Steve Burnside

Overview

Steve Burnside is a fictional character appearing in the Resident Evil survival horror series, primarily in Resident Evil CODE: Veronica. He is a seventeen-year-old youth who was imprisoned on Rockfort Island alongside his father. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by a sudden viral outbreak on the island, he breaks out of his cell and encounters Claire Redfield, forming a mutual alliance to escape the dangerous containment site.

Appearance

Steve is a young man with short red hair and grey eyes. His hairstyle was adjusted between the original Dreamcast release and subsequent versions. He wears a shirt with short sleeves.

Personality

Steve is characterized by a lighthearted, arrogant, and cocky attitude, often making boastful remarks. He possesses strong nerve when confronting biological threats, yet he easily succumbs to panic when caught in unexpected mechanical traps. Owing to his father's past actions, he harbors cynicism toward family ties and distrusts others, though he secretly retains deep familial affection. Over the course of surviving alongside Claire Redfield, he gradually develops genuine romantic feelings for her.

Abilities

Steve exhibits high physical capabilities alongside proficiency with heavy machinery and firearms. In combat, he favors a dual-wielding marksmanship style, operating a pair of firearms simultaneously with a distinct crossed-arm stance. When mutated into a monster by the T-Veronica virus, he demonstrates massive strength and wields a giant axe.

Background

Steve was captured along with his father after the latter attempted to sell confidential data belonging to the Umbrella Corporation, an event that resulted in his mother's murder and their imprisonment on Rockfort Island. Months later, a viral outbreak facilitated his escape from confinement, leading to his encounter with Claire Redfield. The pair sought an escape route together until Steve was captured at an Antarctic base by Alexia Ashford and injected with the T-Veronica virus. Transformed into a monster, he temporarily attacked Claire before regaining his self-awareness to protect her, suffering a fatal injury in the process. He reverted to human form, confessed his love to Claire, and died, after which his corpse was retrieved by Albert Wesker.

Relationships

Steve forms a meaningful connection with Claire Redfield, growing to love her and ultimately surrendering his life to protect her. He harbors deep resentment toward his father for destroying their home life, yet his internal affection prevents him from acting cold-bloodedly, leaving him devastated after forced to put down his zombified father. Alexia Ashford directly causes his death by using him as a T-Veronica test subject, and Albert Wesker recovers his fallen body after his death to extract the viral strain.

Trivia

Steve's haircut was redesigned following the initial Dreamcast release to avoid visual similarity to Leon S. Kennedy or a famous Hollywood actor. In an extra minigame, his father appears as a special undead foe designated as Father Zombie, whose head cannot be shattered. The non-canonical spin-off title Gun Survivor 2 presents an alternate scenario where Steve survives the event without undergoing mutation. Within the canonical main line of the franchise, Steve holds the distinction of being the first playable protagonist to suffer a permanent death.