Silver Ghost

Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

Silver Ghost
Type	Handgun
Information
Appears in	Resident Evil 4 Resident Evil Degeneration Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

Background

The Silver Ghost is a personal firearm that belongs to Leon S. Kennedy, designed by Joseph Kendo.

History

In 2004, Leon, fresh off his special training to work for the United States government under the direct order of the president, was given the mission to find and retrieve the president's missing daughter Ashley Graham. When reports came in that a girl matching her description had been seen in a rural village in Europe, Leon had a suspicion that this wouldn't be a simple field investigation. In preparation, he visited Joseph Kendo to gain a custom handgun. Seeking his own version of the Samurai Edge, Joseph turned him down because while the Samurai Edge was a "great gun," it was just a popular firearm that anyone could use. He claimed "the ultimate tactical gun doesn't need a base gun" and decided to show Leon a handgun he designed completely from scratch.

Originally, Joseph considered naming the weapon the "Gray Phantom" due to Leon seeing "phantoms" of the Raccoon City Incident. Leon, however, chose to call it the "Silver Ghost" due to him being a man who disappeared from this world during that incident and "wanders in the dark and gray fog." Leon continued to use this handgun in October 2005 when he entered the Harvardville International Airport during a viral outbreak, though with a flashlight in place of the laser module. The Silver Ghost saw further use by Leon in 2006, during the White House Incident albeit without a flashlight or laser module.

Design

The pistol is of fictional design, which designer Ryoumura Jyoshin stated was inspired by the H&K USP, S&W Sigma, and Ruger P85; the latter makes the most sense, as the Silver Ghost replaced Leon's prior starting handgun, the Ruger KP94, late in the game's development. The words "Kendo Custom Shop" can be seen engraved on the slide.

The Silver Ghost takes heavy design cues from all three handguns: From the USP it takes the Tactical version's threaded barrel for a sound suppressor, frame, trigger, and slide stop. From the Sigma it borrows its slide, magazine, and magazine well. From the P85 it claims its external hammer, iron sights, and grips with horizontal serrations.

As for its original features: its slide is stainless steel with vertical slide serrations. Its polymer grip has checkered front and back straps, while the panels are wood framed with polymer inserts (featuring the P85's serrations) and a central medallion on each side. The grips in general strongly resemble the ones featured on Jill's Samurai Edge in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. It lacks an external safety like a Glock. A red laser sight has been fixed to the frame, with its pressure switch attached to the grip.

The Silver Ghost features average power, decent magazine capacity, good firing speed, and rather shaky aim compared to other handguns. When fully upgraded it receives a x5 critical headshot rate, making it much more likely to kill normal Ganados (and also Las Plagas parasites) in one hit.

ARMS Magazine and Replica

The January '06 issue of ARMS, a Japanese airsoft magazine, contained a special which included articles about the origin and replication of the Silver Ghost. The story explaining the creation of Leon's handgun is written by an ARMS Magazine author and is noted to have no connection to the story. However, the story was based on interviews with weapons designer Ryoumura Jyoshin; so arguably, to an extent, the general scenario could be seen as expanded canon loosely based on Jyoshin's personal story for the gun.

According to the story, Leon visits Joe Kendo and requests to have a handgun built for him before leaving for his mission to investigate Ashley's kidnapping. Kendo considers Leon's request for a tactical handgun with certain parts and surprises him with a completely original design. After seeing it, Leon approves of Kendo's custom creation. Leon names it the "Silver Ghost" to match his view of himself, a spirit pulled out from his body. Leon also inserts his own skull mark into the grip.

There was also an article about the making of a replica of the weapon by the staff of ARMS in conjunction with Ryoumura Jyoshin.

ARMS Jan '06 Cover

ARMS Jan '06 p34

ARMS Jan '06 p. 35 (Detail)

Silver Ghost in 2005

Further Notes

• The gun itself is Leon's starting weapon in Resident Evil 4 and he uses it throughout Resident Evil: Degeneration. The gun has also made other appearances throughout the series.
• In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Chris is seen holding the weapon in his hands rather than his Beretta.
• A limited run of 1/6 scale models was released in Japan with pre-orders of the PS2 version of Resident Evil 4.
• Wesker is seen using his suppressed version again during Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, though an explanation as to how he obtained it is never given due to being a case of asset reuse for cost and time reasons. It was used by him during the Umbrella's End scenarios under the name Silenced Handgun.
• In the remake of RE4, an improved model appears named SG-09 R, with the SG standing for Silver Ghost. It is still a Kendo custom piece, now fully based on a USP. It no longer features a threaded barrel and default laser sight. Instead it features what appears to be a built-in compensator and the ability to attach a separate laser sight.