Chris Redfield: Superbuff and Superbad

[Archelon]

"He's sleeping with the ultimate FAILURE." That Chris?

I never really thought he was a very good character to begin with, but if I had to choose, I'd rather have REmake or CODE: Veronica Chris over RE5 Chris.

To be fair, though, I think Wesker's character is much worse in RE5.

[Vector]

I'll take RE5 Chris because he actually showed some emotion rather than "C'mon Claire, let's go take out Umbrella once and for all!", "B.O.W.'s stink! I hate Umbrella!" and "Wesker, you're pitiful!" And yet...I still would've liked to have seen even more emotion from him. But, oh well.

"He's sleeping with the ultimate FAILURE." That Chris?

He, along with Charlie, will forever hold a special place in my heart.

[Mr. Kennedy]

To be fair, though, I think Wesker's character is much worse in RE5.

"Everywhere you go, nothing but loathsome humans!"

[TheOvermind001]

Wesker was so much better in RE1 and CV...

[Jill's Boob]

I never really thought he was a very good character to begin with, but if I had to choose, I'd rather have REmake or CODE: Veronica Chris over RE5 Chris.

I would love to this sentiment explained.

[Archelon]

I would love to this sentiment explained.

I'm sure you would.

"How can anyone who likes Leon possibly think Chris isn't a good character?"

That about cover it?

[Jill's Boob]

^No, captain cosplay, I'd just love to "see" (how did I forget that word in my other post?!) how anyone would find the RE5 version of Chris less interesting/appealing/likable than the versions presented in REmake or RECV.

It's an honest question. But nice try at being a dick about it.

[Archelon]

But nice try at being a dick about it.

I thought so too.

Chris in REmake and CODE: Veronica at least had some modicum of intelligence, though he was always portrayed as more of the big, dumb, action movie hero than anything. In RE5 he comes off as completely dense (not unlike his original RE1 incarnation, ironically).

In CV, he meets Wesker and immediately ascertains that Wesker was the one who attacked the island and Claire. Now, how Chris knew about Claire and Wesker's encounter is beyond me, but he may have simply been implying that by attacking the island, Wesker was indirectly attacking Claire.

In RE5, not only can he not see the writing on the wall that Jill is Birdwoman (though I'm a little more willing to let this slide due to storytelling purposes), but he also thinks Wesker is dead? From falling off a cliff? Really? The man came back to life after being impaled by a freakin' Tyrant, for crying out loud.

No explanation is ever given as to why Chris is so ridiculously huge, either. Many assumed it was because he was preparing for his inevitable showdown with Wesker, but when he and Jill confront Wesker in 2006, he's noticeably smaller, and if he thought Wesker was dead, then he really had no reason to bulk up in the following two years. He just did.

Then there's the fact that he specifically requested to be sent on the mission to Africa, but when he finally gets there, he acts like he doesn't want to be there, and he even complains when HQ orders him to continue the mission. He's a freakin' soldier, for crying out loud. He should be used to being viewed as "expendable" by now. It comes with the territory. If he didn't want to have to put up with it, then he shouldn't have asked to be sent to Africa in the first place.

And for that matter, why does he even care if HQ orders him to continue the mission or not when he's not even there for the mission? He doesn't even really start to care about what's going on until he sees Jill's picture, and even then, one could argue that he actually cares even less about the mission than he did before, as he just wants to find Jill. He doesn't even seem to really care about stopping Wesker until Jill tells him that "he's the only one who can."

The characters in Resident Evil have never been anything more than paper thin stereotypes, and RE5 is no different. I just happen to prefer the previous stereotype to the cynical, jaded, "I cut my wrists at night" one which seems to be so popular these days that we got in RE5.

[Jill's Boob]

^I see your points. And you make some valid statements. The only reason I asked for your explanation is because I figured most people would at least be able to grasp onto something of Chris's character in RE5, as opposed to RE1, REmake, RECV, and REUC. In RE5, there's at least more substance to grasp onto, even if it is not favorable to everyone.

I do agree with some of your assessment in RE5 - that Chris's personality is scattershot - and it really is an indictment of Capcom's inability to tell stories or develop characters particularly in their RE franchise. It was amazing to me, when I played REmake, to see the huge advancement in graphics, yet all of the main characters (while receiving MUCH improved voice work) still were lifeless dullards when it came to their personalities.

REUC was another chance to emphasize the "character" of the characters, and it failed. I guess the basic thing is to just not expect too much from the character development department. I still stick by my assessment that Chris in RE5 is better than the other iterations, just due to the amount of screentime and dialogue he gets.

But, to each their own.

Maybe you are right about the Chris model looking smaller in the flashback, but to me it is the EXACT same character model as the rest of the game. He still has facial hair, the same gloves, the same hair, and his upper arms are covered by his sleeves.

Your last sentence is pretty spot on - "paper thin stereotypes" is pretty much what Capcom shuffles out the door with each RE game. It's a shame.

(I don't know about the "I cut my wrists at night" statement...cynical, jaded, yeah. But "cut my wrists at night" seems extreme. Unless you are talking about some EXTREME Jill fans.)

EDIT: I just wanted to add that I think a major development took place for Chris at the end of RECVX, where he faces Wesker in combat. Surely Chris knew that he was going to get his ass kicked or maybe even killed. Heroic, indeed!

I also disagree that Chris isn't interested in his mission in Africa. He is there primarily to look for Jill, but at the same time, he keeps pressing for answers once he knows the withdrawal has been ordered. I think in the beginning he is somewhat "grumpy" because he probably fears working with a "partner." The "expendable" line would probably be uttered by anyone, professional soldier or not, since the odds they face pretty much equate to suicide.

The part I truly had a problem with was Jill having to "shake some sense" into Chris about pursuing Wesker. His lapse in judgment was a real head scratcher, and I think it was probably put in there to sort of give Jill some purpose.

[Sina]

In CV, he meets Wesker and immediately ascertains that Wesker was the one who attacked the island and Claire. Now, how Chris knew about Claire and Wesker's encounter is beyond me, but he may have simply been implying that by attacking the island, Wesker was indirectly attacking Claire.

Just to further clear it up, since this dialogue was in the original Dreamcast version, where Claire and Wesker never met face to face, he meant the latter.

In RE5, not only can he not see the writing on the wall that Jill is Birdwoman (though I'm a little more willing to let this slide due to storytelling purposes),

I don't see how he could call birdwoman being Jill. He got tipped off Jill was alive in Africa, but his mission was to stop a guy selling BOW's on the black market. The guy had a picture of Jill in a testtube in his computer, but that his masked bodyguard would be an evil mindcontrolled Jill? I don't think it would've made sense if he guessed that.

Hell, I was playing the game with a friend watching all the way through, and he hadn't seen a single trailer or been spoiled by anything, and he didn't guess birdlady could possibly be Jill until he saw that her testtube was empty. But he guessed it from a storytelling perspective, that it was setting up for that, but Chris being in a fictional real life situation, it wouldn't've been as obvious.

but he also thinks Wesker is dead? From falling off a cliff? Really? The man came back to life after being impaled by a freakin' Tyrant, for crying out loud.

The scene where he hears Wesker's voice talking to Excella, he didn't exactly go "WHAT!? HE'S STILL ALIVE!?" like he sort of did in RECV. It was more a hoping he was dead, and realising he wasn't kind of reaction to me, since he didn't seem that suprised either, but more annoyed and concerned.

No explanation is ever given as to why Chris is so ridiculously huge, either. Many assumed it was because he was preparing for his inevitable showdown with Wesker, but when he and Jill confront Wesker in 2006, he's noticeably smaller, and if he thought Wesker was dead, then he really had no reason to bulk up in the following two years. He just did.

Did that really need an explanation? People bulk up all the time. It could've been for lots of reasons, like his guilt over losing Jill because he was overpowered, and not going to let something like that happen again. I think Capcom's main intention was just to show him looking more experienced, but personally I don't think he looked much smaller in 2006.

Then there's the fact that he specifically requested to be sent on the mission to Africa, but when he finally gets there, he acts like he doesn't want to be there, and he even complains when HQ orders him to continue the mission. He's a freakin' soldier, for crying out loud. He should be used to being viewed as "expendable" by now. It comes with the territory. If he didn't want to have to put up with it, then he shouldn't have asked to be sent to Africa in the first place.

Well he's an agent for the BSAA, not really a generic soldier. But you forget that at this point in the story, everyone except the two of them has been wiped out. It's only natural he would be disgruntled over HQ's logic in sacrificing Chris and Sheva too for the remote chance they would be able to reach and capture Irving alone against impossible odds, especially when Delta team are on their way, but he still went along with it. That doesn't mean he didn't care about the mission, or that just because he's a "soldier" he should've expected that the relatively simple mission of capturing one individual would turn into the entire alpha team being wiped out by BOW's.

And for that matter, why does he even care if HQ orders him to continue the mission or not when he's not even there for the mission?

Not there for the mission? While he obviously wants to find out about Jill, all you bleeding do for 2/3rds of the game is try to capture Irving, which is the mission. And what, he should show some burning passion to arrest some lowly BOW dealer? I don't think you can say the characters are paperthin while at the same time try to psychoanalyze them like that.

He doesn't even really start to care about what's going on until he sees Jill's picture, and even then, one could argue that he actually cares even less about the mission than he did before, as he just wants to find Jill.

Asking Irving about Jill is an incentive to find him, sure, but since they're one in the same objective, what does it matter what he cares more about? Since the mission is to capture Irving, and Irving could lead to Jill, ofcourse he has a personal stake in the mission, and, if anything, would make him care more about the mission. Besides, the mission to capture Irving is over when Delta team is wiped out after the Ndesu fight. Only Josh, Chris and Sheva are left and HQ sends out a withdraw order. So what mission is he supposed to be caring about after that other than Jill? At this point he doesn't really know what the hell Uroborous is other than what Reynald said, which was vague at best, but still, when they kill Irving the first thing Chris asks is "What are you planning to do?" shows him the picture of Jill "where is this facility" and then "What is the Uroborous project?" so I don't get what you base that on.

He doesn't even seem to really care about stopping Wesker until Jill tells him that "he's the only one who can."

You think it would've been more fitting to the scene if when the moment Jill returns to normal Chris should've just said "Good, you're back! Oh well I'm gonna go get Wesker. Get better!"

And, honestly, how the hell would the story look if all Chris cared about was Uroborous, and didn't give a fuck about Jill, even though it was clear that TriCell and Wesker had her. She's been presumed dead for 2 years, so ofcourse he has a reason to be curious about her fate first and foremost.

The characters in Resident Evil have never been anything more than paper thin stereotypes, and RE5 is no different. I just happen to prefer the previous stereotype to the cynical, jaded, "I cut my wrists at night" one which seems to be so popular these days that we got in RE5.

I guess you're entitled to your opinion, but personally I didn't see him all that different from his RECV version, other than the obvious dark cloud of having lost Jill, which I think gave his character alot more depth as the game went on. I definately wouldn't call his character mopey or whiny or suicidal or anything, as you've pegged him.

Ugh, long post that turned out to become.

[Jill's Boob]

^Nice post, Sina. I made an edit to my original post (probably while you were typing that) where I elaborate on some details.

I agree about Chris probably figuring that Wesker was alive. I mean, if Chris got "intel" that Jill was still alive, you better believe he figured Wesker probably wasn't dead. IIRC he says, "Wesker! So you are alive!" when Wesker shows his mug in the Monarch Room.

And Chris certainly wasn't whiny or suicidal, as even though he thought he lost Jill, he kept fighting the good fight. Jaded? Most definitely.

[missvalentine]

OR

Spoiler:

show spoiler

He never really fancied her. Occam's razor FTW.

it unlikely. but i think he does have some feelings for her hidden somewhere deep.


also yes i agree, Chris's AI is quite annoying when playing as Sheva, i mean i had full inventory, and low health, i had a green herb, and i smashed a box and found a red herb, gave Chris the green, i picked up the red, and was going to pass it to him so he could mix it and heal me. he doesn't mix i and just uses the green one. *facepalm* so now i have a useless red herb taking up inventory space.

Original Chris

vs.

Code Veronica Chris
vs.

REmake Chris
vs.

RE5 Chris

Choose now!

REmake for character design! I preferred Chris as a character in RE5 though.

ok, Original Chris's VA. Remake Chris's model, and RE5 Chris's personality.

[Jill's Boob]

^The AI in general is pretty sketchy. And Chris's role in RE5 is to be "the tank" while Sheva is the "pack mule." Why else do you think he constantly yells at her to "take it!"

Unless it's a sexual innuendo, and if so, then Chris is "like a boss!" (Incredibad reference, anyone?)

"Take IT!"

[Sina]

That mixed with BSAA Jill figurine's phrase, I have a feeling some very dark mp3's will emerge in the future.

And something related I thought about... It was probably Wesker who tipped off Chris that Jill was still alive, anonymously ofcourse.

Look at it this way: Wesker works with and is very influential with TriCell. TriCell funded and helped start the BSAA. Chris is one of the original founders of the BSAA. It would make sense that while testing Uroborous on the BSAA, that Wesker wanted to lure Chris to Africa aswell to show him what he's done to Jill, so he could kill Chris in person before unleashing Uroborous on the world. It would be in Wesker's character to do so, since I doubt he would just let Chris die in the apocalypse, especially without getting a chance to show him what he did to Jill.

Given Irvings reaction when he realizes it's Chris before he dies, or how he knows about Chris at all, and how casually Excella talks to Wesker about Chris, it doesn't seem like a coincidence.

Besides, who else would've tipped him off.

[adamb1029]

Besides, who else would've tipped him off.

Excella might of,or maybe Jill herself,we will probably never know.