The entirety of the Resident Evil franchise can basically be summarized as a traumatic series of life-altering events for the unfortunate inhabitants of its world, with each entry finding new ways to up the ante with its collection of grotesque fates. Even Resident Evil‘s villains aren’t exempt from it, either, with many of them being molded by tragic backstories or years of genetically altered abuse.

While there’s plenty of debate over the best Resident Evil characters or those that deserve to show up in the next entry, there’s an even longer list of painfully overlooked Resident Evil characters when it comes to winning the prize of who suffered the most out of anyone else in the series.

10

Sherry Birkins Didn’t Have The Happiest Upbringing

Being the child of two neglected Umbrella researchers who played a major role in creating the infamous T-Virus isn’t exactly the best recipe for a happy childhood, but the events of Resident Evil 2 and every other disaster that followed were far from a walk in the park either.

From witnessing the Raccoon City disaster and all of its horrors firsthand, getting infected with the G-Virus, and narrowly making it out alive thanks to the efforts of RE2‘s protagonists, Sherry undoubtedly has some of the most trauma in the series to unpack. Even after surviving, Sherry lived the rest of her life sheltered in protective custody before she was allowed to work for the BSAA, only to get involved in RE6‘s bioweapon attacks.

9

Robert Kendo Is A Painfully Tragic Side Character

While anyone who played Resident Evil 2 will remember Kendo’s sad tale of a father doing everything he can to save his doomed daughter, his role in the franchise is even more tragic than it initially seems. Having hand-made all the Samurai Edge service weapons used by the members of S.T.A.R.S., Kendo’s tragic tale goes from a stranger to a well-beloved friend to many key protagonists from the series.

Even if his fate is still heavily debated to this day due to his supposed off-screen death and events of the non-canonical Ghost Survivors mode, watching Robert struggle with the hopeless realization of his daughter’s face still offers a gut punch all these years later, especially with the more somber tone in the Resident Evil 2 Remake.

8

Chris Got The Shortest End Of Resident Evil’s Protagonist Curse

While his imposing presence and stoic features might make Chris Redfield seem like one of the protagonists least affected by his apocalyptic experiences, his past is one of the most depressing to think about by a wide margin. Even if Chris fares pretty well against most of the series monstrosities, the same can’t be said for his loved ones, as almost all of Chris’ friends, partners, and teams were killed in front of him.

Even if a protagonist that shows up as often as Chris is bound to face more horrors, each entry strips away even more of what he holds dear through repeated and absolutely crushing losses, offering no surprise that he stays so far away from his beloved sister most of the time, while keeping new allies like Ethan at arms reach while he does whatever he thinks is necessary to stop the threat of widespread bioterrorism.

7

Leon Kennedy More Than Earns His Growing Attitude Issues

While Leon is widely considered a core member of the RCPD, the fact that the Racoon City disaster was his first day out of training makes his trials even more painful to remember. Even after barely making it out alive, Leon Kennedy has faced countless outbreaks and faced off against more than his fair share of bioweapons, with Resident Evil 4 offering some of the series’ most gruesome deaths.

As if his past misadventures and constant manipulation weren’t enough to justify his cynical attitude and depressive mood, Leon is still being thrown against new horrors all these years later in Resident Evil Requiem, with not only the fate of his loved ones, but the entire world resting on his aging shoulders once again despite all his personal losses and suffering.

6

It’s Hard To Find A Resident Evil Villain As Tragic As Jack Baker

While he might seem like a monster that has completely lost his mind for the majority of Resident Evil 7, Jack Baker is an absolutely tragic antagonist in more ways than one. On top of being unintentionally responsible for infecting his entire family through a simple act of kindness by rescuing a human bioweapon, one detail revealed to Ethan makes his fate, and that of the entire Baker family, even more depressing.

Although it’s hard to tell through the maniacal laughter and brutal violence that is so prevalent in the post-infection family, Jack and the rest of the Bakers still have a piece of their original consciousness left inside of them, meaning he’s fully aware of every awful act he’s committed in his mold-induced state, while watching the members of his family go from a relatively happy family to insane serial killers one after the other.

5

Grace Ashcroft Rarely Ever Gets A Chance To Breathe

What makes Grace such a tragic character is that she is one of the few Resident Evil protagonists who lived a completely normal life before being thrust into the world of mutated monstrosities, which started all the way back when she watched her mother get murdered right in front of her own eyes.

As if Grace’s teen years weren’t traumatic enough, she was forced to revisit the site of her mother’s death years later before being thrown into one of the scariest Resident Evil levels we’ve seen yet. From repeated personal losses and countless horrifying encounters with mutated undead, Grace is easily one of the most relatable protagonists in the series, which makes her pivotal role in the series all the more painful to witness.

4

Jill Valentine Is More Than Used To Hostile Work Environments

Aside from being one of the very first people to experience Resident Evil‘s horrors firsthand, Jill spent months investigating Umbrella while being under constant surveillance by the bioweapon-happy Pharmaceuticals company. Once the incident broke out, Jill was relentlessly hunted down and faced a handful of near-death experiences that would lead most horror protagonists into an era of permanent retirement.

Even after everything she’s been through, from surviving countless disasters and assassination plots, Jill even underwent years of experimentation and mind control under Whesker’s command. Still fighting to this day despite her constant trials and tribulations, Jill is easily one of the most commendable characters in the franchise, who easily deserves a future return, although hopefully in a more relaxing setting for her sake.

3

Ethan Winters Is One Of Resident Evil’s Most Heartwrenching Heroes

Being another case of a regular civilian way out of his depth, Ethan Winters was a simple man looking for his missing wife, before being involved in a nightmare that he could never fully escape. Facing more gresome injuries than we can count that would kill even the most hardened protagonists, the only thing that kept Ethan moving forward was to save his family at all costs.

From the hands of the Baker family, and eventually the inhabitants of Resident Evil 8‘s ancient town, which pushes him far past any reasonable breaking point. With Ethan having more than his share of horrific sights and terrifying monsters, the realization of how he survived so much brutality in the first place is one of the series’ most emotional plot twists.

2

Resident Evil 7’s Clancy Is Easily Forgotten, But Nightmarish To Consider

You’ve been forgiven for playing through all of Resident Evil 7 and not giving a second thought to the VHS tapes and burned corpse you find in one of the game’s later areas, but if you’ve played any of its additional DLC, you’ll know that Clancy is easily one of the Resident Evil characters who went through the most physical suffering in the series with drastically less agency or weaponized comforts to rely on.

Originally arriving at the Baker’s house to film a simple paranormal show, Clancy not only had to watch his friend’s die, but also went through some incredibly brutal torture at the hands of the mutated family. Facing off against legions of Molded, they escape from Marguerite’s capture, play a never-ending game of torturous Blackjack, all before being burned to death in a borderline unwinnable escape room set by the sadistic Lucas Baker.

1

Lisa Trevor Endured Nightmarish Experiments Far Longer Than Anyone Else

While you’ll find no shortage of disturbing human experiments and manufactured bioweapons across the Resident Evil franchise, Lisa Trevor’s fate long before the start of the series is easily one of the series’ most haunting. Being orphaned by Umbrella at a young age, Lisa was experimented on for several decades in captivity as one of the many test subjects used to eventually create the T-Virus.

Even with the countless brutal experiments aside, Lisa Trevor survived even longer than her original creators to wander the halls of Spencer Mansion before her supposed death in isolation, although with her practically endless regenerative abilities, fans have speculated that she might still be alive under the mansion’s rubble all these years later.

Video Game(s)

Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020), Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 (2023)

Cast

Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ali Larter, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, Shawn Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen

Created by

Shinji Mikami, Tokuro Fujiwara