Resident Evil – Code: Veronica exists as a bit of a transitory game for the series. Arriving between the final game in the initial PS1 trilogy and the radical series reinvention that Resident Evil 4 represents, Code: Veronica sees the traditional Resident Evil gameplay make its full-3D debut after originally using 3D character models over pre-rendered backgrounds. Though it’s now a bit of an outlier in the broader context of the series’ history, Code: Veronica remains a fan-favorite thanks to its excellent story and valuable contributions to the series’ lore. Not only that, it’s the only game where players get to see Claire Redfield team up with her brother and original protagonist Chris. All characters in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica play an important role in the game’s story, but its’s the Redfield siblings that take center stage.
Chronologically, Code: Veronica takes place mere months after the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, with Claire Redfield attempting to track down the whereabouts of her brother Chris following the destruction of Raccoon City. Concurrent with this is Chris’ investigation into the Umbrella Corporation as he hopes to find evidence that can link the evil pharmaceutical giant to the Raccoon City incident. By the time Code: Veronica‘s narrative sees fit to have these sibling protagonists cross paths, players learn a surprising amount about the T-Virus’ origins as well as Albert Wesker’s villainous plans for the research and science supporting it.
Claire Redfield
Following the destruction of Raccoon City and her narrow escape with Sherry Birkin and Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield continues her search for her brother Chris. Her investigation eventually takes her to Umbrella’s Paris laboratory, but she ends up in the hands of Umbrella and gets sent to the company’s Rockfort Island facility as a prisoner. Unfortunately for Claire, her arrival and imprisonment at Rockfort Island coincides with a sabotage operation under the command of Albert Wesker, placing her right into the midst of yet another T-Virus outbreak. She eventually comes across a computer within the facility, which she uses to contact Leon in hopes of him informing Chris of her whereabouts.
Claire and fellow Rockfort Island prisoner Steve Burnside successfully escape the facility in a plane only to fall under attack from a Tyrant BOW and have their course divert to Umbrella’s Antarctic facility. There, both Claire and Steve come across the true nature of the T-Virus, the T-Veronica virus, and the BOW Nosferatu. The duo successfully defeats the BOW but then falls victim to the now-awake Alexia Ashford. Thanks to Claire’s contacting Leon, Chris shows up in time for the two to successfully escape the Antarctic facility after defeating both Wesker and Alexia. Following the incident, Claire returns to the US and begins her work on anti-bioterrorism while also mentoring Sherry Birkin.
Chris Redfield
Chris Redfield is a former member of S.T.A.R.S. and one of the heroes of the Arklay Mountain Incident within the Spencer Mansion. After realizing that the events at the mansion and the T-Virus outbreak are the result of experiments gone awry by the pharmaceutical mega-corporation Umbrella, Chris vows to not rest until they are brought to justice. While continuing to investigate the Umbrella Corporation in hopes of finding evidence connecting them to the Raccoon City disaster, Chris receives contact from Leon S. Kennedy informing him that his sister is currently held as Umbrella’s prisoner on Rockfort Island. With this, Chris suspends his investigation and heads to the facility in order to rescue Claire.
When he arrives at the Rockfort Island facility, Chris runs into none other than his former S.T.A.R.S. commander and Umbrella double-agent Albert Wesker. The two clash only for Wesker to quickly subdue Chris thanks to his newfound superhuman abilities courtesy of the T-Virus. Wesker lets on that Claire is no longer on the island but instead at Umbrella’s Antarctic facility, and Chris follows in pursuit. He arrives just in time to help Claire defeat the mutated Alexia Ashford but then has to rescue Claire from Albert Wesker. He sends Claire to secure their escape vehicle as the facility crumbles around them, and the two successfully depart in a harrier jet just as the complex self-destructs. Following the events of Code: Veronica, Chris joins a private anti-BOW task force that eventually becomes the B.S.A.A.
Steve Burnside
Steve Burnside is the son of a former Umbrella employee and a fellow prisoner on Rockfort Island along with Claire Redfield. Following his father’s selling of Umbrella’s research on the black market, both Steve and his father are taken prisoner at the Rockfort Island facility. Claire’s arrival at the facility coincides with Wesker’s sabotage operation, which creates a perfect opportunity for Steve to finally escape. After meeting Claire, the two pair up to discover a way off the island, eventually coming across a cargo plane that they use to escape the facility only to end up at yet another top-secret Umbrella lab. At the Antarctic facility, Steve and Claire come across the true Alexia Ashford as she wakes from a decades-long cryogenic slumber. Now mutated from the T-Veronica Virus, Alexia infects Steve and knocks Claire unconscious.
At the same time that Chris arrives at the Antarctic facility, Steve’s infection from Alexia begins to take hold and mutate him. Claire finds herself in a room with the mutated Steve with no way to defend herself, but thankfully Steve can withstand the virus long enough to regain consciousness and avoid hurting Claire. After informing Claire about her brother’s arrival to the facility to rescue her, Steve tragically succumbs to the virus and dies.
Rodrigo Juan Raval
Rodrigo Juan Raval is an Umbrella Security Service (U.S.S.) officer who oversees the defense of the company’s Paris laboratory. During Claire Redfield’s infiltration of the facility, it is none other than Rodrigo who captures her and takes her to Rockfort Island as the company’s prisoner. Interestingly, Rodrigo can trace his ancestry back to Rockfort Island’s original inhabitants, and he only joins the U.S.S. following the Ashford family’s establishment of Umbrella facilities there and the forceful removal of the island’s residents. During the attack on the island from Wesker’s forces and subsequent outbreak, Rodrigo frees Claire from her cell to give her at least a fighting chance of escape.
After Claire and Steve successfully make their way off of Rockfort Island, Rodrigo heads to a nearby crypt containing the remains of his ancestors and the island’s original inhabitants only to come across Chris Redfield. Before he dies from his wounds, he helps Chris locate his sister by informing him of where the cargo plane’s auto-pilot took her — the Antarctic research facility.
Albert Wesker
A top Umbrella researcher and the former commander of the S.T.A.R.S. unit, Albert Wesker is the original villain of Resident Evil and returns once again in Code: Veronica. Though the last time players see him in Resident Evil he dies at the hands of a Tyrant, he now survives thanks to the T-Virus. Additionally, Wesker’s injection of the T-Virus grants him superhuman abilities that he can now use to surpass any potential foe. Wekser uses his knowledge and power to launch a campaign of sabotage against Umbrella as a double-crossing former agent, hoping to steal valuable secrets about the research and creation of BOWs and sell them on the black market.
After running into his former adversary Chris Redfield on Rockfort Island, Wesker heads to the Antarctic research facility to steal the T-Veronica virus and deal with Alexia Ashford. However, Alexia’s strength proves to be too much for Wesker, prompting him to retreat in order to live and fight another day. He returns right as Chris and Claire are attempting to escape the facility and captures Claire. Thankfully, an explosion harms Wesker and prompts him to cowardly run away, heading for a submarine docked at the Antarctic Base. Following the events of Code: Veronica, Wesker continues to build his clandestine profile as an arms dealer and is responsible for the proliferation of BOWs around the globe.
Alexia Ashford
The true villain of the game, Alexia Ashford is one of the Ashford twins born of Umbrella’s Code: Veronica project. Despite being a genetically engineered clone, she is technically the biological granddaughter of none other than Edward Ashford, one of the founders of the Umbrella Corporation. After exhibiting significant aptitude in the fields of chemistry and virology, Alexia would go on to become a lead researcher at Umbrella and eventually discover the truth behind her and her brother’s parentage. Afterward, the two would inject their adoptive father with the T-Veronica virus and transform him into the BOW Nosferatu.
While conducting research on her grandfather’s notes and the origins of the Progenitor Virus, Alexia discovers that she can overcome flaws in the virus’ effects by placing herself into a cryogenic slumber. She awakens not long after Claire and Steve Burnside arrive at the Antarctic research facility, using her newfound power to subdue the pair and infect Steve. Chris and Claire are eventually able to defeat Alexia using the experimental Linear Launcher weapon, but not before she triggers the facility’s self-destruct sequence.
Alfred Ashford
While his twin sister slumbers in cryogenic stasis, Alfred Ashford stays behind at the Rockfort Island facility to serve as its commander and the resident owner of the grounds. Following Claire’s escape and teaming up with Steve Burnside, Alfred continually torments the duo and attempts to prevent them from leaving the island. In an interesting twist, he also dons a disguise as his twin sister Alexia and impersonates her for the duo. Eventually, both Steve and Claire discover that Alfred is assuming the identity of both twin siblings and can subdue him long enough to escape, though he has already fled to their destination — the Antarctic Base.
After arriving at the base, Alfred makes a last-ditch attempt to stop Claire and Steve but suffers a gunshot wound and falls down a crevasse. He is able to find Alexia and help release her from her cryogenic chamber, later dying in her arms as a result of his injuries.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Gameplay screenshot.