Resident Evil is back!
The long-awaited sequel to RE:7 has finally arrived. The newest entry of Capcom’s action/horror darling, Resident Evil Village, has been released to booming critical success.
In typical Resident Evil fashion, Village has a wide variety of bizarre and creepy characters with some of the most mesmerising voices in gaming media. Since the game’s launch, the game’s cast has finally been revealed, which is why we will examine the Resident Evil Village voice actors in detail to shine some recognition on these lower-profile voices.
SPOILER-FREE.
Ethan Winters (Todd Soley)
Returning from the previous entry in the saga, Ethan Winters is the protagonist of Village. Ethan has been through a lot in his time in this franchise. After saving his wife, Mia, from the clutches of the Baker family in Resident Evil 7, Ethan has settled down and had a daughter – Rosemary. He is living an idyllic family life.
Until series veteran, Chris Redfield shows up and kills his wife and kidnaps his daughter.
Ethan’s objective is now to pursue Redfield to a mysterious village in the depths of the Eastern European region of Transylvania. Thrust back into the thick of an impossible mission, Ethan Winters must seek out and defeat the four mutant lords of this location, and their ruler, to save his daughter from grasps of some insidious plot.
As a character, Ethan Winters acts as a window for the player to access the game world. The game hides Ethan’s face to facilitate the player projecting their own personality onto the character. These requirements mean that Ethan is a slightly more generic character than other protagonists in the series.
Todd Soley voices Ethan Winters, revisiting the role after the last game. Soley’s performance straddles the line between genericism and making Ethan an explicit character. This is a tricky tightrope to walk, but Soley captures it effectively. Soley instils some relatable realism to Ethan. Many Resident Evil characters are over-the-top and larger than life; Ethan comes across as a comparatively standard type of guy.
Todd Soley has a history in video games voice acting that started in 2007, with WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008. However, he has not featured prolifically in many video games up until his casting as Ethan Winters. We will likely see his name more often after his performance as a leading Resident Evil Village voice actor.
Chris Redfield (Jeff Schine)
A classic Resident Evil character. Chris Redfield is a character that has been around since the first game, one of the original playable characters that investigated the Spencer Mansion. Chris Redfield has been among the cast of this franchise for 25 years, appearing in various games – with a long story that spans his many outings.
Chris Redfield’s history is wrought with a long-term conflict with the Umbrella Corporation. The clandestine biomedical corporation with a penchant for biological weaponry going array and causing biohazardous catastrophes. From Raccoon city to deep in Africa, Chris has been on numerous adventures, with just as many different voice actors performing in the role.
The character has had a whopping ten different voice actors. The current keeper of Chris is Jeff Schine, a voice actor with various roles in video games media, including Call of Duty, Marvel’s Avengers, and even the remake of Resident Evil 3.
Jeff Schine brings his talents to this classic character, a daunting task with some big shoes to fill. Schine’s experience puts him in an excellent position for this job – and he excels in the role of Chris Redfield. Chris’s mysterious behaviour in this game is reflected in Schine’s performance – shrouding the character’s intentions in mystery.
Mia Winters (Katie O’Hagan)
Mia Winters is another recurring character from the previous game. The Baker family captured her in RE:7, trying to force her to “join the family” – exposing her to various mutations and horrors. Fortunately, Ethan saved her from that nightmare, and the two moved on with their lives.
In between games, Mia and Ethan had a child together, Rosemary, until the kidnapping. In this event, Mia also lost her life, setting Ethan on his quest.
Before performing as Mia Winters, Katie O’Hagan had not worked in gaming media at all. She was a relative unknown, with minor roles in television series like Cold Case, Charmed, and Good Girls Revolt. O’Hagan’s casting continues the trend of Capcom choosing hidden gems to voice their characters rather than established voice actors.
Katie O’Hagan provides stellar work in the role of Mia Winters. In RE:7, O’Hagan can shift from frightened woman to terrifying demon, on a dime, as the mutation takes hold. The gut-wrenching screams are some of the most chilling moments in the franchise.
Whilst Mia has been cured of her infection in Village, and she is her old self, Katie O’Hagan’s incredible voice work should not be understated.
Lady Dimitrescu (Maggie Robertson)
The 9ft 6in tall vampire lady herself. The internet has become very fond of the lady of Castle Dimitrescu. She is one of the major four lords of the Village in the game and a nemesis of Ethan. She is a powerful foe, capable of spawning long retractable claws from her fingertips, endowed with eternal life.
She stalks the player through the game’s castle portion, following the player and attacking whenever the opportunity arises.
Maggie Robertson voices her. Robertson has a small history of acting, and Resident Evil Village is the first role that she has had in voice acting for video games. She brings a distinction to the character of Dimitrescu, retaining some feminity in her performance. This is not to say she is not a terrifying presence.
Dimitrescu is competent, which Maggie Robertson captures brilliantly. She has become a bit of an internet sensation since she revealed her contribution to the character. Robertson’s follower count has shot up to 13k! This is a testament to the audience’s appreciation for her work, making her the most prolific among the Resident Evil Village voice actors.
Karl Heisenberg (Neil Newbon)
Another one of the four lords, Karl Heisenberg, is a genius engineer. Heisenberg runs the Factory district of the map. He possesses inhuman strength, tremendous healing abilities and also uses a giant hammer.
Neil Newbon voices Heisenberg in Resident Evil Village. He has a history of British television projects, most notably featuring in Hollyoaks and Casualty in the UK. Newbon has a history of motion capture in gaming media, with his breakout in voice acting being a recent development.
Salvatore Moreau (Jesse Pimentel)
A heavily mutated human being serves as the lord of the Moreau family in the mountain range. It is clear from simply looking, Moreau is the most degenerate among the four lords. He takes the form of a fish-like monster with gills and webbed hands and feet.
Pimentel captures the disturbing behaviour of this character well in his performance. With his voice lending a degree of cowardice to the role. Pimentel has only got one more gaming performance in his repertoire, the role of Lucas Baker in Resident Evil 7. Lucas is another major villain for Ethan Winters, so it seems clear that he has some pretty relevant experience in his backlog.
Donna Beneviento (Andi Norris)
Donna Beneviento is an exceedingly mysterious villain in Village. Her face is shrouded in a black veil, a mourning garb that covers her entirely in black. She is one of the lords that Ethan must face, although her abilities are distinctly less inhuman. Beneviento uses her ability to cause hallucinations, control plants, and controlling dolls to menace her enemies. Angie is one of her dolls that she often uses to communicate through.
Donna Beneviento’s voice actor in Resident Evil Village is Andi Norris. Norris’ background is in stunts and creature performance. Much like others on this list, this game is her first dive into the gaming world.
Mother Miranda (Michelle Lukes)
Mother Miranda is a mysterious character, the arch-villain of the game and the leader of the lords. She is a powerful and unknown entity, capable of incredible abilities, like shapeshifting.
Michelle Lukes has worked in another major video game franchise, that being Halo. She featured in Halo 5: Guardians in the role of Kelly-087. As one of the Resident Evil Village voice actors, she brings a commanding presence in her performance.
That is the list of the main cast of the Resident Evil Village voice actors. You can only get so much from us telling you about them, so if you give the game a play, you can experience their work first hand.
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