You Can Now Play As Shaggy In Resident Evil 2
The internet never fails to disappoint. We've seen Shaggy in Jump Force. We've witnessed the wrath of Thomas the Tank Engine in Resident Evil 2. And now the modding community has given us a brand new treasure to cherish — Shaggy as the main character in Resident Evil 2, complete with voice lines and his trademark green tee.
As you can see, the modders behind this particular work of magic weren't content with letting Shaggy breeze through Resident Evil 2. The already terrifying Mr. X has been duplicated, and at any given moment, there are around ten of them chasing our favorite cartoon crime-solver around the Raccoon City Police Department. Is that a problem? Not if your name is Shaggy and the world somehow believes you should be blessed with unmitigated power. Shaggy is easily able to keep every single Mr. X at bay, thanks to his knife (which seems way more effective than usual) and the totally canon ability to shoot fire from his hands. At one point, nearly six or seven of the Mr. X clones are taking a knee inside the RCPD, almost as though they're paying tribute.
Lord Shaggy, we are here to serve you.
In all seriousness, the internet's infatuation with Shaggy has been incredibly fun to watch. You might remember the meme that kicked it all off — you know, the one that depicted Shaggy as some kind of all-powerful otherworldly being. That laid the groundwork for Shaggy to be proposed as a potential addition to the Mortal Kombat 11 roster. Ed Boon, bless his heart, played along with the gag, giving everyone a legitimate sense that he was considering Shaggy as a character in the game. But the MK 11 team ultimately broke our hearts, forcing one player to mod Shaggy into Jump Force as a way to satiate his desire to see Shaggy in a fighting game.
And in case you're wondering, 'what's up with Shaggy's gloves?' — it appears that the Shaggy mod for Resident Evil 2 uses the same model as the Jump Force mod, which means those are actually Vegeta's gloves dealing out pain to all of those Mr. Xs. Just a fun fact.
Along with all of the Shaggy love being handed out like candy on Halloween, Resident Evil 2 has also been a favorite target for modders who are looking to score some internet points. Mr. X is certainly an imposing figure in the game already, but fans of Resident Evil 2 have found ways to make him even scarier, or in some cases, even more hilarious. There are mods similar to the one mentioned above that add even more Mr. Xs to the game, further increasing the challenge. There are mods that attach music to Mr. X, causing DMX's "X Gon' Give It To Ya" to play anytime Mr X. is in the general vicinity. One popular mod replaces Mr. X with Thomas the Tank Engine, creating a brand new kind of nightmare that you didn't even know you could have. And other mods remove Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 entirely, delivering a far less stressful RE2 experience that players can complete without fear of being stalked for hours on end.
Because no meme lives in a bubble, it was only a matter of time until someone put two and two together and decided that Shaggy deserved a shot at battling Raccoon City's zombie problem. And Shaggy appears to be doing an extraordinary job at handling all of the Mr. X clones thrown his way, thanks to the superhuman abilities the meme world granted him. But you have to wonder — when does it all end? When do people finally tire of seeing Shaggy in video games? And when is a Resident Evil 2 mod crossing the line from something cool into something that puts YouTube views over actually enhancing the game in some way?
That, we're afraid, is a question for another day. Until then — zoinks — we'll be here for whatever hero role Shaggy takes up next. And if someone decides to mod a ham and cheese sandwich into Resident Evil 2 to take the place of Mr. X, we'll be here for that, too.