One Resident Evil Requiem Character Would Be A Greater Reveal Than Leon

The cat’s out of the bag — Leon S. Kennedy is in Resident Evil Requiem. Like how Resident Evil 7 debuted a brand-new character while reprising a legacy character, Leon is the legacy character, and Grace Ashcroft is brand-new, though Grace’s mother is something of a legacy character herself. As a playable protagonist, Leon is sure to rob a lot of attention away from Grace, and only one other character could steal center stage from him.

Resident Evil Requiem’s piecemeal marketing was quite bizarre, as it actively withheld Leon’s reveal until The Game Awards 2025 despite leaks unveiling him beforehand. Leon is obviously one of the biggest draws for Resident Evil Requiem, and any larger plot twist or character reveal has huge shoes to fill. If any character reveal could earn more hype, it’s Ada Wong, particularly in anticipation of her and Leon interacting for the first time in 14 years.

Resident Evil Requiem Has A Lot Of Questions To Answer

Resident Evil Requiem’s launch is less than two months away. Aside from the 2026 Resident Evil Showcase, which could apparently air any day now and is expected to have a “gameplay video of Leon,” there isn’t a ton of legroom for speculation or a reveal before the game has reached its release date.

All fans can wager is that Dr. Victor Gideon is an antagonist of some kind, Leon looks visibly afflicted by a virus, and Alyssa Ashcroft may have had a connection to whatever Elpis is, with that connection possibly being her daughter, Grace. Many questions need answers based on Resident Evil Requiem’s story trailers, and it’s also possible that questions posited decades ago in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis will be answered. There are also new threads left dangling in the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes, which may be more relevant contextually.

If game-to-game traditions are anything to go by, it is highly unlikely that Gideon will be Resident Evil Requiem’s main villain. Moreover, there is also a low likelihood of Grace and Leon being the only two playable characters, at least in the game as a whole, and Ada would surely be a sight for sore eyes.

Where There’s Leon, Ada Is Never Far Away

resident evil 4 remake separate ways ada wong

A key element to why Ada is nearly a shoo-in for an appearance in Resident Evil Requiem leans on franchise tradition, too. Leon has never been featured in a canon, mainline Resident Evil game that didn’t also feature Ada, and she has always been treated to a playable role:

Resident Evil 2 (1998) and the Resident Evil 2 remake (2019), wherein Ada is briefly playable in Leon’s scenarios.
Resident Evil 4 (2005), the Resident Evil 4 remake (2023), wherein Ada is playable in their respective Separate Ways DLCs.
Resident Evil 6 (2012), wherein Ada is playable in her own separate campaign.

Being the next mainline, numbered game in the series to feature Leon, it is somewhat expected that Ada will be in Resident Evil Requiem. This could turn out not to be the case, of course, but Ada returning does seem like much more of an inevitability than a character like Claire Redfield, Sherry Birkin, Ashley Graham, or Helena Harper, who have also interacted closely with Leon.

Leon and Ada are star-crossed, with their ‘will they, won’t they’ dynamic as a golden retriever boy scout and dubious antihero, respectively, behaving as an obstacle that has thwarted their potential romance. Indeed, a confirmation or progression of Leon and Ada’s relationship could be a phenomenal story beat in Resident Evil Requiem, tying a delicate bow onto their shared story that began 28 years ago in Resident Evil 2.

Is Resident Evil 9 Hiding a Third Playable Character?

Resident Evil Requiem is already jam-packed with action- and survival horror-oriented gameplay split between Grace and Leon. Still, it’s become something of a routine for Resident Evil games to be peppered with playable characters. Mainline Resident Evil games have adopted a formula since Resident Evil 7, where gameplay is divided unevenly between two protagonists, with DLC debuting several additional playable characters.

For instance, Ethan and Mia Winters are playable in Resident Evil 7’s story campaign, whereas Clancy Jarvis, Zoe Baker, Chris Redfield, and Joe Baker are playable in Resident Evil 7’s Banned Footage, Not a Hero, and End of Zoe DLCs. Resident Evil Village‘s story campaign and Mercenaries mode feature Ethan and Chris, with Alcina Dimitrescu and Karl Heisenberg joining for Mercenaries, and Rosemary Winters becoming playable in Resident Evil Village’s Shadows of Rose DLC.

Therefore, it wouldn’t at all be out of the realm of possibility for Ada to join Resident Evil Requiem as a third playable character, perhaps in another Separate Ways-esque DLC, if not a playable sequence akin to her role in Resident Evil 2. Meanwhile, Grace and Leon can lead as protagonists.

The primary concern here is that Leon and Ada reuniting in Resident Evil 9, let alone potentially rekindling their romance, might eclipse Grace’s half of the story. It’s already possible that Grace will be overshadowed by Leon alone, and tossing more nostalgic, paramount legacy characters into the pyre could obscure her further.

Chris was able to play a cameo role in Resident Evil 7 and a secondary role in Resident Evil Village without it affecting Ethan, but Leon’s role in Resident Evil Requiem is seemingly much more significant, supposedly dividing the ninth mainline Resident Evil installment between him and Grace rather equally. Introduce a playable Ada sequence, and the experience could stretch too far toward Leon, even if an emphasis on Ada would be fascinating and earned.

Ada deserves to lead her own game in the mainline series and not simply be leashed to Leon or given abridged gameplay sequences. Ada’s Resident Evil 6 campaign is as close as she’s been to her own game, though it is once again technically a retelling of the same story’s events through her perspective — a narrative throughline she’s well versed in.

Until she is given the opportunity to lead as a protagonist, she and Leon will likely be tethered to one another, and Leon might join her as the second playable protagonist even if she does lead a game. If Resident Evil Requiem has any other ‘surprises’ left, Ada is one of the few that could definitely stun and strike players with awe more than Leon.