Resident Evil 0 Protagonist Guide: Rebecca Chambers, Billy Coen, and Why Both Matter

Who Is the Resident Evil 0 Protagonist?

Resident Evil 0 is a prequel set on July 23, 1998 — roughly one day before the Spencer Mansion incident. The story follows S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team's disastrous mission into the Raccoon Forest, but instead of a single hero, Capcom built the campaign around two playable leads who share the screen from beginning to end.

That makes the Resident Evil 0 protagonist question a two-part answer: Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen. You do not choose one at the start and ignore the other — you control both, and the game will end if either of them dies. It's a design decision that makes this prequel feel unlike any other entry in the series.

The pairing is the whole point. Rebecca is an inexperienced 18-year-old thrown into a nightmare, and Billy is a convicted killer she has every reason to distrust. Their forced partnership carries the story, and the ending hinges on a moral choice that only Rebecca can make.

Rebecca Chambers: The S.T.A.R.S. Medic Who Anchors the Story

Rebecca Chambers is the Resident Evil 0 protagonist most fans name first, largely because she also appears in the original Resident Evil and its 2002 remake. At 18, she is the youngest person ever to join S.T.A.R.S., assigned to Bravo Team as the unit's field medic and chemist.

Her night starts badly. Bravo Team's helicopter suffers engine failure and crashes in the Raccoon Forest while the squad is investigating a string of cannibalistic murders. Separated from her teammates, Rebecca discovers the Ecliptic Express — an Umbrella-owned train — stopped in the woods and boards it alone.

What she finds inside is a massacre in progress: passengers turned into zombies, the train crawling with leeches, and no way off. Her investigation quickly becomes a fight for survival across three connected locations.

Her arc across the game breaks into clear beats:

• Rookie mistakes. Early on, Rebecca is written as frightened and out of her depth, which matches her age and inexperience.
• Forced alliance. She meets Billy Coen on the train and has to decide whether a wanted fugitive is more useful alive than dead.
• Growing competence. By the facility and treatment plant sections, she is handling chemicals, solving puzzles, and making command decisions.
• The final call. Rebecca ends the story by choosing to let Billy go, then filing a report stating he died in the forest.

Rebecca is also the only member of Bravo Team to survive the entire Raccoon Forest and mansion incident. Enrico Marini and Richard Aiken make it out of Resident Evil 0 alive, but both die later in the mansion, leaving her as the squad's sole survivor.

Billy Coen: The Fugitive Who Becomes a Partner

Billy Coen is the second Resident Evil 0 protagonist, and he is deliberately harder to like at first. He is a former Marine Corps lieutenant who was court-martialed and sentenced to death for the murder of 23 people in a village during a military operation.

His escape is pure accident. While being transported through the Raccoon Forest, the vehicle carrying him crashes during the chaos that also brings down Bravo Team's helicopter. Billy walks away from the wreck and hides out on the Ecliptic Express — which is exactly where Rebecca finds him.

From there, the game builds a slow reversal:

That last point matters. Billy Coen never appears again in the Resident Evil series — no cameos, no sequel hooks, no confirmation of where he went. Community reports and fan discussions have kept his fate alive for years, but Capcom has left it deliberately unresolved.

How the Partner Zapping System Shapes Both Protagonists

The mechanic that defines this game is the Partner Zapping System. At almost any moment you can swap control between Rebecca and Billy, and the character you are not controlling is handled by AI. It sounds simple, but it changes how you approach every room.

Because there are no item chests, you will spend a lot of time deciding what to carry and what to leave behind. The practical split most players settle on looks like this:

• Give Billy the heavy weapons. His higher health pool means he can stand in front of a zombie and take a hit while lining up a shotgun blast.
• Keep recovery items on Rebecca.