Resident Evil 2 Director Initially Opposed to Using Original Characters, Relented by Adding Claire Redfield

That stance shifted during work on the aborted Biohazard 1.5 — the original Resident Evil 2 build that later leaked online. Kamiya recalls writer Noboru Sugimura asking why none of the first game’s characters were returning. That conversation prompted the team to invent Claire Redfield, written as Chris Redfield’s sister.

In the earlier Resident Evil 1.5 draft, the female lead was Elza Walker, while Leon S. Kennedy appeared as a motorcycle-riding college student who arrives at the Raccoon City Police Department. Although Elza never made it into the final series, her costume was later included as an Easter egg in the 2019 remake. Importantly, Leon did survive the overhaul and has since become one of the franchise’s most popular characters, so Kamiya’s initial instincts were not entirely off base.

Kamiya would again push genre boundaries when he directed early versions of Resident Evil 4, which originally featured a protagonist named Tony and a far faster, more stylized, almost superhuman approach. That concept ultimately diverged enough from the series that it evolved into a separate project — which eventually became Devil May Cry.

Notably, recent reports indicate Leon Kennedy stars in Resident Evil Requiem — a development that reportedly leaked on PlayStation, much to the likely displeasure of Capcom.