Women on Capcom shaped Leon Kennedy's 'hot uncle' look, director says

Koshi Nakanishi, director of the new Resident Evil game, told Automaton that Leon Kennedy’s older, 'hot uncle' design owes a lot to the women on Capcom’s development team, who closely reviewed and influenced his visuals.

Nakanishi said the team "spent quite a lot of time polishing Leon’s visuals. Leon has many fans among Capcom employees, and women in particular were pretty strict when reviewing his design. They would point out and comment on even the finest details like the wrinkles on his neck."

Speaking proudly of the result, Nakanishi added: "Throughout the development process, Leon was thoroughly refined, and I think we managed to come through with a design that would make anyone’s heart throb."

He also noted the team discussed more than just appearance: "Every staff member had their own interpretation of Leon’s 30-year-long history, so they would tell me things like: 'Leon would definitely not act like that in this kind of situation.'" After many discussions, they settled on a version that fit the team.

On what comes next, Nakanishi said he hopes "when players see this Leon in the game, hopefully they will be able to find their own interpretation of him as well," leaving the final judgment of the redesign to players.

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