The Resident Evil franchise has carved itself a unique place in gaming history. It popularized survival horror. It provided one heck of a cash cow for Capcom. It took a controversial turn towards becoming a full-on third-person shooter later in the franchise. If the series is renowned for anything, though, it’s for three main traits: its former clunky tank controls, its inexplicable insignia-based puzzles, and its colorful voice-acting and writing.
Ever since the days of hoping it isn’t Chris’s blood, Resident Evil has had a reputation for hammy, B-movie lines delivered in super awkward ways. Even so, that doesn’t mean that the series hasn’t brought us some great, iconic quotes that fans will never forget. Here are some of the very best.
Updated on March 21, 2023, by Axel Bosso: With the upcoming launch of Resident Evil 4 Remake this week, we thought it was time to remember some of the most memorable (and really cringy) quotes that we have heard in the Resident Evil series over the years. We've also added a couple more for your enjoyment.
15 "Me And My Sweet Ass Are On The Way!" (Resident Evil Revelations)
After falling through a cliff in a snowy area, Chris Redfield ends up hurt and can stand up. That wouldn't be that big of a deal if there weren't several infected dogs coming out of nowhere, ready to bite our protagonists.
Fortunately, our partner Jessica is coming to the rescue. While we are using our last bullets and grenades, ready to be saved, Jessica says the highlighted quote. Chris doesn't say anything, but we are sure that our relationship with that character was never the same.
14 "I'm Sure You Boys Didn't Just Tag Along So We Could Sing "Kumbaya" Together At Some Boy Scout Bonfire. Then Again, Maybe You Did." (Resident Evil 4)
Resident Evil 4 is gifted with so many cheesy but also iconic quotes — you'll read a couple more on this list. However, only a few made us laugh hard like this one from the very beginning of the journey.
Two local police officers are driving Leon where he needs to go, having a little chit-chat on the way. They don't seem to like our protagonist so much, so they start mocking him when Leon mentions that he is looking for the President's daughter, alone. How does our man respond? With the selected quote, of course.
13 “Don’t Open That Door!” (Resident Evil)
Several of the most iconic Resident Evil quotes earned their status by being so bad they're good. For instance, when Jill tries to leave the mansion early in the original Resident Evil, Wesker delivers one of these infamous lines.
In fairness, there's nothing unusual about the writing for this one, as "Don't Open That Door!" is a typical thing to say in a world filled with zombies. However, the way that Wesker says it makes it iconic. It sounds like each of the four words was recorded on separate days, as the line doesn't have any flow to it. And it makes for a hilarious quote.
12 "I'm Going To Murder That Boulder-Punching A*****e, But You're First!" (Resident Evil Village)
One of the most outrageous moments in Resident Evil history comes in RE5 when Chris Redfield punches a giant boulder out of his way. Fans have been joking and making memes about the preposterous moment for years.
This is why it is amazing in Resident Evil Village when Heisenberg references the event. He does so by calling Chris a "Boulder-Punching A*****e" after the muscled hero blows up the villain's factory. It's unclear how Heisenberg even knows about the boulder incident, but you can't let logic get in the way of a callback this great.
11 “Complete. Global. Saturation.” (Resident Evil 5)
Ah, yes. That’s some Grade A, iconic villainy right there. Throughout Resident Evil 5, Wesker is committed to being the biggest superpowered pain in the cheeks he can be to Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar. As things come to a head, though, he finally decides to go full James Bond big bad and detail the full extent of his master plan.
In one of his most dastardly acts to date, Wesker is poised to dispense the Uroboros virus around the world, by means of a plane containing missiles laced with the deadly stuff. The heroes avert his plan and humanity narrowly avoids this grim fate, but not before Wesker drops this chilling line.
10 “You Were Almost A Jill Sandwich!” (Resident Evil)
Well, yes. Thanks for that, Barry. It's hard to tell if you were a victim of poor translation, a zombie had recently eaten the entirety of your brain, or what happened here. Regardless of why he said the line, it's brilliantly ridiculous.
Barry “It Might Be Handy If You, The Master of Unlocking, Take It With You” Burton just has a way with words. He doesn’t care if those words form cohesive sentences or not, he’s going to boldly go right ahead and say them. When it comes to the original title’s notorious voice-acting, Barry tends to be responsible for some of the most memorable and meme-worthy lines.
9 “Look, You Have Two Choices Here: Kill Or Be Killed. Your Call!” (Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles)
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles was a curious offshoot of the series. It hit Nintendo’s Wii in 2009, a rail shooter that served as a prequel of sorts to Resident Evil 4. While it was nothing ground-breaking, it was quite well received and a surprisingly solid effort. It even gave the Wii Zapper something to do.
Most importantly, the game offered a heaping helping of fanservice, featuring familiar characters Leon S. Kennedy and Chris’s sister Claire Redfield. This particular line is from the latter and provides some interesting insight into the nature of the series: ordinary people showing their true strength and worth by being forced into utterly extraordinary situations.
8 “STAAAAAARS…” (Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
In the original game, Albert Wesker’s treachery left a bit of a loose end for Umbrella’s agents to deal with. The entire purpose of the Mansion Incident was to gather data on the biological weapons’ effectiveness against highly trained special forces (ie S.T.A.R.S.). Some of their number (including the famous Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield) survived, having witnessed Umbrella’s many misdeeds.
The plan to deal with this issue? Nemesis, a hulking Tyrant 2.0 sporting a snazzy leather jacket, a rocket launcher, and the temperament of an angry math teacher who has been asked how Pythagoras is going to benefit anybody in later life. He relentlessly and unpredictably pursues Jill throughout the game, spouting his simple, terrifying catchphrase as he does so.
7 “Where’s Everyone Going, Bingo?” (Resident Evil 4)
Leon S. Kennedy has been through quite a transformation over the course of the series. In Resident Evil 2, he was a rookie cop who found himself in way over his head. In Resident Evil 4, by contrast, he’d become a surly, gruff action hero who suplexed angry soldiers so hard that their heads exploded on contact with the floor (yes, really).
The key to being an action hero is deploying the most cheesy lines at the best moment. Leon, being new to the concept, only had this to offer when the attacking Ganados called off their assault and left when the church’s bell rang. Still, this silly line punctuated the explosive set-piece at the beginning of Resident Evil 4, immortalizing it.
6 “What Are You Buying?” (Resident Evil 4)
Oftentimes, it’s the tryhard catchphrases that just don’t catch on. As Mean Girls’ Regina once put it, “stop trying to make fetch happen. It’s not going to happen.” It has to be a fluid concept, like earning a nickname. You can’t just choose it yourself.
This tends to mean that the most unexpected lines become the most popular. This little doozy, which the friendly merchant greets you with, isn’t anything special at all. It’s the way he says it, though. Is he British? Is he not? What’s going on here? The mystery and repetitiveness of the line are what make it iconic.
5 "You Want S.T.A.R.S? I'll Give You Stars!” (Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
Near the end of the third game, Jill Valentine finally gets the upper hand on her peruser, The Nemesis. The beast is mutated and heavily damaged. So, Jill fires some shots into the creature before delivering this iconic quote and the final blow.
It's the sort of quippy line you expect to see in a Hollywood action movie, as the hero uses the villain's own words against them. Yes, it's a little cheesy, but there's nothing wrong with that. Plus, it brings with it a sense of relief as it signifies the end of the seemingly indestructible monster.
4 “Itchy. Tasty.” (Resident Evil)
Here’s another case in point. The simple words itchy tasty won’t mean anything at all to non-Resident Evil fans. It would be harder to come up with a more throwaway quote, right? Well, if you know the context, these two words probably chill you to the bone.
The original Resident Evil saw the protagonists entirely alone in the mansion for the most part (hideous lumpen throat-biters aside). This meant that story and context had to be delivered through documents that the player picked up along the way. One such document consists of excerpts from the diary of a resident animal keeper, who slowly lost his humanity to the virus. The penultimate entry reads, “Fever gone but itchy. Hungry and eat doggy food. Itchy itchy Scott came. Ugly face so killed him. Tasty.” Beneath that, two fateful words: “Itchy. Tasty.”
3 “Do I Have Your Attention, Boy? You Are About To See Something Wonderful.” (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard)
There was a lot riding on Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The previous two entries had progressed further and further away from good old-fashioned survival horror, and the franchise had to prove that it was still relevant and still remembered where it came from.
Whether it truly delivered on that front depends on who you ask, but there’s no doubt that the Baker family were some of the creepiest ‘human’ NPCs in Resident Evil history. The father, Jack Baker, torments the player throughout the earlier events of the game, an all-but unkillable sadistic menace. To show the hero Ethan what a hopeless predicament he was in, Jack grapples with the young man, before saying these words and demanding that Ethan shoot him in the head. Ethan does so, but Jack doesn’t stay down for long.
2 “Seven Minutes. Seven Minutes Is All I Can Spare To Play With You.” (Resident Evil 5)
Late in Resident Evil 5, Chris and Sheva face off against Wesker and the mind-controlled Jill Valentine. Instead of pummeling the heroes into oblivion, the iconic sunglasses-wearing villain decides to toy with them by giving them seven minutes of his time.
It's one of those classic 'you can’t kill the enemy, so you just have to survive until the time runs out boss battles,' which pads the action out a bit. And the battle begins with Wesker delivering the epic line in question. It’s also a reminder of just how powerful and arrogant the series’ big villain became before his end.
1 “Sure, I’m Not Human Any More, But Just Look At The Power I’ve Gained!” (Resident Evil - Code: Veronica)
Leon S. Kennedy’s fun little vacation through rural Europe may be known as Resident Evil 4, but the fourth main entry in the series was technically Resident Evil- Code: Veronica. This installment first launched on the Dreamcast in the year 2000 and saw Chris and Claire Redfield venturing through a distant island and Antarctic research base in the midst of (you guessed it) another outbreak.
While all of this is going on, you learn a lot more about Wesker’s goals and motives and see how far he’s willing to let his ambition take him.