20 Things You DIDN'T Know About Resident Evil 5
20 Things You Didn’t Know About Resident Evil 5
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re continuing our hidden facts lists with more Resident Evil. We’ve done RE Village, we’ve done RE7, we’ve successfully skipped RE6 - Time for RE5. These are 20 Things You Didn’t Know About RE5.
The True Hero
Let’s start off with a fun little insight into one of our protagonists designs, and no I’m not talking about Old Mate Chris’ tree trunk arms. If you are fluent in Swahili, you may already know this, but for everyone else, take a look at the tattoo on newcomer Sheva’s arm. Just in case it wasn’t obvious from her main role, she was also branded and the tattoo says “hero” in Swahili. Either the game was being funny for bi-lingual fans, or Sheva is unbelievably up herself. Either way, what a hero.
Tiger Uppercut
In Resident Evil 5’s Mercenaries mode, Albert Wesker can casually break the laws of survival horror by throwing out a full-on Tiger Uppercut, which is not something they teach at BSAA. Turns out, this isn’t random nonsense! It’s a deliberate nod to the iconic special move from “Street Fighter,” another Capcom series, meaning Capcom essentially looked at their trench-coat-wearing supervillain and said “yeah he absolutely knows fighting game inputs, and probably a handful of cheat codes as well.” Scumbag.
We Actually Saw The Merchant
“Resident Evil 5” was originally going to feature a proper merchant system, similar to the fan-favorite weapons dealer from “Resident Evil 4” - beloved by many, quoted by all. The plan got so far along in development that he is still present in the game. The merchant is actually the same guy who quietly hands Chris and Sheva their gear at the start of the game, implying there was a whole unseen economy where this dude just shuffles around Africa armed to the teeth, but the idea was ultimately scrapped, likely because having a trench-coat arms dealer calmly setting up shop during a global outbreak might’ve been even more silly that our old friend from RE4.
Fiona Belli
Jill’s appearance throughout this franchise might be the most inconsistent, mainly because she doesn’t look the same in a single entry. For “Resident Evil 5” her likeness was heavily based on Fiona Belli from “Haunting Ground,” which is fine because they’re both Capcom titles. Once you notice it you can’t unsee it, because the facial structure, overall look, and vibe are so similar it feels like Capcom actually got a little lazy. I would never EVER steal words I’ve already used for a Mojo video, that would be unethical (I directly quoted my own thesis on sexualisation in media in my last video), that would be immoral!
Firsts for Dialogue
Turns out that “Resident Evil 5” had a lot of firsts, and a few specific to the game's spoken lines. It was the first entry to drop a full-on F-bomb in English, which is funny considering earlier games were already packed with biological horrors, corporate conspiracies, and people screaming their lungs out, but don’t you dare curse, you savage! On top of that, it was also the first time the series fully committed to proper subtitles during cutscenes, marking the moment when players no longer had to guess what was being said over explosions, accents, and melodrama. Because of the lack of subtitles, my brother (and this is not a lie for comedy, this is 100% true) debated with me years before the internet was available to us, that Barry Burton in first “Resident Evil” didn’t say “you were almost a Jill Sandwich”, but “you were almost a Jibble Sandwich".
Desert-Dent Evil
“Resident Evil 5” was originally planned to include a desert stage built around a massive wrecked ship, but the level was ultimately scrapped after developers realized that trudging across empty dunes was more tedious than terrifying, which is a shame because the area was supposed to introduce sand-based enemies that literally rose out of the ground like undead beach umbrellas, meaning we were one design meeting away from Chris Redfield suplexing zombies after sand jumpscares.
Reunited And It Feels So Good
OH DAMN! More firsts. “Resident Evil 5” marks the first time a mainline entry managed to get the entire original crew back together in one place, with Chris, Jill, Albert Wesker, Barry Burton, and Rebecca Chambers all making appearances, turning the game into a full-on reunion tour that feels less like survival horror and more like Capcom checking off a very important fan-service bingo card. And while not everyone shows up in the main story, Mercenaries Reunion steps in to complete the roll call, which I know, technically feels like cheating, but it also feels SO wonderful for the soul.
The Gold Ring
The Uroboros Test Subject is designed to be an absolute ammo tax, the kind of enemy that exists solely to teach you to use your surroundings to get a tactical advantage. The game very much wants you to push the big red “burn it” button on the nearby incinerator instead of emptying your entire arsenal like a panicking action hero, but if you ignore Capcom’s very reasonable suggestion and somehow manage to kill this nightmare without using the incinerator, the game quietly hands you a Golden Ring as a reward, which can be sold for a cool $5,000, meaning you’re technically being paid for stubbornness. Although once you factor in the mountain of ammo you probably spent achieving this feat, you’ll have to decide whether the real prize was the money or just the satisfaction of proving you ain’t no b*tch.
Left Handed
Split-screen co-op in “Resident Evil 5” isn’t just randomly slapping players onto opposite halves of the TV, Sheva is always locked to the right side while Chris lives permanently on the left, and the reason for this is a surprisingly nerdy detail: Sheva is left-handed and Chris is right-handed, so Capcom positioned them so their dominant hands naturally face the center of the screen, meaning even while dodging parasites and yelling at each other over voice chat, the game is quietly optimizing sightlines, and visually, it looks kinda nice?
Inventory Madness
And you thought the inventory management in “RE4” was stressful! “Resident Evil 5” quietly changed the rules of the series by becoming the first entry where you actually see characters physically swap weapons instead of politely freezing time and rummaging through a magical inventory suitcase, and it doubled down on the panic by making that inventory run in real time, meaning the world absolutely does not stop while you debate what is the prettiest. If you open your item menu you’d better be quick, decisive, and prepared, because the enemies are still moving, and don’t really care that your backpack is open on the floor, this ain’t The Forest.
Shinji Mikami Didn't Like It
“Resident Evil 5” marked a quiet turning point for the series because it was the first mainline entry developed without Shinji Mikami’s direct involvement. This wouldn’t matter to the average gamer who was just there to play a game and didn’t care about behind the scenes faff, but let me give you some hot goss, then we’ll see if you don’t care. Before the game even launched, Mikami openly admitted he probably wouldn’t like it simply because it wasn’t something he had worked on. What a nasty b**ch he was! After actually playing it he went on to praise Capcom for the effort and craftsmanship on display while still making it clear that the direction didn’t align with his personal vision of what “Resident Evil” should be. Backhanded if you ask me. I know you didn’t but I’m here for the tea, and I want to keep it hot years after it goes cold.
Old Friends
This might not be an entry that you didn’t know, but it’s definitely an entry you haven’t thought about. “RE5” wasn’t the first time Jill Valentine found herself on the same side as Albert Wesker. In “RE1”, they technically began the game as comrades. “RE5” has her powered by a Progenitor-based chemical, meaning Jill isn’t suddenly evil so much as chemically hijacked, turning one of the series’ most dependable heroes into an unwilling henchwoman and giving Capcom an excuse to explore the extremely uncomfortable idea of loyalty, loss of agency, and what happens when your former teammate installs evil DLC directly into your chest.
Mother
Early on in chapter 1-2, the environment features posters for an album by Paula Hopkins titled “Mother,” a background detail that seems like nothing, rather than a fun connection between two Capcom classics. This exact same poster also shows up in “Dead Rising,” confirming once again that Capcom treats its games like a shared toy box where props and character models just wander between franchises, meaning “Resident Evil 5” isn’t just about bioterrorism and punches, it’s also quietly reminding you that somewhere in this universe, Paula Hopkins is performing her worldwide comeback tour.
Single Player Again
Long before co-op became the defining hook everyone associates with “Resident Evil 5,” the plan was for Chris Redfield to actually handle the entire mess alone, grimly stomping through bioterror hotspots with only occasional help from NPCs popping in like very unreliable coworkers. This may have taken away the one thing that kept this entry warm in players’ hearts. In those early concepts, Sheva Alomar wasn’t even a BSAA partner, but a member of a local militia who drifted in and out of the story. You can still see the DNA of this abandoned single-player vision in the 2007 and 2008 trailers where Chris is clearly flying solo with no partner glued to his hip. What would this game be without them annoyingly screaming “Come on” at each other?
Fixed Cam Throwback
Veterans of the series will remember a time when survival horror meant wrestling with tank controls that felt like piloting a forklift in a haunted house, a design choice that defined early entries, and these tank controls took place in the beloved fixed-camera perspective. “Resident Evil 5” still sneaks in a nostalgic wink during the “Lost in Nightmares” DLC. If you repeatedly try to leave through the front door a little “?” appears and the camera suddenly snaps into a classic fixed perspective, briefly transforming the game into a PS1-era memory where you’re fighting the controls as much as the enemies. Ahh, to be back, GODDAMNIT WHY WON’T YOU RUN IN A STRAIGHT LINE CHRIS!? I HATE YOU!!
Zombies Were Back
“Resident Evil 4” famously ditched the classic flesh-eating undead for the now even more famous Los Plagas. But, “Resident Evil 5” toyed with the idea of taking us back to our roots. Early versions of “Resident Evil 5” quietly brought them back in the form of T-Virus zombies that were faster, more aggressive, and apparently allergic to the idea of shambling politely, with early test screenshots even showing Chris Redfield unloading rounds into full-on traditional undead. Capcom ultimately pulled the plug on this direction and swapped them out for Majini instead, reasoning that zombies wouldn’t be capable of the coordinated, tactical attacks they wanted for the game. That being said, the co-op AI could barely do that either.
Slim Redfield
That first 2007 trailer reveal turned heads for one hilarious reason, Chris Redfield suddenly looked like he’d spent every minute since 1996 benching buses. The dude's arms looked like absurdly thick rocket launchers, and his design had gone from BSAA operative bad boy, to bodybuilder's dream journal. But, interestingly this ultra-jacked look wasn’t always the plan, since early concept art and the original 2005 trailer show a far more reasonably proportioned Chris who’s clearly older and more weathered than before, but still recognisably human-sized, proving that somewhere along development Capcom made the conscious decision to stop asking “can Chris survive this?” and start asking “Can This Survive Chris?”
Where’s Barry?
Long before Barry Burton finally stole the spotlight again in “Resident Evil: Revelations 2,” Capcom had apparently been flirting with the idea of bringing everyone’s favourite magnum-loving dad back much earlier. Early drafts of “Resident Evil 5” suggest Barry was once lined up to assist Chris during the campaign at a point when the identity of Chris’s partner was still up in the air. But not THAT partner, Barry wasn’t gonna replace Sheva, but instead Jill. In the end Jill won out and Barry was quietly benched, likely because the story needed fewer nostalgic one-liners. That all being said, a mind-controlled Barry sounds terrifying.
Original Roles
Continuing on this train of thought, early story drafts took a very different route with the cast. Outside the “Barry is brainwashed” version, another potential story direction had Jill Valentine physically imprisoned in a Tricell capsule and later rescued by Chris Redfield like a high-budget lab experiment gone wrong. In this version Sheva was relegated to NPC status, and Barry Burton was positioned as the supporting ally, but as development shifted Capcom decided that brainwashing Jill was more dramatic than locking her in sci-fi Tupperware, promoted Sheva into Chris’s full-time co-op partner, and quietly rerouted Barry’s importance toward a future starring role in “Resident Evil: Revelations 2,”. Not a bad change for old Barry “Jill Sandwich" Burton.
Mr. X Goes to Africa
For a series famous for trench-coated nightmares and walking meat slabs, it felt oddly wrong that classic Umbrella super-soldiers were nowhere to be found in “Resident Evil 4” or “Resident Evil 5,” especially since Capcom briefly considered fixing that by dropping a full Tyrant into the latter, where it was apparently slated to brutally remove Excella Gionne from the game, and not by deleting her code, more like deleting her head from her body. While no footage of this absolute unit exists, early concept art shows the familiar claw and towering, refrigerator-with-legs silhouette that screams classic “Resident Evil,”. Imagine Mr. X strolling around in that heat, looking for a cool shadow to sit in... Or probably more likely ripping the faces off of heads, yeah probably that.