Every Resident Evil Monster From The Games That Made It Into The Films

The Resident Evil film franchise is known for its many horrific creatures, and many of them come from the original game series. The film series began with 2002’s Resident Evil, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, starring Milla Jovovich (Monster Hunter) and Michelle Rodriguez, among others. With a wealth of inspiration from the Capcom survival horror franchise, the films continued to scare audiences with a multitude of zombie variants and mutated creatures.

Boasting a total of six films spanning 14 years, the Resident Evil film franchise told the story of human survivors as they contended with the zombie apocalypse and the twisted dealings of pharmaceutical company the Umbrella Corporation. Each entry was loosely based on the video games, using a few of the original locations or recognizable characters like Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Mainly though, the films centered on Milla Jovovich’s Alice, who discovered the Umbrella Corporation’s unethical genetic experiments and ultimately resolved to take them down.

Alice and her cycle of companions, though, faced an enormous obstacle in their campaign against Umbrella – the many mutated bio-weapon monsters engineered by the corporation. There was no shortage of undead beings as Alice escaped various cities and Umbrella facilities. Though many of the monsters took their inspiration from the games, some were more direct references than others, aiming for a more original take on the source material. Here is every monster from the games that appear in the Resident Evil movies.

Zombies

The creatures most in abundance in all of the Resident Evil films and horror games were, of course, the zombies. The undead hordes debuted in the first 1996 game and were scientists who died and were brought back to a gruesome facsimile of life by the T-virus. The zombies were the typical result of the T-virus infection, and they had all of the traditional zombie traits – cannibalistic urges and an obsessive desire to hunt humans. Like in the game series, the undead were a constant threat to the film’s main characters, a few of which ultimately fall victim to the monsters, such as Rain in the first film.

Alice and her crew also fought mutated forms of the undead – the Super and Majini variants. As the T-virus turned into a global pandemic, Umbrella Corporation virologist Dr. Issacs (Iain Glen) continued his research on domesticating the infected and created a new variant. The Super Undead, first seen in 2007’s Resident Evil: Extinction, were faster, more intelligent, and prone to violent mood swings, making them more volatile than the typical zombie. Through the combined efforts of Alice and Claire Redfield’s convoy, the Super Undead were ultimately destroyed in a zombified Las Vegas. The Majini variant, on the other hand, were the result of a wild mutation of the T-virus, turning humans into monsters with flower-like fleshy tentacles and mandibles in their throats. Originally from the fifth game, the Umbrella Corporation used the more intelligent Resident Evil: Afterlife variants to create a controllable, parasitic version of the undead called Las Plagas, adding to Alice’s struggles in the later sequels.

Cerberus (AKA Zombie Dogs)

Cerberus’ were the result of dogs being infected by the T-virus. Also seen in all but one of the Resident Evil films, these monsters displayed the ubiquity of the virus – not only were humans able to be infected but animals too. These zombie dogs were originally test subjects from the Hive, later spreading to Raccoon City and the world beyond. Umbrella later created a special Majini-like variant that were the personal pets of recurring villain Albert Wesker. Alice frequently encountered different versions of Cerberus, from the original Dobermans in the Hive to the mutated pack guarding the entrance of the same facility in the final movie.

Lickers

The Lickers, who were introduced in the Resident Evil 2 game, were vicious monsters with razor-sharp claws, exposed brains, and a long tongue that extended several feet to decapitate or impale its prey. When Alice ventured into the Hive in the original film, she and the rest of the team were attacked by an escaped Licker, which was tasked by the A.I. Red Queen to hunt them down and prevent their escape. The Licker eventually killed soldier Kaplan (Martin Crewes), and a few others were later released into Raccoon City to snack on the outside world. Lickers continued to appear in later films, culminating in the gargantuan “Uber Licker” in 2012’s Resident Evil: Retribution.

Nemesis

Resident Evil: Apocalypse borrows Nemesis from the 1999 Resident Evil 3 game. Compared to the other undead, the Nemesis had greater intelligence and could use weapons like rocket launchers, making him a significant threat. The character design remained roughly the same from the games, though Nemesis became a tragic character rather than a purely antagonistic one. Previously a survivor in the original film, an infected Matt Addison (Eric Mabius) is later subjected to Umbrella’s experimentation, resulting in his transformation. Originally a villain, Alice gets Addison to remember his humanity, recruiting him for the final fight before his death. The Nemesis’s power cemented him as one of the franchise’s most iconic monsters.

Crows

Crows were another animal infected by the T-virus, as a result of feeding on zombie flesh. They were notably featured in the third movie Extinction, attacking Claire Redfield’s convoy before Alice incinerates them by telekinetically directing flames in their direction. The crows were used as an opportunity for Alice to display her newfound telekinetic power, and they were a common enemy in the early games.

Tyrant

The Tyrant was the result of a special kind of mutation that stemmed from the Super Undead variant. In Resident Evil: Extinction, Dr. Issacs is bitten by a Super Undead and attempts to stem his infection by injecting himself with a powerful antivirus. However, when he’s killed, Issacs was reanimated as a Tyrant, keeping most of his cognition and personality traits even post-transformation. As a type of boss creature in the Resident Evil games, Tyrants had varied intelligence and were always a powerful threat.

Axemen

Axemen first appeared in the Resident Evil 5 game and in the fourth film Resident Evil: Afterlife. Red Queen used the Axemen to eliminate survivors, with one particular Axeman reaching the Citadel Correctional Facility where Alice and other survivors took refuge. His extreme physical strength is enough to break down the facility’s gate, letting a swarm of the undead attack. While the Axemen were created by Umbrella as bio-weapons, the Executioner Majini in the game was a singular human victim of the parasitic version of the T-virus, Type-2 Plaga.

Bloodshot

The Bloodshot monster was inspired by the “Bloodshot” enemy from the Resident Evil 6 game. Alice and accomplice Razor (Fraser James) stumbled into its Hive residence in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter as they searched for an anti-virus. Bloodshot killed Razor, with Alice escaping only because of its sensitivity to light. She eventually kills it and deduces it was another of Umbrella’s human-based bio-weapons. The main difference between the film and games iterations were the numbers – players battled several in the town of Tall Oaks, while in the film the Bloodshot creature was seemingly the only one of its kind.

Kipepeo

The Kipepeo were giant multi-winged beasts seen in both Retribution and The Final Chapter. The result of an unknown T-virus mutation, these beasts were used in combat alongside massive hordes of Las Plagas Undead. They escalated the undead threat to a new level, as they looked more demon-like than they did a classic zombie. Though Kipepeo were a type of Las Plagas undead introduced in the Resident Evil 5 game, it’s unspecified if they had similar origins in the Resident Evil films.

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