Resident Evil Requiem has two endings, and the game doesn’t really tell you which choice is the right one. You’ll reach a terminal near the end and have to decide what to do with Elpis. Get it wrong, and things go south fast. This guide breaks down both endings, so you know exactly what you’re getting into.
All Endings in Resident Evil 9
Late in the game, Grace Ashcroft reaches a terminal inside The Ark, a secret Umbrella research facility under Raccoon City. Leon is barely alive at this point, infected with the T-Virus. You’re given two options:
- Release Elpis
- Destroy Elpis
That’s it. One choice, two very different outcomes. Before you pick, save your game at the nearest computer. That way, you can reload and see both endings without replaying the whole game.
Gentle reminder, this guide contains spoilers. Only check which ending is good or bad, and experience the scenes yourself in game to fully enjoy the story.
The Good Ending: Release Elpis
Choosing to release Elpis is the canon ending to RE9. Grace discovers that Elpis isn’t a weapon at all, it’s actually an antiviral secretly created by Oswell Spencer.
The antiviral gets administered to Leon, flushing the T-Virus completely out of his system and pulling him back from the brink of death.
With Leon stabilized, you get a proper final boss fight against Victor Gideon before Grace and Leon are rescued by the BSAA’s Wolf Hound Squad.
After the fight, the story gets a real resolution. The media exposes Umbrella’s secrets to the world, and a rescued test subject named Emily ends up in Grace’s care. A post-credits scene also teases future threats tied to The Connections, hinting at what’s coming next in the series.
On top of all that, you unlock Grace’s Report, a detailed 60-page document that lays out Umbrella’s full history and reveals Spencer’s true intentions. This is clearly the canon ending. It wraps everything up properly and rewards you for paying attention to the story.
Bonus content unlocked: Insanity mode, behind-the-scenes videos, character models, concept art, weapon skins, and the “Hope and Requiem” achievement.
The Bad Ending: Destroy Elpis
If you choose to destroy Elpis, things fall apart quickly. Grace enters the destruction password, which immediately starts tearing the facility apart. Zeno attacks, and while Leon steps in to defend Grace, he’s completely overpowered.
He gets beaten down, got karate-kicked on the face, and fatally shot in the head, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Grace manages to escape the collapsing Ark, but she leaves with nothing, no cure, no Leon, no win, only tragic.
There’s no final boss fight here, no post-credits scene, and no sense of closure. The credits just roll. It’s a painful ending, and honestly it feels like the game calling you out for not reading the story carefully enough.
You do get some of the bonus content, including weapon skins, costumes, bonus challenges, behind the scenes footage, and unlockable cheats, but you will not receive the “Hope and Requiem” achievement, nor the 60 page document.
The ending of Resident Evil Requiem comes down to a single choice, but the difference between the two outcomes is massive. Releasing Elpis unlocks the full story, the final boss fight, and all available rewards. Destroying it leads to a tragic conclusion and the death of Leon S. Kennedy.
My recommendation is to experience the bad ending first and embrace the tragedy. Then reload the save file and choose the canon ending to fully experience everything Resident Evil 9 has to offer.