Ethan Winters | |
---|---|
Resident Evil character | |
First appearance | Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) |
Last appearance | Resident Evil Village (2021) |
Created by | Capcom |
Voiced by | English Todd Soley Japanese Hidenobu Kiuchi [1] |
In-universe information | |
Spouse | Mia Winters |
Children | Rosemary Winters |
Ethan Winters (Japanese: イーサン・ウィンターズ, Hepburn: Īsan Wintāzu) is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. Ethan was introduced as one of the playable characters in the 2017 video game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard , in which he is depicted as an ordinary civilian searching for his missing wife within a dilapidated estate in Louisiana. He is also the protagonist of the 2021 sequel Resident Evil Village , where he is forced to locate his kidnapped daughter who was taken by a cult leader in a mysterious European village.
Originally designed as an unseen everyman to foster the player's identification with him as the protagonist of Resident Evil 7, Capcom intended to shape Ethan from a blank state into a more defined character in Village. He is voiced by Hidenobu Kiuchi in Japanese and Todd Soley in English. Ethan has received a mixed reception from video game publications, with some praising his relatability, while others have criticized him for a lack of emotional range and character development.
"It's a balancing act between giving Ethan his own personality, but also helping the player imagine that it could be them, reacting in the same way." [2]
In Resident Evil 7: Biohazard , players take Ethan's viewpoint as an embodied presence as opposed to an on-screen avatar. [3] The game's goal for players is to advance the narrative while keeping him alive with limited resources. [4] According to Morimasa Sato, who was a writer for Resident Evil 7 and the director of Resident Evil Village , the development team initially thought of Ethan as merely "a camera for the player" and "transparent". [5]
Towards the end of development for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, its developers had begun planning for the next mainline Resident Evil game. A decision was made by the developers to set it as a direct continuation of Resident Evil 7 and Ethan's story arc, as they had developed an attachment to Ethan and saw potential in him as a character. Producer Peter Fabiano stated that the team wanted players to experience Village from Ethan's perspective, with Sato describing Village as the story of Ethan and "the entirety of who he is". [5] [6]
Ethan's face is never shown within the gameplay for Resident Evil 7 or Resident Evil Village due to players controlling Ethan from a first-person perspective. [7] An unused version of Ethan's character model, hidden within the game's assets, has fully developed facial features. [8] In the expansion "Shadows of Rose" for Resident Evil Village, Ethan appears in a third-person mode and despite attempts to obscure his face, players could see it by performing certain actions. [9]
In Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village, Ethan was voiced by American actor Todd Soley. [10] In Japanese, he was voiced by Hidenobu Kiuchi. [1] The character model was based on the Tunisian model Yaya Chamki. [11]
Ethan made his first appearance in the 2017 video game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard . He is an American systems engineer who worked in Los Angeles. Nearly three years after his wife Mia's disappearance, Ethan receives a cryptic video message from Mia that leads him to a derelict plantation in a small Louisiana town called Dulvey. He locates and rescues Mia, but she abruptly becomes hostile and attacks Ethan while attempting to flee, dismembering his hand with a chainsaw. [12] Ethan attacks her in self defense, landing a seemingly fatal blow on her before encountering Jack Baker, who incapacitates and abducts him. [13] Ethan wakes up to a dinner event where several members of the Baker family gather, but manages to escape his captors and receives assistance from Zoe Baker, a wayward member of the Baker family who had reattached Ethan's hand when he was still unconscious. She reveals that her family is under the control of Eveline, a powerful genetically engineered bio-weapon. Zoe reveals that Eveline can infect other humans, which grants them powerful regenerative abilities and super-human strength. Zoe advises Ethan to synthesize a serum from components across the plantation that can cure Mia and herself. [13]
Ethan's journey leads him to battle other members of the Baker family and the Molded, humanoid monstrosities created by Eveline. He ultimately cures Mia who successfully regains control of herself. Mia reveals she was employed by a criminal syndicate to act as Eveline's handler but succumbed to her influence. Ethan confronts Eveline and dispatches her with the assistance of a paramilitary company led by Chris Redfield. Ethan and Mia escape the plantation. [13]
The amount of blood and gore players as Ethan are exposed to in the Japanese version of the game, Biohazard 7: Resident Evil, [14] is substantially less compared to the international release. [15] On the other hand, smaller changes made to Ethan's dismemberment, such as black blood flowing from his severed limbs, alludes to an important plot point which suggests that he may have been infected with the mold generated by Eveline. [15]
Ethan returns in Resident Evil Village as its central character. [5] Set three years after the events of the previous game, Ethan lives in Europe with Mia and their newborn daughter, Rosemary. Chris Redfield storms the house and kills Mia while taking him and Rosemary under custody. The truck transporting Ethan is attacked and he is stranded in a nearby village whose inhabitants are massacred by lycans. He is captured by Karl Heisenberg, one of the four local lords who serve the village's leader, Mother Miranda, and brought before her, discovering that they have Rosemary. Miranda allows Heisenberg to dispose of Ethan, but Ethan escapes. [16] [17]
After defeating Alcina Dimitrescu, one of the lords, Ethan discovers that Rosemary was dismembered, her remains stored in four flasks, each of the lords in possession of one of them; he learns from the local merchant The Duke that she can be revived should he retrieve all flasks. After obtaining them, and killing all the lords except for Heisenberg, Ethan reunites with Chris who reveals that the "Mia" he killed was a shapeshifting Miranda posing as her to kidnap Rosemary, and he was trying to protect the family. Using a makeshift tank assembled by Chris, Ethan kills Heisenberg, only to be fatally wounded by Miranda as she rips out his heart. However, Ethan survives due to the regenerative abilities he developed through the effects of the strain of mold from Louisiana.
Shortly after, Ethan begins to hallucinate. Eveline appears to Ethan, taunting Ethan that he has been dead since Louisiana, having been killed by Jack Baker in their first encounter. Ethan comes back to reality, being transported by The Duke in his carriage. Ethan confronts Miranda and defeats her, rescuing the restored Rosemary, but begins to succumb to his wounds, which prove to be too severe for his regenerative abilities to counter. Having planted a bomb to destroy the Megamycete (the source of the mold that birthed Miranda, the Four Lords, and Eveline) Chris attempts to help Ethan and Rosemary to his helicopter. However, Ethan realizes he is dying, and entrusts his daughter to Chris and asks him to watch over her. Ethan then takes the detonator from Chris as Miranda's mold spreads, separating Ethan and Chris. Ethan limps toward the Megamycete and detonates the bomb, sacrificing himself as it destroys the village while the helicopter containing Chris, Mia, and Rose flies away. [18]
In the Shadows of Rose DLC chapter, set sixteen years after the game's main events, Rose enters the Megamycete's realm to find a way to remove her powers through a remnant Hound Wolf Squad have recently acquired. Shortly after entering, an entity calling itself "Michael" makes contact with her, only communicating through writing. He provides Rose resources and enhancements to her abilities, though suggests she leave on multiple occasions. Rose eventually learns of that "Michael" is actually Ethan after he is forced to physically interfere to save her from Eveline. Files reveal that his consciousness survived through the Megamycete, which he was in close proximity with before his death. After learning the cure is actually a trap set by the remnant of Miranda, Ethan tries to help Rose escape but is critically injured. Rather than leave him to die, Rose enhances herself and battles Miranda, killing her after being further empowered by him. As she leaves the realm, Ethan expresses how proud of her he is, giving her his wedding ring as she returns to the real world. [19]
To promote Village, Capcom released a developer diary titled “The Making of Resident Evil Village: Winter Comes for Ethan” in September 2020, where staff members discuss Ethan's role within the game. [20]
The Resident Evil Village Deluxe Edition is bundled with an art book titled "The Tragedy of Ethan Winters". [21]
Ethan has received a mixed reception. Some video game journalists, such as Chris Moyse from Destructoid and Liana Ruppert from Game Informer , credit the character's role in Resident Evil 7 as a factor behind the video game's popularity and ongoing commercial success. [22] [23] [6] Josh West from GamesRadar+ suggested that Ethan's return to headline a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7 is unprecedented and noted that Capcom had never entrusted a single protagonist with back-to-back installments of the mainline Resident Evil series. [17]
Some commentators have positively reviewed Ethan as a relatable protagonist. Ray Porreca thought that the "murky" environments of Resident Evil 7 conflicted with Ethan's slightly formal attire, delineating him as "what a modern hero can look like". [22] Porreca noted Ethan is at odds of what constitutes a conventional Resident Evil protagonist, and felt an unskilled everyman who survives against overwhelming odds, subverting player's expectations of "a game [Resident Evil 7] that upsets tradition to restore some glory to its name". [22] The Escapist 's Audric Figueroa agreed that Ethan is very different compared to previous Resident Evil protagonists, who are portrayed as heroic law enforcement agents fighting against corporations, as he is motivated by his personal relationship with Mia. [13] Figueroa suggested that a mundane family man who is eager to rescue his wife is the "perfect protagonist" for the story, where domestic violence both "literal and metaphorical" forms the core of the game's "encounter philosophy". [13] In 2023, Ashley Bardhan of Polygon thought about living like Ethan for a week to survive her "horrors of the holidays". [24]
Others have criticized Ethan for lacking in personality or character development. Game Informer's Andrew Reiner described Ethan's personality to be "as transparent as the specters he encounters". He noted an incongruency between the character's occasional reactions to inconsequential details but mostly silent nature in the face of danger, and thought that its narrative unravels into a "voyeuristic" exploration of the estate's inhabitants instead of its protagonist's personal stake in it. [25] Hannes Rossow from German publication GamePro was highly critical of the character's perceived lack of personality in Resident Evil 7. He wrote that Ethan's prominence in Village had dampened his enthusiasm for the game and expressed a preference for another protagonist who is a properly developed character. [8] Chandler Wood of PlayStation LifeStyle called Ethan Resident Evil's most forgettable character for his lack of emotion, leading to real-world instances where people could not recall his name and felt that the player was unable to both simultaneously control and emphasize with him. [26] Matthew Bryd of Den of Geek felt Ethan was the worst protagonist of a Resident Evil title and even gaming in general, citing "bad voice acting, bad writing, and questionable lore", as well as further character flaws. [27] Giovanni Colantonio of Inverse described Ethan as the worst game hero of all time. He further said that "Ethan feels like the dumbest, most hapless man in the world, and yet nothing can hurt him." [28] Gene Park of The Washington Post called Ethan an "idiot" for how he reacted to events during Resident Evil Village. He criticized that Ethan "has no character arc" and "isn't likely to enter the pantheon of great video game characters." [10] Ashley Bardhan from Kotaku has also criticized and compared Ethan to James Sunderland from Silent Hill , stating that both characters are "the same" and "boring". [29] Conversely, Andy Kelly from PC Gamer and Jade King from TheGamer opined that being "boring" or "generic" is Ethan's most positive contribution to the player's gameplay experience, given the context of the dangerous environments and characters he faces. [30] [31] Ian Walker from Kotaku was amused by Capcom's persistent attempts to hide Ethan's face behind the weapons he wields within promotional art, [7] while GamePro's Hannes Rossow called the attempts to maintain the illusion of Ethan as a faceless character absurd, as the character's actual face is known to exist within the game assets of Resident Evil 7. [8] Moises Taveras of Paste wrote he didn't feel that Ethan belonged in the world, due to his ambiguous backstory and lack of physical appearance. [32] As a result of his faceless presentation and lack of background information provided by Capcom, Ethan's character is often discussed in fan theories about his true nature. [7] [33] In addition, Epic Games included Ethan, along with Jill Valentine and Lady Dimitrescu, in a list of characters and brands as part of a 2021 survey it distributed to Fortnite players in order to gauge interest in future crossover promotions. [34]
Some critics have noted a tendency throughout the games for Ethan to suffer from serious injury or complete dismemberment of his limbs, particularly his hands, and an ability to quickly heal or re-attach them with little effort. [35] [36] [37] [38]
In her discussion of allusions between Resident Evil 7 and horror cinema as part of the former's use of intertextuality, Dawn Stobbart described multiple instances where Ethan's journey mirror that of specific scenes from the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . Ethan's predicament during the dinner table scene with the Baker family is analyzed as the most overt example: like recurring franchise character Sally Hardesty, Ethan is seated at the foot of the table as he awakens to a grotesque feast seemingly made from human entrails, while the other characters present almost identically mirror the characters Sally encounters at the table. [39]
Resident Evil, known as Biohazard in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments inhabited by zombies and other mutated creatures. The franchise has expanded into other media, including a live-action film series, animated films, television series, comic books, novels, audiobooks, and merchandise. Resident Evil is the highest-grossing horror franchise.
Resident Evil 2 is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation. The player controls rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens are transformed into zombies by a biological weapon two months after the events of the original Resident Evil. The gameplay focuses on exploration, puzzles, and combat; the main difference from its predecessor are the branching paths, with each player character having unique storylines, partners and obstacles.
Jill Valentine is a character in Resident Evil, a survival horror series created by the Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced as one of two player characters in the original Resident Evil (1996) with her partner, Chris Redfield, as a member of the Raccoon City Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service (STARS) unit. Jill and Chris fight the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company whose bioterrorism creates zombies and other bio-organic weapons, and later become founding members of the United Nations' Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA).
Resident Evil 4 is a 2005 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. Players control the special agent Leon S. Kennedy on a mission to rescue the US president's daughter, Ashley Graham, who has been kidnapped by a religious cult in rural Spain. Leon fights hordes of enemies infected by a mind-controlling parasite and reunites with the spy Ada Wong. In a departure from the fixed camera angles and slower gameplay of previous Resident Evil games, Resident Evil 4 features a dynamic camera system and action-oriented gameplay.
Leon Scott Kennedy is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. He was introduced as one of the two player characters in the video game Resident Evil 2 (1998), alongside Claire Redfield. During the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon is a rookie police officer who arrives in the doomed Raccoon City late for his first day on the job and is confronted by a zombie outbreak.
Chris Redfield is a fictional character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. He was introduced as one of the two playable characters of the original Resident Evil (1996), alongside his partner Jill Valentine, as a member of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) unit. Chris and Jill fight against the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company whose bioterrorism creates zombies and other bio-organic weapons, and later become founding members of the United Nations' Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA).
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is a 1999 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom originally for the PlayStation. It is the third game in the Resident Evil series and takes place almost concurrently with the events of Resident Evil 2. The player must control former elite agent Jill Valentine as she escapes from Raccoon City, which has been overrun by zombies. The game uses the same engine as its predecessors and features 3D models over pre-rendered backgrounds with fixed camera angles. Choices through the game affect how the story unfolds and which ending is achieved.
Ada Wong is a character in Resident Evil, a survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. Ada was first mentioned in the original Resident Evil (1996), before being introduced as a supporting character and antiheroine in Resident Evil 2 (1998). The character was initially conceived as a researcher named Linda for the prototype of the second game, but her name was changed to Ada and she was rewritten as a spy and mercenary for the final build to connect its story to that of the original. Over the course of the series, Ada is often hired to steal biological weapons for various organizations, although she betrays her employers on numerous occasions to save protagonist Leon S. Kennedy from dire situations.
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom and originally released for the Dreamcast in 2000. It is the fourth main installment in the Resident Evil series and the first to debut on a separate platform from the PlayStation. The story takes place three months after the events of Resident Evil 2 (1998) and the concurrent destruction of Raccoon City as seen in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999). It follows Claire Redfield and her brother Chris Redfield in their efforts to survive a viral outbreak at a remote prison island in the Southern Ocean and a research facility in Antarctica. The game retains the traditional survival horror controls and gameplay of previous installments; however, unlike the pre-rendered backgrounds of previous games, Code: Veronica uses real-time 3D environments and dynamic camera movement.
The Nemesis, also called the Nemesis-T Type, or the Pursuer in Japan, is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by Capcom. Although smaller than other Tyrant models, the creature dwarfs a typical human, and possesses vastly superior intelligence and physical dexterity to its undead peers. It is featured in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) as a titular main villain before later emerging in other titles and cameo roles. It is also featured on various merchandise and was portrayed by Matthew G. Taylor in the 2004 film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The character is voiced by Tony Rosato in the original game and Gregg Berger in Operation Raccoon City (2012). In the 2020 remake of Resident Evil 3, the character is voiced by David Cockman, with Neil Newbon providing the motion capture performance. Nemesis has also been featured in several other game franchises, including as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom and Dead by Daylight.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is an on-rails light gun shooter video game developed by Capcom and Cavia as part of the Resident Evil series. The game was released for the Wii on November 13, 2007, in North America; November 15, 2007, in Japan; and on November 30, 2007, in Europe, excluding Germany, where the game is not available due to the refusal of a USK rating and its subsequent inclusion in the index. It was followed by Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. Both Chronicles games are included on the Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection for the PlayStation 3.
Resident Evil: Degeneration, known as Biohazard: Degeneration in Japan, is a 2008 Japanese adult animated biopunk action horror film directed by Makoto Kamiya. It is the first full-length motion capture animation feature in Capcom's Resident Evil franchise. The film was made by Capcom in cooperation with Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan. Degeneration made its premiere at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show and was released theatrically on October 17, 2008.
Claire Redfield is a character in Resident Evil, a survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. She was first introduced as one of two player characters in Resident Evil 2 (1998) alongside Leon S. Kennedy. The character was initially conceived as a blonde motorcyclist named "Elza Walker" for the prototype of the game, but her name and role were changed for the final build to connect its story to that of the original. During the events of Resident Evil 2, Claire arrives in the Midwestern United States town of Raccoon City, which has been overrun by zombies, to find her missing brother Chris.
Rebecca Chambers is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. She was first introduced as a supporting character in the original Resident Evil (1996) and became a player character of the prequel game Resident Evil Zero (2002). In the first Resident Evil, Rebecca is a young officer with the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) unit and is trapped in a zombie-infested mansion.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a 2017 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. The player controls Ethan Winters as he searches for his long-missing wife in a derelict plantation occupied by an infected family, solving puzzles and fighting enemies. Resident Evil 7 diverges from the more action-oriented Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6, returning to the franchise's survival horror roots, emphasizing exploration. It is the first main Resident Evil game to use a first-person view.
Resident Evil 2 is a 2019 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of the 1998 game Resident Evil 2, it was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in January 2019 and for Amazon Luna, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch in 2022. Versions for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS are scheduled to be released in December 2024. Players control the rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and the college student Claire Redfield as they attempt to escape Raccoon City during a zombie outbreak.
Resident Evil Village is a 2021 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) and the tenth main game of the Resident Evil series. Players control Ethan Winters, who searches for his kidnapped daughter in a village filled with mutant creatures. Village maintains survival horror elements from previous games, with players scavenging environments for items and managing resources while adding more action-oriented gameplay, with higher enemy counts and a greater emphasis on combat.
Alcina Dimitrescu, better known as Lady Dimitrescu, is a character in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. One of the major antagonistic figures of Village, she is presented as a gigantic noblewoman with vampire-like traits who resides with her three daughters in Castle Dimitrescu, her stronghold within the vicinity of the titular Eastern European village encountered by Ethan Winters. Dimitrescu governs the village alongside three mutant lords under the oversight of a supreme leader known as Mother Miranda. Lady Dimitrescu's physical design was based on Polish model Helena Mankowska, while her voice acting and motion capture were performed by American theatre actress Maggie Robertson.
The Baker family consists of fictional characters featured in Capcom's Resident Evil video game series. First appearing in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, its main family members are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Jack and Marguerite and their two adult children, Lucas and Zoe. Inspired by characters from seminal films in horror cinema such as The Shining, The Evil Dead, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the Bakers reside within their bayou estate in the fictional parish of Dulvey, Louisiana in the United States. Within the game's narrative, they are under the influence of Eveline, a biologically engineered being who "adopted" herself into the Baker family, granting the family superhuman powers at the expense of twisting most of them into insane and murderous individuals prior to the events of Resident Evil 7, with the exception of Zoe who retains a benevolent personality. The 2017 Resident Evil 7: End of Zoe DLC features Joe Baker, a member from the extended family who is unaffected by Eveline, as its protagonist.