Resident Evil Requiem's secret hero is a 'damsel' who redefines the trope

Resident Evil Requiem continues Capcom's recent turn toward depicting girlhood as a bioweapon. Under Umbrella Corporation's thumb and amid rival The Connections, the game makes orphan Emily endure indignities while also overturning the old notion that young girls are merely powerless victims.

When players first meet Emily she sits in a glass cage, pale and blinded by cataracts. FBI analyst Grace frees her and the two form a fragile bond: Grace carries Emily when they must move fast and trusts her to solve a Braille puzzle that holds the key to escaping the Care Center.

Despite being confined, experimented on and threatened by the infected inhabitants around them, Emily stays composed and keeps the key they need to leave. Emily is hard to pin down. Created as a test-tube clone with no agency over her existence, she nevertheless proves reliable, brave and unexpectedly resilient.

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