Resident Evil Fans May Have Just Solved An Almost 30 Year Old Mystery

Resident Evil fans may have solved a nearly 30-year-old mystery for one of the series' most iconic visuals.

Capcom’s Resident Evil series is one of the most iconic franchises in video game history, and since its inception in 1996 on the original PlayStation, despite a few bumps in the road along the way, it seems more popular today than it’s ever been.

I’m a major Resident Evil fan, and my favourite game in the series is the original Resident Evil 2, which was released on the PS1 in 1998. Between the characters, story, gameplay, visuals, monsters, world, and more, I adore everything there is about this game.

Players will be very familiar with its main menu and not just the iconic voice saying “Resident Evil twoooo” when you hit start, but also the big, eerie eye, which many might have assumed is a mutation of William Birkin, an Umbrella scientist gone rogue and a major contributor to the T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City.

To be honest, I assumed that it was a random eye created by Capcom and had no association with William Birkin, given that the eye in question is surrounded by a green, reptile-like skin, something that isn't a thing with the big eye on William’s arm.

Resident Evil 2 Fan Shares a Theory

Reddit user mrsafetylion believes that this eye could belong to the giant mutated alligator encountered in the sewers, and after looking at the images provided, the theory makes sense.

“Development lore theory, the RE2 PSX eyeball was a separate render for the alligator,” they suggested. “The eye doesn't look like Birkin's eyeball at all; it's green and scaly, and legit just an alligator eye close up.

“I could believe this,” agreed CDJ89, with UsagiBonBon adding, “I could see that being a thing, or a render for a Hunter or something.”

“I always felt something seemed inconsistent about the eyeball, like no matter what appearance I thought it was, almost as if the developers couldn't stick to just a single design for it,” replied AnimeMan1993.

The original Resident Evil trilogy is not only playable on PC via GOG but also on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, so if you’ve not played any of these absolute classics, what are you waiting for?

As for the next game in the series, Resident Evil Requiem, that arrives on 27 February 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.