They say age is just a number, but when that number seems stuck in time, people can’t help but notice. Resident Evil: Death Island was finally released on Blu-ray and digital download yesterday, and fans were quick to notice that Jill Valentine appears conspicuously younger than her BSAA counterparts, leaving many wondering how this is even possible.
Earlier this year, when Capcom announced the CG animated film, they treated fans to a presentation trailer featuring the film’s main characters, Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy, and Jill Valentine. Capcom was, of course, prepared with receipts.
The development team behind the film knew fans would notice Jill’s younger appearance, so they explained in a character bio post that the T-virus infection was responsible for slowing down her aging.
Jill got infected with the T-virus in Resident Evil 3 back in 1998, when she was 24. Leon and Chris were 21 and 25, respectively, at that time. Even though she received a vaccine that destroyed the virus, some of it remained dormant in her body, which could explain the information released about her age.
In the events of Death Island in 2015, Jill would be 41, while Leon and Chris would be 38 and 42, respectively. Though Leon and Chris have visibly aged over the past 17 years, Jill doesn’t seem to have aged a single day. Assuming the T-virus explains her slowed aging, it certainly doesn’t explain why her clothes haven’t changed as if she were frozen in time like Captain America.
The Gamer had the opportunity to interview the film’s writer, Makoto Fukami, about this intriguing subject, seeking to find other reasons – be they in universe or behind the scenes. Here’s what she had to say (as translated):
It is in fact true, it’s a setup for Jill. She’s gotten infected by the virus twice or three times I think, so she is indeed the one that’s not aging. It’s an official setup by Capcom actually.
In short, Jill’s slowed aging is explained as a reinfection of the virus, but it’s clear that Capcom’s real motive is to keep her youthful looks for future Resident Evil storylines. The T-virus being a convenient deus ex machina to explain anything and everything feels cheap, as it conveniently allows Capcom to manipulate the narrative as they see fit.
This is evident in how characters like Claire Redfield and Rebecca Chambers also appear to have not aged, a fact Fukami explained away as: “We kinda kept it the same thing.” It is of course hard to ignore the underlying implications of exactly which characters are affected.
Fans have dubbed it “The Young and Hot Forever Virus”, a term that perfectly describes a trend in the entertainment industry where male characters age naturally while female characters hardly age or age at a slower pace.
Surprisingly, both Chris and Leon were infected with this virus, but it seems to have had no effect on their aging. Even in Street Fighter 6, Capcom chose to maintain Chun-Li’s appearance as that of her much younger self, despite her age in the game’s cannon being 56.
Regardless, fans will be eager to see how Capcom plans to bring Jill Valentine back in future Resident Evil titles. Rumors suggest Resident Evil 9 might arrive in 2025, and if this is true, it makes it the perfect opportunity to reintroduce the beloved character who has been absent from mainline RE games since Resident Evil 5.
