Summary
While theResident Evilseries has an admittedly fascinating story, a lot of the time, Capcom will give the fans only the essential information about certain events and individuals rather than granting them every single detail. This has led to more than a few fan theories popping up over the years, and while it’s easy to come up with a curious idea or prediction about the story, a handful of these theories have actually garnered a lot of attention thanks to a few subtle hints throughout the games that suggest that they might actually be true.
Considering just how weird and wacky the world ofResident Evilhas become over the years, anything is possible at this point, which in turn also allows some of the most outlandish theories to seem pretty plausible within this universe. These are some of the biggest and most prominentResident Eviltheories that have been thrown around the fanbase over the last few years.
Near the end ofResident Evil 2,Ada Wong, whom Leon had grown quite close to throughout the events of the game, falls to her “death” after being pummeled by the Tyrant. However, despite falling down a seemingly endless black chasm with no way of escaping, she then pops back up inResident Evil 4with barely a scratch on her, which begs the question of how she could have escaped such a hopeless situation.
As has been seen with theSeparate Ways DLC ofResident Evil 4, one of Ada’s most valuable tools is her grappling hook, which she uses to get around the environment and to catch unsuspecting enemies off guard too, with some fans suspecting that this may have been her saving grace. Where exactly she could have been hiding such a handy tool remains a mystery, but considering that she’s a spy, it seems unlikely that she would be waving it around for everyone to see.
Fans were treated to aweird bit of fanservicein the ending cutscene ofResident Evil 7, which had a lot of players scratching their heads as to what exactly they’d just seen. After Ethan and Mia are rescued by a mysterious group going by the name Umbrella, a soldier rappels down and removes his helmet, going by the name “Redfield”.
While he initially seems to be none other than Chris Redfield, he also looks completely different, and since Chris has never been seen wearing a helmet in the series, it’s led a lot of fans to believe he’s actually a completely different man whose identity is often hidden behind a mask, Hunk.
What’s more is, when Chris re-appears inResident Evil 8, his appearance has gone back to how he looked inResident Evil 5and6, with fans believing that Hunk, being the clever soldier that he is, is going under the synonym “Redfield” to keep his identity hidden. A lot of fans have desperately wanted to learn more about Hunk since he barely ever appears in the games, and this could potentially be a hint of him showing up in some form in the future.
The Duke shows up at multiple points inResident Evil Villageto offer Ethanweapons and supplies to aid in his journey, but he rarely gives any details about who he actually is. In fact, the Duke states near the end that he doesn’t even know “what” he is, but there are a few subtle hints that seem to suggest that he may actually be formed out of Rose’s powers as an attempt to create a sort of guardian angel to watch over her father during his adventure.
One of the biggest indications of this being the case that people point to is near the end of the game when Ethan is about to die on the outskirts of Heisenberg’s factory. The Duke, seemingly out of nowhere, arrives to rescue Ethan in his carriage and delivers him right to Mother Miranada’s doorstep to stop her once and for all. There are also a few very small visual similarities between Rose and the Duke, such as how both of them only have two buttons on their sweaters. Again, there’s no reason given as to why and how he’s helping Ethan, but considering that Rose admits at the end that she has powers that “Even Chris” doesn’t know about, it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that she conjured him up herself.
In the full game ofResident Evil 7, Ethan will be able to pick up a ringing phone where he’ll be given a little bit of guidance by Zoe, an unfortunate member of the Baker family. However,in the demo, the ringing phone also made an appearance, but the voice and accent were entirely different, with a lot of people noticing that it seemed to be the exact same voice actor who played Ada Wong in theResident Evil 2 Remake.
Rather than giving straightforward advice as Zoe does, this mysterious caller is also much more vague and mysterious, just like everyone’s favorite spy. It’s pretty baffling that Capcom would use a completely different voice, but similar to the “STARS” noise found in theResident Evil 2demo, this could potentially be a small hint towards a fan-favorite character showing up in future installments of the series.
Billy isone of the many side-characterswho appears in one game and is never seen or even mentioned again in the series, but while this is a bit more baffling for characters like Sheva, for example, there could actually be a reason why Billy specifically has been absent. At the very end ofResident Evil 0, Rebecca and Billy part ways, with the latter wandering off into the woods near the Spencer Mansion.
At the beginning of the first game, which is set literally days afterResident Evil 0, the reason Bravo Team travels to the mansion is because they were notified about mysterious deaths occurring in the woods around the building, the exact same place Billy ends up in the ending. Now, admittedly, Billy has been proven to be capable of holding his own against a zombie or two, but considering that even a group of specially trained S.T.A.R.S members are forced to retreat because of the number of enemies they face in the woods, it seems unlikely Billy could hold them all off on his own.
In a similar vein to the Duke inResident Evil Village, the Merchant is another very mysterious ally who seems to pop up in the most convenient areas to help out Leon, but he could actually be directly related to Luis. In the original game, there’s a file written byChief Mendeswhere he talks about his troubles hunting down Luis, stating that the Spaniard is moving around the village quickly thanks to a few hidden routes that had been set up by Luis' grandfather.
This would completely explain how the merchant is able to move around the map without being seen, but it also makes sense why he would cover up his identity since he would undoubtedly also be a prime target of the Los Illuminados due to his connections to Luis.
Capcom made it pretty clear thatAlbert Wesker, the big baddie of the series, was completely obliterated by the end ofResident Evil 5, having his head chopped off with a rocket while his body boiled in a pool of lava. However, according to some fans, it seems like the devilish mastermind himself may actually have found a way of returning through the Megamycete. It’s explained inResident Evil Villagethat any humans who make contact with the Mold, or the Megamycete directly, will have their DNA and memories stored within the fungus itself, and since it’s confirmed that Spencer knew about the Megamycete, it seems highly likely that Wesker did too.
The theory goes that Wesker, as a backup plan in case he faced an early demise, stored some of his own memories in the Megamycete so that he was still “existing” in some form or another. Considering that the BSAA took multiple samples of the Megamycete at the end ofVillage, many fans have theorized that this will inevitably lead to the resurrection of Wesker, especially if members of his secret organization manage to get a hold of it. Either way, while it seemed like Wesker had absolutely no way of escaping his fate, the Megamycete provides the ultimate safety net, which ensures that he can remain “alive” in some form or another.
