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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteResident Evil Requiem has two endings. Release Elpis by entering HOPE to save Leon, cure his Virtus T infection, and reach the expanded final battle. Destroy Elpis and the ARK facility collapses; Zeno kills Leon, while Grace survives without the cure. The Release route is generally treated as the intended continuation, though Capcom has not formally confirmed it as canon in the available material.
What happens in Resident Evil Requiem?
Resident Evil Requiem returns to the ruins of Raccoon City through two very different protagonists. FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft investigates a series of deaths and infections tied to the disaster’s buried biological legacy, while veteran DSO agent Leon S. Kennedy follows the same crisis from a more combat-focused angle.
The investigation eventually leads beneath Raccoon City to ARK, an Umbrella research facility containing Spencer’s final project: Elpis. Gideon and Zeno believe Elpis is a weapon that can destabilize the world. They are wrong. Elpis is an antiviral designed to counter virus-based bioweapons.
Grace must then decide whether to release Elpis or destroy it:
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- Release Elpis: Grace enters the password HOPE, Elpis is recovered, Leon is cured, and Gideon mutates into the final boss after using the NE-γ Type parasite. Grace and Leon survive.
- Destroy Elpis: The facility self-destructs, Zeno kills Leon, Leon’s infection remains untreated, and Grace survives alone. This is the shorter tragic ending.
The Release Elpis route is generally treated as the intended or canonical continuation because it contains the complete final confrontation and resolves Leon’s infection. Capcom has not, based on the available evidence, formally labeled it the canonical ending.
Resident Evil Requiem: game and character overview
Resident Evil Requiem is the ninth mainline Resident Evil game. Capcom released it on February 27, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. If you have not played yet, the Resident Evil Requiem PS5 edition is one of the available versions.
The campaign is built around a deliberate contrast:
| Protagonist | Role in the story | Gameplay emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Grace Ashcroft | An FBI analyst investigating deaths and infections linked to Raccoon City’s past | Vulnerability, investigation, exploration, and traditional survival horror |
| Leon S. Kennedy | A DSO agent tracking the wider bioterrorism crisis | Weapons, combat, and direct encounters with bio-organic threats |
Grace Ashcroft
Grace is the daughter of investigative reporter Alyssa Ashcroft, who appeared as a protagonist in Resident Evil Outbreak. Alyssa was murdered years before the events of Requiem, making Grace’s investigation personal from the beginning.
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Grace is not introduced as another fully trained bioterrorism veteran. She is inexperienced, frightened, and forced to investigate dangers that are far beyond the normal scope of an FBI analyst’s work. Her story is consequently as much about inherited trauma as it is about monsters and laboratories. By the ending, she has become an active survivor who can challenge the people trying to define her identity and make the decision that determines Elpis’s fate.
Leon S. Kennedy
Leon investigates the same threat from a different direction. His sections are more action-oriented, but his role is not simply to provide a familiar combat hero. Leon has a persistent viral condition identified in the game’s materials as Virtus T syndrome. His health deteriorates during the campaign, and his infection becomes the emotional and practical center of the final choice.
Destroying Elpis prevents anyone from using its antiviral properties. Releasing it offers Leon a chance to survive. That makes the ending a personal decision for Grace rather than an abstract argument about whether Spencer’s final research can be trusted.
Alyssa Ashcroft
Alyssa connects Grace’s present-day investigation to the older conspiracy surrounding Umbrella founder Oswell Spencer. Her recordings and investigative history help Grace interpret Spencer’s references to “hope.” Alyssa’s work also gives Grace a way to understand Raccoon City’s history without accepting Spencer’s version of events at face value.
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Spencer is already dead when the main events begin, but his research, facilities, and recorded statements drive the mystery. As Umbrella’s founder, he is associated with biological weapons, human experimentation, and the ambition to reshape humanity through science.
Requiem complicates that legacy by presenting Elpis as an apparent attempt at atonement. Spencer recognized the consequences of the biological arms race he helped create and prepared an antiviral capable of undoing virus-based bioweapons. That does not erase his earlier crimes, and the game leaves the player to decide whether his final project deserves to be trusted.
Victor Gideon and Zeno
Victor Gideon is a Spencer-associated researcher who wants to claim Elpis and continue what he believes was Spencer’s final vision. He misunderstands the project’s purpose, treating it as a world-changing bioweapon rather than an antiviral.
Zeno works with the Connections and is another major force behind the conspiracy. His resemblance to Albert Wesker is intentional: he is connected to cloning and memory-transfer research, and his identity and knowledge about Grace are part of the game’s late-story misdirection. Gideon and Zeno cooperate, but their objectives are not identical. Gideon is obsessed with Spencer’s legacy, while Zeno is primarily interested in the strategic value of the research.
The full story explained
1. Grace investigates a new series of deaths
Grace’s case begins with unexplained deaths and infections connected to the lingering biological contamination associated with Raccoon City. The victims are not simply suffering from an unrelated new disease. Their symptoms point toward persistent viral research and the consequences of the earlier disaster.
Her investigation takes her through locations including the Wrenwood Hotel and the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center. These sections establish the game’s investigative-horror side: Grace must piece together records and environmental evidence while confronting threats without Leon’s level of preparation or firepower.
The case gradually stops looking like a series of isolated incidents. The clues point toward hidden research beneath the ruins of Raccoon City and toward institutions connected to Umbrella’s abandoned work.
2. Leon follows the same crisis
Leon is separately tracking the outbreak and the bio-organic threats connected to it. His route is more combat-heavy, but he is also investigating the same underlying system of research. The two stories converge after Grace is abducted and taken into the conspiracy surrounding the ARK facility.
By this point, Leon’s Virtus T syndrome has become impossible to treat as a background detail. He is not an unaffected agent observing someone else’s infection. He is vulnerable to the same broader viral problem Grace is trying to understand, and the possibility of a cure becomes part of the stakes of the final act.
3. The orphanage records make Grace central to the conspiracy
Records connected to the old Raccoon City institutions reveal research involving children, Spencer’s blood, cloning, and memory transfer. Gideon and Zeno believe these records identify Grace as uniquely important to the Elpis project.
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Their interpretation is that Grace is the successful “original,” or at least a living biological and cognitive key required to access or complete Spencer’s work. This is one of the game’s deliberately confusing revelations, and not every part of the history is confirmed with equal clarity.
The safest reading is that Gideon and Zeno believe Grace is essential because of what they think Spencer’s records say. The game leaves ambiguity about precisely what Spencer did to Grace, if anything, and whether she was genuinely part of a clone program. Their plan depends on an interpretation of incomplete research, not on a fully explained account that the player can treat as unquestionable fact.
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That uncertainty also matters thematically. Grace is repeatedly treated as an object—a specimen, a key, an original, or an extension of Spencer’s plans. Her character arc is about rejecting those labels and taking control of the decision that the antagonists believe belongs to them.
4. Grace and Leon reach ARK
The final act moves beneath the ruins of Raccoon City into ARK, an Umbrella research facility housing the Elpis project. ARK contains the evidence needed to connect the present outbreak to Spencer’s final work, as well as the research sought by Gideon, Zeno, and the Connections.
Gideon believes Elpis can create global disorder and reshape the balance of power through biological catastrophe. Zeno is interested in the project’s strategic value rather than Gideon’s reverence for Spencer. Their alliance therefore becomes unstable as soon as the truth about Elpis starts to emerge.
The Elpis twist: it is an antiviral, not a mind-control weapon
The central reveal is that Elpis is not the weapon Gideon thinks it is. It is an antiviral agent designed to counter virus-based bioweapons and undo their effects.
Gideon and Zeno have built their plan on a mistaken reading of Spencer’s research. They expect Elpis to destabilize the world, but its actual purpose is closer to a countermeasure against the biological legacy of Umbrella and the wider arms race that followed it.
Spencer’s recorded message presents Grace as “hope.” That word has two sources of meaning for her. It reflects Spencer’s claim that his final project could repair some of the damage he caused, but it also connects to Alyssa’s investigation and the possibility that Grace can confront the past without becoming another instrument of it.
The game does not ask Grace to forgive Spencer. It asks whether she can use something created by a criminal to save a life and potentially prevent further suffering. Destroying Elpis rejects Spencer’s legacy completely. Releasing it accepts the risk that his final project may be genuine.
Release Elpis ending: Leon survives
The expanded ending begins when Grace chooses to release Elpis at the final ARK decision. The game associates this route with the password HOPE, drawn from Spencer’s message and the meaning Grace has assigned to Alyssa’s investigation.
Releasing Elpis prevents the facility from being destroyed immediately and allows Grace and Leon to reach the project’s final stage. Gideon obtains the NE-γ Type parasite, mutates, and becomes the final boss.
The final confrontation turns Gideon’s misunderstanding against him. Grace obtains Elpis and injects it into Leon, treating his Virtus T infection. Gideon is defeated, and both Grace and Leon survive the conclusion.
This route resolves the largest questions raised by the campaign:
- Elpis’s true purpose is revealed.
- Leon receives the treatment that the Destroy route denies him.
- Gideon’s obsession with Spencer ends with his mutation and defeat.
- Grace—not Spencer, Gideon, Zeno, or the Connections—makes the decisive choice.
- The story continues beyond the apparent choice instead of ending with ARK’s destruction.
Major guides generally describe Release Elpis as the good, true, or canonical ending because it contains the full final boss sequence and provides the most complete resolution. “Generally treated as canonical” is more precise than claiming Capcom has officially confirmed it as canon.
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If Grace chooses to destroy Elpis, the facility begins its self-destruct sequence. This route is commonly associated with the command or password DESTRUCTION. ARK collapses before the complete antiviral solution can be used.
The immediate consequence is devastating: Zeno kills Leon. Because Elpis is destroyed, Leon’s viral condition is never treated. Grace survives the immediate conclusion, but she loses Leon and the chance to use Spencer’s final project to save him.
This is not a hidden variation of the Release ending. It is a shorter, tragic route that leaves more of the final mythology unresolved. It is still important to the complete story because it shows the cost of Grace’s decision and explains why Leon’s death should not be treated as the definitive outcome without identifying the route.
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What happens to each major character?
| Character | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Grace Ashcroft | Survives both endings. In the Release route, she administers Elpis to Leon and rejects the idea that the conspirators can define her identity. |
| Leon S. Kennedy | Survives and is cured in Release Elpis. Zeno kills him in Destroy Elpis. |
| Victor Gideon | Turns against Zeno, uses the NE-γ Type parasite, mutates, and becomes the final boss. He is defeated in the Release route. |
| Zeno | Works with the Connections and pursues the strategic value of Elpis. Gideon kills him after their goals diverge in the final act; in the Destroy route, Zeno kills Leon before the facility collapses. |
| Oswell Spencer | Remains dead, but his recordings and research determine the conflict. Elpis reframes his last project as an attempted act of atonement without excusing his earlier crimes. |
| Alyssa Ashcroft | Remains part of the story through her past investigation, recordings, and connection to Spencer. Her work helps Grace understand the significance of “hope.” |
What the ending means
Grace chooses whether Spencer’s legacy can be used for good
Grace’s final decision is not simply a switch between a happy and unhappy outcome. It is a judgment on Spencer’s legacy. He created and enabled some of the worst biological research in the series, then left behind a project intended to counter that damage.
Destroying Elpis is an understandable refusal to let Spencer’s work cause another catastrophe. Releasing it is an equally difficult choice: Grace accepts the possibility that the project is trustworthy because it may save Leon and prevent further harm. The game frames her choice of HOPE as an act of agency rather than blind faith in Spencer.
Grace is more than the “original” the villains want
Gideon and Zeno’s fixation on Grace’s biology and identity turns her into a supposed access key. The ending undermines that view. Whatever Spencer did or did not do to her, Grace is the person who interprets the evidence and chooses what happens to Elpis.
Her survival is therefore not just a physical victory. She escapes the roles imposed by her mother’s murder, Spencer’s records, the orphanage research, and the conspirators’ theories about her origin.
Leon’s fate depends on the route
Leon is not simply dead at the end of Resident Evil Requiem. He dies only if Grace destroys Elpis. In the Release ending, Grace uses the antiviral to cure him, and both protagonists survive. Since Release Elpis is the more complete route, it is the ending most likely to carry forward into future stories, although that conclusion should be described as the generally accepted continuation rather than an officially confirmed Capcom canon statement.
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Raccoon City is more than a familiar location revisited for nostalgia. Its ruins contain the institutional and scientific history that drives the new outbreak. Grace’s family story, Alyssa’s investigation, Spencer’s records, the orphanage research, Umbrella’s ARK facility, Leon’s career, and the lingering viral syndrome all connect the new game to earlier Resident Evil events.
That connection also explains the game’s two-protagonist structure. Grace represents the generation inheriting the consequences of Raccoon City’s crimes, while Leon represents a veteran who has spent years fighting the biological threats that grew out of them. Their routes eventually meet because the past has never been fully buried.
Will Resident Evil Requiem receive DLC?
Capcom has announced additional post-launch content, including a new minigame and a story expansion in development. At the time covered by the available information, specific release dates, protagonists, plot details, and final platform availability were not confirmed. Those details should not be treated as settled until Capcom provides them directly.
Resident Evil Requiem ending FAQ
Is Leon dead in Resident Evil Requiem?
Only in the Destroy Elpis ending. Zeno kills Leon after Grace chooses to destroy the antiviral. In the Release Elpis ending, Grace injects him with Elpis, cures his infection, and survives alongside him.
Which Resident Evil Requiem ending is the real ending?
Release Elpis is generally treated as the intended or canonical continuation because it contains the complete final confrontation, cures Leon, and resolves more of the story. However, the available evidence does not include a direct Capcom statement formally declaring it canonical.
What is Elpis in Resident Evil Requiem?
Elpis is an antiviral agent created or safeguarded by Spencer to counter virus-based bioweapons. Gideon believes it is a weapon capable of destabilizing the world, but that interpretation is wrong.
What password releases Elpis?
The Release Elpis route uses the password HOPE. The alternate destruction route is commonly associated with DESTRUCTION.
Who is Grace Ashcroft?
Grace is an FBI analyst and the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, a protagonist from Resident Evil Outbreak. Her investigation into deaths and infections tied to Raccoon City’s legacy becomes a personal confrontation with her mother’s past, Spencer’s research, and the conspiracy surrounding Elpis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Leon dead in Resident Evil Requiem?
Only in the Destroy Elpis ending. Zeno kills Leon after Grace destroys Elpis. In the Release Elpis ending, Grace uses the antiviral to cure him.
Which Resident Evil Requiem ending is canonical?
Release Elpis is generally treated as the intended continuation because it contains the complete finale and saves Leon, although Capcom has not formally confirmed it as canon in the available material.
What is Elpis in Resident Evil Requiem?
Elpis is an antiviral designed to counter virus-based bioweapons. Gideon mistakenly believes it is a weapon that can destabilize the world.
What are the Resident Evil Requiem ending passwords?
The Release route uses HOPE. The alternate destruction route is commonly associated with DESTRUCTION.
The Bottom Line
The short version: choose Release Elpis and enter HOPE to trigger the expanded ending, cure Leon, defeat mutated Gideon, and let Grace and Leon survive. Choose Destroy Elpis and the facility collapses, Zeno kills Leon, and Grace survives without the cure. Release Elpis is generally regarded as the intended continuation, but Capcom has not formally confirmed that label in the available material.
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