Jim Chapman (Resident Evil)

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Resident Evil character
Jim Chapman
Birth date 1974 (Age 24 as of 1998)
Gender Male
Height 176 cm (5'9")
Weight 70 kg (154lbs)
Race/Ethnicity African American
Occupation Raccoon City subway transit employee - Kite Bros. Systems
Marital Status Single
Relative(s) Unknown
Status Alive

Jim Chapman is a video game character appearing in the Resident Evil series. Jim is one of the main characters in Resident Evil Outbreak and Resident Evil Outbreak File #2.

Contents

[edit] Background

Jim Chapman is a subway employee with a keen sense of intuition and a talent for problem-solving. While Jim is a friendly and cheerful person, he can also be very cowardly and will complain constantly when nervous or angry. Although he means no harm, Jim's personality tends to frustrate and annoy those around him. He is a highly intelligent person who enjoys nothing more than sitting down to a difficult crossword puzzle or other thought-provoking challenge to pass the time, although his manner of speech and choice of clothing gives others the impression he was raised in a rough environment. Jim also has a keen interest in sneakers, almost bordering on obsession, and refuses to wear his full uniform to work, due to the fact that this would mean not wearing his precious sneakers.

[edit] Items

Coin: Jim is a highly superstitious person, and believes that, as bad as his life is now, it would be utterly intolerable without the ability to somehow alter his perceived bad luck slightly for the better at every opportunity. As a result, Jim carries a coin that he will flip when things look like they are turning against him. Having Jim find a secure location will allow him to safely flip his coin. Landing the "Heads" side, will add a 15% chance of scoring a critical hit when shooting at the enemy (10% in Outbreak File #2). Successively landing the "Heads" side will stack critical bonuses onto Jim's attack ability, eventually turning Jim into an unstoppable killing machine. however, if Jim lands the "Tails" side just once, this count will reset Jim's attack ability to its standard function, which will then have to be restarted from scratch. It is recommended that a player land no more than two successful "Heads" flips, as it is very uncommon and time-consuming to attempt a third successfully.

Lucky Coin: Jim is also in possession of another coin he believes to be lucky. This coin can be equipped by all characters. This coin will add an additional 5% chance of critical hit occurrence to the percentage gathered by the player using Jim's aforementioned "Coin". Not only this, but the durability of all melee weapons will increase and "Pistol" and "Shotgun" items can no longer be broken by a Hunter's attack. This item is recommended for characters who rely heavily on weapons or support items due to their slow speed and/or low health, primarily Mark Wilkins and Yoko Suzuki.

[edit] Special Actions

Play Dead: When faced against overwhelming odds, Jim can "play possum" with the enemy. He will lunge face-first into the ground and remain motionless for as long as possible. Although somewhat cowardly, this ploy is effective, especially when seriously injured or without a defensive item. Jim's "Play Dead" technique will eliminate all immediate threats to himself, although the enemy will instead focus their attention on Jim's fellow survivors. This act of self-preservation at all costs is possibly one of several reasons why Jim is not highly regarded amongst his comrades. Jim should not attempt this technique for extended periods of time, nor should he "Play Dead" if his infection gauge is above approximately 75%, as it will send his infection rate into overdrive, equivalent to a survivor on the verge of death. This drawback can be eliminated via strategic use of "Anti-Virus" capsules.

Swing Combo: Jim can execute an adrenaline-charged attack by randomly flailing a weapon from left to right for a brief period of time. After doing so, he will be breathless and unable to defend himself, so the "Swing Combo" should be timed carefully. Weapons used in conjunction with this attack include the "Iron Pipe", "Hammer", "Crutch", "Square Timber", etc. This attack is very effective when used with the "Axe" in the "Flashback" scenario against "Al (The Axeman)".

Item Search: Thanks to Jim's keen intuition, he is able to locate items faster than any other survivor in the party. Upon entering a room for the first time, Jim will locate all available items, which can then be viewed as question marks on the map. Closer inspection will need to be taken in order to determine exactly what the items in question are. Using Jim will allow the player to find items previously hidden or not directly in the camera's line-of-sight. As most hidden items are generally of greater value or use than those directly available, this can be a very useful skill. Players should always check their in-game map as soon as Jim enters a room, as it may serve to ease the next playthrough when using another character.

[edit] Costumes

  • Jim:A Jim's default K.B.S. subway employee uniform
  • Jim:B Slam Dunk (Outbreak):

Required SP Items: White Tanktop, Rare Basketball Shoe, Favorite Uniform, Wide Shorts, Autographed Ball. Jim dons a red basketball jersey with the name "Young" written on the back, blue baggy shorts, and white sneakers.

  • Jim:C Chase the Wind (Outbreak: File #2):

Jim puts on a bike helmet, black bike shorts, a yellow waterproof jacket, racing shoes, and a messenger bag. Sadly, this does not increase his item capacity.

[edit] Fate

Like his fellow survivors, Jim has multiple variations of his attempted escape from Raccoon City. In previous releases, it has generally been the standard for Capcom to use a character's "best" ending as his/her "canonical" event. Jim, unlike many of the other survivors, is never killed during any of the scenarios in either game. (Although he does turn into a zombie in his worst ending) Due to this fact, it is almost certain Jim survived the destruction of Raccoon City. Jim's various endings are listed below, each depending on the player's actions during the final scenario of each game.

Outbreak - "Decisions, decisions" scenario

Best ending: After purging his body of the T-Virus, Jim then takes several more samples of the Daylight serum, boarding the Raccoon Fire Department's rescue helicopter after successfully defeating Thanatos. As Raccoon City is consumed by fire behind them, Jim looks at the Daylight vial in his hand and asks himself if it will really work. He then begins carelessly tossing the serum up into the air and catching it again. Dropping the vial, Jim and Gill watch in horror as it rolls towards the helicopter's open doorway. Jim lunges for the vial, swooping it up in his hands, and tumbling head-first out of the helicopter in the process. Instead of falling to his death as expected, Jim finds that Gill has managed to grab a hold of his legs at the last second, pulling him to safety. Giving Gill a grateful "You're the man!", Jim smiles to himself. Perhaps his luck has finally taken a turn for the better.

Good ending: Although Jim is able to use the Daylight serum on himself, he is unable to obtain a second sample for mass-production of a cure. He boards the rescue helicopter, lamenting the fact that the T-Virus may yet spread throughout the world, and that Raccoon City may only be a prelude to the real nightmare.

Bad ending: Jim and R.P.D. Officer Kevin Ryman, also infected with the T-Virus, sit down and await the inevitable. As the sun rises, Jim begins to complain about his shitty luck and how, even in the worst possible situation, that luck has still made things worse by leaving him stranded with Kevin instead of some hot chick. As Kevin slowly reloads his M1911A1 pistol, attempting to drown out Jim's incessant whining, Thanatos steadily rises to its feet, ready to once again do battle. Jim slowly backs away, finding Kevin to be a suitable shield. Kevin, who is almost glad to have an excuse not to tolerate anymore of Jim's nagging, prepares for another round. As the missiles close in, Thanatos charges, Kevin raises his pistol, and Jim cowers...

Worst ending: Jim is unable to locate a sample of the Daylight serum. Still infected with the T-Virus, he destroys Thanatos and boards the R.F.D. helicopter. As Raccoon City melts into the background, Danny and Gill sigh with relief at their close escape from certain death. Jim, however, no longer hears their voices. Opening his blank eyes, he lets out a pained groan and slowly stumbles forward, focused on the throat of a preoccupied firefighter.

Outbreak: File #2 - "End of the Road" scenario

Bad endings - Run like the Wind, Up and Away: The survivors, having failed to rescue Linda, gather at a rallying point on the outskirts of town. As Jim watches Raccoon City disappear in a cloud of fire and smoke, he recalls how the entire situation had felt like "A funky horror movie complete with an explosive climax and a hold-onto-your-seat ending". Not wanting to be put through this "zombie shit" ever again, Jim explains that we only get one chance at life, and he intends to spend the rest of his having fun.

Good endings - Run like the Linda, Up and Away (w/Linda): After escaping the destruction of Raccoon City, and rescuing Linda, Jim moves to a neighbouring town. Several months later, as he wanders through a shoe store looking for a new pair of sneakers, he comments to a friend on his mobile phone that he is getting ready to start work again, and that things are back to normal in his life. After a quick browse, he locates the shoes he is after. Purchasing them, he exits the store and happily wanders down the street.

[edit] Trivia

  • During the "Wild Things" scenario, Jim claims that the reason he talks so much is that it helps him stay calm under pressure.
  • Jim's sneakers were actually designed by Reebok.
  • Jim's favourite sport is basketball, he wears the same number as Michael Jordan.
  • Due to his annoying and cowardly nature, Jim has very few friends amongst the survivors. Only George and Cindy will generally comply with his requests and stay to offer assistance. Mark will help Jim if he is hurt or in danger, whilst David, Yoko, Kevin and Alyssa will generally abandon him, only checking up on his welfare sporadically throughout each scenario. Sometimes these characters will refuse to help Jim even when he is badly injured and requesting their help.
  • While entering the break room of the "Underbelly" scenario, you can come across Jim's locker, which only Jim can unlock. Alyssa's lockpick is also ineffective.
  • In the "Underbelly" scenario, when you enter the "East Men's Restroom," you will come across the corpse of a subway employee. This person is Jim's colleague and friend, Ricky, who reveals in a notepad located in his jacket pocket that he was bitten by a bug whilst conducting his duties in one of the subway tunnels. The notes become more garbled and inconsistent with each entry, proving that Ricky was infected with the T-Virus and becoming more irrational and dangerous with each passing day. Only Jim can find Ricky's notepad.
  • Jim states during the "Underbelly" scenario that the subway is his "home-away-from-home", also mentioning that he will never complain about rush hour again.