Leon Scott Kennedy[a] is a character in the survival horror video game series Resident Evil, which was created by the Japanese company Capcom.

The character was initially conceived as a veteran police officer for the prototype of the game but Noboru Sugimura redesigned him as a young rookie.

During the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon arrives late for his first day at work in the doomed Raccoon City, and is confronted by a zombie outbreak.

Leon Scott Kennedy was introduced as one of two playable protagonists, alongside college student Claire Redfield, in Capcom's 1998 survival horror video game Resident Evil 2.

[14] According to the manual for Resident Evil 2 (1998), Leon arrives late to his job due to a fight with his girlfriend, which Kamiya later said was based on his own life.

[22][23] In the remake of Resident Evil 2 (2019), more time was spent developing Ada's and Leon's relationship, which the creative team felt had progressed too quickly in the original game.

[23][27][28] Kamiya was surprised by Leon's popularity and enjoyed his evolution into a "really cool looking guy" for Resident Evil 4, adding he "fell in love all over again".

[31][32] Capcom released a promotional anime titled Resident Evil Masterpiece Theater, which depicts the story of Leon and Ashley.

[33] Resident Evil 5's (2009) producer Jun Takeuchi said the series' fans want a video game featuring both Leon and Chris as the protagonists at the same time, due to their popularity.

[32][39] Leon Scott Kennedy is a rookie police officer who arrives in the city just after the beginning of a zombie outbreak, for which the pharmaceutical company Umbrella Corporation is responsible.

Upon his arrival, Leon discovers Ashley's abductors are a mysterious cult known as Los Illuminados, which has taken control of villagers using parasites known as "Las Plagas".

[32][41] During the rescue mission, Leon runs into Ada, whom he had not seen since Raccoon City,[32] and Jack Krauser, his former special-operations partner whom he believed dead.

[36] In 2013, Leon is providing security for the President of the United States as he prepares to give a public speech revealing the events in Raccoon City.

In a 2010 interview, the director Paul W. S. Anderson said if Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) succeeds, he would direct a fifth film and would like Leon to appear in it.

[61][62] He is an alternate skin for Lion in Rainbow Six Siege (2015),[63] Knives Out (2017),[64] Fortnite Battle Royale (2017),[65] Monster Hunter: World (2018),[66] PUBG Mobile (2018),[67] Tom Clancy's The Division 2 (2019),[68] and Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (2024) for Frank West.

[69] Leon has a non-player character (NPC) cameo in Trick'N Snowboarder (1999),[70] Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011),[71] the Nintendo crossover video game Super Smash Bros.

[86][87][88] IGN editors described him as one of the best Resident Evil protagonists due to his everyman persona, likening him to John McClane as "an ordinary guy who becomes extraordinary under adverse circumstances".

[89][90] Nintendo Power described his change as going from a "glorified meter maid with a bad haircut" to a tough guy,[91] while Polygon's Harri Chan praised Leon for his "schlocky action-movie energy".

Nae also stated their hypermasculinity is incomplete because neither of them can fully contain gender and class otherness, which also shows why Leon fails to bring Ada within the ambit of patriarchal control.

[95] According to Ana Diaz from Polygon, in Resident Evil 4 (2023), Leon's sex appeal inspired fans to make and share "thirsty" videos of the character on the video-sharing platform TikTok.

[96] Ashley Bardhan of Kotaku reported thousands of fans said they purposefully injured Leon during the game, particularly in Dead by Daylight, to hear his moans of pain, which they interpreted sexually.