Resident Evil Requiem Leon: Role, Chapters and Playstyle

Leon S. Kennedy is Resident Evil Requiem's second playable protagonist, and the story alternates between his action-heavy chapters and Grace Ashcroft's survival-horror ones from the opening hour to the finale. He returns as a veteran DSO agent chasing the same string of deaths Grace is investigating, voiced again in English by Nick Apostolides, and he plays much more like Resident Evil 4 than like Grace. Below is how much of the game is his, how he differs mechanically, and what happens to him, with major spoilers fenced off at the end.

We checked this against Capcom's official Requiem site and web manual, the PlayStation Blog's Leon deep dive, IGN's walkthrough, Game8's character and ending pages, PowerPyx's trophy guide and Wikipedia's article on the game in November 2026.

Is Leon Playable, and How Much of the Game Is His?

Yes, and not as a cameo. Requiem uses a dual protagonist structure: you swap between Grace and Leon throughout the campaign rather than playing two separate stories. IGN's walkthrough breaks the main story into 15 segments, and eight of them are Leon's, including the entire Raccoon City stretch in the back half. Segment counts are not hours, since sections vary a lot in length, but the split shows he is a co-lead rather than a guest.

Here is the order IGN's walkthrough uses, which shows how the handoffs work:

1. Wrenwood: Grace explores the Wrenwood Hotel, then Leon takes over on the Wrenwood city streets.
2. Rhodes Hill: Grace's care center arrival, Leon's care center arrival, Grace's hunt for the three Quartz, Leon's attic section, Grace's basement and courtyard sections, Leon's chapel section, then Grace at the water treatment plant.
3. Raccoon City: Leon alone through Raccoon City East, then Raccoon City Center, which covers the R.P.D. and the orphanage.
4. ARK: Leon at the entrance, Grace in Lower ARK, and Leon again in Lower ARK for the finale.

IGN also notes that Leon sometimes passes through areas Grace has already explored, and what he finds can change based on what you did as Grace. That is worth remembering in Rhodes Hill: a door Grace could not open may be one Leon can pry apart with his hatchet.

Who Leon Is in Requiem

Capcom's official character page describes Leon as one of the survivors of the Raccoon City incident who has responded to numerous outbreaks since, and who returns as a seasoned agent of the Division of Security Operations (DSO) combating bioterrorism, sent to investigate the latest deaths in the Midwest. Wikipedia notes this is his first major appearance since Resident Evil 6 in 2012 and that he was redesigned to look older. His DSO colleague Sherry Birkin, the girl he helped save from Raccoon City, works as his handler.

On age, Capcom has not put a number on screen in anything we found. Wikipedia, citing an Entertainment Weekly interview, places the story in October 2026, 28 years after Raccoon City's destruction, and Leon was 21 during the 1998 outbreak according to Game8. That makes him roughly 49, although Game8 also mentions a fan argument for 51 based on a 30-year framing. Director Koshi Nakanishi told the PlayStation Blog that Leon carries the weight of decades of fighting bioweapons and is maybe a little more pessimistic than before. In English he is voiced by Nick Apostolides, who also played him in the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes, and in Japanese by Toshiyuki Morikawa.

How Leon Plays Differently From Grace

The two halves of Requiem are tuned in opposite directions. Wikipedia sums it up well: Grace's sections continue the survival horror of Resident Evil 7 and Village, while Leon's are action oriented in the vein of Resident Evil 4. The PlayStation Blog's deep dive spells out the mechanical gaps.

• Inventory: Leon carries a 7 by 10 grid attache case you can rotate and auto-sort. Grace starts with eight slots and needs item boxes or expansion packs.
• Crafting: Leon crafts with scrap and gunpowder, like the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes. Grace crafts with infected blood collected from enemies.
• Melee: Leon's hatchet never breaks and can parry. Grace's knives break and cannot parry at all.
• Shopping and upgrades: only Leon can tune weapons, using credits at Supply Boxes, according to Game8.
• Camera: both characters can be played in first or third person, but IGN's walkthrough follows the game's recommended defaults of first person for Grace and third person for Leon.

The result is that Leon's chapters feel like a release valve after Grace's. You will spend more ammo, fight more enemies head on and lean on finishers, while Grace's chapters reward hiding and running. If you switch perspective to match your comfort, do it per character in the options rather than assuming one setting suits both. Our parry guide covers Leon's most important defensive skill in detail.

Leon's Weapons and Tools

Leon starts with his hatchet and builds a proper arsenal as the game goes on. The PlayStation Blog's preview showed the Alligator Snapper pistol, the MSBG 500 pump shotgun and the Requiem revolver, described there as standard issue from the Division of Security Operations, with high piercing power and a small capacity. It also noted that Leon appears to have exclusive access to hand grenades, which he can combine into a Stacked Hand Grenade.

Beyond his own guns, Leon can use the environment and his enemies' gear. Capcom's site lists firearms, the hatchet, melee attacks, parries and even enemy weapons as part of his toolkit. In practice that means picking up a chainsaw after parrying its owner, or throwing a dropped fire axe at the nearest zombie, which also unlocks the Can I Borrow This? trophy. After your first clear, the Special Content shop adds Leon-only extras such as the RPG-7 for 15,000 CP and the Mortal Edge hatchet for 3,000 CP, according to PCGamesN. Our weapons guide lists the full roster and upgrade paths.

Leon's Biggest Moments (Light Spoilers)

This section names locations and bosses from Leon's chapters but not story twists. PowerPyx's trophy list doubles as a map of his set pieces, since several story trophies fire during his sections:

• Déjà vu unlocks after his first section, when an outbreak hits Wrenwood.
• Going Down? pops after riding a suspended platform down Willis Tower in East Raccoon City.
• Road Rage comes from a motorcycle chase where Victor fires a rocket launcher at you; shooting him when the red marker appears stops the attack.
• The Hero Returns marks Leon's arrival at the R.P.D., and I Remember That, Too follows a Super Tyrant fight after he escapes it.
• Umbrella's Legacy unlocks when Leon finds ARK, the facility beneath the ruined city.

The R.P.D. return carries extra weight for series fans: it is the station where his first day as a rookie cop fell apart in 1998, now part of a city IGN describes as bombed ruins abandoned for decades. If you are counting hours, our Requiem length guide explains how the Raccoon City chapters affect total playtime.

Does Leon Die in Requiem? (Major Spoilers)

Spoiler warning: the rest of this section reveals the endings. Skip to the next heading if you have not finished the game.

Leon's fate depends on the final choice. Early on, Wikipedia's plot summary notes that Leon is suffering from Raccoon City Syndrome, a lingering T-virus condition affecting survivors, and his infection worsens during the ARK chapters. At the end, Grace chooses whether to release or destroy Elpis. According to Game8's endings guide, releasing Elpis reveals it as an antiviral, Grace uses it to cure Leon, and he goes on to fight the final boss and survive. Destroying Elpis leads to the alternate ending, in which Grace escapes but Leon is killed by Zeno as the facility collapses.

Game8 treats the release ending as the true ending, and it is also the one the trophy list rewards: PowerPyx notes that Hope and Requiem requires releasing Elpis. Our endings guide covers both outcomes and the post-credits scene.

Leon Outside the Main Story

Leon headlines Requiem's only extra mode. Leon Must Die Forever, a free update from May 8, 2026, unlocks after the credits and sends him through timed, randomized runs with mode-exclusive enhancer abilities. It is Leon only, so if he was your favorite half of the campaign, that is where your post-game hours will go. Our DLC and updates guide has the details.

He also has the larger wardrobe. Capcom's Deluxe Edition list includes three Leon outfits (Film Noir, RE4 and Apocalypse) against two for Grace, and PCGamesN lists an R.P.D. Uniform for Leon in the Special Content shop for 500 CP. Switch 2 owners also have a Leon amiibo, which Capcom dated for July 30, 2026 and which unlocks a cosmetic weapon skin, according to Nintendo Life. Our costume guide lists every outfit and how to unlock it.

Playing Leon's Chapters Without the Credit Grind

Leon's half is built around spending: credits at Supply Boxes, upgrades for every gun, and CP in the bonus shop for the best gear. If you would rather replay his chapters fully kitted out, the Resident Evil Requiem modded save starts you with all weapons unlocked, purchased and upgraded to maximum, infinite ammo, armor and inventory expansions maxed, 500,000 credits and the Special Content tab fully unlocked.

It works on PS5 and PC only, with no Xbox or Switch 2 version, and it is a save file rather than a copy of the game. You can see it alongside the platinum trophy service on the Requiem services page.

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