Chris Redfield: from S.T.A.R.S. Point Man to BSAA Captain

Chris Redfield is a former US Air Force pilot who joined the Raccoon City police's S.T.A.R.S. unit, survived the outbreak at the Spencer Mansion in 1998, and went on to become a founding member and captain in the BSAA. Capcom's official CODE: Veronica profile gives his age that year as 25. He's fought Umbrella, Albert Wesker and almost every bioweapon in the series. He leads Resident Evil, Resident Evil 5 and part of Resident Evil 6, and has major roles in CODE: Veronica, Revelations, Resident Evil 7, Village and Requiem. (Resident Evil (1996); BIOHAZARD CODE: Veronica Kanzenban official site; Resident Evil 5; Resident Evil 6; Resident Evil 7: Biohazard; Resident Evil Village; Resident Evil Requiem; Resident Evil CODE: Veronica; Resident Evil: Revelations)

The Spencer Mansion (1998)#

Chris joined S.T.A.R.S. after leaving the Air Force. In July 1998 his Alpha Team went into the Arklay Mountains to find the missing Bravo Team and were driven by infected dogs into a mansion that hid an Umbrella lab. Their captain, Wesker, was an Umbrella man who had set the team up to test the lab's bioweapons. Chris and Jill Valentine worked through the mansion, Chris with Bravo Team's medic Rebecca Chambers, and in the labs Wesker unleashed a Tyrant and was apparently killed by it. Chris, Jill, Barry Burton and Rebecca escaped as the mansion exploded. (Resident Evil (1996); Resident Evil (2002))

How the remake changes it. The 2002 remake tells the same story with more files, a new character in Lisa Trevor, and more background on Umbrella's experiments in the Arklay area. (Resident Evil (2002))

Europe and Rockfort Island (1998)#

The police dismissed what the survivors said, so Chris left for Europe to go after Umbrella's headquarters. His sister Claire Redfield went to Raccoon City looking for him and got caught in the outbreak there. In December she was captured raiding Umbrella's Paris facility and sent to a prison on Rockfort Island. Chris went after her, followed her trail to an Umbrella base in Antarctica, and found Wesker alive and changed. Chris fought him, rescued Claire and destroyed Alexia Ashford, the Umbrella heir who had infected herself with the T-Veronica virus. (Resident Evil CODE: Veronica)

Umbrella's end and the BSAA (2003 to 2006)#

In 2003 Chris and Jill raided Umbrella's facility in Russia, a blow the company didn't recover from. Both joined the BSAA as founding members. In 2005 contact with Chris was lost during a mission in Europe, and Jill went to find him. (Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles; Resident Evil 5; Resident Evil: Revelations)

In 2006 Chris and Jill went to arrest Umbrella founder Oswell E. Spencer at his estate and found Wesker had already killed him. Wesker beat them both, and Jill saved Chris by tackling Wesker out of a window and over a cliff. Chris was left believing she was dead. (Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares)

Africa and Wesker's death (2009)#

In 2009 Chris went to Kijuju in Africa, partly to chase a lead on Jill. With local BSAA agent Sheva Alomar, he fought through towns of people infected with Las Plagas and uncovered Wesker's plan to release the Uroboros virus from a bomber. He found Jill alive and under Wesker's control and freed her. Chris and Sheva followed Wesker into a volcano, and when he rose out of the lava they finished him with rocket launchers. (Resident Evil 5)

Edonia and China (2012 to 2013)#

In December 2012 Chris's squad was wiped out in the Eastern European country of Edonia after a woman he believed was Ada Wong turned his men into monsters. Chris lost his memory and spent months drinking in a bar until Piers Nivans, one of his soldiers, brought him back. In June 2013 they went to Lanshiang in China to stop the C-Virus attack, and Piers gave his life to get Chris out. (Resident Evil 6)

In 2014 he worked with Leon S. Kennedy against Glenn Arias in New York, and in 2015 he went to Alcatraz with Jill and Claire. (Resident Evil: Vendetta; Resident Evil: Death Island)

Louisiana (2017)#

Chris led the team that arrived at the Baker house in Louisiana at the end of the outbreak there, rescuing Ethan Winters. He was working with a rebuilt Umbrella, now a private anti-bioweapon outfit, and he then went into the Baker family's salt mine after Lucas Baker, who didn't come out alive. (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard; Resident Evil 7: Not a Hero)

The village (2021)#

Chris and his Hound Wolf Squad had been chasing Mother Miranda, a cult leader using the Mold. When he found she had taken Mia Winters' place, he raided the Winters home, shot "Mia" and took Ethan and his daughter Rose into custody. Miranda survived and took Rose to her village. Chris fought his way into the village, told Ethan the truth and planted a bomb on the Mold's giant root. Ethan killed Miranda but was dying, and asked Chris to look after Rose before he stayed behind as the area was destroyed. On the flight out, Chris found the BSAA had been using bioweapon soldiers and turned the helicopter towards its European headquarters. (Resident Evil Village)

Requiem (2026)#

Chris doesn't appear in person. In the ending where Elpis is released, a Hound Wolf Squad team sent by Chris rescues Leon and Grace Ashcroft from the collapsing lab under the ruins of Raccoon City and passes on a message from him to Leon. (Resident Evil Requiem)

Relationships#

• Claire Redfield. His younger sister. Her search for him dragged her into Raccoon City, and he crossed the world to save her. (Resident Evil CODE: Veronica)
• Jill Valentine. His closest partner from S.T.A.R.S. to the BSAA. (Resident Evil 5)
• Albert Wesker. His old captain and the enemy he spent eleven years fighting. (Resident Evil (1996); Resident Evil 5)
• Piers Nivans. The soldier who brought him back and died for him. (Resident Evil 6)
• Ethan Winters. The man he lied to, saved and failed. Chris promised Ethan he'd help raise Rose. (Resident Evil Village)

In the films#

Wentworth Miller played Chris in Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), part of Paul W. S. Anderson's series, as a soldier found locked in a Los Angeles prison. Robbie Amell played him in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021), where he's a S.T.A.R.S. officer at the mansion. In the CG films, which are part of the game story, he stars in Vendetta and Death Island. See Welcome to Raccoon City explained and the CG films guide. (Resident Evil: Afterlife; Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City; Resident Evil: Vendetta; Resident Evil: Death Island)