There are hobbies and then there are hobbies. TheBatMan, Resident Evil fan extraordinaire and co-founder of the Resident Evil Podcast, has spent the last ten years chronicling the canonical history of the series. The result? A 2,700 page timeline that goes all the way back to primordial Earth and the first instance of what will eventually become known as the Progenitor Virus.
The timeline covers every game made by Capcom Japan, as well as a few of the computer-animated movies and manga stories. This means that the Paul W.S. Anderson movies are not considered, which makes sense, given that they go off in their own direction pretty much immediately.
It’s not that it’s necessarily taken him a decade to complete it, it’s that he’s been working on the current iteration for a decade, folding in the mythology of new games as they come out. There have been seven Resident Evil titles released in the last ten years, and that’s not even counting the remakes, the mangas, or the animated films.
The project actually began way back in 2006 and was updated sporadically for a few years, by TheBatMan and others, before stopping abruptly with the release of Resident Evil 5. Shortly after, UK resident TheBatMan restarted the project and took the lead.
His inspiration for the project came with the release of the original Resident Evil 3 for the Sony Playstation. With a story that took place both before and after Resident Evil 2, TheBatMan transcribed both games and arranged it in a linear fashion. That was when he really realized the depth to the story, which encouraged him to expand his documenting of the mythos.
One of his biggest personal motives behind his efforts is to address criticisms that the ongoing narrative is convoluted and lacking in substance. He’s hopes that by laying out the story in an easily digestible, chronological manner, it will help people see that its deep, engaging story is more than just hammy dialogue.
The biggest obstacle TheBatMan faces, as noted above, is Capcom’s relentless pace. 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is covered, but with the release of Resident Evil: Village on the horizon, there’s very little time to rest.
If you’ve been on the hunt for a massive read or just want something to bury yourself in, this sprawling epic should last you the rest of the year and then some. TheBatMan deserves all the props that the gaming community can muster.
