Who Is Alyssa Ashcroft? Spoiler-Free Resident Evil Backstory & Which Games She’s Been In

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A major theme of Resident Evil Requiem is revisiting the series’ past. For the first time in a long time, players are returning to Raccoon City to explore events that followed the bombing at the end of Resident Evil 3. In addition to the familiar setting, several characters from previous games will reappear, including Leon S. Kennedy. But perhaps the biggest surprise is the return of Alyssa Ashcroft, who hasn’t been physically present in a game since 2005.

What Is Alyssa Ashcroft’s Backstory?

Alyssa Ashcroft first appeared in the 2003 game Resident Evil Outbreak. While she’s one of the playable characters in that online game, her story actually begins earlier. From 1993 to 1998, Alyssa worked as a journalist for The Raccoon Press. This means she lived and worked in Raccoon City for almost ten years before the events of the Raccoon City Incident in ’98 – long before we meet her in the game.

In the movie Outbreak, Alyssa was secretly investigating a hospital in the Arklay Mountains, looking into reports of illegal drug experiments. When her partner was discovered, her memories of the investigation were seemingly erased – possibly by the Umbrella Corporation. She didn’t regain these memories until the events that unfolded in Raccoon City.

Despite the dangers, Alyssa continued working as a reporter, covering events in and around Raccoon City. As you might expect in the world of Resident Evil, her investigations often led back to the Umbrella Corporation. When the Raccoon City disaster struck, she teamed up with other survivors, hoping to escape the city’s terrifying ordeal.

During the events of Outbreak and Outbreak File #2, Alyssa showed she was skilled at more than just reporting. She was surprisingly good at picking locks – hinting that she might have occasionally bent the rules during her investigations – and she’s a capable shooter. While not quite as accurate as Kevin Ryman, she can definitely defend herself against the zombies.

Things got really intense during Outbreak File #2. As I was leading the survivors to the cabin, this guy Al Lester showed up, and suddenly, Ashcroft started getting flashbacks. It turned out Lester knew about an old, abandoned hospital – the very same one Ashcroft and her partner had been investigating before everything went down. It was like all her buried memories were flooding back at once!

We eventually learn that Lester is actually the hospital director, and his infected wife was responsible for Kurt’s death. He’s now tricking people into coming to the hospital so his wife can feed on them. Luckily, the survivors manage to defeat the monster before they become victims themselves.

Alyssa and the other survivors managed to leave the city just before the Sterilization Occupation began, while a journalist kept reporting on the events surrounding Umbrella. Umbrella tried to dismiss her reporting as false conspiracy theories, but her involvement in the Resident Evil story extends beyond her appearances in the two Outbreak games.

What Other Games Has Alyssa Appeared In?

Although Alyssa hasn’t been a character in any other Resident Evil games, her work has had an impact. She relentlessly investigated Umbrella Corporation, using all available resources to expose their activities. Her article in the Daily Advisor played a key role in turning public opinion against Umbrella during the Raccoon Trials.

The company had a lot of hidden influence, and the U.S. government wouldn’t admit that bio-organic weapons actually existed. As a result, people dismissed Alyssa as someone spreading wild, unfounded theories. But Alyssa refused to give up, even when they tried to discredit her.

In 2016, Alyssa wrote an article for The Dulvey Daily, a newspaper serving Dulvey Parish, Louisiana. Fans of the Resident Evil series might know Dulvey Parish as the setting for Resident Evil 7, where Ethan Winters discovered The Baker House and saved his wife, Mia, from a dangerous mold.

Collectors might have discovered a note with a newspaper clipping of an article written by Alyssa. The article mainly discusses the disappearances of Helen Midkiff and around twenty other people in South Louisiana over the past two years. Alyssa reports that police believe something criminal may have happened to them.

This detail is easy to overlook if you’re not familiar with the earlier Outbreak games, but it shows Alyssa was determined to resist Umbrella’s control. We can expect this to continue in Resident Evil Requiem, as she now has an added motivation: protecting her daughter, Grace Ashcroft. Either way, Requiem marks Alyssa’s fourth appearance in the Resident Evil series, making her a surprisingly prominent side character.

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2026-02-27 18:11