Metaltango

Metaltango is the slash ship between Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser from the Resident Evil fandom.

Operation Javier
In 2002, Jack and Leon are on their first and only mission somewhere in South America. They head for a village in search of ex-drug lord Javier Hidalgo who had been reported to be approaching Umbrella. However, when Leon and Jack reach the village, they discover that the people there have been turned into zombies. They run to the overflowing river where they find their supposed-to-be guide. Before succumbing to his injures, and being dragged into the water, the man informs them of a girl who had escaped from Javier’s mansion. Fighting their way past more B.O.Ws, Leon and Jack eventually find the girl, but have to face the creature that took their village guide. They successfully chase it off after Leon shoots the bell tower, causing it to fall on the creature. Jack had never fought B.O.Ws up until at point, so he asks Leon to “fill him in,” saying, ''“Look, fill me in. I need to know what you’ve been through. Everything.”'' Leon does just that, he explains to him about what happened in Raccoon City, back in 1998, and Jack listens quietly.

Due to rising water levels, they make their way to the dam, where Javier awaits with his B.O.Ws. He releases the monsters to attack Leon and Jack while attempting to retrieve Manuela. It is revealed by Javier that Manuela is his daughter and that he had been tampering with the T-Veronica virus. Leon and Jack discover that Manuela has been receiving regular doses of the T-Veronica virus to contain her illness. At this point, Jack finally pledges to Leon that he will view Leon as a worthy partner, following Leon informing him he’s on a mission under orders of the President of the United States. As Jack is a solider, he tells Leon he’s “on his side”.

Soon after, they learn that the reason Javier has been kidnapping young girls is because he was trying to extract organs to perform transplants in order to cure Manuela. Immediately, they are confronted by the gigantic monster that ambushed them back at the church, who they soon learn is actually Manuela’s mother, Hilda, who had the same illness as Manuela, she mutated due to the failure to keep the virus in check. Right before dying, she shoots out spikes from her body, one of which pierces into the arm of Jack, wounding him. Leon moves closer to him, but Jack insists he’s fine. After defeating Hilda, Javier merges himself with the Veronica plant, becoming the V-Complex; he attacks Leon and the injured Jack. Outside, Manuela assists Leon and Jack in the battle against her father by using T-Veronica, her fire blood, at the risk of turning into a monster herself. The three survive, and are rescued via helicopter. The U.S. government takes care of Manuela, and Leon comments that after, due to Jack’s arm injury never fully healing, he was forced to leave the army, where he went, no one knows.

Resident Evil 4 (2005)
In 2004, Leon and Jack meet again after two years on a Ganado island located in Spain. As Leon enters a large room he senses something is off and pulls out his knife in the chance of an attack. Moments later, Jack swings down from the pipe system, cutting Leon’s right cheek. As both men stand, Jack tells Leon, “Been a long time, comrade.” Leon realizes Jack must have been the one to kidnap Ashley Graham, the President of the United States’ daughter; the reason he’s in Spain. Leon and Jack engage in an intense knife fight with Leon managing to cut Jack’s chest. With Jack’s super-human abilities, the cut doesn’t faze him and he’s able to knock Leon down “for Umbrella’s sake.” This catches Leon’s attention and Jack realizes he’s “almost let it slip,” so he jumps on Leon’s chest, demanding he die, while attempting to stab him in the chest. Moments later, Ada Wong shoots the knife, pulling both men apart. Jack backflips up to a higher platform, before telling Leon, “You may be able to prolong your life, but it’s not like you can escape your inevitable death, is it?” With that, Jack leaves.

Leon and Jack meet again as Leon is walking through a ruined castle. Jack emerges from behind a pillar mocking about Ada. Instead Leon demands where Ashley is, to which Jack tells him: she’s beyond a gate nearby. Jack even tells Leon he’ll need three insignias to open it, one in the North, and one in the East. Leon makes the connection that Jack must have the third and final one. Jack fires at Leon and an intense fight breaks out. Leon finds the first insignia and questions Jack about “restoring umbrella,” to which Jack answers to bring “order and balance.” Leon is quick to tell him that a “psycho” like Jack can’t do that. Leon finds the second insignia and Jack lands behind, the two stare at each other before Leon says, ''“Two down. One more to go, Krauser.”'' To Leon’s surprise, Jack throws his gun to the ground and mutates his left arm into an arm-blade. They engage in another battle, with Leon managing to defeat Jack, taking the third and final insignia for the gate. As Jack lays dead on the ground, Leon comments, ''“Krauser… what happened to you? You used to be a good guy…”''

Resident Evil 4 (2023)
Six years following the Raccoon City Incident of 1998, Leon had been forced into becoming a government agent. He undergoes grueling training and participating in punishing missions, while gaining proficiency in weapon handling and close quarters combat, training under Major Jack Krauser.

In 2004, following the abduction of U.S. President Graham’s daughter, Ashley Graham, Leon is sent to Valdelobos, a remote mountainous village located in Spain after the Secret Service intercepts reliable intel about that abduction, which suggested that the First Daughter was last sighted in the region. As Leon is searching for Ashley, he becomes infected with the Las Plagas parasite. Much later into the night when his symptoms worsen, Leon has a vision through someone’s eyes of cult leader Osmund Saddler, the leader of Los Iluminados, giving them orders to deliver “salvation”. The person accepts the orders, before looking down to their knife in hand, the reflection revealing the person to be Krauser.

Leon and his recent ally, Luis Serra, are making their way to the surface of a mine when they step of the lift they’re taking. Luis walks ahead of Leon when he’s suddenly stabbed in the back by Krauser. As he falls to the ground, Leon sees his former major, who he has since thought died years prior. The two engage in a knife battle, to which Krauser is impressed by Leon still possessing the skills he taught him. Leon demands to know why a “solider like Krauser” is working for Los Iluminados. Krauser reveals it’s because of what happened two years prior with Operation Javier, a mission that resulted in the deaths of all his men with the government actively letting it happen. Krauser also wanting to seek the “devastating power,” that killed his men. Leon loses the fight against him, though Luis manages to save Leon by shooting Krauser’s knife away. Disappointed at Leon’s lack of change, Krauser leaves the area.

A short time later, Leon spots Krauser when Ashley is handed over to him, a drawbridge closing between them. Following Leon killing Ramón Salazar, he sees Krauser again driving a boat with the Ashley in back. With help from Ada Wong, he arrives to the island as well, seeing Krauser briefly again.

At the summit of the island, Leon comes across Krauser’s base; a photo of Leon with “I’m waiting” written on it and a voice recording of Krauser telling Leon he’s prepared a battlefield for them. Leon continues forward and is confronted by Krauser. Krauser taunts him by saying how he can’t save Ashley, how he can’t save anyone. Leon snaps back, wondering if this is all for revenge on the government for what happened during Operation Javier. Krauser denies this, claiming while in the jungle during that botched mission he had a revelation that all he ever wanted was unadulterated power and how Los Iluminados has given him that.

The two engage in a fight to the death as Leon attempts to make his way towards the tower where Ashely is being held. Outmatched a few too many times, Krauser mutates his left arm and smashes the ground, sending Leon falling below. Leon navigates through the dark corridors and makes his way to the entrance of the tower, though he arrives late as a drawbridge raises up. Krauser appears behind him, now with both arms mutated. The battle continues and Leon is victorious. Acknowledging that his death is inevitable, Krauser tells Leon to “do what he has to do.” Leon stabs Krauser in the heart with his own knife, killing him. Krauser proudly tells Leon he has trained him well, and Leon agrees as Krauser takes his last breath. As Leon crosses the now lowered drawbridge, he takes one final look at Krauser’s body before running into the tower to rescue Ashley.

Resident Evil 4 (2023)
"Not bad."

- Krauser, to Leon, impressed by his knife skill.

"Enough play, rookie. You haven’t changed a damn bit. What a disappointment."

- Krauser, to Leon, disappointed.

Fanon
is a popular ship within the Resident Evil fandom. During Resident Evil 4 (2005), the ship had a small following, which lasted until 2023, the release of the Resident Evil 4 remake. With the remake, has regained interest from both new and older members of the fandom. has since reached into the top 10 ships of the series because of it.

On AO3, has 295+ works in its romantic/slash tag, and has 5+ works in its platonic/general tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Leon/Jack (Gameverse) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Leon/Jack (Gameverse) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Leon/Jack (Gameverse) tag on FanFiction.net

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