People need to stop Chris Redfield punching rocks.

Resident Evil has always been stupid. While it often takes its survival horror elements and its responsibility to scare the audience seriously, it would be a fool not to admit that many of its characters and narrative elements are a bit absurd.

I mean, the 1998 original follows a team of scary-voiced police officers in a haunted mansion filled with everything from man-eating plants to giant spiders, before descending deep underground into a sinister science laboratory where an apocalypse is brewing. It offers several moments of unparalleled horror, but is always mixed with a playful ambition that would never be the same without Resident Evil.

This introduces a moment in Resident Evil 5 that has been lost in the series' history due to its outrageous nature. During the final battle with the mutant Albert Wesker inside a volcano, Chris Redfield punches a giant rock to use as a platform. It's a long sequence that asks you to perform a number of quick events to complete a very simple task, which may be why it has become so infamous over the years.

But it feels pretty tame to me. Especially when compared to other moments in the series that easily match its outrageous nature. So, let's take a trip down memory lane and remember some equally ridiculous parts of Resident Evil canon that give this rock-smashing Lloyd Fury a run for his money.

Remember when Leon Kennedy ran away from the giant Napoleon robot?

Leon runs away from a giant robot in Resident Evil 4.

To put it bluntly, Resident Evil 4 is a wonderful fever dream. What begins as a harrowing descent into a rural Spanish town soon evolves into an adventure that involves venturing into a medieval castle ruled by an infected child, perusing an underground laboratory to hide from giant bugs, and then heading to a zombie-filled island that packs more firepower than a major nation.

It's a roller coaster ride that never lets up, and it literally feels theme park inspired as you embark on a larger-than-life minecart journey. But the moment that completely shakes every shred of your faith comes later in Salazar's Castle. At that moment, Leon had to run away from a giant mechanical version of the Imperial Dictator marching in his direction. He could have avoided the motionless chase by moving left or right, but instead, Leon took part in one of the most memorable and hilarious set pieces in the game.

Leon and Ashley stand outside the castle in Resident Evil 4.

I like to think about the thought process behind constructing a statue like this that can move no matter when a righteous hero shows up one day to save the president's daughter. It's so hilarious that it hurts like a video game and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Resident Evil 4 is the perfect evolution of the series formula, retaining its cool, collected approach to camp and unsettling horror while evolving it for a whole new generation. But behind all these bombshells, the narrative is still taken seriously by the players as well as the characters. This tonal balance is not an easy task to achieve.

There's also Resident Evil Zero, whose main antagonist is James Marcus, who can use his singing voice to command an endless army of evil slug monsters. I could also include the Raccoon City Police Station from Resident Evil 2 into this discussion, as well as the fact that every single piece of its architectural design seems to exist because it will one day be the subject of a survival horror video game.

One of my favorite things about this series is considering the context behind its outrageous impracticality, because I strongly suspend disbelief. Leon even mocks these puzzles in Requiem when he visits the RCPD ruins, almost making fun of how many hoops he had to jump through to survive.

Resident Evil would be nothing without its camp, outrageous identity

Chris Redfield fights an alligator in Resident Evil 5.

Whether it's Jill sandwiching herself, dodging spears in an African native swamp, or fighting a literal dinosaur made up of infected tissue, Resident Evil has no shortage of silly moments. Trying to embrace more serious horror elements at the expense of abandoning traits like these will never work in your favor. I was afraid Resident Evil 7 would do something like that when it rebooted the franchise in 2017, but even that quickly began embracing familiar iconography and themes once it became clear that Ethan Winters was fighting evil fungal monsters. It maintains skin-crawling horror without sacrificing camp, and this exact combination is what makes Resident Evil so beloved.

The scene where Chris Redfield punches a boulder is a complete slap in the face when presented out of context, but it's on par with the routines we're used to seeing our heroes kicking a giant bug or using three separate ancient stones to open a regular wooden door. Nothing about Resi feels or seems out of the ordinary. That's what makes Resi so great. I respect this profound middle ground of having lore and characters worth investing in, while also having the freedom to throw them into larger-than-life situations that, despite everything, still carry real stakes. Few modern properties can achieve this balance and I would never take it for granted.