Jeff Schine (Village)[14] Bryce Buckley (State of Survival)[15]
Japanese
Hiroki Tōchi (Afterlife,Marvel vs. Capcom 3,Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,Revelations,Project X Zone series,Resident Evil 6 and7,Resident Evil HD Remaster,Revelations 2,Vendetta,Village,Death Island)[12]
Critics have been polarized in their critiques of the character, with a focus on the frequent modifications and inconsistency in his design. Several publications have referred to Chris as one of the sexiest video game characters. Some critics have referred to a scene of his punching a boulder inResident Evil 5 (2009), which became aninternet meme, as one of the most memorable within theResident Evil series.
Chris continued to be redesigned over the course of the series.[27] InResident Evil 5 (2009),modeler Yosuke Yamagata said that they "made a new design that retained their signature color—green for Chris, blue for Jill—to carry over the same look from the past". The character's facial features are mainly based on the visuals in the2002 remake ofResident Evil, with various details added to arrive at a "realistic structure".[28] The game features Chris as a protagonist; designers opted to focus on how the character had aged since the original game.[28] His increased muscle mass was to show that he had trained intensely to fight the series' powerful villain,Albert Wesker, bare-handed.[29]Resident Evil 5's producerJun Takeuchi said that the series' fans want a video game featuring bothLeon S. Kennedy and Chris as the protagonists at the same time, due to their popularity. Takeuchi opined that it would be "pretty dramatic" if the two characters never met before the series ended;[30] the meeting happened inResident Evil 6 (2012),[31] where Chris has a slightly disheveled look due to hisalcoholism andpost-traumatic amnesia.[32][33] Character designer Tsutomu Kawade noted that the team was aware of Chris' powerful arms being his most distinctive feature. Their design thus accentuated his arms, with attire in blue-tinted green that continued his concept color.[34]
InResident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), Takeuchi said Chris was being proposed as the main character at the time and had to be developed into a hero since this was the first time we had seen him in a long time. Looking back, Takeuchi realized that developing aResident Evil game isn't the same as creating a hero character like Chris.[35] According to producer Masachika Kawata, the main playable character would be "totally new" rather than a "macho superhero" like Chris fromResident Evil 5.[36] Director Kōshi Nakanishi thought that Chris' appearance inResident Evil 6 would be "not suitable forResident Evil 7's game engine or aesthetic". Nakanishi reasoned that "[a]lthough it is a fairly realistic impression, even if it mixes with the character of7, it seems that a sense of incongruity will come out."[37] Producers wanted to give the character a more "photorealistic depiction" with an entirely new design.[38] Nakanishi felt that if Chris looked the same as in previous titles, players would get a sense of "incongruity",[38] although commentators and players held that the changes made the character unrecognizable.[38]
Chris appears as a major supporting character inResident Evil Village (2021); however, he is instead shown as more nefarious in the game's trailers due to killing protagonistEthan Winters' wifeMia Winters and kidnapping his daughterRosemary Winters, which surprised longtime fans.[39] Chris' actions served as a major mystery to the game before its release, which director Morimasa Sato felt was an opportunity to showcase the character's progression to fans who were already familiar with him.[39] His appearance was again redesigned, with a new outfit incorporating a coat.[40]
Every game in the series is set in the fictional American metropolitan area of Raccoon City until its destruction at the end ofResident Evil 3: Nemesis.[41] Subsequent games featuring Chris take place on an international scale, namely in Russia,[41] Antarctica,[41] China,[42] Louisiana,[42] Romania,[43] Africa,[44] and the Mediterranean Sea.[45] The original game is set in July 1998 in a mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City,[46] which Chris and his team enter while searching forlost colleagues.[25][47] Working with fellow S.T.A.R.S. memberRebecca Chambers, Chris discovers the property is a façade for abiological warfare laboratory operated by theUmbrella Corporation, and itsundead occupants are the scientists who developed the T-virusmutagen. His commander, Albert Wesker, is revealed to be adouble agent for Umbrella.[41] Chris and Jill are among the five survivors of the incident,[41] who form a strong friendship and become passionate opponents ofbioterrorism.[48]
Chris did not appear inResident Evil 2 (1998), as the production team used new protagonists (Leon S. Kennedy andClaire Redfield) to preserve the original game's horror elements. Mikami believed Chris and Jill would be too experienced to be scared by the events in the sequel.[49][50] Set three months after the events ofResident Evil 2,Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000) sees Chris return as the protagonist in the second half of the game.[42] He attempts to rescue his younger sister, Claire, from the Umbrella Corporation's research facilities on Rockfort Island, a fictional island in theSouth Pacific Ocean.[42] Upon discovering she is in Antarctica, Chris is briefly confronted by Wesker, who is revealed to have survived the events of the first game and also to have gained enhanced strength, speed, and agility.[42][51] Eventually, Chris defeats antagonistAlexia Ashford and escapes with Claire before the Antarctic facility self-destructs.[42] After that, the siblings vow to put an end to the Umbrella Corporation.[42]
The Umbrella Chronicles occurs in 2003, when Chris and Jill join a private organization to expose Umbrella's biological warfare activities[52] and ultimately destroy Umbrella's only remaining research facility.[b] After the fall of the corporation, the pair become founding members of theUnited Nations' Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA).[41] InRevelations – set two years later – Jill and her new partnerParker Luciani are sent on a mission to rescue Chris, who is allegedly being held hostage on aghost ship in the Mediterranean. Jill and Chris then unravel a political conspiracy involving an earlier mutagenic outbreak and a botched investigation by a rival agency.[54]
Resident Evil 5 takes place in 2009 in the fictional African town of Kijuju, whereterrorists are turning local residents intozombies.[55] Chris is the protagonist and is sent to Africa by the BSAA.[42] In the game, he investigates while looking for Jill, who is missing anddeclared dead.[42][44] Over the course of the investigation, he finds that she has been taken hostage by Wesker, who used her as a test subject in his biological experiments.[19] Accompanying Chris is his new partner,Sheva Alomar. Working together, the two manage to find and free Jill, and ultimately defeat and destroy Wesker, who was planning to spread the Uroboros virus across the world.[42]
InResident Evil 6 (2012), Chris leads a squad of BSAA soldiers to investigate a bioterrorism attack in Edonia,[56][57] a fictional country in Eastern Europe.[58] Ambushed byCarla Radames, posing asAda Wong, they suffer severe casualties,[56] with Chris andPiers Nivans the only survivors.[56] They travel to China to investigate bio-terror activity and find themselves in another C-virus outbreak.[42][31] While attempting to work withJake Muller, the illegitimate son of Albert Wesker, who possesses the antibodies needed to stop the outbreak, Chris and Piers encounter Haos, a powerful bioweapon.[42][56] Piers is grievously injured during the battle and injects himself with the C-virus to gain superhuman powers.[56] He saves Chris, but sacrifices himself to ensure Haos is destroyed.[42][56]
At the end ofResident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), a man identifying as "Redfield" arrives to rescue Ethan.[42] While the credits refer to the character as Chris Redfield, the helicopter he arrives in is branded with the Umbrella Corporation logo. This initially caused people to question the person's identity; Capcom later confirmed him to be Chris, albeit with a noticeable change in appearance.[42][c] Chris appeared in thedownloadable content campaignNot a Hero.[60] This subchapter focuses on Chris and his team attempting to apprehend antagonistLucas Baker, and although he fails to save his squad, he confronts and kills Lucas.[42][61]
Chris returned for the eighth main installment in the series, titledResident Evil Village (2021). During the events ofVillage, Chris and his Hound Wolf squad learn that antagonistMother Miranda is capable of shape-shifting and had posed as Mia. They promptly shoot her to protect Ethan and the Winters' daughter Rosemary, though these efforts are foiled.[56] After revealing the nature of his mission to Ethan, Chris saves the real Mia, learns Miranda's connection to the lateOswell E. Spencer – the founder of the Umbrella Corporation – and helps plant a bomb to destroy the infested village.[56][62] During extraction, a dying Ethan gives the recently rescued Rosemary to Chris before sacrificing himself to ensure the village's destruction.[56] Mia and Rosemary are rescued, and Chris and his team head to the BSAA's European headquarters to demand explanations for the BSAA's using bio-organic weapons as frontline soldiers.[62]
Chris features in severalResident Evil films. In the rejectedResident Evil film script written byGeorge A. Romero in 1998, Chris is aNative American civilian and ultimately one of the few survivors.[63] In directorPaul W. S. Anderson's live-actionResident Evil film series, Chris appears inResident Evil: Afterlife (2010), where he is found trapped in a maximum security cell in Los Angeles.[64] Wentworth Miller said that he requested that the filmmakers put together a montage of noteworthy video-game scenes that elaborated on Chris' experiences and background, as this would help him understand the character.[2] In the reboot filmResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021), Chris is played by Robbie Amell.[4] Chris also appears in the animated adultResident Evil films, which, unlike the live-action films, are continuations of the games.[65] Chris is one of the main characters inResident Evil: Vendetta (2017). He is asking Rebecca and Leon for assistance in preventing a psychopath from spreading "The Trigger Virus" throughout New York City.[65] Chris returns in the sequel,Resident Evil: Death Island (2023). He is a BSAA agent who investigates an outbreak of zombies in San Francisco caused by a new strain of virus.[66]
Chris features in novels of the films and games[83][84][85] and plays a main role in the third novel in a series byS. D. Perry,Resident Evil: City of the Dead (1999).[84] Additionally, he makes an appearance in the prequelmanga forResident Evil 6, which describes Chris' activities prior to the events of that game.[86] Several comic books based on the games were released,[87] and he is a character inBandai'sResident Evil Deck Building Card Game (2011) and Steamforged Games'Resident Evil 3: The Board Game (2021).[88][89] The character was featured in aResident Evil–themed attraction atUniversal Studios Japan'sHalloween Horror Nights.[90] Merchandise featuring Chris includes outfits, perfumes, gun replicas, watches, and figurines.[91]
Critical reception
Chris' appearance inResident Evil 5 (from left), which was carried forward into its sequel,Resident Evil 6. His redesigned appearance forResident Evil 7 (to the right) confused many commentators and players, who found the character to be unrecognizable.[27][38][59]
Chris has received criticism for inconsistent design and characteristics. Severalgame publications have noted the character's lack of consistent visual design throughout theResident Evil franchise.[27][38] Other critics have suggested that Chris used steroids.[92][93][94]Polygon's Cass Marshall noted his variations in body mass throughout the games repeatedly changing from lean to muscular and back again.[40]GameSpy compared his design inResident Evil 5 and said that "he look[s] alittle bit like a cross betweenColin Farrell andHugh Jackman".[95] SeveralKotaku writers have referred to Chris as one of the worst of theResident Evil heroes, calling him "bland" and "boring", and criticizing the majority of his redesigns,[96] while Ian Walker fromKotaku compared his appearances inResident Evil 7 andResident Evil Village as "transition[ing] from global bio-terrorism agent to [...] someone's henchman in a British crime comedy written and directed byGuy Ritchie."[27] According todigital media scholars Matthew Wysocki and Steffi Shook, as we reach the end of theResident Evil game, the return of long-time hero Chris, who is an ambiguously good or evil character, serves as part of his absolution because he is portrayed as a soldier who is performing the proverbial act of "just following orders." They additionally pointed out that he is a "lone hero ofhegemonic masculinity". Rather, Chris' masculinity is capitulating, especially in the presence of strong women.[97]
Chris has also been praised by gaming journalists. He has been named byIGN and in aFamitsu reader survey as one of the popularResident Evil characters.[98][99] His professional relationship with Jill was celebrated for its basis in loyalty rather than romance.[100] Noting previous criticism for being a "one-dimensional" character,PC Gamer's Andy Kelly praised Chris as "finally a person" inVillage, opining that, as a result of the game's design, he has been "given some depth".[101]
Chris has often been recognized for hissex appeal, particularly since his more muscular appearance debuted inResident Evil 5. Some critics have described him as one of the sexiest video game characters.[102][103][104] Video game critic Veerender Singh Jubbal stated in aKotaku interview that Chris, as he appears inResident Evil 5, "allowed [him] to understand [his]bisexuality" better; noting that his design was "different than previous iterations", Jubbal described Chris as a "large muscle-bound hunk [and] something [he] was attracted to".[103]
Near the climax ofResident Evil 5, Chris punches a large boulder until it falls into lava. The scene became recognized as one of the most memorable within theResident Evil series, largely due to its ridiculousness. The scene inspired fans to createinternet memes that highlighted Chris' masculinity and strength.[105][106][107] Wes Fenlon ofPC Gamer said that Chris punching a boulder inside an active volcano "gave us what is truly one of the greatest moments in the history of video games" and "as aquick time event. It is perfect."[106] InResident Evil Village, antagonistKarl Heisenberg calls Chris a "boulder-punching asshole" during hisboss fight, a reference to the aforementioned scene.[105]
^Albert Wesker: "It was the year 2003. Umbrella had a base of operations in Russia, where they were working on new B.O.W. (bio-organic weapons). They were preparing to arm the unstable regions of the world with their bio weaponry. Chris and Jill had joined a regional biohazard containment unit and had heard rumors about this nightmarish facility."[53]
^"Response to Chris Redfield's appearance in the DLC fromResident Evil fans has been mixed. The biggest point of contention appears to be his character design, with some fans sounding skeptical that it's actually Chris. In their defense, he looks remarkably different inResident Evil 7: Biohazard than he did inResident Evil 5 andResident Evil 6, in which he was considerably beefier."[59]
Media related toChris Redfield at Wikimedia Commons
