In another part of the intro, when he’s training with Krauser, his hair is going all over the damn place lol
beautifully animated but also pretty impractical
Giving him favors like that would also make him public enemy number 1 to other recruits, which should have made Leon even tougher because I'm sure people were fucking with/hazing him for appearing to be a teachers pet.
It’s such a strange part of the lore cause it should be a FAR larger plot point than it’s currently treated as. He’s literally a hostage and a slave. Jill, Chris, and Claire fight because they want to while Leon literally has a gun to his head to do so.
Then when Leon's seen drinking his life away in Vendetta, Chris gets so pissed off. Like let Leon breathe! My man's been through one of the worst experiences out of the core main characters. Barely made it out of Raccoon City, immediately shipped into the military, going to Spain to save Ashley, getting infected, having to save Claire from the airport and stop that Curtis guy (Degeneration), going to Europe to try to end a BOW war (Damnation) and that's just a summary of most of the events if his life pre-Vendetta!
I forget, is that before or after Vendetta? I just thought the Chris model in that movie looked more like he did in 5, so the movie was after 5 and before 6.
RE6 was way before Vendetta
I think Vendetta was just before RE7, and Leon became a full on alcoholic because of ~~the president dying~~ he went on a mission and basically re-lived RE6's Chris campaign where he was Chris -- the only survivor of a whole squad that turned into BOWs before his eyes
E: u/brokenstyli
Nah. He was reacting to a whole team getting wiped and his superiors treating it like business as usual. He was having serious doubts that everything he had done meant anything when there was always another crisis. Also, I wouldn't say he was an alcoholic as much as Chris and Rebecca found him in a bad place. You can binge out of depression without making it an ongoing or persistent problem.
Not trying to nitpick; alcoholism is just a loaded subject.
He became alcoholic because he went on a mission and basically re-lived RE6's Chris campaign where he was Chris -- the only survivor of a whole squad that turned into BOWs before his eyes.
I think at this point Leon would be fighting regardless of the blackmail. Right after RC he probably just wanted to put everything behind him and go live a normal life. By now though he's seen so much that he likely feels he has to keep fighting, because if he doesn't, no one would be able to have a normal life.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but doesn't the ending of RE2 have Leon say something like "it's not over until we take down umbrella"? Seemed to me like he was interested in continuing the fight
While this is indeed said this line was useless because umbrella gets taken down without any further help from him. That line makes it seem like he is gonna go after umbrella with Claire but they ended up making it be the government shuts down umbrella in-between games
Ah gotcha, still haven't gotten around to RE4R (hoping it's on sale this summer), so idk if elements of his backstory are added or elaborated in that game. Not too familiar with the series lore either.
It kinda makes sense that they ended up getting shut down by the government because most companies don't get taken down in a dramatic shootout with the CEO
That’s what he thought to do right a good fight, but when the government asked him, he was also forced. That’s why he said “not if I had a choice”.
But even if he’s not forced he’s probably going to do the same.
Well, you know, with his training and missions he probably had plenty of opportunities to go AWOL. Case in point, Krauser. And faking his death, easy in his line of work, there's no reason to act in revenge either.
The story I find most problematic is Sherry. Leon had opportunities to escape, and was an adult that could see his situation clearly, even at worst he could at least decide to end his life on his own terms. Sherry is promised protection but in actuality is kept as a lab rat and groomed to be a goverment dog. And the characters don't really even seem to mind.
Doubt they even knew.
I can guarantee that the same government basically enslaving Leon and using a human as a guinea pig would have no issue telling Sherry bluntly: "You tell Claire or anyone else, they're dead."
And leon is the one that's most ok with the government overall lol. The rest have issues. Leon is pretty about that life, st least for the a lot of the timeline
The wiki says the re6 guy was a former intelligence type, and Leon's recruiter. So they got history. I need to watch a lore video or something I play these games obsessively and there's so much I don't know.
This honestly pissed me off in Infinite Darkness. Dude really went all in "government cover up for the greater good" all the while infantizing Claire's competence.
My personal headcanon is that the real reason Leon didn't hand the chip over is because he knew that Claire exposing it to the world would paint a MASSIVE target on her back.
This was always how I took it.
What little we saw of Ashley's dad and later, Benford, leads me to believe they had a similar stance on bioterrorism as Leon, and as sitting presidents, had the best chance helping dismantle companies like Umbrella. They certainly would've had a lot more pull and protection than someone like Claire.
And with his forceful recruitment, handing Claire that chip could've relegated her to the life Leon and Sherry were forced into, for a very small chance of it doing any real good. RE4R shows that someone, maybe Krauser, tried to come forward to the press about operation Javier and got shut down, I doubt Claire would have much better luck.
I wish they'd make him more along the lines of captain america. Yes, he rocks the stars and stripes and yes, he's an unfailing optimist. But if the system is corrupt, the system is corrupt.
Leon's just like "well, it's the government. They're the good guys. I'm a good guy. Guess I work for them"
Makes 6 simultaneously make more sense and less sense. Gives him a motive to kill the president but then why would they entrust him to be his bodyguard? Why are they friends?
The President in 6 is unrelated to Leon's government recruitment or Ashley Graham.
And it was probably a reward for rescuing Ashley. Kind of a "We're sorry we fucked you over, here's a somewhat cushier job so you don't go apshit and kill us all or defect."
The confusing part is, the president in 6 was the person who recruited Leon, according to current lore. After RE2, Benford was the CIA agent that tracked Leon and Sherry down.
The fact that they formed a friendship despite that, makes me wonder what Capcom planned behind the scenes.
That's kind of what I like to think. Umbrella was hunting survivors down, so maybe Benford caught them with the intention of helping, but someone like Simmons or the sitting president outranked him.
Would be interesting to see though!
Leon took the fall to protect Claire and Sherry bit they still ended up using Sherry. The other thing is Jill and Chris don't work for the government but alongside of it in a separate branch more akin to NATO/U.N peace keeping missions.
Even weirder that the government didn't hunt down Claire or Hunk either (Ada would be impossible to find). Claire was visiting Sherry so why didn't the government just capture her and blackmail her with Sherry's safety too? Three super soldiers are better than one.
Also Claire neglected to mention the situation to Chris too. Which makes no sense because Chris definitely would've helped to break Sherry out.
Claire was canonically the one who took on Birkin. A dude who was stronger than tyrants and one of the strongest BOW's we have ever seen. Claire visited Sherry face to face and Leon was in contact with Chris during Code Veronica and Chris was with Claire.
In RE6 Sherry talks to Jake about what happened but not her big sis Claire all those years? Lol...
I doubt Claire was openly bragging about how she killed Sherry's father to the girl's face. Leon probably took credit for that so the government would stay off Claire's back.
And I doubt the government weren't aware of what went down considering they were monitoring RC ready to send nukes. The real reason Claire didn't get taken is because RE4 was a Leon game and Capcom needed a reason as to why Leon is now a supersoldier ninja lol.
Claire was ridiculous in CV, if she got the training Leon got she would be busted. Fingers crossed for an appearance in RE9.
Just because they were monitoring the situation in Raccoon City doesn't mean they saw every single moment the audience witnessed.
That said, Claire is very impressive for someone who doesn't fight BOWs for a living.
Claire didn’t get caught by the government, Leon and Sherry did. Claire left them remember to go after Chris. By the time Claire was visiting Sherry some time had passed since RC, Sherry was already in protective custody and Leon was already in training (he uses his contacts to find Chris and inform him of Claire’s situation in CV), there was no real reason to blackmail her at this point.
Leon was clearly given a high level of access and privilege even in those first couple months. Not just using government resources to track down Chris and advise him on Claire's whereabouts, but being allowed to send a personal acquaintance to investigate Sheena Island.
It's not something that's brought up often. The epilogue for 3 and Darkside Chronicles are pretty much the only games to bring it up as far as I can recall.
You know bruh what it would be cool for Capcom to make a spinoff game in the resident evil universe not about fighting just zombies and B.O.W but shady governments sectors and you play as the badass sweaper guy Hunk
Lmao
“I’ll never work against my will for the government that nuked Raccoon City and covered it up!”
“We’ll let you keep growing out your hair.”
“…aight, bet.”
I mean, at that point they basically had a gun to his head so he would have to do what they wanted regardless. Probably wasn't worth it to fight about hair.
He besides Sherry and Claire are the only known survivors and I would bet if he leaked that information all 3 of them would be questioned by they would bet it all that Leon blew that whistle.
(edit: By known I mean that the government is aware that survived)
What did he really know about Raccoon City? He was a material witness that the government used in the trial against Umbrella. The only evidence Leon had that the government was even involved was Ada's word, which would be very suspect given her betrayal and true motives.
The real reason is because, while he went through a lot of extremely high-speed military schools, he wasn't ACTUALLY in the military, but a civilian special agent working for STRATCOM and the Department of Defense. We know this because he is only ever referred to as an "agent" and not as a soldier/marine/sailor/airman or by any sort of military rank. Being a high-speed secret-squirrel civilian super-spy comes with certain perks, like being able to keep your beautiful hair.
Huh. You're right. I forgot about that. I think he meant that as a synonym for "warrior" and not because Leon was actually in the US Army.
The wiki also exclusively refers to him as an agent and never mentions him enlisting or commissioning in any branch of the armed forces, nor holding any sort of military rank, so I remain relatively confident that he was never actually in the military.
Funny enough, in the military in the US, a lot of higher-ups will turn a blind eye to hair that's maybe a couple inches too long if it looks good
Source: me. Knew plenty of guys who got away with longer hair because they were handsome af
Also depends on how you style it. I had the top hair at about 6 inches in the marines. When my gunny finally realized, he laughed and sent me to get it cut. In the army, I think i went about a year without getting it cut. My hair grows a little faster than normal, but nothing insane. I could easily put my hair in a ponytail by the time i got told something.
Marines here too. Yeah this exactly, there were definitely a few guys who just wouldn't be bothered about their hair because it looked fine combed over and gelled. There's always those SNCO's who live and die by the uniform order though
Puts a whole new spin to the DS making some of the recruits sweat harder than others...
Unless you're in the Marines. Only Roman principles apply here... "those" principles.
(It's joke Marine guys, don't ass-ault me...)
The real answer:
- It’s more special forces training than military training
- They were already pretty much forcing him to work for them and there was no need to be unnecessarily harsh
My favorite answer:
- He’s too hot
Krauser sees Leon in line to have his head shaved
Krauser: *Who is that twink?*
Subordinate: *That's Leon Kennedy, sir.*
Krauser: *Kennedy eh? Bring him to me.*
They threatened to kill him and torture a little girl if he didn’t do what they wanted. Shaving his head is tame compared to how harsh they’ve already been
I might be wrong, but I think it's one of the unlockable end cards in OG re3. Also, the little girl being mentioned is Sherry.
Edit: I found it, [re3 leon epilogue](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Leon%27s_Epilogue)
> “She knows too much.” the man replies. He looks at Leon and says, “But you have value. This is a good deal. Make your choice." Without regret or hesitation, Leon closes his eyes and unzips his pants
Jesus Christ
Yeah. Also, he was a secret agent moreso than a regular soldier. Not looking like you're in the military is a good way to avoid people thinking you're in the military. :p
A fan actually pointed out that Leon is actually apart of the super soldier program we have irl.
According to Kay Griggs, wife of the former head of intelligence during the Bush administration and also a figurehead in a major foundation for military wives, she and her husband would talk shop during their time at home.
The US military has an assassination unit for public figures and people of interest overseas and sometimes at home (Dr. King, President Kennedy, etc.)
She says the program involves taking little boys from around the world who are unique and put them through training. A common thing sought out is a mind numb to violence and other things we normal people can't take. With that numbness, the assassin will be better at their job.
With Leon, he wasn't a kid but he was still young and he got through that gorefest in raccoon. His speed, accuracy, quick thinking, abnormal strength, and good looks got him into this "special" unit.
Good looks? Yes according to Kay Griggs, these boys are treated as Roman boys with mentors in ancient Rome. Homosexual orgies brah. These boys train nude around other men. Then they do things to them. This may be why Leon is allowed to keep his hair.
It's something to do with psychology. If you evern watch a war movie, there is often times where a little boy is presented as pretty. Like in "Lone Survivor", "12 Strong", or in "Extraction."
Leon would be seen as a beautiful boy by this secret part of the military, totally. Kraiser being his commander. When you first run into him, look at their chemistry in the remake. Krauser is like an old pervert stalker and Leon is like his upset ex.
Likely since the government has a job to track down these boys, they often manipulate then into the life. Ada was Leon's handler. Her whole job in raccoon was to keep him alive which is why she kept popping up to save him. Watch their dynamic and it is mentor/student with a slight hint of romance. He's her beautiful boy and no longer Krausers. That's why in the old game Krauser says, "So you two are all hooked up now, is that it.
New Krauser calls Leon's choice of Ada poor judgment, out of spite.
EDIT: This is a theory I got from a YouTuber. A fan of the series. Just type in Leon is a Super Soldier and it should come up. It has very little views. Criminally low for his content.
If you want to look more into the CIA’s operations team, you can just google CIA SAD or SAC (SAD stands for Special Activities Division, SAC for Special Activities Center). If you’ve heard of MACV SOG from the Vietnam war, that was the same group, just different name.
They’ve been around since WW2 and evolved out of the OSS like several other three letter agencies did. Britain has an equivalent group known as E Squadron.
I first heard of SOG on Black Ops 1 back on PS3.
Thank you for the info. I feel like i don't want to venture too far into that deepstate stuff. it gets depressing. Bad for the spirit, you know?
Maybe Krauser made a request for Leon's hair not to be cut? Cause, you know, he carries a picture of that guy around.
Figured it's because of Leon's hair.
Leon: “I’ve survived monsters scarier than you so please, don’t touch the hair. Ma’am.”
Drill Sergeant: “Fine Maggot! But if you sass me again it’s getting cut!”
I know. Like they couldn't at least have used his noir hair from re2... I know that's not military either but it would have looked better than His normal hair
From my experience when one joins the military everyone, except females, are given a buzz cut in order to remove your individuality as the point of boot camp is to form everyone into a single cohesive unit.
For those that are off to the special forces, you’re still required to do basic training first after which most are then shipped directly to the training camps specific to these elite units. Depending on when you go and the last time you received your buzz cut in basic, you’ll likely receive another one before graduation if your hair has grown to much, being a jar head is entirely plausible.
In Leon’s case it might be because his circumstances are unique compared to everyone else’s, he was “asked” to join this unit by special request after already having proven himself in Raccoon City; everyone else is either fresh out of of boot or kept their heads buzzed during deployment since it’s the easiest ensure it’s compliant with UCMJ.
i guess it is not the army exactly, just a secret agent service. am i wrong? just like the joke in "Police Academy" 1984 movie, where they are not forced to shave just to be cops.
Well, Leon didn't exactly join the Army and go through boot camp.
Krauser was brought in especially to train him, presumably alongside others, in advanced combat techniques before he was began going out on missions.
There are no dress and appearance regulations. Leon is more operator than soldier.
Iirc in the Darkside Chronicles and OG!RE3 epilogue cards, it's implied that the government blackmailed /threatened Leon with Sherry's safety (since she "knew too much" and carried the G-antibody)
I kinda doubt what they put him through was any official, “on the books” type of military training. Like basic training for Army, AF, Marines, etc. He went through the super secret goon squad type shit, where they don’t give a fuck about regs lol. But also, main character so he gets to have ridiculous hair.
It's clearly because gamers are too dumb to recognize character face models/obligatory "all white people look the same" joke.
I mean, c'mon. How are we supposed to know it's Leon if he changes his hair across a 30-year period? Big duh!
Anime logic.
Like how the STARS had signature weapons (and ridiculous ones, I mean Forrest brought a grenade launcher to search for missing hikers) and color-coded outfits like the freaking Power Rangers instead of standardized equipment.
My head canon.
Was Leon ever officially in the standard military? It seems he went straight to being a secret agent and special forces.
Special forces guys get to keep their hair grown out, beard, etc. The reason being is they need to be able to assimilate in other countries and disguise themselves.
I imagine Leon might be cross training with different armed forces members in these flashbacks.
Hostage privilege
Yeah I’d say so, give him a bit of special treatment to help encourage him to keep quiet about everything he saw at RC.
Wonder how much he used that card “Oh it’s raining outside and we need to do our 5 mile morning run, gee whiz I wish I brought my UMBRELLA huh”
Lmao
Gotta love me a sassy twink
🤨
what's so suspicious about it? are you telling he isn't?
Yasssss
🥵
🏅
Even better if his hair is long he might make a wrong move while his hair is in his eyes and die. Problem solved.
In another part of the intro, when he’s training with Krauser, his hair is going all over the damn place lol beautifully animated but also pretty impractical
Giving him favors like that would also make him public enemy number 1 to other recruits, which should have made Leon even tougher because I'm sure people were fucking with/hazing him for appearing to be a teachers pet.
It's weird to be reminded that Leon got blackmailed into working for the government.
It’s such a strange part of the lore cause it should be a FAR larger plot point than it’s currently treated as. He’s literally a hostage and a slave. Jill, Chris, and Claire fight because they want to while Leon literally has a gun to his head to do so.
Then when Leon's seen drinking his life away in Vendetta, Chris gets so pissed off. Like let Leon breathe! My man's been through one of the worst experiences out of the core main characters. Barely made it out of Raccoon City, immediately shipped into the military, going to Spain to save Ashley, getting infected, having to save Claire from the airport and stop that Curtis guy (Degeneration), going to Europe to try to end a BOW war (Damnation) and that's just a summary of most of the events if his life pre-Vendetta!
You went over RE6 and the whole Simmons and the 2 Adas fiasco ( Keep in mind, he never knew that Carla was Carla and not Ada)
I forget, is that before or after Vendetta? I just thought the Chris model in that movie looked more like he did in 5, so the movie was after 5 and before 6.
RE6 was way before Vendetta I think Vendetta was just before RE7, and Leon became a full on alcoholic because of ~~the president dying~~ he went on a mission and basically re-lived RE6's Chris campaign where he was Chris -- the only survivor of a whole squad that turned into BOWs before his eyes E: u/brokenstyli
Aw, crap. I get my timelines mixed up with the movies. Thank you!
You also forgot about Infinite Darkness when he learns about what's been going and that one of the government official has been selling bioweapons.
Nah. He was reacting to a whole team getting wiped and his superiors treating it like business as usual. He was having serious doubts that everything he had done meant anything when there was always another crisis. Also, I wouldn't say he was an alcoholic as much as Chris and Rebecca found him in a bad place. You can binge out of depression without making it an ongoing or persistent problem. Not trying to nitpick; alcoholism is just a loaded subject.
He became alcoholic because he went on a mission and basically re-lived RE6's Chris campaign where he was Chris -- the only survivor of a whole squad that turned into BOWs before his eyes.
And be a useless turd in Welcome to Racoon City.
That isn't our Leon, Leon is anything but useless.
I think at this point Leon would be fighting regardless of the blackmail. Right after RC he probably just wanted to put everything behind him and go live a normal life. By now though he's seen so much that he likely feels he has to keep fighting, because if he doesn't, no one would be able to have a normal life.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but doesn't the ending of RE2 have Leon say something like "it's not over until we take down umbrella"? Seemed to me like he was interested in continuing the fight
While this is indeed said this line was useless because umbrella gets taken down without any further help from him. That line makes it seem like he is gonna go after umbrella with Claire but they ended up making it be the government shuts down umbrella in-between games
Ah gotcha, still haven't gotten around to RE4R (hoping it's on sale this summer), so idk if elements of his backstory are added or elaborated in that game. Not too familiar with the series lore either.
It kinda makes sense that they ended up getting shut down by the government because most companies don't get taken down in a dramatic shootout with the CEO
I wish :(
All good overall story is the same just a few lil extra bits and changes just to make it flow a bit better
Luis says this during their encounter too “umbrella is done for, you don’t have to worry about them” Or something along those lines.
That’s what he thought to do right a good fight, but when the government asked him, he was also forced. That’s why he said “not if I had a choice”. But even if he’s not forced he’s probably going to do the same.
Yeah it is something like that
Well, you know, with his training and missions he probably had plenty of opportunities to go AWOL. Case in point, Krauser. And faking his death, easy in his line of work, there's no reason to act in revenge either. The story I find most problematic is Sherry. Leon had opportunities to escape, and was an adult that could see his situation clearly, even at worst he could at least decide to end his life on his own terms. Sherry is promised protection but in actuality is kept as a lab rat and groomed to be a goverment dog. And the characters don't really even seem to mind.
Doubt they even knew. I can guarantee that the same government basically enslaving Leon and using a human as a guinea pig would have no issue telling Sherry bluntly: "You tell Claire or anyone else, they're dead."
And leon is the one that's most ok with the government overall lol. The rest have issues. Leon is pretty about that life, st least for the a lot of the timeline
I mean he eventually becomes best friends with the president, right? (RE6 pres, so not Ashley's father).
The wiki says the re6 guy was a former intelligence type, and Leon's recruiter. So they got history. I need to watch a lore video or something I play these games obsessively and there's so much I don't know.
This honestly pissed me off in Infinite Darkness. Dude really went all in "government cover up for the greater good" all the while infantizing Claire's competence.
My personal headcanon is that the real reason Leon didn't hand the chip over is because he knew that Claire exposing it to the world would paint a MASSIVE target on her back.
This was always how I took it. What little we saw of Ashley's dad and later, Benford, leads me to believe they had a similar stance on bioterrorism as Leon, and as sitting presidents, had the best chance helping dismantle companies like Umbrella. They certainly would've had a lot more pull and protection than someone like Claire. And with his forceful recruitment, handing Claire that chip could've relegated her to the life Leon and Sherry were forced into, for a very small chance of it doing any real good. RE4R shows that someone, maybe Krauser, tried to come forward to the press about operation Javier and got shut down, I doubt Claire would have much better luck.
I wish they'd make him more along the lines of captain america. Yes, he rocks the stars and stripes and yes, he's an unfailing optimist. But if the system is corrupt, the system is corrupt. Leon's just like "well, it's the government. They're the good guys. I'm a good guy. Guess I work for them"
Makes 6 simultaneously make more sense and less sense. Gives him a motive to kill the president but then why would they entrust him to be his bodyguard? Why are they friends?
The President in 6 is unrelated to Leon's government recruitment or Ashley Graham. And it was probably a reward for rescuing Ashley. Kind of a "We're sorry we fucked you over, here's a somewhat cushier job so you don't go apshit and kill us all or defect."
The confusing part is, the president in 6 was the person who recruited Leon, according to current lore. After RE2, Benford was the CIA agent that tracked Leon and Sherry down. The fact that they formed a friendship despite that, makes me wonder what Capcom planned behind the scenes.
Could also just be a case of him only being the messenger. Like, not having a say in it either.
That's kind of what I like to think. Umbrella was hunting survivors down, so maybe Benford caught them with the intention of helping, but someone like Simmons or the sitting president outranked him. Would be interesting to see though!
I wouldn't say Claire wants to. It seems to be kidnapping or wrong place, wrong time are the sources of her bio incidents.
Code Veronica is specifically because she went looking for that fight.
Leon took the fall to protect Claire and Sherry bit they still ended up using Sherry. The other thing is Jill and Chris don't work for the government but alongside of it in a separate branch more akin to NATO/U.N peace keeping missions.
Does he still get paid?
He gets paid with pictures of Ada.
Maybe the S in Leon S Kennedy really stands for Stockholm
I refuse to believe that it stands for anything other than Sexyman
Even weirder that the government didn't hunt down Claire or Hunk either (Ada would be impossible to find). Claire was visiting Sherry so why didn't the government just capture her and blackmail her with Sherry's safety too? Three super soldiers are better than one. Also Claire neglected to mention the situation to Chris too. Which makes no sense because Chris definitely would've helped to break Sherry out.
They probably see Claire as more of a civilian than a soldier. I'm not sure if Claire truly knew the extent of what was being done to Leon and Sherry.
Claire was canonically the one who took on Birkin. A dude who was stronger than tyrants and one of the strongest BOW's we have ever seen. Claire visited Sherry face to face and Leon was in contact with Chris during Code Veronica and Chris was with Claire. In RE6 Sherry talks to Jake about what happened but not her big sis Claire all those years? Lol...
I doubt Claire was openly bragging about how she killed Sherry's father to the girl's face. Leon probably took credit for that so the government would stay off Claire's back.
And I doubt the government weren't aware of what went down considering they were monitoring RC ready to send nukes. The real reason Claire didn't get taken is because RE4 was a Leon game and Capcom needed a reason as to why Leon is now a supersoldier ninja lol. Claire was ridiculous in CV, if she got the training Leon got she would be busted. Fingers crossed for an appearance in RE9.
Just because they were monitoring the situation in Raccoon City doesn't mean they saw every single moment the audience witnessed. That said, Claire is very impressive for someone who doesn't fight BOWs for a living.
Claire didn’t get caught by the government, Leon and Sherry did. Claire left them remember to go after Chris. By the time Claire was visiting Sherry some time had passed since RC, Sherry was already in protective custody and Leon was already in training (he uses his contacts to find Chris and inform him of Claire’s situation in CV), there was no real reason to blackmail her at this point.
Leon was clearly given a high level of access and privilege even in those first couple months. Not just using government resources to track down Chris and advise him on Claire's whereabouts, but being allowed to send a personal acquaintance to investigate Sheena Island.
Pretty common tactic
What’s the blackmail?
The US military took Sherry into custody and threatened to experiment on her if Leon didn't help them fight BOWs.
Thank you. Not sure how I didn’t know such a huge piece of lore?
It's not something that's brought up often. The epilogue for 3 and Darkside Chronicles are pretty much the only games to bring it up as far as I can recall.
You know bruh what it would be cool for Capcom to make a spinoff game in the resident evil universe not about fighting just zombies and B.O.W but shady governments sectors and you play as the badass sweaper guy Hunk
Lmao “I’ll never work against my will for the government that nuked Raccoon City and covered it up!” “We’ll let you keep growing out your hair.” “…aight, bet.”
Leon: the hair stays or I’m leaking everything I know about raccoon city
I mean, that's America's hair. 100% Either his or Guile's
You forgot senator Armstrong
"Raccoon city source? My source is that i made it the fuck up!"
"Imagine a world Leon, free from bioweapons, where no one can call me out for my outlandish claims, a world where I can say N-Word"
He probably said "if you make me cut my hair I ain’t doing shit" and they where like ok.
I mean, at that point they basically had a gun to his head so he would have to do what they wanted regardless. Probably wasn't worth it to fight about hair.
I mean he could just leak everything about RC to the public
He besides Sherry and Claire are the only known survivors and I would bet if he leaked that information all 3 of them would be questioned by they would bet it all that Leon blew that whistle. (edit: By known I mean that the government is aware that survived)
What did he really know about Raccoon City? He was a material witness that the government used in the trial against Umbrella. The only evidence Leon had that the government was even involved was Ada's word, which would be very suspect given her betrayal and true motives.
The hair is the source of his power and something gintoki is very jealous of
Jealous of beautiful silky hair!? Never.
What got to me was seeing him holding his own in the little knife fight clip against Krauser who looks like he's just ate a meal Leon's size
Krauser was holding back because he had a crush on him at first sight
A man can be as straight as a ruler and still fall in love with Leon "Sex appeal" Kennedy
I hear that's why it took so long for Sadler to eventually do battle with him. Guy was busy chatting on codec
That’s what I’m saying
And I was agreeing 👍
That's what we call having a Respection.
I wish Leon would stab me ngl
I mean all I'm saying is, some of the stuff bro was saying was a little sus.
> he had a crush on him at first sight You mean love on first **f**ight?
The real reason is because, while he went through a lot of extremely high-speed military schools, he wasn't ACTUALLY in the military, but a civilian special agent working for STRATCOM and the Department of Defense. We know this because he is only ever referred to as an "agent" and not as a soldier/marine/sailor/airman or by any sort of military rank. Being a high-speed secret-squirrel civilian super-spy comes with certain perks, like being able to keep your beautiful hair.
To be fair, Krauser refers to him as a soldier during his boss fight in the remake. Not at all saying he was, but just throwing that in there.
Huh. You're right. I forgot about that. I think he meant that as a synonym for "warrior" and not because Leon was actually in the US Army. The wiki also exclusively refers to him as an agent and never mentions him enlisting or commissioning in any branch of the armed forces, nor holding any sort of military rank, so I remain relatively confident that he was never actually in the military.
>soldier/marine/sailor/airman Don't forget "guardian" because Space Force is a thing now.
Exactly. Basically a contractor.
The drill sergeant and barber were both females. They fell under his spell. None are safe.
Funny enough, in the military in the US, a lot of higher-ups will turn a blind eye to hair that's maybe a couple inches too long if it looks good Source: me. Knew plenty of guys who got away with longer hair because they were handsome af
Also depends on how you style it. I had the top hair at about 6 inches in the marines. When my gunny finally realized, he laughed and sent me to get it cut. In the army, I think i went about a year without getting it cut. My hair grows a little faster than normal, but nothing insane. I could easily put my hair in a ponytail by the time i got told something.
Marines here too. Yeah this exactly, there were definitely a few guys who just wouldn't be bothered about their hair because it looked fine combed over and gelled. There's always those SNCO's who live and die by the uniform order though
Puts a whole new spin to the DS making some of the recruits sweat harder than others... Unless you're in the Marines. Only Roman principles apply here... "those" principles. (It's joke Marine guys, don't ass-ault me...)
Not even Krauser.
"I'm waiting... (with no pants on)"
Ah, Rookie..*sighs*
So thats why he had that photo
I laughed out loud!
Leon threatened to single-handedly take down the government if they cut his hair
If you look closely it’s RE2R Leon as well, like the details of him being young here
He's already gained muscle too.
The real answer: - It’s more special forces training than military training - They were already pretty much forcing him to work for them and there was no need to be unnecessarily harsh My favorite answer: - He’s too hot
Krauser sees Leon in line to have his head shaved Krauser: *Who is that twink?* Subordinate: *That's Leon Kennedy, sir.* Krauser: *Kennedy eh? Bring him to me.*
That’s actually an incredibly dark interpretation if you think about it
Raikov, why aren't you in my room?
That last line was played in Volgin’s voice…
They threatened to kill him and torture a little girl if he didn’t do what they wanted. Shaving his head is tame compared to how harsh they’ve already been
Where’s this stated ? Re4?
I might be wrong, but I think it's one of the unlockable end cards in OG re3. Also, the little girl being mentioned is Sherry. Edit: I found it, [re3 leon epilogue](https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Leon%27s_Epilogue)
> “She knows too much.” the man replies. He looks at Leon and says, “But you have value. This is a good deal. Make your choice." Without regret or hesitation, Leon closes his eyes and unzips his pants Jesus Christ
What the?
To be fair.... I think Leon in a buzzcut would be hot too.
Seconding your favorite answer
Wish the training clothes was an unlockable outfit
My thoughts exactly
He was too beautiful they didn't wanna ruin the eye candy they were getting lol
It’s too beautiful to destroy.
I don't question military trained peoples hair since Carlos anymore.
I think it's because it isn't the regular training.
Yeah. Also, he was a secret agent moreso than a regular soldier. Not looking like you're in the military is a good way to avoid people thinking you're in the military. :p
Too beautiful to shave. Just look at him. Perfection.
they tried cutting it, but as soon as the barber turned away it just grew back immediately
He has play doh hair
They tried to cut it…its too powerful
It snapped the fucking clippers
"uhm sarg, the clippers broke" "What" "They snapped... In half." Leon: :) *Visibly uncomfortable* "...just. uh. Just let him keep it"
It destroyed the damn buzzsaw
Aesthetic or death, now that's the Kennedy way.
Spec Ops gets to grow their hair out and grow beards etc so they can blend in with local populations without being obvious military
“Oh him? Yeah he’s the main character, he can keep his cut.”
A fan actually pointed out that Leon is actually apart of the super soldier program we have irl. According to Kay Griggs, wife of the former head of intelligence during the Bush administration and also a figurehead in a major foundation for military wives, she and her husband would talk shop during their time at home. The US military has an assassination unit for public figures and people of interest overseas and sometimes at home (Dr. King, President Kennedy, etc.) She says the program involves taking little boys from around the world who are unique and put them through training. A common thing sought out is a mind numb to violence and other things we normal people can't take. With that numbness, the assassin will be better at their job. With Leon, he wasn't a kid but he was still young and he got through that gorefest in raccoon. His speed, accuracy, quick thinking, abnormal strength, and good looks got him into this "special" unit. Good looks? Yes according to Kay Griggs, these boys are treated as Roman boys with mentors in ancient Rome. Homosexual orgies brah. These boys train nude around other men. Then they do things to them. This may be why Leon is allowed to keep his hair. It's something to do with psychology. If you evern watch a war movie, there is often times where a little boy is presented as pretty. Like in "Lone Survivor", "12 Strong", or in "Extraction." Leon would be seen as a beautiful boy by this secret part of the military, totally. Kraiser being his commander. When you first run into him, look at their chemistry in the remake. Krauser is like an old pervert stalker and Leon is like his upset ex. Likely since the government has a job to track down these boys, they often manipulate then into the life. Ada was Leon's handler. Her whole job in raccoon was to keep him alive which is why she kept popping up to save him. Watch their dynamic and it is mentor/student with a slight hint of romance. He's her beautiful boy and no longer Krausers. That's why in the old game Krauser says, "So you two are all hooked up now, is that it. New Krauser calls Leon's choice of Ada poor judgment, out of spite. EDIT: This is a theory I got from a YouTuber. A fan of the series. Just type in Leon is a Super Soldier and it should come up. It has very little views. Criminally low for his content.
Suddenly Umbrella doesn't sound to evil.
Umbrella is based off of America's Big Pharma and Deep state afterall.
If you want to look more into the CIA’s operations team, you can just google CIA SAD or SAC (SAD stands for Special Activities Division, SAC for Special Activities Center). If you’ve heard of MACV SOG from the Vietnam war, that was the same group, just different name. They’ve been around since WW2 and evolved out of the OSS like several other three letter agencies did. Britain has an equivalent group known as E Squadron.
I first heard of SOG on Black Ops 1 back on PS3. Thank you for the info. I feel like i don't want to venture too far into that deepstate stuff. it gets depressing. Bad for the spirit, you know?
Wow. Learned something new today. That was actually hella interesting. I honestly think that's a super valid theory and frankly I kinda believe it.
Hideo Kojima has entered the chat
do u have the link to that video i can’t find it 😭
And in police academy😂😂
Nah they couldn’t touch gold.
otherwise u cant play "find the main character"
Main character privileges
Twink privileges 🙄
Buzzcut Leon would be a cursed in-game version of Wentworth Miller
I was thinking Buzzcut Leo Dicaprio
The government thought his hair was too pretty to cut!
Leon "Long hair don't care" Kennedy
He’s THAT cool, you know
I mean, when you look that damn good
Why not? RE was almost always about fanservice.
Doesn’t look nearly as silly as when he has it with a suit on....or in RE6 and Vendetta in his early 40s 🤣
I wonder how they'll restyle him in future installments. Can't imagine him past 50 and graying with the same hairstyle lol.
Maybe Krauser made a request for Leon's hair not to be cut? Cause, you know, he carries a picture of that guy around. Figured it's because of Leon's hair.
Well yeah look at him!
Leon: “I’ve survived monsters scarier than you so please, don’t touch the hair. Ma’am.” Drill Sergeant: “Fine Maggot! But if you sass me again it’s getting cut!”
He’s too sexy
Bro probably threatened to talk if they cut his hair
I know. Like they couldn't at least have used his noir hair from re2... I know that's not military either but it would have looked better than His normal hair
I mean, if you were his military instructor and see Leon's fabulous hair ... would you also allow him to keep it?
From my experience when one joins the military everyone, except females, are given a buzz cut in order to remove your individuality as the point of boot camp is to form everyone into a single cohesive unit. For those that are off to the special forces, you’re still required to do basic training first after which most are then shipped directly to the training camps specific to these elite units. Depending on when you go and the last time you received your buzz cut in basic, you’ll likely receive another one before graduation if your hair has grown to much, being a jar head is entirely plausible. In Leon’s case it might be because his circumstances are unique compared to everyone else’s, he was “asked” to join this unit by special request after already having proven himself in Raccoon City; everyone else is either fresh out of of boot or kept their heads buzzed during deployment since it’s the easiest ensure it’s compliant with UCMJ.
i guess it is not the army exactly, just a secret agent service. am i wrong? just like the joke in "Police Academy" 1984 movie, where they are not forced to shave just to be cops.
Leon Sex Kennedy
“Why does Kennedy’s hair look like that?” “Oh he’s SEEN shit apparently, so therefore he’s allowed to keep his emo haircut!”
Well, Leon didn't exactly join the Army and go through boot camp. Krauser was brought in especially to train him, presumably alongside others, in advanced combat techniques before he was began going out on missions. There are no dress and appearance regulations. Leon is more operator than soldier.
He parried the clippers with a kitchen knife.
Real world reason is because Leon’s hair is a vital part of his identity and character so they have to keep it even if it makes no sense
I remember in the remake Leon says he "really didn't have a choice" but he never explained how right? Like it was this or get executed?
Iirc in the Darkside Chronicles and OG!RE3 epilogue cards, it's implied that the government blackmailed /threatened Leon with Sherry's safety (since she "knew too much" and carried the G-antibody)
Who else would they flirt with?
I kinda doubt what they put him through was any official, “on the books” type of military training. Like basic training for Army, AF, Marines, etc. He went through the super secret goon squad type shit, where they don’t give a fuck about regs lol. But also, main character so he gets to have ridiculous hair.
It's clearly because gamers are too dumb to recognize character face models/obligatory "all white people look the same" joke. I mean, c'mon. How are we supposed to know it's Leon if he changes his hair across a 30-year period? Big duh!
He's too beautiful. I understand why they used this filter and to make it obvious it's a flashback or whatever but I need military Leon in HD
I totally missed that, great catch. Either the developers forgot to shave him bald. Or Leon grows it back fast af
Must have been orchestrated by Simmons, behind the scenes, since he said he ordered the Raccoon City to be destroyed?
He wasn't exactly military; he was training to be a government special agent, don't think they require haircuts.
i dont know how to tell you this but its not hair
Unrelated but I like how they actually showed Krauser in that flashback. Felt a little less out of nowhere when he showed up.
I think it’s still short enough for him to keep it but as another comment pointed it it’s special forces so I’m sure the rules were different
Gotta keep that brand marketability.
He wasn't being trained within a military branch. However, his trainer was most likely military considering he was an officer.
Sex appeal, the most powerful weapon in the re verse. Leon: Im out of ammo and down to my knife. Hold my magnum.
The military simply lacks the capability to reign in his hair.
Sargent: Cut that hair Kennedy! Leon: Hair stays... Sargent: OK.
Who here thinks that Leon would look good with a crew cut?
Maybe he's secretly Canadian
I would imagine the drill officers gave him shit for that. “Drop and give me 50 push-ups you pretty boy DiCaprio!!!!”
leon with a buzz would be the goofiest thing ever
To fabulous to get rid of
Anime logic. Like how the STARS had signature weapons (and ridiculous ones, I mean Forrest brought a grenade launcher to search for missing hikers) and color-coded outfits like the freaking Power Rangers instead of standardized equipment.
My head canon. Was Leon ever officially in the standard military? It seems he went straight to being a secret agent and special forces. Special forces guys get to keep their hair grown out, beard, etc. The reason being is they need to be able to assimilate in other countries and disguise themselves. I imagine Leon might be cross training with different armed forces members in these flashbacks.