Rebecca Chambers (character)

Rebecca Chambers (レベッカ・チェンバース) is a fictional character from the Resident Evil horror video game franchise by Capcom.

Rebecca Chambers was introduced as a supporting character in the original Resident Evil game in 1996, in which she is a young police officer with the Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS) trapped in a mysterious mansion. Rebecca is the protagonist player character of the prequel, Resident Evil Zero, where she is forced to partner with an escaped convict Billy Coen, followed by interquel Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

Rebecca is also one of the heroes of the Resident Evil novel series and has made some additional non-canonical game appearances. The character was well received by critics and her return to the series has been demanded.

Design and portrayal
Rebecca was portrayed by an actress credited as "Linda" in the live-action cutscenes of the original Resident Evil in 1996, Hope Levy in its 2002 remake, Riva Di Paola in Resident Evil Zero (2002), and by Stephanie Sheh in The Umbrella Chronicles (2007) and Resident Evil 5 (2008). In Zero, she was modeled after the J-pop star Ayumi Hamasaki, who also served as Capcom's official spokeswoman for the game in Japan. Rebecca's alternate costumes in the games "expose her midriff and voluptuous shape".

In video games
Rebecca makes her first appearance in the original Resident Evil, as a supporting character for Chris Redfield, a fellow officer in the STARS. She arrives at the Arklay Research Facility before the STARS Alpha team, after her unit is scattered across the Arklay Mountains. Rebecca is an 18-year-old rookie member of STARS Bravo team, in charge of rear security and serving as the team's field medic. Before joining the force, Rebecca was a child prodigy and was able to graduate from college at the age of 18. Her introduction and other appearances throughout the game vary depending on the path the player chooses and she can be controlled by the player during certain portions of the story. Ultimately, Rebecca emerges as Bravo team's sole survivor of the incident. She has also survived the events of Resident Evil 2, in which the character makes a notable Easter egg type cameo appearance in an undeveloped film on Wesker's desk.

In Resident Evil Zero, a prequel to Resident Evil, Rebecca is one of two protagonists. In this game, Rebecca comes across the Ecliptic Express train while investigating a series of bizarre murders in the Arklay Mountains. She encounters an escaped military prisoner, Billy Coen, who helps her. The two discover that the attacks have been masterminded by James Marcus, formerly one of the Umbrella Corporation's top scientists, who has reanimated himself to get revenge on his killers. In the end, they manage to destroy Marcus and Rebecca allows Billy to escape, falsely reporting his death to the authorities.

Rebecca appears in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, which summarizes the events of Resident Evil Zero and details her experiences between it and Resident Evil. The game pairs her with fellow STARS Bravo team member Richard Aiken, as they work together to fend off hordes of undead creatures. She is also a playable character in Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition in its minigame mode Mercenaries Reunion and in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.

Gameplay
In Resident Evil Zero, in which she is a starting character, Rebecca is weaker than Billy and as such can absorb much less damage and cannot push heavier objects. Her unique skill is her ability to mix various chemicals.

In other media
Rebecca plays a central role in S. D. Perry's Resident Evil novels written in 1998-2004, namely in the original stories Resident Evil: Caliban Cove and Resident Evil: Underworld, as well as in the novelizations of the games in which she appears (Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy and Resident Evil: Zero Hour). In Caliban Cove, Rebecca, declared outlaw and aided by members of the Exeter, Maine branch of STARS, attempts to stop a rogue scientist from spreading a new strain of the T-virus. In Underworld, she, Leon S. Kennedy and an original character David Trapp (from Caliban Cove) embark to find the Umbrella Corporation's new facility hidden beneath the desert in Utah, which was taken over by another rogue Umbrella scientist.

She also appears in the Resident Evil comic book S.T.A.R.S. Files and in George A. Romero's rejected Resident Evil film screenplay, filling the same role as she did in the first game; in this script, she was one of the four survivors. An animated film continuing the events of the series and focusing on the current exploits of Rebecca could possibly be made in the future.

In merchandise
In 2001, toymaker Moby Dick produced an action figure of Rebecca in the Resident Evil 3: Nemesis related series even as she does not actually appear in this game (the figure is actually based on the character's depiction in the canceled Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil Zero). A diorama-type figure of Rebecca and the monster Hunter was released by Organic in 2009. A 1/6 scale resin garage kit of Rebecca in her alternate costume from Zero was also released by Vanilla Chop.

Reception
The character has been positively received by critics. According to IGN, "Rebecca may seem like nothing more than a plucky sidekick, but she can more than hold her own in battle." GameDaily featured her as its "Babe of the Week" in an 11-page feature, commenting, "Resident Evil's youngest member battles zombies and other horrors so you don't have to. That makes her a true American hero." In 2008, PC Games Hardware included her among the 112 most important female characters in games. In 2009, IGN included her on the list of the characters they would like to return in Resident Evil 6. Joystiq praised Rebecca's inclusion in Resident Evil 5's downloadable content, stating "we're all for bringing [her] back." While evaluating which of the Resident Evil heroes is best dressed to survive a real-life zombie apocalypse, GamesRadar found Rebecca to be "more practically attired than Ada Wong or Jill Valentine" despite her look of "pre-pubescent tom boy".