Origin
Leon Scott. Kennedy was a police academy cadet who became intrigued by a series of grisly murders that occurred in Raccoon City. Upon graduating from the police academy, Leon quickly applied for a position at the Raccoon City Police Department, which was soon accepted due to his high-test scores. Leon’s first day as a member of Raccoon City’s finest would also be his last, as upon reaching the city Leon became embroiled in what would later become known as The Raccoon City Incident.
Creation
Leon made his first appearance in the Capcom video game Resident Evil 2, released in 1998 on the PlayStation One. He was created by Hideki Kamiya and Noboru Sugimura. He was voiced by Paul Haddad in Resident Evil 2, and by Paul Mercier in Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: The Dark-side chronicles, and in the full-length CG animated film Resident Evil: Degeneration.
Character Evolution
Leon was created to be the opposite of Chris Redfield protagonist of the original Resident evil game. Hideki Kamiya felt that Chris was the “blunt, tough-guy type” and wanted to create a character with weakness. In the original draft of Resident Evil 2, which was titled Resident Evil 1.5, Leon was written as a veteran police officer, but was changed into a rookie after the creators opted for a re-write, and to distinguish his character from Chris Redfield.
Leon has perhaps evolved most as a character in the franchise, from a slightly naïve rookie cop in Resident Evil 2, into a confident and highly trained government agent in Resident Evil 4.
Major Story Arcs
The Raccoon City Incident
Leon Scott Kennedy was driving into town and couldn’t help but notice how deserted it appeared. Finding a body in the road Leon pulled over to investigate only to be almost immediately swarmed by the T-Virus infected towns people. Leon drew his weapon and began unloading into the group, shooting vital points in the bodies but the townspeople kept coming. Ducking into an alley he came face to face with an actual living person in the form of Claire Redfield, a young college girl searching for her brother. Leon dispatched a zombie that was closing in on her by firing a round through its head. The zombie dropped immediately. Shortly after introducing themselves to one another, they are immediately separated due to a fuel tanker plowing into their car.
Battling their way (separately) to the Police Station, Leon comes across a young Asian woman named Ada Wong who is searching for her boyfriend. Ada disappears to follow her own leads as she searches for clues to John’s whereabouts and to a way out of the Police Station. After an encounter with Annette Birkin, Leon learns the truth about Ada and why she is really in Raccoon City. Ada is an industrial spy for a rival pharmaceutical company.
Unknown to anyone (for some time that is) she is working directly for Albert Wesker, the supposedly dead S.T.A.R.S. leader and former Umbrella researcher. Ada saves Leon from a T-102 known as Mr. X that is hunting for the G-Virus sample that was stored in Sherry Birkin‘s locket. Leon leaves the (presumably) dead Ada and fights his way to the emergency exit of the underground Umbrella Facility. He barely survives a second encounter with the final form of William Bikin’s G-Virus Monster. However, the presence of the monster on-board the train triggers a bio-hazard warning, and the train begins its self-destruct sequence. Leon, Claire and Sherry manage to escape just as the train explodes killing Birkin once and for all.
Fight Against Umbrella
In the aftermath of Raccoon City’s destruction, Claire leaves Sherry in Leon’s care as she travels to Europe in search of her brother Chris Redfield. Leon becomes Sherry’s temporary guardian until the two are apprehended by US Government agents seeking answers about the disaster and Umbrella’s involvement. Leon turns Sherry over to the government’s care as he is given the opportunity to become a special field agent, he reluctantly agrees.
Leon underwent rigorous training and was transformed into a rookie cop into a highly trained special agent, particularly excelled in knife combat. During his training, Leon began his own investigation into Umbrella, and used his position to gather information for a secret anti-umbrella movement. During this time Leon sent a friend of his, Detective Ark Thompson, to investigate a suspected umbrella research facility on Sheena Island.
Leon was also responsible for tipping off Chris Redfield, who had gone into hiding after the Raccoon incident, about the location of his sister Claire Redfield, who had been captured by Umbrella operatives in France, and had been forcefully taken to a remote Umbrella facility on Rockfort Island, where she was being held captive.
Operation Javier
After receiving Intel that a former Umbrella scientist had contacted a notorious drug lord named Javier Hidalgo, Leon is sent to a small town in South America, to capture Javier. Due to the delicate nature of the mission, a highly experienced operative named Jack Krauser was selected as Leon’s partner. Upon entering the village, the two became trapped in the center of a T-Virus outbreak, which confirmed the involvement of the Umbrella researcher. The two were forced to fight their way through swarms of zombies, and eventually came across a young women called Manuela, who appeared to be the only survivor of the village, she later turned out to be Javier’s daughter.
Leon and Krauser became closer during the ordeal and Leon began opening up to Krauser, telling him of his life and experiences in Raccoon City, this conversation would later have profound consequences for both of them. The two eventually defeat Javier, with the help of Manuela, who is then taken into government protection. Krauser sustained a serious injury during the mission and the two were unable to continue as partners. Krauser was discharged from active service after the mission, later that year Leon was informed that his former partner had died in a helicopter crash.
Los Illuminados
Six years after the Raccoon City Incident, a 27-year-old Leon is a government agent under the direct control of the President of the United States. Leon is assigned a new job of protecting the President’s family, however, mere days before he begins this duty the president’s daughter Ashley Graham is kidnapped. Intelligence suggested that she had been taken to a rural part of Spain, and Leon was soon dispatched alone to find her. Leon is escorted by two Spanish police officers to a remote village near where an unconfirmed sighting of Ashley had been reported. Leon is dropped at the outskirts of the village and proceeds on foot, the police officers remain with the car, comically saying they don’t want to get any parking tickets. Leon quickly reaches a run-down cabin, and upon entering is attacked by a disorientated man who refused to back down, Leon is forced to kill him.
The man eerily reminded Leon of the T-virus infected zombies of Raccoon city. Outside Leon hears witnesses several villagers using a truck to ram the police officers in their squad car of a cliff into the raging river below, they soon turn on Leon in the strange single minded attack attributed to the zombies encountered in Raccoon city, however, Leon notes that they seem to have lost none of their physical maneuverability and despite their disheveled state, their flesh didn’t seem to be rotting, which is an effect of the T-virus.
Outbreak
A 28-year-old Leon was selected by the president to take charge of the S.R.T. team due to his experience with the t-Virus. Under his leadership and advice, they learned how to effectively kill the zombies and rescued five survivors, including Claire Redfield. After saving them, Leon was involved in the fight with Curtis Miller, the Marines and Angela Miller at WilPharma. He was able to save Angela and kill the G-virus-infected Curtis Miller. At the end, he, Claire and Angela exposed Frederic Downing for escaping Raccoon City with the “T” and G-virus samples, the t-Virus incident at the airport, and setting a time bomb in the WilPharma building in order to secretly sell the last of the G-virus data, t-Virus along with its vaccine, and the G-virus.
As the incident came to a close, Leon was called in for yet another mission. He and Claire parted ways, with the two hoping that they will each meet again someday under far more “normal” circumstances.
The Conspiracy Behind Penamstan’s Civil War
Tall Oaks Incident
About a decade and a half after the Raccoon City incident, another bio-terrorism attack occurs in Tall Oaks. Adam Benford, friend to Leon and president of the United States, becomes infected and attacks the agent Helena Harper, forcing him to shoot him. Leon starts up an uneasy partnership with her. Leon and Helena travel through Ivy University and the city where they combat the outbreak as they head towards the Tall Oaks Cathedral upon Helena’s suggestion as he states she is responsible for this and will explain everything to Leon.
In the cathedral, they find an underground laboratory where more zombies and mutated creatures are. They stumble upon a video tape of a woman bursting from a cocoon with the tape dubbed “happy birthday, Ada Wong” who turns out to be a scientist who turned herself into an Ada lookalike. As they go deeper into the cathedral, Helena comes clean about helping Derek Simmons, the national security adviser, who is behind everything and she led Leon down there to help find her sister too.
They manage to find Helena’s sister, Deborah, but she eventually turns into a B.O.W. Leon and Helena also run into Ada Wong who helps them defeat the mutated Deborah. As the two are warned by Simmons himself that they top suspects for the president’s death, which is part of his plan, Tall Oaks is destroyed, including the evidence against Simmons. Leon gets Hunnigan to fake his and Helena’s deaths so they can head to Lanshiang, China to stop Simmons. They encounter Sherry Birkin and Jake Muller, Wesker’s son, and help they fight a powerful B.O.W named Ustanak. Sherry gives Leon the coordinates to Simmons’ meeting. They run into the fake Ada Wong, who unbeknownst to them is the fake. She leads them into a building where they encounter Chris Redfield and his partner Piers Nivans. Leon and Chris have a brief scuffle when he tries to shoot Ada, her being a suspect and all. Leon convinces Chris Simmons is behind everything and that Chris should go follow “Ada” while Leon handles Simmons.
They find Simmons but he is ambushed by a J’avo and injected with the enhanced C-Virus which transforms him into a dog like B.O.W. They seemingly defeat Simmons but when they make it through virus bombed city, Simmons returns and begins another fight. As they head towards the roof of a skyscraper, Leon sees Simmons attacking Ada and once again the duo is forced to save Ada and defeat Simmons. Simmons continues to evolve and add more biomass to his body. Leon uses a lightning rod to finally have a storm weaken Simmons and the two run towards a helicopter left by Ada and inside was her compact mirror and evidence to clear their names.
Simmons returns again and Leon uses the rocket launcher left by Ada to defeat Simmons once as for all as he falls to his death by getting speared on a pillar. Leon and Helena leave China. Leon and Helena visit a grave set up for Deborah where Helena is ready to take consequences for her actions of helping Simmons but Leon hands her a gun solidifying their partnership and in return Helena throws him Ada Wong’s compact mirror so he can give it to her the next time they meet.
Vendetta
Leon was assigned a mission to stop the terrorists bomb in Washington D.C. However, he lost all of his units and survived. After his failed mission, Leon goes on a vacation drinking alcohol until Chris and Rebecca came to him as they needed his help and explained what happened in Chicago but also Learning about the zombie’s apocalypse again, he initially refused to join Chris and Rebecca to kill Glenn Arias until he changed his mind to team up with Chris to rescue Rebecca. They fought against the zombies and killed Arias. After Arias’ death, Leon, Chris and Rebecca cured all infected people.
Personality
Skills and Abilities
Leon possesses no superhuman powers but is at the peak of physical and mental fitness. His is extremely agile and can be seen performing a verity of flips, rolls, and other complicated maneuvers with practiced ease. He possesses a high level of stamina, endurance, and speed. Thanks to that so Leon could escape the big rolling boulder and giant Salazar statue. He can also swim fast as it is shown when his battle with Del Lago if he falls off the boat. However, he cannot survive extremely deadly attacks like the chainsaw decapitation, being eaten by a giant monster such as Mutated Salazar, and so on. He also seems to be capable of strenuous activity for long periods of time without rest. He is also able to stay awake for days at a time and still retain a high level of focus and awareness.
Thanks to his training as a police officer and then a government agent, Leon is well versed in the use of most firearms and is an extremely capable combatant, excelling in the use of a knife. For example, in Resident Evil 4, Leon was able to throw a knife right in Salazar’s hand with ease and go toe to toe against Jack Krauser, who is also an expert in knife combat, in a knife fight. Nonetheless, at the end of the combat, Leon seemingly was about to be killed by Krauser but fortunately he was saved by Ada Wong. Leon is also pretty good at utilizing a jet ski and he was able to avoid any obstacle while driving at high speed.
Personal Data
- Height – 5 ft 10 in
- Weight – 155 lb
- Eyes – Green
- Hair – Dirty Blonde
- Blood Type – A
- Ethnicity – Caucasian
- Occupation – Raccoon City Police Officer, Secret Service
Other Media
Video Games
Resident Evil 2
Leon S. Kennedy makes his first appearance in Resident Evil 2 released in 1998, on the Playstation One, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Gamecube, and is set to be re-released on the Playstation Network in 2010. Leon is one of two playable characters in the game, the other being Claire Redfield.
Resident Evil 3
Leon does not appear in this game but is mentioned by name at the end where it is revealed he has become a government agent.
Resident Evil Gaiden
Leon appears as a playable character along with Barry Burton, the game was released on the Game Boy Color on 14th December 2001. However, this game is not considered canon.
Resident Evil 4
Set six years after Resident Evil 2, Leon returns as the main character. The game was highly praised by critics and remains one of the best games in the series. Released in 2005 the game was nominated for game of the year and was released on all major platforms.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
Exclusive for the Nintendo wii, it was released on the 17th and 19th November 2009. Leon returns as a playable character, the game chronicles the events of previous games RE2 and RE: Code Veronica, it also features all new scenarios created for the game and is played in the First-person rail shooter style.
Resident Evil 6
Set almost 15 years after the original Raccoon City incident, Leon reprises a role as a playable character in one of three campaigns with his new partner Helena Harper. The game is available on the Playstation3 and Xbox 360 system consoles.
Resident Evil 2: Remake
Films
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Leon doesn’t appear in the film but is mentioned in passing as the deceased partner of Jill Valentine. However, this was later changed in Resident Evil: Retribution.
Resident Evil: Retribution
Leon is the leader of a mercenary group.
Resident Evil: Degeneration
Leon stars in the full-length CGI film. The film was released in the UK on October 18th, 2008 and deals with special agent Leon S. Kennedy reuniting with Claire Redfield to stop a T-Virus outbreak in an airport. Paul Mercier returns as the voice of Leon.
Resident Evil: Damnation
Sequel to Degeneration, Leon is the main character.
TV
Infinite Darkness
Set between Degeneration and Damnation, Leon is the main character.
Paperback Novels
Pocket Star Books have published seven novels set in the Resident Evil universe but are not canon. Written by author S.D. Perry, with Leon being the main character in two of the books and makes a brief appearance in Code Veronica.
- Resident Evil: City Of The Dead – A novelization of the video game RE2, follows Leon and Claire’s POV.
- Resident Evil: Underworld – An all-original novel featuring Leon, Claire, Rebecca Chambers, and many more.
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Novelization of the video game of the same name, Leon appears briefly.
Resident Evil Deck Building Game
A card game based on the Resident Evil franchise, features cards dedicated to every character to have appeared in the RE universe, including Leon.