How, Despite Everything, Leon Never Changed.
Resident Evil is a series that showcases how individuals change overtime. But, the following is a look at how Leon Kennedy remains different from the other characters in the series because he stays the same.
*This is a translation combining the overall opinions of a Lil Rednote post and its comment section.
There is something especially remarkable (and in a way almost eerily) about Leon…
How is it that everyone else has changed, yet he’s the one who hasn’t?
Following the logic of the “Dangerous Personality” archetype, Leon should have been the easiest person to be corrupted and fallen into darkness.
At the age of just twenty years old, on the very first day of his job, the entire Raccoon City was wiped out.
Afterwards, he was held captive by the authorities and forced into a lifelong servitude where:
He watched countless more people die.
He was used and exploited by the government.
He spent years trapped in the endless cycle of bioterrorism.
He witnessed the world spiral out of control time and time again.
Most people in his position probably would have become another Wesker long ago, but Leon didn’t.
This is why Leon is both remarkable and odd at the same time, because the pattern with many “dangerous personalities” is that they all end up doing the same thing:
The more they suffer, the more they want to control the world.
The control of information.
And, even the attempt to control other people’s fates.
But Leon is the exact opposite:
The more he suffers, the more he wants to protect this world.
And that’s the profound difference between him and the other characters. Despite possessing all the necessary components to become a tragic villain - instead of seeking power or control in response to his trauma, Leon only becomes more adamant on protecting others. His defining quality is his unwavering moral identity despite everything he has endured.
And after all these years, we notice that Leon has never truly changed who he is: his core identity.
At twenty, he was just a fresh faced rookie cop. Then, at thirty-six, he was a specialized government agent-operative. His profession and job titles has changed throughout the years, but one thing remains certain about him:
While everyone else gradually tries to become something like a divine higher power (i.e., god-like complex), Leon has always seen himself as just an ordinary person.
This is exactly why the fan base love and grows to appreciate Leon. Not necessarily because of how Capcom has packaged him as a product: the action hero. Because the fan base’s adoration for Leon is something much deeper…because, in a world where everyone else keeps changing, he’s one of the very few people who never did.
While most other characters are asking themselves,
“How do I conquer this world?”
Leon has always been focused on,
“How do I protect this world?”
Perhaps this is why, after everything he has been through and even after enduring so much, he is still able to remain…
