Plot Holes / Inconsistencies

[Pikminister]

RE Zero inserted James Marcus into canon and expanded the roles of some characters. We got to see the fate of some Bravo team members (some who didn't even made it to the Mansion in RE1) and we also got to see some behind the scenes drama that gave us another perspective on certain characters.

Retcon, revision or rewrite, whatever... its there.

[Darkmoon]

It also tells us that Umbrella's policy with bio-outbreaks was apparently, 'Shut the door for ten years then send a train full of people to go see if there are any zombies left' and that they either have the best elevators in the world OR an exact replica of Birkin's lab where he choose to keep failed Tyrant's, just because.

Also, apparently Marcus had a thing for White Mages.

[Pikminister]

I always thought Marcus was a Final Fantasy fugitive... not just by what he was wearing, but because he was obviously an opera buff.

And if we're going to dive in into the contradictions in RE, the whole concept of the zombie being real doesn't hold any water. The body is a wonderful piece of machinery. But if you fuck it up like that, it will not work. Unless you cut it into pieces and give an extremity an electric shock or two.

Oh and this:

[Vito]

RE Zero inserted James Marcus into canon and expanded the roles of some characters. We got to see the fate of some Bravo team members (some who didn't even made it to the Mansion in RE1) and we also got to see some behind the scenes drama that gave us another perspective on certain characters.

Retcon, revision or rewrite, whatever... its there.

Marcus wasn't introduced in Zero.... He was introduced in RE2.

[randomwab]

I always found it weird that Resident Evil Zero introduced the fact that Alpha team waited roughly twenty four hours before heading out to search for Bravo team. I mean, I had always assumed that when Bravo's helicopter went down and they lost contact, Alpha team would have been in the air as soon as possible.

I guess it's not really a plot hole or an inconsistency, but it's just one of many things that make me really uncomfortable about Zero's story.

[Pikminister]

Marcus wasn't introduced in Zero.... He was introduced in RE2.

You were a N64 owner? HIGH FIVE!

[alexdz]

I always found it weird that Resident Evil Zero introduced the fact that Alpha team waited roughly twenty four hours before heading out to search for Bravo team. I mean, I had always assumed that when Bravo's helicopter went down and they lost contact, Alpha team would have been in the air as soon as possible.

I guess it's not really a plot hole or an inconsistency, but it's just one of many things that make me really uncomfortable about Zero's story.

I think that both Wesker and Irons influenced on the decisions of waiting 24 hours before the Alpha Team went into action.

[CrimsonElder]

I think that both Wesker and Irons influenced on the decisions of waiting 24 hours before the Alpha Team went into action.

Thought this was a given. Politics and paper work would be used to blame for the delay of sending in Alpha.

[News Bot]

RE Zero inserted James Marcus into canon and expanded the roles of some characters. We got to see the fate of some Bravo team members (some who didn't even made it to the Mansion in RE1) and we also got to see some behind the scenes drama that gave us another perspective on certain characters.

Retcon, revision or rewrite, whatever... its there.

None of that is "retcon, revision, or rewrite". It's addition and explanation. I'm sorry, but simply adding to a storyline does not instantly equal a contradiction. Some people have a very skewed logic on this kind of thing. Might as well say every single sequel ever is a contradiction.

It also tells us that Umbrella's policy with bio-outbreaks was apparently, 'Shut the door for ten years then send a train full of people to go see if there are any zombies left' and that they either have the best elevators in the world OR an exact replica of Birkin's lab where he choose to keep failed Tyrant's, just because.

Also, apparently Marcus had a thing for White Mages.

The elevator is a gameplay mechanic, it doesn't actually connect the underground laboratory to the training school. There was no outbreak in the training school until the same time as the mansion, and Birkin and Wesker are completely surprised to find out that it and the train were contaminated. As for how they handled the mansion behind-the-scenes, this is littered all over REmake. Umbrella simply did not know of the situation in the training school. The investigation units were sent to evaluate whether the facilities could be re-used, or if Marcus had left behind any additional research. They were unprepared for the monsters. As for the Tyrant, it reactivated thanks to its vitality and recovery abilities (the same way Lisa is officially listed as "disposed" despite walking around in REmake), though there's generally not much information on it.

And if we're going to dive in into the contradictions in RE, the whole concept of the zombie being real doesn't hold any water. The body is a wonderful piece of machinery. But if you fuck it up like that, it will not work. Unless you cut it into pieces and give an extremity an electric shock or two.

Once more, this isn't a contradiction with anything in the storyline itself. That's like saying the story of every Final Fantasy game is invalid simply because it's fantasy. And for the record, the actual concept is pretty solid. Just because the t-Virus itself doesn't exist does not mean that its effects are impossible, it's the cause of them that is.

I always found it weird that Resident Evil Zero introduced the fact that Alpha team waited roughly twenty four hours before heading out to search for Bravo team. I mean, I had always assumed that when Bravo's helicopter went down and they lost contact, Alpha team would have been in the air as soon as possible.

I guess it's not really a plot hole or an inconsistency, but it's just one of many things that make me really uncomfortable about Zero's story.

Bravo Team were always sent the day before, Zero didn't change it.

[Pikminister]

None of that is "retcon, revision, or write". It's addition and explanation. I'm sorry, but simply adding to a storyline does not instantly equal a contradiction. Some people have a very skewed logic on this kind of thing.

I don't give a shit about the contradictions (especially when there are so many of 'em in the series). That wasn't my point. My point was that Zero added brand new elements into the mix. We might not like what it added, but it's there regardless of how we take them.

Once more, this isn't a contradiction with anything in the storyline itself. That's like saying the story of every Final Fantasy game is invalid simply because it's fantasy. And for the record, the actual concept is pretty solid. Just because the t-Virus itself doesn't exist does not mean that its effects are impossible, it's the cause of them that is.

Who's talking about the storyline? Not me. I was talking about the concept of walking corpses in full decay. Not about humans that have been infected and act crazy or zombie-like (that can happen with drugs even). But the idea of a human body that's breaking apart being able to walk or even grab anyone by force is ridiculous. If you get hit by the flu virus, you barely have the energy to get out of bed.

The way life goes after the weak should give you a hint that those type of zombies cannot ever be real. So as much as I love those Fulci zombies, I know the're just make believe... like Godzilla.

EDIT: News Bot just wants to hear about plotholes in the storyline... anything else does not interest him (not surprisingly, he is the keeper of the canon). But looking at the replies, most get perk up with the contradictions or weird stuff seen elsewhere.

So there you go.

[Guest]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK
I think we are having a problem here, News Bot made this thread to discus PLOT elements that don't add up, not game mechanics, level design or enemy concept. So, if u aren't going to post about story elements, get out and start a new thread, because it's annoying when you try to read an interesting topic and some people just post out of topic ¬¬

[ValentineLover]

Expanding old stories by adding new elements are retcons. The name says it: RETROACTIVE CONTINUITY. Thats exactly what they did with the Overmind

[AsteroidBlues]

Here's a thing that always bothered me about RE4

Saddler had a shit ton of money, a military base, a small mercenary army and a BATTLESHIP! Why didn't the merc army have guns instead of crossbows and stun batons? It's obvious that the merc base was loaded with heavy artillery, why not smaller arms? They obviously had the ability to operate advanced weaponry because Mike got shot down by a 'homing' missile shot out of an RPG (an lol worthy thing in my book), Ada got tranquilized by a dart shot out of (some sort of) rifle, and J.J. wields an electronic mini gun. It just doesn't make sense. xD

[Det. Beauregard]

Most of the research facilities in Raccoon City were in a state of disarray because Birkin stopped taking orders from Umbrella, so the company had no oversight or status updates, and Birkin was deliberately causing biohazards left and right.

How much power did Birkin have, exactly? Many of us call the underground lab seen in RE2 "Birkin's lab," but was he actually in charge of the entire facility? How much pull did he have at Arklay? What about the ground-level lab seen in "End of the Road?"

Also, why would he deliberately cause biohazard outbreaks? Wasn't he at all concerned with BOWs attacking him and messing up his precious G-virus research?

I also have to wonder about RE0, and how Birkin set off the self-destruct mechanism. In the English script, he says "As I recall, URC is equipped with a self-destruct device in the basement. I'll find it, set it off, and annihilate the place to nothing more than a mass of rubble." I'm assuming that "URC" refers to Umbrella Research Center, but what location was he talking about, exactly? That scene took place in the RE2 lab, so we know it wasn't that, yet the explosions at the end of the game take out the training facility as well as the treatment plant. Since the treatment plant was right next to the RE2 lab, this simply makes no sense, unless the blast door near the collapsed tunnel where Rebecca fought the proto-Tyrant shielded the lab from the explosion.

That blast door is closed in RE2, but if you backtrack to that area in RE0 once you reunite with Billy, there's a giant hole in the door that was presumably created by the proto-Tyrant. This hole is not there in RE2.

Where was this self-destruct device, exactly? An unseen location? And how was Birkin, an unarmed scientist who was never combat-trained, able to make it to the device with all the BOWs running around?

Finally, when Rebecca and Billy escape the hangar where they fight the queen leech, they are on a cliff overlooking Raccoon Forest. Could this be close to the area where Leon, Claire, and Sherry were after they escaped the tunnel at the end of RE2?

Some of these questions may pertain to level design, but most are legitimate inquiries about the plot.

[AsteroidBlues]

Finally, when Rebecca and Billy escape the hangar where they fight the queen leech, they are on a cliff overlooking Raccoon Forest. Could this be close to the area where Leon, Claire, and Sherry were after they escaped the tunnel at the end of RE2?

I don't think so. I think that they might have been on separate ends of Raccoon City even. The area outside of the tunnel in RE2 looks desertish with no trace of a forest whereas the forest seems to go on for several miles at the end of RE2.