This Resident Evil Requiem Endings Guide explains how you can unlock both endings of the game and what each ending means. In Resident Evil Requiem, the final moments of the story come down to one major decision inside the ARK facility beneath Raccoon City. The choice you make changes who survives, what happens to Elpis, and whether Leon gets a future beyond this game.
Endings Guide – Resident Evil Requiem
Near the end of the game, Grace and Leon return to the central control room inside the ARK facility, where Zeno is waiting. Here, you must choose what to do with Elpis. You can either release it or destroy it, and each option leads to a completely different outcome.
If you choose to release Elpis, you get the true or “good” ending. If you decide to destroy it, you get an alternate ending that ends in tragedy.
The “Hope” True Ending – Releasing Elpis
Grace and Leon eventually discover that another secret lab, called ARK, was built under the Raccoon City orphanage. While searching its systems, Grace finds an unreleased interview between her mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, and Ozwell E. Spencer, the founder of Umbrella.
In the recording, Spencer appears regretful about the damage caused by Umbrella’s virus experiments. He explains that he adopted Grace not for experiments, but to give her a normal life. This confirms that Grace is not some special genetic key like Zeno and Victor claimed. She is just human.
If you pay attention to Spencer’s words, it becomes clear that Elpis was never meant to be a weapon. It was actually designed as an antiviral cure to stop bioweapons. Understanding this, Grace chooses to release Elpis rather than destroy it.
At first, it seems like Zeno benefits from this decision. Believing Elpis will make him stronger, he injects himself with it. However, the serum removes his enhanced abilities instead of empowering him. He loses his superhuman skills and becomes ordinary again.
Things take a sudden turn when Victor Gideon arrives. He reveals that he understood Spencer’s real plan all along. Victor believes that without virus weapons, the balance of power in the world would fall apart, leading to chaos. He supports that chaos. Zeno argues back and exposes that he works for The Connections, the same mysterious organization connected to earlier outbreaks. But before anything else can happen, Victor quickly kills Zeno as he begins mutating again.
With a fight unavoidable, Grace uses Elpis to cure Leon, who has been struggling with an advanced T-virus infection throughout the game. Now healed, Leon faces Victor in the final battle. Victor gains terrifying new abilities, including electric attacks and a powerful mutated arm. After being defeated once, he transforms into a massive creature similar to Nemesis from Resident Evil 3.
After a long and intense fight, Leon finally defeats him. As expected in true Resident Evil fashion, the ARK facility begins collapsing right after the victory. Leon and Grace believe they have no way out. At the last moment, members of the Hound Wolf Squad arrive and rescue them. Although Chris Redfield does not appear, his team saves the day.
Later, Leon informs Sherry Birkin that Elpis works and promises that she can receive the cure as well. Grace, however, struggles with Emily’s fate. She had tried to save Emily earlier, only for the girl to mutate and be shot. Leon suggests Emily may still be alive because he avoided fatal shots.
News reports reveal that Umbrella’s secrets are finally being exposed to the public, including hidden truths about the missile strike that destroyed Raccoon City years ago. Rumors also spread that The Connections manipulated governments behind the scenes.
Post-Credits Scenes
If you choose this ending, extra scenes appear after the credits. Grace is shown working again as an FBI analyst. She speaks with Leon over the phone, and it’s revealed that Emily survived and now lives with Grace. Emily has even regained her eyesight, likely due to Elpis.
Another final scene shows masked soldiers returning to the ruined ARK. They report that remaining forces have been eliminated and that they are retrieving an “objective” before another team arrives. This clearly hints that The Connections are still active and planning something bigger, possibly setting up the next chapter in the series.
Completing this ending also unlocks Grace’s full 60-page investigation report in the bonus menu, confirming this is the canon conclusion.
Grace’s Final Report – The Bigger Picture
Finishing the good ending unlocks Grace’s detailed report, which explains Umbrella’s long history.
Umbrella was founded in 1968 by Spencer and James Marcus. The two men disagreed on how the company should be run. Over time, their conflict weakened Umbrella from within. Secretly, The Connections had been funding Marcus and planting spies inside the company for years.
By the 1990s, Spencer had lost much control and retreated to ARK, where he created Elpis in secret. Because the Connections only had partial information, they misunderstood Elpis. They believed it was some powerful global weapon.
To gain full control, The Connections pushed the U.S. government to launch the missile strike on Raccoon City during the original outbreak. Their true goal was not containment, but to destroy Umbrella’s alliances and reshape power structures. They later influenced Spencer’s trial, ensuring he took full blame so Umbrella would collapse. After that, the Connections were able to step in and claim control over its assets.
Grace believes Spencer created Elpis out of guilt, hoping to undo some of the harm he caused. However, she also recognizes that the Connections remain active and dangerous. She concludes that it is now the FBI’s job to uncover the truth and stop them.
The Alternate Ending – Destroying Elpis
If you choose to destroy Elpis instead, the story takes a much darker path. Grace activates the self-destruct system, believing Elpis is too dangerous to exist. As a result, all research and data related to it are permanently wiped out.
Because Elpis is never released, no one learns that it was actually a cure. Its true purpose dies with the facility.
When Zeno realizes Grace has triggered the destruction, he attacks in anger. Leon steps in to protect her and seriously injures Zeno with a blow to the neck. This allows Grace to escape from the collapsing platform.
However, Leon stays behind. He understands that even if he survives the battle, the T-virus infection will eventually kill him. As the ARK facility crumbles, Zeno ultimately kills Leon before everything is destroyed.
After Leon’s death, Zeno briefly watches Grace escape before the collapsing platform falls beneath him, suggesting he also dies in the destruction.
Grace manages to escape and is rescued by the BSAA, but the victory feels empty. Leon is dead, Elpis is gone forever, and there is no cure left for anyone. Sherry likely remains infected, Emily stays dead, and Grace is left with even deeper trauma from everything that happened. The game ends abruptly without extra scenes or additional details.
This ending closes the story on a tragic, painful note, leaving no hope for a better future.
Important: Save and Reload Details
If you choose to destroy Elpis and see the bad ending, the game gives you a second chance. After returning to the main menu, you will see a prompt asking if you want to reload from an autosave that was created right before Grace made her final decision. This allows you to quickly replay the choice and experience the other ending without replaying the entire game.
On the other hand, if you already picked the “release Elpis” option and got the good ending, you may not receive a reload prompt since you already completed the best outcome. If you want to see the destruction ending as well, you should plan. It is recommended to either keep a manual save before Leon enters the elevator late in the game or avoid overwriting the autosave that is created during Grace’s decision in the central chamber.
Bonuses and Unlocks After the Ending
After you finish the story and watch one of the endings in Resident Evil Requiem, the game rewards you with several unlockables. These bonuses become available no matter which ending you choose, so you won’t miss them even if you saw the bad outcome first.
Once the credits roll, you will gain access to Insanity Mode, which is the hardest difficulty in the game and is made for players who want a serious challenge. A behind-the-scenes video also becomes available. In addition, you can unlock character models and concept art.
Extra content is also added to your menu. This includes special weapons and certain cheat-style bonuses that can make replaying the game more fun. You will also unlock new outfits and weapon skins. For example, both Leon and Grace receive the Jacket costume, and Leon’s Alligator Snapper weapon can get the Tactical Light skin. On top of that, any hidden challenges that didn’t appear during your first run will now be visible.
However, there is one major difference between endings. Only the “Hope” ending unlocks Grace’s full report, along with the “Hope and Requiem” trophy or achievement. The destruction ending does not reward a trophy.
That is all for this guide. Additional Resident Evil Requiem guides are linked below:
- Resident Evil Requiem Hip Pouches Locations Guide – All Hip Pouches, Where to Find
- Resident Evil Requiem Beginner’s Guide – Essential Tips and Tricks to Survive
- Resident Evil Requiem Combat Guide – Tips and Tricks to Kill Enemies Easily
- Resident Evil Requiem The Final Puzzle Guide – Complete Walkthrough
This concludes our Resident Evil Requiem Endings Guide. If you want to add anything to this guide, feel free to use the comments section below.
