If you’re on horror gaming social media platforms, you likely only have to scroll for a matter of seconds before coming across thirst content of some kind – and there’s one floppy-haired, rippling-muscled, gun-toting federal agent that is the subject of most of it. I am talking, of course, about Resident Evil’s Leon Scott Kennedy.
First introduced in the revered Capcom horror game series in 1998’s Resident Evil 2 alongside Claire Redfield, Leon arrives as a young, newly recruited officer, late for his first day at work in the doomed Raccoon City. Since first grappling with the zombie outbreak, Leon has grown alongside the franchise into a hardened, highly skilled government agent and seasoned veteran adept at taking down the various creatures players encounter across the series.
But more than that, Leon has grown exceptionally popular among the fanbase, featuring in fan edits that showcase his heroic nature and, more often than not, ones that are certainly NSFW. There’s something more infectious in the air than the T-Virus, and that’s the Leon mania that has taken the horror gaming world by storm, as well as wider popular culture, and has seen several fan clubs, dedicated art pages, and whole fanfic literature seemingly pop up out of nowhere.
According to data from Capcom, 79% of players chose Leon over Claire in the Resident Evil 2 remake for their first playthrough, while he was voted the Most Memorable Playable Character in a Capcom SEA poll. In the Famitsu Nationwide Survey in Japan, Leon ranked in sixth place among the most popular video game characters of all time, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mario and The Legend of Zelda’s Link. But what is it about the Raccoon City PD officer that has got us all hot under the collar as late? With Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil now in cinemas and the gaming franchise on everyone’s lips as a result, FANGORIA investigates…
Poster Boy Of The Series
Following his introduction almost 30 years ago, Leon has since appeared several times in the franchise's canon and non-canon games, most recently returning for Resident Evil: Requiem. While Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield have appeared across the gameography more than Leon, he has arguably become the “poster boy for the series,” according to our Head News Writer and self-appointed president of the Leon Kennedy Fan Club, Amber T.
“While Chris is arguably the ‘main’ Resident Evil protagonist, there’s no doubt that Leon has become the poster boy for the series,” she said. “It’s hard not to adore Leon – he’s handsome, brave, has great hair, is funny in an awkward, dad-joke kind of way, and doesn’t hesitate to put himself in danger’s way if it means helping somebody.”
“That so many horror games have bummer endings (see: The Last of Us, Dead Space, Silent Hill 2, etc.), Resident Evil’s focus on good guys winning feels refreshing in our modern pessimistic landscape. Aside from a couple of non-canon deaths scattered throughout the franchise, Leon always wins, and the baddies lose (until the next game, at least). He’s the hero we need, and the one we deserve.”
Ash Millman, producer at The Horror Game Awards and freelance gaming content creator, echoed the same sentiment: “I love Leon, and consider him the figurehead of the Resident Evil franchise, really. Coming in as the naïve young hopeful that gets beaten down only to build himself back up stronger than ever is a metaphor for the series itself. His iconic voice lines are emblematic of the campy core of the games, and his pursuit of what's right is our throughline as players”
But it's not just his humor, charisma, and visible growth across the franchise that has contributed to his popularity; it’s his animated good looks that have some gamers searching for the most lewd content available to live out their fantasies (not that we have seen any of them, of course). “I think Leon has received the same sexualization that a lot of the female characters in Resident Evil – in games broadly as well – have, and as so many horror fans are women, it's a natural progression to lean into that,” Ash continued. “Leon is kind, protective, thoughtful, but takes no shit – he's a man that appeals to women by virtue of his fictional ability to be perfect. That he's then digitally designed to be as handsome and jacked as possible is the cherry on top.”
“You only have to look at Ada Wong's appearance in Resident Evil 2 to see the parallels between the two and the approach to their attractiveness when boxed in by gendered expectations. Leon isn't just a character for male wish-fulfilment, as a lot of action characters have been for a long time, but also a beacon of female gamers' desire that's being realised in an open, transparent way.”
The Root Of Our Obsession
There are plenty of reasons to love Leon, but he’s hardly in the minority when it comes to attractive lead characters that we enjoy accidentally/purposely injuring just to hear them grunt- err, I mean, when it comes to playing nicely with them and admiring their beauty. Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher and Lara Croft from Tomb Raider frequently top community polls and lists as the most attractive video game characters of all time, with Leon never trailing far behind. It can’t just be his looks and personality that have led to his prominence on social media and popular culture at the moment, but it can largely be put down to a few reasons, according to our Resi experts.
Luke de la Nougerede, who runs the streaming channel Resident Evil Challenger, said Leon’s connection with fans is partly down to his character design, but also a “fatigue” towards those who have featured in the franchise more prominently. “Leon is, quite rightly, the most popular male character in the series, so it’s no surprise that fans obsess over him. I think a lot of people have also become a little fatigued with Chris, which naturally makes Leon an even more appealing character to focus on,” he said. “Leon has a great sense of humor and an intriguing personality, which makes him very easy to connect with.”
Amber, meanwhile, believes that the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 4 have placed Leon back into public consciousness and in front of an audience far more savvy with social media that never would have been acquainted with him before. She reasoned: “While Leon was always popular, especially after the release of the original Resident Evil 4, the explosion of popularity can definitely in part be attributed to the RE Engine remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4. Younger fans or those who didn’t grow up playing the original Resident Evil games can find their tank controls, awkward dialogue, and blocky graphics off-putting, so their exposure to the series, and therefore Leon, really starts with these new takes on the classic games.”
“The graphical fidelity and use of real facial modelling in the remakes means we get extra detail on modern Leon. Lo-res GameCube Leon is a hunk too, sure, but there’s a level of realism to the RE Engine that makes it feel like you’re thirsting over a real-life person rather than a bunch of pixels. With Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom was outspoken about how they consulted mainly female developers when crafting Leon’s older, more rugged look. Simply put, Leon is a character designed by and for women’s tastes.”
She also thought that Leon’s progression in the game and the depth to which we learn about his character is “lacking in male horror video game leads,” and attracts both a male and female audience. “Another reason why Leon is so popular is down to his character development, which is often a facet lacking in male horror video game leads,” she said. “Over the course of the games and CGI movies, we watch Leon go from young, hopeful rookie police officer to jaded special agent who can take down a room of B.O.W.s with no problem – but at what cost? Nick Apostolides, Leon’s current voice actor, does a fantastic job in embodying this range, and undoubtedly plays a huge part in why he has become so beloved.”
Kris Wall, video game industry PR and Resident Evil superfan, had a different take on his popularity, saying it is reflective of a society growing tired of a “low quality” of men. And given the rise of incel culture and the manosphere, it’s hardly surprising a subsection of gamers find Leon’s fantasy perfection alluring. “I think it's more a sign of the times and where we are culturally, where the quality of many men is so low that anyone marginally above average attractiveness is pulled into the whole ‘Daddy' craze,” he said, “Leon, with his poster boy good looks and grizzled charm, has naturally been pulled into all of that. He is now cursed to be daddy.”
Reducing The Franchise?
While the horny edits and sizzling fanfic are all in good fun, there can be a dark side to fandom culture that taints a franchise in the long run. “Leon’s popularity has led to a sharp increase in shipping culture, which isn’t inherently a negative thing when contained within its own fandom space, but it has led to unfortunate instances like Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi being forced to take a social media break after photoshopped images of him ‘confirming’ Leon’s relationship with a certain character were circulated by shippers and presented as truth,” Amber explained. “This obsessive parasociality is detrimental not only to the series – Resident Evil is a horror game, not a dating sim, after all – but, more importantly, it can cause distress to the real people who are simply doing their job in bringing these fictional characters to life.”
Kris explained how the fandom had somewhat become competitive over their love for Leon, with many racing to be seen as the character’s biggest fan. “I think with Requiem it really reached a fever pitch with people almost climbing over each other to be Leon's number one fan, Leon's longest fan, Leon's most knowledgeable fan, etc. Fans started losing their minds over the idea of Leon wearing a wedding ring and having a wife, and I do feel this time around it's sort of tipped everything too far one way, and we've gone over the edge. The Resident Evil franchise feels like it's being reduced to just Leon Kennedy when there are so many other brilliant characters in the franchise like Jill, Chris, Claire, Albert Wesker, Grace Ashcroft, and many others.”
This has spilled into the press tour for Cregger’s Resident Evil, which takes place in the Resi universe but does not follow the characters or narratives from the gaming franchise. However, no matter how many times this was stressed, the Weapons and Barbarian director spent much of his press tour repeating the same information. “The Resident Evil community has an obsession with the series that I think is unique. Zach Cregger's movie is a great example of that,” Luke told us. “He’s received a crazy amount of criticism online for taking a more casual approach to directing the film, and for making changes that some fans feel don’t make sense or don’t marry up with established lore. I think that obsession can be both incredibly positive and incredibly negative.
“There’s a point where passion turns into hatred and aggression online, and I think that’s something we could all do better at managing. You can be incredibly passionate about something while still accepting that other people might see it differently. Ultimately, I think the obsession is one of Resident Evil’s greatest strengths. It just needs to remain a passion rather than becoming hostility.”
Obsession And Community
Despite the dark side of fan culture, Leon’s incredible popularity is fuelling a love for Resident Evil that grows from strength to strength as the decades go on. In 2026 alone, we have received a new game and film, as well as news of a remake of Code Veronica coming in the future. “Leon prints money. Resident Evil games with Leon as the star tend to outsell those without him, so expect his chokehold over the franchise to continue (Operation Javier game, please Capcom!) – and as far as I’m concerned, more Resident Evil is never a bad thing,” Amber said.
Luke also hailed the enduring popularity of Resident Evil, praising the community it has fostered and the life he has managed to carve from it. “The same obsession that can be negative is the obsession that connects fans and makes the community what it is. My YouTube channel, Resident Evil Challenger, simply wouldn’t have had a 21-year lifespan — and counting — without a community that’s this passionate,” he said. “We’ve somehow spent more than two decades finding creative and ridiculous ways to play the same 25-year-old games, and the fact that people keep coming back is testament to how much they love the series.”
Ash described it as a “good time,” and pointed out that horror and sexuality have always coexisted whether in cinema, literature, or gaming form. “I'm curious about anyone who thinks this impacts the franchise when things like Stellar Blade exist. Horror and sexuality have always gone hand in hand. Just because it's not big jiggle physics boobies of yore does not make it any less of a good time.” With Resi’s success showing no signs of slowing down, we’re sure we can expect far more Leon content in the future – and if it means we get more games and movies, long may it continue.
