Ada Wong

Ada Wong (エイダ・ウォン) is a fictional character in the Resident Evil franchise by Capcom, introduced in Resident Evil 2 in 1998. Ada is a mysterious and ambiguous antihero figure, working for the series' villains but also helping the protagonist Leon. She is widely regarded as the most popular female characters in the series, alongside Jill, and also as one of the most attractive female characters in video games in general. The film version of Ada is set to appear in Resident Evil: Retribution, portrayed by Li Bingbing.

Character design
When Resident Evil 2 was still in development, Ada was known as a researcher named Linda who aided Leon across the game, but was changed for the game's final form.

Ada is voiced by Sally Cahill in Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4 and The Darkside Chronicles, and by an uncredited actress in The Umbrella Chronicles. Cahill said that getting the part of Ada came from doing other voices for the company. Ada's costumes are a red casul outfit as seen in RE2, her now-iconic red dress from RE4 (including appearing with a Tommy gun in a homage reference to the 1979 gangster film The Lady in Red), and a black combat suit from the same game.

In video games
An American woman of Chinese descent, Ada is first mentioned in the original Resident Evil, in a letter written by a dying Umbrella Corporation researcher named John. She makes her first appearance in Resident Evil 2 where she is a spy sent to recover a sample of the deadly G-virus from the Umbrella's lab in the zombie-overrun Raccoon City, working for the mysterious "organization". Ada poses as a bystander who is searching for her missing boyfriend, John, when she meets Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer trapped in the city. Her secret agenda is exposed, but (depending on which scenario is played) she is seriously wounded by either Annette Birkin or the Tyrant T-103. An epilogue in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis as well as a fictional documentary in Code: Veronica confirm that Ada survived the ordeal. Ada's role in Resident Evil 2 is explored in more detail in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. She also appears as a playable character in another RE2 spin-off game, Operation Raccoon City, in its multiplayer Heroes Mode.

Her next appearance was in Resident Evil 4, where she assists Leon in his mission to rescue the U.S. President's daughter Ashley Graham, although her true objective is to obtain a sample of the Las Plagas parasites for Albert Wesker. Ada appears in the game's sub-scenario "Assignment: Ada", as well as in the "Mercenaries" mode. A new scenario starring Ada, titled "Separate Ways", which depicts the events of the main game from Ada's perspective, as well as a fictional documentary titled "Ada's Report", where she describes her involvement with other characters in the story, were added to the PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii ports.

It is confirmed that she will become playable in Resident Evil 6, after the player finishes the storylines for its main characters Leon, Chris Redfield and Jake Muller. Hints dropped in the trailers seem to show that Ada has become a more villainous character, helping with the bio-terrorist attacks on various cities.

In other media
Ada was featured in the 1998-1999 manhua Shēnghuà Wēijī 2 ("Biohazard 2"). A romantic comedy retelling of the story of Resident Evil 2, centered on Leon, Claire and Ada, was released in the Taiwanese two-issue comic Èlíng Gǔbǎo II in 1999.

Capcom sceewriters created two Resident Evil 2 radio dramas, 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. One of them is Ikiteita Onna Spy Ada (lit. "Ada, the Female Spy, is Alive"). 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 Hunk. Ada intercepts the delivery of the locket in the village of Loire in France, eliminating Hunk and his men, then survives an accidental T-virus leak. Ada escapes and realizes her feelings for Leon, deciding to quit the spy business and return to him. Canonically, the characters' story arcs are continued differently, as Ada keeps the pendant with the G-virus and resumes her activities as a spy.

In 2011, Li Bingbing was cast as Ada for the upcoming live-action film Resident Evil: Retribution. In the film, Ada will be held captive by Jill Valentine, and will fight against Jill and Bad Rain.

Cultural impact
Producers of the Resident Evil live-action film series reportedly "chose her as a foundation for Alice."

Merchandise


Two action figures of Ada were included in the figure sets Resident Evil 2: Platinum Edition 2 by Toy Biz (1998) and Resident Evil 4: Series 1 by NECA (2005). Hot Toys announced a 1/6 scale figure of Ada in 2011. A few more Ada statuettes were also released in Japan only. In 2011, Ada Wong was added to Bandai's Resident Evil Deck Building Game in the expansion Nightmare.

Reception
Ada was generally very well received by critics. In 2007, Ada was featured by Tom's Games among the 50 greatest female characters in video game history (with a suggestion that she should be played by Kelly Hu in the live-action Resident Evil series), was ranked second on the list of top "video game chicks" by ActionTrip, and, together with Leon, she was also included in The Inquirer's list of the most memorable video game love teams. GameDaily featured her as their Babe of the Week in 2007 (described as a "gun-toting hottie" with capabilities to star in her own video game), also including her in the 2009 Babe of the Week galleries Asian Beauties and the Girl Power (listed along with Claire Redfield, Jill and Sheva Alomar). In 2011, Complex ranked her as 19th on the list of "most diabolical video game she-villains", noting her "dragon-lady qualities." The Escapist found Ada to be an admirable feminist icon in light of the philosophies of French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir. According to Rely on Horror, "Basically, Ada could be seen as the female version of Wesker. She's a true femme fatale." According to Li Binbing, the character is very popular in China.

Ada has been often regarded as one of the most sexy female characters in all of video gaming. In 2008, UGO ranked Ada as fourth on their list of "videogame hotties", describing her as "drop dead gorgeous" and stating that they anticipate what the series has in store for her in the future, while GameDaily ranked her as 12th on their list of "hottest game babes". In 2009, MSN featured her in the list of "gaming's hottest babes", calling her "the kinda babe guys dream about!", Manolith listed her as one of the 25 "hottest" video game female protagonists, stating "Loyalists to Jill Valentine may cry foul, but Ada Wong is the true queen of the Resident Evil series", while IGN included her on the list of characters they would like to see returning for Resident Evil 6. In 2010, Complex ranked her as 28th of the "hottest" women in video games, The Times of India listed her among the nine "sexiest babes" of action games, and PopCrunch ranked her as tenth on the list of "hottest video game babes ever". Complex also ranked her as 24th on the 2011 list of "best looking sideline chicks in games", commenting on Ada's resemblance to Nikita from La Femme Nikita, while PSU.com featured her among the sexiest PlayStation characters, summing up: "Super hot Chinese lady killing zombies, what is not to love?" In 2012, Complex ranked her as the eight best Asian character in video games, adding that this "bad girl killed zombies like roaches with the sophistication of a ballet dancing gunslinger."

On the other hand, there was also some criticism of the character. Play editor Gavin Mackenzie criticized her perceived "bitch" personality in Resident Evil 4 in retrospective from the events of Resident Evil 2, while GamesRadar found Ada's outfit from Resident Evil 4 to be unsuitable for the game's theme, ranking her iconic "out-of-our-price-bracket Shanghai hooker" look as the most impractical of all main outfits of the series' stars, and commenting that anyone dressing like she does to fight zombies "would have to be certifiably mental."