Awesome / Resident Evil Village

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Horror it has, but Resident Evil: Village still has its Awesome Moments.

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General

• The basic premise of the game has previous Resident Evil protagonist Ethan Winters going Bryan Mills on a village of monsters and their masters who kidnapped his daughter.

Main Game

• Despite being thrown into the situation and having no idea (yet again) what's happening, one of the first things Ethan ends up doing is taking on a horde of Lycans with only a handgun.
• Ethan spending the first act of the game confused and a little freaked out by the horrors of Castle Dimistrescu as he's chased by Lady Alcina's psychotic daughters... until he discovers their weakness to the cold. He proceeds to spend each one-on-one fight with them taking advantage of the environment, doing enough damage to eventually kill them.
  • Then there's his Boss Battle against the countess herself. Everyone suspected she'd would get some One-Winged Angel form and weren't surprised when it happened. What they weren't expecting was that instead of the more obvious bat-like form, Alcina's boss transformation would be more draconic... or that she'd just be the first major boss. To clarify, the game's Disc-One Final Boss has Ethan against the Resident Evil answer to a fucking dragon in a goddamn castle like out of some medieval fantasy story.
• A non-boss battle example. After being given directions towards the last flask, Heisenberg leads Ethan to the heart of the lycan den. What do you, the player, do? Proceed to absolutely kick ass as you tear your way through waves and waves of enemies. It's one thing to tear through hordes as Chris Redfield, seasoned veteran equipped with the latest weaponry. It's quite another for a regular civilian (albiet with some combat training) to go straight to the heart of the terrifying (and even on regular difficulty, challenging to fight) lycans. Not even the "father" of the lycans, equipped with a hammer straight out of Dark Souls, stands a chance.
• While still a civilian, Ethan has been getting trained by Chris for the past 3 years and it shows. He is able to use much more complicated weaponry and is far more proficient with weapons in general and is better able to mentally deal with bad situations when he used to panic over much lesser issues.
  • When running into Chris' hidden research base near the village, Ethan is grabbed from behind by one of his elite operatives and actually manages to throw him over his shoulder. It doesn't take as the operative immediately counters his counterattack but not bad for a civilian!
• There is a theory that the Varcolac Alfa outside Luiza's house, with its silver fur and the debris sticking out of it, is a transformed Leonardo. If true, it would mean the man survived being shot twice with a shotgun, falling into a collapsing burning building, managed to climb out of the wreckage to the field right outside, and transform into one of the game's biggest threats.
• After recovering Rose's flasks, Heisenberg invites Ethan to his factory, hoping to convince Ethan to join him in taking down Miranda. When Ethan refuses (both on the basis that Heisenberg wants to use Rose as a weapon against Miranda, and that Ethan isn't particularly interested in the plight of a guy who helped chop up his daughter), Heisenberg shoves him down a hole before catching his arm, giving him one last chance to join and warning him that he doesn't want to find out what awaits him in the lower levels. Ethan promptly says he'll take his chances... and lets go of Heisenberg's arm, waiting for/daring him to do the same. If ever there was a better way to tell someone saying that We Can Rule Together where to stick it...
• The entire fight with Karl Heisenberg is one singular awesome moment just for how batshit insane it is.
  • To clarify, Heisenberg mutates by merging with his own machinery, turning himself into what is essentially the B.O.W equivalent of a Humongous Mecha. In order to combat him, Ethan takes the fight to him in a large, open field with a goddamn tank.
  • How the fight ends: after having been flung out of the tank, Ethan manages to get back in it as he and the surrounding debris is flying through the air due to Heisenberg's dangerously overcharging powers. This allows him to shoot Heisenberg with the tank's gun at point-blank range while throwing Heisenberg's own words back at him.
    Heisenberg: So long, Ethan Winters! You really should have taken my deal! You'll meet Rose in the afterlife! Rose's power is mine! Right after I murder Miranda!
    Ethan: Your funeral!
    BOOM!
    Heisenberg: YAAAAAH!! No, NO! This can't be the end FOR ME! I... Must... KILL HER-BOOM!
• The player once again in the driver seat of Chris Redfield in the climax of the game after Ethan is killed by Mother Miranda. He easily cuts through swathes of Lycans of varying sizes that would have left Ethan struggling, revealing the difference between a civilian and an anti-BOW veteran soldier like Chris.
• The revelation that Ethan has been Dead All Along and didn't even realize it because he's so determined to rescue his daughter that he's been keeping his body from falling apart through sheer willpower alone. What makes this especially notable even compared to not just other Molded, but particularly powerful B.O.W.s in the series is that his willpower to endure until his mission is done lets him survive things even Tyrants couldn't, i.e. having his heart destroyed. True, he's officially on borrowed time once this happens, but until he's satisfied Rose is safe he just won't go down. Father of the fucking year, ladies and gentlemen!
  • Note, this probably makes Ethan the single-most successful iteration of one of Umbrella's BOW's. Sure Tyrants were powerful, but they were blunt tools of war and were known for going rogue. Las Plagas were unreliable and not much more effective than regular people with guns. But Ethan? The sheer staggering amount of damage he puts out AND withstands over the course of 7 and Village is easily on par with Nemesis, and Ethan is a damned sight smarter.
• Ethan's final confrontation with Mother Miranda. The entire sequence feels as though someone at Capcom asked: "What if we turned a fight over child custody into an epic?" The design and phases of the fight, stunning visuals, music and symbolism all contribute to its effectiveness, but what really sells it is the voice performances of the two leads. Ethan sounds more determined and fearful for his child than we've ever heard him up to this point, and while most of Miranda's dialogue is pretty hammy—as is typical of Resident Evil villains—Michelle Lukes' line delivery is bursting with so much raw anger and passion that one can easily get goosebumps. Some particularly noteworthy lines are:
  Miranda: I've spent a life time creating this moment. And you try to take it away from me?! I will take what is due.
  Miranda: You understand the love of a parent to her child, don't you? HOW CAN YOU DENY ME???!!!
  Ethan: Why the hell can't you realize, Rose is MY goddamn kid! ''NOT YOURS!"
  Miranda: Now, Mr. Winters, I think it's time you left things in my hands. Go on, rest now.
  Ethan: The hell I will!
  Miranda: I WILL TAKE BACK MY DAUGHTER!!!!! If I combine Rose with the Megamycete, my daughter will be made manifest at last! I've waited a century—a CENTURY—all for this day!!!
  Miranda: (when defeated) MY DAUGHTER!!! MY EEEEEEVVVAAAAAAAAAA!!!
• Ethan's Heroic Sacrifice. After saving Rose, his body begins to deteriorate. Chris manages to reach them and tries to escort them to the rescue checkpoint because he has to detonate the bomb that would destroy Miranda and the village. However, Ethan is slowly dying and despite Chris telling him that Mia is alive and waiting for him, Ethan chooses to stay behind so he'll be the one to detonate the bomb. So, he gives Rose to Chris and leaves behind his jacket to them as he takes the detonator and tearfully says goodbye to his baby daughter. His last scene is walking towards that giant mold with the detonator in his hand. As they flee, Chris and Mia watch the entire village blow up. In the end, Ethan Winters is indeed a kind husband and a loving father who puts family above all else.
  • Ethan once again has proven to be a badass in his own right in his pursuit to rescuing his daughter that he ended a Villainous Legacy that has haunted the franchise in the last century. In other words, he kills Miranda, the Greater-Scope Villain of the franchise that puts every other villain to shame. He also ends the Dimitrescu legacy that had been terrorizing the village for years, and this is the guy who was an IT systems engineer.
• Eveline of all people manages to get a spot of revenge on her creator, Mother Miranda, for abandoning her several years ago. Her spirit and memories live on in the Mold that's still part of the Winters family, and she contributes to the Final Boss fight against Miranda by breaking off Miranda's connection to part of the Mold through Rose, her own "reincarnation". When her last "Mommy" didn't want her, Eveline crashed a ship - this time, when her other "Mommy" didn't want her, she takes revenge by using her killer to kill the woman who abandoned her. Power in the hands of a child: awesome, yet horrifying.
• The Stinger shows Rose is all grown up and is now Chris' protege, being trained to stop B.O.W.s rather than produce them. One of Chris' agents knows Rose has some connection to Eveline, and refers to her as such. Rose responds with a Badass Boast, telling him to call her by her proper name or she'll show him abilities that even Chris hasn't seen yet. She has no intention of becoming anything like her.
• The Hound-Wolf Squad is a walking Moment of Awesome by virtue of being the first group of special forces operators led by Chris Redfield in a canon Resident Evil game to actually make it through the game without being almost completely wiped out.
• For those who complete the game once and complete all the Mercenaries stages on SS Rank get a very special reward that will leave Star Wars fans frothing at the mouth: a fucking Lightsaber!!! In other words, all the players who braved the horrors of the game get to do so again making mincemeat out of almost every enemy in the game sans the bosses.
  • Mercenaries making a return. It's been 9 years since the last iteration of Mercenaries, which was in the series' most... controversial game. Its return in this game shows that Capcom at least knows how much the fans LOVE The Mercenaries, and it's damn fun to play too.
  • Anyone who completes Mad Village II, get a SSS Rank and without dying deserves a spot here. You fight against overwhelming odds with a very high chance of death by unrelenting hordes of Lycans, Samcă, and Soldats who can kill you in two hits topped off with a boss fight against Mother Miranda and 19 other enemies... and you emerged triumphant and alive with the highest score possible anyways.
  • The Mercenaries: Additional Orders update adds several new stages as well as three new characters: Chris Redfield, The Hero of the franchise, alongside Karl Heisenberg and Alcina Dimitrescu, two of the game's most popular villains.
  • If playing as Dimitrescu or Heisenberg against Miranda in Mercenaries, the former two get unique dialogue, with Dimitrescu's being a case of The Dog Bites Back whereas Heisenberg finally gets to fulfill his lifelong desire to kill that bitch.
    Dimitrescu: [after winning] Not bad for a "failed vessel."
    Heisenberg: [after winning] [laughs evily]

"Shadows of Rose" DLC

• Ethan showing up to save Rose from Evelyn. Her reaction implies this intervention was Beyond the Impossible.
• Ethan pulling a Big Damn Heroes to save Rose out of Miranda's clutches just as Rose had depowered herself, right before the final boss fight. Even if it might just be a memory of him in the Megamycete, he's still doing all he can to protect his daughter.
  Ethan: Get away from my daughter! Stay away from my family!
• The DLC ends with Rose embracing her powers to save Ethan and stop Miranda, which she does by catching Miranda's attacks and making the Megamycete attack her to leave her vulnerable, killing off Miranda's consciousness once and for all. And with this waking up, the implication is that Rose keeps those powers in the real world, which makes her something the universe of Resident Evil has never had but desperately needs in the wake of all of the tragedies over the franchise's life: a self-determining, heroic B.O.W.
• The ending serves as a nice callback to Village of Shadows. In the story, the little girl had to escape with her mother because she was too weak to help. As an infant, Rose lacked the control and experience over the megamycite to intervene and possibly save her father's life. When it looks like the tragedy will repeat itself yet again, the little girl is finally in a position to slay the witch in the woods herself, and it's implied she saved Ethan in the end.

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