Top 10 Best Resident Evil Characters

If you're a fan of the Resident Evil series, you know that the characters are just as iconic as the terrifying creatures they face. From the fearless heroes to the ruthless villains, Resident Evil has brought us a wide range of characters that have helped define the survival horror genre for nearly three decades. But out of all of them, which ones stand out as the best?
The Top Ten
Leon S. Kennedy Leon Scott Kennedy is a fictional character in the Resident Evil horror media franchise by Capcom. He debuted as one of the two playable protagonists of the video game Resident Evil 2.

Some people may say that Leon is popular because of his involvement in RE4, but even if that's the case, there are many reasons for it, just like any other game that got popular. Even games like RE4 don't get popular without good reason.

Firstly, Leon is the perfect character who seems balanced in many situations, not too strong yet not too weak. He gives the impression of being smart in combat yet not invincible. His situation is perfect for horror combat games, where it's up to the player's abilities to bring him down or raise him up.

He can also be said to be the face of the franchise. When Resident Evil is mentioned, Leon is often one of the first things that come to people's minds.

Jill Valentine Jill Valentine is a fictional character from the Resident Evil series first appearing in the first Resident Evil game in 1996 as one of the two playable characters, she would also go on to star in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Jill Valentine is one of the best examples of a female heroine, especially in action games. She is a tough girl, which gives her the awesomeness most gamers look for in female heroines. She is intelligent, determined, and strong, yet still doesn't lose touch with her feminine side. Her fragility and innocence still make her a cute woman. She's not the typical woman who dresses all sexy for zombie shooting. She's all geared up and ready to go!

She doesn't need tattered clothes, cut hair, or scratched skin to make herself look boss. Because she already is one!

Chris Redfield

I love many characters in the RE franchise, but Chris Redfield is my favorite. He made this franchise so popular and influential. Leon, Ada, Claire, Carlos... wouldn't even exist without Chris.

Thanks to Chris and Jill, the first RE game was very popular, and its creators decided to make numerous sequels, spin-offs, background stories, and even prequels. So please, give more respect to the original RE heroes!

Chris Redfield is the greatest character in the whole gaming history! He has done the most in the game story. I mean, he took down Umbrella, killed Wesker, solved the Veltro danger, etc. He's in great physical shape, and that inspires a lot of people. Many who played RE5 actually went to the gym and started working out, including me. I grew up playing this game, and it's just a huge thing for me.

I'm not saying that Leon doesn't deserve the spot where he is right now, but for me, Chris is the best in the game. If Chris is on steroids, then Leon is doping. I mean, the dude runs, parkours, and never gets tired. Smells like doping to me. Just kidding, I hate the dudes that compare them. Chris rules!

Albert Wesker

Great villain - really helped seal the deal for this series and make it what it is today. There can always be the generic Chris Redfield hero type, who says the corniest stuff and has to stop the villain (except for the dude's biceps. No one can match those, holy), but developers can have more liberty with how they want to portray their villain (examples being the Joker, the villain from Far Cry, etc.), and they made Wesker not only look great but also be great. His powers were truly awesome, thanks to his superior DNA.

Although I didn't like his death (the ending to RE5), I always play as him when my friends and I play Mercenaries on RE5, just because he is so cool. It's really fun pissing them off by spamming his voice (come on, come on, come on).

Claire Redfield

Claire's the best! She started out as a cool biker college student with gun training, willing to risk her life to find her cop brother Chris in a city overrun with zombies (making a couple of friends along the way), and she then grew up to become an activist who works to help victims of bio-warfare. What's not to love? Also, Code Veronica was terrifying. Nice jackets/jeans/shirts, Claire!

To be honest, I liked Jill better when I was a kid because of RE3 (Nemesis is cool, too), but over a long period of time, I think Claire has turned out to be the better character. They made so many changes to Jill that I don't really have a good grasp on what her character is supposed to be. Made in Heaven!

Ada Wong Ada Wong is a fictional character in the Resident Evil horror franchise by Capcom. She is a mysterious and ambiguous antihero figure, working for the series' villains but also helping the protagonist Leon S. Kennedy.

She's cunning, manipulative, sexy, and intelligent, all rolled into one. Definitely the best female character in the entire franchise. On an unrelated note, if Capcom does feature her in the next game, please make sure she won't run away from Leon again. They deserve a happy ending after two decades of playing a cat-and-mouse game.

I think Ada Wong is the best, not only because she is so sexy, beautiful, and impressive on the outside with her long legs, but also because her character is unique. She's out there alone, she can see you when you can't see her, and she appears in front of you at any moment.

Honestly, we know that Ada is Leon's secret love, and Leon is Ada's.

Piers Nivans

Piers is undoubtedly my favorite character in the series. In fact, I would go so far as to say he is the real hero in Resident Evil 6. Consider this: while Chris wasn't in his right mind, while Leon was killing zombies aimlessly, and while Jake and Sherry were trapped in the facility, everyone needed a real hero. Piers stepped up to the plate, sacrificing himself in the process.

Resident Evil has had protagonists in the past, but Piers took his job seriously and tried to help Chris through his time of need.

Barry Burton

Is there anything to say? Any Resident Evil fan knows what a badass Barry is, from his cheesy dialogue, "What IS this?!" to his trademark Magnum. But above the unintentional comic relief, he saves Jill on a number of occasions in RE1 and RE3, just before Raccoon's destruction.

He is also a caring father, enough to put his colleagues in anger to guarantee their safety. I love Barry. What a legend.

Barry is the definition of a hero! Even when his family is on the line, he does the right thing. He's a really underrated character. My second favorite is Jill, then Wesker for just being a top-notch villain.

Jake Muller

I can't understand why people hate him so much.

The son of Albert Wesker himself.

Rebecca Chambers

She quickly became my waifu in RE in her first appearance. She's an amazing combination of smart, cute, beautiful, and surprisingly brave. She has a pretty charm that made me fall in love with her.

If Capcom sees this comment (mostly no, but I'm just hoping here), please make a new RE game where Rebecca appears in it. And make her the main character, not a sidekick like you did in RE1 and Remake. I miss her.

At first, she seems weak, but she really proves herself capable of fighting off zombies. She even starred in Resident Evil 0. Plus, she's really hot, only second to Jill.

The Newcomers

? Ethan Winters

Ethan Winters is a badass and one of the most relatable characters in the RE universe!

He's just a normal dude who got sucked into hell all because he made the choice to go and rescue his wife.

? Alcina Dimitrescu
The Contenders
Nemesis

You'll never look at the word STARS the same way again. Imagine a 7-9 foot tall zombie that's smart enough to use guns, fast enough to run and give chase, and intelligent enough to open doors. He's also smart enough for rudimentary problem-solving, like the time when he shot down the rescue chopper.

For me, it's a three-way tie. Best villain: Nemesis/Wesker, best character: Jill Valentine (Resident Evil 3 edition). I give Nemesis the tiebreak because giving someone like him rockets and that much smarts is just plain wrong.

Sherry Birkin

She's a great character for many reasons. First, her presence gives players nostalgia when they play Resident Evil 6. Second, she is very attractive and has surprisingly good fighting abilities. Finally, she put up with Jake for all that time. I would have never gotten along with Jake.

I think she and Raymond would make a good couple, and I know people would disagree, but that's just my opinion. In all, Sherry is a good character, and she carries the legacy of the Birkin family.

She's really come a long way since that little girl from Resident Evil 2, and she can kick ass. Her presence allows me to overlook Jake Muller's terrible presence.

William Birkin

Like Karl Heisenberg, I really like this guy, and of course, I can picture Tails or even Anti-Tails as him. Karl Heisenberg is far better, but this guy would be my second pick after the doll maker/doll character.

Someone out there, please make a mod of Tails/Anti-Tails as William Birkin or even better, Karl Heisenberg. Why couldn't Karl Heisenberg be on this list?

The ultimate mastermind behind the T-Virus, killing James Marcus alongside Albert Wesker to take over the T-Virus research project. I call him the mad doc.

Steve Burnside

Even though it's an unpopular opinion, Steve was my favorite character in The Dark Side Chronicles. When he died, I also kind of died inside. I know it won't happen, but I want to see him in a later installment.

Another reason is for what he did, or to put it better, what he looked at in The Dark Side Chronicles while Claire was on the computer, because I would have done the same, lol. And finally, who doesn't think dual-wielding guns is badass?

Though he was one of the weaker elements of Resident Evil: Code Veronica, he was still an intriguing character. His death made me shed a tear or two, which is hard to accomplish.

Jack Baker
HUNK

He is known as the ultimate soldier and has survived more operations than any other character in the series. He has faced several forms of the T-Virus and survived each time by himself. He is much more suited for the number one spot than Leon Kennedy, who I find massively overrated.

RE4 was originally supposed to have HUNK as the main character, not "pretty boy" Leon. If he had been the main character, no one would even consider Leon as number one.

He is a badass mercenary, and his best friend is a giant talking piece of tofu. How could you not vote for him?

Alexia Ashford
Billy Coen

I really love Billy's story. It brought a unique flavor to Resident Evil's cast. It was also nice to see a character who realized that it's not a good idea to split up and investigate when the outbreaks first started happening.

I hope he comes back in another game!

Cool and strong guy. I think many fans out there are still waiting to find out where and what happened with Billy. They need more story about him.

Billy is a mystery, yet he's super cool and has a haunting past. There's so much RE can do for him!

Karena LesProux

Lupo made her first appearance in RE: ORC as a U.S.S. soldier, part of the team assigned to help Hunk retrieve the G-Virus from William Birkin. However, after Hunk disappeared following the first mission, the U.S.S. found themselves alone in the midst of the Raccoon conflict, with a company that desired to see them dead rather than extract them.

Lupo has yet to become a more respected character. She possesses Jill Valentine's strength, yet she was trained for the specific purpose the U.S.S. was called in to do in RE: ORC, which is to kill.

Christine Yamata

Four Eyes makes her way into my top ten for many reasons. She arrived in RE: ORC, just like Lupo (I had a lot of fun playing this game).

However, I probably prefer her to Lupo in terms of gameplay, even when many people would turn their backs on her as a character choice since she's more of a scientist than a fighter.

Four Eyes has an amazing arsenal, to say the least. She has pheromone grenades, allowing you to throw them at your enemies to lure distracted zombies into chasing them. Another ability of hers involves taking control of a monster, whether it's a Zombie, Hunter, or Tyrant, and temporarily deciding which target it's going to go after.

That is a lot based on gameplay, but features such as these in RE environments made Four Eyes one of the better characters, best equipped for the situation. Having some of these features in RE5 could have made the game more than a chore to walk through.

Luis Sera

Luis is an overlooked character from the series, in my opinion. He has a very likable personality and is far more human than anybody in Resident Evil 4. In my opinion, Luis was one of the best parts of the game, and he is far more relatable than Leon, which is odd, seeing as Leon is the main character.

His outfit and his hairstyle give me life. He's an interesting character. It would be awesome to play as him.

Helena Harper

You need to feel bad for Helena because of all the things that happened in the campaign. From the death of President Benford to the death of her sister, what happened to her was tragic. I love the fact that she had enough responsibility and humility to turn herself in.

I think she is the sexiest girl in Resident Evil.

She was pretty unstable, but nothing a therapist can't help.

Come to think of it, she was pretty stable when she blew Simmons' face off when he was in the cougar transformation.

One of the best and most underrated characters of Resident Evil.

Tyrant
Jack Krauser

Complete badass. He has the perfect combination of skill, sense of duty, and evil. He has a badass one-hit-kill Plaga-infected arm and a destructive bow in Mercenaries. Add all that up, and you get a unique, one-of-a-kind character. Plus, he has a hint of mystery as to his background with Leon.

Just badass! I like the way the creators of this character used the idea to make a scary-looking guy dressed in army clothes with scars on his body. Even if just days ago he was a good guy and a good friend of Leon Kennedy. But now, everything has changed after that crash. He's different and determined to kill his old friend Leon.

It's funny that Sadler never trusted him because he was an American, but he didn't know that. Still, he hired him on a mission.

The Merchant

I love this guy. He is so interesting. He's always there when you need him. Just when you think you are about to die with nothing more than the red part of your health bar and no medication whatsoever, you kick open a door, and boom! There he is, hunched over by his blue lanterns, staring at you with those amused eyes.

Then you go over and talk to him, and he whips open the left side of his jacket, exclaiming, "Welcome!" in a gruff, Australian accent. Seriously, this guy is awesome.

I think the Merchant might be in RE5 because, when the character buys weapons, who are they buying them from?

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