Ever since the launch of Resident Evil Requiem on Feb. 27, Leon-crazed fans have been wondering about the significance of the simple gold band he’s briefly seen wearing on his left hand in the game’s closing moments. The logical conclusion to draw is that Leon is married — but who’s his lucky spouse? Leon never even mentions being coupled up at any point in the story.
Despite rampant online speculation, developer Capcom has yet to confirm the ring’s significance. Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi didn’t offer a straight answer regarding Leon’s marital status in a recent conversation with Eurogamer, though he did make it clear that it holds an emotional significance to everyone’s favorite Italian-Irish-American zombie slayer.
“The answer will become clear some day, but not just yet,” Nakanishi told Eurogamer. “What we wanted to convey in the final scene is simple: Leon now has a ‘place to go home to’, and we hope you can imagine the peaceful moments he spends there. Leon is a man who says very little about the things that truly matter, but he would sacrifice himself without a second thought to save a life right in front of him. So what does his ring signify? Resolve? Or a vow? He may never voice the answer himself, but for now, after finishing a long battle, he has a ‘place to go home to.’ Isn’t that enough?”
While it’s far from confirmation that Leon is married to a Resident Evil co-star like Ada or Claire, this does actually tell us a fair bit about Leon’s life outside the events of Requiem. He could have just picked up the ring off of one of the many thousands of corpses he’s desecrated over the last few decades, or it might have been a cherished Kennedy family heirloom. But it doesn’t sound like either of those things are likely from Nakanishi’s description. If Leon has a “home” where he spends “peaceful moments,” that very much implies that he’s shackin’ up with someone who’s eager for him to return. I’m not sure why he apparently never felt the need to call this person throughout his adventure with Grace. Perhaps he was devoting all his spare mental energy to coming up with pithy one-liners to use against Victor Gideon, an equally vital use of his time.
If the most literal meaning of “home” and “vow” doesn’t apply here, “resolve” also offers up an interesting possibility. Maybe the object of Leon’s affection gave him an ultimatum: Get rid of the awful neck rash that’s melting your brain before we take this relationship to the next level. It’s a thoroughly reasonable request! After all, he only slips that ring back on his finger once the mission is done.
