Ada Wong

Ada Wong (エイダ・ウォン) is a recurring fictional video game character appearing in the Resident Evil video game series. A woman of Asian descent, Ada is a cunning and formidable secret agent. She is voiced by actress Sally Cahill in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4, and has also appeared in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

Concept and creation
When she was first revealed in Resident Evil 4, her identity was unclear. When asked by IGN editors if Ada would appear in the game, Resident Evil 4 producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi stated that a mystery woman appears in the game.

Portrayal
Ada is voiced by Sally Cahill in Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4 and The Darkside Chronicles, and by Megan Hollingshead in The Umbrella Chronicles. Cahill said that getting the part of Ada came from doing other voices for the company.

I seemed to have the sexy sound they were looking for. The producer and creators were Japanese, and they seemed to respond to the tone of my voice (I'm not quite sure why), so they brought me in to read for Ada. I saw them nodding all their heads in the control room through the glass and that was that....Yes, there was a particular direction for Ada — a sense of mystery, not everything revealed to play through on the lines — but it was up to me to make that come across my own way....I found the longer narrative for Ada in Separate Ways interesting, as it showed more about what she was really thinking, which hadn't really happened up to then. It was created for me as the team had discovered how popular Ada had become, so that was nice....I loved the new look for Ada — I wanted to run out and get that dress for myself!! It may have influenced my work on another level without me knowing. It's possible....was nice to have more time to develop the character and get into her thought process. Every time I went to the studio, they would tell me the response Ada was having with the public, so I was happy for Ada and the producers. That recording session was a long day. We recorded the monologues at the very end and were worried we would run out of studio time, but they were happy with the very first take. At that point, I felt quite connected to Ada as well....I have had a few opportunities to play the game, but it's a strange feeling. I would get personally upset about bad things or injuries happening to Ada, so I think in the future, I'll follow another character."

Ada has been voiced by Courtenay Taylor in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Resident Evil: Damnation. She will be reprising the role in Resident Evil 6 as well. Up to now, Cahill and Taylor both have portrayed Ada three different times.

Appearances
Ada Wong is first mentioned in Resident Evil, in a letter written by a dying researcher, named John. She makes her first appearance in Resident Evil 2, secretly working as a spy for an unnamed company to recover a sample of the G-virus. Ada poses as a bystander who is searching for her missing boyfriend, John, when she meets Leon S. Kennedy. Her secret agenda is exposed, but she is seriously wounded by William Birkin and the Tyrant T-103. An epilogue in Resident Evil 3, as well as a fictional documentary in Code: Veronica confirm that Ada survived the ordeal. The Umbrella Chronicles later retell the specific events of her survival.

Her next appearance was in Resident Evil 4, where she assists Leon in his mission to rescue the new President's daughter Ashley Graham, although her true objective is to obtain a sample of the Las Plagas parasites for Wesker. Ada appeared in the sub-scenario "Assignment: Ada", as well as in the "Mercenaries" minigame. A new scenario starring Ada, titled "Separate Ways", was added to the PlayStation 2, PC and Wii ports, which depicts the events of the main game from Ada's perspective, as well as a fictional documentary titled "Ada's Report", where she describes her involvement with other characters in the story.

Reception
Ada Wong was included on AOL's "Babe of the Week" feature by the GameDaily staff who described her as a "gun-toting hottie". They cited her second appearance in Resident Evil 4 for her popularity, stating that she has the capabilities to star in her own video game. They also listed her as the 12th hottest game babe, describing her as a "mysterious and seductive vixen." UGO.com ranked her fourth on their list of the top 50 video game hotties, describing her as "drop dead gorgeous" and stating that they anticipate what the series has in store for her in the future. In author Dick Meyer's book titled "Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium", he discusses peoples' inability to differentiate real people and objects from fictional people and objects seen in television, films, and video games. He adds that this may explain why so many teenage boys have crushes on video game characters, citing the tagline used for the above-mentioned article which reads "Virtually Sexy: Ada's there for you when the real babes aren't." The duo of Leon S. Kennedy and Ada was listed as one of the most memorable video game love teams by Alexander Villafania for the Inquirer. Travis Moore, editor for the Daily Campus, stated that characters like Ada are cited as an example of characters who are in control of their sexuality, but added that this was only due to their "coy desirability".

Promotion
Ada Wong has been featured as a figurine multiple times. She was included in a set of figurines called "Resident Evil 4: Series 1" by NECA.