The Resident Evil series has a largely tried-and-tested style, with the majority of the games featuring lead protagonists who are assisted by supporting characters. Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, and Jill Valentine are the primary protagonists, who have had a number of sidekicks during their stories.
The downside to the sidekick dynamic is that a lot of them become a load on players and have to either be rescued or carried all the way. Other times, sidekicks can be unlikeable characters or are inconsequential to the plot, which contributes to fans not really connecting with them in the long run.
Luis Sera (Resident Evil 4)
Luis is generally a fan favorite for the style and attitude he brought in his partnership with Leon, along with facing off against the scary Resident Evil villains the fourth game had. However, he was killed off too soon to actually qualify as a full-fledged sidekick to Leon.
Luis is far from the worst, though, as he gave Leon enough room to attack and was there quickly to spring to his defense. The downside is that Luis tends to kill the player should he accidentally be hit a few times, which is a frustrating aspect of the game.
Sheva Alomar (Resident Evil 5)
By this point, only die-hard Resident Evil fans might remember Sheva, who hasn’t been seen since her debut over a decade ago. As a character, Sheva was pretty solid, as she assisted Chris in his battle against Albert Wesker that became extremely daunting due to the latter’s powers.
The in-game A.I. of Sheva leaves a lot to be desired, with the character wasting a whole lot of bullets. The fact that the ammunition is relatively scarce in Resident Evil 5 makes Sheva annoying for those who want to play the game without unnecessary distractions.
Rebecca Chambers (Resident Evil Remake)
The damsel-in-distress trope is a cliche in most horror video games, which was the fate that fell on Rebecca. She was constantly in trouble during the first game’s remake and players didn’t appreciate having to not only save her but not understand why she became that way in the first place.
After all, Resident Evil 0, which takes place earlier, has Rebecca kill monsters all on her own, while her appearance in Remake is the complete opposite. She doesn’t help main protagonists Chris and Jill much either, making her role purely as a side character in trouble.
Carlos Oliveira (Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
Carlos’ role in the third game’s remake was far better than his original appearance in 1998, where he constantly made lame puns and one-liners. Within gameplay, Carlos didn’t contribute too much of anything in his recurring part and the game would have played out exactly the same without him.
He was a rather ill-fated attempt on Capcom’s part to provide Jill with a fast-talking sidekick after her initial dynamic with the more serious Chris. Carlos mellowed down later in the story, which at least got some likability to come his way after his irritating dialogue in the first half.
Moira Burton (Resident Evil: Revelations 2)
Putting up with teen angst is not something gamers really care about, but that’s what they have to hand where Moira is concerned. Although she’s 20-years-old, she acts like a typical smartmouth teenager who has to be brought down to reality through he experiences.
Her tendency to curse every few seconds isn’t really endearing or edgy as Capcom wanted, which makes it a chore to listen to her dialogue. More than anything, it was her father, Barry, whose much more badass persona in Revelations 2 is what overshadowed Moira as Claire’s sidekick.
Ada Wong (Resident Evil 2)
Some consider Ada to be a villain in the Resident Evil series since she frequently manipulates Leon and looks to extract the virus. During Resident Evil 2, Ada works best as a mysterious character rather than a sidekick because she never actually helps Leon out until right at the end.
Ada makes Leon run around looking for things while she disappears for long spans; she then gets injured and players are forced to rescue her. Ada’s best contribution is when she passes the rocket launcher to Leon to destroy Mr. X, apart from which she’s better suited to being a recurring anti-hero.
Helena Harper (Resident Evil 6)
Helena was Leon’s sidekick in the sixth game, where her main arc was to find her sister. However, it fell flat overall since Helena was a new character in an ensemble cast that essentially shortchanged her story. Fans were also disappointed that Claire wasn’t reunited with Leon instead, as it was the best opportunity.
Helena’s role is largely interchangeable, in that anyone could have taken her place and it would’ve been the same. It came down to a lack of chemistry with Leon, with the two characters coming across as people who were thrown in together with nothing really in common.
Sherry Birkin (Resident Evil 2)
Sherry can’t really be blamed for being helpless during Resident Evil 2, seeing as she was just a preteen girl in a zombie-infested landscape. That doesn’t excuse her from her being so slow when the time counts, with Sherry always lagging behind whenever an intense chase sequence was initiated.
Sherry had no contribution within gameplay other than opening up a couple of doors, although her role in bringing out the caring and maternal side of Claire translates well for storytelling purposes. Those who like sidekicks involved in the action won’t have much to favor in Sherry, however.
Steve Burnside (Resident Evil - Code: Veronica)
Still one of the most disliked Resident Evil characters, the only thing memorable about Steve is how uncomfortable his attraction toward Claire was. His role was to mainly try and flirt with Claire, which clashes against the otherwise serious presentation of the series.
Moreover, Steve’s presence felt unneeded since the game featured both Chris and Claire, and fans didn’t want a different character partnering with Claire. Steve came across as something of additional baggage to Claire, which is why most didn’t feel too bad for him when he was killed off.
Ashley Graham (Resident Evil 4)
There’s no doubt that every person who played Resident Evil 4 felt all kinds of frustration when dealing with Ashley. While rescuing her was the main mission, it became tiresome to save her time and again on the island, as Ashley was kidnapped on several occasions.
Ashley was an even bigger nuisance during gameplay after she was rescued, with players required to babysit her constantly while dealing with hordes of zombies. She provided little assistance in her role as Leon’s sidekick very late in the game, which doesn’t make up for all the effort put into preventing her death.