Resident Evil 4 remake is the latest entry in the long-running, highly-popular, genre-defining Resident Evil series. The original game is hailed as a masterpiece and was held up as a blueprint for other games to come in the same genre while its remake has been praised for improving upon the formula of the original.
Even though the game is highly moddable, the harrowing atmosphere and the atmospheric storytelling of the vanilla game give it a unique feel that is still unmatched by others in its genre. The story itself is mostly untouched, except for the story chapters that were tweaked.
Resident Evil 4 is arguably considered to be the best game in the series and was universally praised as a modern classic. But what happened before the events of the kidnapping of the president’s daughter? The occurrences pre-RE4 are detailed in the games that came before.
Not all of the games follow the same chronological order as their year of release, however, so the timeline might be a little jumbled if you don’t know about the series of events.
We have curated a list of everything that happened before Resident Evil 4 and why we are at the point we are in the game.
Timeline of the Resident Evil series
Before Resident Evil 4 remake and the original Resident Evil 4 came out, there were several games that, chronologically, came before the events surrounding Leon Kennedy and Ashley Graham. Most of these games are probably familiar to long-time fans of the series. However, some of these games, especially the spin-off games that tie into the canon plot, might not be as familiar.
Since the remakes of the games are now considered to be canon, for the sake of accuracy, we will be following the plots of the remakes instead of the original games. Starting off, the series begins with Resident Evil Zero.
Resident Evil Zero
Canonically and chronologically, this is where it all began. Resident Evil Zero serves as a prequel to the series as a whole, with the events of the game taking place before the original Resident Evil back in 1996. As such, the game features familiar faces that came later in the series. Even though the plot is standalone, it is still considered Resident Evil canon.
The plot centers around Rebecca Chambers, an 18-year-old prodigy and officer of S.T.A.R.S, and her unlikely partner Billy Coen, the ex-marine considered to be a criminal. The duo investigates the outbreak of an unknown virus in an Umbrella training facility. This virus would later come to be known as the T-virus and integral to the series.
What unfolds later is a terrifying experience for both protagonists as they have to face their worst fears and kill the Queen Leech in the end. The duo then part ways and Rebecca goes on to find the rest of her fellow operatives that we see in Resident Evil.
Resident Evil Zero was released in 2002 and it was also the first game in the series that allowed you to swap between the two protagonists. It was a revolutionary feature at the time and one that would be revisited down the line.
Resident Evil
Taking place in 1998 right after the events of Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil puts players in the shoes of two new S.T.A.R.S operatives, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Both of them are tasked to investigate a series of bizarre murders in Raccoon City. Things start off bleak and get bleaker as the story progresses and the duo is cut off from their teammates.
Eventually, it comes to light that Albert Wesker, the leader of S.T.A.R.S. himself, was a double agent working for Umbrella Corporation. His betrayal shakes the two protagonists as they have to fight their way back to safety from the Tyrant, a powerful humanoid supersoldier created by Umbrella.
Chris and Jill eventually defeat the Tyrant and save Rebecca Chambers, while Albert Wesker is presumed dead.
Resident Evil 3 (part one)
This is a special entry point in the series chronology since the start of the events of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis happen 24 hours prior to the events of Resident Evil 2. In this start, Jill Valentine attempts to escape from Raccoon City because the T-virus outbreak had reached staggering levels. This is also where Jill encounters the Nemesis, a powerful bio-organic weapon programmed to eliminate the remainder of the S.T.A.R.S. operatives.
As Jill navigates her way through the Raccoon City Police Department, she learns a nuke is being prepped to be dropped on Raccoon City to curb the spread of the T-virus.
In her frantic attempt to stop and eventually escape the destruction, Jill gets infected and her fate is left hanging till part two.
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 carries on from the events of the first part of Resident Evil 3. 24 hours after the announcement of the nuke and subsequent infection of Jill Valentine, two new protagonists take the helm. Claire Redfield, the sister of Chris Redfield, is looking to find her brother and save him after the events of the first Resident Evil. Leon Kennedy is a rookie officer looking to survive his first shift.
As they trudge through the infected city, the duo comes across Sherry Birkin, the daughter of William Birkin, the creator of an even more powerful variation of the T-virus, called the G-virus. This game also marks the first appearance of the mysterious Ada Wong, who tries to take the sample of the G-virus for her benefactor.
The story comes to a conclusion when Ada is left mortally wounded and the duo is chased by a mutated William Birkin. After defeating him, the duo splits apart. Claire goes on to find her brother, Chris, while Leon vows to take down Umbrella Corporation.
Resident Evil 3 (part two)
The second part of Resident Evil 3 continues after the events of Resident Evil 2. We switch back to Jill Valentine waking up from an unconscious state after she gets infected by the T-virus. Struggling to survive Raccoon City, the Nemesis, her own infection, and the nuke about to drop, Jill is at her wits’ end until she meets Carlos Oliviera, an ex-Umbrella operative.
Once Carlos learned about the evils of Umbrella Corporation, he has a falling out with them and instead opts to help Jill find the antidote for her infection. Throughout the game, Carlos and Jill survive together and finally take down the Nemesis. Jill is also cured of her infection but unfortunately, they could not save the city in time.
The final scene shows Jill and Carlos escaping via helicopter while the nuke is dropped on Raccoon City, completely obliterating all signs of life.
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica
We switch gears now to a game not tied to the main Resident Evil series.
Despite being a spin-off game, Resident Evil – Code: Veronica is considered canon in the main storyline. The plot takes place after the destruction of Raccoon City and revolves around the reunion of Claire Redfield and her brother Chris Redfield, the protagonists of the first two Resident Evil games.
Albert Wesker returns as the main antagonist again and his full capabilities are on display here. His story is further expanded in the other spin-off games The Darkside Chronicles and The Umbrella Chronicles.
The game also reintroduces us to Leon Kennedy and shows us how the Redfield siblings work together with him to take down Umbrella.
Despite being a spin-off game, it was praised for tying up many of the loose ends left behind by Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. This allowed the series to move on from Raccoon City and continue its story progress till we finally get to Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil 4
And finally, after all of the events up to this point have taken place, we get to the present time with Resident Evil 4 and its modern iteration, Resident Evil 4 remake.
Although a good chunk of the story in the middle has been altered via character changes or modifications made to key plot points, the beginning and the end of Resident Evil 4 remake remain the same as its original.
Following the events of the previous Resident Evil games, the series puts us in the shoes of Leon Kennedy once more. The game takes place in 2005, six years after the events of Raccoon City, and this time, Leon is on his way to Spain to rescue the daughter of the President of the United States, Ashley Graham, from a death-dealing cult.
The only catch here is a similar virus is spreading amongst the populace, one Leon is very familiar with.
The Las Plagas virus, which works like the old T-virus, is responsible for turning much of the rural population into zombies and will run rampant throughout the story. Finding a way out of here while rescuing Ashley will certainly be difficult, but Leon will find friends to help along the way.
Ada Wong makes her return to the series as well, offering assistance to Leon as he battles his way through hordes of zombies and some nightmarish creatures.
How the story ends is something we would rather not spoil as you play your way through the remake of Resident Evil 4.
