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For the Wildstorm equivalent, see George (shop owner).

Robert "Bob" Kendo (ロバート・ケンド Robāto Kendo?) was a Japanese-American owner of the Kendo Gun Shop in Raccoon City. He was a close friend of Special Tactics And Rescue Service member Barry Burton, and helped to create custom guns for Barry and the other S.T.A.R.S. members.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Both Robert and his brother, Joseph, were involved in the gun market - Robert being the salesman, and Joseph being a gunsmith. Together they developed the Beretta 92F, otherwise known as the "Samurai Edge", custom handguns requested by the Raccoon Police Department during the formation of the S.T.A.R.S. unit. The order for the Samurai Edge weapons may have been personally ordered from officer Barry Burton, a close friend of Robert's with whom he used to fish in the nearby town of Stone Ville.[3] During some point of his life, he married, and by 1988, he had a daughter, Emma Kendo.

Raccoon City Incident and Fate[]

Mere days before the outbreak, Kendo had spent a night at the nearby bar with the old man who owned the neighboring Arukas clothing store.[4] Following the spread of the t-Virus into the water supply and the mass appearance of zombies on September 25, 1998, Robert handed out the majority of his gun stock to civilians free-of-charge as protection.[5] He felt partially guilty in doing so, as the Raging Bull magnum that Barry had ordered was among those given to the populace. He nonetheless remained hopeful of his chances of survival; expecting Burton to come looking for him, he left a note detailing his planned escape to Stone Ville.[3] As the days went by, the number of civilians that came by his store in search of weapons dwindled almost as quicky as his supply and Kendo was left alone in his shop.[6]

On the night of September 29, Kendo met either Claire Redfield or Leon Scott Kennedy after they had wandered into his gun shop to escape the chaos ensuing outside. There, he was initially hostile to the survivors and questioned their intent before realizing they were not a zombie. Robert described that he had been unaware of the outbreak that had been occurring until the city had been overrun, but nevertheless offered the survivor indefinite sanctuary in his shop as he was "keeping a close eye on things".[7]

Recollections glossary - Robert Kendo

Kendo's final moments.

Unfortunately, Robert would meet his end shortly thereafter, as Kendo was caught off guard when he recognized one of the zombies approaching the shop as the owner of the neighboring Arukas store.[4] The zombies combined weight managed to break through the store's tempered glass display window and they quickly tackled Kendo to the ground and begun to devour him.[8] In his final moments, Kendo convinced himself that his excruciating death was just the end of a terrible dream.[4]

KendoDarkside

Leon and Claire stumble upon Kendo's corpse.

On September 29, Leon Scott Kennedy and Claire Redfield wandered past Gun Shop Kendo during their trek to the Raccoon Police Station. Hearing Robert's scream from a distance, the pair rushed to the store just in time to witness Kendo being devoured by the zombies whom had broken in through the front window, but were too late to assist him or prevent his demise.[5] In this telling, Kendo's store had been cleared of any useful weapons or inventory, thus Kendo himself was defenseless to protect himself against the horde with what remained.[9]

Kendo21

Kendo anxiously banters with Jill.

Robert took to hiding within the store, as well as his wife and his daughter, Emma Kendo, who were later infected in the process. Kendo killed his wife to eliminate the threat posed to him and his daughter. On the night of September 28, he encountered Jill Valentine inside in his shop, who offered him a means to escape the city but he refused, Jill then left him a letter after he stayed behind to take care of his daughter in the remaining hours of her life.[10][11]

Emma and Kendo Resident Evil 2 Remake

Kendo solemnly holds his daughter as he blames the RPD for their failure.

The following night, Kendo would encounter officer Leon Scott Kennedy and Ada Wong as they entered his store. Believing them to be intruders, Robert aimed his shotgun at Leon; however, the encounter was interrupted by his daughter Emma, as she was delirious and on the verge of zombification, Ada attempted to terminate her (much to Robert's objection) but was stopped by Leon. Robert berated the Raccoon Police Department for allowing such a tragedy to occur, then took Emma inside and demanded privacy, finally killing her to prevent total zombification.[12] Not long after, Kendo committed suicide off-screen. Leon's encounter with Kendo would stay on his mind for years to come as he vowed to prevent his tragedy from ever happening again.[13]

Bibliography[]

Sources[]

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