Resident Evil 9 Finally Set To Bring Back Jill Valentine
Where there's a Jill, there's a way. With Capcom giving us a taste of the old and a dash of the new, Resident Evil Village brought together two eras of the long-running zombie shooter continued the Winters trilogy and gave fan-favourite Chris Redfield plenty to do.
While we already know developers cut plans for Ada Wong to appear as a haunting plague doctor, another of the game's few criticisms is that more familiar faces didn't pop up.
After sitting out the past few games, there are now wild rumours that Jill Valentine will get her time to shine in Resident Evil 9.
Is Jill Valentine coming to Resident Evil 9?
Prominent Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem claims Jill Valentine will have a major role in the upcoming Resident Evil 9. The problem is, the leaker isn't 100% sure because they don't know whether the notes in question refer to the mythical Resident Evil Outrage.
For those who've kept up with the sprawling tangents of the franchise, Outrage started out life as Resident Evil Revelations 3. When we first covered news of Outrage, it was suggested returning Resi favourite Rebecca Chambers would take the lead. This could add further fuel to the fire that Jill is being prepped for a main series game instead.
If Jill is in RE9, it would presumably put her in her 50s - which is much older than we're used to playing her as. Then again, if we got to control an older Chris Redfield for a brief snippet of Village, why should a little age get in the way of Jill kicking zombie ass all over again? Remembering the next chapter will apparently round off the latest trilogy, there would be a sense of justice if the long-abandoned Jill got her time to shine again.
Where did Resident Evil last leave Jill Valentine?
As the OG heroine, Jill first pulled her pistol in 1996's Resident Evil as part of the S.T.A.R.S. team alpha. After surviving the Spencer Mansion, she went on to lead the pack in 1999's Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. From there on out, Jill gets lost in the typically convoluted timeline of Resi events, explored a Mediterranean ghost ship, tackled Albert Wesker out of a window, was declared dead, and was later revealed as a mind-controlled puppet of Wesker in Resident Evil 5.
Jill's story hasn't been picked up since, meaning there are plenty of gaps to fill. Just like a rugged Chris Redfield returned for Village, we guess a battle-scarred Jill is still fighting the various Umbrella spinoffs and their genetic experimentations. Although Wesker is seemingly dead in the official canon, Jill's MIA status means she'd be primed for a Resident Evil 9 reprieve. To be honest, we're also hoping Wesker somehow comes back.
This being Resident Evil, everything should be taken with a massive pinch of salt. Despite a massive data leak last year that teased both Outrage and an official Resident Evil 4 remaster, none of these have come to fruition yet. With things dying down on Village until the first DLC is revealed, we'll have to keep an eye out for even a hint that Ms. Valentine is loading up her pistols for another round.