Resident Evil Requiem’s Raccoon City Syndrome (Latent Onset T-Virus Syndrome) Explained

The latest Resident Evil: Requiem trailer is packed with new details. Slightly deeper insight into villain Victor Gideon’s experiments, hints at Grace’s mysterious past, and the confirmation that Leon Kennedy is suffering from a mysterious infection were all put in the spotlight. As a result, Resident Evil: Requiem looks like it could be one of the most ambitious entries in the series yet. With its dual protagonists and blend of tense survival horror and in-your-face action, fans are going to get the best of both worlds.

As exciting as Leon’s return is, his infection is definitely a reason to be worried about his fate. Leon is infected with something called Latent On-Set T-Virus Syndrome, or Raccoon City Syndrome. Resident Evil: Requiem‘s fourth trailer showed a few of Leon’s symptoms, confirming he’s in a race against time. Only a few details are known about Raccoon City Syndrome at the moment, but it’s already clear that the disease definitely isn’t a walk in the park.

Raccoon City Syndrome Means That Leon Isn’t Just Fighting Zombies to Stay Alive

The Raccoon City outbreak is one of the most important parts of Resident Evil‘s lore, so expanding its significance through a late-onset disease related to the tragedy is a fascinating route for the story to take. It makes Leon’s return to Raccoon City even more poignant. No matter what Leon does, he can’t escape the events of Raccoon City. It’s now literally eating away at his body, and he has no way to know if he’s going to survive.

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Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.

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Symptoms of Raccoon City Syndrome

• Stage 0: The virus lies dormant in the infected person’s body.
• Stage 1: The virus activates, which results in the formation of black lesions on the body with discomfort and coughing.
• Stage 2: The black lesions spread, eventually to the organs, with the affected parts of the body growing numb.
• Stage 3: At this stage, the disease becomes terminal. The black marks spread all across the body and are accompanied by intense pain that makes it difficult to move. This stage eventually leads to the infected person uncontrollably vomiting blood, with death happening in less than two hours.

Leon has black marks, which means he’s probably around Stage 1 or Stage 2. Beyond that, all that’s really known is that he’s investigating deaths seemingly caused by the illness. In the opening of Trailer 4, Leon says, “That’s six now. Six survivors of Raccoon City, all dead from the same thing.” Nearly every Resident Evil game has its mysteries to solve, but there’s no denying how interesting and personal this one is.

Leon Probably Isn’t the Only Returning Character With Raccoon City Syndrome Either

Although her face hasn’t been fully revealed yet, the woman who talks remotely to Leon looks to be Sherry Birkin. Leon wears gloves to hide his black lesions, and Sherry is also shown wearing gloves. This could imply that she’s suffering from Raccoon City Syndrome, too. She also says, “We’re running out of time, Leon,” and that gives even more weight to the possibility that Leon isn’t just investigating the disease for himself, but also for Sherry.

Victor Gideon’s Experiments Could Lead to Answers About How to Survive Raccoon City Syndrome

A good Resident Evil story wouldn’t be complete without some kind of tie to the Umbrella Corporation. Cue Victor Gideon, the main antagonist that Leon and Grace face. After Umbrella went under, Gideon bought the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center to continue his experiments. Gideon worked directly on Umbrella’s Tyrant Project and eventually discovered the latent T-Virus strain that is the culprit for Raccoon City Syndrome.

It seems like Rhodes Hill Chronic Care is where Leon and Grace will eventually cross paths. Gideon believes that Grace Ashcroft is the key to releasing the mysterious Elpis. Beyond Raccoon City Syndrome, Resident Evil: Requiem‘s Elpis is one of the biggest questions that has yet to be answered. Grace’s blood is somehow the key to unleashing Elpis, and it’s bound to be something horrifying.

Resident Evil: Requiem Tells a Story Nearly 30 Years in the Making

It’s been 28 years since Leon’s first day as a rookie recruit for the Racoon City Police Department. A lot has happened since then, and it feels like Resident Evil: Requiem is going to be a turning point for the series. Over the years, the Resident Evil franchise has had a habit of leaving a lot of plot threads hanging loose, and Requiem feels like it might finally bring some things full circle. Since Leon and Sherry are dealing with Raccoon City Syndrome nearly three decades later, they may not be the only familiar faces suffering from the disease.

There May Still Be More Surprises in Store For Resident Evil: Requiem

Leon and Sherry are back, but they definitely weren’t the only series heroes present during the outbreak in Raccoon City. Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Ada Wong, and Carlos Oliveira were all there, too, so there’s a chance that they are all dealing with the latent T-Virus as well. In Resident Evil 3, Carlos gives an infected Jill the cure for the T-Virus, so she’s the most likely to be in the clear. The same can’t be said for the others, though.

There are already theories that Leon will die in Resident Evil: Reqiuem, but he could be a red herring. Leon confirms in Trailer 4 that six Raccoon City survivors have died from the disease, and these victims hopefully aren’t any of the aforementioned characters. Killing off such beloved characters off-screen would be incredibly controversial, so that’s less likely. However, the chance for old faces to return is still there. Thankfully, the wait for Resident Evil: Requiem is almost over, so everything will be revealed soon.

Released

February 27, 2026

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases