Summary
As should be expected of a franchise that’s been around for the best part of 30 years, theResident Evilseries is home to a number of iconic adversaries, many of whom have had plenty of time in the spotlight. By far the most iconic villains in theResident Evilfranchise are Nemesis and Albert Wesker. While these two enemies have only appeared in a handful ofResident Eviltitles, they’ve managed to become industry icons by cropping up in a variety of other titles, fromMarvel vs. CapcomtoDead by Daylight.
ButResident Evil’s iconic enemiesaren’t just restricted to major franchise bosses. TheResident Evilfranchise is also home to a ton of beloved regular enemy types, with the most infamous boasting a striking visual design, and having some kind of unique gimmick that affects gameplay. The Licker is certainly one of these enemy types, and it’s a foe that could do with another round in theResident Evilspotlight.
Resident Evil’s Lickers Need to Make a Return
Lickers Have Always Been Some of the Best Resident Evil Enemy Types
Introduced all the way back in1998’sResident Evil 2, Lickers are possibly the most iconic non-boss enemy type in the entire franchise, thanks in equal parts to its horrifying visual design, and its implementation into gameplay. An evolved form of infected, Lickers are immediately recognizable due to their exposed brains and their lack of skin, with their muscles and body tissue instead being present externally, giving them a dark red color scheme.
InResident Evil 2, and the vast majority of its subsequent appearances,Lickers are completely blindbut use their acute sense of hearing to locate their prey. As their name would suggest, Lickers often use their extremely long tongues to scout an environment, and once their prey has been found, a Licker can use the barbs on its tongue to cause severe lacerations, and even behead its victims.
Being one of the most popular enemies in the franchise, it’s only natural that Lickers have shown up multiple times over the last 26 years, both in mainlineResident Evilentries and in a handful of spinoffs. The most recent appearance of a Licker in theResident Evilfranchise, and perhaps the most memorable, was in theResident Evil 2and3remakes, where they’re found stalking the halls of the Raccoon City Police Department, looking more horrifying than ever before.
How The Next Resident Evil Could Put a Twist on Lickers
Though they’ve had plenty of time in the spotlight already, there’s no denying that it would be great to see Lickers return inthe nextResident Evilgame, though if Capcom was worried about them becoming a bit one-note and repetitive, it could put a few twists on the classic enemy type.
There have already been a handful of different variations of Lickers over the years, such as the Progenitor-infected Beta Variant inResident Evil 5, but most play pretty much the same. It might be fun to see the next iteration of Lickers pull out some brand new tricks, such as a few new attacks, and maybe a new type of AI behavior that subverts the usual crawling around.
Resident Evil 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Survival is just the beginning.Six years have passed since the biological disaster in Raccoon City.Agent Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the incident, has been sent to rescue the president’s kidnapped daughter. He tracks her to a secluded European village, where there is something terribly wrong with the locals.And the curtain rises on this story of daring rescue and grueling horror where life and death, terror and catharsis intersect.Featuring modernized gameplay, a reimagined storyline, and vividly detailed graphics, Resident Evil 4 marks the rebirth of an industry juggernaut.Relive the nightmare that revolutionized survival horror.
