It's worth noting that when Tetsuya Nomura came back with his first design for Squall, he originally had him with longer hear and a more feminine demeanor/physique. Sakaguchi objected, telling him to go back and make Squall look more masculine; he just couldn't justify such a character design playing the part of a cold-shouldered lonewolf.

But Nomura liked his original idea. Leon is a return to that design, and as such was given a slightly more communicative personality (and a different name).