Since the release ofResident Evil Village, many fans have been questioning the sudden disappearance of one Leon Kennedy. He was last seen partnering up with Secret Service agent Helena Harper in thedivisiveResident Evil 6, traveling the world to find the mastermind behind ‘Neo-Umbrella’ and stop them from causing a global C-virus outbreak.
When anyone speaks of theResident Evilseries, four character names will pop up in their heads – siblings Chris and Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Leon S. Kennedy. Chris and Jill were pinnacle characters, both introduced in the first ever game in the zombie-survival series, while Redfield sister Claire plus starry-eyed rookie Leon were brought in duringResident Evil 2- although all four of them are iconic in their own right. After the events of the sixth game, fans know that Leon is alive and well, but developers haven’t given the slightest idea what he might be up to during the events ofResident Evil Village.
RELATED:Resident Evil: Every Game That Features Leon Kennedy, and Every Game That Doesn’t
Where is Leon Kennedy?
MostResident Evil 6reviewsagree that Leon’s campaign was the best. He and Helena faced the incredibly traumatizing decision of having to kill the former’s friend and mentor, President Adam Benford, after being infected with the new C-virus. Benford was the founder of the Division of Security Operations (BSO) and the man who brought Leon into the fold. At the end ofResident Evil 6, Leon was seen alive and well as both he and Helena were cleared for further duty.
Like Jill and Claire, Mr Kennedy was very noticeably missing during the last two games, although Chris Redfield was definitely not. Players met the macho Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) agent after Ethan Winters escaped the Baker residence at the end of the seventh game, and the Redfield brother was even given his own story within the freeResident Evil 7DLCNot a Hero. Chris was not only present inResident Evil Village, but was very prominent across promotional material.
Although fans of the survival horror series may not have seen him in recent games, he has been around somewhat. Leon played a starring role in the 2017feature-length filmResident Evil: Vendettaalongside Chris and Dr Rebecca Chambers. Set in 2014, a year after the events ofResident Evil 6, Leon bumps into Chris and Rebecca while he was on holiday after surviving an extremely traumatizing event, and the three team up to save New York from a possible outbreak from a new virus strain made by bioweapons' dealer Glenn Arias, aptly named the A-virus. At the end of the film, Leon is noticeably jaded and rightly exhausted by the burden of his position at the DSO to the point of questioning how much longer he has in him to combat bioterrorism.
However, the movie made no indication that Leon was going to actually be retiring from the DSO, leaving fans to wonder where he has been. The short answer is…‘around.’ It should be made clear that although the DSO and BSAA are both anti-bioterrorism organizations, the two have vastly differing jurisdictions. The DSO is an organization under the US Federal Government, created by former President Benford, while the BSAA is a paramilitary agency sanctioned by the United Nations and works on an international level.The story ofVillagewas based in an unnamed Eastern European country, which is undoubtedly outside the jurisdiction of the United States – hence, Leon’s absence.
During the events of the recent installment, Leon was most likely back on home soil, either on a much-needed vacation or perhaps running DSO after the events ofVendetta. It was a good eight in-game years between the events of the CGI movie andVillage. It’s highly doubtful that Capcom would retire a star character without notice, so hopefullythe rumoredResident Evil 9will bring back the DSO agent and give fans clarity on what he’s been up to.
Resident Evil Villageis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:Why It’s Time for Capcom To Bring Back Jill Valentine in Resident Evil 9
