They say that clothes make the man; a good fit can really tie together someone’s wardrobe, magnifying their best physical aspects to make them truly iconic. Case in point, Resident Evil’s Leon S. Kennedy is, by all metrics, a pretty good-looking dude, both as a strapping young lad on his first day in Raccoon City and a grizzled veteran in Resident Evil Requiem. While he’s got some looks, though, I don’t think it’d be controversial to say that Leon’s wardrobe has been doing the heavy lifting all these years.
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Whether he’s fending off chainsaws with a combat knife or just standing around looking vaguely concerned, Leon’s outfits have pulled equal duty between serving practical purposes and expressing his personal aesthetics as far back as his first appearance in the original Resident Evil 2. Admittedly, some of these outfits have aged better than others; you could see Leon from behind in some of them and immediately clock him, while others just look like… a guy. For the sake of fashion science, let’s count down a few of Leon’s fits from over the years.
To keep things concise, we’re sticking only to outfits from the mainline games, no spin-offs or movies.
10
Blue Tank Top
Resident Evil 2 (1998)
Tank tops are one of those articles of clothing that you either absolutely pull off or can’t pull off at all. Leon’s in pretty good shape, even in his first, chunky-pixeled appearance in the original Resident Evil 2, but good enough to pull off a tank top? Eh, I’m not so sure about that.
In Resident Evil 2, you can unlock a couple of special outfits by making it from the car wreckage to the police station without grabbing any items. One of these outfits consists of a blue tank top, a pair of green fatigue pants, combat boots, and a black R.P.D. ball cap. It’s your quintessential action movie cop getup, but despite how much action he gets into in this game and others, this fit just doesn’t really work for Leon. He’s buff, sure, but he’s a very particular kind of buff that’s better served by short sleeves rather than no sleeves at all. I don’t like the hat, either. Leon is not a hat guy.
9
Romantic Outfit
Resident Evil 4 (2023)
The newer Resident Evil games, particularly the remakes, include a variety of slightly stranger outfits added via DLC. Prior to the release of the Resident Evil 4 remake, one of these DLC outfits was teased: a pair of “Romantic” outfits for Leon and Ashley consisting of tight, buttoned pants, ruffled pirate shirts, and silver-dyed hair. It’s the full David Bowie in Labyrinth treatment, and it’s certainly… distinctive.
I certainly appreciate the thematic vibes of this outfit, given the game’s prevalent gothic architecture and general swashbuckle-y vibe, though I fear it doesn’t mesh particularly well with either the village or military island segments. It’s mildly iconic for its sheer audacity, if nothing else, but it’s definitely not the kind of outfit I’d consider properly representative of Leon’s good points, nor one you’d want to wear on a first playthrough. Honestly, I think Ashley wears it a little better, especially since hers comes with a ruffled ascot. Or cravat, maybe. Whatever those things are called.
8
Pirate Outfit
Resident Evil 6
In Resident Evil 6’s Mercenaries Mode, every playable character can unlock a couple of extra outfits by clearing the mini-game with a high score. These outfits range from simple to bizarre in quality, with one leaning toward the latter end of the spectrum being Leon’s: a full pirate getup, including a red and black longcoat with a belt over the front, a cutlass at his side, a tricorne hat with a feather, an eyepatch, and a little crow on his shoulder.
Obviously, this outfit is completely bonkers, and not especially iconic, though I also kind of like it for committing a little more to the bit than the Romantic outfit. If we’re going to bother dressing up Leon as a pirate, we might as well go whole-hog with it. No one wants to be one-fourth of a pirate, after all. Incidentally, you can also unlock an alternate version of this outfit with a blue coat instead of red, which feels a teensy bit more on brand for Leon.
7
Black Jacket
Resident Evil 6
When we join Leon mid-outbreak in Tall Oaks in Resident Evil 6, fresh off of dispatching the President’s reanimated corpse, he’s dressed in a pretty straightforward manner. At this point, he’s supposed to be a special agent working at the President’s direct discretion, which I would assume includes a suit or something, but he’s instead dressed in dark jeans, thick shoes, a black button-up shirt, and a black leather jacket.
Compared to the games and outfits that preceded Resident Evil 6, this one feels a little bland. It’s not terrible, with the dark colors doing a good job of highlighting Leon’s general mood and state of mind. It’s an outfit that you can wear for both casual and work purposes, easy to move in and good for concealing guns and supplies. Unfortunately, practical outfits aren’t very exciting, though in fairness, it probably wouldn’t have been a great look to show up to a meeting with the President in full combat fatigues.
6
Blue Shirt and Vest
Resident Evil 6
In the back half of Resident Evil 6, after Leon and Helena make their way to China in pursuit of Simmons, our lad has finally taken the opportunity to change out of his leather jacket and into something a little more combat-oriented. Specifically, he’s sporting a different pair of dark pants and dark shoes, alongside a blue collared shirt, black tactical vest, and fingerless gloves as an accent.
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While still not quite as iconic as his pre-Resident Evil 6 looks, this one is a little closer to what we’re looking for. The collared shirt is an interesting choice, especially with the unbuttoned collar for a bit of visual appeal, but the tactical vest helps to properly cement it as action wear. If I had to guess, Leon probably chose an outfit that he could easily switch to something more unassuming, opting for the tactical vest right off the bat on the assumption that the situation on the ground would already be unstable. Well, he was right about that one, so points for practicality.
5
Casual Outfit
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
At the beginning of Resident Evil 2, Leon arrives in Raccoon City more or less right in the middle of everything going to hell, on his first day at the Raccoon City Police Department. Before arriving there, he’s dressed in his casual outfit, which you can have him keep on after beating the game once, and it’s a nice little indicator of how Leon liked to dress before his life was taken over by viral plagues.
Leon’s casual outfit consists of white sneakers, blue jeans, a plain white tee under a button-up shirt, and a comfortable-looking grey jacket on top. Compared to the R.P.D. uniform, it’s obviously not very distinctive, but that’s also kind of the point. Before getting involved with Umbrella and its many mushy spawn, Leon was a pretty ordinary guy. He wore bright blue jeans and white sneakers because he didn’t think he’d be knee-deep in viscera on any given day. This outfit makes for a nice contrast compared to the kind of stuff he wears now, and how hard his life has worn him down.
4
Mafia Outfit
Resident Evil 4 (2005/2023)
The vast majority of joke outfits Leon’s donned throughout the Resident Evil games are too silly to be considered iconic, something you dress him up in for laughs rather than because you think he looks good. One of the rare few exceptions to this is the Mafia outfit, unlocked by completing Separate Ways in the original Resident Evil 4 and the main campaign in the remake.
The Mafia outfit is largely the same in both versions of the game, consisting of a very sleek black pinstripe suit over a white shirt, a red tie, a white scarf, and a black fedora hat with a white stripe. Now, maybe I’m biased on this one, but I’m firmly of the belief that everyone looks good in pinstripes, Leon included. He’s got the perfect frame for a mobster tough, but the scarf and hat add an extra note of class and style. Additionally, when this outfit is worn alongside the special tommy gun weapon, AKA the Chicago Typewriter, Leon can perform a special reload animation where he adjusts his hat, then dramatically tosses it into the air. If there were any incentive for playing either version of Resident Evil 4 twice, it’d be that outfit-weapon combo.
3
R.P.D. Uniform
Resident Evil 2 (1998/2019)
In the original Resident Evil 2, Leon is already wearing his Raccoon City Police Department uniform at the start of the game, while in the remake, he puts it on after entering the police station and meeting Marvin. The precise timing of it is immaterial; what’s important is the outfit itself, arguably one of the most recognizable outfits in the series, if not Leon’s most recognizable outfit.
Leon’s R.P.D. getup consists of a dark blue jumpsuit with armor pads on his knees and elbows, plus a chest pad with the station logo emblazoned on the front. The original version of this outfit has shoulder pads instead of knee pads and a larger R.P.D. logo on the front, but other than that, both outfits capture the same basic vibe. It’s a no-frills, all-action ensemble, ready for a rookie cop about to get in far, far over his head. It’s because of this outfit that, not unlike with Jill, Leon has come to be associated predominantly with the color blue, at least when he’s not rocking all black.
2
Bomber Jacket
Resident Evil 4 (2005/2023)
Leon’s first appearance may have been in Resident Evil 2, but arguably, the game that really carved out a spot for him in our hearts was Resident Evil 4, which showed us how much of a swashbuckling action hero he can really be. A big part of that cemented image is the fit he chose for his covert mission into Spain, which was carried over more-or-less one-to-one in the Resident Evil 4 remake.
When Leon first arrives in the village, he’s sporting heavy-duty cargo pants, combat boots, a black shirt, fingerless gloves, and the pièce de résistance, a heavy brown bomber jacket. The bomber jacket is what really sells this as a heroic adventurer’s outfit; warm and comfortable, yet striking and resilient. He’s here for a rough time, not a good time. You know how you know it’s an awesome jacket? Because after Leon loses it, Ada runs into a Ganado in the village who puts it on himself. Even Las Plagas knows quality material when it sees it.
1
Black Shirt
Resident Evil 4 (2005/2023)
After getting knocked out and locked up by Los Illuminados in both versions of Resident Evil 4, Leon loses his jacket, leaving him with just his cargo pants and black shirt. I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t this just the bomber jacket outfit without the bomber jacket? Should this really be counted as a separate outfit?” Yes, hypothetical observer, yes it should. It’s this look that’s on the cover art of the original Resident Evil 4, which made it the very first Leon look many young gamers saw all the way back in 2005.
While we mourn the loss of the bomber jacket, removing it does better illustrate the extent to which Leon is geared up for his mission. Without the jacket, we can see Leon’s knife sheathe and tactical pouches, as well as get a better glimpse at his utility belt. More importantly, losing the jacket also lets us see the short sleeves of his black shirt. Remember how I said Leon is better served by short sleeves than no sleeves? This outfit shows us why. The sleeves cut off just right to show us the contours of his biceps. The jacket was awesome, but the black shirt is still Leon’s top-shelf fit.
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Resident Evil Requiem
9/10
- Released
-
February 27, 2026
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases
