Resident Evil

Resident Evil games have almost always been about conserving ammo. Resources are usually far too scarce to be needlessly gunning down every enemy you come across. Dodging zombies is often the best course of action so that ammo can be saved for tougher enemies. But Resident Evil Remake introduced a new reason not to kill every zombie that you see. In this game, zombies that are seemingly killed may, over time, undergo a secondary mutation and ‘resurrect’ as stronger, faster creatures called Crimson Heads. This means that when you’re backtracking through a part of the mansion you think is safe because you’ve cleared all the zombies there, it might now be home to new, deadlier surprises…

So, why do zombies in REmake come back to ‘life’ even after they’ve seemingly been killed? And why are they called Crimson Heads? Well, the outbreak in the Arklay Laboratory that infected the entire Spencer estate was caused by a particular variant of the t-Virus called the ‘ε’ (Epsilon) strain. Unlike other t-Virus strains, a zombie infected with ‘ε’ will undergo another set of mutations after it has been incapacitated due to brute force. So long as the head hasn’t been destroyed or the body burned, the zombie enters a phase of dormancy that can be mistaken for actual death. This is when a process that Umbrella refers to as ‘V-ACT’ occurs, theorised by researchers to be a last-ditch effort of the virus to preserve its host. Out of game, it’s an excuse for the game designers to introduce ‘elite’ zombies.

The virus revitalises the zombie’s cells and reconstructs its body tissue. This results in a faster metabolism and an increased heart rate, leading to more blood being pumped around the body. Because of its decaying flesh, this increased activity causes the creature’s skin to take on a reddish tint, with blood seeping from tears and wounds. This new colouration caused these creatures to be named ‘Crimson Heads’ by the Umbrella researchers.

The transformation causes the subject’s fingers to elongate into long, sharp claws. Their low moans become loud, hoarse roars. Their muscle tissue hardens, not only allowing them to run, but also granting them superior strength and endurance compared to typical zombies. Though they are not more intelligent than zombies, they are certainly more aggressive and can deal a lot of damage with their claws; they can also absorb a lot of bullets. Some Crimson Heads have also been known to ‘play dead’, waiting for their prey to approach before jumping up extremely quickly and attacking.

Destroying the brain is still the most effective way to kill Crimson Heads, but their increased speed and endurance make dispatching these mutants all the more difficult. That’s why it’s always preferable to try to prevent zombies from becoming Crimson Heads in the first place. One method is to avoid gunning down zombies whenever possible, to prevent the transformation from taking place. Alternatively, if you do defeat a zombie without destroying its head, you can always burn the body using kerosene and a lighter. Unfortunately, the flask of kerosene takes up a valuable inventory slot – and if you’re playing as Jill, the lighter takes up ANOTHER slot (Chris always has a lighter on him because he’s canonically a smoker). Oh, and to make things even more awkward, the flask needs to be refilled after just a couple of uses.

The first Crimson Head was a test subject at the Arklay Lab, who was administered with an experimental prototype t-Virus variant (the ‘ε’ strain). The test subject became a zombie and then, later, mutated into a Crimson Head. As little research had been undertaken on human exposure to this strain, the Crimson Head Prototype, as it was called, was kept for further study to analyse the reasons for its heightened combat abilities.

However, after four workers were killed when an attempt to feed it went horribly wrong, the Crimson Head was quickly deemed too dangerous. Since it was considered a valuable specimen, disposal was not an option, so it was sealed away for the time being. The prototype was frozen using gas, and the virus variant within its body was extracted to be cultured and produced.

The preserved Crimson Head was placed inside a coffin in a crypt in the mansion’s backyard cemetery and became part of the facility’s convoluted anti-intruder defences. If somebody wanted to gain unauthorised access to the courtyard, they would have to free the Crimson Head Prototype – and that’s precisely what the player must do in order to advance through the game.