Leon is such a great character, easily my favorite Resident Evil male. Coming into the RE series on the heels of such characters as Chris, Barry, and Wesker, it's no wonder that Leon seemed very different when we first stepped into his shoes at the beginning of RE2. He wasn't a hardened ex-military man. He wasn't an expert in anything. He wasn't mysterious or "cool". He was a young man trapped in a zombie-infested city. He was a rookie cop driving into town on his first day on the job. He whined. He made stupid mistakes. He got injured. And for all of this, he seemed so much more human than the RE males who came before him.

Leon had plenty of weaknesses. For one, he wasn't a bulky, muscle-covered machine of a man. He actually looks a little skinny in RE2. Heck, Ada takes damage far better than Leon. For another, Leon wasn't a highly trained specialist or a genius. He does a lot of dumb things over the course of the game and almost seems naive. But perhaps his biggest weakness in character was his almost obsessive need to protect someone. When he first meets Ada, he wants to help her, without even knowing who she is or what she's doing there. After that point, he continuously scolds her for going off on her own and nearly freaks out whenever she disappears. It's like he can't function properly without someone there, seemingly needing his help. This is probably why he became a policeman. We even see shades of this in RE4, as he seems genuinely troubled when Ashley isn't by his side, and still gets huffy when Ada runs off.

Leon has a funny personality. He's a naive young cop, yes, but he can be sarcastic and blunt. And adorably clueless. For fun, count how many times he says "What?" in RE2. Obviously, the boy had a lot to learn back then. But he's a good guy overall, and would go to any lengths to help people out, even if it's just one person. He trusts people a little too easily, but also gets frustrated easily when people don't listen to him. In RE4, we see him mature somewhat. He still seems to trust way too many people way too quickly, but at least those people aren't so obviously shady (like Ada in RE2). He's a little more intelligent in RE4, and seems to take things a little more in stride. He's probably had a lot more training, and has learned to keep his cool.

Above all, Leon is a great character precisely because he is flawed and weak and sometimes even stupid. He's actually a nice guy, which is a lot more than you can say for most of the modern video game "heroes" out these days. He's someone you can root for and pull for, because he's a little more like you. Plus, he's pretty. What more do we need?