While Resident Evil Requiem Fans Focus on Hero Rumors, a Bigger Question Lurks in the Background

Ever since Resident Evil Requiem was officially unveiled at the 2025 Summer Games Fest, the upcoming ninth mainline entry in the Resident Evil series 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 that Resident Evil 2 protagonist Leon Kennedy may return to his old RPD stomping grounds in Resident Evil Requiem. However, as official news of Requiem continues to slowly be released, there’s one aspect of Requiem’s story that’s seldom been discussed: who will be the main villain?

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A Brief Overview of Resident Evil Villains

Aside from the common zombie, mutated animal, and roaming monster, most proper Resident Evil villains can be categorized into three categories: psychotic and megalomaniacal humans, rogue military or authoritative officers, and monstrous humanoid mutants. Oftentimes in Resident Evil titles, most true antagonists won’t even be encountered until the midpoint or even near the very end of the game. For example, while Albert Wesker is present at the beginning of Resident 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 of Resident Evil 1, with the Tyrant T-002 being Resident 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 a Resident Evil rogue authority figure would be Resident 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 be Resident Evil 4’s Bitores Mendez, Osmund Saddler, or Resident 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 about Resident Evil Requiem’s story or characters, but from what little is known, fans can hypothesize who or what Requiem’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 where Grace Ashcroft’s mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, was killed eight years ago. Based on this initial investigation, one of Requiem’s antagonists could simply be a crazed serial killer similar to Irons or even Resident 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 as Requiem’s main antagonist or as a red herring for a more vile villain.

Later on in Resident 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 private gameplay demo of Resident Evil Requiem. Based on his cadence, this man could potentially play a similar role to Saddler in Requiem in that he could appear intermittently throughout Requiem, 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 in Resident 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 that Requiem will return players to Raccoon City and that 2026 will be Resident Evil’s 30th anniversary, there is a slight chance old villains or villainous organizations may return in Requiem. 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 of Requiem’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.