Ever sinceResident Evil Requiemwas officially unveiled at the 2025 Summer Games Fest, the upcoming ninth mainline entry in theResident Evilseries has been met with questions, theories, and predictions of what the game may entail. Most of these conceptions have surrounded the return to Raccoon City, with many fans theorizing thatResident Evil 2protagonist Leon Kennedy may return to his old RPD stomping grounds inResident Evil Requiem. However, as official news ofRequiemcontinues to slowly be released, there’s one aspect ofRequiem’s story that’s seldom been discussed: who will be the main villain?
A Brief Overview of Resident Evil Villains
Aside from the common zombie, mutated animal, and roaming monster, most properResident Evilvillains can be categorized into three categories: psychotic and megalomaniacal humans, rogue military or authoritative officers, and monstrous humanoid mutants. Oftentimes inResident Eviltitles, most true antagonists won’t even be encountered until the midpoint or even near the very end of the game. For example, whileAlbert Wesker is present at the beginning ofResident Evil 1, he’s not revealed to be the game’s main villain until right before the game ends. Wesker isn’t even the main boss ofResident Evil 1, with the Tyrant T-002 beingResident Evil 1’s final boss instead after severely wounding Wesker.
While Wesker was initially an example of a megalomaniacal human antagonist, he’s later portrayed as a humanoid mutant after infecting himself with an altered strain of the T-Virus and later the PG67A/W serum, which gave him superhuman abilities such as super speed. An example of aResident Evilrogue authority figure would beResident Evil 2’s Chief Brian Irons, who used his position in the RPD to assault women and hide Umbrella secrets. Other examples of monstrous humanoid antagonists would beResident Evil 4’s Bitores Mendez, Osmund Saddler, orResident Evil 7’s Baker family, as all of whom initially appeared to be human before later transforming into grotesque monsters.
Resident Evil Requiem’s Potential Villains
Little is currently known aboutResident Evil Requiem’s story or characters, but from what little is known, fans can hypothesize who or whatRequiem’s antagonists may be. For example,Requiem’s story begins after the FBI discovers multiple people killed by an unidentifiable disease at Wrenwood Hotel, the same hotel whereGrace Ashcroft’s mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, was killed eight years ago. Based on this initial investigation, one ofRequiem’s antagonists could simply be a crazed serial killer similar to Irons or evenResident Evil Outbreak’s Dr. Albert Lester. A hooded man was shown alongside seeming flashbacks to Alyssa Ashcroft’s murder, so this hooded man could be revealed asRequiem’s main antagonist or as a red herring for a more vile villain.
Later on inResident Evil Requiem’s trailer, a long-haired man with a gramophone is shown seemingly talking to Grace Ashcroft. This unknown individual calls Grace the “… one I’ve been searching for. A special one. The chosen one.” Based on the gramophone and architecture in the man’s room, it seems that he may be in the Wrenwood Hotel and could be the one who captures Grace and extracts some of her blood, as seen in the 2025 Summer Games Fest privategameplay demo ofResident Evil Requiem. Based on his cadence, this man could potentially play a similar role to Saddler inRequiemin that he could appear intermittently throughoutRequiem, taunting Grace until she can fight him in his monstrous form near the end.
Potential Returning Villains or Villainous Organizations in Requiem
Aside from the two men briefly shown inResident Evil Requiem’s reveal trailer, there’s not much to concretely go off of to hypothesize on who may be the game’s villain. However, given thatRequiemwill return players to Raccoon City and that2026 will beResident Evil’s 30th anniversary, there is a slight chance old villains or villainous organizations may return inRequiem. For example, the mutated forms of Dr. William Birkin or Nemesis could have survived Raccoon City’s bombing and transformed into a new unprecedented state in the ruins, potentially being the source ofRequiem’s identifiable disease. Alternatively, the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance could return as a source of chaos reappearing from Raccoon City, as they may be covering up biohazardous events and using B.O.W.s akin to Umbrella. With some clear options available to Capcom, it will be interesting to see who Grace (and potentially Leon) have to face off against.
