ErebosBlue

at first I was like “oh I remember a fun fact that Matilda the gun was likely named after a character in a movie” and went to go check if there was a name there I could use for a fun easter egg. there wasn’t really so I did what I should’ve done first and checked to see if there were any pre-Leon names for the character and-

Grant? Bitman is very fucking funny ngl, but Grant? no offense towards any Grants but honestly thank god they landed on Leon.

but now I do feel obligated to name one of the Leons Grant and I’m not looking forward to that. I cannot fucking see puppy-dog RE2make Leon as a Grant, but also RE2 Leon is my little guy and I don’t wanna name him Grant either.

I know Operation Javier can’t be canon the exact same way anymore if we take RE4make as the new canon, but Krauser being a bastard The Whole Time is a lot less interesting imo and not really true to his character.

like yes he is also Agent Kennedy, but I feel like characters drop that so fast. and I'm pretty sure that in some material he's straight up told people to just call him Leon, which makes a lot of sense. I don't think Leon would love to be referred to as Agent Kennedy when his job is barely his choice.

however, Leon seems to change what he calls Chris purely by his mood. like in RE6 I believe he was very consistent in calling him Chris, but in Vendetta that man was Redfield.

if they’re gonna make Steve look like Leon in the Remake of Code Veronica.

because in the original, Steve looked like his own man but in Darkside Chronicles?

like generally I know the RE presidents follow the same general vibe as our reality because the whole “War on Terror” thing was still very present in the RE universe but like… they’re also clearly different in a lot of ways.

and we don’t even know who the hell was in office in 2015 because Benford was shot in 2013. like obviously we know there was one, but there’s no information besides logical inferences.

on a more silly note, Leon does work directly under the president so like… maybe that affected things in the RE universe.

like what do you mean Leon is getting flirted with from literally every angle? everyone wants a piece and it’s so damn funny.

...I might be going a little overboard in hopes I actually finish this fic.

in a collectible in Umbrella Chronicles, (and I think in a couple other things,) we learn that Leon chose to go to Raccoon City as a police officer because of the “weird murders” happening in the area. and then in RE2make he’s directly warned not to go into the city, but even in the original there were absolutely moments where he could’ve turned around. it’s not like Claire where she still had to see if her brother was alive.

and then you read canon sources and it’s like “no he’s the agent.”

partly because it’s just fucking weird to police what fictional characters people ship together, but also Kennecroft is so… baby’s first “problematic” ship. (I think calling any ship problematic is stupid, but using the terminology here is easier.) and this is in no way a diss to the ship or Kennecroft shippers it’s just very… normal?

is he nearly 30 years older than her? yeah, but they’re both adults. yes she is in her early 20’s and that would be creepy irl but we are also talking about characters that were literally fighting zombies the whole game. we’re not exactly talking about real life here.

is he also vaguely married to someone? yes. and? older vaguely married man falling in love with a younger woman has been a trope for how long??

did Grace call him mom? indeed she did, but considering that I don’t exactly think the game is woke enough to be implying Leon is a mother figure for Grace, it’s more to show that he is the first safe person for her after her mother died. does that mean she seems him in a parental light? possibly! probably, even. but that doesn’t even mean she’s not into him but we don’t have time or patience for that.

if you put a gun to my head and asked if I think Leon would ever date Grace or someone as young as her I would say no, sure, but if you ask Capcom they would say Leon is a straight man and would never end up with Chris and considering that I’m currently writing a Chreon fanfic, maybe other people’s thoughts on a ship they don’t like don’t really matter.

and this isn’t a case of a character being rewritten or anything, before 6 the person who directly coerced Leon was a nameless, faceless government agent. it was 6’s guidebooks and other material that said it was Benford. they made a character and backfilled information.

like we knew Leon was coerced from the RE3 epilogue and the aforementioned Darkside Chronicles cutscene, but like. this is the epilogue:

“man who claims to be a government agent” is not very descriptive and they could’ve said it was anyone.

it’s very stockholm syndrome-esque like??? I know that stockholm syndrome as a real world concept is not backed by basically anything and is rooted in misogyny, but in this fictional reality I cannot see it as anything but tbh.

the Birkins? Sherry got yoinked.

Javier? he stole away Manuela. (though this is more of stretch since that whole incident was more Wesker’s doing if you really look at it but eh. he still injected his daughter with the Veronica virus.)

Spencer? Grace is his now too.

fuck we can even extend this to Wesker too if we really fucking tried. if Jake and Sherry get married that practically makes Jake Leon’s son-in-law. (yes I know that Leon has no legal attachment to Sherry but that’s her dad damnit.)

I definitely think that Leon soothes his emotional hurts with alcohol and it’s a very unhealthy habit, but I personally do not think he’s physically dependent on alcohol. not to say there’s no way he could be. I think it depends on how often you personally think he’s sent out. and I personally always think of him as basically always being on a mission or recovering from one.

so yeah he’s gonna drink when he has the time, and I think emotionally it falls into alcoholism, but I don’t think there’s the physical dependence.

like yes Leon could be drunk on the job, but I just personally don’t see it? I think he values making logical decisions over numbing the pain, personally. but I very much support anyone’s personal headcanons, I just wanted to say my piece.