Resident Evil 9 Leak Reveals Second Playable Character, And It's Not Leon

A new Resident Evil Requiem leak has potentially revealed the game’s second character, and believe it or not, it isn’t Leon this time.

Although Capcom hasn’t confirmed anything yet with regards to Resident Evil Requiem’s full roster of playable characters, leaks and rumours all seem to point to there being two in the final game.

The most popular theory, and the one that leaks seem to confirm, is that Leon Kennedy will be the second playable character in addition to Grace Ashcroft.

Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen, but given that Requiem will be returning to the ruins of Raccoon City, having a character closely associated with those games appear is a rather solid bet.

However, it looks like US retailer GameStop may have accidentally leaked that the second playable character is actually Rose Winters from Resident Evil Village.

As posted on the Gaming Leaks and Rumours Reddit page, one user discovered that GameStop’s listing for Resident Evil Requiem mentions a few cosmetic bonus items for “Rosemary Winters” that appear in the Deluxe Edition.

These cosmetic items are titled the “Morphic Visor Cosmetic Filter” and the “Shadow Walker Costume Pack”, and can be applied to Rosemary Winters in-game.

The leak also mentions a "The Sanctuary" Expansion Pass, which includes two story expansions and a major update to Mercenaries Mode.

Could This Resident Evil 9 Leak Be Legitimate?

Obviously, take all of this with a healthy dose of scepticism. However, the fact that it was posted to GameStop does lend it some legitimacy, considering product listings are usually provided by the game’s publisher. Not long after the listing was made, the description was later edited to remove references to Rose and the expansion pass.

But there are some quite obvious holes here, too. Rose would be around seven or eight years old by the time of Resident Evil Requiem, which takes place in 2028.

Rose from Resident Evil Village "Shadows of Rose", Capcom

It’s unlikely that she’ll be playable as a child, but the game could always potentially flash forward to when she’s older. Rose was a playable character in Resident Evil Village’s Shadows of Rose expansion, which takes place in 2037, after all.

Village’s ending also potentially hinted at Rose returning in future installments, as teased by a mysterious figure approaching the vehicle she’s in during the game’s epilogue. There’s probably still more to her story yet to be seen in future Resident Evil games.

I guess for now we’ll have to wait for a new trailer to be released by Capcom. A new look at the game has been confirmed to air during The Game Awards next week, so it might be confirmed there whether this second playable character is Leon or Rose, or if there even is one at all.