With Capcom's upcoming remake of Resident Evil 4, many story and gameplay elements have carried over as anticipated by fans. The original title's B-Movie style and tone are present throughout the remake with Leon's combat capabilities, dialogue, and actions. Beneath all this though, there are some genuinely terrifying and disturbing underlying facts regarding Las Plagas and the Villagers.
A majority of these aspects are showcased in files that players can discover during their playthrough and the game's end credits. Still, with Resident Evil 4 Remake's likelihood of shedding more light on all of this at the forefront of everything it has to offer, many fans wonder how much attention each of these lore pieces will receive.
5 Osmund Saddler's Dictatorship
Fans who are familiar with the original game will know of the credits, which depict the lead-up to Los Illumindos's return and Osmund Saddler's indoctrination. It showcases a peaceful and quiet village, where the people are connected with one another without any form of drama or disturbances. A majority of the work in the village revolves around farming, as noted once players traverse through the Village region. This all turned upside down once the Village's chief, Bitores Mendez, introduced Osmund Saddler.
Plans of spreading Las Plagas among the Villagers were revealed, with the promise of purity from sins once it was complete, but this obviously was not the case. Those who were against the idea were forced to take the injection, which ultimately led to Saddler's total control, and the vicious and deadly nature of Las Plagas coming to light. Given the focus on characters such as Leon, Ashley, and Luis Sera, these facts are much less of a central focus during the game's action, but are still upsetting and disturbing, to say the least.
4 Lab Tests/Experiments (Regenerators)
It's tragic to see the lives of the Ganados being wrecked at the hands of Saddler. However, the game's latter stages within the Island segment contain one of the most terrifying enemies in the history of the Resident Evil franchise. Based on the files that can be read in-game, the Regenerators are suggested to be formed from human bodies that have been overloaded with parasites, and are kept refrigerated to maintain their condition. The depictions of some of the experiments in the labs are shocking, and still manage to leave a layer of mystery as to how these lab tests played out.
This could perhaps open up the door to new and unseen enemies within the Resident Evil 4 Remake within its confirmed Island section, especially since its producer and director recently confirmed that there will be new enemies for players to encounter. One of these has already been showcased within released footage. Additionally, the remake has the potential to include new information regarding familiar enemies such as Dr. Salvador and his origins.
3 Cultists/Los Illuminados Rituals
As depicted in the Resident Evil 4 Remake trailer, the original title's main campaign and Separate Ways DLC demonstrate a certain decapitation ritual. It appears to suggest that a female is required to execute this correctly. The first time around it was Ada who was a potential victim of the procedure at the hands of Ganados, whereas this time around it is another female that could either be Ashley or a new character entirely.
This entire display of this ritual gives fans a sense of the horrific kinds of acts that happen behind closed doors. It further suggests the deadly and dangerous nature of these cult followers.
2 Children's Death Due To Las Plagas
Unlike the adults among the rest of the community, the children were the ones who could not withstand the Las Plagas and ultimately died before fully succumbing to the parasite. Given the innocence within the people of the Village that the end credits showcase, this left many players disturbed. They realized just how vile Osmund Saddler's forceful takeover was, leading to the death of a great number of children.
Given the removal of any individuality, this would also suggest that the adults had no recollection of previous times or the fact that their own children had passed away. As stated by Capcom, the remake intends to delve deeper into the characters and take the story much more seriously. This could give fans even more context on life prior to the Las Plagas infection.
1 No More Humanity
Above all, just like the rest of the Resident Evil franchise, the most disturbing aspect of this all is the fact that there is no shred of humanity left in the game's regions. Where there were once peaceful lives for the Villagers living as normal humans, there is now nothing left but monsters who are left at the commands of Osmund Saddler.
This is a recurring theme throughout the franchise, but the Resident Evil 4 Remake has the potential to double down on this. It could reveal more of what happened before Ashley was captured, or Leon was sent on a rescue mission.
Resident Evil 4 Remake releases March 24th on PlayStation, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.