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See also: References to popular culture in Resident Evil

Due to its popularity and status as one of the original survival horror video games, the Resident Evil series has found itself referenced and shown in many other sources of popular culture.

Anime and manga

  • In the fourth episode of the Pokémon anime, "Challenge of the Samurai", Ash, Misty, and Samurai are fleeing from a swarm of Beedrill in Viridian Forest, with Samurai yelling "Quick, run towards that cabin," mirroring the opening of Resident Evil.
  • In the manga adaptation for Rockman Zero 3, Omega was revealed to be fearful of zombies and related creatures. He claims his reason for his fear is because he "wasn't good at Resident Evil.
  • In Sabagebu! A reference is made by Goutokuji, Kayo who is seen wearing the same outfit as Jill in resident evil 3: Nemesis including her holster.
  • In Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, there is an episode titled "...of the Dead" where the characters are trapped inside of a police station while a horde of zombies attempt to break in. The characters plan to raid the weapon shop nearby. In Resident Evil 2, the Kendo Gun Shop is next door to the Raccoon City Police Department, where zombies have recently succeeded in infiltrating the station. In addition, there is a flyer welcoming the Anarchy sisters, much like the welcoming party held for Leon Scott Kennedy in the west office.

Video Games

  • Action-horror title The Last of Us from Naughty Dog has an achievement titled Master of Unlocking, a reference to what Barry Burton says about Jill Valentine in Resident Evil.
    • In the team-based shoooter called Overwatch, the character D.Va has a voice interaction with the character of Sombra where she says "Hey Sombra, I hear you're a master of unlocking", to which Sombra replies with "What are you talking about?".
BorderlandsRERef1

The "Infection" weapon from Borderlands 2

  • Borderlands 2 has a challenge for spending enough money in shops entitled Waddaya Buyin'?, a reference to the same line (including its pronunciation emphasis) from the Merchant in Resident Evil 4.
  • Also in Borderlands 2, a special pistol named "Infection" has the flavor text of Itchy. Tasty., referencing the Keeper's Diary from the first game.
  • Several characters in online game Guild Wars are parodies of characters from Resident Evil. Examples: Chance Redding (Chris Redfield), Sergeant Weststar (Albert Wesker), and Jenn Valefield (Jill Valentine).
  • Fur Fighters on the Dreamcast features a poster for a fictional game called President Evil.
  • Bayonetta features a merchant named Rodin who at one point says, "Hey, check this out. Whadya buyin!?" Afterwards he remarks, "Heard that in a game once."
    • Also in Bayonetta, when Luka believes Bayonetta is about to kill him, he lists off a number of "young ladies" that he believes will be heartbroken at his death: Claire, Trish, Silvia, and Ammy. (These are references to females from previous games by Hideki Kamiya - Ammy from Ōkami, Silvia from Viewtiful Joe, Trish from Devil May Cry, and Claire from Resident Evil 2).
  • Also in Dead Island, upon completing Act 2 in which the characters leave the city, an achievement unlocks titled No raccoons in here.
Jillssandwichesdeadrising

Jill's Sandwiches Cameo Reference in Dead Rising

  • In Dead Rising, another game from Capcom, features a store named Jill's Sandwiches, referencing Barry's line when he rescues her from the room with the falling ceiling. Inside the restaurant, advertising also says, "Jill is the master of sandwich-making." It pokes fun at the infamous Barry Burton line in Resident Evil 1: "You were almost a Jill sandwich". And upon closer inspection, a description of the restaurant owner "Jill" reveals that "Jill is a master of Sandwich making" which also pokes fun at more of Barry's dialogue.
  • When inputting a certain code at the title screen of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Raiden will be heard saying the title of the game in a manner reminiscent to the title screen for the Resident Evil series. The company that partly made the game, Platinum Games, Inc., included several people who previously worked at Capcom, including Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series.
  • The game Clock Tower 3 features a post-game unlockable called the Wardrobe Key, which allows the main character, Alyssa Hamilton, to access some bonus costumes in the clear file for the game, similar to the Closet Key item and the respective unlockable items in Resident Evil and Resident Evil 0 and the Special key in Resident Evil 2. Clock Tower 3 and the Resident Evil games featured the same developer, Capcom, meaning the reference was most likely intentional.
  • In Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble, The level Horror World is based on the Resident Evil series, featuring music and enemies from the games, and pictures of villains dressed as Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside in the background.
  • In Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, another game from Capcom, features three costumes: Ada Wong Costume for Kolin, Jill Valentine Costume for Cammy, and Albert Wesker Costume for Urien.
    • Cammy's Jill Easter Egg Costume is Casual outfit from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
    • Kolin's Ada Easter Egg Costume is red dress from Resident Evil 4.
    • Urien's Wesker Easter Egg Costume is that he removes black sunglasses and black coat. In his second one, his black coat, black shirt, black pants, and black boots were removed, revealing the Classic costume of Urien (with black sunglasses).
  • One of C. Viper's color schemes in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 borrows heavily from her iconic look.[1]
  • In Dead Rising 4, Jill is one of Capcom Heroes costumes for Frank.
  • In Team Psykskallar's game Cry of Fear, there are multiple references to the Resident Evil franchise (which the developers of the game stated being a strong source of inspiration):
    Vp70

    VP70 from Cry of Fear

    • The inclusion of the H&K VP70M, the second pistol found in the game. Complete with its stock that allows for a three-round burst fire.
    • The Browning Hi-Power in the game which features black grips (similar to the one used in Resident Evil 2)
    • Limited saves requiring the player to look for tapes in order to save at recorders found throughout the game, a nod to Resident Evil's ink ribbon saving system. (Only featured in Nightmare Mode, the game's hardest difficulty)
  • The Capcom/Level-5 crossover game Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney features a science research group called Labrelum Inc., the name of which is an anagram of Umbrella. Just as with Umbrella, Labrelum conducted inhumane experiments, having formed "Project Labyrinthia", a large scale experiment in which they kept a town of civilians continuously brainwashed into living as a medieval witch-hunting society. Labrelum Inc. was most likely a reference to the Resident Evil franchise by Capcom.
Spencer Mansion reference in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
  • The Spencer Mansion makes a cameo appearance in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble on Nintendo DS.
  • In the game Dead Rising, also developed by Capcom, Chris' name makes a cameo. The restaurant Chris's Fine Foods uses Chris' name, just like the restaurant Jill's Sandwiches uses Jill's name.
Rise and Fall of Spencer Cameo Reference in Devil May Cry 5
  • In Devil May Cry 5, also developed by Capcom, Spencer's name makes a cameo. The movie called Rise and Fall of Spencer uses Spencer's name.
Tricell sign in Bionic Commando
  • The Tricell's logo has been spotted in the 2009 version of "Bionic Commando" in various billboards of the destroyed city.

Television

  • In the show Smallville, third episode of the ninth season entitled Rabid , Oliver remarks how the "whole building went Resident Evil" in reference to the presence of zombies.
  • In popular claymation television show Robot Chicken, Yoshi has to choose between going to Vice City (referencing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) or Raccoon City. He chooses to go to Raccoon City, resulting in his demise by zombies.
  • Simon Pegg's character, Tim, in the British sit-com Spaced is seen playing Resident Evil 2 several times, as well as quoting dialogue from it. He is also shown acting out part of the game at the start of the episode. In another episode, the same character can also be heard playing the first game.
  • Season 1 of independent horror-comedy show Holliston mentions Resident Evil as being the only game roommates Adam Green and Joe Lynch own, though it's never stated which one (it is stated to be on PlayStation however). In the end of Season 2, Adam meets a woman at a wedding who remarks that her "game of choice" is Resident Evil (however she also states she plays on Xbox).
  • Veronica Mars fifth episode of the third season is titled President Evil.
  • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Mandy plays a game entitled President Evil and the episode also enlists the use of zombies as a plot device.
  • In Breaking Bad, two characters argue over which is the better zombie game - Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil 4.
  • Episode 21 In the television show Clarence titled Belson's Sleepover, has a scene in which Belson is in his room. On the wall in the room is a picture of a person resembling Leon Kennedy, the main protagonist of Resident Evil 4 walking through the woods with a gun in hand. This is a reference to the cover art of the re-make of Resident Evil 4.

Film

Grandma'sBoyRE4

The GameInformer cover for Resident Evil 4 is featured on the wall in the film Grandma's Boy

  • 2009 film Grandma's Boy takes place in part in the offices of a video game development team. A number of video game posters, magazine covers, and other memorabilia are present - this includes an enlarged copy of the GameInformer cover for Resident Evil 4.
  • A DVD case for Resident Evil can be seen on a shelf.
  • In the German horror-comedy Die Nacht der lebenden Loser (Night of the Living Dorks), the character of Philip has a poster for Resident Evil 2 on his bedroom door.
  • 2011 horror film Fang has a reference to Barry's "Master of Unlocking" line.
  • In Z-Lister, a comedy short from 2012, the main character wears a T-shirt with the quote, "I hope this isn't Chris' blood."

Music

GorillazT-Virus

2-D's shirt referencing the t-Virus in the music video for Clint Eastwood

  • The music video for the song Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz features one of the band members, 2-D, wearing a T-shirt that reads T-Virus. The video also takes place in a graveyard, in which zombified gorillas rise from the graves.
  • Psychabilly/punk band Mister Monster has a song titled Resident Evil which is directly related to the game, including lines such as, "T-Virus T-Virus!! / The broken mansion calls" and "T-Virus T-Virus!! / A foaming zombie hound".
  • Money Man has also a song titled Resident Evil which is also directly related to the game.

Other

  • The original game was put into the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008 for the "Worst Game Dialogue Ever".[2]

Sources

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