Fans of gaming's most popular horror genre have been worried that everyone’s favorite American agent, Leon S. Kennedy, might be replaced by younger generations in future installments. However, according to the Resident Evil Director, that won’t be the case, as Leon will still be a great character even at 70.
It was expected that fans would grow skeptical, given that Leon appeared to be over 50 years old in his latest outing. But, considering he is a highly trained agent and looking at what we witnessed during the events of Resident Evil Requiem, we can safely say he is still in tip-top shape and just as ready to send all kinds of monsters to their final resting place. The American system is harsh toward its best, so even though the age of 50 is nothing to sneeze at, Capcom has confirmed they won't hesitate to call him for more missions in the future.
Game director Koshi Nakanishi pointed out in an interview with Eurogamer that the team feels no pressure to create new characters to succeed the existing ones, and they don't look at it that way.
"It's not a cast iron rule that whenever we come up with a new game and we decide to release it here, that we have to exactly age everyone up to match it or anything like that," Nakanishi said. He added that Capcom doesn't "feel the need to replace [its most recognisable faces] with younger characters... we don't really think of it in those terms."
The question of Leon’s age has specifically come under scrutiny because, unlike other key characters like Chris and Jill who have stayed on the sidelines recently, Leon continues to appear front and center in new games as a character of crucial importance to the plot. Nakanishi emphasized that he liked how Capcom portrayed a fifty-year-old in the latest release and that we could expect to see him again in 20 years within the same timeline.
"I mean, I think Leon is really appealing in his current form," he continued. "And who knows, we could bring him back when he's 70, and I'm sure he'll still be a great character."
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