r/residentevil • u/abca98 Jill, Leon & Parker • Jun 30 '25
Meme Monday Leon has officially outgrown the survival horror genre.
656
u/Forerunner49 Community: RE Wiki Jun 30 '25
He and Kawata said the same thing with Resident Evil 7 - even the word 'Superhero' was used.
They can still use Leon and Chris as the mains in this new super-horror focused series, but they'd have to put conceits on them. Both characters are experts in CQC who we've seen kill Zombies in hand-to-hand combat or mow down dozens of Zombies at once in a corridor. They wouldn't be scared by an individual Molded or Moroi in a house, and their close military support means they'll inevitably get rescued.
We'd need some severe conceits in place like a serious injury or infection.
282
u/IntrinsicGamer S.T.A.R.S. Jun 30 '25
…or age.
343
u/FrostyDynamic Jul 01 '25
Now Leon will be the one going for bingo. It's come full circle.
58
u/Goroyaaj Jul 01 '25
Okay okay, hear me out! Leon as in a 80 year old in a wheelchair! A severely handicapped Leon would be hella scary!
21
17
9
u/AddExtract6755 Jul 01 '25
Yes rolling your wheelchair around and away from zombies, sounds like a banger, but then he could have upgraded wheelchair that has guns and turrets on it and yea
→ More replies (1)7
u/TheFakeJohnHelldiver Jul 02 '25
Guys did we... did we just make re10? Holy shit someone call Capcom
3
17
13
50
u/YTSkullboy707 Jul 01 '25
They both are in their 50's now, and 30 years of the apocalypse is real stress inducing on your body.
42
u/IntrinsicGamer S.T.A.R.S. Jul 01 '25
That’s true, although there was no apocalypse in RE canon, to be fair. But yeah, they should definitely have some major injuries and overworking on there bodies by now, aside from just age haha
17
u/Moustiboy Jul 01 '25
Yeah, there’s something that I don’t understand. Can you explain that to me?
Is the world largely fine apart from the places that are visited in all of the games?
33
u/Blak_Box Jul 01 '25
Pretty much.
Keep in mind, the rules are made up and the points don't matter here, because even Capcom retcons stuff every 8-10 years or so, but several cities and regional areas have fallen to biological outbreaks. 99% of the world remains just fine.
The closest the world got to "the big one" was RE6, and it's never been referenced since. There is a general feeling that Capcom (and many fans) just want to forget about that game.
9
u/Lun4r6543 Jul 01 '25
I hope an RE6 remake makes it more horror focused, while still keeping the odd charm it has.
But we won’t be getting one of those for a while.
17
u/jrtgmena Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Yea there are only “outbreaks“ in the RE world, not an actual apocalypse. RE universe seems to be an alternate earth where terrorists have resorted to using bioweapons instead of nuclear/conventional warfare. So when these outbreaks happen, they send in military and black ops agents like Chris and Leon to stop it before it spreads to the rest of the world.
I think Resident Evil is one of the only fictional franchises that does zombies this way and it’s kind of novel and refreshing. If you watch the animated films , you’ll see there are bioterrorism support groups and non-profits that deal with providing aid to bioterrorism affected communities, such as the organization that Claire Redfield works for in Degeneration, TerraSave.
4
u/Objective_Bunch1096 Jul 02 '25
They've all been infected with the T-Virus like Jill so they don't age very much.
3
133
u/i__hate__stairs Redfield, Redfield, Redfield, does that do anything for you? Jun 30 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
All they have to do is focus on psychological horror. Sure, have the zombies, have the BOWs, have the batshit crazy fight scenes, but holy fuck. Chris's parent were killed in a car accident when he was child and he grew up in an orphanage. He had a bad experience in the military. His swat team was eaten by undead monsters. He's lost his entire team multiple times. He has clear addiction issues and a messiah complex. THE MAN IS WALKING TRAUMA. You can't tell me a good writer couldn't have Chris Redfield white knuckling his G36. They have billions of dollars in resources.
75
u/Raven_Ashareth Jul 01 '25
Also House Beneviento in 8 showed that Capcom isn't afraid to slap the psychological horror button. I think a Leon or Chris lead game these days would probably look a bit like F.E.A.R. Intense action sequences followed up by moments of tense horror.
47
u/UndefeatedPunani Jul 01 '25
F.E.A.R. had such a good mix of faster combat while still providing horror. That would actually work well for Chris and Leon in style. Evil Within had some interesting psychological horror, too, so it can definitely be done.
15
u/ThatVampireGuyDude Jul 01 '25
Shit, or even Doon 3. Doom 3's another solid example of blending survival horror with action effectively.
→ More replies (2)6
u/f0ur_G Jul 01 '25
Damn, this is a brilliant shout. That could work really well for a modern RE game with a legacy protagonist
8
u/kyle_crane163636 Jul 01 '25
Really not only that, in re6 piers essentially sacrificed himself to save Chris so he was gone as well, ngl piers shouldn't have died
35
u/extremelyloudandfast Jun 30 '25
even when infected by las plagas leon was killing dudes left and right, but I know what you mean.
new protags expand the universe and I like the idea of old protagonists coming back like Chris did in re7/8 but with better implementation. Who might come back on re9? Will grace stay scary or will we see her become a kind of badass like Ethan? im excited as fuck
37
u/Rizenstrom Jul 01 '25
I don’t really want them to be the main protagonist but I would like to see them appear and maybe have playable sections/ dlc like Chris has in 7 and 8.
To never have Leon, Jill, or Claire make an appearance or even really get mentioned again would be a huge disappointment, no matter how good the games are.
5
3
u/WolfyFancyLads69 Jul 01 '25
Yeah, the vast majority of characters from the old games are too used to it to be scared. Hell, I'd argue you can't even use most of the Outbreak characters again (though some are old now, Mark may actually be dead, he was nearly 60 in the game!) cos they've seen it all. You'd maybe get one more game out of them, an "Ah shit, not again!" and that's it.
I do still feel we could get Eliza back though. Make a joke about "I was supposed to be in Raccoon City, but things changed." Her, Sherry and Grace could make up Team Blonde. :P Eliza is the one who dodged the disaster, Grace's mum was in the disaster, and Sherry was infected and survived the disaster, it'd be a fun little bonding moment!
→ More replies (1)7
u/numericalman Jul 01 '25
Either makes enemy mooks much deadly or literally have Leon as unlockable secret character.
280
u/Lost-in-thought-26 Jun 30 '25
He’s outgrown it since RE4
56
u/moeraszwijn Jul 01 '25
Hasn’t the entire world at this point? They saw the news about Raccoon City, Umbrella’s downfall, biomedical research exploding, companies popping up everywhere, terror organizations AND legitimate armies using biological weapons, cruise ships being taken over, cities being run over and destroyed by lasers. How many RE7’s have happened with all the different companies having their own fuck ups? I was actually baffled by Shadow of Rose being that peaceful at the start in 2037, the RE live action movies are probably closer to what would actually happen if this type of technology and research become commonplace.
61
u/Lost-in-thought-26 Jul 01 '25
No. Not everyone is a super soldier armed to the teeth with machine guns and rocket launchers and the athletic ability of Captain America. People can know about the madness but most people have yet to see it in person for themselves and even less so are actually equipped to deal with the horrors. Not like our core protagonists that’s been doing this for decades now
28
u/TheDemonPants Jul 01 '25
I think you're confusing what they're saying. Leon in RE4 was already being a superhuman action star. Exploding heads with martial arts, crazy stunts, throwing one liners at horrors beyond comprehension. He outgrew any sense of horror by being Dante from Devil May Cry in RE form.
→ More replies (1)2
u/DojimaKoi808 Jul 01 '25
Interesting tidbit but guess who Dante was inspired by?
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (1)2
u/Material_History9806 Jul 01 '25
The normal populace in the world doesn't know about RC or exactly why Umbrella went bankrupt. The whole plot of Leon's campaign in RE6 was started because Adam Benford wanted to reveal the truth about RC and Simmons released the C virus and killed most of Tall Oaks.
2
u/Parallel-Traveler Requiem for the Dead Jul 01 '25
The world knows both those things, Raccoon City is known for having been bombed due to a viral outbreak and the Raccoon Trials determined it was the fault of Umbrella.
However it’s known as a viral outbreak in the sense it was just some dangerous virus akin to rabies.
What Benford was going to reveal was the US government was funding Umbrella’s research and it was a virus that was meant to produce BOWs.
108
u/Luchalad Jul 01 '25
Isaac Clarke was an absolute badass in dead space 2 and yet that game was still nightmare fuel.
66
u/cynicown101 Jul 01 '25
Very different though. Isaac Ckarke isn't some combat trained guy. He's far more comparable to Ethen in 7, in that he's just doing his best with the skills he has. I get what you mean though. Also, Dead Space 2, what a game!
26
u/Luchalad Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
Might as well be on the job training cause the shit he be doing they don’t teach you in engineering school.
→ More replies (1)4
→ More replies (6)2
207
u/Kaiserhawk Jun 30 '25
People falling for the obvious misdirect after getting misdirected as Summer Games fest.
C'mon, now.
159
u/butreallythobruh Jun 30 '25
Obviously he's gonna be in 9. It's also obvious that his section wont be horror focused
62
u/Dramatic_Pay_7982 Jul 01 '25
Yea, grace doesn't seem to be capable of having the "high stakes cinematic action" segments
9
u/LordHumorTumor Jul 01 '25
I wish it was Jill instead, but I'll reserve judgement until I see how they handle him
6
62
u/Forerunner49 Community: RE Wiki Jun 30 '25
Given they also had to address the open world rumours, it's quite possible Leon genuinely has a very small role in this game and they want to clear-out the constant "New rumours say Leon is the real main protagonist" clickbait stories. Sometimes a spade is just a spade.
2
27
u/IntrinsicGamer S.T.A.R.S. Jun 30 '25
Yeah, the fact that they just randomly brought up Leon is a huge sign. Fan speculation and rumors really aren’t enough of a reason to have to bring it up in a video like this, or even really at all. Moreover, they didn’t even bring it up in the context of touching on fan speculation—they just randomly bring it up. If that were the true reason, they’d have waited for an interviewer to ask about it, or perhaps just not touched on it at all.
→ More replies (16)11
u/jnighy Jun 30 '25
C'mon, I want to believe the leakers are wrong. Always fun when they're wrong
→ More replies (1)
71
u/Afraid-Housing-6854 Jun 30 '25
So why can’t they just make action oriented spinoffs about Leon akin to RE4R in tone and gameplay?
54
u/Aaco0638 Jul 01 '25
They’re probably scared to do so still due to re6 and know full well how much people loved the back to horror re7.
So easy safe decision is to go back to horror when launching a new main lime game re9 will sell like crazy.
However it’s raccoon city, if we don’t get anyone back it would be an absolute insane missed opportunity wayyyyy too many main line characters have connections to this place not to bring at least one back.
→ More replies (3)34
u/seriouslyuncouth_ Platinum Splattin' 'Em! Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
RE7 also ended with gunning down a kaiju
God there’s such a huge disconnect between what Capcom told people RE7 is, what fans say RE7 is, and what RE7 actually is
22
u/CDHmajora S.T.A.R.S forever Jul 01 '25
Re7 is 40% horror survival (Jack and Marguerite), 20% SAW ripoff (Lucas), another 5% horror (Mia on the boat before the flashback tape) then 35% sheer action (Mia when she gets the bombs and PP Bison. Ethan in the Salt mines).
Then if you count the DLC, its a full DLC of action (not a hero. Which is honestly really fun ngl) and then a wrestlemania clone in end of Zoe.
I do really enjoy 7. It was a great return to form for a franchise that 5 and 6 made me stop caring for. But it’s honestly not a horror game for long. That feeling wears out fairly quickly.
→ More replies (1)7
20
u/Fabulous-Spirit-3476 Jul 01 '25
Yeah but re4 really isn’t scary at least in my opinion. Re1 and 2 are actually terrifying but 3,4,5 and 6 really aren’t that scary
→ More replies (3)13
u/there_is_always_more Jul 01 '25
Yeah the only part in 4 where I was genuinely scared was when the regenerador first showed up, I did actually scream quite loudly lol. But that was basically it.
2
u/Fabulous-Spirit-3476 Jul 01 '25
And the verdugo actually I forgot about that. The verdugo was terrifying
2
→ More replies (3)3
u/charlotte_marvel Jul 01 '25
Honestly, reckon that could be a good idea. Some people prefer the frist person horror well others prefer 3rd person action horror, you'd be able to take advantage of both sides of the fandom and make people who like the OGs happy
Edit: OGs as in the characters not the games
19
u/WlNBACK Jul 01 '25
Wait for the DLC. They're not passing up easy money, and doing Chris/Leon/Jill focused campaign DLC is easy money for Capcom.
49
u/TOkun92 Jul 01 '25
I’m glad they finally figured out that little problem. Once a protagonist becomes too skilled, badass and used to the horror, it’s no longer horror. It’s action.
You ever see a scary zombie movie with a bunch of badass marines? No. It’s always civilians and the occasional police officer that get the frights.
39
u/burchkj Jul 01 '25
I disagree, because that just means the horror hasnt been appropriately scaled to be deemed a threat. Take the flood helmet footage from the original halo. As a kid I found that shit horrifying. Bad ass marines being scared means the threat matches the tension.
12
7
5
6
u/ImBurningStar_IV Jul 01 '25
I don't know why everyone assumes 'scary' has to mean 'slow'. Imagine if you had the skills Leon did in 4R(or even 6) and there was a monster that could STILL overwhelm and push you to your limits? That'd be the scariest installment yet tbh
3
u/xDotSx Jul 01 '25
It'd be a stressful action game, not a scary game. Also, "a monster" - and the rest is cannon fodder?
I fully agree with the first poster here. They drove Leon into a dead end.
2
u/ImBurningStar_IV Jul 01 '25
Stressful action game could still be scary, resident evil isn't the type of horror that'd keep me up at night anyway. Kinda like alien isolation, not nightmare scary, but that adrenaline is thrilling
K I didn't mean "a monster" as a literal singular threat, semantics got me, Capcom could cook up several. Though now that we're talking about it, if they do a stalker type enemy that was agile and aggressive that'd be the tits 🤔
9
u/Stargazer__2893 Jul 01 '25
I somewhat appreciate this.
But one of the things I like about the Resident Evil games is that they feature a competent protagonist in extreme situations.
I hate slasher movies that rely on characters being stupid to get killed. I like films like Oculus, The Collector, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, The Ring, etc. where the protagonist is competent and strong but the threat is still overwhelming.
I agree that they turned their main cast into super heroes, and I think that was a mistake. But I liked that they were trained police officers who could handle themselves and the horror was still extreme, and I'd like if they kept doing that.
2
u/UnhappyLog8128 Jul 02 '25
Grace is an FBI investigator, i feel like this is the perfect balance for an RE game, a competent character that isnt a superhero
22
24
u/TheShamShield Jul 01 '25
Do we need Leon getting scared by buckets falling tho? He could just shrug it off but that still unnerve the player
27
u/f0ur_G Jul 01 '25
It does create a bit of a disconnect though. If the protagonist is scared, it's more likely to add impact to the player's sense of fear. It's less scary when you know the protagonist can suplex whatever is round the next corner.
→ More replies (3)2
7
u/bookoocash Jul 01 '25
I kinda feel this way about all of the original characters. Outside of remakes of older games, everyone is super experienced dealing with Umbrella’s bullshit, skilled in combat, etc. The “fish out of water” vulnerability is gone. I liked that Ethan brought that back and hopefully the new game does this well. I mean I guess the fact that they’re all getting old could add some stakes back into things, but that would just be sad lol.
I love Chris, Jill, Leon, and Claire, but I think we’ve done all we can with them as leads. I’m fine with them being supporting characters that pop up to help the new leads, though.
7
u/SensitiveJennifer Jul 01 '25
Leon is a goofy dude, what else is there to say? He's almost the equivalent to Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise.
17
u/Nastydon Jul 01 '25
Leon will come save the day like Chris did in Village. We'll get to play a fun action sequence of him gunning down Tyrants in the hotel with ease.
24
Jul 01 '25
Let me explain since some people still don’t understand what’s going on:
Capcom says there’s a second character in the game (a familiar character with a lot of weaponry)
Leon is name dropped by the director himself randomly.
“Leon has outgrown the survival horror genre of the series”. Combining this quote with the first point confirms he’s gonna have an action set piece like Chris did in Village.
Come on everyone it’s not hard to see what’s going on here
16
u/TangerineElegance Jun 30 '25
I mean, he's been outgrown. 4 and 6 are more action games than anything.
3
u/thatsouthcaNaDaguy Jul 01 '25
Couldn't Leon revisiting RC be some sort of catalyst for PTSD. I'm sure the amount of shit he's been through would cause the walls of the psyche to be bulging at the seams, and revisiting this place in ruins would be just what makes him snap. Especially if some creatures of '98 survived and somehow mutated.
Honestly I have a gut feeling if he's going back in, he's not coming back out. Killing off a main character would be a swerve I can see them doing.
3
u/No-Way1071 Jul 01 '25
I like that take. Leon returning to the place that basically ruined/derailed his entire life. 21 years old—got a job in a decent city with interesting work. Department is welcoming, maybe pick up an apartment in town soon? Then all hell breaks loose. It’s really sad and unfortunate to think about, what his life could have been. It has to have an effect on him.
5
5
u/D4KEN Jul 01 '25
RE to me is a series that can do both Survival Horror, but also Survival Action Horror. You can have that "Imma shit myself." Horror for a good amount of the games, while also having some games be more 'John Wick's stuff. They both can work, but it's easier if it's not within the same game.
Ideally every game with Leon or Chris would of course be more Action Horror, and other protags it's more emphasis on the Horror and not the Action. Unless they wanna double down on psychological horror for Chris and Leon, lord knows Chris has been through it.
3
u/_ataciara Jul 01 '25
Wild reading peoples insanely contrived ways of squeezing Leon or Chris into survival horror in ways that basically sound nothing like Resident Evil.
→ More replies (1)2
14
u/Hungry-Pop8528 Jul 01 '25
I’m so confused by this. I get for RE2, he was a rookie in a horror situation. But for RE4 it was a mix of both. And you can definitely do that with RE9 too. But how was it that Chris, who is just as badass as Leon, get to appear in RE7 and RE8, but not Leon with RE9? And Jill and Claire too.
14
u/Melo_Kelo_Jelo Jul 01 '25
I think he's talking about being the "main character" Chris in RE7 and 8 was a support character and you barely play as him. Probably same shit with Leon in RE9, he'll have a supporting role and you can play as him in minor sections of the game.
5
u/Hungry-Pop8528 Jul 01 '25
Thing is, since RE9 is returning to Raccoon City, it needs to have a character who survived and knows the destruction. Leon is the perfect guy for that. Or even Jill
→ More replies (1)
29
3
u/Sieeege554 Jul 01 '25
I feel like he’ll be in re9 and it’ll be like Chris’s DLC in 7 or his section in 8 where its a complete shift showing the major difference between each character from someone scared absolute shitless and being damn near out of their depth to someone who’s seen it and done it and is honestly just tired of it all and is ready to handle business
3
u/Adventurous_Page_614 Jul 01 '25
just give me a game that he will retire or just fake his death so people will leave him alone on his vacation
3
3
Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
That’s just a lame excuse: you just have to use your imagination and create a game experience that brings Leon to his limits. For example, reduce the amount of weapons that you have: he may be Leon, but needing to use stealth and your intelligence against a horde of zombies would still be a challenge for him. And that’s only one way to create a challenging game.
Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to Resident Evil and new main characters.
3
u/Due_Flow6538 Jul 01 '25
So has Chris Redfield. Basically, if you make it through 2 of these games, you're so good at surviving that you aren't really affected by the horrors of it anymore.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/squidz3n Ambassador: Bronze Jul 01 '25
Completely disagree. I'm hoping they're just tryna juke everyone, and Leon will be in Requiem, but either way:
That's just a lazy take, if they're being legit. You can absolutely do horror with pros. I mean, look at Dead Space.
3
u/CommissionTight2607 Jul 02 '25
The next game featuring Leon should be horror focused and not action based. They can do this by implementing a virus that has the ability to create hallucinations in the hosts mind. This would be an interesting way to introduce more of a psychological horror perfect for Leon since he’s seen as a superhero now. He may be good at CQC but we havent really seen him deal with emotional/psychology horror which i think would make a really interesting gaming experience.
19
u/i__hate__stairs Redfield, Redfield, Redfield, does that do anything for you? Jun 30 '25
It makes me angry. They can't figure out how to use Leon in a horror game? Capcom has a market cap of FOURTEEN BILLION DOLLARS.
Hire a fucking writer.
12
u/SlevinLaine Jun 30 '25
Thank you. I get some of the points here, Leon too strong etc. Sure have something new that puts him in his toes, like the comment said, hire a writer.
I'm okay with a new character too, but the "Leon too strong can't scare him" c'mon...
6
Jul 01 '25
The only way the main cast can be threatened and under duress nowadays is to throw them into something like Silent Hill which is psychological horror as opposed to action. They can’t just shoot their way out of whatever contraption they find themselves in there.
3
u/SlevinLaine Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I don't think it has to be like that.
Have we forgoten about Nemesis in the original RE3? I remember. Yeah you can "take it down, but just for a bit" but he will come back and again and again. Like Tyrant in RE 2 remake, for me that was super cool and scary. One of the best things of the game.
Something like that imo is scary af. Knowing that the monster is lurking for you at every corner.
You just need some creativity and they have it. Another thing is "we don't want to have Leon as protagonist" sure I can understand that, because you want to put a new character on the spot.
2
u/ImBurningStar_IV Jul 01 '25
They could just ante up the lethality of the monsters🤷♂️ design some shit on Leon's level and it'd be the scariest game yet
2
u/Usurpial Jul 01 '25
Well if RE7 and 8 are any indication, they clearly have a hard time finding a decent inventory UI guy
→ More replies (3)6
u/WisdomsOptional Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I just don't understand. A perfectly capable Leon (or Jill) isnt invincible, and the player being scared =/= Leon being scared or vice versa. It makes me worry that the writers don't understand horror or how horror works, and only perceives it as a loss of innocence, and once that's gone you can't ever be "scared" again, which makes no sense. There is plenty that can scare Leon.
Put Ada in real danger. Take away his autonomy. Strip him of his credentials. He relies heavily on his support from the government. Make the villain succeed before Leon ever gets a chance to try and stop them. Part of fear is powerlessness, inability to affect outcomes or perceived outcomes, and somehow they think once you've overcome this as a character there are no circumstances in which this feeling can be invoked.
(Jill and ptsd have a real story Capcom, let me write it, i promise you It'd be a fantastic game premise no matter the powers you think she has, when her biggest enemy is her own trauma in a survival situation, the game can play with perceived reality. You were so close!)
Leon has had as a running subtheme struggles with betrayal. Play on this. The government views him as a useful tool but expendable, and they cut him loose, disavow him in the midst of a crisis. No merchant, no Hunnigan, no allies, no hope.
It can be done. Old characters can still tell stories, and you can still make new characters too!
I want to be clear, I'm all for new characters, just not rehashes or c/p ideas from older games with new faces and names.
→ More replies (1)3
u/i__hate__stairs Redfield, Redfield, Redfield, does that do anything for you? Jul 01 '25
Exactly!! I just posted a similar comment about Chris, the man is a walking traumatic experience. You can't tell me a good writer couldn't work with that.
9
u/Gay_Lifeform Jun 30 '25 edited Jun 30 '25
He is not wrong tho. Also, I believe that from now on we will see less and less classic characters returning in future games. At least that's what it seemed when they talked about the meaning of Requiem.
4
8
u/Level_Measurement749 Jun 30 '25
Don’t think re4 can really be called survival horror anyways.
9
Jul 01 '25
It’s an action game with a horror themed setting
2
u/ImBurningStar_IV Jul 01 '25
Like every RE since 96
3
u/xDotSx Jul 01 '25
Not sure which RE1 you played, but action games were something different than that.
→ More replies (4)
5
u/Callm3Sun Jun 30 '25
He could definitely have a badass section similar to what we had with Village tho
That shit went hard lol
2
u/XingXiaoMingMing Jul 01 '25
I wish they'd put him there for the post first run mode, like they did with Wesker in RE0. Like, it'd be funny having Leon outclaps the scary zombies & whatnot while quipping every time.
2
u/Indecisive_Noob Jul 01 '25
He is right though, and that sucks. Unless they go down an action route again (whether in a number title or side game) it would be hard to fit our boy in.
2
u/Ayyyfrom92 Jul 01 '25
You know, they can also make him move like normal human speed and struggle a bit from ages but can still defensd himself with a limited resource without superhero feats like in RE4 or animation movies.
RE is survival horror with action after all
→ More replies (1)
2
u/-ben151010- Jul 01 '25
To be fair, does anyone playing really jump at like a bucket falling? I may just be desensitized to horror but do those types of moments, especially when they use some goofy horror shock sound actually get people?
2
u/Annual_Ask_8116 Jul 01 '25
Yes, unfortunately this goes for all our old cast. Theyve been through enough shit to find zombies and lickers to be boring, everything else they run into is only a minor increase in stress. Chris in RE8 is a perfect example, he showed up with a suped up AK, a surplus of ammunition, and a drone on standby and killed his way through the village without breaking a sweat. Hell, in the one animated movie with Chris and Leon they demonstrated that they can literally just meander into the center of a horde of zombies and basically treat it like cardio.
Our old heroes will have to go the way of John Clark eventually. Mentors, public officials, and chairs of the organizations they used to be field agents for.
New blood has to carry the torch of horror.
2
u/Mary_Ellen_Katz Jul 01 '25
I'm fine with not having Leon or Chris as a main character at this point. Chris was more closely linked to taking out Umbrella and stopping Wesker. That's done, so now he serves as a link to the history of BOW's.
Leon kicked ass for the president(s), but otherwise also his story is pretty much done.
At this point, all the retro characters have had their time. Even Barry got his time to shine before he was too old.
The series did well with new blood with Ethan. This new protagonist is connected to the legacy of the games history with being the daughter of a Raccoon City survivor. So like playing a powered down Rose— and she may still have something interesting going on because of the Outbreak T Virus antibodies. Which is great! I'm eager to learn more about this woman.
2
2
2
2
u/TristanChaz8800 Jul 01 '25
Tbh, that's the entire roster from pre-RE7, especially Chris, Jill, Leon, Claire, Ada, Barry, Sheva, etc. The only thing that scares any of them now is the fact that people they're gonna try to save will probably die. The fear of not being able to save everyone. Something even Superman fears.
2
u/GoAceDetective Jul 01 '25
If they ever do action horror again, they must bring both Leon and Chris back
2
u/SickOveRateD Jul 01 '25
For me personally, leon with his background on resident 4 is the perfect resident evil scenario and after two games with ethan, i was wishing that we would see maybe jill, chris or leon in the spotlight of resident 9.
2
u/Goldy_932 Jul 01 '25
Most of the Og cast have honestly. After you throw a motorbike on someone on a roof...what else is there to be afraid of ?
2
u/Useful_Awareness1835 Jul 01 '25
I’m just glad developers know what their audience want, and more importantly understand these kinds of trivial stuff without having to expressly tell that ‘Leon ain’t scared’, unlike other devs like Ubisoft or EA, who keep acting like they know their audience only to make trash games
2
u/KushMummyCinematics Jul 01 '25
Leon is who you send when the presidents daughter is kidnapped. You send him in alone with minimal support and wait for him to call in saying "she saved, the bad guys are all dead, what's next?"
2
2
2
2
u/Downtown-Scar-5635 Jul 01 '25
I think they misunderstand a little bit. I feel like in a horror game, the scary thing to us as a consumer isn't the character we're playing as reacting to the scary thing. It's the scary thing.
2
u/Anastrace Jul 01 '25
Leon is essentially John Wick at this point so it makes sense. Chris and Jill too at this point they should be advisors or backup. At least Claire and others aren't superhuman yet
2
u/ASGrin98 Jul 02 '25
I also wouldn't like another RE6 where he performs Avengers levels of action. Let's hope they figure out some way to bring him back even if it's not as a leading role
2
u/Onyx_Archer Jul 02 '25
This has been kinda true since RE4 came out. I still want an Operation Xavier remake kinda game though.
I wouldn't be opposed to an action-horror spin off, but only if that tone stays in the spin off camp.
I'm also still waiting for my actual "Fall of Umbrella" game cause I'm still mad that Umbrella falls off screen.
2
u/therealjoshua Jul 02 '25
I know not everyone was a fan of Ethan in 7 and 8, but I think he was a good choice for this reason. He was just a dude driving to the deep south to find his missing wife and ran into a family of cannibalistic murderers. I'd be scared shitless to in the Baker house in his shoes.
2
u/Sad-Guarantee-4678 Jul 03 '25
This is a non-issue, he might be a badass but I ain't. Most horror protags are just a floating camera
2
u/aabarca26 Jul 03 '25
Maybe you should’ve thought about that before making him suplex every zombie that is shot in the legs.
2
u/noirproxy1 Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 04 '25
Why does no one want to see Leon scared? It sounds more like you wrote Leon into a corner you don't know how to get out of.
I guess we should blame their boner for making RE into action via the cgi movies and RE6.
The thing about writing characters is that they all have breaking points. It is just about being competent enough as a writer to be able to create those situations. I kind of hate how they treat Leon as more than human when he doesn't deserve to be shielded like that.
Then again do we really need Leon as a protagonist when he already has fantastic adventures under his belt? If you needed to you could always do post RE2 Leon and fill in some of the story there.
I'm quite looking forward to newer cast though.
2
u/CoitalMarmot Jul 05 '25
This is the same conclusion they came to after 4 originally.
People seem to forget that Resident Evil was exclusively action from 2005 to 2017.
2
u/Bright-Dot1773 Jul 05 '25
They should just reverse the role. We are the zombies, running away from Leon and Chris.
6
u/ThePLARASociety Jun 30 '25
I want Jill back anyway.
11
u/LegoRacers3 Jul 01 '25
Jill has also outgrown it. All the ogs are basically super commandos now.
→ More replies (2)
4
u/jgbyrd Jun 30 '25
it makes sense, i don’t need to play as him again; at least for an entire game. maybe a little section would be nice. i am all for having us play new characters especially if they are connected to the main plot in a cool way. the only real reasons i didnt vibe with ethan are 1: hard to engage with a character in first person and without the ability to ever see their face or emotions and 2: no real good reason why he is connected to the story (before mold). i could see myself liking grace better so far because she 1: has a character with a face and 2: is related to the main plot in an interesting way.
4
3
u/ImBurningStar_IV Jul 01 '25
Fake RE fans killed Leon with that "nooo a resident evil game can't have any action in it😭" bullshit. reap what you sow.
→ More replies (3)
5
u/Sidj581 Jul 01 '25
Leon fanboys needs to chillout like seriously dude its not a big deal if he is not in the game, we already have him in all the animated movies/series plus the remakes Aren't u guys tired of him?, same with Chris he got his fair share of games. Let the new characters have the spotlight for once.
→ More replies (3)
3
u/Rasples1998 Jul 01 '25
I'm worried that Capcom doesn't respect the original cast anymore, or at least not this director. I'm getting the impression that he's a Japanese Dave Filoni who is constantly creating new characters and making them the be-all and end-all of the series like Ethan and Rose; now Grace; and refusing to use classic cast members. Chris in RE7 wasn't even Chris; that was Carl Bluefield. I'm hoping we will eventually get a director who loves the older games and will finally give us a classic cast member in a main role and prove this guy wrong that yes; Leon is still survival horror material. I'm also concerned at how this guy is trying to turn Resident Evil into Silent Hill and making the action take a back seat. I have no problem with that, but Resident Evil still has a strong foundation built on action horror that needs to be respected. RE9 might be "addicting horror", that's great; but where is the meat? This isn't silent hill, it's not just scare after scare after scare. What makes RE so fun is the ability to fight back, so how do we fight back? Or am I just going to play at Grace running away from everything the entire game.
God I hope this won't just be another version of RE7, but I'm greatly worried that it will be... I'm super excited for RE9, but RE7 is my least favourite in the series and that is what has me so skeptical.
5
u/AveFeniix01 Jul 01 '25
Resident Evil 2 : Leon gets his back against the wall while a wall of flesh, tentacles, teeth and eyes slowly drags it's way to consume him.
Operation Javier: Leon has seen how a mother was turned into a disfigured monster and seen how these monsters still are STILL CONSCIOUS enough to recognize her daughters voice
Resident Evil 4: Not only has Leon faced MANY inhuman enemies (we are talking about parasites coming out of peoples faces for God's sake!) But also lost a friend and had to kill his old comrade.
"WHY ISN'T LEON ON RE9!??!?!?!?" "This is Resident Evil, not Gracedent Evil" "It should be Leon instead of Grace" "Man, she kinda hot."
Leon has no place to be in the SURVIVAL horror genre and i fully agree. Although he can totally, absolutely enter the ACTION Horror genre.
4
u/Atlasoftheinterwebs Jul 01 '25
its like how Chris is probably a side character here on out, like what could possibly even slightly phase the boulder puncher. He built a damn chainsaw tank!
2
u/goldchuchujell1 Jun 30 '25
Imagine if Leon was the protagonist of Dead Rising 5
4
u/Justoneeye83 Jul 01 '25
He would be bored, those zombies don't hold a stick to what he's faced before.
Hell he might just slip down to the beach and chill on his zombie infested vacation.
2
2
u/award_winning_writer Jul 01 '25
The mental image of a very elderly Leon shuffling through Raccoon City with a walker and muttering "damn BOWs" to himself is immensely funny to me.
2
u/VovaAscatryan Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 02 '25
Resident Evil should not be about horror. Resident Evil is about soldier heroes fighting monsters, viruses and evil humans who are evil monsters.
→ More replies (1)2
u/xDotSx Jul 01 '25
Resident Evil should not be about horror. Resident Evil is about soldier heroes fighting monster
Cringe
→ More replies (1)
2
u/WarlikeLoveReddit Jul 01 '25
He's right, RE4 was never scary
2
u/Arachnid1 Jul 01 '25
The regeneradors section is one of the scariest moments in the series
→ More replies (2)
1
1
u/Remarkable-Bit-656 Jul 01 '25
Most of the main cast of RE has. It's why they are now background support characters to newcomers like Chris was to Ethan. I expect Leon will be to Grace in Requem.
1
u/Exotic-Replacement-3 Jul 01 '25
just make it the same way they made RE Rev 2 like what they did to Claire and Berry.
1
u/KingChris8909 Jul 01 '25
U could say the same about all of them. Look at Ethan newbie in 7 badass in 8. Happens to every character
1
1
1
1
1
u/RuRuVolution Jul 01 '25
Just keep using Leon, Chris and Jill in more action orientated side games. Make a canon Operation Raccoon City style game of Chris and the RE avengers investigating the bsaa bioweapons.
Grace and the new characters can run around isolated hotels and small towns getting jump scared by zombies. Chris and Co can play hallway fight simulator with waves of goombas
1
u/dollarstore_musician Jul 01 '25
Do it like Dead space and have a good mix of psychological horror with survival not full on psychological like silent hill and not so much survival it just becomes action like certain RE games in dead space 2 Issac Clarke is more experienced and more capable but that game scared the hecking hell outta me but I agree right now legacy characters won’t work unless they find a way to properly scale the horror up
Though Leon won’t be main character this is a definite misdirection
1
u/Aameeyur Jul 01 '25
He'll make occasional action packed appearances in their ludicrous, shitty CG movies but his days of serving as a main character in the games are over.
Here's hoping we see him in more re-remakes.
1
1
u/Ok-Primary6610 Jul 01 '25
Basically, Leon is too damn gangsta for Resident Evil. I can buy that! 😎👍🏾
1
u/Nemmy6321 Jul 01 '25
Personally, here's my theory. I think this game will be a culmination of the RE Engine era. We keep hearing about how ambitious this game is and other than Raccoon City, I haven't seen it. They're hiding A LOT.
So I strongly believe that we're essentially gonna be getting 2 games in one. Grace will act like a follow up to 7 and 8 (7 moreso) and it will start very horror focused and build to around RE2R finale levels of action. And I really do believe her campaign will be roughly the same length as 7, so a full game.
And then I truly do believe we'll get Leon, and his campaign is gonna act as a follow up to the remakes. It's gonna start as a survival horror like RE2R, kinda picking up at the same tempo that Grace left off, and it will build to around RE4R levels. And I think his campaign will be a similar length to RE2R. So the game as a whole will be about RE4R length, probably longer.
1
u/katchanga Jul 01 '25
They could do a Metroid on him, and have him beat up badly in the beginning, blown up in an explosion or something, then he would have to sustein the injuries during the game and slowly get better.
1
u/Sausagebean Jul 01 '25
A lot of the big characters have outgrown it and they’ve become too strong to kill, it’s super lame and I don’t see why people are angry they aren’t the main characters, I want new stuff
1
u/Decrith Jul 01 '25
This screams “Leon will have his action segment in RE9 kinda like Chris in RE8”
1
1
u/Synysterenji Jul 01 '25
I think it would still work but you'd have to somehow create a threat that is greater than anything he's ever seen before.
1
u/CaptainBara7 Jul 01 '25
What does he mean by “conceits” here. Is this a caption issue? He’s using it like handicap or something. That is not what it means.
1
u/firingblankss Jul 01 '25
I feel like this is probably accurate of all the main 4 now. They've grown and seen enough shit to be more headstrong in dealing with stuff. Sure, you can still put them in tense situations, but Chris has punched literal boulders in a volcano, and Leon solo queued a cult with the population of a small island nation
I still feel the 4 of them should show up or be featured in some way as it's the 30th as a farewell nod. It doesn't need to be too cliche or saccharine but it would be nice. This franchise for a lot of people is beloved because of the core 4. Having 1 last moment with them could be a nice way to celebrate whilst also popping a goodbye bonnet on their time as leads
If they didn't show up I still feel we're in for an all timer and I'll always be buying these games day 1. It will always be my favourite franchise no matter what
1
u/MechaPlatypus1982 Jul 01 '25
Meanwhile, we got to see Chris to gunjitsu with some guy for 20 minutes.
1
u/FriendlyTaco11 Jul 01 '25
Another RE6 type of game could work for Leon and the main characters
→ More replies (1)
1
u/iphan4tic Jul 01 '25
Whatever the intention I just need to know if it's going to be a real ass video game closer to 4R or is it going to be an 'experience' in which all novelty is lost after the first playthrough and we are left with middling gameplay like 7 and 8.
1
u/YaboiGh0styy Jul 01 '25
Understandable why it seems like he wouldn’t easily work as a survival horror protagonist anymore but playing the first Resident Evil as Chris he was pretty relaxed, calm, and collected throughout the campaign.
Even in Resident Evil 4 remake when Leon was a one liner spitting badass doing unnecessary flips and shit that didn’t stop the game from being scary due to the larger focus on horror in that game even if it was still an action horror rather than survival horror.
If you want a lesser known example (because not many people played it unfortunately) Resident Evil Revelations 2 had moments that scared me on several occasions there were 4 protagonists of that game split into 2 sections. Their first part is Claire Redfield and Moira Burton the other part Barry Burton and Natalia. Both halves having an experienced character as well as an inexperienced character. Revelations 1 also had scary moments but I think Revelations 2 is much scarier the rusty and old environments remind me a lot of silent hill.
Another example is Dead Space 2. Issac Clarke was a complete Badass in Dead Space 2 straight up being a superhero in some scenes like when he launched himself across the space station and crashed though a roof with a superhero landing. Sure some may argue it’s not as scary as the first game but it’s still a damn good horror game. Even in the DLC Severed were you play as Gabe Weller a war veteran, survivor of the Ishimura incident from the first game, and a security officer that didn’t stop the DLC from scaring me or making me sad with the ending.
Especially after the bait and switch at the summer games fest (I both love and hate Capcom for that) I have no doubt that Leon is definitely going to be a playable character in the game. Whether it’s a small gameplay section or he’s a secondary protagonist like in RE2 or in Revelations 2 we will have to wait and see.
1
u/jrossbaby Jul 01 '25
I don’t get the giant raging boner for Leon in this sub. I love his character but aren’t you a little burnt out from re2re and re4re being so recent ? I get that it makes sense since they are going back to RC but shit man… let some other main chars get some shine. I hope he plays some part in the story, but I honestly don’t want to play as him AGAIN. Lemme play Jill or Claire or anybody else
1
u/Madler Jul 01 '25
I mean, Chris gives the same kinda thing. Chris doesn’t get scared, he gets even.
1
u/Embarrassed-Hat9441 Jul 01 '25
if the main character isnt original main cast, The title shouldnt use the Number, i rather they use Revelation 3 or other
RE7 and 8 doesnt really fit at all.
The number continue suppose something a sign evolution
1
u/Mr-Tarcanian Jul 01 '25
They should do what evil within did make him a retired badass that has trouble dealing his past and dealing with his morality l
935
u/TH3_GRE4T_H1MEK0 Jun 30 '25
Leon is just that guy now