Resident Evil Requiem Director Says Leon Has Developed A ‘Ruthless Anger’ That May See Players Question ‘What’s Wrong’ With Him

Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi has revealed during an interview with DenNicoFamiGamer that Leon S. Kennedy displays a “ruthless anger” in upcoming survival horror title, something which is illustrated in his brutal use of an ax for melee combat.

Leon first encountered the terror of bio-weapons during his arrival in Raccoon City in September 1998, and since then has been involved in numerous missions that have seen him battling all manner of horrors. As such, it’s not surprising to hear that these events have hardened him as a character.

Leon is making a reappearance in this game, and this is the result of us digging deep into the idea of ‘what type of person would Leon grow into? What would he be thinking?’ This Leon has been fighting for a long time; he has a world-weary attitude, and exudes a ruthless anger. A symbol of this [change in attitude] is that in this game Leon uses an ax as his main mode of fighting. This game’s Leon fights by swinging his bloody ax in a way where you might start thinking ‘What’s wrong with you Leon?’ while playing. That is what we’re aiming for.

I went hands-on with Leon in Resident Evil Requiem earlier this month, and can confirm that Leon is able to perform a number of brutal and bloody kills with melee attacks. You can read more about the game in our preview.

Resident Evil Requiem is set 30 years after the destruction of Raccoon City, and finds Leon investigating former Umbrella scientist, Victor Gideon, which at some point leads him back to Raccoon’s ruined streets. Meanwhile, Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Alyssa from Resident Evil Outbreak, is an FBI agent looking into a series of murders at the same hotel that her mother was murdered some years before.

Capcom will publish Resident Evil Requiem on February 27, 2026 for PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S.

[Source – DenNicoFamiGamer via GamesRadar, GamingBolt]