Some time ago I realized that a few of the most memorable adventures in the Resident Evil series take place during the Christmas season. I don't know if this is random or if it was a conscious choice from part of the scenario writers for some reason, but in any event it is a very interesting detail that deserves some exploring.

The events in Code Veronica happen three months after the Raccoon City incident which, as we know from both Resident Evil 2 and Nemesis, occured on the 28th of September 1998. This puts Claire Redfield in Rockford Island on around the 27th or 28th of December of the same year, that is in the heart of the Christmas holidays. The time of year doesn't seem to play a part in the story as it develops in the original Code Veronica game. In The Darkside Chronicles: Game of Oblivion, however, which is a retelling of the Code Veronica story, there is one reference in the opening scene of the scenario: we see Alfred holding a snow globe with a scenery showing two little children playing in the snow.

The two children in the snow globe depict little Alfred and Alexia

This scene, albeit brief, is particularly strong as it demonstrates Alfred's growing insanity, partly due to the seclusion he's been subject to on the isolated island. It is Christmas season, yet nothing around him is festive, and the only happy scene he sees is the one in the snow globe, which represents his obsession with the past and his denial to see things as they are. Deep inside, he never grew up and he prefers to view both himself and Alexia as little kids, going back to a time where they were supposedly careless and happy.

The snow globe is the last thing that he holds in his hand before he dies, in a version of the story that strays off the original scenario of Code Veronica.

Alfred holds the snow ball in his hand while Alexia is killing him

In the Game of Oblivion version, Alexia, after waking up from her long slumber, mutates thanks to the Veronica virus and, before going after Claire and Steve, she attacks her brother, who is already heavily wounded after falling off a long drop during the fight with Claire and Steve, and kills him. As he dies, the snow globe drops from his hand and shatters on the floor.

The broken snow globe symbolizes not only Alfred's death but also the shattering of his delusions

For Claire and Steve, this is no Christmas season either, as they find themselves on the eery grounds of the prison, where soon they are surrounded by zombies.

The cold air and, later on, the snow are the only elements that hint at the time of year

Neither of them has a mind for anything festive; Claire is desperately searching for her brother, and Steve was imprisoned together with his father who, as we find out later, turns into a zombie and Steve is forced to kill him to save Claire. Christmas is the last thing they could possibly think of, as their main concern is to survive. However the fact that all this happens during the Christmas days, intensifies the tragic essence of the story: Claire and Steve are two innocent young people who, at this time of year, should have been in a nice place, having a good time with friends and family, yet they are trapped in a nightmare. Same goes for Chris, who comes to Claire's rescue and finally reunites with her in Antarctica, in the Umbrella facility there.

The cold setting of the North is the opposite side of the Christmas season. We usually identify Christmas with snow, but this identification has only positive connotations. Antarctica in Code Veronica is an unfriendly and deserted snowy place where danger and death lurk around every corner.

The Antarctica facility is not exactly the snowy place you'd choose for a Christmas vacation

Fourteen years later, and specifically on the 24th of December 2012, Chris Redfield had the most traumatic experience of his army life. In Resident Evil 6, while in China with memoy lapses, he has a flashback and recalls the tragic events of his mission in Edonia. The (imaginary) eastern European city is covered in snow as Chris arrives there with his team; there are no civilians anywhere, and although it is Christmas eve, not even a hint of festive element can be seen in the streets or behind the house windows of the war torn Edonia.

Christmas time here would have been idyllic in other conditions

Later on, as they enter the City Hall, the whole place is full of dead people trapped in coccoons. The only other living human being they encounter is Carla Radames, who apparently had been hiding in the building all this time. If Chris and his soldiers have to forget about the Christmas season because the duty calls them, Carla obviously doesn't even care for it.

There is nothing festive about the lights and candles in the City Hall

The disastrous end of the mission leaves Chris devastated, making this yet one more Christmas season in his life that will be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons: Carla reveals her true intents and attacks his soldiers with a lethal ball that throws infected needles on them, instantly killing them and turning them into monsters.

Carla's perception of Christmas ornaments is rather extravagant

On the same evening, somewhere in the snow-covered mountains of Edonia, Jake and Sherry struggle to make their way to a shelter, while running away from bloodthirsty mutated soldiers. The scenery around them looks naturally christmassy in the cold night with all the imposing cypresses, but in fact it is not friendly at all, and the snow can easily become a lethal trap for the two heroes.

The cypresses remind Jake and Sherry that it's Christmas eve

After a long chase that involves snowmobiles and an avalanche, Jake and Sherry end up in a cave which could have been a wonderful setting for a romantic Christmas day. What awaits for them in there, however, is anything but. Ustanak, Jake's relentless stalker, is guarding the place and although he gets defeated at some point, he eventually comes back to life, leading them directly to Carla's hands.

Jake is the perfect gift for power-hungry Carla

This happens on the 25th of December, but neither Carla nor Jake or Sherry have the time or mood to realize it's actually Christmas day. Maybe Carla did a little bit at that point, since her biggest desire was to capture Jake and use his antibody, and she actually managed it, achieving a rather illusive and very temporary victory.

Connections between Leon Kennedy and Sebastian Castellanos

Coming from the imagination of the same mastermind, Resident Evil's Leon Kennedy and The Evil Within's Sebastian Castellanos have naturally several things in common. At times, the impression that I was getting while playing The Evil Within was that Shinji Mikami shaped Sebastian with using traits and attributes that he maybe had wanted to add to Leon but for some reason didn't back then. It is interesting to see some of these things and analyze them a bit, since both Leon and Sebastian are wonderful characters, put to life with great detail and being among the finest elements of the games in which they appear.

Wherever Leon is, there are always zombies somewhere nearby. I guess this drops dramatically his chances for a successful romantic date: one can never know when a zombie will suddenly pop up from around a corner or from the back of a car or from inside a dumpster.

As early as in his first day as a cop in Raccoon City (Resident Evil 2), Leon had to deal with hordes of zombies while struggling to survive in the infested town.

Things didn't become any better in his other great mission to find and rescue the USA president's daughter in Spain (Resident Evil 4). Although the infected people were not zombies there, they were equally dangerous - lethal even.

And as old loves never die, he bumped onto zombies again in his Tall Oaks adventure (Resident Evil 6), where a whole town got infected again and there were classic zombies everywhere (which appeared again later in China, where he went with Helena to look for Simmons).

Trapped inside STEM, Sebastian has had his very fair share of zombie encounters so far. Although truth is that the zombies that Leon had to deal with were a joke compared to what awaited for Sebastian. While tangled in Ruvik's twisted web of memories (The Evil Within), Sebastian came across several terrifying and extremely strong zombie-looking people, called The Haunted.

Years later, while exploring Union inside STEM (The Evil Within 2) he had to face a whole town full of aggressive and persisting monsters called The Lost.

Almost from the beginning of his adventures, Leon had a guardian although he never actually realized it. There was always a mystery surrounding the spy Ada Wong, and it was not so clear whether she was working for the good or the bad guys, but she has always been there to help him through, and her assistance ranged from mild interventions, like shooting a few zombies out of the way to clear the path for him (Resident Evil 6), to major life-saving risky actions, like disobeying orders from above and stopping a hired mercenary from murdering him (Resident Evil 4). Ada's real identity still remains top secret, but it's pretty clear now that she is on the good side.

Sebastian has always had a secret helper, although he was ignorant about it for a long time. Juli Kidman was a rookie whom he was training during his detective days, but she was also a spy working for Mobius. Sebastian found out that she was playing a double role (The Evil Within), but it was not until somewhere midway through his Union adventure (The Evil Within 2) that her true mission was revealed to him. It turned out that Juli was on his side all along, and everything she did was to aid him through those really tough times. She went as far as defying the almighty Administrator and risking her own life to save Sebastian.

While Leon was on his mission in Spain (Resident Evil 4), the diabolical and twisted Lord Saddler infected him with the Plaga virus. Subsequently he started having symptoms of the infection, that were rather severe.

Still inside Ruvik's mind (The Evil Within), Sebastian temporarily became a Haunted himself, with all the consequences that came along. He even had the chance to see how he looked like, through a reflection in a glass.

It is also worth noting that in the beta version of Resident Evil 4 which never saw the light of publicity, the story had Leon wandering in a spooky house while suffering from hallucinations caused by the infection, a situation which resembles the one Sebastian is going through while being connected to STEM in the first Evil Within.

When Leon started his Spanish mission, he was wearing a fancy leather jacket with white fur.

After he is being captured by the villagers, one of them steals his jacket and he goes on the rest of the adventure without it, offering generous eye candy.

Upon visiting the Beacon Mental Hospital to investigate a mysterious massacre (The Evil Within), Sebastian is wearing a long trenchcoat.

Soon he gets attacked by Ruvik, loses his senses and gets captured. After waking up, he has lost his trenchcoat and he proceeds in the adventure without it. This is done for practical reasons, but also for our viewing pleasure.

Very early in the Spanish village (Resident Evil 4), Leon gets captured by the village chief and when he wakes up, he finds himself tied up back to back with Luis Sera, in a rather sexy-looking composition.

After Ruvik attacks Sebastian (The Evil Within), Sebastian wakes up in the Sadist's lair only to realize that he is tied and hanging upside down. His situtation is extremely frustrating and, unlike Leon's, not sexy at all.

For a rather long time in Spain (Resident Evil 4), Leon is chased by a disfigured psycho. Ramon Salazar is everything that Leon isn't: short, ugly, stupid and deranged. Most of these traits are a result of his Plaga infection (quite possibly some kind of side-effect), although he doesn't seem to be aware of his situation and apparently thinks too highly of himself.

Trapped in STEM without knowing it (The Evil Within), Sebastian is haunted by a deformed lunatic. Ruben Victoriano (aka Ruvik) was a relatively decent-looking kid, but a painful tragedy that he experienced scarred him for life, both physically and (senti)mentally. Now he is an ugly, frightful and sadistic ghoul who wants to do as he pleases with Sebastian (his own words).

Leon's mission in Spain (Resident Evil 4) was to rescue the USA president's daughter who had been kidnapped. Ashley Graham was a 20-year-old girl who was almost always frightened (with a few surprising exceptions), hiding behind Leon and constantly screaming his name for help.

While trying to make sense out of what was going on after the Beacon mystery (The Evil Within), Sebastian meets Leslie, a 20-year-old boy with a mental health problem who used to be a patient at the hospital. Leslie is constantly terrified and calls Sebastian's name in the most inconvenient situations.

After Leon finds Ashley in the village church (Resident Evil 4), they get ambushed by villagers and are forced to lock themselves up in an isolated cabin. As it turns out, Luis is also hiding there. Seeing that the infected villagers are approaching the shack and are about to burst in, Leon and Luis have no other choice but to defend their temporary shelter by enganging in a fight against the lethal intruders.

At some point during his journey in Union (The Evil Within 2), Sebastian mysteriously finds himself in a hut where he also meets a soldier girl. Esmeralda Torres informs him that the cabin is surrounded by Lost enemies and together they do their best to defend the place and defeat the zombies.

Luis Sera, the ally that Leon finds in Spain (Resident Evil 4) is a scientist who helped Saddler develop the Plagas. Luis is not proud of his creations and will do whatever it takes to make up for what he did. He offers Leon valueable information about the experiments and their results, and his notes prove to be extremely useful.

After Sebastian gets separated with his team (The Evil Within), he arrives at a Haunted-inhabited village where the only other human being is Marcelo Jimenez, a mysterious scientist. Dr Jimenez, who is actually Leslie's doctor, accompanies Sebastian for a brief time, although, unlike the brave Luis Sera, he prefers to remain hidden while Sebastian deals with the zombies.

Although Leon gets to know Luis for a rather short time (Resident Evil 4), the two become very close friends. Unfortunately, Luis gets killed by Lord Saddler just as he is about to hand the Plaga sample over to Leon. But like the good friend that he is, he gives Leon a handful of pills with the antidote just before he dies.

During their attempt to destroy Father Theodore's device with explosives (The Evil Within 2), Sebastian and Esmeralda get seriously hit by the explosion. A heavily wounded Esmeralda carries the unconscious Sebastian out, and subsequently sacrifices her life to protect him from a horde of attacking zombies. It's also worth noting that, just like Luis Sera, Esmeralda is Spanish too (or Latin American maybe, but Latino anyway).

While trying to locate Ashley on Saddler's island (Resident Evil 4), Leon bumps onto an old friend. Jack Krauser, whom he had met and befriended during a mission in South America (The Darkside Chronicles: Operation Javier), is now back and is also a bad guy. Krauser has been ordered by both Wesker and Saddler to murder Leon, and he seems rather enthusiastic about it. When he finds Leon, he greets him with the blade of his knife, leaving him a deep scar on the cheek.

Just like Jack Krauser, the twisted photographer Stefano Valentini (The Evil Within 2) has a weird fascination with knives. After teasing Sebastian long enough, he captures him with his camera, during which time he cuts Sebastian's cheek with his beloved knife.

It is very rare to have a video game hero without a bromance, and Leon is no exception. His legendary bromance with Jack Krauser started back in 2002, when the two first met in the South American jungle (The Darkside Chronicles: Operation Javier).

The two became close friends and were getting along greatly but things got a bit out of hand when Jack was heavily wounded during a fight and realised that his military career was soon going to be over. Feeling jealous about Leon getting a position he was always dreaming of, he succumbed to his dark side and became one of the bad guys. Following Wesker's orders, he chased after Leon (Resident Evil 4) and attempted to kill him.

Sebastian's bromance with his partner Joseph Oda (The Evil Within) is even more prominent, because the two share plenty of on-screen time together and we have the chance to see how much they care for each other. Sebastian is always there to boost Joseph up and support him and at some point, when Joseph is seriously hit, Sebastian even risks going through an extremely dangerous area to get him a blood bag and save his life.

While in Union (The Evil Within 2), Sebastian finds a slide showing himself and Joseph, and it is revealed that all this time he was unable to deal with the fact that Joseph was dead, refusing to come to terms with this painful memory.

Juli however informs him that Joseph is alive, and promises to give all the necessary explanations after all is over.

It may not be obvious on first look, but Resident Evil 6's Leon looks a lot like Sebastian from the first Evil Within. Leon has a fair complexion and light-colored hair and eyes and, aside from the scars and wounds acquired during missions, is rather fresh-faced.

Sebastian is darker, with dark hair and golden eyes and although he is very handsome, the personal tragedies he has been through have left a mark on him.

Despite these differences however, they resemble each other very much, and if you notice their individual features, they are very similar.

A Bad Case of Déjà vu

While making a run against time through the zombie-infested Tall Oaks with his new partner Helena, Leon comments at some point in Resident Evil 6 that he is having "a bad case of déjà vu".

 
But how much of a déjà vu it actually is? Well it's much more than it seems, as throughout the story of nearly all his campaign, it is like he's having flashbacks of his past adventures. On first level, it's basically from Resident Evil 2, but looking deeper into the details, this flashback goes back to nearly all the events he has lived, witnessed or was connected to so far.

The zombies are the most prominent element of this "déjà vu". There were zombies then in Raccoon City, and there are zombies now, in Tall Oaks. The difference is that back in 1998, Leon had no idea about this kind of situation and pretty much improvised as he went along; while in 2013 he is more than experienced in this field and knows exactly what to do, and when.

In 1998, a pretty clueless young Leon is shooting random zombies in the infested Raccoon City

In 2013, decorated elite agent Leon is forced to shoot his close friend who has become a zombie

When Leon arrived in Raccoon City back in 1998, he found a town inhabited by zombies, and the only other human being was a young girl, Claire Redfield. Together they had to make their way through the nightmare that the once peaceful town had become, and take all means to survive. In Resident Evil 6, the year is 2013 and we see him in the office of the Tall Oaks University, face to face with the President of USA (and his personal friend), freshly turned into zombie, while everyone else in the campus has already had the same fate. The only other human being is a young woman (and, as it turns out soon, also his colleague) Helena Harper. Together they have to escape from the campus and later from the town with dozens of zombies breathing down their necks.

Claire's first meeting with Leon is one she will surely remember for the rest of her life

Helena seems to know way too many things, including Leon's name and identity

Claire arrived at Raccoon City looking for her brother Chris, an officer of a special division of the Raccoon City Police Department, who had disappeared. Helena on the other hand is looking for her sister with whom she has lost contact after both of them became victims of a cunning trap. Claire didn't manage to reunite with Chris until much later, after the events at the Rockfort Island and Antarctica (namely, in Code Veronica), while Helena found her sister quite soon, albeit in a really bad state. The reunion of Claire and Chris had a happy ending, but things didn't work out that well for Helena and her sister.

The reunion of Claire and Chris in Code Veronica is a lovely, touching scene

Helena finds her sister quite soon, but she has nasty surprises awaiting

As Leon and Claire try to find a way to make it safe from the zombies, they spot a police car and they jump in. Back to Tall Oaks, Leon and Helena rush out of the campus and find a police car conveniently parked in a side-street.

Leon and Claire rush in the police car while the zombies gather around them

The police car at the end of the street is again the only salvation

While in the police car, Claire finds a handgun in the glove compartment. In Tall Oaks, Leon searches the glove compartment looking for the keys (there is no need to find an extra gun here, as both he and Helena are both armed already thanks to their status).

Once upon a time, zombified cops would leave their handguns in the police cars

Times change, and now obviously they take them with them leaving the glove compartments empty

It would be naive to believe that in a zombie-infested place you can just drive your car down the street undisturbed. Naturally there is a zombie lurking somewhere, ready to attack at the most inconvenient moment. In Raccoon City, it popped up from the back seat where it was obviously taking a nap. In Tall Oaks, it surprised Leon by showing its face (well, kind of) at the front window.

Now, that's an intrusion of privacy, mister!

How the hell did she get on the roof of the car?

Such a surprise can never have a good result. In Raccoon City, Leon lost control of the car and it crashed on some other cars that were parked in the middle of the street, blocking the way. An oil-transporting vehicle that was being driven by a zombified man came speeding towards the police car, leaving Leon and Claire no other choice than to get out, each from their side. The vehicle crashed on the car, causing a devastating explosion. Leon and Claire, with the fire caused by the explosion between them, decided to make their way separately as they had no other option, and try to meet up at some point. In Tall Oaks, Leon lost control of the car again, causing it to tumble and crash on other parked cars, catching fire. He and Helena managed to get out of the damaged car and continued their way through the sewers.

Claire is at the other side of the flames but it's not a good idea to try to get to her

The car is fubar

The oil-transporting vehicle in Raccoon City that caused all the mayhem and resulted in Leon and Claire separating from each other, had departed from a gas station a few blocks away. It's not unusual to see a gas station in a zombie-themed story; going back to the iconic Night of the Living Dead, the film that defined zombie movies and became the main source of inspiration for zombie games, the gas station there was a major turning point in the plot. In Tall Oaks, Leon and Helena come across a gas station, where a group of survivors are trying to defend themselves against the zombies.

The deserted gas station in Raccoon City

The zombie-infested gas station in Tall Oaks

Among the gas station survivors in Tall Oaks, is a young cop who is a rookie in his very first day. Back in 1998, Leon was a rookie cop on his first day when he arrived at Raccoon City. As we know already, things turned out quite well for Leon after the Raccoon City incident was over, but unfortunately for his colleague in Tall Oaks events took the most tragic twist.

Leon introduces himself to Claire

The Tall Oaks rookie seems to be more clueless than what Leon was back in 1998

As Leon tries to find his way to the Raccoon Police department, he comes across a gun shop. It belongs to Robert Kendo, and it looks like it was a rather popular spot back in the good days. In Tall Oaks, Leon with Helena and the group of survivors find shelter in a gun shop that is near the gas station. They lock themselves in temporarily, trying to fend off the zombies that swarm outside, wanting to get in from the windows.

Leon has just arrived in Kendo's Gun Shop and is posing for a souvenir photo

The Tall Oaks Gun Shop seems to be a zombie attraction

In Raccoon City, Leon has a brief chat with Kendo and then leaves from the back door. However upon trying to get back in, he hears screams and when he re-enters, Kendo is already dead and the zombies that killed him are strolling around the room. In Tall Oaks, the gun shop owner manages to get all the survivors safe up on the roof of the building, from where they all escape via a back ladder and go down to the street, where a friend of his has arrived in a bus. After they all get in the bus, they have some trouble leaving for a few moments, as a huge zombie is blocking the way. During all that mess, a zombie grabs the gun shop owner from a bus window and throws him on the street, where he shares the ill fate of his Raccoon City colleague.

Poor Robert Kendo (right) is lying dead and Leon has to face more zombies

The gun shop owner of Tall Oaks (left) and one more survivor (right) become dinner of the zombies

While exploring the creepy undegrounds of the Tall Oaks Cathedral with Helena, Leon comes across Ada Wong, a most familiar face. Leon had met Ada back in Raccoon City, where she was supposedly dead after she was (seemingly) fatally attacked by a hideous B.O.W. In 2004, he crossed paths with her again in Spain, where he had been sent to locate the kidnapped daughter of the (then) President of the USA (namely, in Resident Evil 4). In all three instances, she never disclosed to him (or to anyone else, for that matter) the real goal of her mission.

Leon with Ada in Raccoon City

Leon with Ada in Spain

In Tall Oaks, Leon and Ada spend a brief sequence of on-screen action together

After the events in Tall Oaks, Leon goes to China with Helena, in pursuit of the story's arch-villain. In the way, he bumps onto Sherry Birkin, whom he had rescued with Claire back in Raccoon City.

Leon with Sherry at the desert railroad after they left Raccoon City with Claire

Leon reunites with Sherry in China, at an airplane crash site, where she had arrived with Jake Muller

A bit later, Leon comes face to face with Chris Redfield, Claire's brother from Resident Evil 2. Chris is leading a team which is chasing another villain, a woman who has stolen Ada's identity and is closely connected to (actually, responsible for) the virus outbreak that hit both Tall Oaks in the USA and Langshiang in China.

Leon makes a deal with Chris before they part ways

When Leon crosses paths with Sherry in China, she is accompanying a young man, Jake Muller, who has antibodies for the C-virus. Sherry is following orders to bring Jake safely back to her boss's headquarters, so that his blood can be tested and used to produce vaccines (or so she's been told; the truth is somewhat different). Jake is a mercenary, and has served in missions in South America. Just like Jack Krauser, Leon's companion in Operation Javier, a mission that took place in 2001. Leon was sent in South America to find a drug dealer that had connections with Umbrella, and Jack Krauser was commissioned to help him cross the mazey jungles of the area. Jack was seriously wounded in that mission, being forced to retire soon after. When that mission was over, Leon was informed that Krauser died in a crash, only to meet him again in Spain in 2004, more alive than ever.

Jake talks to Sherry about his South-American experience as a mercenary

Jack Krauser with Leon in a South-American jungle

The legendary duel of Leon and Jack Krauser in Resident Evil 4

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that when Leon sees Jake for the first time, he is probably feeling like he just came across a young Jack Krauser in the making, as apart from the profession, Jake Muller and Jack Krauser have even more things in common: their first names sound similar, their surnames sound both like they are of German origin, they share a snake-like gaze and they both have a big scar on the left side of their faces.

Jake is too proud of his scar to go fix it

Jack's scar is much more elaborate and deeper

Even if Leon has never come across Albert Wesker officially, it looks like the super-arch-villain of the Resident Evil saga somehow managed to get involved in Leon's life and profession trials as well: in 2013, Jake Muller is revealed to be  Wesker's son, albeit he's never really met his father. Albert Wesker was the one who, back in 2001, helped Jack Krauser heal from his serious injury by treating him with a virus that gave him superhuman powers. And he was the one who hired Jack in 2004 to murder Leon in Spain.