But then there's Leon Kennedy. The likable rookie cop is the only person in the entire series who seems to buy into the idea of women as the Other - and even then, just for one person: Ada Wong. He trusts Claire readily enough, leaving her to deal solo with the zombies in RE2, but he acts far more protectively with Ada. He tries to take care of her, even over her own protests, protecting her from zombies, reassuring her they'll survive and watching over her when she's injured. Granted, part of Leon's motivation is he has fallen instantly in love with Ada, and, intoxicated by adrenaline and terror, he wants to play her knight in shining armor. But he also underestimates her, judging her weaker and less capable than he. Especially in RE2, Leon's actions suggest a conviction that he's the only who really gets Ada, and that he believes all she needs is a good, strong man like himself to take care of her on an emotional level.
I don't blame him for thinking that way. As I said before, Ada looks like the stereotypical "girl power" sex kitten, and many such female characters in other stories are waiting for a man to do just that. For instance, recall Cameron Diaz's character in the second Charlie's Angels movie, which was at the time lauded for its "strong" female protagonists; Natalie Cook's physical prowess was unequaled by anything but her emotional insecurity. Or consider the young, professionally successful main characters in modern chick lit, who are, for the most part, elaborately self-destructive nut jobs. The overwhelming theme is women really aren't as strong as they seem; while they may appear attractive, intelligent and capable, emotionally they are weak. It's the natural product of a competition between two paradigms: The feminist ideal of strength, freedom and competence, and women's continued status as the Other in society. Leon is just a product of his environment, and he assigns Ada that "false aura of mystery" mostly out of habit.
However, while Ada isn't exactly forthcoming with her true purpose, she isn't nearly as mysterious as Leon seems to believe. For a woman with so much to hide, she's terrible at lying when it counts. She drops numerous hints in RE2 of her motives, such as running off whenever new, critical information about Birkin and his G-Virus is revealed. In RE4, she all but tells Leon that she needs a Las Plagas sample before she forcibly takes his. Yet, at the end of the game, as Leon zooms away with Ashley on the jet ski and pines for the woman who got away, it's clear he still thinks of Ada as a mystery, something unintelligible and Other in essence.
Obviously, Ada likes Leon, and she even claims to love him at one point. But Ada also reflects Beauvoir's philosophy in many ways. She never truly relies on Leon's protection in either game, and by doing so, she also refuses to share any responsibility for her actions and well-being. Her decisions are her own, and thus her fate is hers alone, too. Ada has already elevated herself in exactly the way Beauvoir prescribed, even if Leon can't see it yet.
As Beauvoir says, interaction between the sexes is not a matter of superiority, inferiority or even equality; it's about relating, person to person, human to human. Ada is already there, relating to Leon on a level even he hasn't quite achieved and leaving him floundering in her wake.
So yes, Ada is definitely a feminist icon, and an admirable one at that. But, you know, that doesn't make her nice. Because when all is said and done, existentialism is still kind of a bitch.
Lara Crigger is a freelance science, tech and gaming journalist and frequent contributor to The Escapist. Her email is lcrigger[at]gmail[dot]com.
