Resident Evil is a survival-horror and action-horror video game series owned and published by Capcom. The series is known as Biohazard in Japan. It began with Resident Evil in 1996 and became one of Capcom's main long-running franchises.
The games usually involve biological outbreaks, isolated locations, limited resources, corporate wrongdoing and mutated creatures. The series has moved between fixed-camera survival horror, over-the-shoulder action horror and first-person horror while keeping a focus on tension, survival and bio-organic threats.
Origins
The first Resident Evil was released by Capcom in 1996. Capcom's official portal describes the game as a defining survival-horror release. Its early design used fixed camera angles, constrained ammunition, puzzle routes, locked doors and enemies that were dangerous because the player could not simply fight everything.
The Japanese title Biohazard fitted the story's biological-disaster theme, but the western title became Resident Evil. Both names refer to the same Capcom series.
Setting and Themes
The series is built around outbreaks caused by viruses, parasites, moulds and other biological agents. The fictional Umbrella Corporation is central to the early games, especially through the T-virus and the Raccoon City disaster.
Common themes include corporate secrecy, illegal research, disaster containment, survival under pressure, military and police response, and the abuse of science for weapons development. The creatures are often described in the series as bio-organic weapons.
Gameplay
Resident Evil gameplay has changed several times:
- The early games use fixed camera angles, item boxes, limited saves and route-based puzzle design.
- Resident Evil 4 pushed the series towards over-the-shoulder combat and faster action.
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard moved the main series into first person and returned to a more enclosed horror style.
- Recent remakes combine modern controls with the structure and characters of older entries.
Resource management remains important even in more action-heavy games. Ammunition, healing items, inventory space and safe routes often matter as much as aim.
Main Games
Important mainline releases include:
- Resident Evil (1996)
- Resident Evil 2 (1998)
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)
- Resident Evil Code: Veronica (2000)
- Resident Evil 4 (2005)
- Resident Evil 5 (2009)
- Resident Evil 6 (2012)
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)
- Resident Evil Village (2021)
- Resident Evil Requiem (2026)
The series also includes remakes, side stories, multiplayer experiments and spin-offs such as Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil Outbreak.
Characters
Recurring characters include Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, Albert Wesker, Rebecca Chambers and Ethan Winters.
Different entries use different protagonists, but the wider story keeps returning to outbreaks, survivors, cover-ups, laboratories and organisations trying to control or profit from bioweapons.
Wider Media
Resident Evil has expanded beyond games into live-action films, animated films, television, novels, comics, merchandise and attractions. These adaptations are not all in the same continuity as the games.
The live-action film series starring Milla Jovovich became well known in its own right, but it takes major liberties with game characters and events.
Reception and Legacy
Resident Evil helped establish survival horror as a major game genre. The original game made the term widely associated with limited resources, vulnerable protagonists and horror-driven exploration. Resident Evil 4 later influenced third-person action games through its camera, aiming and encounter design.
Capcom's public sales data shows that many Resident Evil titles remain among the company's million-selling releases. The series continues because Capcom repeatedly reworks its format rather than keeping one fixed style.
See Also
References
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