Summary
While theResident Evilseries definitely has its fair share of cheesy and goofy moments, the games have always retained a very dark and mysterious atmosphere that can be seen in the monsters, environments, and even the music. Every game in the franchise puts its own twists on the classicResident Evilformula to freshen up the gameplay, but they all still follow the survival horror template of finding resources and weapons to survive a nightmarish situation.
Things don’t always end on a happy note since many of the games will have a slightly unnerving undertone or implication at the very end which will easily send a shiver down the spine of anyone completing them for the first time. Sometimes, these darker endings are there to set up the next game, but in some instances, it feels as if Capcom is simply trying to remind fans just how terrifying this game universe is.
Despite not appearing for large chunks of the game, especially in the vanilla versions,Wesker is still one of the main antagonistsofResident Evil: Code Veronica. By this point in the story, Wesker has essentially become a superhuman capable of killing mere mortals with ease, but the one person who always managed to foil his plans thus far was his rival and old STARS comrade, Chris Redfield.
By the end of the game, after defeating the maniacal Alexia, Chris manages to evade being killed by Wesker before running out of the Antarctic base, which is in the middle of self-destructing. While Chris and Claire do manage to escape unscathed, what makes the ending especially eerie is the menacing laugh a bloodied Wesker lets out while everything around him explodes, giving fans an indication of just how unstoppable this fan-favorite villain had truly become.
After a rather nightmarish stay in the Baker Estate, new protagonist Ethan does eventually manage to escape from the swampy locale for good after defeating a mutated version of Eveline, the girl behind the transformation of the Baker family. Initially, everything seems to turn out okay as Ethan is rescued by a fairly odd-looking Chris Redfield, but it’s when the characters take to the sky that things start to look a little more bleak.
As the helicopter flies off into the sunset and Ethan talks to Mia about how the nightmare has finally ended, fans get aclear view of the Umbrella logowhich is now blue instead of red. While it seems as though this might be the exact opposite of Umbrella, in the sense that they would combat bioterrorism rather than encourage it, Chris even mentions that he still doesn’t trust them. Since the game’s release, Capcom has elaborated a little more on the group’s history and intentions, but no one could have known what they were up to after abducting Ethan and Mia at the end ofResident Evil 7.
5Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Memories Of A Lost City)
Since theDarkside Chroniclesis essentially a retelling of the classic games with a much different style of gameplay, it makes sense that many of the cutscenes and dialogue remain largely untouched, but Capcom added a little something extra at the end of Leon and Claire’s journey. Once the two leave Raccoon City by train, alongside their new friend Sherry, they walk off into the distance as Leon explains that Claire would go on to search for her brother.
However, in this new version of the ending, he then explains that he and Sherry were taken in by the US military for questioning. We then get a visual of what looks like Leon being interrogated by the military who claim to have Sherry in “good care” before telling Leon that he must join their ranks if he wants things to “end peacefully.” This was a great way to link Leon’s jump from rookie cop to the special agent he becomes inResident Evil 4, but it also puts a much darker twist on the hopeful ending of the original.
Since there are technically four separate campaigns featured inResident Evil 6, there isn’t one definitive ending, but by far the one that has the biggest emotional impact, and a fairly dark tone to it, isChris' story. The entirety of his campaign is essentially a long character arc where Chris turns from a disillusioned veteran who lost all of his team a few months ago to a man who realizes that he must continue fighting to avenge all of those who once fought by his side.
What makes the story especially sad is that, despite his best efforts to let no one else die, Chris ends up seeing each of his new squadmates fall one by one. But the biggest gut-wrench is the heroic sacrifice made by Piers at the very end during the fight with the Haos B.O.W. While Chris finds a new resolve after the incident, the fact that he still can’t seem to keep anyone safe and eventually must head out on his own provides a very dark undertone to end on.
After taking on the four Monstrous Lords and eventually Mother Miranda herself, Ethan finally gets to holdhis daughter Roseagain after losing her at the start of the game, but this is unfortunately also the last time he will ever get to see her. Just before the final boss battle, it’s revealed that Ethan actually died back in the Baker Estate and is essentially a mold monster who is slowly decaying with each passing minute.
Realizing that his time is limited, Ethan says his last goodbyes to Rose before passing her on to Chris for protection. As Ethan kneels before the Megamycete with a trigger in hand, he sends the gigantic monster into kingdom come, sacrificing himself so that his wife and daughter can get away. Anyone who’d played at least a fewResident Evilgames before this probably would have expected Ethan and Rose to fly out of the Village safely by the end of the game, so this emotional ending came out of nowhere and felt especially harsh on the new protagonist of the story.
The remake of the classicResident Evil 4did an amazing job at freshening up the old experience without taking too much away in the process, but Capcom did still flesh out a lot of the story and even changed around the ending cutscenes a little bit to make it much more unnerving.Leon’s mission to save Ashleymay have been a success, but as the two ride away on a jet ski, viewers get a scene of Wesker who talks to Ada about the “new world order” which will cost the lives of “billions” that he is in the middle of planning.
This is already a pretty haunting way to end the game, but it doesn’t end there. When the credits appear, players are treated to a soft melody that plays while pictures of the villagers show up on the screen, depicting them before they all became infected by the Plagas. As players see them go about their daily lives, singing, teaching, and just being normal citizens, it’s easy to feel a little guilty about killing them all so willingly, which adds a nice touch of realism to the whole situation.
By far the most well-known event in theResident Evilstory, and one that is very much at the core of the entire plot, is the Raccoon City incident. After the T-virus infects nearly the entire city, Umbrella sends out their Nemesis to hunt down any remaining Stars members who could potentially expose the evil corporation’s actions, but luckily, Jill Valentine manages to defeat the hulking behemoth and escape via helicopter along with her new comrade Carlos.
Just as they are flying past, fans see a nuclear missile heading straight into Raccoon City. As the explosion completely decimates every inch of the area, it creates an extremely unsettling visual which is only amplified by the music cutting out and the screen turning white once the bomb lands. The Raccoon City Incident is mentioned plenty of times throughout the series, but the best visualization of just how sad and terrifying the event was comes at the end ofResident Evil 3, especially when thinking about just how many innocent people became victims of Umbrella’s sick experiments.
