Resident Evil Requiem fans argue over Leon and Grace sexualization, photoshop the new protagonist into revealing outfits, and complain about censorship

The release of Resident Evil Requiem has reignited a familiar debate about character attractiveness in video games, double standards, and the supposed "censorship" of female characters. At the center of it all are the game's two protagonists – 51-year-old Leon S. Kennedy and new character Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst.

Even before launch, a vocal portion of the fanbase was already calling the game "censored." One viral post claimed that "all female characters were censored and downgraded, except Leon," that there are no "iconic fan-service outfits," and that Grace supposedly looks "ugly." These claims spread widely across social media despite zero evidence to back them up.

In reality, there's no character "censorship" in Resident Evil Requiem. Capcom described Grace as an introverted bookworm who feels powerless due to not being proficient in combat like other Resident Evil protagonists such as Claire Redfield or Jill Valentine. Her design deliberately reflects who she is – an FBI analyst, not a field agent, and her appearance fits both the character and the setting.

One commenter on NeoGAF nailed the absurdity of the situation:

"Not sure if Capcom is woke for making a female playable character, or not woke for making her an attractive frightened weakling… are both sides mad?"

Running parallel to the complaints about Grace's "censorship" is a separate argument about Leon's design. Game director Koshi Nakanishi revealed that Capcom's female employees played a key role in shaping the older Leon's look, saying they would point out and comment on even the finest details like the wrinkles on his neck.

After the The Game Awards 2025 reveal, Japanese fans dubbed the new Leon "ikeoji" (イケおじ) – essentially "an attractive or cool older man." In Western communities, the term "hot uncle" caught on instead.

"We've spent quite a lot of time polishing Leon's visuals. Leon has many fans among Capcom employees, and women in particular were pretty strict when reviewing his design. Throughout the development process, Leon was thoroughly refined, and I think we managed to come through with a design that would make anyone's heart throb."

Those comments became the trigger for a whole new wave of discourse. Part of the audience read Nakanishi's words as proof of "hypocrisy" – that Capcom deliberately made a male character attractive for a female audience while allegedly "downgrading" the female ones. Double standard accusations followed quickly on social media.

Others pushed back, drawing a line between "attractive" and "sexualized." As one user wrote on Twitter:

"Leon is not running around shirtless or anything, he is fully clothed from neck to toe. He is just more muscular now. How can that be considered 'hyper-sexualization' and be on the same level as mods that strip female characters?"

Another user added:

"I find both Grace and Leon attractive but neither are sexualised and that's a good thing."

Mods aren't helping the conversation either. Within the first hours or days after launch, expect PC modifications stripping Grace and other female models to start circulating.

As one fan pointed out – the same people crying about the "hyper-sexualization" of a fully clothed male character are spending hours building mods to undress and sexualize the female ones.

Though, as some commenters noted, explicit mods exist for Leon too – the modding community doesn't discriminate by gender. The difference is that Leon mods tend to get treated as a joke, while mods for female characters are often framed as "fixing" a design that was supposedly "ruined by censorship."

On the topic of actual censorship, Resident Evil Requiem is the first entry in the series to receive a CERO Z rating in Japan without any cuts. Previous entries – Resident Evil 7 and Village – required separate "grotesque" versions, which were still more censored than their Western releases. Requiem is, factually, the least censored game in the franchise's history.

The whole situation around Resident Evil Requiem is a familiar one.

One side is crying "censorship" and "downgrade" where none exists, using it as fuel for another round of culture war.

The other points out that Resident Evil characters are still attractive – Capcom just went with designs that actually fit their characters and context.

Resident Evil Requiem is available today.