'Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness': What Happens Next for Claire Redfield?
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is now available to watch on Netflix, with all four episodes available to binge straight away.
The series has been confirmed as part of the official Resident Evil "prime continuity," which means that it exists within the same universe as the mainline video games. As such, the established characters that you see in the show (like Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield and President Graham) are all supposed to be the same versions that you would encounter in Resident Evil 2 or Resident Evil 4.
Think of the Netflix original as less of an adaptation of the video games and more like a direct extension of them and it all starts to make a bit more sense. On that note, Newsweek has already published an article explaining precisely where Infinite Darkness slots into the existing Resident Evil timeline.
While this is quite complicated (due to all the novelizations, comic books and mobile spinoffs) the show can be placed somewhere between the events of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.
For Leon, this means that he has still got quite a lot of story left ahead of him by the time Infinite Darkness' credits roll. After all, he was one of the principal characters in Resident Evil 6 and basically helped to save the world from total annihilation.
Yet for Claire, the future is far less certain. The Resident Evil 2 protagonist has not starred in any of the franchise's mainline instalments since her debut and she is only mentioned in passing from time to time by the other characters.
Granted, she has appeared in her fair share of spinoff titles but, generally speaking, these are less integral to the overarching narrative of the Resident Evil canon. With that in mind, many viewers might be left wondering what happens to Claire after the events of Infinite Darkness.
The History of Claire Redfield
Claire Redfield is one of the core Resident Evil characters and is also the sister of the original game's protagonist, Chris Redfield.
We first meet Claire in Resident Evil 2, after she drops out of college to look for her missing brother. Unfortunately, her search leads her to Raccoon City at the exact moment that all hell breaks loose, and hordes of zombies descend upon the metropolis.
By teaming up with rookie cop, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire manages to uncover proof that the Umbrella Corporation was responsible for the viral outbreak and escapes with the hope of one day taking them down.
Speaking of which, Claire's next appearance is in the spinoff title Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (which incidentally was meant to the third mainline title until Nemesis was bumped up the schedule). Here, we learn that she is still fighting tirelessly to expose Umbrella's crimes and to find her brother.
Once the corporation grows tired of her constant interfering, they apprehend Claire and imprison her on their own private island complex. The game then focuses on her attempt to escape the clutches of Umbrella for a second time.
After Code: Veronica we do not really see that much of Claire in the video games themselves, although she does take the lead role in a number of canonical animated movies. For instance, she is at the forefront of Resident Evil: Degeneration, which is essentially a precursor to the new Infinite Darkness series (they are only set about a year apart).
In Degeneration, we find out that Claire has become an employee of TerraSave, a non-governmental organisation that is devoted to helping communities that have been devastated by bioweapons. In other words, she basically travels the world providing relief to places that have been attacked by monsters, so that they do not suffer the same fate as Raccoon City.
In addition to delivering humanitarian aid, she also does a little bit of pro bono detective work every now and then. Specifically, she will often take it upon herself to find out who is supplying bioweapons to terrorist organizations and what they are being used for.
What Happens to Claire Redfield After 'Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness'?
Post Code: Veronica, Claire's video game appearances are relatively few and far between. She is a playable character in a handful of arcade spinoffs, light gun titles, and multiplayer offshoots, but she is not in anything that truly advances her story. Although she did make a comeback in the excellent Resident Evil 2 remake, that was set all the way back in 1998.
This means that, within the chronology of the Resident Evil timeline, Infinite Darkness is actually one of the last appearances from Claire. In the show, she is now a prominent member of TerraSave and is investigating a potential war crime that involved mutated bioweapons being unleashed in a combat zone.
While this is the most we have seen of Claire in a long time, there is one spinoff that does offer us a better glimpse into her future. Resident Evil: Revelations 2 takes place in 2011, making it the most recent game in the timeline to feature Claire in any meaningful capacity.
In the episodic title, a group of TerraSave members (including Claire) are abducted by a terrorist cell and transported to yet another prison island complex. There, Claire is forced to fight against a new form of bioweapon that remains dormant within a victim until they experience true fear.
Alongside Barry Burton's daughter, Moira, she is able to prevent the virus from getting into the wrong hands and escapes in time for the BSAA (The Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) to sterilize the island. A brief epilogue then shows Claire driving to Barry's house with a gift, indicating that she is still alive and well.
Her story does then continue in the manga Heavenly Island where, as a more combat-oriented TerraSave operative, she is sent out on field missions to investigate reports of various bioweapon sightings.
So, if you were wondering what happens to Claire after Infinite Darkness, she basically follows in her brother's footsteps and becomes a professional monster-slayer.
Whether or not we will see more of her journey in a second season of the Netflix original remains to be seen, although the streaming platform has greenlit a separate live-action Resident Evil show, so they are obviously committed to this universe. More information about that other series was revealed during Capcom's April showcase.
All four episodes of Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness are now available on Netflix. Newsweek has published a comprehensive breakdown of the show's cliffhanger ending here.
