Summary
Resident Evilhas always walked a fine line between campy blockbuster action and proper, visceral horror. This balance is a big part of what makes the long-running franchise so endearing and iconic, and this willhopefully be recaptured inResident Evil 9, which may step away from the relatively more self-serious characterization ofResident Evil 7andVillage. At the same time, the nextREtitle can ramp up its scares by reprising one key element fromResident Evil 2.
InResident Evil 2, characters are pursued by two entities: the unstoppable Mr. X and the tragic Doctor William Burkin, an ex-Umbrella scientist who infects himself with the Golgotha virus in a last-ditch effort to save his own life. Though he probably wished to mutate into a G-Human similar to the Ganados inResident Evil 4, complications in the mutation process caused him to become a G-Mutant—a shambling, grotesque hulk that continues to reform itself and grow over the course of the game, until the last vestiges of Birkin’s humanity have been virtually erased. This is particularly effective as a recurring bit of body horror, and somethingResident Evilought to circle back on in a future release.
Of course, body horror is a staple of allResident Evilgames, withResident Evil 7’s Baker familybeing another prominent example. However,Resident Evil 2’s specific, character-first handling of the subject is what makes it so scary.
Putting Body Horror Front-and-Center In Future Resident Evil Games
Resident Evil 2’s Body Horror Is a Good Blueprint
Although the mad scientist trope has been ubiquitous in horror for years, it still manages to be interesting inResident Evil 2. Birkin’s struggle feels innately human, something that is conveyed by the progression of his mutation over the course of the story. With something like the Bakers inResident Evil 7, players essentially only see the two sides of the coin: after they have all gone mad from the virus, and before the virus has taken hold, via flashbacks.William Birkin is a terrifying antagonistbecause of how brutal, observable, and seemingly painful his ongoing transformation is.
When players first encounter the G-infected Birkin, he is clearly and significantly mutated, but still recognizable as human. It even looks like the transformation could be reversible or mitigated. But with each encounter, Birkin becomes less human, morphing into a demonic-looking bipedal monster, then to a chimeric beast, and finally to a writhing mass of flesh and gnawing teeth. This slow and uncontrollable loss of humanity touches on a deep, primal fear, and it’s a big part of what makesResident Evil 2one of the scariest entriesin the franchise.
Mutating Body Horror In Resident Evil
The focus on Birkin as a man, rather than just a monster, plays a role in making the prospect of such rabid mutation horrifying, but Birkin is far from a likable or respectable person, even before the transformations. This puts emotional distance between him and the audience, thus undermining some of the intimacy that body horror demands: if players can empathize with the person undergoing the transformation, they can more easily imagine what it would be like to be losing their humanity themselves.
Resident Evilusually keeps its protagonists safe from biohazards, as even when characters like Leon or Jill get infected, they are cured with virtually no lasting effects. EvenEthan Winters' mold infectionis fairly tame, used as more of a final twist at the end ofVillagethan an opportunity for actual horror. Perhaps a futureResident Evilgame could hone in on the visceral and unnerving horror inherent in Birkin’s ongoing transformation by applying the concept to a more sympathetic, central character, elevating stakes and tension while tapping into that primal fear of lost or altered humanity—a fear that lies at the heart of zombie media as a whole.
Resident Evil
Resident Evil is a long-running survival horror franchise developed by Capcom. Spread across numerous mainline and spin-off entries, the series is known for it’s third and first-person action horror, zombie-related monsters and references, and challenging puzzles.
