With plenty of rumors buzzing around regarding Resident Evil games lately, there is finally some official news from Capcom regarding Resident Evil 3's Nemesis. Some very significant revelations also link this creature to the all but confirmed Resident Evil 4 Remake Capcom is rumored to be working on.
PlayStation's Tim Turi did an interview with Resident Evil 3's development staff regarding the Nemesis creature, and it was revealed that its new ability to infect zombies was the result of its relation to the Las Plagas-infected hosts known as the Ganado in Resident Evil 4. "We wanted NE-a infected enemies [enemies infected by the Nemesis] to be visually similar to the Plagas-infected Ganados as a means for fans to piece together how Nemesis fits within the whole Resident Evil franchise."
Resident Evil 4: The Los Plagas Are Now Relevant
This significantly links the Las Plagas parasites in Resident Evil 4 to the series on a larger level, giving the story more meaning and definition in the Resident Evil timeline than it had previously. It even connects Resident Evil 4 to G-Virus in a strong way, which had a presence in both Resident Evil 1 and 2 in infecting Resident Evil 2's William Birkin, and birthing itself in Umbrella's human experiment: Lisa Trevor.
Resident Evil's  G-Virus was essentially a fusion of various T-Virus samples and the Nemesis parasite that were tested on Lisa Trevor over many years. The various T-Virus samples in her body caused her immune system to kill the Nemesis parasite and fuse with it, resulting in the accidental birth of the mighty G-Virus, which Umbrella removed from her.
Now that it has been revealed that the Nemesis parasite has origins or links to the Las Plagas parasite, it's certainly possible that the Las Plagas parasites also helped create the G-Virus, which has many inclusions in various Resident Evil games. This more closely sews the Resident Evil 4 storyline strongly into the fabric of the Resident Evil universe and its history.
For the first time, the new revelation gives Resident Evil 4's parasitic enemies a significant role in the Resident Evil universe and timeline, and a directly links them to Resident Evil's Umbrella Corporation. Before Capcom revealed this information, little was revealed about the origins of the Nemesis parasite, other than it was an artificially created parasite made in Umbrella's European facilities. The context of this parasite nor its origins were ever disclosed, until now.
Also, Resident Evil's Las Plagas parasites were always viewed oddly to much of the Resident Evil community, given that they stood on their own with no known historical links to Umbrella and their virology research, until now. While it sounds as if the Nemesis Parasite took inspiration from the Las Plagas parasites as a blueprint or model, is is perhaps not exactly the same as the parasite found in Resident Evil 4's Granado.
In the original Resident Evil 4 storyline, the parasites were found in a particular cave in a mountainous region of Spain, and had been used by Los Iluminados cultists hundreds of years ago to mutate themselves and obtain incredible strength and resilience. This all stopped when the Spanish Inquisition flexed its power and crushed them, leaving successors known as castellans to guard over the cave from their castle, and ensure its closure.
Filling in the Resident Evil Story
After Osmund Saddler, a mysterious bio-weapons research expert, shows up in Spain and revives the cult in Resident Evil 4, he convinces the the 8th Castellan to give him access to the caves hosting the parasite creatures known as the Las Plagas, which he uses to infect the cultists. However, little is known about Osmund Saddlers background or history in Resident Evil's bio-weapons industry, or how he was drawn to Spain in the first place. This gives Capcom potentially plenty of drawing room to hopefully fit him into the Resident Evil timeline with more defining contrast.
The Nemesis creature in Resident Evil 3 could also help answer particular questions that come to fruition following Capcom's revelations. Fans will likely want to know how Umbrella knew about or discovered the existence of the Las Plagas parasites in the cave in Spain, which they used to help create the Nemesis, as it is now revealed. We may find more clues in a possible Resident Evil 4 Remake pertaining to the Nemesis project's origins and possibly draw the link between Umbrella and the Las Plagas parasites.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
While there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, overall, it does not require Capcom to drastically change Resident Evil 4's storyline if a Remake is being produced. If anything, it allows Capcom to keep everything intact that was originally included in the Resident Evil 4 storyline and merely add more depth to the story already in place. Even before Capcom made these revelations about the Nemesis' link to Resident Evil 4, there were still hardcore fans out there who speculated the possibility that the Nemesis parasite could be linked to the Las Plagas parasites in Resident Evil 4, given the rather shallow amount of information available on the background of the Nemesis parasite.
Some observers believe that this revelation could drastically change Resident Evil 4's storyline and explain away the Las Plagas parasites as beings artificially engineered by Umbrella this time around. However, this would completely re-write the Resident Evil 4 storyline, as the Las Plagas parasites would no longer have been discovered by militant cultists hundreds of years ago.
Given that Resident Evil 4 is considered one of the greatest in the series and Capcom has kept the previous two Resident Evil remakes close in storyline to their original counterparts, the possibility of drastically changing the storyline in Resident Evil 4 seems unlikely. It would be much more simple to simply add more layers onto the storyline already in place, by explaining in more detail the Las Plagas' links to Umbrella's Nemesis project, and more background information on Resident Evil 4's main villain Osmund Saddler and his potential links to Umbrella.
Though Resident Evil 4 has yet to be officially confirmed, these revelations linking the Nemesis to Resident Evil 4 come at an interesting time given the rumors abound. It could appear out of place to suddenly make a significant link between the Nemesis and Resident Evil 4, unless perhaps Capcom has something relevant stirring in the pot.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is rumored to be in development.