Chris Redfield was there when it all began, at the Arklay Mansion incident in the forests ofRaccoon City, better known to players as the firstResident Evil. Twenty-three years of game chronology and real-time later, Chris is at the heart of it again in the newly releasedResident Evil Village.Chris’s graying hairline inRE8shows the bioweapon killer isn’t as young as he used to be, but he is still in his monster hunting, boulder-punching prime.
Admittedly, in the sci-fi saturated universe ofResident Evilwhere people come back from the dead all the time, age is just a number, but the real-time aging of the series has interesting implications for its heroes. Many may be curious how Chris will still be present, or if he will be, as the franchise moves forward. Given the leap forward in time teased in the post credit sequence, one cannot help but wonder how old Chris is at the end ofResident EvilVillage, and whether there will be enough fight left in the gunslinger for one more adventure.
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Aging action male heroes are nothing new to games, even looking beyond immortals likeGod of War’s Kratos orthe Doom Slayer—see Marcus Fenix, Sam Fisher, and incarnation ofMetal Gear Solid’s Snake. The tantalizing end ofRE8name drops Chris directly, confirming that he is still alive and well in the future, but it also suggests he may be occupying a different role that what we have seen before as the franchise moves forward.
Chris Redfield: A History
Chris Redfield’s precise, canonical age is unknown, but there are some insights about the character’s life that permit a rough estimate. Before the events of theoriginalResident Evil,Chris was in the US Air Force pilot prior to being recruited by Raccoon City’s Special Tactics and Rescue Service. Assuming Chris enrolled in the Air Force Academy as early as possible (18 years old) and had a somewhat successful career, he would conservatively be in his mid-twenties when he joined STARS. Again, it is unknown exactly how long Chris was a member of STARS before the Arklay Mansion incident in 1998, but there are references to him winning annual shooting tournaments among the Raccoon City Police Force, and solving difficult cases alongsideBarry Burton.
Assuming Chris was around 25 years old as ofResident Evil,the 23-year-long jump to the events ofRE8would have him pushing 50, which is consistent with his character’s grizzled appearance. Again, that is no obstacle to fighting prowess in a video game, but fans also start to see how the character’s age is getting the better of him in other ways.
A New Heroine’s Mentor?
Resident Evil 8’s epilogueis focused on the now-teenage (or possibly twenty-something) Rosemary Winters. Rose visits her father’s grave, relating the latest developments of her life in vague terms. Things get interesting when a black suited spook—likely a member of the BSAA—shows up to collect her. When the man in black makes an ill-advised crack about Rosemary’s lineage, she slams him against the car and threatens to show him “things even Chris doesn’t know [she] can do.” It’s an intriguing moment that suggests Chris has become a coach to Rose, training her how to use her unique gifts.
If Chris is nearly fifty during the village incident, and the clock jumps forward another decade and a half or two to when Rose is grown up, Chris could be as old as 70 inResident Evil 9. This assumes, of course, that there is not another intermediary title between games. After all, with the exception of interquels and prequels,Resident Evil’s franchise timeline usually progresses in tandem with the real world. But seeing Chris playing the role of a mentor who must learn to trust an ally that poses an inherent threat would be an excellent way to develop his story.
Resident Evil Villageis available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
