Traditionally speaking, the Resident Evil series rarely follows a linear narrative. Even from as far back as the original game and its successor, Capcom opted from an early stage to have each mainline installment depict the nightmare wrought by Umbrella from multiple perspectives. Indeed, not until the jump from RE5 to RE6 has a single protagonist ever been the star of the show on a back-to-back basis, so it’s certainly far from ordinary that the developer decided to break the trend with Resident Evil Village.
Ethan Winters, first introduced in 2017’s soft reboot of the franchise, doesn’t have the profile of, say, Claire or Chris Redfield. Instead, he’s an ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances upon learning that his wife has seemingly been taken hostage by an infected family living in the Louisiana swamps. Only after the defeat of Eveline and his impromptu introduction to Chris, is Ethan’s place in the wider universe cemented, but his tale is far from concluded.
Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine in a recent interview (H/T, Game Informer), producer Peter Fabiano revealed to the publication that Ethan was chosen to be the hero once again mostly because the team involved with 7 wanted to further explore the character. “The team grew quite attached to Ethan,” he says, adding “so we knew we wanted to continue his story arc.”
Besides that fondness, though, Mr. Winters making his return is an integral part of the story Capcom wants to tell. It’s his and Mia’s child, after all, that the former has gone in search for following her being kidnapped by who we can only presume to be Lady Dimitrescu. As for why the internet sensation wants the minor, you’ll just have to wait until Resident Evil Village launches on May 7th to find out.
