100 Things You Never Knew About Resident Evil

63. The Secret Of The License Plate

Claire Redfield bike resident evil
Capcom

Back to Claire Redfield's bike briefly, there's actually multiple sly references as part of this vehicle depending on where you look.

First of all, on the promotional art that features Claire outside the gas station from the beginning of the game, her license plate reads "J2198". This is a reference the Japanese release date of the original RE2, January 21st 1998. Fun additional fact: the game released on January 29th in the US, and the REmake launched worldwide on January 25th; this is the date exactly in the middle of Japan's 21st and America's 29th.

But in the game itself, this is actually not what the plate says. If inspected, it's a not so subtle spelling out of Made In Heaven ("MD3 IN H3VN"), the phrase blazed across the back of Claire's jacket. If you were wondering, Leon gets similar treatment on his jeep too. "M4T-ILD4" refers to Leon's signature handgun Matilda.

Lesson learned: always check a video game license plate.

Contributor

Coming from a content creation background that now spans over two decades, Psy cut her teeth on personal video production and community radio. Originally joining the team as a writer and presenter, she added video editing duties to her responsibilities over time and became the longest-standing editor of the irreverent gaming show Tues Your Own Adventure. Psy has worked on many previews and reviews, long-form editorials (either her own, or supporting as an editor), as a frequent quizmaster and more. Praised for the two-pronged attack of her hard work ethic and light-hearted editing style, Psy is otherwise known as a font of retro video game knowledge which has caused her to rack up many gaming quiz wins. Outside of WhatCulture, Psy runs First Aid Spray Podcast - a long-running channel that focuses on Resident Evil in all of it's forms. You can follow her on BlueSky at http://psywhite.bsky.social and Instagram at http://instagram.com/therealpsywhite