100 Things You Never Knew About Resident Evil
42. The Cancelled Comeback
At one point, someone at Capcom really pushed for a return for The Merchant but in a way that you could never predict.
As part of the Biohazard 6 Artworks Book, there is a page of cancelled concepts for Leon S. Kennedy's unlockable outfits for the game. Nestled amongst some obvious but not bad ideas like cowboy and sheriff is a frankly bizarre one of Leon carrying the Merchant on his back. It's totally barmy, and the kind of silly that totally suits Resident Evil, but sadly such a thing never came to pass.
We've no idea why, but it's entirely possible that just would've been unfeasible or was too much stress from a rigging perspective. It's a lot of additional work, after all, for an unlockable costume.
Truthfully it absolutely would've been worth it, but at least we'll always have the concept art.