Resident Evil 5 Racism

The first footage released for Resident Evil 5 sparked an ongoing claim that the game has racist undertones. Images of a white Chris Redfield using considerable force against an entire village of African Americans prompted many popular game critics, columnists, and countless fans to weigh in on the topic and share their own personal views.

• "Zombie stories originated in the Afro-Caribbean Vodoun belief system, so for a series that relies on zombies as its main antagonists, exploring the voodoo origins of zombie mythology seems only natural, and in order to do that you are going to end up exploring villages that just don't happen to have many Caucasians in them." Kotaku: Black Looks On RE5 Racism

- Mike Fahey (Kotaku.com)

• "I know Resident Evil games are supposed to be about hiding from and shooting zombies -- this one probably is too. Shooting zombies is something I can get behind, just as I can support video game fantasies of shooting Nazis or even causing mayhem in a big city. But when I see a town of what looks like impoverished African villagers -- the very image of global poverty, the very spectacle that since my youth has been coded in me to evoke sympathy and charity -- I don't want to pull the trigger." MTV Multiplayer: That notorious Resident Evil 5 trailer and the people I met in Africa(August 3, 2007)

- Stephen Totilo (MTV Multiplayer)

• "This imagery has a history. It has a history and you can’t pretend otherwise. That imagery still has a history that has to be engaged, that has to be understood. … If you’re going to engage imagery that has that potential, the onus is on the creator to be aware of that because there will be repercussions in the marketplace."MTV Multiplayer: N'Gai Croal on the Resident Evil 5 Trailer(April 10, 2008)

-N'Gai Croal (Newsweek)

In the original E3 trailer for Resident Evil 5 the only protagonist shown was Chris Redfield. The short preview clip showed Chris fending off an endless stream of crazed villagers by himself, while running about and avoiding enemy attacks.

Shortly after the outcry of racism, Capcom released a follow-up trailer for the game which showed Chris Redfield accompanied by a sidekick; Sheva Alomar. Sheva, an African American woman, is a member of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, or B.S.A.A. and acts as Chris' friend and helper on his quest.

Many felt that Sheva had been added to quell the racism outrage and would cause the media to portray the game in a more positive light. Developer Capcom, however, claims that Sheva had always been a planned addition and the game was in no way compromised after the claims of racism.