Dare I say, Alice is underrated...

The most controversial character in the community for reasons simply because she exists. Or the fact that she "stole the spotlight" from previously established characters that we all know and love, somehow classifying her as a Mary Sue. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not deeply connected to any character in the franchise to despise one as much as some people in the fanbase do. Let alone constantly bring up a maritial status between two consenting adults as a complaint towards how a character was written. Especially to the point where it's also always debunked that Alice was created as a main character of Anderson's films and being the focus of their entire run because the actress married the director.

It's pretty much confirmed and repeated at this point that the movies were as they were because of legal issues, mandates from Capcom mostly. Stuff like: movies needing to be different from the games. If already existing protagonists appear in the films, they can't be hurt or in danger in anyway. Alice was created as a legally distinct Jill and her character soon developed to be a fusion between Jill, Claire, and Ada respectively. Anderson was also only the director of the first film, Afterlife, Retribution, and The Final Chapter. Apocalypse and Extinction were where he was only a producer and writer. Though, he was still a producer and writer for all six films. Milla and Anderson first met on the set of RE1, and pretty much started dating after the film was released. They both got married after Extinction.

I bet there was SOME influence between their relationship on the writing of Alice. But does it really matter? If anything, I find it bittersweet that a director made their wife a badass in a six film series. Perhaps an established i.p. such as Resident Evil isn't the place for that. But considering that Alice WAS originally meant to be Jill, I doubt many would still have these complaints about behind the scenes stuff or a Mary Sue if Alice was just Jill and nothing else was changed.

It's the fact that Alice exists as a character to "replace" the other protagonists and be more skilled and powerful than them (due to her background as an Umbrella operative and literally being a type of bioweapon through experiments) with the entire plot of the movies revolving around her being a major issue for others. I can understand people getting a very bad taste in their mouths due to being invested in the other protagonists.

What I don't get, is despising everything she does. Especially when it comes to something very cool that saves the life of another character we like? Like, you have to be smoking on something if you don't think jumping through a church window on a motorcycle and fucking up Lickers isn't badass atleast. Especially worrying about Jill potentially dying because she has no ammo. Leon practically does the same cool stunts Alice does, except the only differences are that he doesn't have powers.

And do ya'll remember when Jake beat Ustanak's ass in hand to hand combat? Despite, you know, being on the run from that damn thing in his entire campaign of RE6? Bro had no powers either whatsoever. Well, Alice did the same shit. Except there are complaints that Nemesis shouldn't have been beaten like that, despite the fact that Alice having enhanced superhuman abilities was literally shown and explained in the same film. I get wanting Jill to defeat Nemesis herself because she did so in the games. But the movies' stories are different from the games to the point that it wouldn't narratively make sense for it to be in Apocalypse. Simply because there's no real reason for Nemesis to be hunting S.T.A.R.S. and he's connected to Alice due to being a fellow survivor of the Hive from the first film, Matt. And no, Nemesis is not and never was Alice's love interest. I don't know where the fuck that claim came from. Who the hell started that 💀?

As for "stealing" every single iconic moment from the games that the protagonists did and them being given to Alice? Come on, seriously? If you count that moment in Apocalypse where Alice was running from helicopter gunfire before running into Umbrella soldiers, pretending to drop her gun, then shoot at the soldiers to kill them as "stealing" and "all" iconic moments. Then, I don't know what to tell you. That scene was just a simple homage to the intro of Code Veronica. Nothing more. And from what I seen in the movies, that was the only moment from the games that was "stolen" and "given" to Alice.

As for the telekinesis? Cool as fuck. Ain't no different to Wesker's super speed, Alexia's fire blood, or Ethan's mold regeneration. Sherry also exists with her own regeneration, Natalia being able see shit through walls and stuff that are invisible, Rose can "switch" to Eveline based on in-game documents and have mental abilities connected to mold. But Telekinesis that can cause shockwaves, deflect fire, and melt people's brains through screens is drawing the line? Okay I guess. Let's also ignore that side of her powers is ripped from Alexia in the Code Veronica novel by S.D. Perry.

The other side of her powers? The enchanced strength, resilience, agility, reflexes, and accelerated healing and recovery. She's pretty much a female Captain America. An evolutionary goal that was trying be achieved by Spencer himself. And in the movies, Umbrella succeeded. She's the perfect bioweapon, something that fits in world of Resident Evil. And it shouldn't be an argument.

As for Alice herself? She's just a baddass action hero who has a tragic and mysterious past that she tries to redeem from. Starting as an amnesiac, she regained her memories and became a fighter against Umbrella. Originally wanting to take revenge for her teammates who lost their lives and expose the truth of what Umbrella was doing. Being indifferent towards others and feeling like a monster, a freak, due the T-Virus bonding with her. Then, she started to care for others. Isolating herself and being on the run to keep others safe, believing to be too dangerous to be around. Even blamed herself for what happened to the world because she failed to expose the truth about Umbrella. But then again, stepped up and rejoined the fight, willing to sacrifice herself to cure the world. She literally thanked Wesker for taking her powers away before attempting to finish her off because he made Alice "human again". This is why I like Alice. She's cool as fuck on the surface, but paying attention to the films and reading supplementary material (novel adaptations) makes her...a great character in Resident Evil.

As for the Mary Sue stuff. I don't give a fuck about all that. It's literally just plot armor that our other protagonists have. Alice got her ass beaten and chased away by Nemesis in their first encounter. Second encounter with Nemesis, she was struggling hard. Then in the third movie she got fucking rekt by a Tyrant with her powers doing no affect. The fifth movie, she was beaten brutally by a brainwashed Jill. The sixth movie, had no chance against a person with future sight abilities. In those encounters, she had to use raw skill or the environment to come out on top and win. Jill being her sidekick? Nah, I saw Jill lighting up zombies, kicking, and snapping necks. Trust me bro. If anything, Claire was Alice's sidekick the entire time. Ada being the backup Robin, with Chris and Leon just being there.

Alice lost her powers after the third film and was able to still do badass shit? That's her U.S.S. skills talking, the powers were just a boost. I don't question how she does it, or how she survives the impossible. You think I question why Chris can punch a fucking boulder into a pool of lava or Leon popping heads with roundhouse kicks? No, I don't and they're all equally cool. Alice is no different to any other protagonist in the franchise and there's no point to pretend she isn't.

And the plot somehow always revolving around her, making everyone and everything else irrelevant? Shit, I must've dreamt about the first film focusing about escaping the Hive. Apocalypse about escaping the city before it bombed. Extinction about searching for Arcadia. Afterlife about trying to reach Arcadia. Retribution about trying to break Alice out of a large underwater cloning facility to help fight against the Red Queen. The Final Chapter about racing against the clock to obtain the Anti-Virus and release it before everyone straight up dies. Even if the plot was always about Alice this and Alice that, I wouldn't give a single damn. I could have a game all about HUNK just doing mercenary work and I'd be satisfied.

Do I want to see Alice playable in the games? Yes, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Mercenaries and Raid Mode specifically would be perfect for her. But at this point, it's way too late. The movies involving her have been done over eight years ago. No point in having DLC to advertise a series that is done and over with. The closest I can get to her being playable in any Resident Evil game are mods. Which are rare due to either being old and lost over time, or there being a lack of interest of creating a brand new model just to port her in one. There's also the possibility, a slim chance, that we would eventually get a brand new character that is very similar to Alice. But considering the controversy around the character, I don't think Capcom would be interested.

Which is a shame because Alice, either you like it or not is pretty iconic outside the main fandom. Back when the movies were at high in popularity with the games releasing alongside them, we had all sorts of people asking: "Is Alice in the games?" "Which games have Alice in them?" "Where's Alice?" "The movies have games?"

This might be hearsay, but there were test screenings for the Degeneration movie, the first animated film, where audiences were confused and asked where Alice was. At some point, movie fans asked when Alice was going to appear in the games. Again, might be hearsay. But Alice and the movies had a positive impact on the franchise as a whole in a certain perspective. The fandom grew a lot during that time because of the movies (I was one of those people who got into the franchise because of them). Which I have a feeling a lot of the die hard fans don't like. Because they feel that Alice and the movies don't accurately represent the games.

But, I can say that I really like Alice as a character and would like to see more people view her in a more positive perspective. Other than something that "replaced" or "stole the spotlight" of other protagonists we know of.

Anyway, thanks for reading my appreciation post. Peace out.