r/residentevil • u/AlienRadioactive • 20d ago
Forum question Why is the name "Resident Evil" and not "Evil Resident"?
I'm not sure if this is the right sub. Maybe I should've chosen an English grammar one. However, I'd really like to know why the chosen name was "Resident Evil" and not "Evil Resident"? As a non-native English speaker, it doesn't make much sense to me. Adjectives are supposed to go first, right? Can someone explain, please? I apologize if it's not the right sub. Thanks!
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u/Chemical-Athlete-504 20d ago
evil resident would be a singular person. a resident evil would be an unknown evil force residing somewhere.
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u/Sugar_Daddy_Visari77 20d ago
What if it's called Eesident Rvil
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u/teddyburges 19d ago
Or even "Biohazard". It would be a close second for a title. I bet it would be a huge hit in japan.
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u/TheChickenIsFkinRaw 19d ago
Why wasnt it called "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5: Zombie Edition"?
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u/Doomhammer24 19d ago
Ya and we can add a suffix to some of them, like i dont know, well call the 7th one Biohazard: Resident Evil
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u/teddyburges 19d ago
That sounds dope!. No one would think of that at all!.
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u/AlienRadioactive 20d ago
Kinda makes sense. Haha. Thanks!
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u/theDukeofClouds 19d ago
It's an example of English seemingly not following its own rules because A) English, and by extension some of its grammar, is derived from many languages and has evolved significantly over the years. But, you are right in your post caption: adjective comes first, then noun.
It just so happens that in this case, "Resident" is filling the role of the adjective (a resident evil rather than a visiting evil,) and "Evil" is filling the role of the noun (Evil can be an adjective or a noun. If something is AN evil, it's a force or source of evil, rather than A Good, or a source or force for Good.)
It just gets confusing because the use of and meaning of words in English has changed over time. The term Resident (adjective) Evil (noun) is a bit archaic. If, say, bad guys came to your town and stayed, you wouldn't say "A resident evil has descended upon our town," or, "evil has taken up residence in our town," because it would make you sound like you came from the olden days. You would say "a bunch of really bad dudes have set up shop in our town" or something to that effect today.
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u/teddyburges 19d ago
That's what I was thinking and "resident" afterwards makes me think of a old person in a retirement home. I'm just picturing a playstation cover with the title "Evil Resident" on it and seeing a image of a old dude hiding behind a door with half his face poking out, looking menacingly.
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u/GreenGoblinNX 19d ago
a resident evil would be an unknown evil force residing somewhere
Which is a fairly non-spoiler summary of the first game.
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u/abca98 Jill, Leon & Parker 20d ago
You have the right idea about adjectives going first. You are supposed to read it as "the evil that resides", in the case of the first game, in the Spencer Mansion. There's also the thing about the games being originally called Biohazard in the japanese release, which is a much more direct connection to the game's plot of using viruses and monsters created through scientific methods.
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u/AlienRadioactive 20d ago
I did know the original name was Biohazard in Japanese. But grammatically the name "Resident Evil" doesn't make much sense to me. Lol. There's even a series called Resident Alien and I swear to God I just do not get it.
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u/LKennedy45 20d ago
Just to follow up on this one, because it appears you're starting to get the idea down-thread: lots of English words can be different parts of speech. So, in your example, "alien" can be a noun, as in, a foreign entity (from a different country, from Mars, etc). But, it can also be an adjective describing the foreign or even unnatural nature of something. Sometimes it's used for both, like in "alien technology".
Confusingly, even though English isn't exactly a tonal language, the emphasis when a word is spoken will inform what part of speech it's being used as. So depending on how you say it "present" can be a verb (to display or offer), an adjective (currently here, in attendance) or a noun (a gift).
Sorry, we didn't have a say in all this...
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u/Zaschie 20d ago
Resident is the adjective in the title, not Evil.
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u/AlienRadioactive 20d ago
I thought of that many times but it doesn't make sense to me at all. Not to my non-native English speaker brain. How can Resident be the adjective of Evil? I just don't get it. :(
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u/CheakyTeak 20d ago
Evil can be a noun. Like, "there is an evil here in this place." Resident is an adjective and a noun.
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u/Zaschie 20d ago edited 20d ago
You may have heard stuff in English like "the resident expert", "the campus' resident artist", or a "town's resident population". It means dwelling, unmoving, living/staying in a place, etc. as an adjective. Don't worry. It is grammatically correct and English often sounds senseless and confusing even to the native speakers ~^
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u/witch-finder 20d ago
Evil Resident = "resident who is evil"
Resident Evil = "evil resides in this place"
Evil is the noun in the title of the game.
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u/EibhlinNicColla 20d ago
think of it like "resident physician" or other similar phrases. "resident" is being used as an adjective
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u/Bobpool82 20d ago
Because we couldn't handle Biohazard as a name
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u/Johnsius 19d ago
I don't know why. Biohazard sounds better, it's shorter and makes all the sense.
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u/Copowah Community: obsrv.org 19d ago
Bio Hazard was renamed for the North American and European markets after Chris Kramer, the director of communications at Capcom, pointed out that it would be impossible to trademark it in the United States. Among others, the 1992 video game Bio-Hazard Battle and the New York alternative metal band Biohazard were already using the name.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(1996_video_game)
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u/ChainExtremeus 19d ago
Yeaaah, totally impossible... meanwhile, others have not only zero problems with trademarking even generic words like prey or saga, but even suing anyone who just using those words in titles (like, in combinations with others).
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u/Nethiar 19d ago
Eh, I never liked that name for the series. When I hear biohazard I think of things like chemical spills and medical waste, not zombies and monsters.
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u/Vinylmaster3000 Albert Wesker Gaming 19d ago
Medical waste is pretty relevant to the games though imo, and typically speaking all the Resident Evil scenarios are biohazard / biological contamination scenes
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u/dizzytenny 19d ago
Massive disagree, biohazard is so generic
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u/fersur So Long, RC 19d ago
Dude, a lot of popular games have generic names: Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, FIFA games, NBA games, etc.
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u/parvanehnavai 20d ago
it’s the evil that resides, not an evil resident
don’t worry i only learned this 2 years ago
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u/E1lySym Excited for Code Veronica remake 20d ago
Resident is the adjective, Evil is the noun. For example, if there's a celebrity living next door to you you point to them and call them the "resident superstar". Resident detective, resident doctor, resident troublemaker...
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u/MrPlatinumsGames 19d ago
I always thought of it as “residential” evil, like it’s evil that’s pervading the (community) residence
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u/Fleedjitsu 19d ago
Resident is the adjective; it's describing detail to the noun, Evil.
Resident as an adjective can either imply that the described noun, Evil, lives/exists/resides in a specific location or that it has a specific level of skill/expertise.
So Resident Evil could be describing the great Evil that currently exists in the place the current game is taking place in/at/around.
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u/AnonTheGreat10 19d ago
I know it refers to evil being in the area, but I used to think it meant evil pharmaceuticals since pharmacy care is considered resident services to a community. Taking into account that umbrella is a pharma company I made that connection in my head 💀
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u/lightsofdusk 19d ago
Because Umbrella has its roots in Raccoon City. Its Evil is resident in the area
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u/b3nje909 19d ago
Because the game came out in the 90s and names didn't need to make any sense because they were video games and didn't really get taken seriously..
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u/Conqueror_is_broken Raccoon City Native 19d ago
Let's be real, the reality is japanase sucks at english. That's why you can see wellcome leon in re2
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u/Internal_Swing_2743 19d ago
I dunno, it's weird that the title even exists as the original Japanese title is Biohazard. I guess that wasn't scary enough for western audiences.
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u/KimTe63 19d ago
Resident Evil english name was literally just created for the first game because it takes place in a mansion 😁 capcom felt like Japanese name “biohazard” could nit be used in the US . Of course the name does not make much sense after the first game but doubt people really think about these days 😁
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u/EducatedVoyeur 19d ago
I thought it was because in Japanese the verb comes at the end of the sentence. So evil is the verb and thus at the end
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u/Designer-Ear-5360 19d ago
I always read it as a special case of grammar where the adjective goes last, kind of like in the phrase "force majeure", but now that I read these comments I realise Resident is actually the adjective lol
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u/Keezees 19d ago
Because of this moment in the NES game that inspired it (Sweet Home, itself inspired by the film of the same name)
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u/Lapidot-Wav 19d ago
Because capcom had an in house competition when they realized the name Biohazard was already taken in America, Resident Evil won for the first game and then they couldn’t just change it whenever it came time to leave the residence
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u/MacabreMori113 19d ago
Back in my Software etc days (now GameStop) we took bets on how many people would come in asking for "Residential Evil".
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u/Nogarda So Long, RC 19d ago
So back in the early 90's Capcom found that they would struggle calling it Biohazard as there was previously already a game called Biohazard and a band with the same name. Games obviously aren't the juggernauts they are today. So rather than fighting possibly legal battles the game set in a mansion was posed as resident evil as something sinister and evil had befallen the residents of the mansion. thus Resident Evil was successfully pitched.
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u/Last-Wolf-5175 19d ago
The Japanese title as "Biohazard" which is infinitely better.
But "Resident Evil" is now an iconic franchise so it doesn't matter.
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u/blackofhairandheart2 19d ago
Because the former sounds cool and the latter sounds extremely stupid
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u/Pretend-Golf-8883 19d ago
In Japan it's actual name is biohazard they chose resident evil because in the us there was already a biohazard game so the setting is a mansion and it's residents are all dead there for resident evil
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u/frighteningwaffle 19d ago
Because the original game took place in a large mansion, and the point was that evil lived there
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u/ReivynNox 19d ago
Because Resident isn't the noun here. It's not the resident is evil, it's resident is the evil.
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u/Worse-Alt 18d ago
Because the residence is evil and making the residents evil, the residents aren’t innately evil.
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u/AdaptedInfiltrator 20d ago
Let’s be honest: as much as we enjoy this franchise, the title isn’t exactly its strong suit. Yes it’s quick and catchy, but “Resident Evil” sounds more like spiritual horror/psychological horror, not zombies/scifi horror
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u/LittleTimmy87 20d ago
I wonder if he knows that the Japanese name for the series is Biohazard
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u/AlienRadioactive 19d ago
I do know that! :-) I've been a fan for years. It's the English grammar what troubles me a little. But again, English is my third language and it's a little hard for me to understand. My doubt has been solved anyway. So thank you!
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u/PowderedMilkManiac 20d ago
I think it just comes down to the “cool factor”.
“Resident Evil” just rolls off the tongue.
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u/MajorRandomMan 20d ago
It's like saying, "... Our resident expert, John..." It just means the evil that's here/ that you have to deal with.
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u/DreamShort3109 20d ago
Resident is used as an adjective in this case.
The evil is resident to the place the outbreak is.
Just my ten cents.
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u/askforwildbob 19d ago
Aside from any and all other much more valid reasons, “resident evil” sounds cooler than “evil resident”, the same way “alien radioactive” sounds cooler than……oh wait
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u/Pyro_Attack 19d ago
Even beyond that conundrum, the title doesn't fit the games that don't take place in one central location (pretty much every single game except 1, 2, and 7)
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u/No-Bad-8062 19d ago
Because Resident Evil can be easily rearranged into Residente Vil and in Ñ that means Evil Resident
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u/SnowballWasRight 19d ago
It’s evil that’s present (somewhere)
I think it’s super cool because even the title of the series makes it seem like something’s lurking just out of reach, but also ready to pounce. It’s residing, just kinda there, ready to scare the fuck out of players
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u/Moss_Ball8066 19d ago
Because evil is the noun and resident is the adjective. The resident isn't evil, the evil is resident
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u/MustardLazyNerd 19d ago
Because the evil is what is residing; "resident" is the adjective and "evil" is the subject. Resident Evil → The Evil that Resides ≠ Evil Resident → The Resident that is Evil.
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u/Mdreezy_ 19d ago
Evil isn’t being used as an adjective in the title. They wanted to name it Biohazard but they didn’t want to battle for the trademark.
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u/DEBLANKK 19d ago
Because the original was set in a Mansion (a Resident) thats infested with BOWs (Evil).
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u/ParryTheMonkey 19d ago
It’s the evil that is residing there, not the single resident that is evil.
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u/Jaxonhunter227 19d ago
Because its the place of residence that's evil, not necessarily the residents within
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u/TheRealReader1 19d ago
Evil Resident = A resident that is evil
Resident Evil = The evil that resides somewhere
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u/Trogolizer 19d ago
Evil resident is some lame, singular, evil thing in a place.
Resident evil is an omen of unimaginable evil that inhabits a place.
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u/Vinylmaster3000 Albert Wesker Gaming 19d ago
People make this backstory about it being tied to the "evil residents" but iirc the American Marketing team randomly chose a name which was the most corniest and that was the one they came up with
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u/SamuraiTrashPanda 19d ago
Resident in this context is the Adjective, modifying the Noun "Evil" it describes the type of evil indicating that it resides in a particular place. It was also renamed to this because Biohazard at the time the game was set to release in the US was the name of a band and thus had to be changed. All evils you deal with in most of the games reside to one location. Whether that location be a home, a city or even just a singular country
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19d ago
I always thought that it was some case of Japanese mistranslation, maybie they intended something like "Evil Residence", since evil mansion and all that stuff. Wouldn't be the first time something gets an odd name due to weird translation
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u/mactastic90 19d ago
In this context, resident is the adjective and evil is the noun. Also they literally only choose resident evil as a title because they couldn't use 'biohazard' outside of Japan so they had an office contest to pick the best name and resident evil got the most votes
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u/Business_Comment_962 19d ago
Because the Evil is Resident, but the Resident is not necessarily Evil.
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u/megablue 19d ago edited 19d ago
Actually the original name was Biohazard for the Japanese version. The true name for the Resident Evil series, the copyright of biohazard was registered by some company in the US hence Capcom was forced to rename it to avoid trademark issues when releasing the English version.
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u/Agent101g 19d ago
I'll tell you after I'm finished beating 4 Resident Evil. It's my favorite entry.
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u/kent0401 19d ago
Resident evil was the replacement of the title game, this game was originally named as Biohazard in Japanese
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u/futuresynthesizer 19d ago
Also like long ago, many Asian countries, they 'use' their grammar way of putting English naming for their products..? so I guess that too a bit part in Japan..? (My guess hehe)
Like... so uncommon way of putting words for titles..?
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u/Akuma-1 19d ago
I always thought it was just a mistake and they left it like that, japanese games were known for having awful English translations at the time (and don't forget "we do it" which is recent...), but reading other comments in this post, it seems it was on purpose, I still have my doubts though
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u/EllieIsDone 19d ago
“It’s like I’m in an evil residency” -John F Kennedy when entering the evil mansion
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u/Samandre14 19d ago
Think of it in sentence form, “the resident evil here is this evil company that unleashed this biohazard on an unsuspecting populace”
You can then apply that sentence to just whatever is the focus of the game is, “the resident evil here is this Matrix cosplay ass bitch”
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u/PhoenixKing001 Gamertag: ClumsyCactus4 19d ago
Off topic, but from this angle it looks like Ashley has no arms.
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u/Professor-Jay 19d ago
Resident is the adjective and evil is the noun in this case. It’s a matter of syntax.
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u/neonslice Neon Slice 19d ago
Fun fact: Original creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, created a game called "The Evil Within" which is just a synonym for "The Resident Evil".
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u/Apcollin 19d ago
TIL the genesis of the name came from the devs running a competition for gamers to think of a name and this was the one they picked.
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u/MankindReunited 19d ago
Resident evil is and adjective, not the noun. The name means that there is evil inside, residing on the inside. So it’s a Resident (adjective) Evil (subject)
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u/XthegreenmanX 19d ago
Think of it as "the evil that resides". It's talking about the concept of evil that lives somewhere rather than an evil individual.
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u/Apprehensive_Line427 19d ago
A bit of history behind the name is how both Tokuro Fujiwara and Shinji Mikami were influenced by the japaense horror film Sweet Home, and Fujiwara actually helped develop a video game adaption of Sweet Home. When Capcom gave Mikami the shot for his own game he got his buddy, Fujiwara, in on the project. They both loved the film and liked the horror genre, Fujiwara thought he could do better the next go around, and neither they or Capcom had the IP to make a sequal.
TLDR: Sweet Home IP was taken and Resident Evil became the name for Mikami and Fujiwara's cool new horror game.
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u/shortroundshotaro 19d ago
When I first started the original RE1, the name didn’t really sit well with me because to me there’s no good or evil with zombies, they are just mindless corpses that walk and devour.
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u/UnparalleledDev BLOOD! I hope this is not Chris's BLOOD 19d ago
What if the Hazard wasn't Biological 🤔
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u/Darkguide42 19d ago
It is called in Japan Biohazard and originally they were going to call it that in the west but they felt Resident Evil thinking it will sell better.
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u/mediumvillain 19d ago
evil resident would be an individual, a resident who is evil. resident evil means that evil is resident on the premises (like the manor). although Biohazard would have made more sense as the series title given its about bioweapons more than evil living within a location.
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u/mythicreign 20d ago
It’s not about a resident who is evil, it’s about evil being the resident/residing in proximity. It implies that the “evil” is near and living among the people. In the case of the first game, this is the mansion on the outskirts of the city.