Many fans have been cosplaying the girls of Resident Evil in the wake of Resident Evil Village and Lady Dimitrescu taking the internet by storm. However, fans of Resident Evil 2 have been cosplaying Claire Redfield since 1998, and the well-received Resident Evil 2 remake that dropped in 2019 has only fanned the fire.
Enji Night is a popular cosplayer hailing from Budapest, Hungary, who is most active on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Some of her work, however, makes its way to Reddit, such as this excellent shot of her dressed as Claire. In this shoot, she's wearing Claire's outfit from Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles rather than Claire's iconic Resident Evil 2 leather jacket, which fans can buy from Belgian clothing brand Ark/8.
The photographs show Enji Night skulking through a dilapidated building, pistol at the ready, waiting for an unwary B.O.W. to get close enough. Generally, when a girl in a horror game is tip-toeing through a noticeably ominous environment, fans are inclined to worry about her, not her enemies. However, Claire has been a staple of the Resident Evil series since the second game, and she's become a powerful force for combating bioterrorism. Throughout Resident Evil, the facts around Claire Redfield paint her as far more dangerous than she appears, especially to Umbrella's employees and creations.
Claire Redfield from Resident Evil by Enji Night (has to be one of my absolute favorites I've ever seen) If anyone knows this girl on Reddit, please Tag! from residentevil
Redditor u/nil_ka originally didn't recognize Enji Night when sharing this post, but the cosplayer's identity was soon pointed out in the comments. While one user claimed that she has the wrong gun in hand--a 1911 rather than a Browning HP--the overall consensus was that Enji Night's rendition of Claire Redfield is both stunning and very accurate. Another picture from the same set shared by u/MagicJaycee shows a grimmer Claire prepared to shoot but practicing some surprisingly good trigger discipline. Even on edge, Enji Night isn't nearly as grumpy as the Angry Claire Resident Evil 2 mod makes the character out to be, which may disappoint some fans.
Enji Night herself posted front and back shots to her official Twitter for fans who would like to see a bit more of the cosplay. In the post, she mentions that this is her third Resident Evil cosplay in a recent tribute--the other characters being Jill Valentine's Resident Evil 3 look and Ada Wong's Resident Evil 2 remake outfit. Fans of Claire may also want to investigate Netflix's upcoming Resident Evil animated series, which has officially cast its Claire and Leon.
For her part, Enji Night is still hard at work on new cosplays, but she also has an extensive list of previous cosplays on her socials for fans to check out. She's previously dressed as Lara Croft, Bulma, Android 18, Elastigirl, and Ann Takamaki, among many other iconic girls of animation and video games.
Resident Evil 2 Remake is now available for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.