Billy Coen

Hey, Queenie! Feast on this!

Billy Coen was a former US Marine Corps Lieutenant-turned death-row inmate that escaped into the Arklay Mountains after the military transport vehicle escorting him was forced off the road and was destroyed by a pack of Cerberus. He escaped to the Ecliptic Express where he would later meet S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team member Rebecca Chambers.

Background
So, you seem to know me. Been fantasizing about me, have you?

Billy was a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps with Force Recon, who, along with a team of Marines, were sent into hostile territory in Africa to attack a village used as a terrorist training ground. Unfortunately, the air drop was off-target, and as such the team had to march across miles of hostile terrain to their target objective. The heat, combined with enemy attacks, soon reduced the team to four, and when they finally arrived, they found the village was actually full of innocent civilians.

In order to cover-up the incident, the squad scapegoats Coen for the ordeal, claiming, "one marine panicked under the extreme conditions and unintentionally killed the civilians." Upon returning to base their base commander, Samuel Regan, had Billy court judged and sentenced to death. Flashback cutscenes in Resident Evil 0 imply that Billy never took part in the massacres, but he neither confirms nor denies this to Rebecca.

Arklay Mountains
Listen, little girl, if you haven't noticed there's some pretty freaked out things on this train. And I, for one, wanna' get out of here. I don't think we stand a chance of doing it alone.

En route to the base for his execution, the military transport vehicle used to take him there was forced off the road by James Marcus, and then Cerberi attacked and mauled the MP's guarding Billy, causing him to run for his life. Billy then sought refuge in the Ecliptic Express, a stranded train, where he met Rebecca Chambers. Despite their radically different backgrounds, the two formed an alliance in order to secure their survival. The two use their talents to pass through many of the obstacles they faced, and discovered the Umbrella Corporation's secrets.

Both were monitored by James Marcus, who sent various creatures tosubdue the two. Billy proved his loyalty by saving Chambers several times during the game, whilst Rebecca proved hers by saving him. Coen and Chambers eventually met Marcus. After revealing the details of his mortal demise, the Queen leech residing in his body took control and mutated into the Queen Leech.

The two managed to temporarily subdue the creature, only to discover that a self-destruct protocol had been activated, caused by William Birkin. Matters became even more complicated when the leech returned. In the final battle, Chambers exposed the leech to sunlight, thus making it vulnerable to attack.

Knowing this weakness, Billy acted as bait whilst Rebecca continued to open the roof further until there was no shade left for the creature to hide in. He proceeded to deliver a final shot, which instantly destroyed the leech. In wake of the destruction, Rebecca allowed him to escape, by telling her authorities that he subsequently perished in the Arklay Mountains after their first encounter, keeping his dog-tags as proof. The two bid farewell, and Billy disappeared soon after, never to be seen again. However, upon returning to Raccoon City, Rebecca filed a report claiming that Billy had died during the initial attack that allowed him to escape, she went on to request a suspension of the case which presumably allowed Billy a chance at freedom. He has not been seen or heard from since.

Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game


Billy is one of ten new character cards in the Resident Evil DBG expansion Alliance. He has 80 Health. Billy's Level 1 effect allows him to gain one "Ammo x10" and gives him an additional Buy. His Level 2 effect allows him to move a card from his Discard Pile to his hand, but only if he has 10 or more cards in the pile. Interestingly enough, Billy's abilities go hand-in-hand with Rebecca's as the game progresses (of course they would both have to be present in Partner Mode). The "Ammo x10" cards that Billy gains can easily be trashed by Rebecca once they become less useful. And their mutual abilities to take cards away from the Discard Pile makes them a great combination if the player wishes to trim down his or her Inventory to the essentials. Of course this may be deliberate on the part of the game designers since Billy and Rebecca were the protagonists of Resident Evil 0. His pose is his selection portrait in Umbrella Chronicles.

Trivia

 * When the armored Military Police car transporting Billy crashes due to a pack of Cerberi, he manages to unlock one of his cuffs, effectively allowing him to escape. They dangle from his hand throughout the entire game, in the end Rebecca uses a spare handcuff key to take them off.
 * While walking Billy points his gun up but while running he points his gun down, this mirrors Rebecca's run and walk animation. Also this makes him the only male character in the entire series that runs pointing his gun down.
 * Billy, as well as Carlos Oliveira and Leon S. Kennedy are the only playable male characters in the Resident Evil series that have not directly met the series' main antagonist; Albert Wesker, though Leon is aware of him.
 * Like Carlos Oliveira, Billy appears in two games; Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.
 * Billy can play the piano.
 * Billy is the only playable character in the series who cannot mix herbs.
 * Billy has two different official heights, as he is shown in-game to be 5'9", whereas the Japanese website for Zero lists him as being 5'11". His mass, however, is largely consistent.
 * Billy uses the only piece of profanity in Zero, exclaiming "shit!" as the Queen Leech finally catches up with the lift he and Rebecca are riding on.
 * Billy's tattoo is one of three references to the band Queen: "Mother Love" is the name of a Queen song, the same as "Made in Heaven" (from Claire's jacket in Resident Evil 2, as well as one of Chris's alternate costumes) and "Let Me Live" (from Claire's Jacket in Resident Evil: Code Veronica)
 * The Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2, features a file named; Rebecca's Report. In it, Rebecca will detail finding Billy's body in the woods with the MP vehicle at the beginning of "Zero" (though she misspells his last name as "Koen"). It also states that Bravo team was forced to abandon his body once they were attacked, and it was presumed lost. This was added in to the N64 version of RE2 to foreshadow the then upcoming RE0, also being developed for the N64, however it was later cancelled and development shifted to the GameCube.
 * During The NYC 2011 Comic-con, a Capcom represensative answeredd questions regarding his status and he responded: " Billy Coen is still in the Resident Evil universe; we do have plans but nothing concrete so we can't confirm or deny Billy Coen returning back to the franchise because anything is possible."