A chilling return to Raccoon City, a new protagonist with ties to the Outbreak era, and the mysterious reappearance of a chained menace — Resident Evil Requiem is packed with hidden clues.
Capcom has finally pulled back the curtain on Resident Evil 9, and the Resident Evil Requiem reveal trailer is full of horror-filled hints, callbacks, and clues. Grace Ashcroft is the new main character in the new game. It begins a dark new storyline that is connected to the previous Outbreak games and may also reintroduce some beloved characters from the past.
At the beginning of the trailer, Grace, who works for the FBI, is writing an investigation report about a strange new disease. Nathan Dempsy, her boss, soon calls her and tells her that another body linked to this same pathogen has been found. The case goes straight to the Wrenwood Hotel, where Grace’s mother was killed.
That’s not a small thing: Grace’s mother turns out to be Alyssa Ashcroft, the reporter from the Resident Evil Outbreak games who was also mentioned in passing in Resident Evil 7. Nathan says that Alyssa died eight years ago, which means that she died after what happened in RE7. In this way, Grace is the first legacy protagonist in the series, connecting the Outbreak spin-offs to the present day.
As Grace thinks about the memories of her mother’s death, she sees a hooded figure whose face some fans think looks like Leon S. Kennedy. There is no proof yet, but a rumor has spread that suggests Leon will play a significant part in Resident Evil Requiem. This makes the theory stronger.
The trailer gets darker when Grace is taken hostage and held down by what looks like the main bad guy, a shadowy figure who calls her “the chosen one.” What does this mean? Because of her family history and maybe something deeper, Grace is an important part of the bad guy’s strange experiments. In the same section, we see a city full of posters for missing people, which makes us think that these scary experiments are linked to mass abductions.
One of the most interesting parts is when we go back to the ruins of Raccoon City and hear voiceovers that fans think are from Leon, Ada Wong, and maybe even Chris Redfield or Carlos Oliveira. There is no proof that any of these cameos will happen, but many people think they will. If this is true, it could be the first time in a setting after Raccoon that all of these main characters meet each other.
The trailer also shows the Raccoon City Police Department for a short time. An officer who is badly hurt tells someone to “stay away from them” before a horrible, crawling enemy shows up. The officer may have given up his life to save others, which aligns with the series’ long-running theme of tragic heroism.
In a flash, we also see the hooded figure holding down another man, which suggests that he may be a recurring enemy or a crazed vigilante doing the bad guy’s bidding. A few frames later, an infected woman and an unidentified woman are seen walking through an old, run-down building, which adds to the mystery.
The most interesting part, though, is at the end. We hear the ominous sound of chains dragging, and then we see a close-up of a huge infected person. Right away, fans made connections to Lisa Trevor, the tragic experiment from Resident Evil 1.
Lisa, who is known for her chains and being almost impossible to hurt, was last seen when the Spencer Mansion was being destroyed. Given her ability to heal herself, she should be able to make it through. Interestingly, one of the enemies we saw earlier has similar chains on its wrists, which may be a subtle hint that Lisa will return as a stalking enemy in Resident Evil Requiem.
Capcom’s trailer for Resident Evil Requiem shows both new characters and old ones coming back. Dark secrets, twisted science, and legacy trauma are all important parts of the story. Grace Ashcroft seems like a great choice for the new lead role. She has ties to the original Resident Evil games and has a personal stake in what’s coming.
Capcom hasn’t said when the game will come out yet, but fans can look forward to more details and a reveal in the coming months. Before then, Resident Evil fans might want to learn more about the series’ history, especially the time of the Outbreak. This is because Resident Evil Requiem appears to connect the past and present in a way that has never been done before.
