Resident Evil Village is fast approaching, and with that has come interest in previous games in the series. What is unique about Village though, is that since it is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7, its connection to the other games is tenuous at best. However, one big link to the classic series is Mr. Boulder Puncher himself, Chris Redfield — one of the original Resident Evil characters. To help people catch up for Village, we have decided to delve into the history of Chris as we lead up to Resident Evil Village. In the first part of our History of Chris Redfield series, we will cover everything leading up to Resident Evil 5. Considering how long Chris has been around, there is a lot of ground to cover.
There isn’t much on Chris’ early life available. We know that he and his sister, Claire, both had their parents pass away when they were very young. Chris joined the US Air Force where he became friends with his future STARS officer Barry Burton. Chris’ headstrong attitude led him to either leave the service himself or be discharged for insubordination. In 1996, Chris was recruited by the Special Tactics and Rescue Service, or “STARS,” a special law enforcement organization in Raccoon City.
During his time in STARS, Chris quickly became recognized as a very capable officer, solving several high-profile cases. His Captain, Albert Wesker, recognized Chris’ skills, and Chris soon became close friends with several other members of STARS, most notably Jill Valentine. Chris’ first contact with bioweapons would come during the Spencer Mansion Incident, which took place during the first Resident Evil game. After grizzly murders started happening around the Arklay Mountains, STARS was sent to investigate. Upon arriving, the team found the corpse of their pilot and were chased by rabid dogs into the mansion.
It all starts in a mansion…
It was soon discovered the mansion was built by Dr. Oswell E. Spencer, the co-founder of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. The mansion was a front for an underground laboratory where Umbrella conducted illegal bio-weapons research for the US military. One of these viruses, the T-Virus, mutated the lab staff into zombies: the cause of the murders in the area. It was then also discovered that Wesker was working for Umbrella as a double agent, whose orders were to destroy the facility and any witnesses to the incident. This, unfortunately, included all members of his own STARS unit. Chris confronted Wesker in the underground lab and things got sketchy. Wesker unleased a Tyrant from stasis to kill Chris.
Unfortunately for Wesker, he was seriously injured by the monster. The remaining STARS team consisting of Chris, Jill, Barry, Brad, and Rebecca were able to escape via helicopter. Wesker was able to survive however, due to infecting himself with a version of the virus. This was not the last confrontation Chris would have with his former captain. After the incident, Chris, Jill, and the other surviving members of the mansion tried to bring down Umbrella through official channels. Umbrella did its due diligence however, and bribed and paid off everyone it could, including the Raccoon City Police Chief Brian Irons.
As a result of these attempts, Chris ended up being discharged from the force as STARS was shuttered. Chris then used this opportunity to head to Europe to investigate Umbrella’s foreign offices. Jill stayed in Raccoon City and continued trying to take down Umbrella herself. Before Chris could continue his European investigation though, his sister Claire was captured by Umbrella’s security division in France. She was then transported to a prison camp on Rockfort Island in the Southern Ocean. This is when Resident Evil Code: Veronica took place — December 1998: three months after the events of Resident Evil 2.
The Wesker runback
While looking for Claire, Chris was once again confronted by Wesker. It was there that Chris learned that Wesker had obtained superhuman powers from the virus that he injected himself with before the Spencer mansion was destroyed. After their encounter, Chris went to Antarctica where Claire was found trying to rescue her fellow escapee, Steve Burnside. Wesker and Alexia Ashford fought for the last sample of the T-Veronica Virus when Chris tried to intervene. Wesker fled the scene, and Chris was able to temporarily stop Alexia.
Soon after the Antarctica base was set to self-destruct, Chris stayed behind to fight a transformed Alexia as Claire escaped. After defeating Alexia, Chris went after Wesker who had kidnapped Claire. Chris tried to fight Wesker, but was severely beaten. He was no match for Wesker’s new superhuman abilities. But Chris was able to injure Wesker enough to where the fight had to be concluded another time before the facility was destroyed. Chris was now more determined than ever to take Umbrella down.
Following the total destruction of Raccoon City at the end of Resident Evil 3, Chris met up again with Jill. Reunited, they formed a team to do everything in their power to expose and take down Umbrella. Chris and Jill soon went on another adventure in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, a light gun game for the Wii. In this game, Chris and Jill head to investigate an Umbrella facility in Russia — this occurred in 2003, five years after Raccoon City. While investigating a village attacked by bioweapons, they find a girl named Anna who managed to remain hidden from the zombies.
You forgot this game existed, didn’t you?
While looking for more survivors, Chris discovered Wesker up to no good again. It turns out this village was actually mostly Umbrella employees working in the facility nearby. After encountering a new bioweapon monster, Chris and Jill were able to defeat it and destroy the facility. With the American, European, and Russian facilities destroyed, Umbrella was crippled to the point of no return. However, just because Umbrella was gone, that didn’t mean the people behind it were.
Rogue researchers who left when Umbrella collapsed began selling their research to the highest bidders on the black market. Umbrella’s weapons were in more hands than ever before, all around the world. Because of this, Chris and Jill helped found the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, or BSAA. In Resident Evil: Revelations, originally on the 3DS, Chris and his new partner named Jessica investigated a terrorist organization known as Il Veltro in Finland.
Chris and Jessica were able to find an abandoned Il Veltro facility at the peak of a nearby mountain. At this facility, the pair was attacked by mutant wolves. Despite Chris receiving a leg injury, he and Jessica were able to defeat the pack. Afterwards, he learned that Jill and her new partner, Parker Luciani, were trapped aboard an ocean liner called the Queen Zenobia. After fighting off a sea monster, Chris and Jessica found Jill and Parker on the ship. Once reunited, Chris and Jill headed to the ship’s lab to destroy the new T-Abyss virus before it infected the entire ocean.
Friends reunited right before tragedy
After destroying the virus, Parker was found shot in the leg by Jessica. It turns out that Jessica was a mole for the mastermind behind the whole operation, Morgan Lansdale. Morgan was the head of the Federal Bioterrorism Commission, or FBC, a precursor to the BSAA. It was then revealed that the Director of the BSAA, Clive R. O’Brian, had enacted a counter intelligence operation to expose Morgan and his corrupt dealings. By doing this, the BSAA discovered another ship, the Queen Dido. Chris and Jill then headed there to end the T-Abyss virus and Morgan’s ambitions once and for all.
They were able to stop the virus and find the evidence needed to bring Morgan and the FBC down. Chris rose through the ranks to become one of the most prominent agents in the BSAA. In 2006, during the Resident Evil 5 Lost in Nightmares DLC, Chris and Jill learned of the location of the former Umbrella founder, Dr. Oswell E. Spencer. Heading to his mansion, Chris and Jill discovered Oswell moments after he was killed by Wesker. Chris and Jill were once again no match for his superhuman powers. Before Wesker dealt a killing blow to Chris though, Jill pushed Wesker out of a window, and into the waters below the mansion’s mountain outlook.
Jill’s body was never found, but Chris refused to believe she was dead. He followed every lead he could, which eventually lead him to Africa where Resident Evil 5 takes place.
That is where we will end the history Of Chris Redfield for today though. The next game in the series, Resident Evil 5, is a pivotal juncture in Chris’ story and leads directly into the events of Resident Evil 7, and inevitably Resident Evil Village.
