Chris Redfield

Chris Redfield
Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 5
Series	Resident Evil
First game	Resident Evil (1996)
Designed by	Isao Ohishi[citation needed]
Voiced by (English)	Scott McCulloch (RE)[citation needed] Michael Filipowich (C:V)[citation needed] Joe Whyte (REmake)[citation needed] Roger Craig Smith (RE5, TDC, RER, MvC3)[citation needed]
Voiced by (Japanese)	Hiroki Tōchi (MvC3, RER)[citation needed]
Motion capture	Reuben Langdon (C:V, RE5)[citation needed]
Portrayed by	Wentworth Miller (Afterlife) Will Lupardus (viral series)[citation needed]

Chris Redfield (クリス・レッドフィールド, Kurisu Reddofīrudo) is a fictional character from Capcom's Resident Evil horror series. Chris debuted as one of two main protagonists in the first Resident Evil video game, along with Jill Valentine, and is one of the two protagonists in the game Resident Evil Code: Veronica, in which he looks for his younger sister Claire. Chris returned as the protagonist in Resident Evil 5, working alongside his new partner Sheva Alomar in a search for Jill, and is playable in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. He also appears in the latest installment of the game series, Resident Evil Revelations, as well as in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Character design

Hideki Kamiya described Chris as a "blunt, tough-guy type," admitting that he was a fan of this archetype. Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi said that the series' fans "would really love" a video game featuring both Chris and Leon S. Kennedy as the protagonists due to their popularity, and it would be "pretty dramatic" if the two characters never met when the series ended. Chris' increased muscle mass in the game was to show that he had trained heavily in order to fight the series' powerful villain Albert Wesker bare-handed. Modeler Yosuke Yamagata added that they "made a new design that retained their signature color — green for Chris, blue for Jill — to carry over the same look from the past. The facial structures are mainly based on the visuals of the GameCube version, and we added various details to these in order to develop a realistic structure."

In 2009, GameTrailers made a video focusing on the his evolution throughout the series. Game Informer explored the meaning of Chris Redfield's name, speculating what his first name stands for. GameSpy called his new appearance in Resident Evil 5 to be "a cross between Colin Farrell and Hugh Jackman".

In video games

A scene from the uncut intro sequence of the 1996 Resident Evil. The original Japanese release of the game had the live-action actor portraying him smoke a cigarette, which was removed in the overseas version of the game, but restored in the PC port.

Chris Redfield debuted in the original Resident Evil as one of the main playable protagonists, along with Jill Valentine, partnered with the rookie officer Rebecca Chambers. He is introduced as a former U.S. military pilot and a member of the local police special force STARS' Alpha Team which was sent to investigate the disappearance of Bravo Team after their helicopter went missing in Raccoon Forest. Chris, accompanied by Albert Wesker, Barry Burton and Jill Valentine, soon find themselves trapped in the nearby mansion, which is filled with horrific zombies and monsters, and deadly booby traps. In the end, Chris and his comrades discover how the nightmare began and witness the death of Albert Wesker, who was betraying them all along, and they face and kill a prototype Tyrant released by Wesker.

Chris returns in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, set five months later. As the protagonist of the second half of the game, he attempts to rescue his younger sister, Claire, from Umbrella Corporation's research facilities in Rockfort Island and in Antarctica. Upon discovering she is now in Antarctica, Chris is briefly confronted by Wesker, seeking revenge on Chris for having destroyed his plans. Eventually, he confronts Alexia Ashford, the creator of the T-Veronica virus. At the end of the game, he fights with Wesker shortly after killing Alexia. He is no match for Wesker at this point in his life, and their fight is cut short due to the imminent destruction of the base. They vow to finish things another time.

Chris was one of the main characters of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, in which he reunites with Jill Valentine. Parts of the game are essentially an inaccurate retelling of Resident Evil. The two of them join a private biohazard-containment force and in 2003 embark on a mission to destroy the Umbrella Corporation after hearing rumours of a new BOW being developed, resulting in their successful attack on an Umbrella facility located in Russia's Caucasus region.

Chris is the main protagonist in Resident Evil 5, in which he is a founding member of the UN paramilitary group Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA). In the game, Chris investigates a terrorist threat in Kijuju, Africa while looking for his old partner and friend Jill, who is missing and presumed dead. Accompanying him is his new partner Sheva Alomar. Eventually, they manage to find and free Jill, and to ultimately defeat and destroy Wesker who was planning to release a new virus into the atmosphere, ensuring the end of humanity.

Chris makes an appearance in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles as a playable character in "Game of Oblivion" scenario's final chapter, a re-imagining of Code: Veronica. He is also available in the Extreme Battle mode featured in the later versions of Resident Evil 2 (the PlayStation 2 Dual Shock edition and the PC, Dreamcast and GameCube ports)^{[citation needed]} and is one of the eight playable characters in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.^{[citation needed]}

Chris returned in Resident Evil Revelations, with Jill Valentine.

Chris will return as one of the primary protagonists of Resident Evil 6, alongside Leon S. Kennedy .

Outside of the Resident Evil franchise, Chris also appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The game's first cinematic trailer showed him fighting versus Hulk.

Gameplay

In the original Resident Evil, Chris's scenario is more challenging Jill's, as he has a smaller carrying capacity and lacks certain items. He is also not equipped with a lockpick and so he needs to find small desk keys. On the other hand, Chris can take a lot more damage from enemies than Jill.

In other media

In the rejected Resident Evil movie script by George A. Romero, Chris is a Native American civilian and ultimately one of the few survivors.

Chris appears in the 2010 live-action film Resident Evil: Afterlife, portrayed by Wentworth Miller. In the film, Chris is found trapped in a maximum security cell after his unit's attempt to control the T-virus in Los Angeles goes haywire and the survivors who find him believe him to be a prisoner. He is reunited with his sister Claire, who cannot remember him due to memory damage caused by an Umbrella mind-control device. He, Alice and Claire eventually defeat Albert Wesker and rescue imprisoned survivors being used for Umbrella's experiments.

During the release of the Japanese Sega Saturn version of the original game, Capcom published a promotional sourcebook The True Story Behind Biohazard, containing an original short story titled Biohazard: The Beginning by Hiroyuku Ariga. The story depicts the events prior to the first game and fleshes out his character, describing the deaths of his parents in a car accident and his service in the USAF.

He also appears in several Resident Evil comic books by WildStorm, Image Comics and Marvel Comics.

In merchandise

A double-pack of action figures of Chris and the monster Cerberus was released in 1998 in the Resident Evil Series 1 by Toy Biz. Another action figure from the original game was released in 2002 by Moby Dick. Palisades Toys released two action figures (differing only by their color patterns) of Chris from Code: Veronica in 2002. An action figure of Chris from the original game was released as part of the 2006's Resident Evil Anniversary Series 1 by NECA. An action figure of Chris from Resident Evil 5 was released in 2009 by Hot Toys.

A PVC diorama figure of Chris facing the monster Yawn from the original game's remake was released in 2008 in the Bio Hazard Figure Collection Vol.4 by Organic (Beagle). A figure of Chris from the same game was also released in 2009 by Gaya Entertainment.

Reception

Chris Redfield's critical reception has been mixed. GameZone ranked Chris as fourth on a list of the top five "gaming gods" of 2008 for his looks, calling him "one gorgeous hunk" with "a killer body and dreamy good-looks." In 2009, Chris and his sister Claire were included in IGN's "Ultimate Zombie Strike Team", Chris for his "long, fruitful career killing zombies" that "proved that Umbrella's fearsome bio-weapons are no match for a lone warrior with guts." That same year, Gameplanet stated that if Chris and Leon S. Kennedy would both appear in the next game it would be "awesome," adding that both are the main protagonists of the series. Chris was also repeatedly compared with Leon by IGN, both of them being regarded as the leading heroes of the series. In 2010, GamesRadar featured his team-up with Sheva in their article about the gaming's "most violent double acts" for their actions in Resident Evil 5.

Among negative criticism, Chris was ranked fifth in IGN's 2009 list of most overrated video game characters, with a suggestion that he should "ditch the 'roids and concentrate on getting the job done", and included in UGO.com's 2010 list of top ten out-of-luck game characters for his failures across the series. His new design in the RE5 in particular became a source of controversy and was often ridiculed. GameSpot gave Chris the special award for "character most likely to fail a performance-enhancing drug test" in the Dubious Honors awards in 2009, adding that "the man is clearly a walking pharmacy." Including him on the list of "ten game heroes who fail at the simple stuff" for his inability to shoot while moving in RE5, GameDaily called him "to spend a little more time on the shooting range and a little less time pumping iron in front of a mirror." Joystiq commented that possibly during The Umbrella Chronicles Chris started his "steroid abuse", which was also suggested by IGN. On the other hand, when GamesRadar compared his Code Veronica and RE5 designs while trying to evaluate which would fit better for a zombie apocalypse, they found the latter to give better chances to survive to a zombie attack, also finding out Chris in the original game to be "horribly ill-prepared".

External links

• Chris Redfield - Resident Evil Wiki
• Chris Redfield - Capcom Database