The Enlightened?

            Lord Saddler, leader of the Los Illuminados, is a villain, a total bad guy or at least through the perspective of the game Resident Evil 4, in particular Leon S. Kennedy’s perspective – hint, he is the good guy. I put forth two explanations for his being the villain: he has Ashley kidnapped, and Saddler proposes that humans incorporate Las Plagas into their bodies to grow stronger. The first explanation is too simplistic. This second proposal, however, has more important questions and implications. Los Illuminados are a “religious community,” according to Saddler. As a result, their philosophy must be examined seriously. Dropping a moralistic view of “good and evil,” we are left with one question: what are the implications of becoming stronger with the Plagas?

            The best structure for such an analysis roughly follows the game’s plot, while examining multiple characters. Such is preceded by a brief explanation of the Las Plagas, basic biology, and the Los Illuminados. Furthermore this analysis looks mainly at Leon, Ashley – who is kidnapped because she is the president’s daughter – Mendez, Salazar, and Saddler.

Las Plagas – a parasite – lay dormant in a spore-like form in the rocks below the Castle of Salazar, a deputy of sorts to Lord Saddler. Under basic biology, a parasite is a creature that benefits as its host suffers. Las Plagas enter their host and remain there, capable of manipulating their host’s behavior. Luis Sera, formerly a researcher of Las Plagas, notes that they tend to live in groups and adapt to different environments. Finally, they can only be removed through use of special radiation; the Plagas become firmly engrained in the host.

To repeat: Los Illuminados is a religious group; their view – Saddler’s view, to be specific – is a world view, or meant to be. For evidence that they are a group, see Chief Bitores Mendez’s statements. “Hmm. You carry the same blood as us it seems. Nevertheless you’re an outside. Just remember, if you become a nuisance, you’ll face extreme consequences. In short, screwing around is unacceptable, because nothing may stand in their way. Opposition to their views is anathema. That begs the question “what are Saddler’s views?”

In Chapter 1-2, Leon is captured by Ganados – the villagers who follow Los Illuminados – and Saddler has Plagas eggs placed into Leon. The Lord says, “Feeble humans. Let us give you our power.” Mainly he believes that the power is the end goal, and so apparently do his followers. Everyone it follows chooses this power to be stronger. Possibly a longer life may result. Finally he may hold this view simply so he can be a megalomaniac, and control people. Consider that he has conditioned the villagers to gather by the tower in the village when the church bell is rung. At the very least, Saddler’s group benefits his own agenda. Finally he notes that when the Plagas eggs hatch he will have control over Leon. Saddler wonders, “Don’t you think this is a revolutionary way to propagate one’s faith?” Plagas even helps spur the growth of their faith, simultaneously noble and ignoble. Other characters must be analyzed to fully understand the aims of those with Plagas.

Let us turn to Ashley and Leon, both of whom were injected with Plagas eggs. They oppose Saddler on one ground – that being his having Ashley be kidnapped – yet they seem to also contrast him in a more ideological sense. In 3-1, at the castle the two meet Luis Sera, who lost the drug he had brought – “a drug that will stop your convulsions. […] You’ve been coughing up blood, right?” While Mendez, Salazar, and Saddler believe in this Plagas-derived power, Ashley and Leon seem to have doubts. Detrimental physical effects seem to result from living with Plagas. Parasites – in a biological sense – harm the host while benefitting themselves. In this sense, the transformation is not beneficial. The main characters consider life without to be preferable, thus they get the Plagas removed.

Here I present a brief roadmap: from here I shall discuss particular enemies, followed by Salazar, Krausser (briefly), and finally Saddler once again, followed by something in the way of conclusion.

The enemies of which I speak are Garridors and Regenerators. Both are the results of Plagas experiments. Garridor are warriors slightly reminiscent of Wolverine from the X-men, in particular their claws; their eyes are stitched shut. Additionally they have a Plagas growth in their back. At the same time, Regenerators resemble mummies left preserved for a while; they have Plagas embedded in multiple locations, usually 3 or 4; these locations are visible only with thermal imaging. Obviously Regenerators regenerate, specifically lost body parts due to their extremely high metabolism. Naturally in both cases Plagas make a being more powerful, even granting a longer life, in the latter’s case. Both enemies are tougher than regular enemies, and tend to be far more intimidating upon initial encounter. Despite their power and possible longevity, their situation seems to be unfortunate. For example, Leon first meets a Garridor in a prison cell, the first Regenerator in an enclosed hospital-esque room where experimentation occurred. Furthermore the creatures are physically deformed and distasteful archetypally. The Regenerator resembles the living dead, by its mummy-esque appearance; in short, many humans are averse to the dead coming back to life. Garridors represent twisted, corrupted life, especially due to their stitched eyes; they were once-human, but now they represent a more animalistic state. The obvious Plagas growth emitted from their back represents corruption of the body, and further distinguishes them from humans through perversion. Are the Plagas desirable – the question still remains.

Salazar describes the Plagas within him. “I have been honored with the prodigious power from the great Lord.” Like Lord Saddler, Salazar believes in the power. On the other hand, the butler of the family believes his master is being used. Leon notes, “So you’re just like all the others, a puppet of the Parasites.” To this, Salazar distinguishes himself from the mere Ganados; due to his higher status, he has total control over Las Plagas and has nothing to fear. He firmly believes in Saddler’s views. He assisted with the excavating of the Las Plagas by granting Saddler’s men entrance to the stones where the parasite lived. According to Ramon Salazar, the parasite has no drawbacks. There is no issue with accepting the Plagas: they simply make one more powerful. Despite their magnificent power, Leon murders Salazar and both of his bodyguards. Surprisingly the human can still prevail over the Plagas. This victory indicates that perhaps Plagas transformation is even unnecessary and amounts to mere corruption. Or, Plagas are simply not that powerful. Maybe one can see Leon’s victory as that of someone holding his ground against an evil biohazard that in which he does not partake.

One other character provides insight to another why behind the Plagas, by whom I mean Krausser. First: in the Separate Ways extra mission, the player learns that Krausser is interested in the Las Plagas themselves, though he is not working with Los Illuminados directly. Krausser tells Leon after their knife fight that “it’s nto like you can escape your inevitable death, is it?” The Plagas represent power in an existentialist sense; the Power gives meaning to life and lets one survive in such a mad world. Krausser admits that he wants to bring order and balance to “this insane world of our’s.” The power is not the end goal for him, but rather the meaning – the “order and balance,” if you will.

Saddler’s true end goal is not the power, but his political goal, though he desires to cultivate that erroneous impression. When he meets Leon, right as he rescues Ashley again, Saddler notices that Leon prefers death over “an awesome power.” Luis also preferred death over that power, and he did die for the sake of fighting the Plagas, though he concedes initial interest. The Plagas’ power is not worth it to some people. Ashley and Leon, as I have already said, opt to remove the Plagas. The parasites are too corrupting, in their view.

Here I should mention the politics behind Saddler’s goal. He is frustrated about the United States’ role in world affairs, so he wants to use Plagas- controlled henchmen to infiltrate the American government. This a Saddler memo confirms. His desire for awesome power becomes the vehicle for a simple political urge, thus Los Illuminados seems more akin to a terrorist organization than a “religious community.” Saddler seems to be the only one behind this particular plot, however. Salazar seems to be out-of-the-loop and just wants the power. On a side note, Plagas reflect the conscience of their host, and thus Plagas could be used “for good.” Theoretically, at least. Another issue is that Sadler can control Las Plagas with the special radiation already mentioned, which lends less credibility to this “for good” claim. It seems that Saddler has complete control, even if he did trust Salazar. The Lord’s control makes him seem like a manipulative megalomaniac with only one goal in mind, not preserving his religion. At the same time, others view the Plagas as still useful, and even great.

Now I return to the question I asked earlier, to which I answer I would not want the Plagas personally, but to each his own, I suppose. There are benefits, more than one would think, but it is simply too corrupting. Someone would possible want the Plagas, like Salazar or Krausser. Maybe Las Plagas have the most importance in the sense of the existentialist power – they give meaning to the world. Leon’s victory over Los Illuminados suggests that maybe the matter-of-fact strength is not a plus in the case of the Las plagas.