I keep seeing people insist Leon and Claire would not make a good couple and to be honest, no one really knows that because we really haven't seen them in the same room together long enough to see their dynamic :/ They're friendly with each other, and obviously care deeply about each other, but in terms of anything deeper—that remains to be seen. I say this as someone who really likes the idea of them as a couple—the-fierce-and-independent-can-take-care-of-herself-and-is-lowkey-a-loudmouth-gal with the sweet-guy-who-is-always-trying-to-save-everyone-all-the-time-and-is-a-little-shy-sometimes (at least, this is how I would say the Resident Evil 2 Remake characterizes them in response to each other). The problem is that the games have always pushed Aeon.
Maybe it is anti-ship-war but I've never necessarily been a "one-ship" only type of fan. I can see Leon with Claire and I can see him with Ada, Chris, and I can even see him with Ashley (it's not that big of an age gap, guys...the biggest problem is the power imbalance and should she go on to become an agent as she considered in the RE4 remake, and should her father no longer be Leon's boss, that wouldn't be a factor anymore)—the only definitive no-no is Sherry and that has to do with the dynamic of their relationship (because she was a child when they met). All this to say, I do ship Leon and Ada, but that is solely because of what I have seen from RE6 (I am still playing through it for the first time, but I have seen clips of their moments together), and especially the new characterization of Ada from the RE4 remake.
In the original RE4, I always felt like Leon and Ada interacted really weirdly with each other? "Oh hey, I know you! I thought you died?" "Nope! I just pretended because I had stuff to do and you were clingy!" "Oh. Well that's fair. Anyway, what're you doing? Not more evil mercenary stuff, right? Because you know I'm against that?" "Ah, well, you know me! See you around Leon!" Followed by them meeting again and again and not really discussing anything important, yet still looking out for each other and still demonstrating an odd familiarity that implies they spent more time together than they canonically did during that one night together in RE2.
This isn't so bad; it allows Ada to remain mysterious and sexy as is crucial to that femme fatale persona. It also allows Leon to flirt with her without betraying his morals. The issue with this dynamic, at least to me, was that Leon never really tries to hold Ada accountable for lying to him. This isn't a huge problem in the flirty and temporary nature their relationship is presented to us as in each game they appear in, but when you start to consider their potential as a couple long term, it paints a bit of a toxic picture of them in which Leon is the one compromising and making sacrifices for her. Yes, when it is important, she always comes around to save him, but if she refuses to be honest and vulnerable with her partner, how can he trust her? (He can't. Turns out this is part of the appeal). This makes their relationship, at least in this depiction, unhealthy (that doesn't mean it wouldn't still happen though. Lots of unhealthy relationships happen all the time and many are beloved in fiction).
However, in the RE4 Remake, Capcom made a handful of little adjustments to Leon and Ada's dynamic that, at least in my opinion, leave the door open to an actual relationship between the two of them that isn't just bits of flirting and flings. Specifically, having Leon actually verbalize his feels of betrayal toward Ada when they first meet in the castle is crucial to countering what seemed to be one of the most toxic elements of the original dynamic. He is no longer just a little puppy doing whatever Ada requests of him. He's jaded because of her, and yet he still has hope that she is who he believed her to be in the RE2 remake. But by holding her accountable, he isn't accepting being "played with" the same way the original Leon did. Ada does not get to just swoop in and mess with his head because he will no longer accept this treatment; he will no longer just go along with it.
Another crucial but very small adjustment made to Ada's character in the RE4 remake comes from Separate Ways in which, at the start of the game, Ada's narration refers to "the night everything changed" as the same night everything changed for Leon. This means that Ada is not as callous and uncaring about the damage from her actions as she appeared to be. Her narration does not specify exactly how everything changed that night for her, but it is easy to speculate. Maybe because Leon made her care, maybe because she felt guilty for her part in everything, maybe because she regretted betraying Leon and leaving him behind. In any case, this Ada is different from the original Ada who comes across as cool and unbothered about the tragedies she takes part in because she's just there to do a job.
Lastly, the final adjustment Capcom made to Ada's character comes at the very end of RE4 Remake, right after Saddler is defeated. She offers Leon a ride in the helicopter—a far more direct flirtation from her (though most of her flirtation in the RE4 remake is more direct, especially compared to her initial resistance to Leon's involvement in the RE2 remake before she goes on to kiss him). Leon is brusque in his refusal, and she expresses disappointment before helping him escape with Ashley by giving him the jet-ski keys. What is important, however, comes after part of the credits, when she makes a decision that feels very unlike the Ada we know—she goes against Wesker when he reveals the projection of casualties. It feels like Leon's question back in the boat, about whether or not she has changed, is being answered. Yes—she has changed—because of him.
All this is to say that since Leon showed up with that wedding ring in Requiem and speculation is impossible to ignore, Ada has been the most obvious choice simply because their dynamic has been the only one presented with explicit romantic coding. That doesn't close the door to other candidates (personally I'm going with the theory that it's a civilian. I could absolutely see him ending up with a nurse, for example—someone who cares deeply about people and puts them first, like he does). While I would have been anti-Ada as a marital candidate based solely on the original games (if not because their dynamic was kind of toxic, then because she was really underdeveloped as a character), I think Capcom is leading Ada down a different path than she followed during the original Resident Evil games. They have left the door wide open for her next appearance (either in the Requiem DLC or in an RE6 remake, or anywhere else) to further develop that end credit scene in the RE4 remake. Maybe Ada has changed, and hopefully we get to see it.
I'd also really like to get a backstory on her, Capcom. Please. I beg 😭