Leon's changing personalities

Resident Evil 2 (original)


The way he acted was normal under the circumstances. He was doing his job.
I believe he "fell in love" with Ada way to fast... their relationship made no sense to me... but that's besides the point.

Resident Evil 4

He seemed so much different in RE4 then RE2. He was cocky, a joker, but strong all the same.
But, it really seemed like he went through some kind of personality change. I loved the way he was in RE4.

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles

He was a mixture of RE2 and RE4, which I liked, it was a nice touch.

Resident Evil: Degeneration

Now, he is very serious and his emotions were lacking. It's like he chanced completely. The changes between RE4 and RE:D were very dramatic.

Resident Evil 6

We can't really say yet. But, in the trailers he seems to be sticking with his personality from RE:D.
I am hoping he ends up having the same personality he did in Darkside or RE4. But it seems unlikely.


Am I the only one that see these changes?

Why is change a bad thing? It shows he's growing.

Oh course he's changing. lol

Mercy wrote:

Why is change a bad thing? It shows he's growing.

Don't get me wrong, change can be a good thing. But, he's losing parts of himself that makes him fun and unique.

it is the same character made by different people (especially on Degeneration)

PAULSAMSON wrote:

it is the same character made by different people (especially on Degeneration)

True, but still. It's some big changes. Way do they have to change him that much?

His change from RE4 to Degeneration didn't make much sense. For him to become as numb as he seemed to be in Degeneration, he would have normally had to have gone through something very dramatic. RE4 could not have been that, as RE2 would have been much more horrific and he was obviously fine after RE2. I just think they are bad at continuity.

NiteKrawler wrote:

His change from RE4 to Degeneration

Exactly, It's like he was a totally different person.

NiteKrawler wrote:

His change from RE4 to Degeneration didn't make much sense.

He looks exactly the same on the Damnation trailer as he did on Degeneration, and he looks totally different on the RE6 trailers.....so there's what I said about different authors made him in different ways

PAULSAMSON wrote:

NiteKrawler wrote:

His change from RE4 to Degeneration didn't make much sense.

He looks exactly the same on the Damnation trailer as he did on Degeneration, and he looks totally different on the RE6 trailers.....so there's what I said about different authors made him in different ways

Well yeah, I get that part. He's aging so he will look different. I'm just talking about his personality.
I personally think he looks better in Damnation then Degeneration. I still love the movie though.

I don't really take any of the movies seriously. It seems like they're just working off a fanfic anyway. Pairing Leon with some random girl.

Mercy wrote:

I don't really take any of the movies seriously. It seems like they're just working off a fanfic anyway. Pairing Leon with some random girl.

Sorry you don't like them. I don't like them pairing Leon with random girls like "Angela" either. But I still like the movie.

Alright, well if you have such a problem with Leon changing so much I have a solution. Play Resident Evil 2 and only Resident Evil 2. That way, he will always stay the same. You have to accept it, because he's changing for a reason; CAPCOM is so desperate to keep up with pop culture and trends, he's changing to fit the times and to be honest, it's realistic. If Leon was exactly the same as RE2 he would be a dated character.

Mercy wrote:

Alright, well if you have such a problem with Leon changing so much I have a solution. Play Resident Evil 2 and only Resident Evil 2. That way, he will always stay the same. You have to accept it, because he's changing for a reason; CAPCOM is so desperate to keep up with pop culture and trends, he's changing to fit the times and to be honest, it's realistic. If Leon was exactly the same as RE2 he would be a dated character.

I said I liked him in RE4 too. I was pointing out that his personality from RE4 to RE:D which is only a year later, he changed big time.
That isn't very realistic, to change that much. Unless something that we don't know happened. Jill has been the same since RE1 I think.
Sorry, your opinions differ from mine so much.

I also said that in Degeneration, the writers did such a poor job I felt like I was watching someone's fanfic. The dialog was poor, the story was bad, things were confusing, they tampered with characters too much. They turned a Motorcycle enthusiast into a Soccer mom. So I'm not taking the movies seriously at all.

And why should you be sorry that we have different opinions?

Mercy wrote:

And why should you be sorry that we have different opinions?

Because different opinions can sometimes lead to lame arguments that I am not fond of.
So lets just leave this off as different opinions. lol

Mercy wrote:

I also said that in Degeneration, the writers did such a poor job I felt like I was watching someone's fanfic. The dialog was poor, the story was bad, things were confusing, they tampered with characters too much. They turned a Motorcycle enthusiast into a Soccer mom. So I'm not taking the movies seriously at all.

And why should you be sorry that we have different opinions?

Nevertheless, the films are canon. Therefore it doesn't matter if you don't take them seriously, as most other fans will take the movies seriously because they are completely canon.

As you may have noticed, and what this topic has proven to be true, people "read" characters in different ways. I go with what Paul said there; it's different people behind same character.
While you see Leon THIS WAY, they/he/she might have seen him THAT WAY. Then they/he/she use that analyze of profile to create THAT LEON, which differs from THIS LEON.
He ends up being completely different character to you but they/he/she (omg) might still think it's the same character.
Jesus, does anyone even get my point here.. :S

And ofc, it's not enough if only game developes, you also need to develope characters.
Otherwise it's the same painting but in different colours.

Mercy wrote:

CAPCOM is so desperate to keep up with pop culture and trends, he's changing to fit the times and to be honest, it's realistic.

I'm not sure if Capcom is still having a big participation in the games developing anymore, I think they just publish them

NiteKrawler wrote:

His change from RE4 to Degeneration didn't make much sense. For him to become as numb as he seemed to be in Degeneration, he would have normally had to have gone through something very dramatic. RE4 could not have been that, as RE2 would have been much more horrific and he was obviously fine after RE2. I just think they are bad at continuity.

I agree with this here. After the events in RE2, he would've turned out either cold or insane in 4. I mean the whole robotic personality in Degeneration doesn't even suit him. I think Darkside Chronicles balanced his personality perfectly. By the looks of 6, we may see a more serious Leon without the cockiness, but not emotionless like Degeneration.

Kino_00 wrote:

As you may have noticed, and what this topic has proven to be true, people "read" characters in different ways. I go with what Paul said there; it's different people behind same character.
While you see Leon THIS WAY, they/he/she might have seen him THAT WAY. Then they/he/she use that analyze of profile to create THAT LEON, which differs from THIS LEON.
He ends up being completely different character to you but they/he/she (omg) might still think it's the same character.
Jesus, does anyone even get my point here.. :S

And ofc, it's not enough if only game developes, you also need to develope characters.
Otherwise it's the same painting but in different colours.

I get your point, but your logic is flawed. He has changed very inconsistently throughout the series and that inconsistency is what I, and I think ChrisSherry, take issue with. His change from RE2 to RE: DSC and then to RE4 was great. With the information we had about his character, it made sense. But then his change to Degen was an inconsistent one. Why is he all of a sudden so serious? He is obviously not the same, and anyone who was developing his character (even if it were different people) would know this. It is so obvious.

NiteKrawler wrote:

I get your point, but your logic is flawed. He has changed very inconsistently throughout the series and that inconsistency is what I, and I think ChrisSherry, take issue with. His change from RE2 to RE: DSC and then to RE4 was great. With the information we had about his character, it made sense. But then his change to Degen was an inconsistent one. Why is he all of a sudden so serious? He is obviously not the same, and anyone who was developing his character (even if it were different people) would know this. It is so obvious.

yeah you're probably right, but there are some developers who don't take the prior works too serious, I once saw an interview with the guy that made Symphony of the Night, he said that nobody had a control over the Castlevania series so everyone could release whatever game they wanted with the Castlevania title on it...that is why he didn't mind changing characters and taking the whip out of the game...

I think they should take it more seriously. Leon is one of the fan favorite's.
Another thing I really don't understand is... Leon seems to be the only character that this kind of personality change has happened to. The other characters changes make sense to me.

I can't say that what I wrote is the whole reason why he has gone through such dramatic changes, but it could be partial reason. And I also acknowledge that he went rather dull on Degeneration compared to RE4..

In RE4 and after (afaik) they started using real person for Leon's modelling, so guess changes in facial look comes from there:
RE 4: Christian Duerre
RE TDC: Jamisin Matthews
RE Dege: Jamisin Matthews

But obviously that doesn't explain why his entire personality changed.
Guess they just want to develope Leon to more serious direction ? Guess "tough guy" is more interesting than a "joker" for majority of gamers these days..

It's like Leon suffers from multiple personality disorder, or Capcom, just doesn't know what kind of personality they should permanently give him.