Who Resident Evil 3's Carlos Is (& Why His Story Is Interesting)

Throughout the years, many Resident Evil protagonists have become iconic, but Carlos Oliveira has gone under the radar for one reason or another.

It seems that many of Resident Evil's protagonists go on to become iconic faces in the world of gaming. Characters such as Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, even Ethan Winters have all seemingly had some time in the spotlight and have become fan-favorite characters because of it. However, when recalling the events of Resident Evil 3 and its remake, many seem to only remember Jill Valentine and Nemesis. Despite this, Resident Evil 3 has another protagonist who is largely forgotten for whatever reason. This character in question is Umbrella mercenary, Carlos Oliveira.

Carlos Oliveira is one of the lead characters in Resident Evil 3's narrative. Despite Jill Valentine's distrust of Umbrella, she is forced to work alongside Carlos to come out of their predicament alive. While Jill's suspicion of Carlos is justified, Carlos is truthfully just a mercenary who doesn't have information on Umbrella's inner workings. Oliveira is courageous and strongly backs up his beliefs if he feels they are correct. This character trait is backed up even further by his very intriguing backstory in Resident Evil 3.

While Carlos is generally forgotten when compared to other Resident Evil leads, he still has a fleshed-out history. Before working as a mercenary for Umbrella, he was an established fighter for an organization in South America. However, after all of his friends were murdered by an attack from the government, Carlos was sentenced to death. Before his seemingly inevitable execution, he was recruited by Umbrella as a capable young mercenary and soon built up a reputation for his skills. Due to his Umbrella recruitment, he is brought into Raccoon City to fight off the T-virus outbreak.

Carlos' Journey In Resident Evil 3

After being deployed to Raccoon City and witnessing many other mercenaries dying to the t-virus, he meets Jill Valentine who immediately distrusts him due to his affiliation with Umbrella. Despite this, the two characters team up to defeat Nemesis. After finally defeating Nemesis, Carlos manages to escape down to Mexico, away from Umbrella and finally free from their clutches.

Overall, Carlos is a very likable character throughout the narrative of Resident Evil 3. He seems to be hardened and experienced in his line of work, but also isn't afraid to relax with lighthearted moments as well. Although he isn't quite comic relief, his more energetic personality does allow for a bit of levity in such a visceral and horrifying game. He is also very selfless, helping Jill on many occasions, Perhaps the biggest of these occasions was when he visits the hospital to find a T-virus cure for Jill, saving her.

Carlos Oliveira may not be remembered as fondly as some of Resident Evil's other protagonists but he definitely should be. He is unique and different from any other character in the series, and he has a very interesting and well-thought out back story. Although Resident Evil 3's ending implies he escaped Umbrella's clutches, it would still be great to see him reappear in a future installment, to maybe allow Carlos the fan recognition he truly deserves.

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