Just as Resident Evil 9 will likely retain characters from RE8 to carry on their associated plot lines. It's pleasant to see the franchise at a point where it's set this precedent. While Resident Evil has always had a stable of reoccurring main characters, it's tended in the past to switch key players from game to game, resulting in even major and iconic characters like Jill Valentine getting lost in the series' shuffle. But much like not every survivor of RE7's events getting featured in RE8, there's still a question of which characters will star in Village's sequel.
While Mia and Rosemary Winters appear to be RE9's most likely stars as it currently stands, it may be too soon to call. After all, the enigmatic Shadows of Rose DLC starring the Winters' daughter is on the horizon, and there's a non-zero chance it may wrap a bow on the Winters clan's specific bittersweet tale once and for all. It would be similar to RE7 tying up the Baker family's loose ends via the Not a Hero and End of Zoe able campaigns. The DLC's unreleased status also leaves the Duke's candidacy for an RE9 appearance in question, as while he's a character who invites plenty of questions in Village, Shadows has teased the involvement of the jolly Duke in an apparent antagonistic role that may come with answers concerning his nature.
Possibly the most likely RE8 characters to appear in RE9 are Chris Redfield and his team, the Hound Wolf Squad. He's one of the series' original two protagonists and has grown from a cameo and DLC character in RE7 to the Winters family's benefactor and rescuer in Village, with Chris getting a section better than RE6 toward the game's end. Further expansion of his presence and examination of his and his squad's disillusionment with the BSAA would fit with the series' tendency to upscale its scope as stories progress by placing its current arc in the context of the world's politics. It also wouldn't mean sacrificing that arc's theme of family. Chris and his sister Claire starred together in Resident Evil - Code: Veronica back in 2000, a game bearing some similarities to 7 and 8 in that regard, and further investigation of the Connections or new information on Blue Umbrella could reveal similar stories to those of Mother Miranda, Eveline, and the Four Lords.
Resident Evil 9 Could Cameo Dead RE7 And RE8 Characters
Resident Evil lore-influential villain Mother Miranda, tragic yet cruel RE7 catalyst Eveline, and even hero Ethan Winters wouldn't be out of the question for an RE9 feature, either. Their appearances would likely be posthumous, such as in the forms of files or flashbacks. The destruction of the Megamycete in 8 implies that their consciousnesses have been erased from existence, rendering them unable to appear in other characters' minds as figures like Eveline and Jack Baker manage to do in RE7 and Village. Then again, the prevalence of mutation in RE and the series' use of chaotic science means that rules were made to be broken. Even RE8's technically deceased characters could prove to appear in RE9 in unforseen ways.
All these are possibilites without even going into the many underutilized or lost Resident Evil characters RE9 could bring back. Every Resident Evil game comes packed with the potential to explore a new nook of the franchise's complex and non-apocalyptic yet monster-infested world. Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 8 each introduced brand-new unforgettable characters in their approaches to that exploration, and hopes should stand high that Resident Evil 9 will do the same. But it certainly will score extra points with franchise fans by making effective, satisfying use of existing characters as well.
