Why Are There STILL Zombies in Raccoon City During Resident Evil Requiem?

Summary

In Resident Evil Requiem, Leon returns to the ruins of Raccoon City to rescue FBI agent Grace Ashcroft, who was taken there by Victor Gideon and Xeno. The video asks why old, dried-out zombies—apparently survivors of the original outbreak—are still present nearly 30 years after the city’s destruction.

The video distinguishes these zombies from the fresher, bulkier BOWs found in the underground ARK laboratory. Their appearance and clothing, including those of a zombie in the RPD, suggest they came from the original city rather than ARK. Since the game does not directly explain their presence, the video considers nostalgia and continuity as possible reasons.

The creator’s fan theory is that Raccoon City Syndrome and the T-Virus’s ability to reactivate cells may have allowed some corpses to persist or revive long after the outbreak. Zombies buried under dust and rubble could have been reactivated and clawed their way to the surface after sensing nearby prey.

The video also discusses conflicting accounts of the city’s destruction: it may have been hit by one large missile or several smaller strikes. If the weapon was thermobaric rather than nuclear, that might explain why structures remain standing and could mean some infected cells survived. The creator acknowledges that this is speculation—and that the surviving RPD uniform is difficult to explain—while noting that the zombies may simply be an Easter egg.

Sources and games mentioned

• Capcom and Resident Evil Requiem
• Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
• The Resident Evil Outbreak series
• An interview with a writer of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis about the bomb’s nature
• Progenitor, the video’s creator