Resident Evil 10’s Protagonist Leaves Gamers Torn

Published Oct 16, 2026, 7:02 AM EDT

James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.

The Resident Evil series has really become defined by its protagonists over the years, so much so that you can actually now predict what kind of game it is going to be from who is heading it up. The last game gave us dual protagonists in Grace Ashcroft and the always-cool Leon S. Kennedy, and by all accounts it was a great success.

Kennedy served as the tool for carving through enemies, and signaled to the player that they were about to lean into the action more, whereas Ashcroft is considerably less equipped in combat and was much more about stealth from a player's perspective. It was also a hugely successful game that likely means a tenth mainline entry is on the way soon, and fans can't decide who they want to head it up next time out.

Over on Reddit, one user shared a post featuring their contention that the next game in the Resident Evil series will feature a new protagonist, alongside a legacy character as co-lead. It's an interesting contention, but all it really did was open up the floor to a bunch of opinions, and nobody can seem to agree on the best course of action.

"I think the franchise and Capcom have a big issue, because of the natural progression of the series. 9 does a really good job of balancing the horror vs the action, but how do they go forward after this? How do we revisit characters like Chris or Jill and retain the horror that we experienced as Grace? The series has to find a way to replicate the magic of the Spencer mansion and Raccoon City in an organic and believable way without leaning too hard into over the top action," one comment read.

While another added, "If Capcom is smart they'll give fans what they want, and we'll have RE10 bring it full circle to RE1 by teaming Chris and Jill up again and maybe throw in Ada for good measure after omitting her twice now."

"Whilst I like two different protagonists, introducing new characters every game just for them to be forgotten in the next is getting redundant. There's still pre-existing characters who we could play as that could bring the horror side of gameplay," a third said.

"I know this won't be a popular take but I kind of hope they just go back to fresh characters/concepts again. The gameplay in Requiem has been done so many times now. I really just want something fresh again like how the Ethan arc transpired," another said.

Current rumors suggest Resident Evil 10 will be led by Claire Redfield, who we haven't seen since 2015's Resident Evil Revelations 2. Given she's the star of 2027's upcoming Code Veronica remake, it definitely makes sense, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Whatever Capcom does decide to do with Resident Evil next, it's clear that they're going to have a difficult job catering to everyone's preferences. The success of the recent movie adaptation will be encouraging though, and if they can strike a similar balance then they should be on to a winner with RE10.

Horror franchise Resident Evil started off as an acclaimed survival horror video game series on the Sony PlayStation, with new entries released for each subsequent console generation. Outside of games, the hit franchise includes feature films, a TV show, comics, and novels.