Summary
- Sherry Birkin defied her orders from Simmons after realizing his true intentions.
- HUNK became a mercenary after Umbrella's fall, known for his survival skills.
- Characters like Krauser chose power and solo ambitions over alliances.
When a zombie outbreak suddenly kicks off out of nowhere, as is very common in the world of Resident Evil, most people will usually try and stay with a larger group to have the best shot at survival, but this doesn't always last. In fact, there have been several characters who, despite possibly being in a team in the past, eventually decided to go rogue, abandoning their position to chase their own goals and ambitions.
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On the one hand, this can make someone extremely dangerous, since it's never easy to predict what their intentions are, and whether they're even trustworthy in the first place. Then again, in a world where people are always trying to backstab one another to save their own skin, maybe these characters decided to abandon their position for their own safety? Either way, it's time to take a look at the Resident Evil characters who, at some point in the series, have gone rogue to uncover what exactly prompted them to do so.
8 Sherry Birkin
After Realizing The True Intentions Of Simmons, Sherry Disobeys His Orders
Resident Evil 6
- Released
- October 2, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
Sherry may have been only a child when she debuted in Resident Evil 2, but once she returned to the sixth mainline game, she's all grown up and a loyal member of the DSO working under a man named Simmons. Though Sherry follows Simmons' orders for much of the game, once she meets Leon a little later, she comes to learn that the director isn't all that he seems and has actually been pulling a lot of the strings from behind the scenes to enact his own selfish plan for him and 'The Family'.
As a result, while Sherry was initially instructed to bring Jake in due to his affiliation with Wesker, she would instead decide to team up with him, so that the two could make their grand escape. She may have been a timid and naive young girl all those years ago, but these days, Sherry is more than willing to stand up for herself if she's being treated unfairly.
7 HUNK
After The Fall Of Umbrella, HUNK Decided To Become A Dangerous Mercenary
Resident Evil 2
- Released
- January 21, 1998
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, PC, PS1
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
HUNK is Umbrella's most valuable asset, or at least he was, until the company went bust in 2003 after the stock crash. Because HUNK is barely ever seen in the series, it can make it a little hard at times to deduce what exactly he is up to, but thanks to a few documents and external information, what has been made clear is he is seemingly traveling around as a mercenary who even created his own fighting style which he calls CQBF.
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Considering HUNK has earned the nickname of Grim Reaper due to his tendency to embark on suicide missions and survive, there's no doubt he's taken down a plethora of infected humans and mutants since he separated from Umbrella. Fans can only hope to see this mysterious figure in a future installment of the series, though it seems likely with how popular he is.
6 Jack Krauser
Krauser's Hunger For Power Drove Him Down A Dark Path
Resident Evil 4
- Released
- January 11, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
It can be hard to believe, considering the two are literally trying to kill one another in Resident Evil 4, but Leon and Krauser were actually once close allies. In the Darkside Chronicles game, specifically the Operation Javier campaign, players can see that Leon and Krauser had a very close mentor and student relationship, but when the mission went horribly wrong, resulting in Krauser being severely injured and Leon saving the day, the former of the two started to lose his mind.
Krauser, feeling rejected by the U.S Government and obtaining an unhealthy obsession with growing more powerful, would fake his death and seek out someone who could make him more powerful. Though he did eventually end up meeting Wesker and Saddler, it's clear Krauser always puts his own ambitions first and was willing to go rogue for quite a while until he found the people he was looking for.
5 Zoe Baker
Zoe Isolated Herself From Her Family To Avoid Eveline's Influence
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Released
- January 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Psychological Horror, First-Person
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
It wasn't long after the Baker family took in a young girl named Evelyn that they began to become more restless and violent. The truth is, Evelyn was secretly a B.O.W. Who had been molding the Bakers into her own makeshift family, transforming them into a bunch of crazed lunatics who were hell-bent on killing anyone in sight, but one member of the family who decided to reject this way of thinking was Zoe.
In fact, Zoe would choose to isolate herself from her family by living in the trailer, which can be found outside the Baker Estate. Instead of giving in to Evelyn's temptations, Zoe decides to help out Ethan as a way to rebel against everything that had happened to her loved ones.
4 Chris Redfield
Years Of Constant Fighting Had Taken Its Toll On Chris
Resident Evil 6
- Released
- October 2, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
Most of the time, the legendary protagonist Chris Redfield is usually partnered up with some sort of organization, whether it be STARS, the BSAA, or even Blue Umbrella. There was, however, a brief period where Chris decided to abandon his post altogether after years of fighting against bioterror finally took its toll on him, and this can be seen at the beginning of Resident Evil 6, where Chris is drinking away his sorrows in a bar.
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After Pierce, an up-and-coming BSAA soldier, decides to intervene, he talks about how much Chris has fallen from grace and that the BSAA needs him to return in order to handle yet another mission. In Resident Evil 5, Chris would again disobey his orders so that he could embark on a personal mission to rescue Jill. Chris is usually as loyal as they come, but he is still human after all and can sometimes let his emotions get the better of him when the going gets tough.
3 Luis Serra
Luis Was Once A Key Researcher For The Los Illuminados
Resident Evil 4
- Released
- January 11, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
When Leon first runs into Luis near the beginning of Resident Evil 4, it's clear that the wisecracking local has something to hide. Though he often enjoys talking in riddles, Luis is eventually forced to admit that he was once a researcher for Saddler and the Los Illuminados, which is why he's being hunted down by the cult and is in a similar situation to Leon and Ashley.
To try and make up for his past sins, Luis does all he can to support the duo along their adventure, even providing them with supplements to hold back their infection until they can get cured. Going rogue was certainly risky considering Luis is severely underprepared to take on Saddler's army, but he still proves to be an extremely useful ally to Leon in the end.
2 Albert Wesker
Wesker Abandoned Umbrella To Achieve His Lofty Goals
Resident Evil HD Remaster
- Released
- January 20, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
In the first Resident Evil game, players are led to believe that Wesker is the leader of the STARS team who stumble into the zombie-infested Spencer Mansion, but this isn't exactly the whole truth. At this point in time, Wesker was actually working under Umbrella and was disguising himself as a member of STARS in order to gain more data on the B.O.Ws that resided in the building. After being unexpectedly stabbed by a Tyrant and brought back to life, Wesker decided that it was best to fake his death and embark on his own ventures without the organization dragging him down any longer.
Over the next few games, Wesker would dip in and out of several organizations in order to get what he needed to execute his grand plan. In Resident Evil 5, for example, despite it seeming like Wesker teamed up with the organization known as Tricell, he essentially just became their leader and discarded them as soon as his Uroboros virus was ready to go. Simply put, Wesker is a lone wolf who can only depend on himself.
1 Carlos Oliveira
Umbrella's Involvement In The Raccoon City Incident Encouraged Carlos To Leave
Resident Evil 3
- Released
- April 3, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Horror
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Though the Umbrella organization is often presented as an evil corporation within the series, not everyone who works under them is evil; a prime example of this is Carlos. Carlos had no idea Umbrella was behind the Raccoon City Outbreak, though he would eventually come to learn what was actually going on after he traveled to the city hospital to try and cure Jill.
During his rescue mission, he was shocked to uncover the dirty deeds that Umbrella had committed, and though he couldn't exactly officially step down considering everything that was going on at the time, he made it pretty clear he had no interest in working with them any longer. External material and in-game files make it clear that Umbrella was very adamant that everyone in the city should be killed to avoid any information being leaked, so the fact that Carlos was willing to protect and even save Jill's life already made him a traitor.
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