Ada Wong

Leon... Long time no see.

Ada Wong is a red-clad, cunning and formidable secret agent of Chinese heritage with a mysterious past, appearing in the Resident Evil series since Resident Evil 2. Initially a private agent, Ada was drawn into the intrigue and treachery that is the corporate world when she was recruited by the "Organization" to participate in their activities against their primary rival, the Umbrella Corporation. Ada remained an operative of the Organization, even as the battle shifted from the soon defunct Umbrella to the mysterious "S" Corporation and Wesker's Umbrella. Ada went on to pose as a double-agent pretending to work with Albert Wesker, who had betrayed the Organization, and monitored his activities to gain power. Though she was affiliated with unscrupulous and questionable characters and a large scale, shady group, Ada was shown to have integrity and some measure of mercy and kindness brought out by Leon S. Kennedy, with whom she seemed to form a strong bond. Her true alliegance, be it to Leon or the Organization, is somewhat uncertain.

Early Career/Life
I'm trying to find my boyfriend, his name is John.

Not much is known about Ada Wong's past or motives. What is known is that Ada was a corporate spy working for an unnamed competitor of Umbrella, often referred to as the "Organization", that intended to procure all sorts of biological weapons and specimens. She was also a trained assassin, who was proficient with several types of weapons and fighting techniques. Presumably, Ada joined the Organization for personal reasons outside of her company's interests, though she has yet to reveal what they are.

She was sent to infiltrate the Arklay Research Facility, hidden within the Spencer estate in Raccoon City and was romantically involved with the new head researcher, John, as a means to steal intelligence for her company. John was very serious about his relationship with Ada and even used her name as his computer account's password. John lost his life, due to the T-virus outbreak caused by James Marcus, after writing one final letter to Ada instructing her to get evidence of Umbrella's experiments and expose them to the public. She never read the letter because she was not in Raccoon City at the time.

Raccoon City Incident
If the T-virus did this, what would happen if the G-virus got out?



Several months later, Ada was given another mission by her employers. Like Umbrella special agent HUNK, her objective was to steal a sample of the G-virus from the self-injected and mutated William Birkin in Raccoon City during the T-virus outbreak.

Ada went to the Raccoon Police Department to find a reporter named Ben Bertolucci, who claimed to have vital information about the Umbrella Corporation. In her search of the department, she met with surviving officer Leon S. Kennedy. With Leon's help, the two were able to find Ben, who locked himself in the precinct's prison. Ben provided the two with documents detailing about the conspiracy between Brian Irons and William Birkin, the designer of the G-virus, but not before he was killed by a mutated Birkin.

Ada and Leon made their way into the sewers as they attempted to flee the infested city. The two cooperated with each other and Ada even treated Leon's wound after taking a bullet for her, fired by Annette Birkin. They found a lift which led to Umbrella's Underground Lab, but before they could reach the lab, Ada was struck by a rapidly-mutating William Birkin and was critically injured. During the ensuing confusion, Ada was seriously injured protecting Leon and presumed dead (see: Canon in Resident Evil). Despite this, Ada managed to save Leon's life during his battle with the T-103R Tyrant, tossing him a rocket launcher, while remaining hidden in the shadows, to dispatch the monster the which had been stalking them for sometime.

She managed to get out of the laboratory and made her way to the Apple Inn where she was due to meet with an Umbrella worker and contact of the Organization. When she got to the room, she found that the man had already committed suicide. Even worse, Wesker was watching her live on a computer. When Ada showed him the G-virus sample she recovered from William Birkin, he told her there were moments left until the city was wiped out by a missile. He helped her by telling her a helicopter sent to evacuate the last of Umbrella's workers (who were revealed to be Sergei Vladimir and an Umbrella Executive) was set to leave the city shortly.

Providing Ada with a Hookshot, Wesker expressed his interest that she survived with the G-virus sample. She fought her way past the horde of Zombies and defeated the Tyrant T-0400TP on one of the highway bridges leading outside the city. She then used her Hookshot to grapple onto the Umbrella helicopter as it passed overhead. While she ran as the copter flew away, a Hunter chased her and jumped to grab her as she was lifted into the air. The Hunter failed to grab Ada by mere inches, and instead got her high heel.

Los Illuminados Incident
Maybe you forgot, Wesker, I don't always play by your rules. Six years after the Raccoon City incident, Ada was sent to an undisclosed village in Europe that had been taken over by Osmund Saddler, leader of the "los Illuminados" religious cult, after he infected the villagers with Las Plagas. Her mission was to steal a specialized sample of the Plaga held by Saddler. During her mission, she met once again with Leon, who was on a mission to save the president's daughter, Ashley Graham, from the same cult. Wesker sent another loyal agent of his, Jack Krauser, to work alongside Ada in this mission. However, Ada and Krauser had difficulty seeing eye to eye, with Krauser distrusting Ada and believing her to be a threat to Wesker. Despite her pointing out that she had worked with Wesker longer than he did, he still kept his eye on her and promised to kill her should she try anything clever. Ada was upset by Wesker's desire to dispatch Leon and was reluctant to recieve his order to kill him herself. Later, she was even more angered when Wesker decided to leave Leon to Krauser. She then decided to not complete her task exactly as Wesker wanted and would come to save Leon when Krauser came close to killing him.

Ada was responsible for a number of things Leon encountered during his mission, such as puzzles and traps set off in a certain way and so forth. Although her mission was to retrieve a sample of the master plaga, Ada's primary objective was to get in good favour with the mysterious organization she worked for and was also conspiring against Wesker. Arguably, if it wasn't for Ada's role behind the scenes, Leon's mission would have been a failure. She also aided Leon in battle and even saved him from the influence of the Plaga during the mission. Another of Ada's accomplishments was the destruction of a previously unseen battleship that Los Illuminados had at their disposal.

Shortly before the climax of Ada's mission, she is attacked by what's left of Krauser, freshly burned and scarred from his battle with Leon. Ada takes it upon herself to go on the offensive and kill Krauser, who by now is almost completely corrupted by the Plaga. Having studied his style and mutation closely before, Ada is more than a match for Krauser and he is killed for good. Shortly after this, Ada covers Leon and Ashley's escape from Saddler by blocking the passage, trapping both Ada and Saddler in the same room. A battle occurs, where Ada fights Saddler's human form. With incredible strength, Saddler is quite a challenge, but Ada is eventually able to overwhelm him through her skill. However, this isn't the case, as Saddler comes to his senses shortly after and gets the drop on Ada. Using Ada as bait to trap Leon, Saddler is shocked to realize Leon's Plaga has been destroyed as Leon frees Ada from captivity. Ada and Leon fight Saddler during the final battle and as Leon confronts the monstrous cult leader, Ada struggles in a race against time to find Leon a powerful weapon to use against him. Rushing through hordes of Los Ganados, Ada finds a specialized rocket launcher and throws it to Leon at the critical moment of the battle.

Eventually, Ada is able to steal a master Plaga sample from Saddler's island base after the battle. After she obtains the sample, she gives Leon and Ashley a means of escape and makes her own on an Organization helicopter. As she rides off, Ada is comforted by the warm light of the sunrise on the horizon. However, she can't help but think that while this mission is over, the battle has just begun.

Ada had obtained the sample, the goal of her mission and one step of Wesker's plan to resurrect the Umbrella Corporation. However, the two became suspicious of each other. Under orders of the Organization, Ada double-crossed Wesker and delivered a fake version of the sample to him. Ada knew, however, that Wesker isn't stupid and that tough times lay in wait.

Appearances
In addition to the main scenarios for both games, Ada is also a selectable in the "Extreme Battle" extra game in Resident Evil 2 and "The Mercenaries" mini-game featured in Resident Evil 4. She is an unlockable character in both mini-games after the player has met certain requirements. Ada is quite the speed demon in these scenarios, having very fast running speed and very fast shooting speed as well as a deadly combination of weapons fit to compliment her style. In "The Mercenaries", however, she has the least stamina. Ada also stars in her own individual minigame in Resident Evil 4, titled "Assignment: Ada" ("Ada, the Spy" in the Japanese version).

Ada also had her own epilogue file in the end of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, while her relationship with Wesker is elaborated more in the Wesker's Report Documentary. Although she didn't appear in the original Resident Evil, Ada was mentioned in a text file from John prior to her first actual appearance.

Ada also appeared in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles in her own scenario talking about how she survived and escaped Raccoon City before it's destruction. She is set to appear in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles in the Resident Evil 2 scenario.

The Mercenaries
Ada Wong is a playable character in the Resident Evil 4 Minigame The Mercenaries. She is armed with a TMP, the Punisher Handgun, and the Semi-Auto Rifle, as well as three Incendiary Grenades. Ada is the weakest mercenary, with only 6.5 bars of health, but she makes up for it with good speed and even better firepower. She excels in long range combat, thanks to her upgraded semi-auto-rifle, but once enemies close in, Ada is very vulnerable to attack. Ada lacks short range stopping power, and her only chance of escape is to spray a group with her TMP, use her Punisher to attempt to his two enemies at once or try to use her incendiary grenades. She fights very similar to Leon having a fan kick for most enemies and a back kick for enemies on their knees similar to Leon's against villagers.

When the stage bosses show up, Ada is quite formidable. The rifle deals enough damage to knock down the Bella Sisters, stagger J.J., and, when at long distance, eliminate Super Salvador with 2-3 shots. However, Ada struggles in the fight with the Garrador. It is hard to focus on it's weak point with Ada's weapons, and the best weapon for fighting the Garrador is her Incendiary grenades.

Physical appearance and wardrobe
Ada is a striking woman of Asian descent, sporting a sleek figure and graceful mannerisms. Her official profile in Resident Evil 2 as well as her very name state that she is specifically of Chinese descent. Ada fits the archetype of the stylish and beautiful assassin or "femme fatale". Her signature colour is red. Two out of her three outfits are predominantly red, and in Resident Evil 4's Mercenaries minigame, Ada receives a high amount of incendiary grenades (which are, naturally, red in color). During the "knife fight" in Resident Evil 4 between Leon and Krauser, Ada enters the scene; Krauser simply refers to her as "the bitch in the red dress", showing that her signature colour, red, is well known.

In Resident Evil 2, she sports a sleek red one-piece tied with a belt and cut at the upper thigh. She wears darkened stockings on her legs and black shoes. In Resident Evil 4, this outfit is reprised and updated to include high heels, a gun belt, and additional combat equipment worn over it. In Resident Evil 4 her normal attire is a long, stylish open red dress (known as a Manchurian-Chinese qipao) with a gold design of butterflies on it and a flowing black ribbon worn around her neck that falls down her back. She also has an easily-seen knife belt on her exposed thigh.

In her Assignment Ada guise, she wears a much more professional infiltration outfit. Dressed all in black, she sports a tactical vest, combat gear, black pants, and black gloves along with boots. She has a symbol of a red butterfly on a sleeve in this outfit. This insignia seems to be her personal logo as it is also on her normal outfit. The Butterfly is often seen as a symbol of being reborn into something beautiful or free, perhaps this is a hint to Ada's mysterious past. She wears this outfit in the cutscenes of Resident Evil 4 if the player selects the first "Special" costume for themselves.

Ada's outfit for the Mercenaries minigame is a red mini-dress with moderate professional gear compared to the other two outfits, complete with a shoulder rig, a weapon belt, black gloves, stockings and red high heels. Strangely, it apparently doesn't have the butterfly insignia.

Symbolism
Ada sports a lot of possible symbolism in her overall motif, as well as a connection to Leon. The most prolific is the previously mentioned butterfly motif. Generally, Butterflies are seen as a sign of rebirth or freedom which would suit Ada's story perfectly, as she had narrowly escaped death and presumably had been "reborn" emotionally in her Resident Evil 3 epilogue file. Interestingly however, Butterflies in Japanese mythos are said to lead to interesting things when they are followed, which would go with Leon's tendency to follow Ada and may presumably lead to the truth of all things.

Ada's signature colour, red, also has some obvious as well as subtle symbolism. Red is associated with passion, love, and determination as well in all their various forms. Red is also a very prominent colour in Chinese wardrobe, which would fit with Ada's ethnicity which tends to be prominently figured in her overall dress style. Perhaps the most interesting fact about her colour is that Leon's trademark colour is arguably blue, as his RPD uniform is dark blue and his RE4 outfit is predominantly shades of black, grey and blue. Blue and red are often considered rival colours of each other, but also highly compatible as evidenced by the fact that in Chinese weddings the bride and groom are often dressed in red and blue respectively.

Similarities to Nikita (La Femme Nikita)
Series creator Shinji Mikami is a big time film buff, so it may be with little surprise that the character of Ada Wong has quite a few similarities to the protagonist of Nikita (La Femme Nikita). Both Ada and Nikita are women who have been "reborn" in one way or another, signified by a scene where both women look into a mirror and vow to leave their past behind. Both women are femme fatale archetypes, skilled chic assassins and super spies who work for a mysterious organization. They're deadly in more ways than one, equally adept at weaponry, combat, and assassination as they are with using their feminine wiles to catch unsuspecting men off guard. Both Ada and Nikita also share one major flaw in their assassin career, a love for a man. Both Ada and Nikita often find themselves unable to go through with certain orders due to a conflict with their feelings for a certain man. Both women even have a very shady superior they answer to, Bob for Nikita and Wesker for Ada. Both Bob and Wesker are black-clad men whose cool exterior hides a ruthless nature. The title screen for Separate Ways even resembles the original poster for Nikita (La Femme Nikita) right down to the title character being in the same pose. Although the characters and storylines share obvious differences as well, its impossible to not notice the similarities. This could offer some insight into Ada's mysterious past and place in the world as well. 

Appearances/Voice Actors

 * Game Canon (7 games)
 * Resident Evil (Mentioned only)
 * Resident Evil: Director's Cut
 * Resident Evil 2 (First appearance) Sally Cahill
 * Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
 * Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (Epilogue only)
 * Resident Evil 4 - Sally Cahill
 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles - Sally Cahill
 * Non-Canon (2 games)
 * Assignment: Ada - Sally Cahill
 * Separate Ways - Sally Cahill