Leon aged in Resident Evil Requiem, but Jill and Claire will stay young for a long time – and there's a reason for that
Just days remain before the release of Resident Evil Requiem, and Capcom's latest entry in the iconic survival horror series is already topping wish lists. The game introduces a new protagonist – Grace Ashcroft – and brings back Leon S. Kennedy looking noticeably older. But anyone hoping for a similar age-up treatment for series veterans like Jill Valentine should temper their expectations. The reason lies in one of the franchise's more absurd bits of lore: the leading women of Resident Evil age incredibly slowly.
The explanation for this first surfaced in 2023 with the animated film Resident Evil: Death Island. Set between the events of Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil 7, the movie brought together the series' biggest stars on Alcatraz to investigate a zombie outbreak. It was a gloriously silly watch, but an entertaining one nonetheless. Viewers quickly noticed something odd – Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, and Rebecca Chambers all looked like barely a day had passed since the first three games.
It would be easy to chalk this up to a common franchise convention where characters simply don't age. But Capcom went a different route. Ahead of the film's release, the official Resident Evil Portal account on X posted a character bio for Jill:
Fought bioterrorist attacks as part of S.T.A.R.S. alongside Chris. Infection with the T-Virus slowed her aging, but left psychological scars. She returned to the team after rehabilitation.
Jill was famously infected with the T-Virus by Nemesis in Resident Evil 3, before Carlos administered a vaccine and saved her. But she's not alone in that regard. Claire Redfield was infected with the fear-inducing T-Phobos Virus in Resident Evil: Revelations 2, while Rebecca Chambers contracted the A-Virus in the animated film Resident Evil: Vendetta.
So according to the series' internal logic, all three women age more slowly as a result of their past infections. That said, it's probably not worth digging too deep into the explanation – like many elements of Resident Evil lore, it's vague and applied inconsistently from one entry to the next.
Some fans think it simply comes down to asset reuse, while others point to the entertainment industry's broader double standard of being reluctant to show women aging. Whatever the real reason, seeing Claire or Jill as 50-year-olds in upcoming entries seems unlikely – even as Leon clearly shows his years.
Resident Evil Requiem launches February 28 on PC, Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series.
