Baker family

Inspired by characters from seminal films in horror cinema such as The Shining, The Evil Dead, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the Bakers reside within their bayou estate in the fictional parish of Dulvey, Louisiana in the United States.[5] Tasked with explaining the character and giving him a role in the game, Sato developed Jack as a stalking antagonist with regenerative abilities, which enables him to repeatedly return and attack the player.[6][7] The Bakers are introduced in Resident Evil 7 as a close-knit family of grimy and grotesque individuals, with their personalities characterized as crude amalgamations of various backcountry stereotypes, ranging from a "hillbilly father and verbally abusive mother to a comatose grandmother and a son who is as deranged as The Joker".[8] With the exception of Lucas and slight dysfunction in the family, the Bakers were previously compassionate towards one another and strangers in need before Eveline's infection turned most of them into violently sadistic psychopaths with a taste for human flesh.This eventually leading to rumors of paranormal activity which prompted an investigation of the estate from media journalist Peter Walken and his crewmates Clancy Jarvis and Andre Stickland, where they fall victim to the Bakers.Their in-game roles bear some similarities to Nemesis from Resident Evil 3 as they have a tendency to make recurring and oft-times unexpected appearances to confront Ethan Winters, the main protagonist, throughout its narrative.[8][11] As a result of the presence of a biologically engineered mold infecting their bodies, the villainous members of the Baker family gradually mutate into monstrous creatures when they are severely damaged.He relentlessly pursues Ethan using a variety of weapons and is able to survive grievous bodily harm, even after being set ablaze when a car bursts into flames inside a garage or being hacked into pieces by a chainsaw.[24] Lucas Baker is the son of Jack and Marguerite and Zoe's brother, a mentally unstable genius whose personality is described as an amalgamation of The Riddler, Jigsaw, and Jake Paul.Initially presented to the player as the catatonic elder of the Baker family, Eveline is later revealed to be a genetically enhanced human, an "E-Class" bio organic weapon (B.O.W.)Andy Kelly of PC Gamer considered the Bakers to be "instantly, disgustingly iconic" monsters who are not only the entire franchise's most realized villains to date, but also "the vast majority of horror games in general".[8] He felt that while none of the Bakers stood out to him as particularly important or iconic villains for the franchise, they were nevertheless "interesting in their own disturbing ways" and emphasized that the "threat they pose is greater than their personalities" given their capabilities and their persistent reappearances.[38][39][40][41] Ray Porreca from Destructoid in particular described the Bakers to be the "heart" of the game, and posited that "it's not difficult to picture them sitting around on a Sunday, chomping on raw flesh while bickering about chores", and that "Jack, Marguerite, and Lucas come across as the personification of Southern country evil".[41] Audric Figueroa from The Escapist and Zoe Delahunty-Light from GamesRadar+ found themselves moved by the late-game reveal of the Bakers as originally sympathetic figures who only commit acts of depravity as a result of Eveline's influence on their minds.[42] Arendt noted that the game feeds the player's fears about unsavory Southern stereotypes by setting up the horrible realization that the Bakers are themselves fellow victims of Eveline due to their hospitable attitude towards strangers.He considered the prominent depiction of the Bakers' love of football to be the game's "weirdest bit of fiction", noting the jarring sight of "a vibrant, purple bobblehead toy sitting in a room full of gore".