This article contains spoilers for Resident Evil Village.
While the Resident Evil franchise has been led by various iconic protagonists, both new and recurring, there's a case to be made that one of its most recent main characters should be the last of a narrative trend in future games. With the latest Resident Evil remakes, players will likely be familiar with how frequently classic characters make their comebacks, such as Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, and especially Chris Redfield, who even appeared in Resident Evil Village. However, another character featured in RE Village and its predecessor, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, stands out from other protagonists for potentially the wrong reasons.
Unlike past Resident Evil games, RE 7: Biohazard was a significant step forward for the series as it broke from tradition with its first-person perspective, replaced viruses with mold, and introduced Ethan Winters as an everyman-style protagonist. Beyond Ethan's initial lack of training compared to other legacy Resident Evil characters and his self-determined motivation as the protagonist, the series' new first-person view also allowed his appearance to remain ambiguous. Yet despite this effort to amplify Ethan's relatability with players, this particular storytelling trick should and may already be retired for future Reisdent Evil games.
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Resident Evil Took An Odd Approach To Ethan Winters
When Ethan was first introduced as the protagonist in RE 7: Biohazard, his involvement with the game's story was initially circumstantial as he searched for his missing wife in rural Louisiana. Whereas previous protagonists were soldiers, officers, or secret agents with professional combat training and some understanding of the threats they faced, Ethan was ultimately just an everyman, an anonymous civilian thrown into Resident Evil's world. Even when Ethan returned in RE Village, though it was confirmed in-game that he had received training since the events of RE 7: Biohazard, his impetus in the game's story was to rescue his daughter.
As a result, while past Resident Evil games explored the bigger picture of shadowy organizations like the Umbrella Corporation and the viruses they were creating, RE 7: Biohazard and RE Village provided a smaller focus on how ordinary lives like Ethan's might be impacted by each game's events. However, though this nuanced and humanized approach to storytelling was well-received and refreshing, certain decisions made about Ethan's design and characterization have potentially undermined this, especially when he returned as RE Village's protagonist and featured in its Shadows of Rose DLC.
Resident Evil Couldn't Face The Problem With Ethan Winters
Regardless of the split between players who liked Ethan's anonymity and those who didn't, Capcom's commitment to keeping Ethan's face hidden even in RE Village's Shadows of Rose DLC arguably only added to the intrigue behind the character's real appearance. Consequently, besides being one of Resident Evil's only faceless protagonists, it is difficult to separate interest in Ethan's story and character from his unusual anonymity. While Ethan's hidden face may have only been in keeping with his everyman archetype, it wasn't something factored into the games' stories, nor was it carried over to his daughter, Rose Winters, as RE Village's DLC protagonist.
Detailed Legacy Characters Help Define Resident Evil
Just as Chris returned in RE Village or Ada Wong leading RE 4's Separate Ways DLC, it has become something of a tradition for Resident Evil characters to return multiple times across future games. However, the demand for which characters return is often influenced by how players engage with them in previous games, something which established characters like Chris, Ada, Leon, and even Albert Wesker as Resident Evil staples. Yet even if Ethan didn't meet his fate in RE Village and could return in a future game, it seems his anonymity has left him overshadowed by his daughter, Rose, with a potential return in Resident Evil 9.
