No Hope Left?

I read some of the stupidest rumours yesterday when looking for information on the upcoming Resident Evil 6 (released tomorrow!).

According to some rumours, Capcom plans to kill off either Leon, Chris, or possibly both. Would a company like Capcom really be so stupid as to do that?

Sites like Amazon have in the Product Description put "...sees series favourites, Chris and Leon...". That's exactly what they are - favourites. If you kill the fan-favourite characters, what do you think that will do to your series? It would pretty much kill the series because no one will be interested anymore. The reason for these rumours is that Capcom wants to reboot the series. Are you saying they can't reboot the series unless they kill off peoples' favourite characters?

If that rumour is true, then the Resident Evil 6 tagline "No Hope Left" will be accurate. There will be no hope left for the series. It will be over.

I'm hoping that they aren't that stupid. I understand the want for a reboot since a lot of people don't like the direction the series has been going since Resident Evil 4. Still, a reboot doesn't mean you must kill off characters everybody likes.