Ada Wong

Ada Wong
is a character in the survival horror video game series Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan), which Japanese company Capcom created. Ada was introduced as a supporting character in Resident Evil 2 (1998) and became a playable character in Resident Evil 4 (2005). She is a mysterious, ambiguous spy who works for villains but frequently rescues the series' protagonist Leon S. Kennedy from dire situations.
The character was originally created as a researcher named Linda and was further developed at Hideki Kamiya's suggestion. Writer Noboru Sugimura transformed her into a spy named Ada, who works to infiltrate Umbrella Corporation and is caught up in a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City.
Ada appears in several Resident Evil games, novelizations and films, and also appears in other game franchises, including Project X Zone, Teppen and Dead by Daylight. Video game publications have well-received the character for fulfilling the femme fatale archetype but she has been criticized as a product of the male gaze.
Several actresses have portrayed Ada, including Li Bingbing and Lily Gao in the live-action Resident Evil films.
Concept and design
Ada Wong is an American woman of Chinese descent. She was conceived for Resident Evil 2 (1998) as a white-coat-clad researcher named Linda who aids the player throughout the game, but this changed after game director Hideki Kamiya and other staff expressed interest in developing her into a full character. During a staff meeting, when the question of the character's nature arose, developer Kazunori Kadoi randomly wrote "Ada" without much thought and the name remained unchanged. Writer Noboru Sugimura expanded Ada's backstory, making her as a spy who is sent to infiltrate Umbrella Corporation, the company responsible for a zombie outbreak. Ada's cutscene model was not completed on time for the game's release, making her the only main character to be omitted from the game's cinematics.
Ada and the series' main protagonist Leon S. Kennedy meet for the first time in Resident Evil 2, and gradually develop a relationship as they save each other's lives during the game's events. Their relationship in the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 is more intimate; they kiss earlier in the game. In a 2019 interview with Siliconera, Kamiya said he believed expediting the kiss "works out because it makes Ada feel more manipulative of Leon". Ada's revealing, slit, red dress was changed to a beige trench coat and she was given large sunglasses. Co-director Kazunori Kadoi said "wandering around in that dress just getting on with your job as a spy probably doesn't look as realistic and believable as we want in this new game". For the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4, Ada's costume was redesigned as a red, woolly jumper and leather holster to remove her "shady", sexualized persona.
In Resident Evil 6, players can unlock Ada after completing three individual character scenarios, which according to executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi makes her storyline "more enjoyable" and enhances her ambiguity because "one of the themes of Ada's story is a lone spy working in secret".
Portrayal
English actor Sally Cahill voiced Ada Wong in Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. Cahill described the character as "a totally hip, modern, kick-ass femme fatale who could handle weapons awesomely", saying she loved Ada's "resilience, her strength with still being sexy and very female". Megan Hollingshead voiced Ada in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, In Resident Evil 6; and Courtenay Taylor voiced her in the films Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Resident Evil: Damnation. Taylor said she felt pressure when voicing the character in Operation Racoon City because it was her major debut and the film was not as popular in the media as Damnation and Resident Evil 6. When she auditioned for the role, Taylor had seen only the live-action films; the staff and Matthew Mercer comforted her about properly playing her role.
Shannon Chan-Kent voiced Ada in Puzzle Fighter while Vicky Psarakis voiced her in Dead by Daylight. In the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, she was voiced by Jolene Andersen. Lily Gao, who played Ada in the reboot film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, voiced Ada in Resident Evil 4 (2023), making her the first Asian actor in the series to both voice and portray Ada on-screen. Junko Minagawa voiced the character in Japanese in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Resident Evil 6, Project X Zone 2, Teppen, the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4, while Rie Tanaka voiced her in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
Jolene Andersen provided the voice and motion capture for Ada in Resident Evil: Damnation and the Resident Evil 2 remake. In Resident Evil 6, Michelle Lee provided the voice and motion capture; Lee said the process was "definitely a challenge" and that "the amazing team ... were very specific on how she moved, her specific characteristics and even how she stood still". In the Resident Evil 4 remake, Lily Gao portrayed Ada.
Chinese actor Li Bingbing played Ada in Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth installment of the Resident Evil live-action film series. Li was unfamiliar with the games but after researching the character, she considered Ada's personality to be "very much" like her own. In 2012, Li said Ada has "a big fan base" in China. Producer Jeremy Bolt said fans were "very, very pleased with all of our choices [in the film], particularly Li Bingbing, who plays Ada Wong. They visited us on set last week, and they were really blown away by her." The film's producer Robert Kulzer said Li was "perfectly cast", and that "In addition to being an extremely talented actor, she's sharp, sexy and smart—all qualities that the Ada Wong character had to have." Li received firearms training during filming. She complained about being cold in Ada's revealing "qipao with a high slit that flapped when the wind blew" and added, "I wanted the slit to be that high after I saw the images of Ada Wong from the game ... Not that I wanted it to be that high but that was where the opening would be the most beautiful and cool."
Appearances
In the Resident Evil series
During the early development stages of the canceled sequel that is popularly known as Resident Evil 1.5, Ada Wong was an Umbrella Corporation researcher named Linda. Ada's debut appearance occurred in Resident Evil 2 (1998), which is set two months after the events of the first game. Ada is an spy for an unnamed rival company who is sent to recover a sample of a deadly virus from Umbrella's lab in zombie-infested Raccoon City. Her secret agenda is exposed and Annette Birkin seriously wounds her in an attempt to save Leon. She reprises her role in the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2.
Ada's next starring role is in Resident Evil 4 (2005), in which she assists Leon in his mission to rescue the U.S. president's daughter Ashley Graham from the cult Los Iluminados, which is based in a remote area of Spain. Her true objective is to obtain a sample of the Plaga parasite developed by the cult. She reports to the villain Albert Wesker, who is in a high-level position in the rival company. Ada is dispatched for this mission with Jack Krauser, who distrusts her and believes she is a threat to Wesker. Ada enlists the help of the researcher Luis Sera, who steal a sample of the parasite but is killed by the cult's leader Osmund Saddler. Ada is briefly captured and planned to be sacrificed but she escapes, meets Leon, and saves him from Krauser, whom Wesker has ordered to kill Leon. Ada destroys the cult's battleship and the Plagas-mutated Krauser, and aids Leon. Eventually, Saddler takes Ada hostage and uses her as bait to trap Leon. Leon, however, frees Ada, who provides him with a special rocket launcher to destroy the mutated Saddler and escape with a sample via helicopter. Later ports of Resident Evil 4 include a new scenario starring Ada as a playable character. Titled "Separate Ways", it depicts the events of the main game from her perspective. The fictional documentary "Ada's Report" describes Ada's involvement with other characters in the story. She is also a playable character in the sub-scenario "Mercenaries" mode and "Assignment: Ada". Ada also reappears in the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4, as well as its downloadable content (DLC) "Separate Ways" and "Mercenaries" mode.
Ada appears as a playable character in Resident Evil 6 (2012), in which she is a lone spy. Her campaign, which is designed to answer some of the game's mysteries, becomes available after the player finishes the stories of the main characters Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, and Jake Muller. During the game, it is revealed Ada is a former associate of the rogue National Security Advisor Derek C. Simmons, who becomes dangerously obsessed with her. Though she originally worked on her own agenda, Ada becomes involved in the game's events, and is forced to help Leon and the other characters stop Simmons and his rogue associate Carla Radames, who Simmons forces to transform into an Ada doppelganger by Simmons.
Ada appears in other games in the series. Her role in Resident Evil 2 is explored in detail in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (2007) and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (2009). She appears as an enemy in the non-canonical Resident Evil 2 spin-off game Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (2012), in which she is a playable character in its multiplayer "Heroes" mode. She is also a playable character in Resident Evil Re:Verse (2022).
Ada was intended to appear in Resident Evil Village as a "mysterious masked person" who saves Ethan Winters from the trial but was cut from the game due to "conflicting scenarios".
In films
In the live-action film Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), the Umbrella-controlled Jill Valentine holds Ada Wong captive; Ada teams up with Alice to fight against Jill and Bad Rain. To contrast Claire Redfield's role from Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008), Ada Wong was picked as the returning heroine in the second computer-animated film Resident Evil: Damnation (2012). Kamiya initially wanted to explore the dysfunctional romance between Leon and Ada but the idea was scrapped. In Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021), she appears only in a mid-credit-scene. She was intended to appear earlier but the director found difficulty fitting many main characters into the story.
Other appearances
Ada Wong is featured in the 1998–1999 manhua Shēnghuà Wēijī 2 ("Biohazard 2"). Chingwin Publishing released a romantic-comedy retelling the Resident Evil 2 story centering on Leon, Claire and Ada in the Taiwanese two-issue comic Èlíng Gǔbǎo II (1999). Capcom screenwriters created two Resident Evil 2 radio dramas that were broadcast on Radio Osaka in early 1999 and later released by publisher Suleputer as two separate CDs with the common title Biohazard 2 Drama Album. Set a few days after the events of the game, it deals with Ada's mission to retrieve Sherry Birkin's pendant with the G-virus sample from Umbrella enforcer HUNK. Ada intercepts the delivery of the locket in the village of Loire, France, eliminating HUNK and his men. She survives an accidental T-virus leak, escapes and realizes her feelings for Leon, deciding to quit the espionage business and return to him.
Canonically, the characters' story arcs are continued differently; Ada keeps the pendant with the G-virus and resumes her espionage. In printed trading card media, she appears as a card in the Bandai-produced game Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game. Merchandise featuring Ada includes action figures, statues, and figurines.
Outside the Resident Evil franchise, Ada made her first guest appearance in the browser-based social game Onimusha Soul (2013), where she was redesigned to fit a feudal Japan theme. Ada also appears as a non-playable character in the tactical role-playing game Project X Zone 2. In Street Fighter V, Kolin can be dressed in Ada's costume from Resident Evil 6. On March 1, 2021, Ada was added as a playable character to Teppen; she had already featured on cards within the game. Ada also appeared in an online multiplayer battle royale game Knives Out as a costume between July 29 and August 12, 2021. In 2022, she appeared as a playable character in asymmetrical survival horror game Dead by Daylight. In April 2023, Ada, Leon and Claire represented Resident Evil in the mobile game Puzzles & Survival.
Reception
Gaming media outlets have rated Ada among the best female video-game characters, and as the best Asian video-game character. Critics have also commented Ada was not oversexualized in her initial appearances and cited her as an example of the series' female characters who are not solely judged by gender. Ada's relationship with Leon Kennedy has been noted as a memorable video-game romance. Lara Crigger of The Escapist considered Ada as a "femme fatale" and a "feminist role model" who is "beautiful and sexual" in the mold of Simone de Beauvoir's existentialist philosophies. Harri Chan of Polygon said Ada's ethnicity and portrayal in Resident Evil 4 relegate her to the "Dragon Lady" stereotype, citing her dress and her "sexualized and shady persona". The Guardian praised Ada's intelligence and said she is "numerous steps ahead of everyone else". Mike Wehner of The Escapist said; "Capcom’s manipulation of the Resident Evil timeline hasn’t exactly been kind to this particular theory surrounding Ada Wong’s fate" when Ada returned in Resident Evil 4 following her supposed death in Resident Evil 2. Wehner said Capcom buried Ada’s death in the series lore to the extent "you’re not supposed to acknowledge that it even exists".
According to author Jenny Platz, Ada is genderfluid, contrasting her with "sexless object" characters such as Resident Evil Claire Redfield and Rebecca Chambers. Platz cited attributes "typically associated with males" including strength and intelligence while also having "beauty and poise", which she stated are "typically associated with females". According to Andrei Nae, Ada and fellow character Ashley Graham in Resident Evil 4 "correspond to the submissive woman-femme fatale character couple" while the game attempted to "reinscribe Ada Wong within patriarchy" to "compensate for the male protagonist's incomplete hypermasculinity".
The male gaze in video games has been explored in critiques of Ada. Université de Montréal professor of cinema Bernard Perron said Ada's first appearance in Resident Evil 4 features the "traditional male gaze montage" because in-game cinematics focus on her body parts and her slit dress while her identity is not revealed. According to Matt Cundy of GamesRadar+, Ada's outfit is unsuitable for the game's theme, saying a person wearing this outfit would be "certifiably mental". Tropes vs. Women in Video Games feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian criticized Ada's outfit as too revealing,
Lily Gao's voicework as Ada in the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 attracted strong criticism from fans, resulting in the game being review bombed. Gao deleted her Instagram posts after suffering online harassment, then later stating: "It is time we stop only capitalizing on the sexualized, eroticized, and mysterious Asian woman and make space to honor every kind of Asian woman. ... Ada is a survivor. She is unpredictable, resilient, and absolutely not a stereotype." Before its release, fans were disappointed that Ada was not a playable character in the game's downloadable content "Mercenaries" mode. Robert Zak of DualShockers said Ada needed more screen time while Stacey Henley of TheGamer said Ada deserved to be the focus of the remake, deeming her the "coolest character" in the series' history. Afterwards, Jade King of TheGamer has criticized and stated that Ada is the worst part of the game. He further said that "she sounds almost bored half the time". Chinese audiences also criticized Li's performance as Ada in Resident Evil: Retribution. According to Xiao Mei of People's Daily, Li was not given the opportunity to act and was just "being pretty on screen, just filling in space".
Further reading
Notes
References
Action film characters
Capcom protagonists
Female characters in video games
Female horror film characters
Female soldier and warrior characters in video games
Fictional archers
Fictional American people in video games
Fictional assassins in video games
Fictional Chinese American people
Fictional Chinese people in video games
Fictional criminals in video games
Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel
Fictional female assassins
Fictional female gunfighters
Fictional female martial artists
Fictional female secret agents and spies
Fictional gunfighters in video games
Fictional martial artists in video games
Fictional police officers in video games
Fictional secret agents and spies in video games
Fictional taekwondo practitioners
Fictional wushu practitioners
Fictional zombie hunters
Resident Evil characters
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Video game characters introduced in 1998