Health

Health is common factor in video games, including the Resident Evil series, measuring the current condition of the player character.

Earlier games
Starting with the original Resident Evil, the player's health is shown in the inventory menu/status screen, and is represented by an electrocardiogram (ECG).

Depending on the condition of the character, the ECG will read the following:


 * Fine - green in color, none to minimal damage taken.Games_REekg.gif


 * Caution (yellow) - the character has taken moderate damage, but health is still above half.


 * Caution (orange) - the character has taken significant damage, health is below half.


 * Danger - colored red, the character has taken major damage and health is almost gone. In this state, one or two more hits will result in death.

Excluding the original game, the character's movement animation will change depending on the condition they are in.
 * Poison - colored purple, the character is poisoned, and health will deplete gradually over time.

Healing items include Herbs, the effects of which vary depending on the mixture, and First Aid Spray's, which are full healing agents, but cannot cure poison.

Later games
Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 use a more traditional on-screen health gauge. The color of the health gauge will change accordingly as well as the movement animation.

In RE4, health can be upgraded via mixing any herb with Yellow Herb (except for Red+Yellow Herb. It requires Green Herb to be used.). In RE5, a "Dying" status was added when the character's main health is gone, requiring the assistance of the partner character.

Herbs and First Aid Sprays return as healing items, in addition to Eggs and sometimes Black Bass.

Resident Evil: Revelations doesn't feature a health gauge anymore; the player's health is instead indicated by the screen. The bloodier the screen is, the more health has been lost. In addition, when a player is on a critical health level, the screen becomes gray except for the blood. The only healing item here is the green herb which fully heals the character.

Resident Evil 6 features a health gauge similar to RE4 and RE5's, but now is more clearly segmented into six pieces, which is universal among all playable characters (including Agent Hunt characters). One Herb represents one segment and following tradition, green and red herb mixes as well as First Aid Sprays heal the character to full. Dying Status returns, but can be recovered given enough time. RE6 added a subtle feature called "natural recovery", which is a slow health regeneration. Piers Nivans is given a much faster health regeneration during the final battle of Chris' scenario but this is not tied into the mechanic.

Spin-off games
In UC, only the player's health is shown along with the character they selected. During Co-op the meter is lengthened considerably and shows the names of both characters despite a few inconsistencies (i.e. Wesker & Wesker or Rebecca & Rebecca). In DC no matter what both characters get a health meter with a few exceptions (such as Krauser in Darkness Falls).

Before RE4, there was a status effect known as "Poison" which was purple in color. Poison can be afflicted by several enemies throughout the series and can be cured with a Blue Herb or in special cases, Serum.

In RE3:Nemesis, a special status effect is given to Jill Valentine after she is infected by Nemesis, called "Virus" which is also purple and can only be cured by the Vaccine.

In Outbreak there is another status effect called "Bleed" which is multicolored depending on how much health the character has. It is randomly acquired but is often afflicted by the Leech man in "The Hive" scenario. It can go away over time but can also be cured instantly with a Hemostat.

Starting in RE2, health was indicated with body language from a player character. This was mostly done because health could only be seen in the pause menu. In "Fine" characters stand upright and can move smoothly.

In the varying levels of "Caution" characters hold their sides and lower their heads slightly. In REmake and RE0 yellow "Caution" kept them in their "Fine" pose.

In "Danger" characters limp and move sluggishly. In "Dying" characters move much more slowly and can even end up crawling on the ground.

"Poison", "Virus", and Bleed" all have the same animation as "Caution" unless they are taken into "Danger" in which case they'll limp.

Marvel vs. Capcom series
In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Jill's Heal Type assist move shows her pulling out a Mixed Herb (G + R). If a character touches the herbs the ECG graphic will be shown next to them and they will be healed slightly and an additonal ECG animation depicting their health going from "Danger" to "Fine" will be shown. The graphic in question is purely aesthetic due to Jill being a Resident Evil character. The same effect was not carried over to Marvel vs. Capcom 3 nor its Ultimate expansion. In both games Jill (in both incarnations), Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker, and Nemesis T-Type all use the same standard life bars as other characters to indicate their remaining health.

Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game
Health in the Resident Evil DBG works somewhat differently than in the main games in the series. Like in many games, all characters have different amounts of health. So far the highest amount of Health is 120; which is held by Chris Redfield, and the lowest is 70; which is held by several characters. Infected Characters (introduced in the Outbreak expansion) all have 140 health. Health can be regained by using Green and Red Herbs as well as First Aid Sprays. Certain characters can also heal themselves through their own abilities. Like in Resident Evil 4 health can be upgraded with the use of Yellow Herbs. Characters that take damage can "die", but in accordance with the game's rules, simply reappear with 20 less health. However, if a character is whittled down to 20 or less maximum health and dies, they are taken out of the game. Infected have Health similar to the characters. The highest amount is 90 (held by Uroboros Aheri and Albert Wesker) while the lowest amount is 10 (held by Bui Kichwa and Lurker). Infected do not "respawn" when they are killed nor does their health regenerate