After being treated to the Resident Evil 4 remake trailer last week at Sony's State of Play event, fans are waiting with bated breath for the return of Leon S. Kennedy. 2019's Resident Evil 2 remake introduced Leon as a rookie cop with the worst possible luck - landing smack dab in the middle of a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City on his first day on the job. With the help of Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, and Sherry Birkin, Leon was able to escape the city along with the others. The Resident Evil 4 remake, as its name implies, will be a modern reimagining of the 2005 classic.
In the original game, Leon (now a U.S. government special agent) is tasked with finding and rescuing the president's daughter, Ashley Graham. Ashley was reportedly last seen in a rural village run by a local cult located in Spain. The events of Resident Evil 4 follow Leon and Ashley as they work together to escape the creepy village and its surrounding locales. The tone of Resident Evil 4 was a dramatic shift for the franchise - adopting a more action-oriented style rather than sticking to just horror. The characters' personalities also changed to accommodate this shift in tone. The first look at the Resident Evil 4 remake shows that it will likely follow the same horror tone as the Resident Evil 2 remake, which begs the question of whether Leon will retain his cocky personality from the original game.
Who Was Leon In Resident Evil 4?
Resident Evil 4 takes place 6 years after the events of Resident Evil 2. Since then, Leon Kennedy has undergone extensive training and is now a special agent that serves under the U.S. government. Years of combat training and study, combined with his experiences on the field and in Raccoon City, have transformed Leon from a rookie cop to a seasoned veteran. As such, his personality in Resident Evil 4 has changed. Leon now keeps his cool in almost every situation and always finds a way to escape the mess he's in. This holds true whether it be fighting against a giant infected fish in a small boat or running away from a boulder dropped by infected Ganados.
Leon is also cockier and retains his penchant for one-liners in Resident Evil 2. He always has something to say to his adversaries, be it a threat, a joke, or a snarky remark. In fact, much of his personality seems derived from Devil May Cry's Dante, who is also a wise-cracking powerhouse. With all that training and experience under his belt, it seems that Leon always has a grasp on the situation.
The Leon From The Remake Still Looks Green
Based on what people have seen from the State of Play trailer, the Leon in the Resident Evil 4 remake still retains aspects of his Resident Evil 2 remake self. One scene shows him visibly scared when opening a door to enter a villager's house. His steps are measured and slow, and he doesn't look like he's in control of the situation. One might say that his movements are akin to the original game's Ashley Graham, who spent much of the game afraid of what is hiding behind the next corner.
Leon also seems to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as evidenced by the few lines he says in the trailer. "If I could just forget about what happened that night" proves that Leon is still suffering from what he experienced in Raccoon City. While he is determined to succeed in his new mission (as evidenced by the line "this time, it can be different"), he is still unsure of himself when it comes to handling a new outbreak (he follows his confident statement with a desperate "it has to be"). His promise to end the Umbrella Corporation at the end of Resident Evil 2 may have spurned him to better himself, but Leon is still hesitant to take on a new hell in a different location.
Capcom isn't afraid of adding strong characters to the Resident Evil remakes (as evidenced by Resident Evil 3's Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira), but the Leon it has decided to show fans isn't exactly brimming with confidence. This could be just at the start of the game, where Leon is still wrapping his head around the situation. Once he has his bearings, Leon could blossom into the cocky secret agent fans of the original Resident Evil 4 know and love. Only time will tell whether Leon is up to the task of saving Ashley or not.
The Resident Evil 4 remake releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 24th, 2023.