TheResident Evilfranchise has produced some of the most iconic characters in video games, like boulder-punching Chris Redfield, the delightfully evil Albert Wesker, and Jill Valentine, the Master of Unlocking herself. Yet the most famous one is arguably the rookie cop turned special agentLeon S. Kennedy. His debut game,Resident Evil 2, was hailed as the best of the original games.
Then his next game,Resident Evil 4, reinvented the series and gaming in general with its over-the-shoulder shooting gameplay. Now it may become one of the best games of all time again with the upcomingResident Evil 4Remakeshowing a lot of promise. That said, Leon has managed to escape the confines of his franchise, as he appeared inthese non-Resident Evilgames.
8Trick’n Snowboarder
Trick’n Snowboarderwas Cave’s attempt to cash in on the late 1990s craze for extreme sports. It worked forCool Boardersand1080° Snowboarding, so why notTrick’n Snowboardertoo? Because it had lackluster controls that made it much weaker than those games, and didn’t offer anything new over them either.
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However, it did have Leon, Claire Redfield, and a zombie cop as playable characters. That’s because Capcom published the game in Japan and North America, and thus was able to let Cave add theRE2cast for flavor. It doesn’t quite match the ridiculousness ofMetal Gear Solid 2’s Solid Snake and Raiden grinding around the Big Shell inEvolution Skateboarding, but it’s up there.
7Minna To Capcom All Stars
Mobile gaming has grown fast since the Java days, though it’s still a dumping ground for shovelware and games featuring long forgotten mascots (likeCroc: Legend of the Gobbos).Minna to Capcom All Starsfit the former description, as it was only available for Japanese mobile phones via the GREE social network.
It was a Hero Training RPG that saw the player use Capcom stars from games past and present to save Capcom World from “Chaos Energy.” However, it was lessFinal Fantasyand moreSNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighter’s Clash.Payers dealt Capcom characters out in the form of cards, one of whom was Leon Kennedy. The game was shut down in 2013, only to be replaced with the nearly identical card gameStreet Fighter X All Capcom.
6Project X Zone 2
Monolith Soft’s tactical action RPGNamco X Capcomwas one of the PS2’s last highlights, yet itnever made it out of Japan. Western fans had to wait for its 3DS sequelProject X Zone, where heroes from Namco, Capcom and Sega games came together to find out why there were weird portals linking their worlds. The sequel,Project X Zone 2, brought them back with a fewFire Emblemcharacters to deal with a new set of portals caused by golden chains.
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Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine representedResident Evilas playable characters, but Leon Kennedy made it on the cover. He can be selected as a support character who, on top of joining in for attacks or doing a super attack of his own, shares banter with the playable leads. So, if anyone’s wondering how Leon would handleTekken’sKazuya Mishima orYakuza’sGoro Majima,Project X Zone 2has the answer.
Behavior Interactive cottoned onto a unique premise when they made this online survival horror. One player, the Killer, has to capture four Survivors and impale them on hooks as a sacrifice. Meanwhile, the Survivors have to avoid the Killer, fighting them off or avoiding their sight long enough to power up five generators and escape the stage.
It had original characters, but it’s more famous for using horror icons fromHalloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser,Evil Dead,Attack on Titan(for some reason), and more.Resident Evilwas represented by Leon and Jill Valentine as Survivors, and Albert Wesker and the Nemesis as Killers.Resident Evil 5’s Sheva Alomar,Resident Evil 3’s Carlos Oliveira, and both Chris and Claire Redfield were available as skins for Leon and Jill too.
4PUBG Mobile
PlayerUnknown Battlegroundsstarted off the craze for battle royale games, and earned seven Guinness World Records, including “Most Actively Played Video Game on Steam.” It’s since beensuperseded byFortnite, which had more colorful characters and settings thanPUBG’sblander designs. ButPUBGdid have Leon! Kind of.
The mobile version of the game did a crossover with theRE2 Remakewhere players could purchase Leon and Claire Redfield skins, and fight against the Tyrant and William Birkin. They were perfect additions for the new Survive Till Dawn mode. It had a day-night cycle where the enemies got more aggressive at night. Players just had to collect enough Vaccines, get lucky with loot crates, or cough up enough cash for UC to get them.
3Teppen
Following on fromMinna to Capcom All Stars, GungHo Online Entertainment and Capcom joined forces to make another collectible card game featuring their figures. It’s a free-to-play game available on Android and iOS smartphones. UnlikeMtCAS,Teppenplays more likeMagic: The GatheringorHearthstoneas two players take each other on with their decks.
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The first player to knock their opponent’s HP down to zero wins. Leon appears as a Unit Card, either as his regular self or as Veteran Agent Leon, who can deal big damage across enemy units depending on the number of Action Cards played. It can be a good card if it’s played right.
2Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
This expansion toMonster Hunter: Worldsaw the Hunter take on new beasts with improved mechanics in the frozen wastes of Hoarfrost Reach. While the player searches for the Tracker’s missing mentor, they come across evidence of a monster known as the “Old Everwyrm.” As if the Ice Dragons weren’t enough.
Players could forge armor that turned them into Leon or Claire, alongside a Mr. X skin for the Handler. But they needed to beat aResident Evil-themed event quest to earn enough STARS badges alongside regular monster bits to make them. Since the event ended back in December 2019, new players are now out of luck unless they have an old save file with the data on it.
1Dying Light 2
Techland’s sequel to their zombie-based action RPG doesn’t officially feature Leon Kennedy, though the similarities are undeniable. In a tribute to its survival horror forebears, Aiden will come across an injured Peacemaker called Leon who looks nearly identical to the former Raccoon City cop.
His doomed partner is a more obviousREreference. He’s called Chris, and he punched his way to the generator room. Once Aidenfinds him all zombified, his outfit resembles the old STARS uniform, and his dog tags reveal his surname to be “Redfield.” Even when the two are in other franchises, Leon and Chris can’t catch a break.
