The Complete RESIDENT EVIL Timeline Explained!

The Resident Evil franchise has a sprawling timeline that interweaves its complex narrative across 8 mainline games, a handful of spin-offs, and countless DLC expansions. But how does it all tie together?
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Mother Miranda
02:34 - Umbrella’s Origins
06:11 - The Ashfords
07:42 - James Marcus
08:33 - S.T.A.R.S.
11:02 - Resident Evil 0
13:31 - Resident Evil
15:10 - Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
16:37 - Resident Evil 2
19:45 - Resident Evil 3 Again
20:39 - Resident Evil Code Veronica
22:54 - Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles
23:57 - Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles
25:17 - Resident Evil 4
27:15 - Resident Evil Revelations
28:25 - Resident Evil Degeneration
28:59 - Resident Evil Infinite Darkness
29:54 - Resident Evil 5 Lost In Nightmares
30:35 - Resident Evil 5
32:16 - Resident Evil Revelations 2
34:02 - Resident Evil Damnation
34:39 - Resident Evil 6
37:13 - Resident Evil Vendetta
38:08 - Resident Evil 7
40:07 - Resident Evil Village
43:28 - Shadows Of Rose
From the convoluted creation of the Umbrella Corporation through to the gothic horror of Resident Evil Village via Chris Redfield’s boulder-punching antics in Resident Evil 5, this video breaks down the wild timeline of the Resident Evil franchise.
With the Resident Evil Village DLC, Shadows of Rose bringing the Winters family story to a close, what better time to dive back into Capcom’s horror saga of zombies, bioterrorism, and floppy-haired heroes.
#TimelineExplained #ResidentEvil #GameSpot
Timeline Playlist - • The Complete THE LAST ...

[@adammason555]

Hi guys - Adam here - the guy that hosted this behemoth of a video! This video is an updated version of a previous timeline we made back in 2020 with loads more added in to accommodate new games like Resident Evil Village and its DLC, Shadows of Rose. It was made before Resident Evil 4 Remake came out though, so if that game retcons or refreshes any story elements, I guess I'll just have to make a third update at some point in the future. Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy it!

[@detectivegumshoe695]

Hey Adam mate your twitter username doesn't seem to work anymore?

[@phunkysouls6641]

and maybe in the updated version you have finally(!) learned how to pronounce dimitrescU. no matter how clueless capcom is about that

[@TheSundayShooter]

​@@phunkysouls6641 Not uncommonly, the English and Japanese selectively omit vowels like U Vocabulary => vo-cablary Satsuki => sa-tski So Dimitresc-u- is to be expected ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@letsnot27]

@@phunkysouls6641 everyone pronounces things differently 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@anubhavsharma5007]

Hey adam you da mvp

[@Caucasian60]

Leon is the one Resident Evil character who has to have a very specific type of hair style for us to recognize him. Hes had it since he was 21, he has it now that he’s 51. He’s one of those guys.

[@Hevvvyyy]

Avg leon fan vs Chris enjoyer

[@noahsaldivar3271]

Leon was born in 1977. He would be like 45 or 46.

[@reyansk709]

​@@noahsaldivar3271 ya exactly and ada is 3 yr old than leon

[@reyansk709]

Chris is 51 in the village i guess

[@SWAGSKATER2013]

The remake got his hair looking more fresh than we could’ve ever imagined 😂

[@marcostorres2329]

I feel like they accidentally made Leon the face of RE. Then they were like "Hey everyone, Chris is still here."

[@champion6844]

Leon is the Face of Resident Evil He has more CGI movies than any characters

[@goodboysady]

Leon is the most popular one Heck I started getting into this game because of Leon I was sad when in resident 5 we had Chris lol

[@lastnamefirst650]

Leon makes me question my sexuality regularly

[@winglessangel]

@@lastnamefirst650 oh my i bet the re4 remake was your breaking point LOOOL

[@Mushess]

@@goodboysadyI personally like that Leon’s appearances show up every 2 games 2,4,6 (unfortunately not in 8)

[@mario_maniac9368]

I was always told the S in his name was for Leon Sexgod Kennedy

[@hellish958]

They were always right

[@DeadKraken]

It's Leon Submissive and breadable Kennedy, he told me himself

[@AzukaLockheart]

Its true, Capcom confirmed this 🙌

[@RebeccaChambersIRL]

@@DeadKrakenTrue!

[@beingadeeb2345]

John F for respect Kennedy

[@griffinkeiser2014]

I hope Leon is back in RE9. He’s a mad lad

[@Gatorade69]

He's probably my favorite.

[@BorBird]

Leon meeting rose

[@zainsam5616]

hes gonna be too old by now unfortunately

[@misterw591]

@@zainsam5616 but Chris Redfield is 48 in RE8. Making Leon slightly younger than Chris. So what’s your point?

[@shepta]

@@zainsam5616 he's not gonna be grandpa old

[@Halloffamer-km9qw]

The fact that leons last in game appearance (within the timeline) is RE6 from 2012 is mind boggling

[@dubukisses7899]

leon come back.. the kids miss you ..

[@sosadagod6963]

He dead

[@spidermankey1398]

Me failing history classes can remember the whole re storyline in one go

[@Pirate_d-Bot]

Relateable

[@MonsterSlam12]

Frt I should be working on homework rn lol

[@yasiramir4481]

Watch @oversimplified

[@SolidSnake56]

​@@MonsterSlam12 School Is Temporary But Resident Evil Is Eternal

[@DESTROYERwis]

​@@SolidSnake56RE is love RE is life

[@roxas5481]

Imagine HBO making a RE series following the entire chronological order

[@TheMikepatota]

Hollywood has had enough chances to get RE right, I think I’m ok with the story being kept to video game, book, and these lore videos 😂

[@Vskhjw]

@@TheMikepatota I agree haha

[@roxas5481]

@@TheMikepatota now that you mention it, I totally agree with you lol

[@khotunkhan3950]

If it is HBO I trust it

[@Pabloplays98]

Hmmmm like he said...I'd just wanna play it and explore the city

[@themathguy2803]

Haven’t played these games, but, as a Romanian immigrant, knowing that Mother Miranda is also Eastern European, it’s interesting that the “Cadou” infection is actually the Romanian word for, “gift.” Thought this would be a fun fact

[@lalaskii7814]

Wow that's cool

[@CaptainDaiquiri]

I haven't watched the whole video, but that makes me think of the "gift" I'm Re7, so now I wonder if that's the same thing

[@marjolein9364]

that makes sm sense, miranda always said it was a gift

[@mushroomsrcool1449]

I kinda feel sorry for Mother Miranda. All she wanted was to have her beloved daughter back.

[@ariz0na736]

@@mushroomsrcool1449 yea but she experimented on so many innocent people and killed them/turned them into monsters

[@noirczar5280]

I love these RE timeline videos. The lore is so dense and vast, it’s nice to see it broken down every now and then.

[@kaisp2837]

So wait are the resident evil movies still part of this timeline or is it totally different from the video game version

[@ralphmasucci9005]

​@@kaisp2837 completely separate universe

[@Luis0609G]

@@ralphmasucci9005 could you explain that bit more?

[@BigOlNuts]

​@@Luis0609G so the cgi movies spoken of in this video are Canon but the live action movies are in there own universe

[@itsphoenix2721]

thank u for making this because I jumped in the timeline at RE3 and then I watched RE Village and I was so confused on how we went from fighting zombies to exploring a gothic castle with big tall hat lady

[@davidwilson2916]

35:18 - Minor correction: Sherry works for the DSO (the same agency as Leon), not the BSAA (the agency Chris is a part of). Just throwing it out there for anyone who cares.

[@mimo__.-]

Ty! I was wondering just that actually and was hoping someone would confirm it

[@NotAushire]

Another correction: The team sent by Umbrella to retrieve the G Virus from Birkin was instructed to capture him alive. In the RE2 remake, Hunk scolds Martinez for killing Birkin.

[@larkan511]

If anyone actually thinks Albert Wesker is truly dead, they haven't been paying attention. You really think he would bet it all on a volcano fight? Even IF that was his original body, I wouldn't doubt he had clones of himself growing somewhere with an "if you're watching this, I died and here's what you need to do" video. Wesker will be back.

[@TixfoTwitch]

For now he is just chilling in dead by daylight

[@goodboysady]

Wesker is too cool to die They should make a last game With wesker Leon chriss and their girlfriends to put an end to this bio terrorism madness once and for all

[@chris0513]

I'm fairly certain Wesker has like, 50 horcruxes with his DNA scattered all over the planet, and maybe like, 2 or 3 on the moon just in case. A man who believed that strongly in evolution would obviously have planned for contingencies on his own existence.

[@III-Volbeat-III]

@@goodboysady dude sometimes I wish I worked for capcom, cuz I have so many ideas that would be amazing

[@goodboysady]

@@III-Volbeat-III looking at ur profile yeah that certainly might be crazy ideas 👍

[@LolaliciousSmiley]

When I was younger, I had a book called Resident Evil: Anthology. This is like an updated, video version of the plot explanations. I love it!

[@ericshiel]

Dude Leon Kennedy has to be one of the most memorable characters in the history of all things gaming.

[@GamerFaceGamerGame]

Woah, wish you gave us a jumpscare warning for 9:03

[@Sood_.]

Even Netflix loves Leon.

[@BreadApologist]

One of DBZ Abridged Freeza's lines summarizes what its like to fight bosses in RE games perfectly... "Stop that! Stop...not...dying."

[@johnnynunez1843]

Will always appreciate a fellow man of culture and DBZA fan.

[@phoenixslayer2449]

Id love to see ashely make a cameo appereance in the next game. Working for blue umbrella or some other goverment agency like she told leon she would

[@HenriqueHCA14]

In a way, both the originals and remakes are canon. There's always the plot-hole of who explored the mansion, Jill or Chris, but it was both in a way. Since they reported back after these events, there's multiple versions of the same story. Maybe it was the one in the Remake where they fought Crimson Zombies and Lisa Trevor, or maybe it was like Umbrella Chronicles that Jill and Chris were together the entire time. Same on RE2, we know the canon is Claire A/Leon B, but in Umbrella Chronicles, Leon and Claire crossed the same places together. So it's multiple ways to tell the events, maybe they remember each time differently due to severe PTSD. And yes, i'm making this argument because i refuse to accept that RE3 Remake events are canon over the original game.

[@lancealot1235]

I always assumed that the remakes where different timelines or something

[@fangchick93]

Chris, the "expert marksman" who forgets his gun.

[@brennanscarcello1443]

Thanks for updating these timelines with each new release. It is cool to see how each game changes the history and lore of the franchise.

[@travisspazz1624]

Want a Code Veronica remake and for Jill to lead another mainline game!

[@sirbear4962]

i would loooove to see some antarctic resident evil in high resolution

[@spookieboogi6161]

Yeah I’d like to see a code Veronica remake with Claire as lead and Leon as her supporting character where over the story that crush she has on Leon is explored and tbf In the books Jill and Rebecca have their own books I’d like to see the next game being Jill helping Chris take down the Europe base with Jill as main character

[@Luis0609G]

@@spookieboogi6161 leon was in code veronica?

[@mattmichel451]

I've never played it. I only really ever played 4 when I was younger but have started getting more into RE after having just beat RE2 remake which was amazing. But anyways I would love to play code Veronica on ps5!

[@spookieboogi6161]

@@mattmichel451 it would be interesting redo the story a bit I’d be all for it I like Claire she’s one of my favs

[@lara_roo]

Thank you for all the lore and info in this video, it was really helpful especially since I only played a couple of the RE games. Also, I'm sorry I was looking at your Zelda poster and cannot unsee the disconnected frame. Love the video, good job!

[@greenspade]

I had no idea the story was this good! Thank you for all the hard work. I have a new appreciation for the game!

[@Clow00]

09:03 best moment of the video

[@gamespot]

Purrfect!

[@ilarytaigatategami1104]

I believed that Ethan got infected not from the punch but much earlier (when he entered the house or crossed the putrid water with the corpse...it's much more plausible)

[@lilrandy8364]

Did you play village?

[@mememan4877]

Ethan didn't get infected he died the thing you play as in re7 and 8 is just mold that thinks its Ethan

[@WhoShorts_]

doesn't matter if its plausible. The game literally tells you he died during the punch/kick to the face scene.

[@ilarytaigatategami1104]

@@lilrandy8364 yes

[@P1pis1990]

God, I hope jill returns as a protagonist, She is one of the OGs and her overall character makes her the star for me

[@LouisHolliman]

I feel like after how well RE4 remake was handled people would love to see Leon again

[@Lana-mk9cd]

Fr,I just wanna see Jill again and being safe

[@CadesComics]

Great video. This really helped me to understand the Resident Evil 4 remake

[@talostheking8529]

Best explanation so far and I still need to watch it twice

[@ThiriousStringMagic]

Thank you, Adam! I have been intrigued by the Resident Evil story my whole life but my vision is poor and I can't handle jumpscares so I can't really play shooter games. I've watched over the shoulders of some but getting to hear all the juicy details is nice! Thank you so much

[@MonsterSlam12]

Had no knowledge of residence evil plotline prior to watching a random video about re2 before trying to figure out what the series was about and finally landing here. Great job tying together this hellish marvel universe in a rather entertaining and surprisingly comprehensive fashion!

[@BierBart12]

I had no idea what the story was either, despite watching random videos of the games over the years Until now

[@mikeregister4317]

Here for the lore...stayed for the cat.

[@kitten_owo]

I am new to resident evil franchise and boy I’ve never been so interested in a game before. This game is wonderful!

[@diluczragnvindrz2475]

At this point in the entire RE franchise, the fan fave Rocket Launcher should make a debut as the next RE protagonist as a zombie boss-slaying killing machine.

[@Spider10v]

Bruh 2 days ago I was literally looking for a full resident evil timeline explain video and I was watching this channel's explanation And now they made a new one

[@r0esheen]

Amazing vid! Came up on my recommended and I’m glad I watched

[@andrewpelicash7896]

I won’t forget how hard it was to button press in the wesker fight in RE5 my friend actually got mad at me because he thought I wasn’t trying to do it but I’m pressing the button so fast my hand cramps, we died probably like 5 times

[@nikoalic.o.dgamer9862]

Wish we see leon after Residents Evil 8 village I wonder what he looks like now after the time skip, if he had a son sometime in the future

[@shyper_]

Nah It should have been Ada in RE8 she was meant to be there

[@chibilink73]

Y’all both wacky, I wanna know what’s been up with Jill

[@imanidiot1725]

Nah yall three wackier, I want Ethan to be a reoccuring protagonist

[@Repsyzz]

@@chibilink73 so did jill died or nah

[@SWEG_WAS_TAKEN]

Great Video containg the very info i could not get myself as i cant play the older games. So now im fully up to date with all the story I needed thanks for that :D

[@TheNo1pencil]

I wish you would have had the Lore from Resident Evil: Survivor in here! It explains where the Mr. X's come from and how they are made and its got some of the most brutal and cruel humanitarian atrocities of the whole series. And yes, its cannon. The game itself takes place after RE2, although not sure if it would be before or after Code Veronica, but the lore it reveals happens earlier before the first game.

[@matthewconnors9256]

Agreed. Also the Zoe and Baker story from VII was also left out sadly

[@kyleh698]

Loved this video! finally a connection between all the games!

[@sammoore2779]

Rebecca is such an underrated character. I love her so much

[@ritterboyz5437]

I find it funny Chris has became know as the Boulder puncher 😂

[@SnakeEater776]

With the amount of squads chris has lost, I'm expecting to say goodbye to wolf-hound in 9

[@Alazne472]

Thank you so much for this video, I am a huge fan of RE, and this brought me so much joy 😊. Your cat is so cute ❤

[@QaiserBuford-rm8fu]

Thank you for finally giving a good game explanation

[@isaiahwelch8066]

The only complaint I have about this timeline is that there were 3 games missing from the timeline: 1) RE: Outbreak File #1 2) RE: Outbreak File #2 3) RE: Survivor Additionally, there is also a game where you play as members of UBCS, as the unit Carlos Oliveira was a part of was not the the only UBCS unit Umbrella had sent during the Racoon Incident.

[@AUTIS-LONE-WOLF_SCHIZO]

Were those canon?

[@isaiahwelch8066]

@@AUTIS-LONE-WOLF_SCHIZO : Yes, to my knowledge. Outbreak had a boss fight at the Raccoon Zoo, as well as one of Raccoon City's hospitals. RE: Survivor had to do with a different outbreak of T-Virus before BSAA was ever formed.

[@dereklathan]

Each gene's code uses the four nucleotide bases of DNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T) - in various ways to spell out three-letter “codons” that specify which amino acid is needed at each position within a protein.

[@prezlamen7906]

I like turtles

[@boredom2]

This was awesome! Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

[@theblackswordsman420]

wesker is the definition of badass if leon S. kennedy didn't exist in re franchise

[@williamfischer9470]

Thanks man this is awesome! I had to look and you did MGS too and I can't wait to watch it 😎

[@YDG666]

Despite having little info you missed HUNK which we can pretty say his skill level of survivor is the same as some of the STARS members and because of him and his team killing Willian and stealing the G-Virus, because of it the T-Virus spread through the RC and it started the countdown of the end of the city and the beggining of RE3.

[@DONGHOK7777]

yep this is the best chronological timeline I've seen so far

[@aliessa8515]

Think I’d have to watch this a hundred times to understand and remember this madness 😂

[@clowicous]

I can’t get myself to play any scary games let alone any games lol but I LOVE game stories, I used to watch my brother play all the newest games and he used to call me to come downstairs when he was about to play one like we were watching a movie together, loved watching him play the silent hill games. He moved to Nevada and played resident evil a lot without me 😭 and I was thinking about him and realized I don’t know any of the story to the game and I found myself here thanks so much for the info. I wish I could talk to him about it all, I miss him a lot. Rip 💗

[@stormtrooper2466]

I swear if the guy who approaches the car at the end of Village is Albert Wesker… I’ll explode.

[@jaetexxas124]

I had all of the resident evils growing up starting with the first one on my ps1 😊

[@crassbandicoot5082]

Great video, you have missed off Survivor though. It's actually canon as its mentioned in the opening narration of Resident Evil 0 and the main protaganist says that he was sent by Leon Kennedy to check the island out.

[@MyUndeadArmy12]

Resident Evil Outbreak too. RE7 confirmed that at least one of the characters survived

[@TheNo1pencil]

"I was asked by my good friend Leon S. Kennedy!" You know, how everyone uses their good friends' full name with initial when they are thinking about them. I love the Protag of Survivor. And I love how brutal its story is if you actually pay attention to it.

[@arklayembers]

I hate how some people always say there are only 8 mainline games. There are only 8 numbered games, but as for "mainline" there are 12

[@changunn]

Thx for making this vid☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼

[@noahsan92]

Leon BETTER be in the new RE game. best protagonist ever

[@calebnickerson3573]

Him and Claire are my favs

[@N.o.t.h.i.n.g.n.e.s.s.]

Really good and interesting 👍

[@saintswar6984]

I'm only here for Leon. Don't mind me

[@HonestHoel]

Great video

[@xdblacksythe4673]

I want to see Jill and Leon finally adventuring together in RE9

[@just_like_heaven_87]

I wish they would remake Code Veronica it’s so important to the story

[@mcvtch]

No the S in Leon S. Kennedy stands for Sigma

[@CheskaReyes91.]

The stars and raccoon city would always be the best memories of resident evil

[@KageNoTenshi]

albert isn't the only one who survived, alex also survived, spencer kept her closer than he did with albert

[@bg874]

I loved this synopsis. I was trying to sort through Wikis and kept falling in rabbit holes. I just replayed VII and I'm a nerd for storyline even if it's crazy. Lol you are the 'master of unlocking' this mess. Just don't get yourself smashed into a Jilly Sandwich.

[@Teagannova]

Wait, what about End of Zoe? You skipped the alligator punching.

[@B_Clemethy]

Code Veronica has the best story imo

[@SavageLibraOG]

facts

[@chibilink73]

You misspelled Resident Evil 3 Nemesis

[@bmr7776]

@@chibilink73 while the original resi 3 is a fantastic addition, I absolutely adore code Veronica, except for Steve, the game is amazing

[@TheNo1pencil]

@@bmr7776 I know its a contraversal opinion but I love Steve to bits.

[@bmr7776]

@@TheNo1pencil oh I don’t hate Steve by any means, he’s just never been a character I’ve ever felt attached to

[@tahnoyu-ah]

I got a jumpscare when your cat appeared cause I was so into the video haha

[@onryu]

There is another RE movie in the timeline- Death Island, coming this summer taking place in 2015 after RE6 & Vendetta and before 7

[@hamidiyacob9214]

that cat stole the show 🤣

[@marcelkosel2078]

Very god video thx for explaining ❤

[@brian2970]

this video is very very well done'

[@RiosSumari]

Lot of inaccuracies in this video guys, I won't nitpick and list them. But for the most part you did a good abridged version of the history.

[@ajmanchester3463]

I was really hoping for the explanation of Wesker’s son in this video but oh well. Maybe in the next one.

[@andrewdelacalzada6802]

Wow great recap on RE

[@robertgutierrez49]

Ashley is the new age master of unlocking 😮

[@prezlamen7906]

I just hope we get all of those RE games remade. I like this remake style they did.

[@pedroribeiro7230]

The cat 🐈😺 ❤️😍

[@Torque_Mk1]

Not a single mention of the madlad, the man, the myth, the legend, the HUNK?

[@Kez90]

That cat jumping on the table 😂

[@Koro12399]

I had to do my research on what was going on because I skipped almost most of the games and didn't know which game was the right game for the right timeline It was all confusing because you got RE 8 For the start but not the OG RE

[@Alok190hnb]

Thankyou i now understand the storyline

[@luciuscifer6589]

Me, haven't even played the game when the video drops: interesting.

[@lisannasimsim4213]

Big resident evil fan ❤❤❤ ps i love you're cat so cute 😍

[@elarianasky]

i watched this in attempt to make sense of the timeline but failed. this stuff's wacky but i love every bit of it

[@cornellkirk8946]

Awesome kitty by the way 😍👌

[@Sumbdy_u_know1999]

The feline has great comedic timing lol

[@rhomayyann4691]

Why is no one talking about the kitty?!

[@bignorm8586]

Great video lol 😂😂😂😮😮😮love the whole timeline of resident evil my only question is where is resident evil survivor and resident evil outbreaks files where do they go in this timeline

[@cuervo7029]

gotta watch this later

[@JoshFryer]

Orange cats are the best cats. 🤷‍♂

[@erez161]

This could be such a great horror tv show, too bad Hollywood keeps failing

[@misseviefrye]

9:05 best part of the video. ❤️

[@Flamer90]

This was amazing I really enjoyed it but I was kinda bummed out that you didn't include "Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City"