Pop Character Profile: Leon Scott Kennedy, The James Bond of Resident Evil (Spoilers)

It's been a while since my last Pop Character File and I apologize for that. I decided to take a break from Orphan Black since I have a lot of interests in pop culture outside of it plus I love Resident Evil and with the two remakes that came out recently I decided why not have a character from that. Specifically Leon Kennedy, mostly because he seems to be the most interesting protagonist from a psychological standpoint.

Leon Kennedy is an interesting foil to Chris Redfield. Where Chris is a serious, stoic and brooding man of few words and a clear love for one woman only, who might not even be aware of it. Leon, while not overtly comical I can see pull off more one-liners without them being cringe and overall has more fun on the job than Chris (again, Leon in the title is in a way James Bond, he kills zombies and every woman is flattered he finds them attractive, not repulsed). If Leon was in RE5 I could see him sleeping with Sheva or at least kissing her and making her all blushy for example. Leon just knows how to cut loose it seems and appears more extroverted than Chris. They're both in a way alpha males (I know some people hate that word but it's the word I'll use) in that they are both leaders but Chris is by the book, where Leon is more outside the box. What both Chris and Leon have in common isn't really personality traits of their own, but how the women in their lives shape them. Chris is pretty clean cut, his sister and Jill are his two loves in life. Leon however... has a more complicated life when it comes to women. I mean RE2 starts with Leon being hungover and waking up super late after his girlfriend dumps him and while that's not really relevant. It's something I find funny and Capcom sadly never makes a callback to that, especially given his track record with women.

Leon has had 6 love interests for him in the RE canon. Though only 2 of them are taken with any real seriousness. I'll go over all 5 but given my lack of first hand knowledge on Darkside Chronicles take that with a grain of salt. I'll also go over Manuela first so it'll be less of a pain for those who have played it. Though feel free to leave comments on it below.

Manuela Hidalgo is probably the least likely to be shipped with Leon. Because she's the youngest and also given Darkside Chronicles's chronology, the ship has sailed, pun intended for that romance. Manuela's crush also was probably one-sided as Mueller was being the bad cop to Leon's good cop in her situation. Again never played Darkside Chronicles so this will be all that I'll say on the matter but feel free to expand on her.

Ashley Graham is a loathed character and I can see why in two words: "Leon, help!" I think Ashley being only 20 really just makes her a horny woman and if she was rescued by anybody she would be clearly be into him. Especially after talking about how some people that aren't full on Ashley haters see her, as a female Steve Burnside. Leon turning her down for some "overtime" does play into the fact that Leon has ethics and doesn't mix business with pleasure when it comes to power dynamics where he's in a more dominant role. Again like Manuela's crush on him, Ashley's is one-sided, Leon just actually turned her down.

Ada Wong is the most popular ship with Leon and for good reason. They're two sexy characters and she's the Catwoman to Leon's Batman which is a strong line for attraction both in fiction and in life. Leon also clearly cares for Ada due to supposed death and him helping her. Also Ada basically doesn't miss Leon while he's gone and she loves him while he's there, she has her own agenda as well unlike Ashley and Manuela. Plus there's more to it than sex appeal with what draws the two to each other therefore I can see why it's so popular. I for one don't like it as while it's fun to see the two dance, it's not fun to be endlessly teased either. That and Ada Wong comes off as more and more self-centered and sees Leon more as a puppet at times than a person and that's a red flag to any relationship.

Claire Redfield is the the distant second ship for good reasons as well. Memes aside with Chris demanded Claire and Leon hook up, the two have been through a lot and are relatable to one another. Both are in a way every people unlike the power couple of Jill and Chris who are trained in multiple ways of fighting and have skill most people don't have. Leon while a cop and becomes trained by the government but again like Claire comes off as more relatable and more of a character than Chris due to a great amount of time to make Leon just a rookie cop from his debut. This is my choice between the two main love interests and not just because Claire is more my type physically. Claire is also a genuinely good person where again Ada is quite toxic or at least is less trustworthy than Claire. The two are a natural fit for each other and just come off as perfect.

Helena Harper is actually my pick for Leon. She may have been in a terrible game but I think given Leon's jump from cop to government agent, I see Helena as a more relevant love interest to new Leon than Claire. I see Claire as becoming more like a woman who is married to her job and therefore while would love Leon, she would give up on her romantic pursuit of him I cite Revelations 2 for this where she starts TerraSave. However, Helena is clearly a replacement relationship Scrappy and she will never replace Claire to the fans who people want Leon with and therefore she's dismissed on that, well that and again Resident Evil 6 sucks.

The final woman is Ingrid Hunnigan. Who Leon clearly finds sexy, and she does get blushy when Leon does this. I see Hunnigan as Leon's Moneypenny (again using Leon as James Bond) the two are attracted to each other but their ethical compasses know it would be a bad idea. I like the relationship as is though I kinda wish Hunnigan showed more passive aggressive jealousy towards Helena (Not much but enough to be noticed). My headcanon for why Leon likes Hunnigan isn't just he finds her attractive, but because I think Leon's first girlfriend that dumped him looked like her (especially without the glasses) and he subconsciously is still carrying a flame for her. Which also kinda bleeds into him not being so gun ho on dating her. He's afraid he'll get hurt.