Cringe

THE MOST COMPLETE MAP OF LEON KENNEDY'S ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC THAT YOU COULD EVER HOPE TO READ

Available for an independent purchase of $5 on my Patreon -- no subscription required (but you should subscribe for more stuff).

It includes:

An explanation of what a character arc even is

Definitions of the types of different character arcs

A basic look at the fundamentals of Leon's journey over individual titles

Charts and graphs showing his overall character progression across titles

In-depth explanations of each of his major relationships from the perspective of their narrative significance to his growth and the literary function they perform

A 30-point timeline of the main narrative beats of Leon's full arc across RE2make, RE4make, and RE9

A look at his possible future as a character

Here's a preview!:

from a previous post of mine:

when millennials and gen x'ers look at leon, we see: - an everyman-turned-hero character - a macho, hyper-masculine badass wise-cracking smartass - a classic American action hero type who fights FOR JUSTICE!!!1 - an archetypal "pretty boy" character who's deliberately designed to be sexually appealing to women while losing none of his macho hyper-masculinity (which can come off as kind of eyeroll-worthy to some men who don't think it should matter what a badass like leon looks like) - an understated but deliberately-designed "playboy"/"skirt-chaser" archetype who appears beside a new Super Hot Chick every single title (and likely tries to sleep with her, at some point) - an example of modern masculine stoicism, in the sense that he doesn't have emotional outbursts like chris, can take a really bad emotional hit and just keep going, and willingly shoulders the burdens of others so that they don't have to - an exalted, near-perfect heroic archetype who's made more human by his lame sense of humor, the amount of people who don't take him as seriously as they should, and the number of times women turn him down our perception of him was formed from OG RE2 and OG RE4 and was reinforced in Degeneration, Darkside Chronicles, and Damnation. RE6 felt like a betrayal because RE6 leon wasn't a smartass, had surrendered his playboy status in favor of fixating on ada, was frequently irritated/annoyed by helena's family problems, lacked a sense of humor, and was treated like an ultimate authority and a perfect hero by other characters (primarily helena and sherry). the things that we loved about him were absent and/or destroyed outright.

basically RE6 destroyed everything we loved about leon's character because every decision he made in that game was fucking stupid, and it was all because he was acting out of blind devotion to ada instead of

you know

being leon.

it was basically a case of: if leon has to stop being leon in order for the romance to work, then we don't want the romance.

at the end of the day, we wanted leon to be leon.

we valued him over her, and him over the relationship. so the series took the direction of focusing on leon and cutting ada out entirely (or as much as possible).

that's why it always makes me laugh when i see zoomers go "BUT THE FANS WANT ADA/AEON"

not the fans who matter. LMAO the fans who matter (aka the ones who have spent 30 years and hundreds-to-thousands of dollars, individually, to actually BUY AND PLAY THE VIDEO GAMES IN THE SERIES) are getting what we explicitly asked capcom for.

which is leon without ada.

aeon was killed because my generation demanded it.

Like, I keep seeing Gen Z claim that OG Leon is "shallow" as a character compared to Remake Leon, and that's just not true.

It sort of goes hand-in-hand with the whole "every single person who lived through Raccoon City must necessarily have intense trauma/PTSD from it" thing that Zoomers insist on.

And it also ties into my whole thing about how Leon embodies the ultimate positive form of masculine stoicism.

I found this amazing quote from a fellow analyst:

Depth is not a quality you sprinkle onto a character. It is the residue left behind by difficult decisions. If those decisions are absent or inconsequential, no amount of psychological elaboration will compensate. The character will remain thin not because they lack dimension, but because the story has not demanded anything of them.

OG Leon's depth comes from the way he engages with the people and problems in front of him. Shit obviously bothers him (OGRE4 Leon constantly grilling Ada, Damnation Leon defying orders and hanging up on Hunnigan, etc.), shit obviously affects him emotionally (OGRE4 Leon screaming people's names when they die, Vendetta Leon wallowing in self-pity, etc.) -- but it's the way he responds to these things that gives him depth.

It goes back to his stoicism -- to his ability to keep moving forward despite emotional setbacks -- his ability to stay focused only on the things that he can control without letting external forces/circumstances slow him down or stop him.

He's seen as "badass" by my generation because he does register these things emotionally -- but then keeps his head up and marches onwards undeterred. He can't control what the government did to him and Sherry, so he tries to make the best of the situation regardless. That's what made OG RE4 so striking. He's in an awful situation with the government, but there's nothing he can do about it, so he does his best to have fun.

And you can apply that to other aspects of his character, too.

He can't bring people back from the dead, so he does all that he can to get justice for them (as seen in Luis, Mike, and President Benford).

When facing issues of right and wrong, he always chooses what's just -- even if what's just isn't necessarily what's most ethical (Damnation is a great example of this).

And in the rare moments where he does let himself relax enough to feel his feelings fully, he picks himself right back up again and keeps moving, even when it's hard (Vendetta is a great example of this).

And he does all of this without ever losing sight of what's important (people's lives), losing his sense of humor, or blunting his kindness.

My generation harps on Leon being a "badass" not because he's a SUPER TOUGH ACTION HERO GUY -- but because Leon is shown to carry the weight of his duty and the weight of the dead without being slowed down by them.

Chris gets slowed down by it all. In some cases (like the start of RE6), he actually slows to a stop because of it. Leon doesn't. Ever.

Well, I think that's become a sort of... backwards way of thinking about it. Now that Nakanishi has revealed to us that, after the co-op build was scrapped, RE9 started off as a Leon-only game?

We shouldn't be thinking of this in terms of "Why is Leon there with Grace?"

We should be thinking of this in terms of "Why is Grace there with Leon?" What does she bring to his story/character? Because she was added in specifically to complement him, since Nakanishi felt that the game wouldn't work with just him alone.

So, let's take a look back at the impact that Leon's previous title partners have had on him/the utility they've provided -- because I'm sure that Grace isn't going to retread a path that's already been walked by someone else.

Ada (RE2make): Tests and falsifies his naive worldview; forces him to learn the lesson of cautious mistrust and reasonable suspicion

Ashley (RE4make): Redeems his past failures in Raccoon City; re-teaches him the value of trust and teamwork after Ada's disruption

Claire (ID, Degen): Acts as a hard check on Leon's sense of duty with her sense of compassion; balances his reckless impulsivity with measured practicality

Buddy (Damnation): Puts a human face on those who resort to using BOWs; challenges Leon's pre-conceived notions on who should be sacrificed and who should be saved

Helena (RE6): Acts as a mirror for Leon's past inexperienced naivete; gives voice to all of his poor judgement impulses for the specific narrative purpose of challenging them himself

Chris (Vendetta): Serves as a reinforcing validation of all of Leon's career choices; acts as propulsion during a time in which Leon's focus is losing inertia

Jill (DI): Serves in the role of Leon's absolute equal; allows him to accept infection and death, because he knows that there's still someone capable of continuing the fight

So... suffice to say, we can expect Grace to be none of these things. I think that acknowledging Helena and Jill's roles is especially important, because a combination of them seems to be what most of fandom expects Grace to be. But she can't be, because Helena and Jill have already done it.

So... what's missing? What can Grace offer to Leon that no one else has yet?

I'm not saying that she is going to give him these things, but here's a list of potential options:

A reason to choose to live, rather than looking for an opportunity to die (or, another way of looking at it: comfort enough to walk away from the battle alive, rather than thinking that his only way out is death)

A reason to love himself, rather than living solely for the benefit of/to the service of others

Marrying the grounded reality of BOWs existing with a genuine optimistic hope for the future (removes his defeatist cynicism)

Breaking the seemingly endless cycle of outbreak -> cleanup -> corruption -> outbreak

Offering a different perspective for how to approach corruption and outbreaks. Not duty, not compassion, not practicality, not heroism. Some secret other thing that none of the others have exhibited thusfar

And... for most of these, she would have to be someone really special in order to achieve them. A random stranger can't do it.

shitposts and giggleposts and doodles i wont be able to finish for a while so take my sketches

details i noticed about kara's model (uniform edition)

firstly, i kinda love her boots shoes situation. tho the fabric is giving sock shoe, i can't say no to a chelsea boot jsfklsjdflsjdl. also!!! i never noticed how the front of her pants have that front seam and the hem has a lil triangle cutout along the seam. it's hella cute. (the rest of the pants are NOT as cute tho)

it's very practical for cyberlife to have reinforced the knee area of the pants. if you're a house android made for clean-up it makes sense that you'd be kneeling down to clean floors and bathtubs and toilets and etc. the two types of fabric textures is an interesting choice tho. the inner fabric doesn't seem like it would be that waterproof which kinda seems less practical.

the built-in clear apron makes sooooo much sense. tho it's kind of a wonder why the entire outfit isn't mostly this material. cause it's unlikely androids are washing their own clothing that often and with that clear plastic apron i don't think this kind of material that can just be thrown into a washing machine. so it kinda feels like it would be better for the whole thing to be covered in plastic to prevent it from getting dirty since it would be just a simple wipe down. it's not like they cyberlife is worried about how comfortable it would be for an android to wear u_u; the only reason it's probably built this way is for the aesthetic

honestly the more i look at the dress, the more i think it is a pretty cute cut and design (minus the apron). but i have no idea what these little metal things on her side and back are supposed to be. there's either some fashion history i'm missing that gives context to it or like maybe there's magnetic tools/attachments that are like add-ons for your android??? either way idk what tf is going on with those things.

biggest thing to note here is that her cyan triangle android identification thingy is CRACKED (fuck you todd)

just appreciating her profile here. kara is so pretty. tho i do wonder how the heck her hair-do works. also, it's pretty obvious to me that each android has like a default hairstyle they come with. but i wonder if humans ever tell their android to mix it up a bit and try on different hairstyles. kinda like a dress-up doll. there's no way there isn't some rich human out there using their androids just to dress them up.

okay and last thing, i just wanna shower some appreciation for her neck freckles!!! they're so cute <3333

i originally was gonna have way more screenshots to analyze but (insert same reasoning as the top of post).

anyway, if i ever get the motivation to crack open the game again i'll probably do one for markus. he's got sooooo many outfits tho it's gonna be hard to choose which ones to overanalyze first.

Between the way he shakes his head when Grace says "there's no way out," and the dejected look on his face, you can tell he truly thought that was the end. And that makes Leon's comment about Chris at the end all the more interesting because imagine how stressed Chris would've been. Leon had finally reached out for help and Chris was almost too late.

any day 1 pov: really good introductory content (obviously), even for the lore. there’s a lot of cutscenes from that specific day iirc as well which i always think are beneficial to watch! also everyone’s first reactions to cucurucho/osito bimbo are fucking hilarious

roier, day 4: explains his and osito bimbo’s dynamic, they spend a large part of the day together.

roier, day 5: the betrayal the day of spreens betrayal, self explanatory. this is also the day we get the book from osito bimbo where it calls roier "0037"

any day 7 pov: egg's introduction morse code transmission about an “experiment,” the day the original eggs got adopted, shows how the attitude toward the eggs has changed since then, possibly could help explain some of the family dynamics?? at least how they function and treat the kids

roier, day 10: osito bimbo makes it's return but now it's different, (sort of) the day cucurucho officially takes osito bimbo's place

slime or roier, day 16: tilin's death the day of tilin's death, ultimately had a lot of impacts on various characters on the island like slime, roier, and quackity, for example.

slime, day 20: avenging juanaflippa slime tries to get flippa another chance at life by forcing a reset of all the eggs lives, meaning he goes after and targets the other player's eggs.

day 21: "save the baby" quest aka the first egg kidnapping/disappearance (continued in day 22 due to server maintenance). a rescue mission given to the islanders via egg tasks to go retrieve their eggs!

day 22 (slime, mariana, roier, bbh, quackity, foolish, jaiden, philza): juanaflippa's custody trial and revival really fucking funny but also a part of the servers history that i feel like got brushed over too fast. confirms the federation can give extra lives to the eggs if they are so willing and some other stuff.

luzu, day 24: final (physical) arin appearance explains why arin was there, what his purpose is, and how the codes are related to him. can also been seen in foolish and bbh's vod from this day.

foolish, day 26: introduction to leo’s “friends” and a few island entities, the founding of the theory bros (now ordo theoritas) which can also be seen in max and bad’s pov that day!

day 27: the funeral a funeral is held for all the dead eggs (trump, tilin, and flippa) and i believe it's the first time the federation allows parents to talk to their children after their death. for this day, most pov's do go to the funeral service, but only parents of the dead eggs (quackity, slime, mariana, and maxo) get to see their children.

anyones pov, day 34: “the countdown begins, 6 days left.” codes intercept the ducks transmission (again?) and alert the parents that the eggs will die/disappear in 6 days. we know now this obviously isn't true but still a lore-ish day

roier, day 34: even more osito bimbo content! the day when osito bimbo tells roier more about the federation, such as the existence of the "host" and how it has a specific set of duties it must follow/complete.

quackity, day 36: quackitys interrogation & las casualonas debut disguised, roier and vegetta interrogate quackity about his plans regarding the eggs (which iirc was a rumor started by roier saying he was going to murder them) and the island.

Part of the reason Quackity liked Schlatt was because of the destruction, part of the very same thing that made him leave him. He liked that he was ruthless and wanted to destroy Wilbur's vision of Manburg because that was exactly what Quackity himself wanted to do. He encouraged Schlatt to exile Wilbur and Tommy and cheered on when they ran. It was only once Schlatt turned towards 'their' side, towards Quackity and Tubbo and the cabinet that he realized that maybe it had gone too far. He had a hand in the destruction and he reveled in it; it took him a while to realize that it had maybe been a mistake.

But thinking about it more?

I think he’s just stopped hiding.

Maybe all his golly-ness, permanent smile and silly voice, was just him trying to be human. I mean. After his death he sounded less lively. Less human.

Maybe his disguise… worked after all.

Slime truely did succeed in seeming more human. More open and happy, sure he was *oddly* happy and cheery. But he was already odd so, what’s one small thing? But that as well was probably an act. If he’s been watching for so long he’s surely seen the effects a happy person can have on others. People were kinder and less violent towards people like Ghostbur, or Ranboo. People were nicer to those like Quackity’s before they got mean and cold. Charlie saw cheerfulness. So he mimicked that. And it worked to keep him alive

He thought everyone knowing he wasn’t human would be his downfall. And maybe it would have been - would Q have ever trusted Slime if he showed up clearly spying on him within his walls, with a dead expression and cold yet calm voice? No. Quackity wouldn’t have trusted him - and he probably would have thought Slime’s lack of knowing basically everything as some sort of joke

But instead, Quackity was met with a silly cheerful guy with a big smile - who seemed full of innocence as he tried his best to understand the world around him. Even if he didn’t know what simple things like snow were

And in truth part of that innocences was there.

But if he’s wasn’t trying to be human… would anyone have noticed?

If he didn’t show innocences or cheerfulness the same kind that people like Ghostbur had, would they have hesitated to kill him when they found him snooping around in their walls and spying one them? No.

Slime’s disguise worked. Somewhat. And Quackity just helped him in being more human.

Now Slime doesn’t need to pretend to be happy. Now he doesn’t need to look human

to start things off, this is my own interpretation of his dialogue. i explained how i feel about the stream here in this post. going off of that, i am going to break down the way quackity (who, for clarification sake i'll just refer to as alex) interpreted him. this is gonna get into random theories and probably get like, a little personal and im going to sound crazy but im also autistic and super invested with a bunch of free time... but i think the whole way this stream was carried out had a double meaning to it, and i will examine it here. not proofread, we 're going in raw. so, let's begin with...

Section 1: The Different Personalities of the Quackities

for starters, i want to examine the personalities of each character. obviously, im not taking much (aside from a few bits) into account from the other streams. this was all carefully crafted in one stream to get each persona down, rather than on-the-fly acting. each one has a sort of "archetype" to dissect.

q!quackity, who is quiet, reserved, skittish - yet smart and observant. he uses longer words, and spends more time observing the conversations, then jumping in for the "kill"

k!quackity, who is battered from the betrayal hes gone through, he feels hurt yet he doesnt feel anger. its internalized, he doesnt trust the others, however he mentions that they need to build trust to get out of the "cube"

ln!quackity, who is extroverted, boisterous, the physical incarnate of a bruised ego. he holds his head high not realizing his neck is always exposed, ready for someone to rip him to shreds if they hit the right vein. he's an asshole, making fun of the others, holds himself proudly on his achievements. but he's the only one that cries. q!quackity is anxious, but he doesn't cry. ln!quackity does.

and... alex. a self-proclaimed introvert, who is kind and observant, who forces himself to get out of his comfort zone, something he called a "finish line." a writer, a director, someone who loves telling stories. and this one, happens to be a story of different personas of his, with one being killed off.

and with that, we get into the topic of what i believe the stream represents. if you'll join me for a long read, i think this stream represents his growth as a person and a content creator, in a very extreme and especially vulnerable way.

Now I wanted to ask what’s ur take on c!quackity!

It's actually pretty similar to my take on Sam! They're fueled by slightly different motivations and have wildly different personalities, but when you strip them down to the basics, they're just angry little men trying to feel big.

Quackity is deeply insecure regarding just about everything. He's not tall enough, strong enough, smart enough, and worst of all, flat as a board. He's always felt this way about himself, but the treatment he received from other server members only proliferated his insecurities. He overcompensates for this with being loud, charismatic, and coming off confident when he's really anything but. He runs for election with Schlatt because he wants to feel powerful, and we all know how that goes. He feels weak, stupid for trusting Schlatt, angry about everything that happened to L'manburg and so he acts completely intelligently and rationally and joins the party hunting the most powerful person on the server. And then fights said most powerful person one and one and gets his ass handed to him. Which just makes him more insecure as it makes him feel weak for losing, stupid for fighting, and ugly now that his face is permanently scarred.