Resident Evil Village continues the saga of Ethan Winters and his wife Mia. Taking place three years after the events of Resident Evil Biohazard, Ethan and Mia are living in Eastern Europe with their baby Rosemary. In the game's opening moments, Chris Redfield opens fire on the couple during dinner, brutally murdering Mia in front of Ethan. Ethan is knocked out, only to awaken later to find Rosemary kidnapped, setting him on a quest to rescue his daughter and lead into the events of the game.
[WARNING: Spoilers for Resident Evil Village below]
Later in the story, it is revealed that it wasn't actually Mia that Chris shot in Resident Evil Village's intro, it was Mother Miranda in disguise, attempting to steal Rosemary in order to revive her own daughter Eva. The real Mia was imprisoned, being experimented on by Miranda to learn more about the fungus from Resident Evil 7. According to the timeline, Miranda was impersonating Mia for approximately eight days - without Ethan noticing anything was amiss.
Going deeper into Resident Evil lore, Ethan may not be the only character duped about Mia's identity. Clues in both Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village show a disparity in Mia's appearance, specifically her eyes, that hint players have never actually met the real Mia.
Resident Evil Biohazard Clues
In Resident Evil 7, Mia is depicted as having brown eyes. From her video messages to Ethan warning him away from the boat to being found in the Baker farm cell to being possessed by Eveline, her eyes are indisputably brown. However, when players examine Mia's cell in the Baker farm, they find a doll resembling Mia sporting deep blue eyes. Additionally, close examination of Mia's drivers license reveals her eyes are listed as blue. Unless Mia's government ID is incorrect, the real Mia, the Mia from before the experiments on the boat, has never been seen in a Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil Village Clues
In Village, baby and teenage Rosemary has bright sky-blue eyes. From the few times players see Ethan's face, it's apparent he has dark blue eyes. As blue eyes are a recessive trait, it stands to reason Mia must, at the very least, carry the blue-eyed gene. However, Mia is once again depicted with brown eyes, making it unlikely Rosemary's eyes would be so light. Regardless, there may be more to Resident Evil's Rosemary than meets the eye.
Where is the real Mia?
The most plausible theory is that the real Mia died on the Annabelle with the rest of her crew while creating the e-type bioweapon (Eveline). Eveline, or another yet-unnamed e-type character, then assumed Mia's identity for the Resident Evil story as players experience it. A much less fantastical thought is that Mia is a stolen identity, plain and simple. The original Mia had blue eyes, but the brown-eyed Mia seen in Resident Evil stole her identity as a means of escaping an old life. This theory also explains how Ethan could not notice that his wife's eyes had drastically changed color.
If players have never met the real Mia, Capcom has an easy setup into the story for Resident Evil 9. In the epilogue of Resident Evil Village, a teenage Rosemary is shown looking at Ethan Winters' grave before being called away to a mysterious mission. Assuming Resident Evil 9 continues the Winters saga, Rosemary could be investigating her missing mother, one of many ways Village sets up its sequel.