Six years after the night of hell in Raccoon City, Leon S. Kennedy is no longer the trembling rookie cop. Recruited by the US government, Leon endured grueling training to become an elite agent — and received his first mission worthy of the name: Ashley Graham, daughter of the US President (codename Baby Eagle), has been kidnapped. The last trace leads to Valdelobos, a remote mountain village in Spain where something is very wrong with the locals.

This article follows the 2023 remake — a full rebuild of the 2005 original in RE Engine that keeps the story framework but rewrites many characters in depth: Luis Serra goes from comic-relief sidekick to a tragedy of redemption, Jack Krauser from hired mercenary to a traitorous mentor, and Ashley from a “burden” to a character with her own playable segment. It also marks the series' turning point: the enemies are no longer mindless zombies, but Ganados — humans controlled by the Las Plagas parasite, who can still speak, wield weapons, and hunt in coordination.

📌 Quick summary: In 2004, agent Leon S. Kennedy travels to the village of Valdelobos, Spain, to rescue Ashley Graham — the US President's daughter, kidnapped by the Los Iluminados cult to be implanted with the Las Plagas parasite. Leon is injected with a Plaga egg by village chief Bitores Mendez, teams up with former scientist Luis Serra, rescues Ashley in the church, crosses Lake Del Lago, defeats Mendez, infiltrates Ramon Salazar's castle, witnesses Luis murdered by his former mentor Jack Krauser, then heads to the military island to defeat Krauser and cult leader Osmund Saddler — who plots to rule the world with the Plaga — before escaping the exploding island with Ashley.

Leon returns: the mission to rescue the president's daughter

On a forest road in Spain, Leon rides with two local officers. Mario Fernandez Castaño tells him about the region's frequent disappearances, then steps out to relieve himself, hears a strange noise, and wanders deeper into the woods to investigate. When he doesn't return, Leon goes looking, following muddy, bloody tracks to a decrepit Hunter's Lodge. Inside, a man mutters to himself; Leon asks in Spanish — no answer. Then he spots Castaño's bloodstained police badge, and the man attacks. Leon dodges, grapples, and snaps his neck. Hearing Castaño's screams from the basement, Leon rushes down — only to find the officer's mutilated corpse and a radio distress call distorting into silence. Then the broken-necked man comes down the stairs, tentacles sprouting from his wounds — Leon is forced to kill him a second time.

Back upstairs, Leon sees more men gathering and hides in an inner room, where he finds evidence: Ashley is being held near Lake Lago. He reports to Ingrid Hunnigan — his agency support officer — then jumps out a window into the village square. There he witnesses the villagers burning the remaining officer alive in a ritual. Then Leon is surrounded — including a madman wearing a sack mask and wielding a chainsaw. He barricades himself in a nearby house, but the mob breaks in. Leon holds out only until the church bell tolls — everyone drops their weapons and quietly retreats to the Town Hall as if nothing happened.

Pueblo: the daylight siege and the church bell

Leon's attackers are called Ganados — Spanish for “livestock,” “cattle.” They were once ordinary farmers, but Las Plagas turned them into an obedient herd. Unlike T-virus zombies — mindless, only biting — Ganados retain human intelligence: they talk, use axes, pitchforks, torches, flank, and set traps. As long as the Plaga controls them, the body is just a tool.

The Pueblo square siege is the most legendary opening act in gaming history — the remake stages it more cinematically: villagers pour from every alley, the chainsaw-wielding Dr. Salvador lumbers forward amid the roar of his saw, Leon runs house to house, climbs roofs, shoots down ladders. Then the church bell rings — everyone stops and silently leaves. Not a miracle but a Plaga command: at “mass hour,” the herd is summoned to the church to hear the cult leader preach. Leon — the only lucid outsider — is merely prey whose turn hasn't come.

Hunnigan directs him toward the lake past the big windmill. On the way, Leon pries boards off a cellar hatch and finds a man stuffed in a body bag, writhing — he introduces himself as Luis Serra. Before they can flee, Bitores Mendez — the village chief — appears, disarms Leon, hurls him unconscious across the room. While blacked out, Leon feels Mendez inject a Las Plagas egg into him, and glimpses Osmund Saddler — leader of Los Iluminados — presenting their “most sacred body.”

Luis Serra and the cellar under the shed

Leon wakes up chained to Luis. Luis reveals word that Ashley will be moved to the old chapel in another part of the village. A Ganado bursts in; the two overpower it with their own chain — Leon yanks hard and snaps its neck. Luis grabs the key and frees them both. Once out, Leon reports the chapel to Hunnigan and asks her to run a background check on Luis — this guy is suspicious.

On the way out, Leon meets the Merchant — the enigmatic arms dealer with his legendary greeting — then infiltrates Mendez's manor for the chapel key. Mendez appears: Leon empties his gun into him with no effect, then gets strangled. At the critical moment, Mendez senses the Plaga growing inside Leon and declares with excitement: “your blood has accepted the gift.” A shot from outside the window hits Mendez in the head — a mysterious woman has saved Leon; Mendez releases him and chases her.

Hunnigan's report arrives: Luis once worked for Umbrella's research division — the corporation behind Raccoon City. Every drug he developed was discontinued; Luis resigned and vanished from all tracking systems. Leon is furious — he rescued an Umbrella snake. But Luis has far more layers than that.

Del Lago: the monster beneath the lake

The collapsed bell tower blocks the chapel path; Leon circles through the town hall to a locked church in a graveyard — Ashley's prison. But the church key lies across Lake Lago. On the shore, Leon watches Ganados dump Castaño's body into the lake, where a colossal creature surfaces and devours it — Del Lago, the lake's mutated giant salamander.

Leon finds a boat but it lacks fuel; he scavenges fuel from the processing plant near the fish farm and motors into the middle of the lake. Mid-lake the boat breaks down; Del Lago attacks relentlessly, and Leon hooks its fin with the anchor. A brutal battle on the night lake ends with Del Lago sinking to the bottom; Leon, exhausted, coughs up blood and blacks out. In his stupor, Saddler appears again and implants more parasites into him. On the way back, Leon must also down an El Gigante before reaching the church — where Ashley swings a candlestick at him, mistaking him for a kidnapper. Leon disarms and reassures her. But stepping outside, they see a horde of Ganados approaching — Saddler has commanded them in a shared vision: “deliver them unto salvation.”

The hilltop church: rescuing Ashley

Leon calms Ashley, reminding her that her own father entrusted her to him. They leave the church; Leon tells Hunnigan the target is secured — she arranges a helicopter extraction. But en route to the rendezvous, heavy rain falls and the meeting point holds only a Ganado horde. Luis signals from afar for them to shelter in a wooden cabin. Inside, Leon interrogates Luis about Umbrella when the Ganados attack — Leon and Luis make their stand, hiding Ashley away. After holding out long enough, Ashley finds a secret escape route; the three flee as Leon shoots the chains to drop a wooden portcullis on their pursuers.

Catching their breath, Ashley suddenly coughs up blood. Luis explains: it's a symptom of Las Plagas — the same parasite enslaving the villagers. But there is a surgical procedure to remove the parasite — proof being the mass of scars across Luis's own chest: he was once implanted and removed it himself. Luis says he has a plan that needs their trust, then leaves. Asked why he's helping, Luis answers simply: “it makes me feel better.” Right after, Luis secretly meets Ada Wong — the woman believed dead in Raccoon City. Ada asks about the “Amber”; without it, Luis gets no protection. Meanwhile, Hunnigan brings bad news: the helicopter can't come — the weather is too severe.

Bitores Mendez: the unkillable village chief

Leon and Ashley are ambushed — including two frenzied female Ganados wielding chainsaws — then relentlessly pursued by Mendez. At a rickety wooden passage along a cliff, Ashley's leg gets trapped in the planks; Leon shoots the pursuing Ganado, collapsing the whole passage — luckily both are already across. They slip into an old slaughterhouse, where Mendez ambushes them. He demands they submit to the cult's will; Leon sends Ashley ahead and hurls a fuel tank at Mendez, detonating it. The blast barely fazes him — Mendez reveals his mutated form. At the climax, Leon severs his body in half — but the upper half mutates even further and attacks madly. Mendez finally falls; Leon escapes the burning building thanks to Ashley smashing a window from outside — the first time Ashley saves Leon. They head for the castle; the gate behind them locks shut — no way back.

Mendez carries the dominant Plaga strain — preserving his consciousness, letting him command lesser hosts, and granting near-immortal regeneration. That's why bullets are useless against him, and why Saddler entrusted him with the whole village. Fans call Mendez “Big Cheese” — the hulking, bearded, red-eyed demon in a hat.

Salazar's castle: the diminutive master and his right hand Verdugo

Entering the castle, Luis arranges a courtyard meeting with suppressants to slow the Plaga, plus a document from Head Researcher Anabel Garcia Escudero: early symptoms include mild abdominal pain, coughing blood, dizziness, fainting; the drug only inhibits, never removes the parasite. The castle gate is heavily guarded; Leon uses its own cannon to blast the doors open and confronts Ramon Salazar — the 8th-generation master of the house, small in stature with a shrill voice. Salazar demands Ashley be handed over to spread the parasite worldwide; refused, he sends zealots. The pair escapes through the torture chamber, where Leon falls into a pit and faces the Garrador — a giant with sewn-shut eyes but superhuman hearing, charging at sound alone.

In the castle courtyard, Ashley worsens: she collapses in Leon's arms, then as if possessed grabs his knife to stab him — and fails. A gate slams between them; Ashley comes to, horrified, and runs away fearing she'll hurt Leon again. Searching for her, Leon runs into Ada — she holds him at gunpoint; he disarms and overpowers her. Ada suggests Leon abandon Ashley as beyond saving — he flatly refuses; she promises to “talk later” and leaps out a window. Leon downs an armored El Gigante with the rooftop cannon, then finds a cowering Ashley — who realizes he is infected too. Leon comforts her: being afraid is fine, but they must keep moving; both will survive.

Luis calls for help at the ballroom; the door is locked, so the two hunt for pieces to open it, fighting Armaduras — armors possessed by Plagas. With the pieces gathered, a zealot traps Leon in an iron cage — and here comes the remake's most memorable segment: the player controls Ashley, unarmed, sneaking through ruined rooms, repelling Armaduras with lantern light, finding Leon's cage key. But just as she throws it to him, Verdugo — Salazar's “right hand” — swoops in and abducts Ashley before his eyes. Outside the castle, Ada calls her employer: the Amber not yet retrieved, but Leon is “helping” her; the voice agrees to let Leon live. Then Ada spots Verdugo carrying Ashley to the throne room and tips off Leon.

At the throne room, Leon watches Ashley pinned down and forced to drink a black liquid Salazar claims will intensify her suffering. Sated, Salazar orders Verdugo to throw Leon into the pit below. Falling, Leon grabs an execution chain, descends into caverns, and discovers an underground laboratory with notes from Isidro Uriarte Talavera — the man who made himself into Verdugo, Salazar's “executioner.” Verdugo stalks Leon through the lab; he restores power and escapes by a hair. The elevator arrives — Luis is waiting with the suppressants.

Krauser, Saddler, and the final night on the island

In the mines, Leon injects the suppressant; Luis warns its effect won't last. Luis — calling Leon “Sancho Panza” and Ashley his “Dulcinea” — insists on coming to atone. Together they down two El Gigantes at the blast furnace and ride minecarts through the unstable tunnels, past the Novistador hive. Reaching the surface, tragedy strikes: Jack Krauser — believed dead — stabs Luis in the back. Leon is stunned: Krauser is the mole behind Ashley's kidnapping, willingly serving the cult. Krauser takes the Amber sample and duels Leon knife-to-knife, revealing his past: two years ago, in Operation Javier in South America, his whole unit was wiped out; he believes the government left them to die and thirsts for revenge. Leon is beaten, but the dying Luis shoots Krauser's knife away, saving him. Krauser leaves; Luis hands Leon the key to his lab — where the parasites can be removed — says “people can change,” and dies. Unlike the 2005 original (Luis shot by Saddler's men), the remake has Krauser himself strike the blow — making Luis's death Leon's personal wound.

Riding the lift up to face Krauser, Ada tips Leon off: Ashley was moved to the clock tower, still time. Leon watches Salazar hand Ashley to Krauser; Krauser carries her across the raised drawbridge, leaving Salazar to face Leon alone. Fed up, Leon guns Salazar down; he falls — then mutates into a monster, crying out for Saddler in vain before dying. Outside, Krauser boats away with Ashley; Ada hands Leon another boat's key. En route to the island, Leon opens up to Ada about the hard choices since Raccoon City's fall; he asks if she's changed or still using him as six years ago — Ada stays silent.

The island is a fortified military base. Leon infiltrates, facing Regeneradores and their spiky variant, the Iron Maidens — creatures that regenerate endlessly unless the parasites on their bodies are destroyed. With a keycard, Leon opens Ashley's cell — she's dying; he injects the last suppressant into her and waits as his own drug wears off. Ashley wakes, learns of Luis's death, and vows to purge the parasites as his tribute. Per Ada, key facilities sit at the summit; on the way up, Ashley herself operates a crane to smash a wall with a wrecking ball while Leon buys time — their finest teamwork.

At the Amber Storeroom, they find the amber that once held the Plaga — and Saddler reveals himself as the cult's “spokesperson.” Leon shoots out his eye — the wound heals instantly. Saddler seizes control of Leon, takes Ashley, and orders her to kill Leon. Ashley struggles, misses him but drops two followers; her gun jams, and Saddler takes her. In a tent, Leon finds Operation Javier files and the kidnapping details: they staged engine trouble, moved Ashley to another car, knocked her out into a cargo container, while another team infiltrated the investigation database to disable the network. Leon plays Krauser's tape, promising a final duel where the tragedy happened two years ago. The deathmatch: Krauser mutates his arm into a weapon; at the tower base, he appears with both arms mutated. Leon wins; Krauser says “do what you must” — Leon drives Krauser's own knife into his heart. Dying, Krauser proudly claims he trained Leon well — and Leon agrees.

On the way to the sanctuary, Mike — the chopper pilot Hunnigan sent — provides air support, but Novistadors swarm the helicopter and Mike dies in the crash. At the sanctuary, Leon finds Ashley unconscious on a stone altar; Saddler appears, revealing their bodies and minds are linked through the “Holy Body,” urging Leon to accept the “gift.” Leon lunges — the Plaga spreads through his body, about to take control. Ada shoots Saddler, opening an escape to Luis's lab. With Luis's key, the Plaga removal for Ashley begins — excruciating but successful; then Leon's turn, with Ashley guiding him into the machine. Clean of Plaga, both are free of Saddler's control. In the lab, Leon learns the Amber was confiscated for its unique properties — Luis judged it holds the dominant Plaga strain, potentially rivaling Saddler himself when fully developed; documents also reveal Luis betrayed Saddler, unable to bear the islanders' generations of oppression.

Leaving the cave, they find Ada tied up as bait; Leon rushes to free her but is swarmed by Novistadors as Saddler himself appears and strangles Leon. Ada saves him in time; the two face the mutated Saddler. He declares his plan: spread the Plaga worldwide, uniting humanity through a “Holy Body” forged from war, suffering, and death — paradise by his definition. Leon defeats Saddler; he plunges into the sea — then mutates again into a colossal monster. Leon holds out long enough for Ada to toss him a special rocket launcher; he weakens the beast, then impales it with Saddler's own staff — the cult leader is finished. As Leon reaches for the Amber, Ada is quicker, revealing her deal. She offers him a helicopter ride; he declines — this is where they part. The island explodes; every Ganado drops dead with Saddler gone. The two escape on the water scooter Ada left behind, watching the island's destruction. Ashley offers to take Leon under her protection; he declines, praising her ability but saying she needs more training. They head home as Hunnigan finally re-establishes contact.

On the helicopter, Ada calls her employer — Albert Wesker, once the nightmare of Chris and Claire on Rockfort Island — demanding to know his intentions for the sample. Wesker reveals: accelerate change, sacrifice hundreds of lives to save one, with casualties potentially in the billions. Horrified, Ada holds the pilot at gunpoint and orders a course change — she will not hand the Amber to that madness. Looking outside, she sees Leon and Ashley on their way home. Mission complete — but Wesker's game has only just begun.

Fates of the characters

Leon S. Kennedy brings Ashley home safely — but the price is two mentors: one who taught him to fight (Krauser), one who taught him redemption (Luis), both dead within a single day. Ashley Graham returns to the White House aspiring to become an agent — and carrying a debt to Luis she can never repay. Luis Serra dies in the mines smiling the smile of a redeemed man: the lab key he left behind saved both Leon and Ashley.

Ada Wong leaves the island with the Amber sample but betrays Wesker at the last moment — refusing to hand him a weapon that could kill billions. Jack Krauser dies by his own blade, in the hands of the student he was proudest of. Osmund Saddler is destroyed at sea with his insane “paradise” — his death is also the death of every Ganado. Ramon Salazar falls in his family's castle beside his loyal Verdugo. And Bitores Mendez is ashes in the burnt slaughterhouse. Los Iluminados collapses completely in a single night.

Common misconceptions

Is Las Plagas a virus like the T-virus?

No. Las Plagas is a parasite, not a virus. Unlike the T-virus, which turns people into mindless zombies, the Plaga preserves the host's intelligence and lets dominant-strain carriers like Saddler, Mendez, and Salazar command the herd remotely. That's why Ganados still talk, wield weapons, and fight tactically — they're not “mad,” they're obeying.

Did Krauser really die in Operation Javier?

No — that death was staged. After Operation Javier in South America in 2002 (his unit wiped out, his left arm gravely wounded), he was discharged; hearing Leon speak of Wesker, he sought Wesker out to heal his arm and gain power. Since then Krauser has worked for Wesker's organization, faked his death to operate underground, and was the mastermind behind Ashley's kidnapping.

Who does Ada Wong work for in Resident Evil 4?

Ada works for Albert Wesker — head of the rival “organization” — with a single mission: retrieve the Amber (the amber holding the dominant Plaga strain). Throughout the game she keeps saving Leon while using him to reach the sample. But when Wesker reveals his plan to use the Plaga to kill billions, Ada holds the pilot at gunpoint and changes course — refusing to deliver the sample to that madness.

How does the 2023 remake differ from the 2005 original?

Same soul, many changes: Luis is stabbed by Krauser himself (original: shot by Saddler's men); Ashley gets a full playable segment; the Krauser fight is expanded into two phases; Ada gets her own Separate Ways campaign (DLC, 21/9/2023); graphics fully rebuilt in RE Engine; and the tone is more serious and darker than the original.

Theories & mysteries

Who is the Merchant? The peddler appears everywhere, knows Luis, seems immune to the Plaga, and never explains himself. Fans speculate he's a defected former Los Iluminados member — Capcom has never confirmed it, and that mystery is part of his brand. Where will the Amber go? Ada refuses to give it to Wesker and changes course — but she doesn't destroy it either. The whereabouts of a dominant Plaga strain sample that “could surpass even Saddler” is the biggest open question of part 4.

Where did Saddler come from? The game never tells the cult leader's origin — he appears already established as the “spokesperson” of Los Iluminados, with absolute power. Similarly, why does Ada save Leon so many times when her mission is only the Amber — calculation, or real feelings from six years ago in Raccoon City? The game deliberately never answers, and that's part of her appeal.

Legacy of Resident Evil 4

The 2005 original by Shinji Mikami is one of the most influential games ever: the over-the-shoulder camera it pioneered became the standard for every third-person shooter after — from Gears of War to The Last of Us. It also shifted the series from pure survival horror toward action, controversial at the time but trailblazing for a generation. The 2023 remake continues that legacy: past 10 million copies — the fastest in series history to the milestone — proving a remake can honor the original while standing as its own work.

For this series on Truyen Game, Resident Evil 4 continues Leon's Raccoon City story — from the 1998 rookie to the 2004 government agent — while closing the Umbrella era and opening the age of even more terrifying organizations. See all entries in the series at the Resident Evil series page.