Leon Kennedy

is a fictional video game character from the Resident Evil survival horror series. He is a protagonist in Resident Evil 2 and the main protagonist of Resident Evil 4. During the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon is a new police officer who arrives in Raccoon City for his first day on the job, only to confront the T-virus outbreak first-hand. Six years later in Resident Evil 4, Leon returns as a secret agent for the US government, assigned to rescue the President's daughter.

Leon was created by Hideki Kamiya as a contrast to the male protagonist of the original Resident Evil game, Chris Redfield, who Kamiya felt was the "blunt, tough-guy type". Though he admitted that while he was a fan of a character like Chris, as it had already been done, he opted to take Leon's development in a different direction. As a result he created Leon to have some degree of weakness, but "ultimately a man who was on the ball". He was surprised at how popular Leon had become, praising his evolution into a "cool looking guy" for Resident Evil 4, adding that he "fell in love all over again." While he was originally designed as a veteran police officer, he was changed to a rookie after the original version of Resident Evil 2 was scrapped.

Leon is voiced by Paul Haddad in Resident Evil 2, and Paul Mercier in Resident Evil 4, the film Resident Evil: Degeneration, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

Kennedy first appears as one of two protagonists in Resident Evil 2. Leon is a recently-hired police officer for the Raccoon Police Department. He arrives late to Raccoon City on his first day on the job and finds the town already overrun by zombie. He works with Claire Redfield and attempts to escape the city alive. He is partnered with Ada Wong, a woman claiming to be looking for her missing boyfriend. His attempt to find an escape route leads him to Umbrella's underground laboratory, where he confronts several of Umbrella's mutant creatures.