Fans of Capcom’sResident Evillove the franchise both for its zombies and unique brand of survival horror. However, outside zombie-animal hybrids and massive bosses are some quirks that makeResident Evila recognizable game in the genre. For instance, fans might remember the infamous “Jill Sandwich” line and other weird dialogue pieces—not to mention the voice acting—from the first games in the series.
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Moreover, fans who stayed for the long haul will recognize the series' rather humorous approach to character growth. For instance, Claire becomes a pure badass, Chris will get bigger muscles, and Leon will sport fantabulous hair. Unfortunately, some things fans might notice about the game’s approach to story and gameplay throughout the years might end up not making any sense.
Updated on Aug 11, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam:With Resident Evil Villagerocking the survival horror scene with a slow return toResident Evilcanon in 2021, multiple new Resident Evil media were released to reinvigorate interest in the franchise. One such recent release wasResident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City,a live-action film serving as both a reboot of the film franchise and a retelling of the first two games. With Welcome To Raccoon City giving a more refined and realistic look into the series, some fans may notice things within the Resident Evil canon that don’t necessarily make a lot of sense.
14Why Aren’t Local Enforcement Prepared?
While it’s completely reasonable for the Raccoon City Destruction Incident to have taken the world by surprise, events afterward shouldn’t give law enforcement any excuse to come unprepared for such new outbreaks. As spinoff games likeResident Evil Outbreakand media likeMarhawa Desireshowed, the threat of bioterror incidents reached the likes of the media and incited international action.
However, it’s quite interesting for otherResident Evilmedia to still depict horrific outbreaks, as though law enforcement weren’t briefed on how to handle such situations. Examples of these would include the Harvardville Airport outbeak (Degeneration), oreven the C-Virus Outbreaks in Tall Oaks and Lanshiang. One would think that Anti-Bioterror Organizations would at least brief local law enforcement on what to do in the event of bioterror attacks.
13Why Aren’t There Conspiracy Theories About Raccoon City?
Prior to the events ofResident Evil 4, it’s implied that the Raccoon City Destruction Incident led to widespread knowledge with regards to global bioterrorism. To summarize, the Destruction Incident directly led to the resignation of the United States Presidentand the subsequent fall of the Umbrella Corporation. A Daylight vaccine was also manufactured to directly combat the effects of zombification viruses.
However, the games make it known to players that the United States military wanted to cover up the destruction of Raccoon City, although the effort has failed spectacularly during the fall of Umbrella Corporation. Given the highly-sensitive nature of the situation, it’s interesting that conspiracy theories regarding the nature of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident are largely absent from the series. Adding these could definitely add a layer of mystery and thrill to the franchise, especially to the civilian side of things.
12Why Aren’t There Other Anti-Bioterror Organizations?
Since the fall of Umbrella Corporation, the respective survivors of the Raccoon City Destruction Incident went their separate ways and ended up in various anti-bioterrorism efforts. Of these events, the most significant was perhaps the creation of the largest counter-bioterrorism organizations in the games, including the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), the Anti-Bioterrorism Forces (ABF), and even the recent Blue Umbrella.
11Why Aren’t Pharmaceutical Companies Scrutinized?
Although a humorous point at best, it’s an inside joke among fans that it’s large pharmaceutical corporations that truly cause all the global bioterrorism mayhem in theResident Evilfranchise. This is why it doesn’t make much sense that other pharmaceutical companies aside from Umbrella Corporation aren’t heavily scrutinized despite the bioterrorism incident the former caused - which led to the destruction of an entire city!
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Glossingover post-Raccoon City outbreaks, one could immediately identify the correlations between “seemingly-benevolent” pharmaceutical giants and bioterror outbreaks. Aside from the obvious Neo Umbrella, other suspicious-yet-overlooked pharmaceutical firms in the series include TRICELL, Shen Ya Pharmaceutical, and WP Corporation.
10Why Didn’t They Just Use Herbs?
Herbs have become one of the best things about theResdient Evilgames, as they force players to decide to either use resources now or hold out for a precious red herb to come along. Interestingly,Resident Evileventually ties to tie in these herbs with the lore. As such, later games eventually had medical organizations encourage households to cultivate these herbs due to the rising bioterrorism threats.
However, said “bioterrorism threat” actually trace their roots to the Progenitor Virus, as in the virusthat started the entire virus trendin the first place. As fans might remember, the original point of the Progenitor Virus would be the creation of an “improved version of the human race.” Given the healing properties of the herbs, why didn’t Umbrella focus its efforts on improving the human body’s ability to heal with these herbs?
9Why Is Everyone A Sharpshooter?
Resident Evilzombies are terrifying not only for their appearance but for their durability, as well. They can only be effectively dispatched with a headshot, making them a huge threat to the firearms novice.
Granted, the protagonists in the first games receive some sort of firearms training. However, only STARS members seem to have realistic firearms training advanced enough for them to pull off constant headshots. After all, Leon’s first day as a police officer thrust him in the middle of the outbreak. Moreover, Claire is practically a civilian, but she somehow ends up becoming a natural shooter.
8Why Are Protagonists Immune?
Of all the surprising things in theResident Evilfranchise, it’s perhaps the fact that almost all protagonists suddenly end up being immune to viruses in the game. For instance, zombies and monsters almost always scratch protagonists or damage them in some capacity. However, how come this amount of damage never leads to infections?
We know, we know—it’s just plot armor. Interestingly, the game almost always swings things in the protagonists' favor, even in cases of infection. For example, Jill Valentine’s T-Virus infection inResident Evil 3will inevitably have someone synthesize perhaps the only known cure for her. Likewise, Leon Kennedy gets infected with the Plaga inResident Evil 4, only for the virus to be removed from his system later in the game.
7Why Aren’t There Good Bioweapons?
Fans of theResident Evilfranchise know that their protagonists will eventually have to face tougher bosses throughout the game’s levels.These bosses, called Bio-Organic Weapons (BOWs, Bioweapons), serve as the main enemy of the anti-bioterrorism efforts of organizations in the game.
However, if games likeOperation Raccoon Cityshowed that there’s a way to control Nemesis, then why can’t other anti-bioterrorism organizations use BOWs, as well? This argument might cause a moral dilemma on the subject, but it seems practical to avoid more casualties if an existing BOW could be “converted” and used against bioterrorists.
6Why Is It So Hard To Open A Door?
Ah, doors, the bane of everyResident Evilplayer’s existence. If a door exists, it’s likely locked. Moreover, locked doors inResident Evilusually require obtaining a set of keys hidden in a room only unlocked by certain seals that can be accessed by playing a song on a piano. Suspension of disbelief aside,players do love the puzzlesin these games. After all, they force players to explore and discover more of the game’s setting.
However, these puzzles do eventually break immersion. For instance, how come the Spencer Mansion, a supposedly lived-in place, requires so many seals just to access doors? Moreover, do people inRE 4’s village just perpetually prepare traps in case an outsider arrives?
5Why Does Anti-Zombie Training Come With MMA?
Long-time fans ofResident Evilwould notice a few gameplay changesacross the years. After all, the first threeResident Evilgames started out with grim premises that forced players to traverse a dilapidated mansion and a ruined city. As such, the narrative continues with governments and organizations teaming up to stop the bioweapons threat around the world. Thing is, middling titlesRE 4,5, and6transform protagonists into action stars.
Somehow, anti-zombie training also ended up training protagonists to be top-notch fighters. Granted, Leon did work for a counterterrorism agency inRE4, while most of the over-the-top action happens in animated films and quick-time events.
