In his first appearance in Resident Evil 2, Leon Kennedy is a fresh-faced rookie, brave, but not particularly prepared for the biohazardous horrors he’s about to be subjected to. Following his forcible recruitment in the U.S. government’s top-secret B.O.W. task force, he went through some… rough times, after which he developed a bit of a habit starting in Resident Evil 4: quipping.
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In that game, and moreso many years later in Resident Evil Requiem, Leon is, in a word, tired. He doesn’t really have the energy to be scared of zombies and monsters anymore, so in lieu of that, he likes to offer up pithy one-liners. Even if nobody in earshot has a functioning brain to parse them, this little habit does go a long way toward cementing Leon’s enduring image as an unflappable badass. Even in Requiem, where he’s actively dying from Raccoon City Syndrome, Leon still has plenty of one-liners in the tank, made all the more impactful in those few instances where a sapient person actually can hear them.
Major spoilers for Resident Evil Requiem ahead!
10
“I Think I Want a Second Opinion.”
It’s Called “Elective Surgery” for a Reason
Shortly after Leon arrives at the care center and is directed to a waiting room by a staff member, a T-Virus outbreak kicks off, with said staff member being bisected by an infected doctor with an inexplicable chainsaw. With this zombified doctor right in front of him swinging a large piece of construction equipment, Leon casually remarks, “I think I want a second opinion.”
This first major quip is a good indicator of how Leon’s thought processes tend to pan out. He’s so used to this kind of nonsense, that he doesn’t really need to put conscious thought into fighting or surviving, so a little chunk of his brain is dedicated to coming up with one-liners. Hey, we all have hobbies, especially those that keep us sane during work. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leon kept a little journal of his favorite zingers made during a given mission, written after the fact, of course.
9
“When Was The Last Time You Brushed Your Teeth?”
I Was Wondering That, Myself
After getting separated from Grace and knocked out by Victor, Leon finds himself tied to a chair while the evil genius monologues at him about this and that. Victor tries to goad Leon into asking questions, teasing him about his worsening infection, and given the opportunity, Leon does have a question to ask the man leaning uncomfortably over his shoulder: “when was the last time you brushed your teeth?”
I have to admit, I had been wondering about that myself for the entirety of this game. Victor’s teeth are clearly bright yellow in coloration, but for the life of me, I can’t tell if he’s got a full mouth of gold teeth, or they’re just completely rotten. Either seems plausible, though the former seems a little ostentatious. Either way, given the state of his body, this man is definitely not practicing adequate self-care, and as Leon points out, if you’re going to imprison a guy, the least you could do is chew a stick of gum.
Fight One Bloated Giant, You’ve Fought ‘em All
After escaping Victor, Leon pokes through the attics of the care center, only to stumble upon one of the two excessively-mutated subjects nicknamed “Chunk.” Chunk is ravenously hungry, immediately looking to take a bite out of Leon, but with some fancy footwork and a gun he found, Leon manages to defeat the massive mutant. As he melts into a pool of goo, Leon informs him, “sorry, but I’m not on the menu.”
I think for most action heroes, being confronted by a gigantic, man-eating person would be a rather intimidating prospect. However, in Leon’s case, his encounter with Chunk isn’t even the first time he’s been in a fight like this. He fought three Gigante mutants during the events of Resident Evil 4, all of whom were much larger than Chunk and, if we’re being honest, far scarier. Giants are scary the first one or two times, but three and onwards, and it’s just another Tuesday.
7
“Well, That’s My Cardio for the Week.”
The First Rule of Zombie Survival
If you’ve ever seen the film Zombieland, you know that the first and foremost survival rule in a zombie situation is to maintain good cardio. It doesn’t matter if they’re slow or fast zombies, as long as you’re faster than both of them. Being an experienced zombie-buster himself, Leon is naturally very familiar with this vital rule, and does his best to maintain good health practices.
While exploring the care center separately from Grace, Leon ends up in a bushwhack in one of the office areas, besieged by zombies and Blister Heads while waiting for an elevator to arrive. In typical fashion, Leon manages to dispatch the lot of them, and when the last body hits the floor, Leon casually remarks, “well, that’s my cardio for the week.” You have to admit, as stressful as fighting B.O.W.s must be, it’s got to be great full-body exercise. Good for Leon, keeping his health in mind while wading through puddles of blood and gore.
6
“Must be Time For the Evening Service.”
Big Bingo Energy
After Grace and Emily crash in the helicopter, the two are forced to flee toward the care center’s chapel as both a fire spreads and the zombies come looking for a snack. Coincidentally, Leon happens to be on a balcony with a sniper rifle, and as he sees the zombies moving toward Grace and the chapel, he guesses that it “must be time for the evening service.”
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This particular bit makes for a neat little inversion of another signature Leon quip moment, specifically in Resident Evil 4 where, after the village’s Ganado are lured away by the sound of the church bell, he asks “where’s everyone going? Bingo?” In that case, the monster folk were lured away from the scene to a church, but in this case, the church is exactly where Leon (and Grace, for that matter) doesn’t want them going. Time is a flat circle sometimes, I suppose.
5
“I Don’t Have Time for Pest Control.”
Leon Ought to Charge by the Hour
After entering the ruins of Raccoon City, Leon is confronted by a gigantic T-virus-mutated spider, the Titan Weaver, and forced to run while it pursues him through a building. When the two finally get into a proper fight, Leon begins pumping bullets into its gross, fleshy rear, and after a few solid shots, he asks the monster, “haven’t you had enough? I don’t have time for pest control.”
Leon’s had some unpleasant experiences with mutant insects in the past, including both the severe cases of C-virus mutants encountered during Resident Evil 6 and the insectoid Novistadors encountered in the sewers of Salazar Castle in Resident Evil 4. Leon has spent a not-insignificant portion of his career cleaning up other peoples’ mutant bug messes, and when it all culminates in getting into a firefight with a gigantic spider, it’s understandable that he’s a little tired of it. Although, if you want to get technical about it, spiders aren’t insects, so…
4
“Let Me Guess, You Must be the Town Lumberjack.”
Speaking from Experience
While searching the abandoned gas station in Raccoon City for some fuel, Leon is confronted by a handful of zombies, one of which is swinging a chainsaw around. I can’t even begin to guess where this zombie got this thing or how he fueled the thing up, but Leon isn’t bothered by such details, instead quipping, “let me guess, you must be the town lumberjack.”
Notwithstanding that chainsaw-swinging doctor at the start of the game, Leon’s had a few tangles with “town lumberjacks” before, specifically the infamous Dr. Salvador of Resident Evil 4. Considering that it was a rural village, I could actually believe Dr. Salvador was a lumberjack prior to becoming a Ganado, whereas I kind of doubt there were any practicing lumberjacks in the midst of an urban setting like Raccoon City. Not one of Leon’s most nuanced quips, perhaps, but I appreciate his commitment to the bit.
3
“Should’ve Worn a Helmet.”
Don’t Try This at Home, Kids
While driving a military motorcycle into the heart of the Raccoon City ruins, Leon is once again confronted by Victor atop a motorcycle of his own. After a lengthy chase involving rocket launchers, collapsing buildings, and a pack of Garmr mutants, Leon and Victor end up face-to-face on a stretch of highway. The two charge at each other, and after Leon shoots out his gas tank, Victor ends up flying over the edge and exploding. As Leon surveys the damage, he remarks, “should’ve worn a helmet.”
There’s a certain irony to this particular comment, given that Leon himself was not wearing a helmet, and regularly gets into far more dangerous, high-flying escapades on his missions. The guy makes several story falls at least several times throughout the game, but he never needed to wear head protection. Not to mention, Victor technically was wearing a helmet, or at least half of one. I’m not sure if that weird visor thing he wears actually has any protective properties.
2
“I Remember You. I Remember That, Too…”
You Never Forget Your First Tyrant
After arriving in the derelict Raccoon Police Department, Leon finally catches up to Zeno and Grace. Zeno casually dodges a couple of Leon’s shots and, uninterested in dealing with him personally, calls in a helper: a T-501 Tyrant, the newest generation of Mr. X. Having fought one of the early-model Tyrants in Resident Evil 2, Leon remarks, “I remember you.” This is followed by Mr. X punching him through a wall, to which Leon groggily responds, “I remember that, too.”
Ol’ Mr. X was definitely a hallmark of Leon’s first zombie-busting adventure, so seeing the latest model definitely warrants some manner of quip. Leon probably still has a few lingering bruises from all the walls he got punched through during that first Mr. X experience, so getting punched through yet another wall must have a similar feeling to visiting your least-favorite relatives: pain and irritation mixed with a vague, backwards nostalgia.
1
“How About an Autograph?”
I Would Unironically Love an Autograph
As Leon enters the ARK and makes his way to the central chamber where Zeno is monologuing away at Grace, he’s stopped by the Commander of the Connections’ elite forces. As the two get locked into a hatchet-parrying duel, the Commander reveals that he’s been anticipating his meeting with Leon, eager to do battle.
In response, Leon says, “didn’t realize I had such a big fan. How about an autograph?” The Commander is unimpressed, noting that he had heard Leon was a smart-ass, before the fight kicks off in earnest. Besides being a generally cool thing to say to a masked soldier who’s aiming for your throat with a tactical hatchet, this little exchange reveals something of notable importance: there are actually individuals out there who have heard Leon’s one-liners. That’s pretty impressive, considering that, in the few instances he delivered one to a person instead of a zombie, said person usually ended up dead afterward. Maybe a security camera caught him quipping to himself once or something.
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Resident Evil Requiem
9/10
- Released
-
February 27, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases
