Who should lead the series?

[Grem]

I was wondering, after playing some RE games recently, who would you like to see as the main main character for the series?

Because I think that Capcom changes the way we should look at the protagonists as time goes by.

At the beginning, there were four main characters : Chris, Leon, Claire and Jill. But after RE4 and the beginning of the bioterrorism era, it changed to Leon and Chris as the main lead, because Claire became irrelevant to the story after RECV and Jill became just Chris' partner.

Meanwhile, some characters gained importance.

Ada, for example, is getting much more spotlight than expected even though we don't get to know her that much. If we look at RE6, we get the feeling that Ada was, actually, the real main character of RE6 because everything was centered around her and her campaign also tied up all the loose ends of the other characters' campaigns. She's also the only one who dealt with both Simmons and Carla, the two villains of the game.

But at the same time, Capcom decided to introduce us to Jake. They put much emphasis on the fact that he represents the new blood of the series and that, perhaps in the future, he will replace Leon and Chris as a main character.

So what are your thoughts?
Which character do you think is more deserving of the title of main lead character? To the contrary, do you prefer that the series continue to display different characters for each entry?

While I do think that changing characters from to time is refreshing, I believe that sticking to only one main character could benefit the story.
For example, I like how we can connect RE5 and RE6 thanks to Chris' story, the same way we could connect RE2 and RECV thanks to Claire. It feels more coherent and engaging as a whole, especially when I want to do a playthrough of the entire series.

Because, sometimes it's hard to get a real flow between all the episodes. RECV and RE4 don't connect very well at all, because of the model change, yes, but also because Leon's story has nothing to do with Wesker and Chris. The same with Revelations which isn't very well linked to all post RE4 games.

I always thought that Chris was the main lead. Because he was the more active protagonist during the fight against Umbrella pre-RE4 and, now, he's also very representative of the fight against bioterrorism. He also killed Wesker, the antagonist of the entire series BUT after RE6, things are getting different.
Chris's story is almost over because he killed Wesker. The bioterrorism arc is overdone aswell and I expect RE7 to deal with a new type of threat.

But who to lead the series then? Leon? I don't know about him. He seemed like the big deal since RE4, but if we look closely he's not as important to the main storyline as fanboys or Capcom wanted him to be.

Ada could be an interesting character to focus on. Because she worked behind the scenes since RE1, had dealings with Umbrella, the rival company, Wesker and the Family, the biggest malovelent forces of the series. And her goal (that I imagine as "good") could be something big, that neither Chris or Leon could possibly achieve.

[Graco]

I would rather they avoid making a mascot out of a current (or otherwise) character.

[Grem]

But that's already what they have done. Leon and Chris are the mascots of the series, but I feel like there's no point in having two mascots. One is enough.

I think that having too much protagonists make things more convulated and disjoncted, that's why having only one main character (with playable supporting characters) could be interesting, because we could have a focus. Something the series is actually lacking.

Having 7 protagonists in RE6 didn't really help the story and it felt all over the place, and if you do a playthrough of the entire series, that's also exactly the feeling you get.

[Rick Hunter]

None. Focusing on a single character for many episodes is bad.

[Grem]

Why? Other successful series have just one lead and they are doing well.

[Akainu]

The serie needs more coherence between each episodes and not use a main protagonist then dump it right away, even infos as little as simple whereabouts are good to take!!

[Guest]

The joy about Biohazard games for me is that they tried to explore new settings and new roles but always went back to revisit and re-explore previous ones. I think the series has had a lot of hang ups lately trying to appeal to fan service, as opposed to actually being creative and putting the player in a new nightmare. My favourite characters in BIO6 were probably Helena and Sherry. I thought the female characters in this game had a very vulnerable demeanour and it added a lot to the fear factor of the game. That's what is missing in current times for me, the characters need to be inexperienced and put in a new situation, as opposed to being veterans and just white washing everything. The monsters can only get so big, eventually you have to tone it down and re-evaluate what place the character has in something that's supposed to be horror. If psychologically we all feel like a veteran then what's there to be scared of?

Imo the series needs a new male and female lead, and needs to go back to the old format where the protagonists, and perhaps even the antagonists, don't know what's going on. I want them to tell a story about a group of people who are new to to a zombie outbreak while at the same time continuing to develop the current universe in the background. It's the kind of refreshing taste the series needs for me.

[Lanzagranadas]

I have to agree with almost all what the OP said.

In my opinion Chris was the series main hero up to RE5, but now, Umbrella is no more, Wesker is also no more, and Chris is just "the man who fights bioterrorism", he no longer fights for a personal cause, he´s just there to save the world because that´s his job.

Leon was never strong enough to be the series main character, why? because he never had an antagonist, and that makes his story weak, and he just feel like a different character in every game/movie he appears.

Ada has a personal and apparently big goal she must reach, I think she should have been the main RE6 character since actually the whole plot was built around her, but for the whole franchise, no, she should stay as a secondary character as she was originally created.

Jake was probably an attempt to give the series a new main hero, but judging by RE6 overall poor reception, I really doubt Jake would be a good character, or even a character who has a lot of fans, and he´s definitely not a good choice if the franchise is meant to go back to the Survival horror.

A unique main hero isn´t needed, the very first two games were well connected despite they have a completely different cast of characters, because the connection was done trough the story, so if the story works well, you can put new characters and it will be fine.

It would be great if they could turn the fan-service mode off and think first about the story (well, first about the game actually) and then about the characters, a story won´t work just with a big mess of characters scattered around for the sake of fan service. Bring old characters back if they´re needed and they´ll contribute to the plot, otherwise, better give them a break.

[Guest]

I'm sick and tired of these overused characters, perhaps we need a completely new characters with their own stories in a different universe that have no relation to the main protagonists or antagonists (Jake) in the previous installments whatsoever, in this way capcom might treat the series as a completely new entity in which allows them to break tradition and actually start to experiment on new ideas to reinvent the series in both gameplay and story, derived from the same old formula we've seen in the previous installments !

[REmaster]

Jake was probably an attempt to give the series a new main hero, but judging by RE6 overall poor reception, I really doubt Jake would be a good character, or even a character who has a lot of fans, and he´s definitely not a good choice if the franchise is meant to go back to the Survival horror.

I think Jake was their attempt to get in touch with a younger fan base, as a direct result of this bullshit:

http://www.the-horror.com/forums/sho...ts-30s-And-40s

I'm sick and tired of these overused characters, perhaps we need a completely new characters with their own stories in a different universe that have no relation to the main protagonists or antagonists (Jake) in the previous installments whatsoever, in this way capcom might treat the series as a completely new entity in which allows them to break tradition and actually start to experiment on new ideas to reinvent the series in both gameplay and story, derived from the same old formula we've seen in the previous installments !

I agree completely.

It doesn't have to concern Umbrella or any like-minded corporations or maniacal cloak and dagger puppet masters.

We don't have to go to a new country every installment.

We don't need the same cast of characters returning game after game.

Chris is 40, he's been fighting the good fight for sixteen years. Not necessarily a dinosaur, but it's time they pump some fresh blood into this withered old husk.

I'd be perfectly fine with an all new cast of characters/storyline, but hey, that's me.

[jimmyjoejangles]

the outbreaks are the main character and the people stopping them can't always be the same

[REmaster]

the outbreaks are the main character and the people stopping them can't always be the same

Truth.

[Guest]

BIO1 was a work of art, BIO2 was a masterpiece. The series wouldn't be what it is today if Capcom hadn't veered away from the mansion esque setting and the special forces cast of its predecessor. Even in 1.5, a cop and a university student are an excellent choice of every day people in an every day setting having to live through and survive truly extraordinary things. That's the kind setting I really used to appreciate, the horror was real and totally relatable to the every day person (at least to my self). Leon being a rookie just further emphasises how important it was that the characters be unprepared but forced to be strong and use every last bit of strength to overcome the nightmare. In my opinion it was critical to throwing the player into the scene and fueling anxiety in the imagination, instead of just being bedazzled by HD graphics like we are today.

No Biohazard game has came close to being so perfect in my eyes, perhaps other than BIO4 but that's a different story. The point is, a lot of the reasons BIO2 was so good is because they experimented and because they took a different direction to the original. They took a risk and told a personal story instead of relying on the success of the BIO1 cast to fuel the sequel, and in doing so made one of the best games in the entire series. I have no doubt it would happen again.

[Renard]

I'd say Jill or Claire, but I picked Ada because she has yet to be the lead in a game. And I think that's a great idea.

I don't like how Chris and Leon have become the face of the series. We need more female protagonists and lead characters again.

[RaccoonSurvivor]

I'd say Jill or Claire, but I picked Ada because she has yet to be the lead in a game. And I think that's a great idea.

I don't like how Chris and Leon have become the face of the series. We need more female protagonists and lead characters again.

^ This..
This may sound like sexism (it isn't supposed to be) IMO playing as female characters ramps up the horror a fair bit. Like Project Zero, SH3, RE : Revelations etc

IDK, I guess I'm just sick of every game these days being lead by a man - its all the same crap and its starting to get boring.

Getting sick of Leon and Chris now - thanks to what Capcom have made them into - I liked their original incarnations much better (Chris in Remake was the last decent depiction of his character)

I personally love Claire and Rebecca and Ada - they're my favs, and Claire hasn't had a proper game since CV - YES she doesn't link to the storyline anymore 'apparently' but she could.
Or at least make a new female lead that we want to care about, similar to Jill I guess. I'd rather play as Jill than Chris