#resident evil analysis

[hamartia-grander]

Babe get over here the kids are figuring out that Leon Kennedy has survivor's guilt

#He's full of compassion and care for others but he's fuelled by his hubris and guilt that's been the case since after re2 #resident evil #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #Resident Evil 4 #Resident Evil 6 #Re4 #Re6 #resident evil analysis #Not really lol but

[farashibutjustfoolingaorund]

it's weskin' time

The following is an analysis (read as "ramble") concerning Wesker based on Wesker’s Report and Wesker’s Report 2. 

One of the things I appreciate about Resident Evil characters is that while they do have nuance, their nuance typically falls in line with a core character trait that makes them simple to understand at a glance. For Wesker, that core trait is his sense of superiority, which shapes almost everything he does; from his opinions on others, to his personal preferences, to his moral code. 

Wesker is incredibly full of himself, which makes sense, given his upbringing as one of the ‘best and brightest’ of humanity. He’s got an insane resume of both scientific and military experience owing to his physical and intellectual prowess. As such, Wesker only respects those who are on his level or higher, and he only knows two kinds of people: those who are of use to him, and those who are to be disposed of. 

This is why he trusts and respects William Birkin, at least intellectually. Wesker believes Birkin to be superior to every other scientific mind, including Alexia’s, even if he is immature and hard to get along with. As such, he has to make up for William’s weaknesses and cater to them in order to take full advantage of his genius; which Wesker not only recognizes but places full trust in. He sticks around in Arklay for over a decade because of William’s research, even when much of it seems fruitless. However, the most significant show of Wesker’s trust in Birkin was when he injected himself with the Tyrant virus. The Tyrant virus has a one in one million chance of success, so Wesker had to trust William Birkin’s work with his life and future. 

Interestingly, it even seems at some points that Wesker cares about William Birkin in some capacity. Granted, I believe that capacity is strictly related to their work and what Wesker has to gain from William. Nonetheless, it causes Birkin to become a priority in Wesker’s life, and they become partners in their endeavors.

Despite his trust and respect toward William’s work, It is interesting and somewhat humorous that Wesker describes the hectic work environment caused by William’s obsession with his research as ‘hell’. It’s the exact opposite to the sort of calculated and efficient approach Wesker would have taken toward such a project. But, as I’ve mentioned, Wesker believes in Birkin’s abilities, so he sticks around anyhow. 

However, William’s frequent all-nighters and 24-hour work sessions start becoming Wesker’s frequent all-nighters, seeing as they’re partners of sorts. He finds himself having to clean up after Birkin’s failures. Though not explicitly stated in the reports, I get the sense that Wesker must’ve felt like he was trapped in Arklay, having been in that facility for 6 years doing mostly dead-end research. Wesker is ambitious, and not one to take any enjoyment in being the pawn of someone else’s game, a game he has no oversight, understanding, or control of. Wesker mentions a couple of times that he frequently took hikes in the forest. He might have done this as some means to get out of the confines of the research facility. 

Wesker’s sense of superiority is also evident in the way he presents himself, or if you’d prefer a rephrasing, in the way his writers and character designers made sure he read. This shows up in his diction, as it is very theatrical and dramatic, almost as if he’s narrating a novel. This creates an interesting contrast against his later plans for mass genocide and his fighting style, which are ruthlessly efficient. Both of these combine to create that downright menacing, but also sometimes ridiculously supervillain thing he has going on. On the note of genocide and other such atrocities, let’s talk about his moral code. 

Wesker makes a comment about Alexia being too young for any sort of dangerous experiments, but I don’t think he says that out of any kind of compassion or morality, I think he means it in regard to what he perceives as her childish intellect and maturity. He doesn’t seem to approve of Birkin’s haphazard experiments either, which he owes to William’s immaturity. Wesker understands that kids don’t belong in the lab because they’re not ready for it; they’re just too stupid and careless. 

You’d expect a man who later makes serious plans for mass genocide to have no regard for human life, but interestingly, Wesker seems concerned about a potential outbreak in his report. Does he actually care about casualties? Or does he just prefer control over chaos? I think the latter is more likely, which makes it seem as if Wesker has zero regard or opinion on morality at all. However, we get a very interesting insight on Wesker’s beliefs from this quote:

“Never did I imagine that STARS could slay the evil creation. I lost the Tyrant and the plan I devised which cost me my humanity ended in failure.”

This is the only morally coded statement we ever receive from Wesker in these reports. He recognizes the Tyrant, a biological weapon built for the killing and extermination of humanity, as evil. The way he says it doesn’t make me think he’s saying this like the Tyrant is objectively evil, he isn’t stating it like he states facts. To Wesker, the Tyrant is evil. 

This statement also shows that Wesker valued his humanity. But what is ‘humanity’ to him? He may regard ‘humanity’ as a natural, biological life, something that would end after his infection with the Tyrant virus. He may also acknowledge freedom, knowledge, and discovery as aspects of humanity to him. He shows frustration with being ‘trapped’ at the Arklay research facility, that he was the pawn in plans he didn’t yet have oversight or understanding of. His tendency for theatrics and drama and his evident knowledge of, use of, and perhaps enjoyment of prose, could mean he appreciates the arts to some extent. 

Don’t misunderstand, his ideology is still incredibly utilitarian. Wesker evaluates almost everything by its worth based on its success, failure, profit, or cost. Despite this, he still values his humanity and understands that bioweapons are dangerous in a way that is evil. I’m not saying in any capacity that he is a good person. He doesn’t care about Lisa’s suffering. He has no qualms about holding Barry’s family under threat or killing his STARS team members, but he still has some kind of view of right and wrong. It just so happens that his own success supersedes morality in his mind.

But how does he get from this worldview to the man who doesn’t care if billions die just so that a few may live, like his intention with the Uroboros project? Where does his obsession with creating a superior race truly begin?

I think the turning point is when he injects himself with the Tyrant virus. It’s a symbol of him exchanging his humanity for power. This transition has already been in the making since he decided to jump ship at Umbrella to somewhere more advantageous,  but his infection was a point of no return. He was willing to sacrifice everything for a chance at power. 

Despite being so capable, Wesker has had little actual freedom or agency up until that moment. He was just Umbrella’s pawn for many years of his life, born and raised to be someone else’s creation. His rebellion against Umbrella was his first taste of freedom, a freedom which he’d likely been yearning for ever since he began to feel trapped in Arklay. Now, he’s pulling out all the stops, no holding back anymore. He’s willing to give all for the chance at power. Albert Wesker is ready to be the one in control. 

“Now, anything and anyone that stood in my way would be terminated. It’s been that way for a long time, and it always will be.”

#Wesker's Report #Wesker's Report 2 #rambles #essay #rambling #resident evil #resident evil analysis #albert wesker #william birkin #textpost

[rainierest]

I feel like to Krauser, power represents safety. He would do anything to feel safe again after operation Javier. But he doesn’t realize that he never will. He’s selfish and doesn’t care if he hurts others to get to this goal, as he is unsure how he can live in a world where there is no safety no matter how powerful you are. He thinks he is unsafe because he is weak, (inferior) and doesn’t realize safety is never guaranteed. Leon by contrast has never felt safe for a moment in his life. Krauser views Leon as naive but leon is aware the government is using him and doesn’t care about him. He is just working for them to protect Sherry and access their resources. Krauser thought being a soldier meant something, and can’t handle that it meant nothing and that his whole squad died for no reason other than the government is corrupt. He also internalizes the idea that his injury makes him worthless and weak. He is willing to do anything for a way out. Krauser thinks leon is naive and still works for government because he doesn’t realize that they won’t protect him and that he needs power to be safe: LEON KNOWS THEYLL THROW HIM OUT THE SECOND HE STOPS BEING USEFUL. But he has to do the right thing. He then doesn’t understand why krauser can’t do the right thing, he doesn’t realize that krauser is still caught up in the betrayal and trauma. Krauser thought he was a part of something important. And he was abandoned and left to die with a bunch of people he was close to and they DID DIE. And he couldn’t do anything and felt he should have been able to protect them. He thinks it was HIS FAULT. But he also knows it was the governments fault and hates them. This is not to remove the selfishness from his actions he is deeply selfish and self centered and will do anything to get ahead. This is why he seeks power instead of revenge. He just also cares very much about the people he worked with imo and is extremely mad both they and him were thrown out. Since leon works for the government he sees him as part of the problem and also sees leon as representative of his failures/what he wasn’t able to achieve. He sees leon as his replacement and unwilling to see the truth.

TLDR: to krauser power = safety and Leon is naive for not seeking power, to Leon power = corruption and safety does not exist and krauser has corrupted himself in his desire to be safe which is in itself a naive thing to want.

#me when they’re NARRATIVE FOILS. #resident evil #resident evil 4 #re4make #re4 #jack krauser #major jack krauser #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon scott kennedy #leon x krauser #kreon #metaltango #resident evil analysis #rain rambles

[a-thousand-lives-lost-for-peace]

thinking about the fact that no matter how much Jill tried to get herself back in the field she wasn't allowed to, which I think would have brought on a lot of frustration to her because she couldn't make up for what she did in her eyes, and had no way to fix her mistakes while she was cooped up in the BSAA hospital "recovering" from her ordeal, because those missions going out to actively help people would have helped brought some kind of peace to her, but without that chance to fix things she would have constantly been considering what happened.

More under cut, don't want to clog up feeds.

She was pretty much forced to recover and cope in different ways from what she would have usually done, and find support in something different.

Jill would have tried to cope by doing whatever work she could, or just keeping herself more isolated so she could work through things easier, because her trust and control issues were SO much worse after RE5, and she would have found being able to choose anything and everything for herself something she would have used to help work through the trauma she experienced. If she couldn't be in the field - and this is what I already headcanon for her - she would have requested files and paperwork, anything she could work on and do within the BSAA, acting more as a backup/support agent, even though she would have absolutely despised it; just to help herself work through it.

Similar to how I spoke about previously that she needs to have control over her own decisions, that she needs to be able to choose even the smallest things to help cope with her trauma and powerlessness after RE5, and wouldn't like to be boxed in or forced into decisions by anyone else, she needed that freedom.

Which - a friend and I spoke previously about this morning - does also apply to Krauser in some way - I believe the two have that similarity of being powerless and having bad shit happen to them that they couldn't control, + their work ethic that is basically a lifeline of support for them, because they both always need to be out there doing things, and they were both denied from that by their respective organisations - with Krauser having been discharged by the military and Jill not being allowed to go on any kind of missions by the BSAA, forced to recover when all she wanted to do was go out there and fix her mistakes.

Krauser was discharged when he needed support the most, and Jill was forced to stay away from missions despite how desperate she was to assuage her own guilt.

#resident evil #jill valentine #jack krauser #resident evil analysis

[fools-fall-much-too-soon]

Account Update / Leon Kennedy Stuff

Hey friends! Recently I made a post complaining about the current state of the Leon Kennedy fandom and how hard it is to find content about Leon that isn't overtly sexual or just generally gross. It seemed some people agreed with me, so from now on I'm going to be using this account to make Leon/Resi content.

Here you'll find overly specific headcanons, fanart that wasn't only inspired by the remake models, character playlists with corresponding links to docs that breakdown why each song is there, metas about the resi characters (mostly Leon lol), and much much more. I'll try to keep it simply about the characters themselves, not just self-ship/romantic stuff (although there might be a tiny bit bc I can't deny that I have a crush on Leon like the rest of us do... He's been my babygirl since I was 6)

Anyways, if you like the sound of that, feel free to follow me (also follow @highball66 bc they make amazing resi content). I have a LOT of Leon content I've been keeping to myself and I'll post it all soon! Here are some pictures of Leon for the he road!

#leon s kennedy #resident evil #leon kennedy #og re2 #darkside chronicles #og re4 #re degeneration #re infinite darkness #re damnation #re6 #re vendetta #re death island #resident evil meta #resident evil analysis #leon kennedy headcanons #resident evil headcanons #my post

[sapphire-weapon]

So here's an interesting thing.

This is Saddler's POV when Ashley picks up Leon's gun:

Leon isn't looking at Ashley.

He's looking right at Saddler. And that's the look of a man who's ready to kill.

It's only after the first shot is fired that Leon actually looks at Ashley, and his expression is completely different when he does.

From Ashley's POV:

This might sound weird, but this is probably the best showcase of how fundamentally changed Leon is in RE4make from RE2make. In RE2make, his focus would've been Ashley first. He would've been worried about her and scared for himself. Saddler would be an afterthought; Leon can worry about Saddler after both he and Ashley are safe.

That was probably what Krauser was referring to during training when he told Leon that he was too soft to do what's necessary. You know, before Krauser himself went nuts, and the meaning of that statement became something else entirely.

But in RE4make, Leon's first response is rage. It's violence. It's murder. His instinct isn't to save Ashley or protect himself -- it's to kill Saddler.

It's only after it hits him just how stuck he is -- after that first shot is fired -- that the worry starts -- that the regret and heartache kick in.

What Krauser taught Leon -- what he really taught Leon -- was that protecting someone is more than shielding them from harm or pulling them to safety. It's eliminating the threat around them so that they can be safe. Shields can break, and running protects no one.

So, sure, the "being held against my will" thing is the main reason why Leon turns down Ashley's offer at the end of the game -- but it's not the only reason. It's because Leon came to accept, over the course of this mission, that he's not that guy anymore. He can't stand by and be Ashley's guard. The only way he knows how to protect her is by eliminating the threat around her -- and that's not what security detail does.

But that's who Leon's become now. The ship of "serve and protect" has sailed, for him. In his own words: "You've gotta keep moving forward."

#resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #meta analysis

[ovaryacted]

TW: suicide/suicidal ideation.

This is me ranting about Leon Kennedy’s mental health because I too am not having the best mental health time, so I wanted to write this out for a second.

-

Every single time I think about Leon Kennedy’s mental health throughout the RE series and the fact that he’s been through so much trauma and loss, I get sad.

The fact that he genuinely thought about killing himself with a bullet to the head multiple times, and he’s probably tried it at his worst is so heartbreaking. He definitely tried after Raccoon City, or during, and he probably attempts to do it after really bad missions too. Instead of going through with it and pulling the trigger, he’d toss the gun to the side and start to cry, or he’d just drink his sorrows away because he’s so numb to the survivor’s guilt and the bullshit he doesn’t know what else to do.

What’s worse is how there was nobody to console him or support him, nobody to tell him that he matters. Nobody even really knows what happened to him or the full story of how he got to where he currently is, and he can’t tell anybody. He went from a rookie cop one night to a military agent the next by force and he wasn’t given a second to adjust to any of it. So he was there handling all of his overwhelming emotions and thoughts alone in the best way he could manage. Mind you, his early adulthood was basically taken away from him at the age of 21, he barely experienced life before his ability to dictate his future was stripped away from him.

The most upsetting thing to all of this, is the fact that Leon is only alive for Sherry’s sake, because he was blackmailed into military service after Raccoon City. He knew that if he tried to go through with killing himself, or telling other people the truth of what happened, the government would come after Claire and Sherry. People also often dismiss their trauma after Raccoon City too, like Sherry was a whole kid who lost both of her parents, and managed to survive because 19 year old Claire cared enough to make sure she made it out.

If it weren’t for the fear of harm coming to Sherry’s life, Leon would’ve ended it a long time ago, and I just think that’s so crazy. Not to mention how Sherry ends up becoming an agent in the future because Leon and Claire made such an impact on her life as a child, which wouldn’t even be possible if Leon didn’t manage to stay alive for her after saving them in the first place.

I cry. I love him so much. I’ll never shut up about him.

#ovaryacted thoughts #leon kennedy #leon scott kennedy #resident evil #re4 #resident evil 4 #leon s kennedy #claire redfield #sherry birkin #re2 #resident evil 2 #character analysis

[biird-rot]

Leon Kennedy is Autistic: An Analysis by an Autistic Person

DISCLAIMER: This post and all the points I make are highly based on my OWN experiences. I often find parallels between my experiences as a disabled individual and characters I love to help me better cope with and process my feelings. Hate will not be tolerated!!!

Before I get started, I’d like to say that this is not even me scratching the SURFACE of the things I could analyze about Leon and apply to various autistic experiences, this is mostly just the things that resonate with me the most.

Parallel Play/Preferring to Work Alone

It could be attributed to trauma, and the fact he works in a government agency, but Leon has always been the flying solo type. Missions in which it would be better if multiple people worked on it (RE4) HOWEVER! Whenever he does work with others, he often goes off on his own and leaves whoever he's with to deal with what's there (DI, Leon going off immediately after being vaccinated by Rebecca)

Difficulty Communicating/Identifying Emotions

This also plays into the difficulty making friends and maintaining friendships aspect of being autistic. There isn't any direct/obvious representations of this occurring in the franchise, but it can be inferred based upon his interaction with Chris and Rebecca in RE: Vendetta when the two try to recruit Leon on their mission because of the intel he has on the type of BOWs they're dealing with. Speaking of RE: Vendetta, it can also be noted that Leon copes with his inability to cope with/regulate his emotions by drinking, and this is a habit he always had. In fact, he's essentially hung over in RE2, having drunk his feelings away after being broken up with the night before the Raccoon City incident, and he is literally drinking on the job in Damnation. Essentially, he's canonically an alcoholic. As an autistic person, sometimes I would turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with my emotional dysregulation, especially when I was unaware that I was autistic.

Leon isn't a very emotional person in general, again, It could be chalked up to trauma, but lack of emotional expression is also a common experience/trait amongst autistics.

“Inappropriate” Responses to Situations

GODDDD this one is SO prominent in RE4R (hell, even the OG), Infinite Darkness actually everything he's in, I can name at LEAST 2 examples of this. To keep this short, I'll just name ones that I relate painfully hard to, and ones that I find hilarious.

To start, WHENEVR HE JUST SAYS "ok 🧍" in response to an emotional moment. RE2R, when Claire introduces him to Sherry, in RE4R, when Ashley hugs him and expresses her relief that he's okay, and in Infinite Darkness whenever he checks up on Patrick after the White House Outbreak. It never fails to make me lose it because he's just like me fr.

Thists a sillier one, but I want to mention it because it's so mecore.

Thank you to @highball66 for doing the lord's work of translating the Death Island manga yall seriously he’s a legend🙏

When Leon sends selfies of him on missions. That's it. He just sends it to Hunnigan and I think it's great.

Sensory Issues

Okay, I KNOW LEON IS A GOVERNMENT AGENT AND NEEDS SOME LEVEL OF GEAR ON MISSIONS BUT!!!!! Half the time he isn't even wearing a full set, not even a bullet proof vest. HOWEVER, I did notice that one thing he CONSISTENTLY wears (with the exception of a few instances) is GLOVES!!! This is more of a personal headcannon, but I like to think he's sensitive to texture, especially when handling guns and such, so he wears gloves, so it doesn't feel as terrible. To further back up his sensitivity to texture, in Death Island, after the Dylan BOW explodes and splashes water everywhere, Chris doesn't seem to care about being covered in water while Leon is flicking the water off him.

Literal Thinking - Coming off as Rude/Inappropriate Unintentionally

GODDDDD this is another big one, but I’ll only cover the ones that I relate to a lot to save time. Starting with his initial encounter with Jill in Death Island, they’re being chased by lickers and…well..this interaction

Exhibit B: This scene. He’s just so nonchalant about it and I do the exact same thing without like…intentionally being a “smartass” or whatever, I’m just being honest 🧍. Jill’s “Oh😒” at the end of the scene is really what made it hit home, because that’s how people typically react when i have a similar interaction with them

ANOTHER THING!!! All of the instances in which Leon casually asks “so you wanna get dinner?” Or something along those lines. It’s often interpreted as a poor attempt at flirting, but personally, I think he genuinely just wants food, and he doesn’t understand why ppl are like 🤨 when he asks. He just wants a nice dinner with a nice lady :(

Hyper-empathy

Small disclaimer here, autism is a SPECTRUM. And our empathy levels fluctuate every day. In Leon’s case, I see him being hyper-empathetic, much like myself. And being able to empathize so easily with people is incredibly draining. Additionally, a huge thing that is common among autistics is how we tend to respond to people who are sharing their struggles with us sharing our OWN experiences that are similar to theirs, and it often comes off as egocentric and selfish to “make it about us”, but in reality, that’s our way of saying that we understand what you’re going through, and it helps us process how you may be feeling as well. There are many scenes I could pull from, but I want to talk about one specifically in Infinite Darkness since it resonates so much with me:

The scene within ID in which Jason is having a nightmare, and Leon wakes him up, immediately asking him if he wants to talk about it. Jason recalls the nightmare and his trauma about Penamstan to Leon, and says that he has no idea what it was like, and Leon responds talking about his experience in Raccoon City, and how that affected him similarly

Special Interests & Using Media to Communicate Feelings

There are many aspects of this I could talk about, but I’ve already written 10 pages worth already in this post, so I’ll speed through it.

Personally, I think Leon has a special interest in film! He makes several references throughout the franchise, many of which are overlooked. Personally, my favorite reference he makes is in RE: Vendetta to Pulp Fiction (I think) when Chris and Rebecca confront him during his “vacation”

Final Notes/Conclusion

I had to cut a LOT out from my original mini-essay I wrote about this to fit it better on here, and make it not as boring to read lmao, but I hope you enjoyed my silly little analysis! I love being able to relate my experiences to others, fictional or otherwise, as it helps me feel less alone, and be able to process and cope with what makes my disability a…well, a disability. I hope fellow autistics find some solace in this as well, and please let me know your additional thoughts about this topic if you’re a fellow autistic Leon Kennedy headcannoner!!!

#biird rot #resident evil #leon kennedy #leon kennedy resident evil #leon kennedy re4 #leon kennedy re2 #resident evil 2 #resident evil 4 #resident evil 4r #re4 remake #re4remake #resident evil vendetta #resident evil death island #character analysis #actually autistic

[hamartia-grander]

Thinking about how intrinsically intertwined everyone's fates were in re4r again. How Leon and Ashley were doomed to die from the start if Luis hadn't helped them. How Luis was doomed to fail if Ada hadn't helped him. How Ada was doomed to remain tethered to someone horrible as a means of survival if Luis hadn't given her courage, and shown her faith. How Leon was doomed to lose Ashley from the start if Ada hadn't helped him repeatedly. How Ashley was doomed to become Saddler's next puppet if Leon and Ada hadn't had a past together. How Leon was doomed to succumb to the parasite if Ashley hadn't been able to help him. How Ashley was able to help him because Leon gave her courage and hope. How Leon needed to meet Luis to learn that people really could change. How Luis needed to meet Leon, and Ashley, and Ada, to believe change was something he could achieve. How they all changed each other. I love it so much

#throwing up crying over this fucked up little family again. I love them #resident evil #resident evil 4 remake #leon kennedy #ashley graham #ada wong #luis serra #resident evil analysis #re4 remake #resident evil 4 #leon s kennedy #luis serra navarro #serennedy #Las Plagas Fam #Separate Ways

[farashibutjustfoolingaorund]

So cool how characters in RE contrast each other capabilities-wise.

Chris is an expert marksman and vehicle handler (ex airforce) who mainly relies on grappling and punching for his melee attacks being the tank of a guy that he is.

Leon has crashed almost every vehicle he's driven, mains kicks, and is built more for agility and mobility than tanking hits. This is especially visible in his fight with Chris in RE6 and his fight with Arias in Vendetta. In RE6, Chris is always trying to close the distance to take control over his opponent, but the reason their fight ends in a draw is because Chris throws Leon, which gives Leon the space to react. Kicks also just naturally require more space or are meant to get distance from an opponent. (Not to say they can't ever be used in closer quarters, like popping a low roundhouse, for instance). And Leon's just schmoovin in Vendetta.

In contrast to both, Jill seems to prefer knives and melee over firearms and has an acrobatic/aerial agility flow as opposed to Leon's ground flow, and also mains kicks/distance melee in contrast to Chris' more extreme close quarters style. (this is prevalent in RE5 and Death Island especially). Canonically Jill has bested both Chris and Leon in melee combat. Her win against Chris was probably affected by the alterations made to her by Wesker and also Chris not wanting to hurt her, but nonetheless. Chris is capable enough that he should be able to restrain someone without seriously hurting them. I think this is solid ground to say Jill is the most skilled hand to hand combatant in RE.

Like Chris, she can seriously take a hit. Most RE characters can, given their line of work, but these two especially.

Ada's style is geared toward stealth and efficiency, which lends itself to her more graceful and poised movement style. A lot of her RE4R melees rely on momentum and really putting her whole body into an attack. I don't just mean her spin kicks and hookshot melees, she puts her whole torso into her sidekick to the point that she actually looks away from the opponent because of the torque.

I've not looked as closely at Wesker, but his fighting style is this interesting mix of theatrics and brutal efficiency, which is enhanced by his speed. It all depends on how much he is toying with his opponent. He moves very quickly and hits precisely, but makes a show of it sometimes. See Code Veronica.

Though not really a trained agent or military personnel, Claire's gun handling is second to none. Chris may have been the best marksman in STARS, but I honestly believe that if it's her against him in a shooting contest, she would win. See Code Veronica, Degeneration, Rev2, etc.

A note on pain tolerance, Death Island gives us an interesting insight into that.

I got the sense that the initial viral injection from the drone hurts immensely. Claire is immediately brought to her hands and knees by the pain. This makes sense, as she's not a trained agent of any kind.

Chris lasts a little longer than her, but is soon brought to his hands and knees as well. That's how you know it has to hurt bad, because Chris Redfield, whose whole thing is being a tough guy who can take a hit, is on the ground. However, despite the pain, he still has the presence of mind to try and comfort his sister, which is also a very Chris thing to do.

I was actually quite surprised by Leon's pain tolerance. He toughs it out way longer than Chris did before going to the ground. Even then, he's present enough to aim his gun and throw a flash grenade, demonstrating he can work through more pain that Chris can. Even so, he's still unable to block any kind of attack from Maria or recover correctly after being hit, which makes sense.

#resident evil thoughts #this is nothing definitive of course #just my thoughts #chris redfield #leon s kennedy #jill valentine #textpost #essay? #ramble #re #albert wesker #ada wong #resident evil analysis #resident evil #death island #re5 #re6 #re4r #claire redfield #rambles

[monsterblogging]

The dang thing about Karl Heisenberg and RE8 is that the game's efforts to present him as this mega dangerous dude who's gotta be stopped are just so half-assed. We get the Duke telling us that he's the most dangerous lord and Heisenberg himself gets some lines about using Rose to crush Miranda and take over the world or whatever, but his whole vibe is this desperately lonely and bored man with dogshit social skills, who'd probably be more interested in griefing people in MMOs than actually taking over the world. Like the game's writing and general presentation of the character does nothing to convince me that the man has any vested interest in being anything worse than incredibly annoying (as people who are unaccustomed to receiving attention except when they act out are often wont to do).

#karl heisenberg #resident evil 8 #resident evil village #re8 analysis

[a-thousand-lives-lost-for-peace]

thinking about how post re5 jill has so much trouble when it comes to allowing others to help her and her whole struggle with control after the events of kijuju.

Nowadays she tends to be a lot more guarded and careful with whatever she says - and this also stems to her physically as well, she sleeps away from the other survivors in some corner of the clearing by the fire, or out by the river on some occasions. She tends to be the one to treat her own wounds and not let someone else do it for her, same thing with keeping her spirits up and keeping her strong in the fog.

This relates a lot to her experience in Africa in RE5, because nobody came to look for her until Chris did in RE5, but even that was pretty much an accident, he wasn't initially there for her.

So for three years she was the only one to hold onto her own sanity and her own humanity which had been taken from her due to the P30, she would have spent every night exhausted but unable to sleep, quietly thinking to herself, encouraging herself, thinking about the people she knew and willing herself to stay strong for them.

During the first year, she would have held on so much to that hope and been the only person to help herself, every night would have been spent unable to sleep even when she went through rigorous training every single day until her body got used to the p30, so eventually she just got so exhausted to rhe point she struggled to keep herself awake.

She was the only one who would let herself be treated by, after every training session, and even after she was rescued, she wouldn't really allow anyone to patch her up or try and help her because she got too used to that independance.

Her trust is fragile and shatters so easily, it takes forever to build her trust but it's fragile, it can break in a split second. She never talks about the events of RE5 except to those she trusts the most - if she ever shows you her chest scar, you just might be the person she trusts the most. She's used to being betrayed by people she used to be close to, the next time isn't so difficult.

When it comes to her own sense of control, Jill will *never* listen or even give something the time of day if its phrased like a command or an order, she got too used to it in Africa and hates being reminded of her powerlessness and her lack of control, and she will never let herself get ordered around again. She'll push back, she'll fight, but she won't let herself be controlled.

She needs to choose even the smallest things, she needs to know that she at least *has* the choice, and she isn't being made or directly told to do something without any chance for her own perspective or losing her control to another person.

#resident evil #jill valentine #jill valentine headcanons #jill valentine my beloved #jill valentine analysis #resident evil analysis

[steveuschrist]

Something about Death Island's Intro

I watched Death Island a few nights ago, and something that has stuck with me was how basically all of Leon's information on his file was blacked out in the intro sequence.

Only his name and gender are shown, along with Hunnigan's name at the bottom and some more blocked out things.

It probably is stupid, but I can't help but focus on it. As the audience, we know a lot of things about Leon. We know his past and all of the things that he's been through, so why bother showing a file with a bunch of that information blacked out? Yes, it does serve as a reminder that Leon does a lot of highly-classified and dangerous wok for the DSO, and we can assume that the intro sequence is supposed to "simulate" Dylan researching everybody, but I can't help but feel that there's more to it than that.

To pretty much everyone aside from the other protagonists and maybe Hunnigan, no one really knows what Leon has gone through. At the beginning of Infinite Darkness, Patrick has a really shitty opinion of Leon: "Qualified? More like lucky. The only reason he's the golden boy now is because he was in the wrong place at the right time." Yes Patrick does come around to Leon, but as the new kid with no experience, he already has a preconceived notion that Leon isn't qualified for the job, likely because he's only heard Leon by name and simply as "the guy who saved the president's daughter one time." And while Shenmei quickly comes to Leon's defense, Patrick isn't yet convinced. Why?

Because the DSO simply treats Leon as an asset to be used and not a human being. Patrick hasn't even met him yet and just assumes that Leon never worked for his position before he's even met the guy. Again, this changes over the course of Infinite Darkness and Patrick ends up really respecting Leon after he sees who he really is.

In Death Island when Leon, Claire, and Chris have been infected, we hear Dylan's big plan and him essentially calling all of them out: "The huge corporations and the corrupt execs that run them, the ones getting big, fat bonuses for maintaining the status quo, that’s who you work for, who you really protect. And the innocent will continue to suffer as long as you do."

As he says that, they cut to a shot of Leon. It's hard to tell exactly what Leon's reaction is because he is fighting the infection from the virus, but there's no snappy comeback, no joke, no quip. Dylan drops the bombshell: "You’re nothing more than pawns, suckers." On the word "pawns," the shot cuts to Chris, who also is dealing with his exposure to the virus, and then Jill, who just readjusts her hold on her gun.

This takes us back to the intro sequence, the agent ID was "pawns:"

Literally in being agents, Jill, Chris, Leon, and Claire are pawns. That's how their organizations see them, not as individuals, but as assets. But again, there's a deeper layer with Leon on top of this as I've seen others online point out, in the actual marketing of Death Island:

"One of the government's most formidable weapons." Not agents, weapons. They see him as an asset, a thing, to be used in their "fight" against bioterrorism. The kicker comes back to the intro sequence and Leon's file is shown:

In a sea of what we can assume to be DSO agents, Leon is shown, with the word "pawn" in big letters. The word doesn't actually finish being written out fully, but based on the spacing of PAW, we can assume that there isn't space for both N and S in the remaining box. The N would simply go over Leon's face and there would be some leftover space in the box (yes it wouldn't fit 100%, but the animators worked really hard on this movie and with how fast the shot is, you really have to analyze it to notice that it would look off!).

So yes, while Dylan is trying to say that all of them are pawns, Leon is the pawn. Patrick says as much in Infinite Darkness, calling Leon the golden boy of the government. Even at the end of Infinite Darkness (which takes place before 6), Leon doesn't let Claire make a copy of the drive with all of the information that will basically expose the US government for its hand in what happened at Raccoon City. Before she walks away, she gives him one final look and says: "Like I said before, that outfit doesn't suit you." Of course she literally is talking about the fact that Leon is wearing a very bureaucratic-looking suit, but she also is referring to what the suit symbolizes. She knows that Leon has a good heart and wants to do the right thing, but she's also frustrated with his actions and him, probably unconsciously, falling further and further in-line with what the government wants. She probably knows that he's "in deep" at this point and is just trying to basically stay alive, but she also is frustrated that he's not taking the path that would basically lead to a way out. It's also worth noting that Eiichirō Hasumi, who directed Infinite Darkness, also directed Death Island.

I'm not sure exactly where I was going with this post, I just wanted to share my thoughts about Leon and where he's headed next. I hope that the next movie (or game!) will feature him and be about him coming to terms with the fact that he can choose to do the right thing and that he doesn't need to just be a pawn anymore. He deserves that and so much more. Thanks for reading!

#resident evil #death island #resident evil death island #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #character analysis #steve's stupidity #analyzing him bc i love him and he deserves the world #this took me way too long to make #kids use your time wisely #long post #long read #text post #long text #i am so sorry #no one should read something this long lmao

[sapphire-weapon]

The first time Ashley really looks at Leon without being in full fight-or-flight, he looks like such a fucking asshole LMAO

And their character models are literally too close together for me to get POV shots while Leon's holding her after the catch (their actual literal eyeballs got in the way), so I just got as close as I could without it looking weird, and:

I can't find a platonic explanation for this moment. He could have just put her down. He just puts her down every single time he catches her after this. And judging from his reaction and considering the thoroughness of his training and his readiness for this mission, there's absolutely no way that Ashley is the first person he's caught after a jump like that -- so it's not even like he's stunned that he managed to pull it off. He doesn't ask her if she's okay, doesn't give her an "I told you" or a "See?" Doesn't breathe a sigh of relief or show any signs of stress about having to do that at all.

He just... stands there. And holds her.

They don't even start off looking at each other; it's only when he lingers with her in his arms that they turn their heads and lock eyes. They both have just sort of fallen out of time and space. Their urgency to escape is momentarily forgotten.

It's so much different from Leon watching Ada's chopper at the end of the game -- when there's a thousand different thoughts and doubts and questions and conflicting feelings zipping through his mind, ranging from their complicated past to her unknown employer to the fact that he just let her walk away with whatever Krauser had killed Luis over, and there's no taking back that decision now that he's made it.

This is the complete opposite. Instead of having racing thoughts, Leon is experiencing an absence of thought. He completely forgets himself -- his position, his status, his rank, his mission -- forgets who he is, what he's doing here, and why he's with Ashley in the first place. A connection forms between them in this moment, and they both feel it.

And for that moment, Leon suddenly is no longer a top secret government asset with experimental training holding his mission objective, the president's daughter, after a jump. He's a man holding a woman, in a way that feels inexplicably meaningful, on a chill autumn night as the rain comes down around them.

It's such a classical example of the Held Gaze trope in romance stories that it should be on the fucking wikipedia page for it.

#resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #eagleone #meta analysis