Jill Valentine

In video games

Jill Valentine first appears as one of two playable main protagonists of the original Resident Evil game (1996), in which she is an explosives expert of Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service (STARS) and a partner to Chris Redfield. Jill's family ethnic background is half-French, half-Japanese, and she is a former operative of the U.S. Army's secretive special unit known as Delta Force, where she was an explosives expert. Before the game begins, the STARS, including Jill's Alpha team, are deployed to investigate a series of bizarre murders in the Arklay Mountains, a fictional area, where they discover and enter Umbrella Corporation's Arklay Research Facility biological warfare site. Inside, with Chris missing, Jill initially works with Barry Burton, another Alpha team member, as they inspect the mansion and battle its undead residents. Eventually, she and Chris discover that STARS commander, Captain Wesker, had betrayed them. After defeating the monster Tyrant released by Wesker, Jill escapes the self-destructing mansion in Brad Vickers' helicopter along with Chris, Barry and the Bravo team's sole survivor Rebecca Chambers.

Jill returns as the main protagonist of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), where she is forced to side with a mercenary named Carlos Oliveira, a member of the Umbrella Corporation's paramilitary force who was betrayed by their employer. Through the game, Jill and Carlos cooperate to escape from the now-dead Raccoon City before it is destroyed with a nuclear strike by the U.S. government. Along the way, they fight Nemesis, a modified Tyrant super soldier sent by Umbrella to dispose of the remaining STARS members. After several encounters with Nemesis, Jill is infected with the zombiefying T-virus, though Carlos is able to procure a vaccine from the nearby hospital. Finally, Jill defeats Nemesis and Barry Burton returns to Raccoon City to bring her and Carlos to safety moments before the city's destruction. Jill is also featured as a playable character in the "Heroes Mode" multiplayer section of the non-canon spin-off game Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012).

Emerging alive from the Raccoon City outbreak, Jill becomes the founding member of the bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) under the United Nations. In Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007), she works with Chris Redfield to expose and destroy the Umbrella Corporation by raiding their research facility in Russia, defeating Umbrella's newest bioweapon creature, T-ALOS. Jill is also the sole protagonist in Resident Evil: Genesis (2008), an alternative-story version of the original Resident Evil game. Before the events of Resident Evil 5 (2009), Jill apparently dies while saving Chris during a confrontation with Wesker. During the game, however, Chris finds information suggesting that she may still be alive. Eventually, he discovers that Jill is under control of Wesker, who used Jill's DNA and the remnants of the T-virus within her body to perfect his new Uroboros virus. Chris and his new partner Sheva Alomar manage to subdue Jill and free her from Wesker's influence. Jill then works with a fellow BSAA agent Josh Stone, Sheva's mentor, to assist Chris and Sheva in defeating Wesker. Demand from fans wishing to play as Jill led to two additional DLC scenarios (also included in the Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5): Lost in Nightmares, showing the events leading up to Jill's disappearance, and Desperate Escape, showing her fight to escape the facility she was being held in. She is also one of the playable characters in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011), an action game based on "The Mercenaries" minigame from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.

In Resident Evil: Revelations (2012), set in 2005, Jill goes on a rescue mission to save Chris from the grip of the bioterrorist group Il Veltro, following a transmission from a luxury cruise ship Queen Zenobia, which turns out to be a trap set for her. Jill and her new partner, Parker Luciani, now out of contact and uninformed of the dire situation they face, find the ship infested with a new breed of leech-like zombies, infected with a new, stronger strain of the T-virus: the T-Abyss virus. Meanwhile, Chris and his new partner Jessica make their way to the ship to find Jill and some answers. Together, they slowly unravel a global conspiracy involving an earlier outbreak of the original strain of the T-virus at the city of Terragrigia, and a botched investigation by a rival agency, the Federal bioterrorism Commission (FBC). During this mission Jill is exposed to the T-Abyss and receives an experimental vaccine.

Outside of the Resident Evil series, Jill appears as a player character in the crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), wearing her STARS uniform. She returns as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), where her design is based on her appearance in Resident Evil 5, available as downloadable content. In addition, she also makes a guest appearance in Under the Skin (alongside Carlos and Nemesis) and has a character card in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series. She also appears as a playable character in the crossover tactical role-playing games Project X Zone and its sequel, wearing her costume from Revelations, and in the browser-based social game Onimusha Soul (2013), where she was re-designed to fit the feudal Japan theme.

Design and portrayal

During development of the original Resident Evil, Jill was conceived as physically weaker than the game's male protagonist Chris Redfield, but she was given more skills and weapons to compensate for this. The game's director Shinji Mikami said about Jill and Claire Redfield: "I don't know if I've put more emphasis on women characters, but when I do introduce them, it is never as objects. In some games, they will be peripheral characters with ridiculous breast physics. I avoid that sort of obvious eroticism. I also don't like female characters who are submissive to male characters, or to the situation they're in. I won't portray women in that way. I write women characters who discover their interdependence as the game progresses, or who already know they are independent but have that tested against a series of challenges." The development team for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which was also overseen by Mikami, said Jill was deliberately designed to make her "beautiful for everybody" and appeal to both male and female gamers, as males would find her physically attractive and females would see her as a tough role model.

For the 2002 remake of Resident Evil, Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said the team wanted Jill to be "a little cuter" so that "her action and atmosphere has charm". Her facial and physical appearance from the remake onwards is based on Canadian model and actress Julia Voth, and her body was scanned into computers to make her look as much like Voth as possible. Character designer Kenichiro Yoshimura said that he "made Jill's face as much similar as I could to the model actress face." However, so that she remains a tough character, her body is designed to be "not skinny, more like muscular". In January 2016 Voth released pictures of herself cosplaying Jill on her Instagram page.

On the subject of changes to Jill and Chris Redfield's appearance in Resident Evil 5, production director Yasuhiro Anpo said that he tried "to preserve their image and imagined how they would have changed over the passage of time" and so they "made a new design that retained their signature color—green for Chris, blue for Jill—to carry over the same look from the past. The facial structures are mainly based on the visuals of the Nintendo GameCube version, and we added various details to these in order to develop a realistic structure." Jill's character model was paler than usual in this entry to the series and her hair was blonde, both of which were explained in-universe as being due to a pigment abnormality sustained while her body was under experimentation. Capcom producer Jun Takeuchi said Jill's unlockable "classic look" STARS uniform from the original game was his favorite extra costume in Resident Evil 5.

Jill was voiced by Catherine Disher in Resident Evil 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Heidi Anderson voiced her in the 2002 GameCube remake of the first game. Patricia Ja Lee, who provided the voice and motion capture in The Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil 5 and all of its later released downloadable content (DLC), and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, compared physical part of the auditions for the role to applying to the LAPD. Lee said that although she did her research and "looked up the previous Jills", she was given a lot of freedom to reinvent the character due to the changes that Jill underwent in-universe. Kari Wahlgren assumed the role in Marvel vs. Capcom 3; Michelle Ruff lent her voice to the character in Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Ruff said about her role: "Jills's voice says a lot about her personality. I kept her in my lower register. She's all business and not 'girly' at all. Almost military-ish."

Gameplay

Jill was one of the first two player characters in the Resident Evil series. In the original game, Jill plays very differently to Chris as she runs slower, can take less damage and is less accurate with firearms, but has two more inventory slots and an access to stronger weapons (including starting armed with a gun, while Chris begins with only a knife). She also carries a lockpick capable of opening many doors and caches, knows how to play piano (which is useful in-game), and is aided by the overprotective Barry. In the game's 2002 remake, she has a taser as her personal defensive weapon. In Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Jill will enter the "Live Selection Mode" during certain sections of the game, in which the player is prompted to quickly choose between one of two possible actions (the choice of action affects the direction of the game and story, including which ending the player receives). It was also during this game that Jill became the first character to be able to perform a quick 180-degree turn, which has since become a staple of the series.

In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Jill is a very fast and agile character that is able to summon monsters to attack her opponent. She can also heal the player's active character if she is summoned as a support character. In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Jill is available as a DLC character, and was given a complete overhaul, with her appearance and move-set being based on her Resident Evil 5 incarnation and using Wesker-like teleportation moves.

In films

Jill first appears in Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), the second film in the live-action series. In this version of the series, Jill is a former STARS member (having been suspended for filing "false" reports about zombies) and a foil to the main character, Alice. Jill tries to escape Raccoon City along with a group of survivors and is one of the few to make it out. Jill returns in a costume based on her Resident Evil 5 suit at the end of the film Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), where she is under the control of Umbrella Corporation and leads an attack against Alice, Claire and Chris Redfield, and the remaining human survivors. Guillory returned to the role of Jill as the main antagonist of the fifth film, Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), wherein she ultimately regains control over herself during a duel with Alice. In October 2014 Jill was reported to be appearing in the then upcoming film, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, though she did not end up featuring in the film.

Sienna Guillory portrays Jill in the live-action films. At first, the films' producer/writer/director Anderson chose Natasha Henstridge, but she was unavailable; he then considered Mira Sorvino. Guillory was set to appear in the sequel, Resident Evil: Extinction, but she had commitments to other work. Later, producers Paul W. S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt decided to have Claire Redfield appear alongside the film's lead, Alice. Guillory said she was "incredibly proud to be a part of this" and felt "there is no greater motivator than knowing you're going to be squaring off against Milla Jovovich [Alice] in a cat-suit months after giving birth to twins," but she had problems with Jill's "boob-ament" mind control device prop during the fifth film's production.

In literature

Jill Valentine appears in several novels based on the Resident Evil series, particularly those penned by S. D. Perry. In her 1998 novel Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Jill is said to be the daughter of professional thief Dick Valentine, as well as his accomplice prior to her career in law enforcement (in apparent conflict with her supposed Delta Force background), explaining her unrivaled infiltration skills and "mastery of unlocking." Jill also appears in several comic books based on the game series, including the WildStorm 1990s series Resident Evil, the 1996 Marvel Comics one shot Resident Evil, and the 2011 comic Marvel vs. Capcom: Fate of Two Worlds.

In merchandise

The character has been featured in various Resident Evil merchandise, including action figures, such as one made by NECA in 2011. Two detailed 1/6 scale figures by Hot Toys were commissioned by Capcom to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Resident Evil in 2010. Jill was also featured as a character in Bandai's 2011 Resident Evil Deck Building Game and included as one of two pre-order promotional cards.

Footage of Jill is featured in a Resident Evil-themed pachinko machine. Capcom's themed restaurant Biohazard Cafe & Grill S.T.A.R.S. opened in Japan in 2012 and featured a dish named "S.T.A.R.S. Original Noodles (Women Only) 'Jill Ver.'" on the menu. Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 2013 featured Jill as one of the two main characters in a haunted house set in Raccoon City, based on Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Acclaim

Jill Valentine has been received favorably by critics as the Resident Evil series' main female protagonist, and remains one of its most recognizable characters. Jill was described as the "best super heroine this side of Lara Croft" by Duluth News Tribune in 2002 and "as widely seen by Resident Evil fans as the series' character of all characters" by Official PlayStation Magazine Australia in 2004. She was chosen as one of the 20 "muses" of video games by Brazilian magazine SuperGamePower in 2001. In 2008, GameDaily ranked her as their tenth-most favorite Capcom character of all time and used her as an example for the archetype "smart and sexy heroine". In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition of 2011, Jill was voted the 43rd-most popular video game character of all time. She was also recognized by Guinness World Records 2013: Gamer's Edition as "the first female player character in a survival-horror game". That same year, Complex and GamingBolt both included her among the greatest video game mascots, and GamesRadar staff included this "highly capable officer" among the 30 best characters in the three decades of Capcom's history.

In 2005, Bonnie Ruberg of The Escapist called her "a classic example" of horror game female characters who fill the role of the heroine, as "she's tightly clothed, but not outrageously so, and she can shoot herself a mean zombie." In 2007, Jill was listed by Tom's Hardware among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history, described there as "a true survivor and an elite fighting machine, not to mention a drop-dead gorgeous brunette." GameDaily listed Jill among the ten "babes who should meet your mom", where she was described as both noble and confident even as having a questionable fashion sense, as well as the "chicks who will kick your ass" (along with Ada, Claire and Sheva), and ranked her as 26th among the "50 hottest game babes". According to GamesRadar's Brett Elston, Jill has "emerged as perhaps the most sensible design of the period [of mid-to-late 1990s], being both tough and sexy without shedding her clothes at the first sign of trouble." In 2009, Elston listed her among the 11 heroines that "embody the best of videogame girls", also confessing that Jill was his first game crush for "her normal name, normal build and normal demeanor, trapped in the most abnormal of situations." In 2010, James Hawkins of Joystick Division ranked Jill as the second-top "badass lady" in video games, chosen for her perseverance. In the 2011 "battle of the beauties" feature, Complex pitted Jill against Claire Redfield in the category "zombie killer", choosing her over Claire. In 2012, Adam Dodd of Cheat Code Central chose this "sultry S.T.A.R.S. member" among "many capable women in the Resident Evil series" for his list of top ten "badass" women of video games, commentting that "Jill is a fan favorite for a reason, as she's an intimidating mix of brains and beauty, and it certainly helps that she knows her way around a gun." In 2013, Jill was ranked as 30th on the list greatest heroine in video game history by Michael Rougeau of Complex, and Tom's Guide's Marshall Honorof included her among top ten video game female protagonists, writing that "equally good at gunning down the undead and solving tricky puzzles, Jill set a high standard for heroines in survival-horror games: smart, capable and devoted to her partners." That same year, the "smart and resourceful" Jill was also similarly ranked as the tenth-best female protagonist in gaming by the staff of GamesTM, who stated: "When you think of a lead protagonist for the series, your mind might jump to Chris Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy, but she’s the most consistent character throughout the series. When you need a gigantic genetically altered zombie taking down, she's the girl to do it." Schuyler J. Dievendorf of The Escapist included her on his 2014 list of eight "most badass videogame ladies".

One of the celebrated aspects of Jill's role in the series has been her ongoing partnership with Chris Redfield. James Hawkins of Joystick Division graded Chris and Jill as the fifth-top duo in video game history, as "the two of them together make a force that cannot be slowed by even the most sophisticated undead forces." He explained why the partnership worked so well: "Jill Valentine represents the more intellectual protagonist—the kind that survives on a sharp mind, a thrifty expenditure of resources, and sheer cleverness [that] contrasts perfectly Chris Redfield's machismo". In 2012, Brittany Vincent of Complex ranked them as the "15th-most ass-kicking" game duo saying, "Forget Chris and Sheva. Jill is where it's at", while PlayStation Universe opined that the duo together form "the nucleus" of the whole series.

Jill has been often regarded as one of the most attractive female characters in video games by various publications. As such, she was included on the lists of nine "sexiest babes of action games" by The Times of India and of gaming's finest brunettes by GameDaily. In 2001, Omar Ali of Gaming Target included Claire and Jill together on his list of "all-time favorite leading ladies in video games" as "two girls who made the dead rise up with their looks." In 2003, GameSpy ranked her as the seventh-top "babe in games", adding that "even those of us who weren't big fans of the games" will remember Jill. UGO included Jill on the lists of top 11 "videogame heroine hotties" in 2007 (at third place) and among top 50 "videogame hotties" in 2011, noting her to be a core character of the Resident Evil series and citing her high popularity. In 2008 News.com.au named her as the number one sexiest video game character of all time, noting her popularity with both male and female gamers for different reasons. That same year, she was also featured ninth on the list of top "video game game vixens" by Spike TV, seventh on Virgin Media's list of top "game babes", and seventh on Chip's top "girl of gaming" list. In 2010 Videogamer.com included Jill on the list of top video game crushes, stating that "she sure as hell picked the lock to our heart." That same year, Joystick Division's James Hawkins ranked her as the fifth-sexiest video game character, adding that she "has become the poster child for the Resident Evil franchise – she's smart, resilient, feisty, and remarkably beautiful," while Sarah Warn of AfterEllen.com similarly chose her as the "fifth-hottest" female video game character. In the 2011 GameZone poll that asked "who would you rather?", Jill was pitted against Tomb Raider's Lara and won; to celebrate Valentine's Day 2011, Complex posted an article "Happy V-Day" with a gallery of her "hottest pics". That same year, Lisa Foiles of The Escapist put her among the top five "hottest blonde chicks" even as Jill is not a real blonde because she regarded Jill as "one of the hottest designed characters ever." UGO featured Jill on a 2011 all-media list of the 50 "imaginary women that really need to be brought to life by science somehow", also including her in their list of the 99 "hottest" fictional women of 2012. In 2012, Larry Hester of Complex ranked Jill as "43rd-hottest" woman in video games, adding that she "pulls it off with her badass army chick steez." That same year, Wirtualna Polska included Jill among the 20 "sexiest girls in games" of the year for her appearance in Revelations. In 2013, Jill was ranked as the fifth-most attractive female video game character by Scott Marley of Daily Record, while Steve Jenkins of CheatCodes.com declared her the "12th-hottest video game girl" of all time. She was ranked as the ninth-best-looking game girl by GameHall's Portal PlayGame in 2014, in particular for her Resident Evil 3 version. Thanh Niên ranked her as the 12th-most sexy female character in 2015.

Criticism

Based upon her revealing Resident Evil 3 outfit, 1UP.com ranked her as ranked as the fifth worst-dressed video game characters in 2008 for her "'slutty cop' Halloween costume". A 2010 article in GamesRadar described the look as a "douche bag's girlfriend" while a 2009 article called the outfit a "simple yet iconic look", though noted how impractical it would be in an actual zombie apocalypse.

In 2008, GamesRadar placed her among the top 20 "overlooked game babes", stating that "her affinity for adolescent head gear gives her a Blossom vibe that the world has long since rejected for its lack of sex appeal," with Stephen Pierce calling her "like a big dirty solider [sic] but with slightly longer hair, no dick and a set of tits." In 2009, Jesse Schedeen from IGN named her as one of the characters in all media "who deserve better" due to her treatment in the films and lack of appearances since Resident Evil 3 until a small role in Resident Evil 5, her roles being "stolen" by Alice and Sheva. Resident Evil 6 producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi wrote in 2012 they have "heard a lot of love for Jill and Claire recently and people asking if they’ll be in the next Resident Evil."

Memes

The line "You were almost a Jill sandwich", spoken by Barry Burton in the first Resident Evil game after Jill was almost crushed by a falling ceiling trap, sparked an Internet meme of "Jill Sandwich". Another Jill and Barry-related meme is "Master of Unlocking", which is based on a dialog line that was featured in the original game and was removed in the remake. UGO featured both of these "hilariously dumb" scenes on their list of the 25 worst cutscenes in gaming history in 2011, Chris Hoffman from GamesRadar included it among Capcom's greatest contributions to gaming history in 2013, and Dave Cook of NowGamer ranked "Jill Sandwich" as the 14th-greatest video game meme in 2014.

These memes were referenced by Capcom in the mobile game Resident Evil: Uprising and in the unrelated game Dead Rising; in 2012, Complex included Dead Rising's location named "Jill's Sandwiches" on a list of the best Easter eggs in video games. The sandwich meme is referenced in Resident Evil: Revelations 2 by Claire, and the unlocking meme is also referenced in the game by Barry. Bandai included the "Master of Unlocking" (AC-011) card in its Resident Evil collectible card game adaptation. Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's non-Capcom game Evil Within features a player trophy called "Master of Unlocking".