Leon’s backstory is getting a bit of a tweak in Resident Evil 2 remake. Although Claire and Leon never got an extensive explanation of their lives before Resident Evil 2, at least Claire has the motivation that she’s trying to find her brother Chris. In-game, we never got anything about Leon other than he’s a rookie cop who’s late to his first day on the job.
However, in the Biohazard 2 Official Guide Book, an explanation was given to Leon’s tardiness. According to the guide, Leon had broken up with his girlfriend and stopped at a motel on the way to Raccoon City. In his grief, he ended up getting drunk and oversleeping. When he couldn’t contact the station via phone the next day, he rushed to Raccoon City.
ちなみにソースは当時発売されたオフィシャルガイドブックの開発スタッフQ&A pic.twitter.com/e1DwkGnI5u
— 亜堂 紅丸@加賀ドールの人 (@StainAc) December 27, 2018
The backstory for Resident Evil 2 remake paints Leon in a little kinder light, but we’ve got conflicting accounts on what happened to him before the events of the game. According to the official Japanese Resident Evil Twitter, in the remake, Leon was at home preparing for his assignment to the RPD. When no one contacted him, he felt something was off and headed to Raccoon City.
【レオン・S・ケネディ】ラクーンシティ警察署に配属された新人警官。赴任日直前に命令で自宅待機していたが、その後、連絡がないため不審に思い、署に向かうことに。数日遅れのラクーンシティ到着が、彼の命運を変えることになる。 #RE2_chara pic.twitter.com/VofXFRlrpT
— バイオハザード(カプコン)公式 (@BIO_OFFICIAL) December 27, 2018
However, the official Twitter’s account of Leon’s new backstory for Resident Evil 2 remake seems to be in error. After Leon meets Marvin for the first time in the E3 2018 demo, he says, “Yeah…well, I was supposed to start last week, and I got a call to stay away. I wish I’d come here sooner.”
Seeing as the version in-game has already been mo-capped and voiced in multiple languages, I would assume it’s the version of Leon’s backstory that’s correct. It’s also possible that the Japanese version of his backstory as presented by the official Twitter just doesn’t translate into English well.
In any case, Leon’s off-the-record backstory from the official Biohazard 2 guide no longer has its semi-canon status.
