History Characters / ResidentEvilLeonSKennedy

** In ''Vendetta'', he is picked up and thrown by Glenn Arias/Diego monster and thrown roughly into the wall. Not only does Leon manage to get up okay, but also the moment he hits the ground he is able to spin around and immediately start firing his gun when any other normal person would have splattered into the wall on the first impact, or at least shattered a few bones. He is also punched and kicked by the same creature, once into the air and the other almost off the building, though shown again to immediately be able counter. The only sign of injury throughout this entire battle seems to have been Leon's arm, as he is seen holding it during the last moments of the movie.

* IconicItem: His RPD Uniform has fingerless gloves as a part of it. After that finger-less gloves have been a staple of his outfits ever since. From his return in [=RE4=], ''Degeneration'', his outfit during his misadventures in China in [=RE6=], and ''Vendetta''.

* HeroicFatigue: Having a life dedicated to helping and protecting others can do that to a person. By the time of his most recent incarnation in ''Vendetta'', he has become so jaded that he refuses to fight any longer, feeling that no matter how hard he tries, the fighting never ends, and people still die.

** In his second scenario in ''2'', he gets a couple of snarky moments; by his next appearance in ''4'', it becomes a defining characteristic. It doesn't last past ''4'', however, if his current attitude is any indication.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Despite Glenn Arias being a dangerous bioterrorist, when Leon learns the CIA tried to kill him by bombing him at a wedding, he's more than freaked out over their actions.

* CaptainCrash: Became sort of a RunningGag involving Leon after the release of ''6'' that, for all of his talents and badassery, he couldn't simply set foot onto a vehicle without it being reduced to smoldering scrap at some point. He seems to be aware of this as well, as evidenced by his reaction in ''6'' when Hunnigan suggests he tries piloting the plane he's on. Starting with his cop car in the original release of ''2'', it steadily evolves into a motorized boat and then a bulldozer in ''4'' which [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdhzcavvJi1rqgklbo1_1280.png even Ada has noticed.]]; ''6'' has him riding yet another cop car, a bus, a BSAA Humvee, another military jeep with mounted miniguns, a HellishCopter, a commuter train and a ''passenger airliner'' to top it all off. Many of these didn't last more than one trip. [[JustifiedTrope To be fair, almost every time he crashes a vehicle, there are zombies trying to eat him]]. The only vehicles he's ever been in that did not crash or get destroyed shortly thereafter are the jet ski at the end of ''4'' and the escape chopper Ada left for him in ''6''.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Leon's portrayals since the 2019 remake of ''[=RE2=]'' have significantly overhauled his character and development. Instead of starting out as something of a cocky but easily manipulable, love-addled fool, Leon's NiceGuy traits are given more emphasis in ''[=RE2R=]'' and his naivete is shown to be due to inexperience, not stupidity; growing wiser and more cynical as he goes through life's harsh lessons. Compare his two characterizations in the original ''[=RE4=]'' to that of the 2023 remake: the old ''4'' Leon had an even cockier attitude and became a ladies' man who shamelessly flirted with his coworker while still hung up on Ada. In contrast, the remake Leon is a much more thoughtful, taciturn man who keeps things professional, barely flirts, and is rightfully wary of people like Ada for their suspicious and deceptive ways.

* OneManArmy: Along with Ada, possibly the biggest example in the series as he manages to not only survive the Raccoon City incident while shooting the undead and mutants by himself, he also goes in to rescue the president’s daughter with armed, intelligent, and infected villagers, cultists, and soldiers and various other mutants to shoot up. There’s also his various feats in the CGI movies as well. While the others are shown to be [[OneManArmy just as capable taking out monsters by themselves]], Leon is the one to have the most experience taking them out by his lonesome.

* OneManArmy: Along with Ada, possibly the biggest example in the series, especially in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. It's worth noting that out of all the main protagonists, Leon arguably has the most experience in fighting alone, even more so than the likes of Chris and Jill.

* TheWoundThatWouldNotHeal: The bullet that Leon took for Ada in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' has evidently shattered a bone or two beyond repair, as six years later it still comes back to haunt him during ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake'' in the form of visible pain in his right shoulder if you stay idle for too long, even if you do not sustain any damage through the entire game.

* CatchPhrase: He's known to say "Women..." whenever a woman (usually Ada) exasperates him. In the remake of ''Resident Evil 4'', he noticeably uses "story of my life" whenever things go wrong, which happens ''often''.

** The H&K [=VP70M=], now nicknamed "Matilda" (a reference to the movie "Film/TheProfessional", like his own name), is probably the weapon most associated with Leon. It was his starting weapon back in the original ''Resident Evil 2'' and could be upgraded like the real-life pistol into a weapon capable of rapid-fire capability in bursts of 3 rounds. It came back in ''Resident Evil 4'' as a Special unlockable weapon and was the first time it was called The Matilda. We saw it next in the re-telling of Leon's exploits in Raccoon City in ''Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles'', and also in his campaign alongside Jack Krauser during the events of Operation Javier, from the same game. Furthermore, his "Wing Shooters" in Resident Evil 6 are designed after the [=VP70M=], this time wielding them in pairs. It came back again in the remake of ''Resident Evil 2'', again under the Matilda name.

** The H&K [=VP70M=], now nicknamed "Matilda" (a reference to the movie "Film/LeonTheProfessional", like his own name), is probably the weapon most associated with Leon. It was his starting weapon back in the original ''Resident Evil 2'' and could be upgraded like the real-life pistol into a weapon capable of rapid-fire capability in bursts of 3 rounds. It came back in ''Resident Evil 4'' as a Special unlockable weapon and was the first time it was called The Matilda. We saw it next in the re-telling of Leon's exploits in Raccoon City in ''Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles'', and also in his campaign alongside Jack Krauser during the events of Operation Javier, from the same game. Furthermore, his "Wing Shooters" in Resident Evil 6 are designed after the [=VP70M=], this time wielding them in pairs. It came back again in the remake of ''Resident Evil 2'', again under the Matilda name.

* AmbiguouslyChristian: In ''[=RE6=]'' during the level set in the Tall Oaks Church, Leon says to Helena that he "likes to think" that God is looking out for him. This could indicate that he's culturally Christian because of his upbringing (likely Catholic considering his Irish and Italian ethnic background) but that he either might be agnostic about God's existence, or may not be certain of his worthiness of God's protection because of his guilt or self doubt regarding his value for doing good deeds(which would be rather fitting considering his failures to protect others throughout the game).

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: In the original ''Resident Evil 2'', the reason he came to Raccoon City dead of night was because he had a bad breakup with his girlfriend, and [[DrowningMySorrows went to a bar to drown his sorrows]]. He then went to a hotel to [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy prevent himself from doing anything he'd regret]]. He overslept and was late on his first day in Raccoon City that he drove there before finding out it was overran by T-Virus monsters. In the remake, he was told to stay home due to the city being overran. He went to Raccoon City to investigate until he has his first encounter with zombies. Notably, the removal of this "breakup" backstory also lends towards the remake Leon being less affected by manipulative romantic advances. In the original, he was practically crying his heart out at the end of his brief time with Ada like he just lost the "love of his life", whereas in the remake, he just laughs at his own naivete while making the symbolic move to let go of his lingering attachment to Ada by throwing away the wristband she gave him. [[ZigZaggingTrope That said]], her supposed death still left some impact on him as shown in the prologue in the remake of 4, serving as a motivation for ensuring other people’s survival.

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: In the original ''Resident Evil 2'', the reason he came to Raccoon City dead of night was because he had a bad breakup with his girlfriend, and [[DrowningMySorrows went to a bar to drown his sorrows]]. He then went to a hotel to [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy prevent himself from doing anything he'd regret]]. He overslept and was late on his first day in Raccoon City that he drove there before finding out it was overran by T-Virus monsters. In the remake, he was told to stay home due to the city being overran. He went to Raccoon City to investigate until he has his first encounter with zombies. Notably, the removal of this "breakup" backstory also lends towards the remake Leon being less affected by manipulative romantic advances. In the original, he was practically crying his heart out at the end of his brief time with Ada like he just lost the "love of his life", whereas in the remake, he just laughs at his own naivete while making the symbolic move to let go of his lingering attachment to Ada by throwing away the wristband she gave him. [[ZigZaggingTrope That said]], her supposed death still left some impact on him as shown in the prologue in the remake of 4.

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: In the original ''Resident Evil 2'', the reason he came to Raccoon City dead of night was because he had a bad breakup with his girlfriend, and [[DrowningMySorrows went to a bar to drown his sorrows]]. He then went to a hotel to [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy prevent himself from doing anything he'd regret]]. He overslept and was late on his first day in Raccoon City that he drove there before finding out it was overran by T-Virus monsters. In the remake, he was told to stay home due to the city being overran. He went to Raccoon City to investigate until he has his first encounter with zombies. Notably, the removal of this "breakup" backstory also lends towards the remake Leon being less affected by manipulative romantic advances. In the original, he was practically crying his heart out at the end of his brief time with Ada like he just lost the "love of his life", whereas in the remake, he just laughs at his own naivete while making the symbolic move to let go of his lingering attachment to Ada by throwing away the wristband she gave him.

* BadassBiker: Leon acquires a Ducati in ''Vendetta'' to drive along New York while killing A-Virus Cerberi. He later drives it into Arias' headquarters to kick both zombies and Arias' asses. In Anime/ResidentEvilDeathIsland he acquires a badass Kawasakai Ninja H2, one of the meanest super sport bikes in existence [[spoiler: that ends up destroyed by María Gomez, from the previous film.]]

* LargeHam: Leon in the original ''Resident Evil 4'' and the Remake of ''Resident Evil 2'' is basically a handsome late 80's early 90's action hero, defiantly throwing cocky and confident one liners with gusto in the face of danger, with the ''(in)famous'' "No thanks, '''Bro!"''' and ''"Your right hand comes off?"'' retort to Salazar in ''Resident Evil 2002'' being most beloved. He no longer eats this confident ham sandwhich in the 2023 remake of ''Resident Evil 4'', instead opting for calmly and drily delivered wit to cope with the mind numbing terror of his predicament instead.
* LeParkour: He engages in a number of "free running" cutscenes, both in ''4'' and in the films.

** He has this with pretty much every woman he meets, bar Sherry. Just watch his interactions with [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 Hunnigan, Ashley]], [[Anime/ResidentEvilDegeneration Angela]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 Helena]].

* VillainKiller: Leon has killed [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheDarksideChronicles Cartel boss Javier Hidalgo]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 wiped out the entire Los Illuminados cult]] [[OneManArmy almost single-handedly]] and killed [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 Derek C. Simmons]], the corrupt National Security Advisor. The CGI animated movies have only added to Leon's considerably high body count.

** Finally, Leon is also closely associated with the knife. Previously associated more with Chris and Claire Redfield as a design element, the Knife made a huge comeback in Resident Evil 4, when it was upgraded from a next-to-useless weapon quickly stashed away by players, to an always present, multi-purpose workhorse. The game places heavy emphasis on Leon's use of the knife: he has special animations where he uses it to attack bosses like el Gigante or Saddler and has a knife duel with Jack Krauser in a memorable moment of the game. He even puts Ada in checkmate by pulling his knife on her before she could aim her gun at Leon, even advising her to "Use knives next time, works better for close encounters" (advice she takes to heart later, when she's attacked by a momentarily Plagas-possessed Leon).

%%* NervesOfSteel: As a general rule, [[SeenItAll considering the sheer amount of crap that's been thrown at him]].
* NiceGuy: Empathetic, reasonable, and always willing to help a comrade or fellow survivor which is best shown in the Resident Evil 2 remake where he vows to save Raccoon City and refuses to leave Martin behind even knowing he’s been bitten and is only forced to when Martin threatens him. Hell, he regularly risks his life to help people who have lied to or attacked him as long as they aren't actually evil like Ada Wong, who he risks trying to rescue in his scenario in the original Resident Evil 2 and in the remake while the lab is falling apart and about to blow up. Rather than [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished backfiring]], trying to help everyone has so far netted him several lucky breaks, a few good friends, and [[ChickMagnet a lot of]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan love interests]]. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, he constantly checks up on Ashley’s well-being, praises her when she helps out, and takes the time to comfort her in the castle, reassuring her he’ll protect her at all costs and remove the Plagas from her body. Unlike the original game, he lets her down gently on her implied flirtation, telling her she can easily take care of herself and doesn’t need a bodyguard.

* NiceGuy: Empathetic, reasonable, and always willing to help a comrade or fellow survivor which is best shown in the Resident Evil 2 remake where he vows to save Raccoon City and refuses to leave Martin behind even knowing he’s been bitten and is only forced to when Martin threatens him. Hell, he regularly risks his life to help people who have lied to or attacked him as long as they aren't actually evil like Ada Wong, who he risks rescuing in his scenario in the original Resident Evil 2 and in the remake while the lab is falling apart and about to blow up. Rather than [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished backfiring]], trying to help everyone has so far netted him several lucky breaks, a few good friends, and [[ChickMagnet a lot of]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan love interests]]. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, he constantly checks up on Ashley’s well-being, praises her when she helps out, and takes the time to comfort her in the castle, reassuring her he’ll protect her at all costs and remove the Plagas from her body. Unlike the original game, he lets her down gently on her implied flirtation, telling her she can easily take care of herself and doesn’t need a bodyguard.

* NiceGuy: Empathetic, reasonable, and always willing to help a comrade or fellow survivor which is best shown in the Resident Evil 2 remake where he vows to save the city and refuses to leave Martin behind even knowing he’s been bitten and is only forced to when Martin threatens him. Hell, he regularly risks his life to help people who have lied to or attacked him as long as they aren't actually evil like Ada Wong, who he risks rescuing in his scenario in the original Resident Evil 2 and in the remake while the lab is falling apart and about to blow up. Rather than [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished backfiring]], trying to help everyone has so far netted him several lucky breaks, a few good friends, and [[ChickMagnet a lot of]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan love interests]]. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, he constantly checks up on Ashley’s well-being, praises her when she helps out, and takes the time to comfort her in the castle, reassuring her he’ll protect her at all costs and remove the Plagas from her body. Unlike the original game, he lets her down gently on her implied flirtation, telling her she can easily take care of herself and doesn’t need a bodyguard.

* NiceGuy: Empathetic, reasonable, and always willing to help a comrade or fellow survivor. Hell, he regularly risks his life to help people who have lied to or attacked him as long as they aren't actually evil. Rather than [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished backfiring]], trying to help everyone has so far netted him several lucky breaks, a few good friends, and [[ChickMagnet a lot of]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan love interests]]. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, he constantly checks up on Ashley’s well-being, praises her when she helps out, and takes the time to comfort her in the castle, reassuring her he’ll protect her at all costs and remove the Plagas from her body. Unlike the original game, he lets her down gently on her implied flirtation, telling her she can easily take care of herself and doesn’t need a bodyguard.

* NiceGuy: Empathetic, reasonable, and always willing to help a comrade or fellow survivor. Hell, he regularly risks his life to help people who have lied to or attacked him as long as they aren't actually evil. Rather than [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished backfiring]], trying to help everyone has so far netted him several lucky breaks, a few good friends, and [[ChickMagnet a lot of]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan love interests]]. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, he constantly checks up on Ashley’s well-being and takes the time to comfort her in the castle, reassuring her he’ll protect her at all costs and remove the Plagas from her body.

* NiceGuy: Empathetic, reasonable, and always willing to help a comrade or fellow survivor. Hell, he regularly risks his life to help people who have lied to or attacked him as long as they aren't actually evil. Rather than [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished backfiring]], trying to help everyone has so far netted him several lucky breaks, a few good friends, and [[ChickMagnet a lot of]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan love interests]]. In the remake of Resident Evil 4, he takes the time to comfort a terrified Ashley in the castle, reassuring her he’ll protect her at all costs and removing the Plagas from her body.