Zombies, Phallic Monsters, and Rocket Launchers: An Examination of Gender Representations and Simulations in the Resident Evil Series

Capcoms Resident Evil series (1996-present) is the second longest running horror video game series, following Konamis Castlevania (1986-present). The series has, from its beginning, offered a choice of gendered protagonists with associated unique narrative and gameplay experiences, to say nothing of the gendered nature of the series antagonists. In this dissertation, I examine how gender dynamics, norms, expectations, and subversions are depicted and represented across the games in the Resident Evil series. I use an approach which embraces presentation (the ways characters are depicted in audio/visual terms), narrative (what roles characters play in the stories), and gameplay aspects (what the player is tasked with in the games, and how they are expected to succeed) of the main games in the Resident Evil series.

Using key texts on the ontology of video games, gender/sexuality in the horror genre, and intersectionality/international feminism, I examine the whole of the Resident Evil series, as well as the guides and making-of materials, spin-offs, offshoots, and contemporary reviews. How the choice of male versus female protagonist choice is delineated, paired with the ways in which characters, male, female, and otherwise, are portrayed in relation to one another is the larger focus of this dissertation. I have engaged in a close textual analysis of Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, and Resident Evil VII: BioHazard. I also engage in light content analysis comparing the games discussed, examining changes to gameplay and presentation approach over time. The games are further contextualized by comparison to contemporaries in the survival horror genre which have either impacted or been impacted by Resident Evil. Moreover, as my examination encompasses over twenty years worth of games, both within and outside Capcoms franchise, there is a larger discussion in play about the approach to gender across the history of the video game industry and video game studies. As a complex historiographical examination, there is no one conclusion, but the vacillation between empowerment and misogyny across time, games, and genres is highlighted through this dissertation.