Claire and Jill have all had their big nostalgia runs with the remakes and Chris was a key part of the RE7 extended lore.
Ethan's story was just him trying to survive and save his wife from the Mold infected Bakers and Eveline, while Chris' mission involves The Connections and Blue Umbrella, so it's likely that Blue Umbrella and the Connections is gonna be a big part of RE8 with Chris taking the lead.

Personally I want Leon to return as he's my favorite Resident Evil character and I want to see the Leon and Ada arc wrapped up, though it's unlikely Capcom will bring Ada back as they refused to even use her full name in REmake 2 due to fear of offending the oversensitive crybabies of today.

 

[RedfieldFan]

I don't want to see a withered 42+ year old Jill Valentine come back, it's hard enough getting used to her new look in REmake 3.

It's likely to be Chris again since Leon, Claire and Jill have all had their big nostalgia runs with the remakes and Chris was a key part of the RE7 extended lore.
Ethan's story was just him trying to survive and save his wife from the Mold infected Bakers and Eveline, while Chris' mission involves The Connections and Blue Umbrella, so it's likely that Blue Umbrella and the Connections is gonna be a big part of RE8 with Chris taking the lead.

Personally I want Leon to return as he's my favorite Resident Evil character and I want to see the Leon and Ada arc wrapped up, though it's unlikely Capcom will bring Ada back as they refused to even use her full name in REmake 2 due to fear of offending the oversensitive crybabies of today.

I don't think Jill's age would be a problem. Chris and Ada are older than her and Leon is just behind her.

The remakes shouldn't influence which character gets to be in a new game. They might, but they shouldn't.

I agree that Ada's story needs to wrapped up in either a game or a cgi movie. I would prefer a game with her as the main protagonist with Leon playing a supportive role. Maybe Revelations 3?

 

[xMobilemux]

I don't think Jill's age would be a problem. Chris and Ada are older than her and Leon is just behind her.

The remakes shouldn't influence which character gets to be in a new game. They might, but they shouldn't.

I agree that Ada's story needs to wrapped up in either a game or a cgi movie. I would prefer a game with her as the main protagonist with Leon playing a supportive role. Maybe Revelations 3?

By the events of RE7, Ada would be around 43 and Jill would be around 42 so I doubt they'll be brought back.
Women don't age as good as men do unfortunately and in these days of gaming where grizzled old dad type male protagonists are all the rage, it's likely to be Leon or Chris taking the lead as them being older and gruffer would be far more appealing to gamers.
I can't think of any noteworthy female action hero protagonists in gaming today that are in the mid 40s range because they are unappealing to people and that goes double for Japanese made games who idealize their women's beauty.

So unless they work in some kind of plot angle where Jill doesn't age due to the T Virus she got from Nemesis or the experimenting from Wesker or Ada being ageless due to some mysterious plot point she has, I'd say the legacy women of RE are out for the time being, except maybe Sherry.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

People may very well get it, but in the end it all comes down to personal preferences. I'd rather control a boring character who at least has a visible face, a cool outfit and some traces of back-story (which the RE1 characters actually have, it's just hidden in the manual) than a relatively blank slate I'm supposed to identify with, but don't. A common complaint from RE7 players is that despite this premise of Ethan being a normal everyday kind of character with no military background, he doesn't feel like it because he barely reacts to the scariness around him and once you hand him a proper gun, he becomes Chuck Norris just like everybody else. Having not played the game myself, I can't say if I agree with this, but there are other games I do play that have the same problems.

I'm prone to reading too much into things sometimes, but I do feel like many RE characters have a lot more personality and background than is shown in the games. You get glimpses of that here and there, like the boyfriend / dog photo on Jill's desk and her perfect rendition of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14, all things that are ultimately not important to the plot, but give us a bit of an idea of who this person is, and I appreciate that. Maybe RE7 gives similar little hints about Ethan, but as I said, I haven't played it, only watched one walkthrough three years ago, and my memory is a little hazy. If not, then that's probably because Capcom really wanted you to be Ethan, but... that's just not everybody's thing. So yeah, Jill for RE8, please!

Well if you haven't play the game you can't judge ethan, there is the whole story whit his wife that give him background and deep, also he dosent became chuck Norris when he get his first weapon, he dosent even know how to aim properly, and you can see the difference by playing chris in not a hero, whit ethan you easy miss most shoot while Chris had an amazing aim, you can kill most of the molded just whit the handgun and whit meele in not a hero

Also ethan happered only in one game, and it is just like jill and Chris in re 1... Jill boyfriend photo and other character personality traits were given in resident evil 2 and other resident evil game post re 1...

Jill and Chris were probably better because they show more personality while talking whit other stars character during the game... Also capcom want the player to be the main character, just like in call of duty in which characree didnt even talk, in mgs v phantom pain, battlefield, outlasts ecc

Chris in not a heeo show emotion becuase he is chris but ethan is supposed to be you that why they give little emotion

There are people that like this people that didn't, i m personally not bother by it

 

[ToCool74]

Considering Jill's last canon appearance "storyline wise" was RE5 and also considering the remake 3 being around the corner I think it would be best to finally see what Jill is up to in a post RE5 world so a sequel set after RE8 starring her would be great, other main characters like Leon, Chris, and Claire need a break since they actually have more recent showings in the later stories while Jill has be absent for a while.

 

[Mr.R]

Well if you haven't play the game you can't judge ethan, there is the whole story whit his wife that give him background and deep, also he dosent became chuck Norris when he get his first weapon, he dosent even know how to aim properly, and you can see the difference by playing chris in not a hero, whit ethan you easy miss most shoot while Chris had an amazing aim, you can kill most of the molded just whit the handgun and whit meele in not a hero

Also ethan happered only in one game, and it is just like jill and Chris in re 1... Jill boyfriend photo and other character personality traits were given in resident evil 2 and other resident evil game post re 1...

Jill and Chris were probably better because they show more personality while talking whit other stars character during the game... Also capcom want the player to be the main character, just like in call of duty in which characree didnt even talk, in mgs v phantom pain, battlefield, outlasts ecc

Chris in not a heeo show emotion becuase he is chris but ethan is supposed to be you that why they give little emotion

There are people that like this people that didn't, i m personally not bother by it

Sorry, but Ethan doesn't have a background, and there's nothing "deep" about it. The only thing we know about him is that he had a wife that disappeared. He has a friend and he has a car. We don't know his job, we don't know his age, we don't know for how long he knew Mia or for how long they're married. The game doesn't tell anything about that, in any form. There are, according to the ResidentEvilWiki some information on japanese supplemental material that most of us don't have access. Going from the game itself, we don't know anything. In that sense, Mia has a proper background (not that long but...).

Also, I think you should give more credit to people, because most of them knew Capcom had the intention on making the player to be Ethan, but no "normal" human reacts like him. He axes and shoots his wife, who tried to kill him with a chainsaw and he barely reacts. He lost his hand? Barely reacts. He sees Marguerite in her "monster" form...what he says? "Huh, that's special." It would be better for the game if Ethan didn't spoke at all. At least we could project our speech on him, like we did in the JRPGs of the past. Hell, the Outbreak characters are "normal" people with way more personality than Ethan.

Yeah, it's just a matter of opinion of course, which is valid, that's why I'm not gonna press too much on this again. He also doesn't have any motivation to go back to the fray. His arc is over, thankfully. He was a failed experiment by Capcom. To round up, everyone in the original RE1 had better, human, scared reactions to the zombie dogs (even the cheesy actors from the original opening) than Ethan had on anything in RE7.

 

[mert20004]

Personally ı'm not really looking forward to re8. Mainly cause ı'm expecting it to turn out like re7 did and ı didnt like that game that much. I've read your criticisms about the game and ı agree with them. Honestly ı'm more looking forward to revelations games to continue. I would also love the action horror trilogy to continue as a spinoff. I hope at least one of those will be a sequel to re6 storywise as well, didnt like re7's reboot wannabe story.

I think the characters ı would like to see most would be jill ( I think her rehab should had ended after the events of re6. Agreed with your thoughts about her regardless. ), jake, natalex, sherry, moira and helena.

Another idea that ı had in my mind is hunnigan becoming a playable character in a more survival horror oriented game, she isnt that experienced against monsters unlike leon. It would also be cool if simmons' the family organization from re6 appeared, they apparently selected a new leader after simmons' death and recovered his corpse for experiments. For some reason, they dont appear in vendetta nor is mentioned ( Like hunnigan who also doesnt appear in vendetta for a weird reason and isnt mentioned. ) however the novel dedicated to it mentions that leon's after them; he even seems to encounter nightmares related to his adventures in re6 like benford's death.

It would also be cool if the characters from your poll that ı didnt mention would come back as well ( I wouldnt mind that much if chris and leon appeared again though for chris' case, fix his horrible design ASAP and give him a better personality. He was boring in re7. ) though ı definitely dont want to see ethan again cause he simply sucks. As for new characters, dont make them generic like ethan and it would be fine for me.

 

[mert20004]

Forgot to say this but ı think it would be cool if hunk appeared in a future re entry as a villain. I think ı would have cared about re7 more if he appeared at the game instead of chris. I'm not sure how he would be handled though.

 

[UniqTeas]

In the original version of RE3 (which we never got), Hunk was going to be the main character. He has enough clout to appear again, but they have so many characters to choose from. I think if we ever see Hunk again, it'll be in a DLC mode or something like that.

I think the consensus is that love or hate RE7, no one wants to go back to first person mode. I assume they will be making RE8 in a similar vein to the remake games since RE2 did very well and RE3 has so much hype around it. I read an article today that said they are scrapping RE8 and starting over. Maybe to make it less like RE7? Who knows.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

In the original version of RE3 (which we never got), Hunk was going to be the main character. He has enough clout to appear again, but they have so many characters to choose from. I think if we ever see Hunk again, it'll be in a DLC mode or something like that.

I think the consensus is that love or hate RE7, no one wants to go back to first person mode. I assume they will be making RE8 in a similar vein to the remake games since RE2 did very well and RE3 has so much hype around it. I read an article today that said they are scrapping RE8 and starting over. Maybe to make it less like RE7? Who knows.

I totally prefer first peeson for re 8, so i would like to have it again, while i prefer third person for remake and more action spin off

I hope that rumor isn't true, because it remind me of re 5 and we all know what kind of masterpiece it was going to be before they scrapped everything