Sheva Alomar instance of video game character
Sheva Alomar is a character in Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced in the 2009 video game Resident Evil 5, in which she is a native African operative of an anti-bioterrorism group and the new partner of the series' veteran Chris Redfield. Sheva is controlled by the game's artificial intelligence (AI) when playing with a single player, and is controlled by a second player in the game's cooperative mode.
Designed to symbolize "the bond of partnership" within the game, the character's physical design was modeled off Australian actress Michelle Van Der Water, while her voice acting and motion capture were performed by American actress Karen Dyer. The character was met with mostly positive reception from video game journalists, who praised her strength and attractiveness, though her AI in-game received mixed to negative reviews. The character's depiction did, however, receive criticism from several sources for adhering to racial and gendered stereotypes. Sheva has not returned for any further installments of the series, though she appears in the 2022 video game Dead by Daylight as an optional playable character.Reception
Reception of Sheva by video game journalists was mostly positive. She was added to several lists that rank characters by their sex appeal. She is also ranked in lists of the best female characters and best characters from Resident Evil, and among the greatest black video game characters of all time. In 2008, GameDaily staff said that though they were yet to play Resident Evil 5, they were "already enamored with its glamorous starlet"; the following year, they cited Alomar as among the strongest female characters in gaming. In 2010, Dave Meikleham of GamesRadar included her partnership with Chris among gaming's "most violent double acts", and PlayStation: The Official Magazine opined she was intelligent and strong in addition to being beautiful, adding that her inclusion was "probably the highlight" of the game and awarding her "Tribal" costume 2009's Outfit of the Year award. GamesRadar's Matt Cundy said that unlike other characters in the series such as Jill Valentine and Ada Wong, Sheva's primary uniform was both less sexualised and more practical for fighting, describing her as "the absolute antithesis of vulnerable ... a walking fortress that is equal parts kick-ass and intimidating feminine sexuality," and Lisa Foiles of The Escapist praised Sheva among other characters for having a hairstyle that is practical for fighting, unlike many video game heroines. In 2021, Ian Walker from Kotaku opined her as the greatest character in the series, lauding the racial diversity she brought and how her "charm" contrasted well with Redfield's "overall gruff nature".Several reviewers criticized Sheva's AI. IGN's Jesse Schedeen called her a "walking bag of useless", and "just dumb as a rock when it comes to fighting zombies", while Portal Play Game considered her performance to be extremely annoying. Dan Whitehead from Eurogamer described Sheva's abilities as a bit hit-or-miss, saying that in a game where ammunition is scarce it was often frustrating watching her miss her targets. In 2012, PLAY included her among the most unintentionally annoying PlayStation characters, citing the AI issues. Ryan Geddes from IGN was more mixed, describing her performance as fair and saying her limitations were on par with other AI characters at the time, while IGN's Chris Reed included her among the most useful sidekicks in video games, saying that unlike many AI characters, she was quick to offer assistance and skilled at getting out of the way when the player was moving or shooting.Several sources have criticized Sheva's depiction for adhering to both gender and racial stereotypes. Andre Brock from Games and Culture opined that Sheva was a "videogame equivalent of Pocahontas: a woman of color coerced into 'guiding' White explorers across a foreign land", and also said that her alternate costumes "make it clear that she is window-dressing; a sexualized mule". Anita Sarkeesian said the tribal outfit was particularly disconcerting, as it combined sexualizing a female character "with the racist tradition of exotifying women of color". Writing for the Digital Games Research Association, Hanli Geyser and Pippa Tshabalala noted that the first shot of Sheva in the game is a close up of her buttocks, immediately objectifying and characterising her. Eurogamer's Whitehead said that Sheva "neatly fits the approved Hollywood model of the light-skinned black heroine"; Geyser and Tshabalala similarly stated that her skin tone, outfit and job all conform to Western ideals. Writing for The Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, Sabine Harrer and Martin Pichlmair said that Sheva was given the role of a "decorative side character", also stating that "gendered and racialized hierarchies" exist between Sheva and Chris; Chris's character is placed in charge of Sheva's resources, said to be reminiscent of "an abusive heteronormative relationship".
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