One of Resident Evil’s most celebrated protagonists, Leon Kennedy, may finally be making a return in Resident Evil Requiem. Over the course of his very difficult adventures, Leon has won over audiences for his ability to remain a good guy and crack a joke when the moment calls for it.
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In honor of the brave rookie, below are Leon’s best moments in the Resident Evil franchise.
10“Great, We All Have Names”
All Great Friendships Begin with a Little Awkwardness
Resident Evil 4
When Leon meets Luis Serra for the first time in theResident Evil 4remake, they are not fast friends. This is fair, as Leon has only met enemies who want to end his life and capture Ashley for nefarious purposes. Luis takes a moment to joke around with Ashley, introducing himself, to which Leon then responds, “Great, we all have names.”
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The hilarious moment summarizes how unimportant it is that the characters are making formal introductions when a village full of cow-head-wearing, chainsaw-wielding, crazed people is about to storm the cabin they’re hiding in. Leon gets to be a tough guy while also being his funny self.
9Ada Kisses Leon
The Beginning of the Longest Will They/Won’t They
Resident Evil 2
With more ups and downs than Rachel and Ross from Friends, Ada and Leon have had a romantic arc that has never gotten very far. This all started inResident Evil 2, where the two worked together to survive, and Ada, in a quiet moment, kissed Leon after he promised to protect her.
This would later come to a head when Leon discovers Ada was using him, though Ada refuses to hurt Leon to finish her mission. For decades, fans have been waiting for these two to finally put their differences in how to save the world from flesh-eating zombies and greedy CEOs aside and finally get together.
8“Not Falling for that Old Trick”
This Was Not a Trick Most People Know About
In Resident Evil 4 and its remake, Ramon Salazar is an odd little man who owns a castle and leaves oddly medieval traps to hopefully end Leon’s pursuit. One of which is a trap door that drops Leon down a pit with spikes at the bottom.
If the player is fast enough, Leon will use his grappling hook to save himself, seeing that there is an old-style ear trumpet setup so Salazar can hear “the sound of impalement.” Leon states that he’s not “falling for that old trick.“He shoots the horn, irritates Salazar and continues his journey. Leon looks cool, it’s another hilarious moment and it’s completely ridiculous, as many parts of the original Resident Evil 4 were.
7“Where’s Everyone Going, Bingo?”
Maybe Leon’s Most Famous Line
The original Resident Evil 4 had a lot of cheesy action lines that belonged in a light comedy rather than a horror game about a village infected by ancient monsters. One of the biggest whiplash moments demonstrating this is when Leon finishes dispatching a bunch of infected villagers, and suddenly a bell rings, and they all flee.
Leon looks out at the now-empty town and says, “Where’s everyone going, bingo?” To state such a casual line in the middle of such a dire situation is part of the charm of Resident Evil 4, and this line is not even the best one in the game.
6Leon Sees Sherry Again
What Should Have Been a Beautiful Reunion Gets Tense
Resident Evil 6
After everything Leon and Sherry went through in Resident Evil 2, their reunion in Resident Evil 6 was one of the great Leon Kennedy moments. While the moment should have been sweeter than bitter, Leon discovers that Sherry works directly with the big bad of Resident Evil 6, Derek Simmons.
The sweet reunion turns into a conflict as Sherry’s new bodyguard, Jake Muller, believes Leon is a threat and gets between the two. Luckily, Sherry vouches for Leon, and the moment is still a very nice payoff for fans of the series who know how muchthese two have been throughand how much it means for both of them to see each other alive.
5“You Talk Too Much”
Leon Catches the Villain Monologuing and Takes His Shot
Salazar and Leon are a perfect hero and villain combination. Leon is a tall, strong man of chosen words, while Salazar is a short man who never stops talking. Salazar has all these elaborate traps and ideas set up for Leon, and Leon just takes a knife and a handgun to all of them.
It makes sense then that some of Leon’s best moments are dealing with this annoying prince, like in the Resident Evil 4 remake when Leon can’t take another monologue and juststarts shooting Salazar in the middle of his grandstanding. It’s funny, and Salazar’s continued anger at being interrupted also makes the moment work so well, as bullets would kill a normal person but just annoy the short lord.
4Ada Wong’s “Death”
A Hero is Born
Leon was already a pretty great guy when he was introduced in Resident Evil 2. He does his best to mitigate the terrible viral outbreak in Raccoon City, but it is through his journey and his apparent failure to save Ada Wong that a new dimension of his character is born, the guilt of failing to save someone he cared about.
The scene is extremely well-made in the remake of Resident Evil 2, where, after a tense scene of Ada failing to shoot Leon, she is shot instead, and falls to her apparent demise. It’s a big scene, and a very memorable one for our favorite bodyguard.
3Leon Kennedy VS Chris Redfield
Who Wins Between a Boulder Puncher and a Laser Dodger?
Gamers who played Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 were definitely curious which playable protagonist would win in a one-on-one fight. Resident Evil 6 delivered, sort of, as a misunderstanding leads Chris and Leon to go toe to toe in a very well-choreographed fight.
The fighting does lead to a standstill at gunpoint, so a tie of sorts, but after these protagonists spent so much time fighting hordes of nameless zombies, it’s so cool to see them square up against each other for Resident Evil protagonist dominance.
2Leon Shows Krauser His Knife
Nothing Like A Knife Fight Between Friends
Despite guns being a much bigger part of the Resident Evil franchise, most of Leon’s best moments are actually when he’s forced to show his knife skills against his old comrade, Krauser.
In the original Resident Evil 4, the player is responsible for pressing buttons at the right time to lead Leon through a tough knife fight with Saddler’s American lackey. The moment is just as awesome in the remake, with updated graphics and choreography that make the two look awesome and shows off Leon’s training since his rookie days in Raccoon City.
1"Your right hand comes off?”
The Weirdest, Most Leon Kennedy Joke Ever
There is no Leon line more out of left field, more inappropriate, and delivered more dryly than when he makes fun of Salazar’s choice of words during a radio conversation after Salazar fails to kill Leon.
In Resident Evil 4, Salazar tells Leon he will send his right hand to dispose of him, to which Leon responds incredulously, “Your right hand comes off?” It’s a genuinely hilarious response, completely inappropriate for the situation, but it is the perfect way to capture who Leon Kennedy is in the Resident Evil franchise.
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