Resident Evil Requiem Not Making Leon the Main Character Makes Perfect Sense

While we thought that Leon would be the protagonist in Resident Evil 9, or one of the protagonists, that turned out not to be the case. It was certainly an option that the developers considered, but they decided to bring in a new character with connections to a past character from the franchise, and that’s why we have Grace Ashcroft stepping into the role of protagonist instead of the more familiar Leon S. Kennedy. The explanation given for this switch makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re familiar with the overall series and Leon’s other appearances. At this point in his career, he’s simply too familiar with biohazards and outbreaks to be afraid of them.

Leon was a better fit for the protagonist back in Resident Evil 2, and even still in Resident Evil 4. But if you played Resident Evil 6, you might’ve felt like both his section of the campaign and Chris’ section had a tendency to feel even more like a standard action game that happened to have infected enemies rather than a horror game. I know that RE6 is rather criticized for being more action-oriented and being a bit ridiculous, but it does help show how having protagonists who are too used to handling the situations they’re facing makes the game less frightening to the player. As a result, it’s understandable that he isn’t a great fit for Resident Evil Requiem’s protagonist, and would be better off in a smaller role.

Making Grace the Protagonist Instead of Leon

Grace Ashcroft isn’t entirely new to the series as she’s actually the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from Resident Evil Outbreak. Grace is now an adult and working for the FBI, but it’s the mysterious circumstances of her mom’s death that results in her being sent to investigate the Wrenwood Hotel—and possibly other locations that we don’t know about yet. Unlike Leon or her mother, Alyssa, Grace hasn’t been directly involved in an outbreak. However, making her part of the FBI means that she likely has some training that she can use to protect herself and navigate uncertain circumstances, which is a bit different from Ethan Winters, who was not at all a person with combat training.

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So, we have a protagonist who’s kind of in the ideal middle for being the star of a Resident Evil game. Grace should have some awareness of what an outbreak can be like from both her job and her mother’s past, while also being familiar with weapons, but she doesn’t seem to have any direct field experience with outbreaks. On top of that, there’s definitely some trauma surrounding the Wrenwood Hotel for Grace, which is understandable when you consider her mom’s death. Now, we’re set up in a way where we can experience that terror and uncertainty alongside Grace, which wouldn’t be the case with Leon taking the lead, as he’s too familiar with these situations to feel the horror.