It may be hard to believe, but the Resident Evil franchise has 30 years of history at this point. Gamers who want a crash course or a refresher on the iconic lore and the complicated timeline before Resident Evil Requiem arrives can find one here.
Although gamers should be safe to jump into the series at any point, there is an interesting overarching plot that has played out over the last three decades that some fans really enjoy.
Note: This timeline and high-level recap includes major spoilers for every Resident Evil game.
This timeline also focuses specifically on the playable events of the franchise games. There are a handful of significant events that took place in the game’s world prior to the 1998 events of Resident Evil 1, dating all the way back to the 1919 Spanish Flu.
Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 1
The Resident Evil franchise kicks off with the Arklay Mountains Incident during 1998 of the game’s timeline. Resident Evil 0 follows Rebecca Chambers and fugitive Billy Coen and helps fill in some Umbrella backstory that takes place in the hours before the franchise’s first first numbered installment.
Resident Evil 1 also takes place in 1998, just hours after the events of RE0. In the first true installment in the franchise Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield explore the Spencer Mansion and uncover the effects of the T-Virus.
In addition to the zombie enemies and the Tyrant, Albert Wesker becomes a primary antagonist by betraying his S.T.A.R.S. team. Jill, Chris, and Wesker will remain crucial characters in the larger story going forward.
Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Shortly after the events of Resident Evil 1, the outbreak spreads further into Raccoon City throughout the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3.
In Resident Evil 2, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield attempt to survive the outbreak by hiding out in the Raccoon City Police Department. While exploring, they discover the G-Virus, which was created by William Birkin.
At the same time that Leon and Claire are attempting to survive in the police department, the events of Resident Evil 3 are unfolding elsewhere in Raccoon City. Resident Evil 3 technically starts about 24 hours before Resident Evil 2 and concludes 24 hours after Resident Evil 2 ends.
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RE3 focuses on Jill Valentine attempting to escape the city and survive, while she’s being hunted by the Nemesis. The Nemesis is on a mission to eliminate any remaining S.T.A.R.S. witnesses who know what happened in and around Raccoon City and the Arklay Mountains. Jill is barely recovered from the events of Resident Evil 1 when this game kicks off.
This Raccoon City outbreak comes to its conclusion in October 1998, when the U.S. government vaporizes the city to contain the infection at the end of Resident Evil 3.
Resident Evil: Code: Veronica
Code: Veronica takes place in late 1998, about three months after the destruction of Raccoon City. Players control Claire Redfield and Chris Redfield for the majority of this unnumbered installment in the franchise.
Despite not being a numbered installment, this is a fan-favorite and moves the plot forward in major ways.
The chemical enemy in this game is the T-Veronica Virus, which was created by Alexia Ashford. This game explores a lot more of the Umbrella conspiracy than Resident Evil 3 and feels like more of a direct follow up to Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 2.
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 sees the series make its first big time leap, from 1998 up to 2004. The game also moves out of Raccoon City and instead focuses on Leon S. Kennedy visiting a remote village in Spain to rescue the President’s daughter, Ashley Graham.
While on the rescue mission, Leon faces off against residents who have been infected by an ancient mind-controlling parasite. This installment also brings back Ada Wong to the growing cast of characters after her initial appearance in Leon’s side of Resident Evil 2. Ada is working for Wesker and trying to find a sample of the Plaga parasite to help him rebuild Umbrella.
Resident Evil Revelations
Revelations is set in 2005 and helps explain the formation of the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance). The game features Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield investigating a ghost ship, the Zenobia, and the T-Abyss virus.
This game helps explain where Jill and Chris were while Leon was in Spain. Additionally, the story helps setup the global threat that emerges in Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6.
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5 takes place in 2009, when Chris Redfield and his partner Sheva Alomar discover that a pharmaceutical company, Tricell, has been experimenting with Type-2 Plagas and the Progenitor Virus in Africa.
This game also reveals that Jill Valentine is still alive, though she’s being mind-controlled by Wesker. At the end of the game, the heroes manage to kill Wesker and they believe that they may have ended the Umbrella threat once and for all.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
A few years later, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 continues the story in 2011 of the series timeline. In this title, Claire and Barry Burton return to investigate a deserted prison island.
This title’s major contributions to the larger lore include the introduction of Wesker’s sister, Alex Wesker, and the T-Phobos virus. There is also a connection to later Winters saga games, and potentially to Resident Evil: Requiem, with the first mention of transferring consciousness in the series.
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 6 takes place between 2012 and 2013. This is one of the most ambitious and complicated installments in the franchise and it has players visiting multiple locations and playing as various different duos of heroes.
The game has three main plot lines to follow in the fallout of Derek C. Simmons’ massive bioterror attack that unleashed the C-Virus.
- Leon and Helena – Leon is on the run after being framed for an assassination of the U.S. president.
- Chris Redfield and Piers Nivans – Chris leads a BSAA strike in China. This plot lays some of the groundwork that the series will return to in Village.
- Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin – Jake is the son of Wesker and is immune to the C-Virus. Sherry and Jake attempt to discover a vaccine hidden in his bloodline.
Ada Wong is also back in the installment. Ada, and an evil clone of Ada, appear throughout all three stories.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil 7 takes another big jump and shifts the focus of the franchise in a different direction. With the leap forward to 2017, this game focuses on Ethan Winters searching for his missing wife.
The main threat in this game is the Mold, which is the E-Series bioweapon. The game’s conclusion features the return of Chris Redfield, who is now working with a new private military company called Blue Umbrella.
Resident Evil Village (RE8)
Village continues the story of the Winters family, but jumps forward to 2021. Ethan’s life has returned to normal a few years after the events of Biohazard, but Chris Redfield shows up to stir up some chaos.
The Mold returns as the primary threat, but the scale is much larger as the Megamycete is revealed to be the ancient source behind the fungal infection.
Resident Evil Village: Shadows of the Rose
Village also includes a DLC that takes places 16 years later, in 2037. This game features Ethan’s daughter, Rosemary Winters struggling to navigate the Realm of Consciousness.
For now, this jump ahead is considered the closing of the Winters family story.
Resident Evil: Requiem (RE9)
After concluding the Winters saga, the series returns to the area surrounding Raccoon City. This game takes place roughly 28 years after the original outbreak and sees Leon S. Kennedy and Grace Ashcroft returning to this site to investigate rumors surrounding a return of the original T-virus.
Grace is the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, the investigative reporter for the Raccoon Press who was one of the eight survivors of the 1998 outbreak in Resident Evil Outbreak.
As the game’s action unfolds, it’s expected that the actual threat of the Elanthropus virus (the hybrid strain) will be revealed to the protagonists.
There’s no denying that Resident Evil has a complicated timeline and a messy cast of characters that can make it difficult to keep the lore straight. Luckily, each game’s events mostly play out in a standalone fashion and don’t really require players to have a full grasp of the events that have already taken place.
Gamers are safe to jump into the series at just about any point, whether it’s with Resident Evil 1 HD or when Resident Evil: Requiem releases on February 27, 2026.
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