The Resident Evil 4 remake only vaguely alludes to the true reason Ada is on the island. Ada Wong appears in a majority of games in the Resident Evil series as a morally gray interloper. While her presentation has differed across both the original games and the remakes, Ada is almost universally known to appear in outfits of bright red and black. She uses her skills as a spy and assassin to dip into BOW-infested crisis sites and retrieve crucial intel or resources for her employers.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Resident Evil 4 remake.]
While her motives in the games vary, there is one uniting thread: she primarily puts her own safety first, trying to make her money and get out with no interest in the ramifications of biological warfare. In the original Resident Evil games, Ada is willing to play the seductress role to complete her mission. In the remakes of RE2 and RE4, however, she comes across as a more cold-hearted, cynical femme fatale. This aloof personality makes her even more mysterious, making her motive for visiting the island harder to discern.
Ada Wong’s Troubled Past Leads Her Into Resident Evil 4 Remake
Ada’s first appearance in the Resident Evil series is RE2. Due to Ada’s mysterious origins, the player is given no information about her life up until this point - not even her real name. One can speculate, however, that Ada was trained from a young age in the art of espionage and assassination, based on her proficiency with weaponry and surveillance. Ada is hired by the rival company of Umbrella to enter Umbrella’s facility in Raccoon City and retrieve a sample of the G-Virus in an act of corporate espionage. Naturally, Ada has no idea of the impending zombie outbreak she’s heading into.
Ada meets Leon here for the first time in RE2's remake, pretending to be an agent for the FBI while they navigate their way into the research facility. Although she’s in it for the money, she develops affection for Leon as well. The two save each other numerous times, most notably when Ada gives Leon a rocket launcher with which to fight the Tyrant Mr. X. Leon believes Ada is killed inside the facility, but in reality she retrieves the G-Virus from Sherry’s locket and manages to escape the research facility’s explosion.
While the RE2 remake leaves Ada’s fate mostly unexplained, her escape from Raccoon City is expanded upon in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. Ada travels to the Apple Inn to meet her from Umbrella’s rival company, but finds him dead. Albert Wesker, through video call, informs her of the government’s plan to bomb Raccoon City. He offers her an escape route in exchange for the G-Virus sample. Without much choice, Ada accepts his offer and is rewarded with her iconic grappling hook as a bonus. She escapes Raccoon City via helicopter and forms a tentative ongoing contract with Wesker.
Ada Wong Is A Spy On A Mission In Resident Evil 4 Remake
Jumping ahead six years, just prior to the events of the Resident Evil 4 remake, Ada is working for Wesker's organization, known creatively only as The Organization. Though it won’t be revealed until Resident Evil 5, Wesker hopes to obtain all the virus samples so far produced so that he can pick the best aspects of each and create an ultimate virus. To this end, Wesker tasks Ada with infiltrating the headquarters of Los Illuminados and retrieving a sample of the Las Plagas parasite - accompanied by Jack Kra for backup.
Ada doesn’t count on meeting Leon again, though. Ada faithfully carries out her mission in Resident Evil 4, but along the way she unnecessarily aids Leon in his quest to save Ashley and escape unscathed. She calls him a couple of times to give him advice about Los Illuminados’ movements and repels Father Mendez when he attacks Leon. Conversely, she colludes with Luis to obtain the Las Plagas sample and updates Wesker on her mission. Ada is pulled in two directions, and when asked by Leon if she’s changed since the Raccoon City incident, she doesn’t seem certain herself.
On the island, Ada continues to play both sides. Although she saves Leon’s life in the Resident Evil 4 remake's final fight with Saddler and gives him the Jet Ski key, she also steals the Las Plagas sample. In the original RE4, her betrayal at the end is purely villainous; she even activates the island’s detonation sequence. But in the remake, Ada seems to shift allegiances slightly to Leon’s side. In the epilogue, Ada reports to Wesker and asks what his plans are for the Las Plagas sample. When he explains his intention of killing billions to establish a new world order, Ada hijacks the helicopter and redirects it.
This decision is given more context in an additional mode included with the original RE4 called Separate Ways. This mode follows Ada’s journey through RE4. The player finds out that Ada rang the bell that saved Leon in the opening Village sequence, and she prevented him from being killed by Kra. In other words, Separate Ways showcases Ada’s decision to save Leon and further reinforces the idea that she has been inspired by his upstanding moral character at the end of the game. Data mines show that this mode may be included as story DLC for the Resident Evil 4 remake in the near future (via Resident Evil Central on Twitter).
Ada Wong’s Dubious Future After Resident Evil 4 Remake
In the original Resident Evil series, Ada goes on to betray Wesker by handing the Las Plagas sample to Umbrella’s rival company. It’s unclear, however, whether this is due to her disgust for Wesker’s plan, or simply picking the client with the deepest pockets. During Ada’s next in-game appearance in RE6, she is a far more sympathetic character looking to take down a company named Neo Umbrella which has risen from the ashes of Umbrella’s destruction. This character change feels slightly inorganic and seems mainly meant to appeal to fans of the character. The remake series may fix this with a new continuity for Ada.
Ada appears to have betrayed Wesker for a more just reason in RE4's remake, signaling a shift in morality. Her last line, and the final line of the game, signals this quite clearly: “We’re changing course - now.” Perhaps this means the entire course of the series will shift. The story of RE5 and RE6 were both panned by fans and critics alike in their original iterations, so Ada’s decision here may afford Capcom the chance to redo the series’ storyline. While Ada arrived at the island in the Resident Evil 4 remake for the wrong reasons, she may have left there with a more virtuous goal in mind.
Source: Resident Evil Central/Twitter
