The director of Resident Evil Requiem has said that the game’s female staff members worked hard to ensure hero Leon S. Kennedy “would make anyone’s heart throb.”
Fans have praised Leon’s appearance in Requiem, which sees the rookie cop turned grizzled agent sporting stubble, wrinkles, but still a full head of floppy hair. Online, may have dubbed Leon as an “ikeoji” character — an attractive older man that is also referred to as a “hot uncle” — and it’s this definition which has now been put to Requiem’s director by Automaton.
“We’ve spent quite a lot of time polishing Leon’s visuals,” director Koshi Nakanishi said when asked about Leon’s ikeoji status. “Leon has many fans among Capcom employees, and women in particular were pretty strict when reviewing his design.
“They would point out and comment on even the finest details like the wrinkles on his neck,” Nakanishi continued. “When I mentioned that story in the past, a female fan told me, ‘The women developers at Capcom did a really good job’ (laughs). Throughout the development process, Leon was thoroughly refined, and I think we managed to come through with a design that would make anyone’s heart throb.”
Leon was finally revealed for Resident Evil Requiem late last year, following months of teases, rumors and speculation over his appearance. The returning hero of Resident Evil 2 and 4 (and a bit of 6), Leon will feature in action-heavy gameplay that will contrast with the quieter, horror-led sequences that feature series newbie Grace Ashcroft.
How have the years treated Leon? Is he still pining for Ada? Will he be given a happy ending, after nearly three decades fighting zombies? And what is going on with that ominous-looking mark on his neck? All of these are questions that Requiem will hopefully answer, as well as just providing us all with more eye candy.
“Every staff member had their own interpretation of Leon’s 30-year-long history, so they would tell me things like, Leon would definitely not act like that in this kind of situation,” Nakanishi continued. “So, there were more opinions about what he’s like on the inside compared to his looks, and after many discussions, we were able to settle on something that clicked for us. When players see this Leon in the game, hopefully they will be able to find their own interpretation of him as well.”
Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27, and we just got a final hands-on look at Leon in action.
“Do you like tense survival horror? It’s here,” IGN wrote. “Wanna go all guns blazing with intense action and a quip-obsessed hero? You get that too. Do you prefer playing RE games in first or third person? Doesn’t matter; you can do either. All these choices, along with my fears of a jarring play experience being mostly squashed, make it easy to believe that Capcom’s bold move to have its cake and eat it is going to pay off in a big way.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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