trivard676It’s not uncommon to have large, twisting storylines in works of fiction that span over 15 years. Stories overlap, there are little gaps in timelines that allow for an additional story to be squeezed in, and then there are re-tellings of stories. Unfortunately what ends up happening more often than not is that new plots contradict old ones, and longtime fans are sometimes left wondering…what the hell? Why change what was awesome to start with?
If you’re a fan of Resident Evil, you know all too well about the changing of facts, the re-writing of history and the general confusing nature of keeping things neat and tidy.
Resident Evil seems to have a particular issue with keeping its story straight because the fans demand to go back to the Spencer Estate, back to Raccoon City so often. When you tell the same story so many times, you’re bound to screw a few things up, or change a few things. Silent Hill did this with Shattered Memories, where it was a compete re-telling of the entire first entry into the Silent Hill series. It was an excellent addition to the series, but many fans still preferred the old PSX title to the combat-less Wii release. Obviously it wasn’t canon…
“Actually, this is my issued uniform, Sailor.”
In The Umbrella Chronicles and The Darkside Chronicles, things were changed mostly for the sake of making it a rail-shooter. There was so much detail and story content there, but how much of it was actually canon? Was it made canon after the game’s release? I understand changing the story around a little bit to suit the needs of the platform, but why change a game that is so focused on story to the point where it almost tells something completely different (for instance, Claire and Leon’s battle in the smelting room)? So instead, we have the Umbrella Chronicles and the Darkside Chronicles labelled as “semi-canon,” because they were based on the memories of the narrator. Semi-canon games attempt to stay true to the story but contain “facts not in evidence.”
“I am not wrong! I just have another perspective on the events that occurred!”
Resident Evil’s story remaining consistent is important to the series. This isn’t like The Legend of Zelda, where pretty much every game tells a similar story. Resident Evil relies on the same set of events, it has its own history. People do get their panties tied in a knot when this gets screwed up, too – it’s not just Star Trek fans that have a problem with story continuity.
So Resident Evil 6 will be canon…Great. I expected as much from a numbered entry in the series. A general rule of thumb is that if it’s a numbered entry, it will be canon, however if it has a subtitle, it is not, with the exception being Code:Veronica. However this rule kind of goes out the window with the news that RE6 will be closely tied to Revelations which should make Revelations canon, right? Unless otherwise stated by Capcom, meaning the writers behind both games could just decide “fuck it, let’s just do what we want. Hey, how about we throw in some aliens? Everybody likes aliens!”
Not like it really matters, Parker. You’ll forever be a one-game pony, canon or not.
Additionally, the CG movie Degeneration is canon. So are the RE5 blogs, detailing the events that happened in Kijuju before the events of RE5. Outbreak is connected to the main series by some noteable names, but is not exactly considered by many to be canon. How is it that a movie can be considered canon in a series of games and not several games? How do a couple of after-thought blogs make the cut?
If that’s the case, what prevents the novels from S.D. Perry from suddenly being considered canon?
“When not appearing in Mercenaries mini-games, Rebecca Chambers is stuck fighting
for her life in Caliban Cove,” –future RE game concept. “Also, it’s 1985.”
Writers, developers, CAPCOM! Why is it so hard t0 make new stories fit into the existing canon? Is there no room left? Did you not like the original canon? What gives?
What I’ve never been able to quite understand is how the T-Virus was able to be contained in one town. That Raccoon City is a completely isolated little place in the Midwest with zero ties with the outside community. Why couldn’t we add to the story in a new little ‘burb? Characters could go through the same motions as in Raccoon City, they could even be the same characters if need be. Then we wouldn’t have this whole issue of overlapping and contradicting storylines, with what is and isn’t canon.
Apologies if this seems too similar to my previous rant about the progression of the RE-story. Capcom openly stating that RE6 will be canon (they actually had to assure us) leaves me feeling a little hollow inside. I guess it’s because perhaps I’m tired of going back to Raccoon and the Spencer Estate, and each time things change. I don’t have a problem with a few non-canon titles in the mix, but perhaps it’s because I get the feeling that somehow we should brace for a wave of non-canon RE titles to murky up the waters.
