Is Leon Kennedy Dead?

No, Leon S. Kennedy isn't dead, unless you pick the wrong ending in Resident Evil Requiem. He survives Resident Evil 2, 4 and 6 and every CG film he's in. Requiem, the latest game, has two endings: in one he's cured of the illness killing him and walks out alive, and in the other he's killed by Zeno deep under Raccoon City. (Resident Evil 2 (1998); Resident Evil 4 (2005); Resident Evil 6; Resident Evil Requiem)

Resident Evil 2 (1998)#

Leon's first day as a police officer is the day Raccoon City falls. He survives the police station, the sewers and Umbrella's lab, and escapes with Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin as the lab self-destructs. The 2019 remake ends the same way, with all three walking out alive. (Resident Evil 2 (1998); Resident Evil 2 (2019))

Resident Evil 4 (2004)#

In Spain Leon comes closest to death before Requiem. He's implanted with a Las Plagas parasite by the cult that kidnapped Ashley Graham, and it's slowly taking him over. He and Ashley have the parasites removed on the island, he kills the cult leader Osmund Saddler, and the two escape on a jet ski as the island explodes. The 2023 remake keeps that ending. (Resident Evil 4 (2005); Resident Evil 4 (2023))

The CG films and Resident Evil 6#

Leon is the lead of most of the CG films, and he survives all of them: Degeneration in 2005, Infinite Darkness in 2006, Damnation in 2011, Vendetta in 2014 and Death Island in 2015. (Resident Evil: Degeneration; Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness; Resident Evil: Damnation; Resident Evil: Vendetta; Resident Evil: Death Island)

Resident Evil 6, set in 2013, is the hardest on him emotionally. He has to shoot President Adam Benford, his friend, after Benford turns in the Tall Oaks outbreak. He survives the campaign that follows, through China and the fight with Derek Simmons, and ends the game still an agent. (Resident Evil 6)

Resident Evil Requiem (2026)#

Requiem is the only game where Leon can die, and the reason is set up from the start. He's suffering from Raccoon City Syndrome, t-Virus that stayed in the survivors of 1998 and has become active again, and it gets worse all game. Our explainer on why Leon is infected in Requiem covers it in full. (Resident Evil Requiem)

At the end, Grace Ashcroft has to choose what to do with Elpis, Spencer's last creation:

• Release Elpis. Elpis is an antiviral, and Grace uses it to cure Leon. He then kills a mutated Victor Gideon, and the two of them are pulled out by a BSAA team sent by Chris Redfield. (Resident Evil Requiem; VGC guide to the Requiem endings)
• Destroy Elpis. ARK starts to destroy itself. Leon, too sick to escape with her, stays behind to hold off Zeno so Grace can get out, and Zeno kills him as the two fall into the depths of the facility. Grace escapes alone. (Resident Evil Requiem; GamesRadar+ guide to the Requiem endings)

So which is it?#

Requiem's endings aren't weighted equally. The release ending carries on into a final boss, an epilogue and a post-credits scene. The destroy ending stops after Leon's death, and the game then offers to take you straight back to the choice. GamesRadar+ says it's clear the destroy ending isn't canonical. That's the outlet's reading of the design, though. We haven't found Capcom confirming either ending. (Resident Evil Requiem; GamesRadar+ guide to the Requiem endings)

Our reading, and it's only a reading: everything the game puts after the release ending, from Sherry's cure to the post-credits tease, points forward, which suggests that's the version Capcom means to build on. Until a new game picks up the story, the fair answer is that Leon is alive in one ending and dead in the other. For more, see the Resident Evil Requiem story and Leon's full history. (Resident Evil Requiem)