Resident Evil 4 Remake is being released today and many are excited! As Vibes’ resident, and Resident Evil expert I figure why not celebrate by telling everyone how Leon got to the events of RE4. Capcom is a bit funny with timelines and canon so I will be including what has been presented and games and the limited-run comics. So if you’ve never read the comics or only played the mainline games strap in and let’s dive into it!
Special Agent Leon Kennedy
Let’s start immediately after the events of Resident Evil 2. Claire and Leon go their separate ways and Sherri goes with Leon. Soon after Leon and Sherri were picked up by the military and brought to Adam Benford (a military intelligence officer at the time, who would become president.) Sherri would be put into protective custody, and Leon would be questioned about the events. During the question, Leon was weary of their intentions and neglected to mention Claire or Ada. They would eventually offer Leon a position as an agent. He would accept it to ensure the safety of Sherri and to prevent experimentation on her G-Virus cells.
Leon would receive training that made him the Grade-A badass he is today. Leon would send his friend, Ark Thompson (who is a detective) to Sheena Island to investigate Umbrella. Later on, Claire would go to Rockfort Island to look for her brother Chris. She would send an e-mail to Leon to let Chris know her whereabouts to rescue her. Leon would track him down personally and tell Chris about Claire’s situation.
Operation Javier
In 2002 Leon would be sent to a small South African country as part of a secret military detachment. He was tasked to hunt down a former Umbrella scientist, Javier Hidalgo. Leon would be accompanied by Jack Krauser, a veteran special forces operator. They were sent to take down Javier who became a drug lord, who took over a large jungle area and ruled with an iron fist. The pair were deployed to stop another possible biohazard outbreak.
The duo would come upon a village affected by a T-Virus outbreak. Leon would come across a girl named Manuela who was the only survivor. They would find out she was the source of the T-Virus infection. It was revealed that Manuela was Javier’s daughter who contracted a rare disease and was being kept alive by the virus. Leon and Krauser would come upon Javier’s compound. While exploring Leon would open up to Krauser about his night in Raccoon City.
They would eventually battle Javier who merged himself with the T-Virus and a plant. Manuela would help in the fight against her father and use the T-Virus against him. Javier would be killed and Manuela would be taken into protective custody. Leon and Krauser would part ways after which Krauser would be discharged after suffering an injury during the operation. Leon would later be informed that his former partner died in an accident.
Night Stalkers
The comics, as I said before, are a bit funny with the timeline but are still canon. Leon appears in four comics. One covers the events of Raccoon city, the next he is only mentioned, the third is his big solo adventure, and the last one he has a very tiny part. We’ll be focusing on the story Night Stalkers.
Leon, under the employment of the government, is summoned to Saguaro Wells by the local sheriff. Locals were reporting attacks by humanoid bat-like creatures. As Leon investigates he finds a secret Umbrella research lab outside of the town. Which is being helmed by Dr. Callos who was using the G-Virus to transform people into bat-like creatures. He would control them with a sonar device.
Leon would be attacked by the creatures and after surviving the attack he would infiltrate the lab. He would be captured by guards. During his fight with the guards Leon strikes the sonar device and calls the bats back. Leon would continue to destroy the device when the bats arrived in the chaos. Doing so destroyed Dr. Callos’ control over the bats. The bats would then turn on the scientists and Leon would use this moment to escape. When he gets out of the lab he would call in a missile strike and destroy the lab.
Thank you for joining me today in discussing Leon’s adventure. Are you excited about the Resident Evil 4 Remake?
