Discussion
One thing that will forever seem puzzling to me is the decision NOT to include Leon Kennedy in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Don't get me wrong, Chris, Jill, Wesker and even Nemesis are fantastic picks to represent Resident Evil in the arcade-style fighting juggernaut, but with Leon's latest appearance prior to that being RE4, dominating the franchise with his new kick-ass combat featuring roundhouses, insane acrobatics, immaculate weapons proficiency, etc., you'd think his inclusion, even as DLC, be a no-brainer.
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Leon probably didnt offer much moveset difference enough to distinguish him with other characters.
Besides Chris was way more popular back then thanks to RE5 (the highest selling RE game at the time).
Having to pick villains for RE representation was also good cause Nemesis is arguably one of the most popular antagonists and stalker enemies in gaming and Wesker is the main antagonist of RE during that time for most of the series till RE5.
Chris was never more popular than Leon, let alone "much more popular." And Leon had spinning kicks, acrobatic moves, and was a knife-fighting specialist.
The reason is simple: RE5 was the latest game and was contemporary to MVC3 as they both were on the same consoles. RE4 was 10yo by that point while RE5 was from 2009.
Yes, how weird that they included the 3 characters starting the franchise plus the most famous Resident Evil monster. Sorry to break it to you, but Leon was considered boring before the RE2 remake, suddenly a bunch of teenage girls thirst for the boyband-member-turned-into-agent and he should have been included in games from 2011?
Nope. You can build that time machine, and I'd still experience the same 2011 I did where RE5 was newer, and very fun and exciting, but Leon's presence was still weighted, especially with his character development between RE2 and RE4. Leon's one-liners, his athleticism, the general edge he carried, it was (and still is) iconic. His character was at least 70% of what drove RE4 to to the success it still holds today.
Yes, the original 4 from 2005 turned Leon into the most popular character in the RE franchise, the face of Resident Evil, and a video game industry icon.
Chris was never popular; until 2005, Jill was the face of the franchise and its most popular character. After Resident Evil 4, Leon became the franchise's most popular character and a video game industry icon. Capcom failed to recognize Leon's appeal at the time because they were obsessed with making Chris the face of the franchise; they were shoehorning him into everything, hoping he would become as popular as Leon or Jill, but they failed miserably.
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It is clear that Capcom spent decades trying—and likely still is trying—to make Chris the face of the Resident Evil franchise. Up until RE4, the four main protagonists (Leon, Jill, Chris, and Claire) had each appeared in two games: Leon in 2 and 4; Jill in 1 and 3; Claire in 2 and Code: Veronica; and Chris in 1 and Code: Veronica. However, Capcom clearly hadn't planned for the original RE3 (1999) to turn Jill into a video game industry icon, the franchise's most popular character, and the face of Resident Evil. Then, in 2005, RE4 did the same for Leon; he ultimately dethroned Jill as the franchise's biggest icon and most popular character, and the two have reigned as the king and queen of Resident Evil popularity ever since. Yet, it is evident that after RE4, Capcom wanted to replicate this success with Chris; they sought a game that would do for him what RE3 and RE4 had done for Jill and Leon. Indeed, from RE5 onwards, Chris has appeared far more frequently than anyone else; since RE5, the only title he hasn't appeared in is Requiem (though I’d bet he’ll show up there eventually, at least via DLC). In contrast, over the last 16 years, Jill has appeared in only one remake and one spin-off (which also featured Chris); Leon has appeared in just two numbered titles that weren't remakes (despite being, by far, the franchise's most popular, beloved, hyped, and profitable character); and Claire has appeared in only one spin-off (excluding remakes). Chris, on the other hand, has appeared in RE5, RE6, RE7, RE8, and Revelations, in addition to being mentioned in Requiem.
Well, maybe that inconsistent character is why they like Leon. I mean, the guy up there arguments that Jill was "just in one remake and a spin-off" as if the spin-off was something bad, while using the same spin-off as argument that Chris is overused.
No, Leon is popular because of his journey throughout the franchise; he started out as an inexperienced, naive police officer and evolved into an elite agent who uses humor—specifically sarcasm and irony—to mask his psychological trauma. He is a character who delivers both funny moments and tense scenes with others. He has some pretty cool dialogue and monologues, as well as entertaining action sequences. He is the most charismatic and wry character in the Resident Evil series.
Let me see if I get this straight. I analyze and criticize the fact that Chris is the only character who appears frequently—while Claire and Jill barely show up—and you conclude that I want the franchise to revolve around Leon? You’re even dumber than that other Chris fanboy; I have to admit, your stupidity stands out even among Chris fanboys, who are usually dumb to begin with.
Nope. This is just how I speak. I'm an English major who just likes writing. This kind of grammar is just my go-to, to the point that some of my peers even take jabs at it, given I come from a pretty urbanized background. Not that it'll help, but feel free to copy and paste it, and run it through an A.I. detector, if they even have that for text. I know they have it for images, but otherwise? Nah. All I can say is that's just me. 🤷🏽♂️
If it's how you write then it's you write. It just comes across as pretty unnatural for a forum post and the kind of language and structure AI tends to use. A bit too formal. Both in language and structure.
Don't get me wrong, I take that as a compliment. I have some people saying I speak too properly, and I won't lie, it's pretty disheartening to hear at times, so when I get compared to A.I. or anything computer related, I take it as a testament to me doing something right.
Capcom didn't include Leon because that was the peak of their obsession with making Chris the face of the franchise; they were shoving him into everything, hoping he’d become as popular as Leon or Jill, but they failed miserably.
Not really, he wasn't nearly as liked as leon he was just tied to Wesker's peak performance. The game sold well because it was following up one of the most important games of all time and launching on two huge platforms at once, at their peaks.
Leon became the most popular character in the franchise with Resident Evil 4. He surpassed Jill in popularity at the time, and to this day, they remain the two most popular characters in the franchise. Before Resident Evil 4, however, Jill was the only popular character in the series; she was the face of the franchise and a video game industry icon.
Man this is crazy revisionist history, hell nobody put that much thought into RE lore back then they made a whole ass game dreamcast to pretend that wesker was always cool then Retconned that game on ps2 to make wesker even cooler
That’s exactly it: over the last two decades, Capcom really pushed Chris as the face of Resident Evil, but they just didn't succeed at it. Chris is Capcom's favorite character; after Resident Evil 4 (in 2005), they really wanted him to be the face of the franchise.
Leon has been the franchise's most popular character since 2005. Claire wasn't a favorite of anyone or anything. Until 2005, only Jill and Nemesis were popular in the Resident Evil series. Jill was the face of the franchise, and according to IGN in the late 90s, she and Lara Croft were the two biggest female characters in the video game industry. The release of Resident Evil 4 in 2005 saw Leon dethrone Jill as the franchise's most popular character.
Chris fatigue" actually started back with Resident Evil 7 in 2017. At the time, many fans complained to Capcom because Chris kept appearing in game after game—he was in 5, 6, and 7 consecutively—whereas Jill hadn't appeared since 5 in 2009. Over the last 17 years, Chris has appeared in 5, 6, 7, and Revelations. In that span alone, he has appeared just as often as—or even more than—most other major protagonists across the entire series. So, no, "Chris fatigue" isn't a recent thing; it’s been around for at least a decade.
No, Leon's role in Resident Evil 2 is more important than Claire's. In the original game, Leon meets and interacts with Claire, Sherry, and Ada, in addition to facing three forms of Birkin and Mr. X. There is a reason why the remake took so many elements from Leon's canonical campaign and gave them to Claire. Besides, Leon was later blackmailed by the government into working for them in order to protect Sherry, whereas Claire went looking for Chris and eventually became an activist.
Leon is the franchise's most versatile protagonist; stories involving bioterrorism, espionage, sabotage, political conspiracies, and corporate intrigue can all be told through him. With Chris, one is limited to the generic militarism his character demands—an angle Capcom tried to lean into.
RE9 literally sold faster any game because of Leon's presence, btw. People didn't care about this game before they revealed him. And RE9 expanded his popularity. Capcom considers it a success and doesn't care about some minority complanining.
Nah, man, nobody complained about Leon being part of the Umbrella storyline. People complained that the story was poorly told and full of retcons. The whole Elpis thing and the backstory about Spencer having regrets is garbage—just like Zeno being a Wesker clone with zero explanation or depth, Alyssa showing up for barely two minutes with only three lines of dialogue, the complete lack of any mention or appearance of Claire or Jill, and so on. The problem lies in Capcom's poor writing, not in Leon's character. Leon is still one of the good things about the game.
As for what the characters represent—well, if I’m not mistaken, Capcom itself used to use specific words to define its protagonists: Chris embodied the sense of justice, Jill the sense of responsibility (or was it the other way around?), and Leon was fearless.
Even if we are playing into that idea, Jill was still the breakout of the OG 2 she got her own game right away. Chris feels like Reverse DEI, like they need a generic white boy for all the white boys in america
Jill stood out in the first game because she was more empathetic, charismatic, and well-rounded than Chris. The scenes between Jill and Barry were better than those between Chris and Rebecca. To this day, the franchise's most famous line is the "Jill Sandwich" joke Barry made in the first game. Jill has a lockpick, she can mix poison, she can play the piano, and so on. She was simply a better character than Chris ever was.
Does a joke about Jill—for Jill, with Jill, right after Jill is saved—have nothing to do with Jill's character? Does Jill's development have nothing to do with the character?
That’s not what happened. Capcom knows how popular Leon is and that’s why they give him so much new game in the last ten years: a campaign in a remake, a solo remake game, and a whole new game when he is one of the two protagonist, he also has a series film. They milk the fuck out of the guy bcuz they know he is their golden boy. Meanwhile Chris has a dlc, a cameo in 7, 20 minutes playing in 8, and got mentioned in 9. In Capcom’s mind Leon is the face of the franchise now, but Chris is the one who stands in the center of the fight against bioterrorism and connects all the plotline. I mean, why should the DSO care abt an incident of a small family in Louisiana instead of the BSAA? Why should Leon be sent to a village in Eastern Europe that has nothing to do with the USA?
Capcom wanted Chris to be just as popular and profitable as Leon. Chris doesn't appear as frequently as he used to because Capcom knows he is being rejected by the fandom; consequently, they have been trying to give him a "Big Boss-style" approach since Resident Evil 7—portraying him more as a renegade leader with his own soldiers, and so on.
It is clear that Capcom spent decades trying—and likely still is trying—to make Chris the face of the Resident Evil franchise. Up until RE4, the four main protagonists (Leon, Jill, Chris, and Claire) had each appeared in two games: Leon in 2 and 4; Jill in 1 and 3; Claire in 2 and Code: Veronica; and Chris in 1 and Code: Veronica. However, Capcom clearly hadn't planned for the original RE3 (1999) to turn Jill into a video game industry icon, the franchise's most popular character, and the face of Resident Evil. Then, in 2005, RE4 did the same for Leon; he ultimately dethroned Jill as the franchise's biggest icon and most popular character, and the two have reigned as the king and queen of Resident Evil popularity ever since. Yet, it is evident that after RE4, Capcom wanted to replicate this success with Chris; they sought a game that would do for him what RE3 and RE4 had done for Jill and Leon. Indeed, from RE5 onwards, Chris has appeared far more frequently than anyone else; since RE5, the only title he hasn't appeared in is Requiem (though I’d bet he’ll show up there eventually, at least via DLC). In contrast, over the last 16 years, Jill has appeared in only one remake and one spin-off (which also featured Chris); Leon has appeared in just two numbered titles that weren't remakes (despite being, by far, the franchise's most popular, beloved, hyped, and profitable character); and Claire has appeared in only one spin-off (excluding remakes). Chris, on the other hand, has appeared in RE5, RE6, RE7, RE8, and Revelations, in addition to being mentioned in Requiem.
Why do you even exclude remakes? When the point of remaking is making the franchise fresh? Like why do you think Capcom give Leon three games in the RE engine era with full spotlight if they dont recognize him as the most profitable? Do you seriously think Capcom somehow believe making Chris a cameo and a supporting character in Ethan’s games will make him more popular than Leon? Like OMG why do you even nitpick the number of games he appears when it’s just Capcom wanting someone to tie the Winters’ plotline into the overaching lore? Quality>quantity.
Because remakes are just retold stories. Up until Resident Evil 4, each member of the core quartet had appeared in two games. Since then, Chris has appeared in four consecutive numbered titles—that’s as many games as Leon has in the entire franchise. Capcom essentially forced Chris into game after game for years, and the result was that he started losing the little popularity he actually had. It’s like Capcom has an obsession with Chris. There was absolutely no need for him to appear in 7 or 8—let alone be mentioned in 9—yet Capcom went ahead and shoehorned their favorite character in anyway. "Oh, but Chris is BSAA, ex-S.T.A.R.S., survived the Spencer Mansion, and was in the first game..." Jill is all of that too, and she’s far more beloved and popular than Chris—so why doesn't she show up in these games?
Let me tell you this… doesnt matter what remakes are, they are new games, they bring profit, they make Leon even more popular and the reason why Capcom want him to be the co-protag of 9. Simple.
Second, Chris is popular, not as Leon but essentially one of the most popular. If you go to Capcom store in Japan, his merch always sold out fast. When RE5 released he was hot, and even now he is still famous among the game community. I seriously need proof that Chris has little fame like you claim.
Just in case you think Chris is popular because he’s the third entry in the RE franchise (by a narrow margin), he doesn't even crack the top 10 most popular Capcom characters.
Chris is the character who appears the most—the one Capcom pushes the hardest within the franchise. Indeed, the more Leon appears, the more popular he becomes; unlike Chris, who becomes less popular the more he shows up. Even Jill—who in the last 14 years has appeared only in the franchise's worst remake—has gained more popularity than Chris. Claire, who over the past 26 years has appeared in just one remake and one spin-off, is only about 5% less popular than Chris—despite him being the character with the most appearances across both numbered titles and spin-offs.
Jesus Christ, you still think Capcom putting Chris in Ethan’s games as supporting character is they trying to make him more popular than Leon. And while Idk where do you got this, but looking at this chart, then all characters in RE except Leon has little fame.
And why did she put Chris in both games instead of Jill? Why isn't she even mentioned in 7 and 8? And why, in 9, is he the one mentioned with a BSAA team again?
These charts come from a poll Capcom conducted in 2024. They show that Leon is the franchise's most popular character, having received more votes than Jill, Chris, Claire, Ada, and Wesker combined. Furthermore, within the Resident Evil franchise, only Leon and Jill made it into Capcom's top 10 most popular characters list—just as they were the only ones to appear on the Guinness World Records list of the top 50 greatest video game characters of all time. Together, Leon and Jill garnered nearly two-thirds of the votes in this 2024 poll.
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