One thing fans may notice in Resident Evil Village is the absurd amount of damage its main protagonist, Ethan Winters, can take. Despite just being a normal guy who stumbled into a weird world after searching for his missing girlfriend, Ethan has the ability to reattach limbs and survive things that would kill an otherwise normal person. So, how is he able to take so much damage?
[Warning: Major spoilers for Resident Evil Village below]
Toward the end of Resident Evil Village, it's revealed Ethan is a rather special individual, just like the rest of the Winters family. After getting his fingers gnawed off by a werewolf, having his hand sliced clean off, getting his heart literally ripped out, and a series of other injuries, it's easy to wonder what exactly is wrong with Ethan, since he's able to survive injuries normal people wouldn't.
Resident Evil heroes have a long history with surviving intense encounters and doing rather extraordinary things. The difference is, Ethan isn't a special ops soldier or even just a really skilled cop. So, his abilities are a bit eyebrow-raising. It's easy to write this off as plot armor, but there's an actual reason why Resident Evil Village's protagonist is practically invincible.
Why Ethan Can Withstand So Much Damage in Resident Evil Village
The Ethan Winters in Resident Evil Village is still discovering some of the repercussions of the events in Resident Evil 7. As explained by Eveline, Ethan was actually killed by Jack Baker relatively early on in Resident Evil 7, but came back as one of the Molded after heavy exposure to the substance in Louisiana. He obviously wasn't as impacted as the Baker family, given he didn't lose his sanity and isn't covered in some disgusting black goop. It really only benefited him up until the end of Village, as it allowed him to withstand heavy amounts of damage and even reattach his limbs.
What's interesting is that this isn't totally unique to Ethan's appearance in Resident Evil Village. Resident Evil 7 may have teased Winters' mutation. In the 2017 title, Ethan could get his foot chopped off in rare instances by both Jack Backer and Molded creatures. In the case of Jack Baker, he can cut off Ethan's foot in a random scripted sequence and then he'll taunt him with first aid meds on the other side of the room, making Ethan crawl to it before reattaching his limb with the liquid medicine. The same thing can happen with the Molded enemies in a less scripted fashion, simply allowing the player to use any first aid meds to reattach Ethan's severed foot.
It's unclear if this was always part of Capcom's plan or if this was just incredibly convenient for their new story, but according to rumors, Resident Evil Village is the middle chapter of a new trilogy with Resident Evil 9 already in the works. It's entirely possible that Capcom plotted out a story for Ethan Winters and his family early on to allow for a natural arc to play out over three games. Whether or not this carries over into the next game with Ethan's daughter, Rose Winters, as the protagonist remains to be seen.