Character Corner: Sherry Birkin

These days, when it comes to discussing the Resident Evil series, fans unanimously praise Resident Evil 4 as the best game in the series, if not all time.

They aren’t wrong with their choice, but it wasn’t too long ago when Resident Evil 2 was the top dog among fans, and it still holds a special place in my heart for not only introducing me to the world of Survival Horror, but was also one of the first games to really show me what the Playstation could do.

As we get closer to Resident Evil 5’s release, I’ve decided to talk about the one dangling loose-end from the 2nd game, little Sherry Birkin.

"I saw someone do that on TV once." Aww.

Having a young, defenseless character tossed in with a group of heavily armed, somewhat capable survivors in a horror setting is one of the oldest cliches in the book, but considering the infancy of the Survival Horror genre at the time, Sherry’s inclusion in RE2 was pretty innovative. Seen mostly in Claire’s scenario, players were treated to the concept of having to care for and protect a helpless NPC in a setting where death came in many faces and from many angles. The way Sherry would stick close to Claire and grasp her hand was a unique, emotional touch, years before everyone praised Ico for the very same concept.

There was also a brief section of the game where you were forced to take control of Sherry in order to retrieve an important key item (a, uh…key). Having no way to defend herself, the scenario made for an extra level of tension and fear.

It’s just too bad that the zombies were downgraded to merely vomiting on Sherry as she avoided them, most likely to avoid any extra controversy involving child murder (it’s the same reason they had to scrap their plans to include zombie kids in the first game). Ironically enough, Capcom had no problem having the zombie dogs take a bite out of her using their standard lunging attacks. You thought those dogs were spooky enough when they were busting through windows, imagine having to outrun them with a character that’s roughly the same size as them.

It wasn’t much of a shock that Sherry would survive the zombie outbreak by the end of the game, and it looked like she would spend the remainder of her days with Claire, who apparently took her in as an adoptive sister or daughter.

But then came the extra epilogue endings from Resident Evil 3, tossing in a new wave of twists and cliffhangers to further extend the story post-Racoon City.

I have value, you say? Interesting....let us talk.

The first one involves Leon being confronted by a “government official”, offering him some sort of deal in exchange for Sherry. Knowing what a badass Leon is (or will become), you’d think his sharp response would be to “piss off”, but apparently he was given one heck of a good deal, because….

Sorry kid, she totally does.

It seems he really did hand Sherry over to the government. Leon must really like being told that he has value.

But there’s no way Claire would stand for this sudden exchange, right?

Wilderness? I thought she was going to look for him in Europe. Uhh...

Nope, because it looks like it was done behind her back. Apparently taking place before the two epilogues above, Claire is seen here being brushed off by Leon so she can go after her brother. I’ve wondered for the longest time what was going on in this epilogue, with Leon and Sherry being mentioned to need medical attention, but looking at this pic again, it’s possible that this takes place immediately after their escape from RE2. It would make sense considering Leon’s bandages and Claire’s jacket-less look, but it didn’t always click with me since the ending originally showed that final portrait with Claire and Sherry riding off in a motorcycle.

Anyway, Claire goes off searching for Chris, which leads to the events of Code Veronica. It’s assumed that she wasn’t made aware of Leon handing Sherry over to the government, because….

It turns out that shadowy government figure wasn’t actually working for the government (surprise!), but instead was one of Wesker’s men.

Even so, Claire does survive the ordeals in Code Veronica, so it would make sense that she comes back to check up on Sherry, right?

Oh snap, that dude got his head blown off! Sherry-who? Unsolved plot-what? Screw that shit, I'm shooting heads off! This game kicks ass!!

For several years, we were left without an answer to that, because the RE series had entered a “dark age” of sorts, where Capcom worked tirelessly to make the fourth game in the series really, really good, but couldn’t decide on a scenario that satisfied them. After constant rewrites, they settled on placing Leon in a remote Spanish village fighting waves of non-zombies that chased after you, carried weapons, and screamed how they were going to carve you into meat chunks (in Spanish). Awesomeness ensued, and right now all you readers are thinking of replaying the game for the hundredth time. Do it.

Anyway, the critical success of Resident Evil 4 only guaranteed more sequels, so it didn’t take too long for the fifth entry to get announced, staring Chris Redfield in a decidedly controversial African setting.

For the fifth Resident Evil, we were promised that the story would take a darker, almost crueler tone than previous games. It certainly looks it, based on the trailers featuring more menacing (and more violent) enemies, a gritty Black Hawk Down-inspired aesthetic, and an all around gloomier feel that doesn’t leave much room for quips about bingo or small-time cult leaders.

But a darker tale wasn’t the only thing Capcom promised. They also promised the return of an old character that hasn’t been seen for a while, one that’s been “kept in confinement for several years.”

Skinny little Sherry Birkin. She grew up. She filled out.

That comment, plus the teaser image above leaves little doubt the returning character is Sherry, who’s now an adult following the 7 plus years after RE2’s story. As you can see, she’s sleeping in some sort of hibernation tank, which RE veterans should know by now is never a good sign.

I waited for you, Claire.

Even less encouraging is the menacing gaze she gives before the trailer goes black. Considering the malicious nature of her captor (along with the theory that William left a viral legacy within her), it wouldn’t be a stretch to guess that Sherry’s been experimented on ever since her capture. Will Chris and his new politically-correct partner have to face her? Will he be able to save Sherry, or will he have to resort to a mercy killing?

Some of you might be scoffing me for even following Resident Evil’s confusing, poorly written storyline. Just go with the flow, and bust some undead heads open, right? Well, I don’t entirely share that sentiment; Even though the series has always maintained a level of cheesy horror movie drama (purely intentional for RE4, not so much for previous games), I have to give Capcom for maintaining one of the longest-lasting videogame plots out there, where almost every game has followed a strict continuity, always letting us know where each entry falls in the timeline, and what almost every character has been up to.

The short of it is that I do care about most of the RE cast, whether it’s to cheer bad assess like Leon and Chris, show sympathy for female characters like Claire and Rebbeca, or love to hate series mastermind Wesker, who has yet to be properly defeated and always chews up the scenery whenever he shows up, like a good villain should be. So it’s within my rights to ponder the fate of Sherry Birkin, the most helpless character in the RE series, as her briefly-mentioned capture has been one of the longest unsolved mysterious in a game’s plot since Janus’ sister.

It should also be worth mentioning that Resident Evil is a progressively darker, less forgiving series since the 2nd entry; The set pieces have grown darker and moodier, major characters have been killed onscreen (with a hideous mutation occurring before or after said death), and the BOW creations have been more horrific in both appearance and backstory. Just take a look at Lisa Trevor’s story, which is probably the cruelest and most disturbing creature story I’ve read yet, and that’s including anything from Silent Hill.

Now, it is true that in a case between whether Capcom has planned Sherry’s reappearance for just the right occasion, or just plum forgot about her and quickly tossed her in, the latter argument is probably the most valid. However, there’s still potential for this subplot to evolve into something interesting, and maybe a little moving. Having Sherry appear in RE5 as someone who first appeared as sweet and innocent, but has grown into something dangerous and resentful after years of torturous experimentation can be quite a tragic scenario for players to witness, and fills in quite nicely with the promise of a darker tone for the sequel.

However, I’d hate for Sherry’s “transformation” to occur without Claire being present, and it’s looking less and less likely that she’ll make an appearance considering the number of new female characters (as well as the rumored reappearance of a certain master of unlocking). It just isn’t the same for Chris to have an emotional and physical confrontation with her, especially since we don’t even know if he knows who she is (though that didn’t stop Leon from knowing who Wesker was in RE4, even though the two have never met face to face). It’s possible that Sherry will be a recurring villain, leading up to a future battle between her and Claire, but I’d rather have her story over and done with by the time part 5 rolls out (2 more months!).

Although it’s still unconfirmed if Claire is aware at all of Sherry’s disappearance.

Shoot 'em in the head.

One of the things that initially excited me about the CG film Degeneration was the reunion between Leon and Claire. Unfortunately, the interaction between the two former partners is casual at best, with no mention at all about Sherry. In fact, Claire has pretty much dumped her in favor of a new, cuter Indian girl. She also has a brief fling with a new male character in the movie (it’s Crispin Freeman’s voice, isn’t it? I know it’s sexy and all, but….), despite her tragic affair with Steve in Code Veronica. Apparently breaking up is no problem at all for Claire, and it seems she and Leon will never get together outside of someone’s fanfiction (Leon, meanwhile, nearly hooks up with a new female officer in this flick, who when out of uniform possesses a rack even larger than RE4’s Ashley).

The movie was still decent, even if the stiff character animation was nowhere near the level of Advent Children, but aside from a teaser about RE5’s evil biological corporation TriCell, it failed to deliver any news on the Sherry situation. Does Claire think she’s still safe in the army? Is she silently worried? Who the heck knows.

Well when all is said and done, I hope this mystery finally comes to a close in Resident Evil 5 (I also hope the game manages to match RE4’s near-perfection), and that it ends happily at that. Sherry’s had enough of a hard-knock life without having to follow in her father’s footsteps.

Those are some very painful, uncomfortable shoes to fill.

Character Corner: Zangief

For this blog, I have decided to add a few categories that pertain to a certain subject. One of these categories will deal with videogame characters, in which I dedicate a single post to whichever character I feel like dissecting with praise, pondering, or pity.

With the recent release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (if you had time to read that title, then you have time to go download it off your PS3 or Xbox 360 if you hadn’t done so already), I’m dedicating the first character watch to Zangief.

No, no, I’m not a big fan of him. Consider me part of the crowd that likes his Shotoclones and badass moe cuties. Sure, I like to have fun with the big, muscular guys now and then (that sounded really wrong, but I already dug myself a hole by using the term “moe”), but if it’s a serious match, then I always stick to good ‘ol reliable down+down-forward+forward+fierce.

So why am I talking about Zangief today? Because well…I don’t get Zangief.

I know what you’re thinking: “What is there to get?”. Not like the giant steroid characters ever have a deep story, right?

Well that’s the thing, most of them do have a story, a motivation for fighting. Nothing big, usually it’s something to prove there’s a heart hidden under all that muscle mass, like protecting their homeland, girlfriend, kitty cat, whatever.

What the hell is Zangief’s reason for fighting? In the original, it was to represent his beloved homeland of Mother Russia.

But lately it seems he only likes to fight for the sheer hell of it. As you know, Street Fighter has appeared as other forms of media, mainly anime, manga, comics, and that live movie everyone tries to forget, but can’t. In most of those situations, Zangief usually makes a brief appearance, sans dialog. Growling and roaring like the very bears he massacres on a daily basis, when Zangief shows up it’s usually to fuck up whoever is in the scene with him.

Take the Street Fighter Alpha OVA. We get an original character in the form of Ryu’s brother Shun.

This kid. And for you purists who haven’t seen it, keep the bitching down; he’s not really his brother. Duh.

Naturally, the kid wants to become an awesome fighter like his big not-brother. He signs up for a tournament, and guess who his first opponent is.

Good Lord, he’s so pumped up that he pops a vein just by grimacing. Holy shit.

As I mentioned before, the giant muscle character is usually a softy at heart, respectful of mother nature, little kids, and all that noise. But Zangief? He doesn’t say a word. Soon as the bell rings, he’s doing this.

Now to be fair, Shun isn’t a normal fake brother of Ryu (again, big surprise). He gets into a psycho rage when fighting, and he’s tough enough to give guys like Zangief a tough time.

But this was only partly into the fight. Before the match was even official, Zangief was tearing out the door to his steel cage and throwing it at Shun.

Also, ouch.

A similar scenario occures with Sakura, both in her Udon miniseries and manga miniseries. Sakura comes across Zangief, eager to test her abilities. Does Zangief show any restraint with the knowledge that he’s a seasoned bear wrestler and she’s just a naive high school girl?

Nope. “Bring it on!”, Zangief tells both Sakura and Cammy in the manga. “One arm to take on each girl!”

So basically, Zangief will fight whatever you throw at him. A chicken, an old guy in a wheelchair, the cub of the bear he decapitated, it doesn’t matter. Zangief will rip you apart.

It’s a bit disheartining, becuase in the earlier days I considered Zangief the gentle kind of giant. The kind of guy that loves to have a serious competition with you, but laughs off the match and has a beer with you afterwards. Just look at his ending from Street Fighter Alpha 3.

How awesome is that? The combined power of Zangief’s muscles and Honda’s blubber saved the day. Why can’t we have more stuff like that?

Even the live movie had Zangief start off as a villain, but his cartoonish stupidity made him hard to dislike, not to mention the fact that he switched to the side of good by the end. The USA cartoon went and made him a villain again, though.

At this rate, they should just make his Marvel vs Capcom incarnation the main canon one.

It fits his current bloodthirsty style much better. Also he gushes blood from his head in a faster and wider rate.