To me he looks like he just doesn't take care of himself, like he doesn't shower. Like I said, he can't even get a hair cut.
Compare this to Leon from Resident Evil 4 and they're completely different characters. Looks tells you a lot about a person. In one hand you have a sharp looking character and on the other you have someone they can pass as homeless.
why couldn't just use the same design? Square was able to use the same models for a 20+ year old game with FFVIII but Capcom just goes out of their way to make the characters as ugly as possible
To be fair, considering how Leon ended up in Resident Evil Vendetta(tired of it all and drinking away his worries), this look might make sense and might be the start of his current depression.
This is him in Vendetta for comparison:
He might be just as jaded, if not more, than Chris was at the start of RE 6. Consider his timeline:
RE 2: Rookie cop first day on the job fought a zombie horde, multiple bio-weapons, saw multiple innocents die including seeing the woman he had feelings for potentially die and he uncovered a grand conspiracy.
(explained in RE: Degeneration): He immediately gets picked up and questioned by the government after the events of RE 2. Not given a moment's rest after RE 2 and is instead recruited and trained to work for them to help with their anti-bio weapon team, because the other option they gave him was jail.
Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles: Has to work with Krauser to hunt down bio-weapons. Krauser is unhinged and extremely difficult to cooperate with.
RE 4: After working for them a bit, get's put on a rescue mission of high importance to rescue the President's daughter. Turns out that he has to fight an entire village, castle of cultists, and island full of zombified mercenaries and then gets betrayed by Ada at the very end of that entire struggle.
(This current Netflix show takes place here)
RE 6: Whole world became a mess due to the fallout of Umbrella, has to help clean it up and also has more Ada problems
RE: Vendetta(Picture above): He's jaded from fighting everything, tired of it all, wants to quit, but agrees to help Chris anyway.
This is why I don't blame them for not putting Leon in RE 7 or RE 8 or even making this Netflix show a prequel. If one character deserves a retirement(a good ending), it's him. Chris loves fighting BOWs too much to retire. He revels in it. Leon is just done.
This is also why I don't blame them for making him look more rugged. Dude's been through shit and seen shit. He should have a thousand yard stare to add onto the look that you claim he has.