Last Updated on Oct 28, 2025 @ 14:15:53 PM.
Almost every character fighting off those zombies, lycans, and more in the Resident Evil franchise is nothing short of a badass. Some are soft but skilled, trying to escape the plagued Raccoon City, like Jill Valentine; some are just too sexy to handle, saving a president’s daughter, like Leon S. Kennedy; some just switch on their John Wick mode and go full force, like Chris Redfield. Over the years, we have gotten some of these characters that many of us have become fond of in the series, and another one is being added to the list next year.
Resident Evil Requiem was released recently, and demo gameplay went viral more recently, and boy, the new monster is just crazy. She literally ate that head off that corpse while Grace watched in horror. Speaking of Grace, she is the new protagonist in the popular horror action franchise, but unlike the ones we are used to, this one’s shy, so don’t expect to be able to get away from whatever’s chasing you easily. Although the same was true for Ethan Winters, he was still someone who didn’t really fear the things he dealt with.
We’ve got a serious mix of action heroes and silent sufferers here. So, after rewatching those characters from the mainline series, we decided to rank the protagonists from the series, and we will now see which one of them is the best character in the series. We will keep updating this list every time a mainline Resident Evil game is released with a new protagonist, which may affect the rankings in the future.
7. Albert Wesker
Let’s begin with the most jackass character in Resident Evil. Albert Wesker sure is dangerous, but he is one of those guys who stays behind the curtains while other people work for him. Maybe it’s the fear, but then he got juiced up with that mutated T-virus that gave him those superhuman abilities. What was it worth?
He was subdued by a rocket launcher eventually at the end. Add the fact that he killed an old man (yeah, yeah, he was arrogant, but he was old) after being triggered by a conversation, and it makes him the biggest turnoff in the entire franchise.
6. Jill Valentine
Jill surely is one of the most popular characters out there in the franchise. And she sure has made it among the top names in the series. But then she didn’t have what it takes to be labeled as a badass. She is smart, and she has skills, but then she is like the softest character who was trying to appear the hardest in the video games.
In short, we are saying she didn’t feel natural in this horror universe. Then there’s the fact that Wesker made her his lab rat, who attacked his partner, Chris Redfield, in Resident Evil 5. She appeared more vulnerable than ever in that one. So, definitely not a badass.
5. Claire Redfield
Claire may not be a more popular character than Jill Valentine, but she certainly is more badass than her. If we look closely, Jill certainly is more intellectual and thinks a lot. Claire isn’t like that and doesn’t think much about what she wants to do (we aren’t calling her less intellectual, though). When she is introduced, she is still in college, but then she has learned a lot of fighting skills from Chris Redfield, her brother, whom she is trying to find, which is what matters in this universe. Maybe she isn’t a badass, but she’s certainly kickass.
4. Leon S. Kennedy
Let’s face it, Leon S. Kennedy is perhaps the fan-favorite character in the horror franchise. Though he was introduced in Resident Evil 2, it was Resident Evil 4 when he became one of the most beloved characters among gamers.
He is probably the one with the most crushes on him, be they the female characters or girls in real life. And he hasn’t just got some style; he’s got the skills necessary to survive any zombie-infested region. If you’ve played RE4, you already know that this man can survive any area brimming with the brain-dead. So, he is sort of a badass, but not a total badass.
3. Ada Wong
Sometimes you’ll hate her, sometimes you’ll love her. But you can’t deny the fact that she can get in and get out in any situation that’s put in front of her. Though she can be in trouble while on a mission for her dangerous employers, she has saved Leon a lot of times while betraying her employers. If put face-to-face with the aforementioned names in the list, chances are that they’ll all end up tied together while she watches them with a sexy grin and leaves. Hmm… yeah, okay, more badass than Leon.
2. Ethan Winters
Ada Wong would hang Ethan Winters upside down, no doubt about it. So why is he second on this list? Because he has guts, even though he doesn’t have the agile skills that are required to fend off a zombie horde and other freaks that show up in the franchise. And his frustrated one-liners in between his missions tell us that he isn’t afraid of anything that comes his way. Whatever it takes, he will do it for the sake of survival and to go after his loved ones. He is a badass, but he doesn’t top the list.
1. Chris Redfield
You might already have guessed it by now. Chris Redfield is the ultimate badass in the entire Resident Evil franchise. If you put someone like Ada in front of her, that beast will just grab her by the neck and hang her from the tree. His latest appearance in RE8 is nothing short of John Wick.
No lycans or zombies are a match for this beast. All they can do is to pray that they don’t die a brutal death. That does it then. Chris Redfield is a total badass you don’t want to mess with.
For more Thumb Wars video games coverage, check out our review of Hell is Us, or check out what you’ll get if you mix Mario Kart with Ratchet & Clank: Rifts Apart.
Marcus Griggs is a Writer at Thumb Wars, zeroed in on video games, but will also throw himself into anything in association with anime and cinema. As with his favorite video games, give him anything with a linear story, be it Call of Duty or Braid, and he will be happy. He thinks of stories as food and wants to feed his readers something nutritious, food for thought.
