History Videogame / ResidentEvil4

Although it followed the release of three numbered games on the Platform/{{PlayStation}} (and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica Code: Veronica]]'' on the [[Platform/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]]), producer Shinji Mikami made the controversial decision to bring the mainline series of games exclusively to the Platform/NintendoGameCube with ''[=RE4=]'' rather than the Platform/{{PlayStation 2}} in spite of previous expectations.[[note]]A previous version of ''[=RE4=]'' was announced for the [=PlayStation=] 2 shortly after the release of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', but this project ended up being revamped into an original work titled ''VideoGame/{{Devil May Cry|1}}''.[[/note]] This release occurred as part of the "Capcom Five", five games from Capcom designed to boost third-party support for the [=GameCube=].[[note]]In the end only the "Capcom" part ''wasn't'' a misnomer - one of the five [[VaporWare didn't even come out]], and three of the other four - ''Resident Evil 4'', ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'', and ''VideoGame/Killer7'', all saw [=PlayStation=] 2 ports, at latest, barely a year after their individual releases.[[/note]] A [=PlayStation=] 2 port was eventually released several months later, which features additional content, including a new scenario starring Ada Wong that focuses on the events of the main story from her perspective.

* SpyFiction: Since Leon is a Secret Agent, fancy gadgets and all, just like Ada, RE4 is now as much a Spy Thriller as it is a Survival Horror Game. It runs the full spectrum of a seductive-and-cynical Creator/TimothyDalton “Dirty Martini” when the narrative focuses on Ada, to a moody-yet-witty “Stale Beer” when Leon is in the spotlight, right down to a fun and whacky Creator/RogerMoore “Tuxedo and Martini” in its goofy, campy & acrobatic moments.

* CoolGuns: With special exclusive maximum upgrades:
** An FN [=Five-seveN=] that can shoot through five enemies.
** A Mauser C96 which can do three times the damage of the fully upgraded basic handgun.
** A Colt SAA/Schofield hybrid revolver with the power of an S&W 500.
** The Armsel Striker, which can hold up to 100 shells.
** A Thompson SMG with infinite ammo.
** A Rocket Launcher with infinite ammo.
** And for Ada in Seperate Ways, a bowgun that shoots exploding arrows.

In 2016, the game was ported to the Platform/XboxOne and Platform/{{PlayStation 4}}. This game, alongside the ''Resident Evil'' remake, ''Resident Evil Zero'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 5]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'', and the ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations Revelations]]'' [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2 duology]] were also ported to the Platform/NintendoSwitch in 2019. A heavily cutdown version of the game was also released for mobile devices on the Nokia Platform/NGage in 2005, Apple [=iOS=] devices and the Zeebo in 2009, and Android in 2013. A version remade in Unreal Engine 4 for the UsefulNotes/OculusQuest 2 VR headset was released in 2021, allowing players to experience a first-person version of the game.

* AnotherSideAnotherStory: The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} versions of the game added the Separate Ways scenario, which depicts the events of the main story from Ada's perspective and even goes as far as to depict why certain locations and items were the way they were in the main story. Oddly enough, the only gap in the story that Separate Ways does not cover is the one between Ada's arrival at Saddler's Island and her meeting with Krauser.

** The HD versions of the game (UsefulNotes/Xbox360, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, and the second PC release) use a control scheme that is modeled more after ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', meaning controls like "Raise weapon" was moved from the right trigger to the left. This in turn can be very disorienting for someone who's more familiar with the SD versions ([=GameCube=], [=PlayStation 2=], Wii, or the first PC release). What's worse is there is no way to correctly map the controls to be more familiar for veteran players. Oddly, the ''Ultimate HD Edition'' on Steam has the gun controls all mapped to the right bumper and trigger, more like the [=GameCube=] version, and it cannot be remapped. It also uses the [=GameCube=] version's direction arrows on the GUI for the various rifle scopes.

* FirstPersonGhost: In the UsefulNotes/OculusQuest 2 version of the game, you never see Leon's body in first-person POV, just his hands. Even if you have the weapon holsters set to "immersive" they'll just float on the airspace that should be Leon's chest and hips. The only exceptions are cutscenes, which were not made immersive.

** The ''VR Edition'' for the UsefulNotes/OculusQuest 2 makes a number of gameplay changes to account for the first-person perspective and VR controls, along with various graphical enhancements unique to this version. Several lines of dialogue have also been edited or removed over sensitivity concerns.

Although it followed the release of three numbered games on the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}} (and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica Code: Veronica]]'' on the [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]]), producer Shinji Mikami made the controversial decision to bring the mainline series of games exclusively to the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube with ''[=RE4=]'' rather than the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 2}} in spite of previous expectations.[[note]]A previous version of ''[=RE4=]'' was announced for the [=PlayStation=] 2 shortly after the release of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', but this project ended up being revamped into an original work titled ''VideoGame/{{Devil May Cry|1}}''.[[/note]] This release occurred as part of the "Capcom Five", five games from Capcom designed to boost third-party support for the [=GameCube=].[[note]]In the end only the "Capcom" part ''wasn't'' a misnomer - one of the five [[VaporWare didn't even come out]], and three of the other four - ''Resident Evil 4'', ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'', and ''VideoGame/Killer7'', all saw [=PlayStation=] 2 ports, at latest, barely a year after their individual releases.[[/note]] A [=PlayStation=] 2 port was eventually released several months later, which features additional content, including a new scenario starring Ada Wong that focuses on the events of the main story from her perspective.

Creator/{{Nintendo}} players later received a more definite version of game when it was released for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} in 2007 as ''Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition'', which features both the superior graphics of the [=GameCube=] version and the new content found in the [=PlayStation=] 2 port. Capcom also released a [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] port in 2007 (two months before the ''Wii Edition''); it promised the same [=GameCube=] graphics with [=PlayStation=] 2 content as that version, but ended up being a straight port of the [=PlayStation=] 2, an ''HD Edition'' for the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 3}} and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} in 2011, and a re-release on PC through UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} as the ''[[http://store.steampowered.com/app/254700/ Ultimate HD Edition]]'' in 2014.

In 2016, the game was ported to the UsefulNotes/XboxOne and UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 4}}. This game, alongside the ''Resident Evil'' remake, ''Resident Evil Zero'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 5]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'', and the ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations Revelations]]'' [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2 duology]] were also ported to the Platform/NintendoSwitch in 2019. A heavily cutdown version of the game was also released for mobile devices on the Nokia Platform/NGage in 2005, Apple [=iOS=] devices and the Zeebo in 2009, and Android in 2013. A version remade in Unreal Engine 4 for the UsefulNotes/OculusQuest 2 VR headset was released in 2021, allowing players to experience a first-person version of the game.

A [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake remake]] using the RE Engine, similar to [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake the]] [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake remakes]] of ''2'' and ''3'', was released on March 24, 2023 for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC. The [=PS5=] version will have support for VR. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2AixBPxdAQ See the first teaser trailer here.]]

In 2016, the game was ported to the UsefulNotes/XboxOne and UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 4}}. This game, alongside the ''Resident Evil'' remake, ''Resident Evil Zero'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 5]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'', and the ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations Revelations]]'' [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2 duology]] were also ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in 2019. A heavily cutdown version of the game was also released for mobile devices on the Nokia UsefulNotes/NGage in 2005, Apple [=iOS=] devices and the Zeebo in 2009, and Android in 2013. A version remade in Unreal Engine 4 for the UsefulNotes/OculusQuest 2 VR headset was released in 2021, allowing players to experience a first-person version of the game.

* AKA47: Most, but not all weapons; the Striker is an exception, so is the TMP. The "Chicago Typewriter" is a common nickname for a Thompson submachine gun, as is the Red 9 for the 9mm version of the Mauser C96.[[note]]That version of the C96 had a big red "9" engraved into the grip, thus its name; you can even see it on the in-game model.[[/note]] The others either have outright fictional names (the [=Five-seveN=] as the "Punisher", Springfield XD as the "Blacktail", and [=VP70=] as "[[Film/LeonTheProfessional Matilda]]") or generic descriptors (Leon's starting "Handgun", his and Ada's two different versions of the "Shotgun", the Springfield 1903 as the "Rifle").

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: In the lake, Del Lago is capable of swallowing a person whole. Shooting the later enough time will cause it to come out and kill you. The HD remaster adds an achievement/trophy for doing this and its aptly called "Don't Shoot the Water!".

* ArmorOfInvincibility: The game's rereleases add a literal suit of medieval armor as an unlockable costume for Ashley. This makes her completely invincible, as the armor will not only prevent her from taking any kind of damage (Even ''explosions'' cause her to merely fall down harmlessly), but is also too heavy to allow any enemy to kidnap her. This makes the sections with her much easier, as you don't need to worry about her safety anymore.

* BigFancyCastle: Lord Salazar's castle. Not only is it simply massive in size, but it has several art rooms, ballrooms, a room just to hold a giant, animatronic statue of Salazar, a hedge maze, and even a trolly system if in you don't feel like covering the grounds by foot.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: There's a massive monster in a lake that can easily swallow a person whole. Attempting to taunt it by shooting the water has it emerge in blazingly fast speeds and kill you in one bite. The HD remaster adds an achievement for doing this and its aptly named "Don't Shoot the Water!"

* DrillTank: In one corridor in the Castle section of the game, a giant bulldozer with a drill attached to it starts closing in on Ashley (who is trapped in the corridor). Leon must kill the cultists driving it to stop it before it kills Ashley.

* DungeonShop: The Merchant shows up at numerous "safe points" throughout the game, offering guns, healing items, ammunition and maps in exchange for coins and treasure. Strangely, even if he's killed in one location, he'll simply respawn at the next[[note]]unless you're playing on Professional Difficulty, in which case, he's KilledOffForReal[[/note]].

* EarAche: Salazar drops Leon into a spiked pit, then puts his ear to an earphone so he can hear Leon's screams. Leon, however, saves himself with a grappling line, and when Salazar wonders where the screaming is, Leon fires a pistol next to the earphone's outlet, blowing out Salazar's eardrum. Naturally, [[VillainousBreakdown Salazar doesn't take this well.]]

* ActionHorror: The game has Leon Kennedy [[TookALevelInBadass graduate]] from an outgunned rookie cop in games where AmmunitionConservation is paramount to survival to a Secret Service agent fully capable of gunning down every enemy he fought. There are a lot more act ionized elements different from previous games such as being able to parry or perform melee attacks on enemies as well as providing more resources, making resource management not as critical for success.

** The [[https://www.re4hd.com/ HD Project]] mod for the ''Ultimate HD Edition'' faithfully revamps the game's visuals to HD standards while addressing many lighting, model, and texture issues of the original game and adding 3D edits to objects that originally used simplified 2D objects or textures. It also comes a plugin called [[https://nipkownix.github.io/re4_tweaks/ re4_tweaks]], which can be used independently from the HD Project, that provides various fixes, tweaks, and quality-of-life enhancements such adjust FOV, fixes for the mouse controls, broken shader effects, and a vertex buffer problem that slightly blurred the game's visuals, restores missing depth of field and scope effects from the [=GameCube=] version, enable the Japan-exclusive fixed camera angles for Ashley's segment, and more.

* ChunkySalsaRule: There are many, many things which cause instant death, no matter how much life you have, such as Dr. Salvador, Del Lago, the Lava Coated El Gigante, etc. Also, an enemy with his or her head popped, if the parasite won't come out, will either attack once more or, more usually, drop dead right htere.

** During one sequence in Chapter 2-3, El Gigante chases Leon down a narrow gorge. You can shoot the supports out from platforms to drop boulders on him, or you can just run away and fight him when you reach the end. You don't actually have to fight him at all here, although you'll miss out on a few treasures in the area.

* AlasPoorVillain: The ending of the game begins with a montage of happy scenes of the villagers of Pueblo before being infected by [[TheVirus Las Plagas]], contently tending to their farms, playing with kids, and shows that the very first Ganado you killed liked to play guitar for the village children. Then the music turns dark, the cultists arrive, and everything goes straight to hell with scenes of villagers suffering convulsions, killing children, and [[BodyHorror mutating]].

* AmphibianAssault: Del Lago is a salamander mutated into a gigantic lake monster via a parasite, who gained a taste for humans thanks to all the diseased corpses being thrown into its home. It will also kill Leon [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment if he shoots the water pointlessly for long enough]].

** In the Salazar and Saddler boss fights, the eyes are not so much the weak points as the switches that reveal the weak points.

** El Gigante is nearly indestructible, but causing it significant injury forces the Plaga to expose itself as a reflex reaction to the pain. Destroying the Plaga kills the giant.

** The Plagas monsters have appropriate Spanish names as well, and plaga itself means "pest" or "plague". The standard Plaga-infected humans are Ganados ("beasts" or "livestock"), the giant humanoids are El Gigante (literally "the giant"), the mutated salamander in the lake is Del Lago ("from the lake"), the near-invisible sewer bugs are Novistadors (portmanteau of "No Vista," which roughly translates to "no sight"), the mutated wolves are Colmillos ("fangs"), and so on. The exception seems to be the "Iron Maidens".
* BittersweetEnding: The game isn't quite as depressing as most of the other entries, but it's still up there. Leon rescues Ashley and takes her home, but an entire village was doomed thanks to Saddler's scheming, [[spoiler:Luis is dead, and Wesker now has a sample of Las Plagas thanks to Ada]].

* BlindIdiotTranslation: The game tries to have the Ganados utter the common phrase "You can run, but you can't hide!", However, the line "¡Puedes correr, pero no puedes esconder!" is used, which employs the wrong Spanish conjugation of the verb "esconder" (hide). Appropriate forms would be "¡Puedes correr, pero no puedes ''esconderte''!" or "¡...pero no ''te'' puedes esconder!", due to how reflexive conjugation works in Spanish.

** The knife and the pistols (Handgun, Punisher, [=Red9=], Blacktail). It might not be impressive to play using those weapons 90% of the time, but it's much more likely to lead you to success than using your flashy weapons all the time.

** When Plagas start bursting out of the Ganados heads, both forms are not to be trifled with. One has razor tentacles that make knifing impossible and the other can lop off Leon's head, resulting in a game over. Thankfully, those mostly useless flashbangs will kill them instantly.
** Regeneradors. They are encountered late game and can kill Leon very easily, namely with a lunging attack, and like their name suggests, they can regenerate limbs and are nigh-unkillable [[spoiler:unless if you bring the thermal scope and kill the Plagas inside of them]]. The only consolation is that they are painfully slow and are rarely encountered.

* BugsHeraldEvil: One of the first signs that something is seriously wrong with the villagers (besides them all being homicidal to outsiders, of course) is that their homes are crawling with flies, maggots, and roaches because they've taken to eating their meat rotten.
* BullfightBoss: Garradors are like this. Their only vulnerable spot is on their back, and if they hear you, they'll come charging. If you move in time, they'll end up getting their claws stuck in the wall long enough to shoot them in the back for massive damage. The other option is just to walk, in which case they can't hear you, and you can sneak up on them at your leisure.

--> "I see the President has equipped his daughter with... ballistics."

* ChunkySalsaRule: There are many, many things which cause instant death, no matter how much life you have, such as Dr. Salvador, Del Lago, the Lava Coated El Gigante, etc.

* ContrastingSequelSetting: The first three main entries in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series were set in or around Raccoon City, a fictional American metropolis. The fourth game, by contrast, is set in an unnamed European country and opens in a rustic village.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Late in the game, Leon has to fight two El Gigantes in a small enclosed cavern where the entire floor consists of grating with lava about half a meter below it. Naturally, the heat doesn't bother anybody as long as you do not actually fall into the lava.

* {{Cult}}: Basically the entire plot, where a Spanish doomsday cult uses a parasite to infect the President's daughter and send her home, resulting in terror and tragedy after she inevitably mutates into a creepy monster thing and most likely kills the President. Fortunately, a hero is there to save the day.

** An interesting example happens in Chapter 3-4. Common mooks that both Ada and Leon can dispatch very easy become more dangerous as the player has to play as Ashley. Leon is already taller than her and the male mooks are taller than him. Furthermore, since Ashley has no combat ability, seeing her facing one is a sight to behold.

* DegradedBoss: El Gigantes undergo an interesting form of this. When you first encounter one, El Gigante is a ridiculously powerful boss that you only manage to beat because you have lots of room to maneuver and (hopefully) a dog to provide a distraction. The second time, you lack this room, and you're expected to use the terrain to delay it long enough to escape. By the third and final time, you've got enough firepower to handle two El Gigantes with relative ease -- and since you retain your arsenal when you [[NewGamePlus start the game over]], from the second round on, El Gigantes are pushovers from the start. It also helps the third time that you can [[spoiler:activate a lava pit and eliminate one of them quickly. In true ''Resident Evil'' tradition, ConvectionSchmonvection applies. And be ''very wary'' of the El Gigante flailing around in the pit since, if Leon get close enough to it while it's still flailing about, it'll [[TakingYouWithMe grab Leon, killing both of them]]]].

* DevourTheDragon: Salazar does this to his remaining Verdugo by having them both assimilate to his OneWingedAngel mode.
* DidntNeedThoseAnyway: Halfway through the fight with Mendez, he ditches his human legs and swings around the shack monkey-style.

** In The Mercenaries mode, HUNK is the second-most frail character, only [[FragileSpeedster Ada]] has lower HP, the slowest on the move, and his only firearm is a modified TMP, leaving him lacking against stronger enemies. He doesn't even have a knife. However, HUNK is a grenade specialist and can collect these powerful explosives from enemies quite frequently due to his limited loadout, and he has two powerful melee moves: a football kick that will send enemies flying, and a neck-breaker move that can kill even a ''Bella Sister'' in one hit. When used carefully, these advantages can allow HUNK to rack up truly insane combos in a very short time. Some players have reported scoring upwards of ''200,000'' points.

* DistressedDude: Most gamers expecting to see [[DamselInDistress Ashley]] getting the first bondage scene were surprised to see a bound and gagged Luis pop out of a closet near the end of Chapter 1-1. And at the start of Chapter 1-2, Leon and Luis are tied to each other as one of the villagers infected with a virus tries to kill them but they escape, that is if the timing is right.

* DownTheDrain: There's a regular urban-ish sewer level underneath an ancient castle that features an invisible enemy.

* DropInNemesis: Shooting a couple of bullets into the lake while standing on the end of the dock results in Del Lago leaping out of the water and eating the whole dock.

* EarlyGameHell: The game can be terrifying and brutal in the beginning village sections, where the player is unlikely to have enough supplies or ammo for their guns to effectively fight off the villagers (especially [[BossInMookClothing Dr. Salvador]]), let alone get any gun upgrades. You're lucky if you can escape by the skin of your teeth. Leon can get more ammo and money from the enemies he kills, but he will have problems during the whole village survival segment and to a lesser extent the aftermath, up until he meets the Merchant and starts buying new weapons and upgrading or selling old ones.

* EdibleAmmunition: It is actually possible to equip eggs as weapons, which can be thrown like grenades. However, this is a massive waste, because the eggs do barely any damage at all. It's a much better idea to just eat them. They at least make it easier to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential harm Ashley without deducting a single bit of health]].
* EldritchTransformation: The villagers in the later stages of the game turn into extremely disgusting and repulsive tentacled horrors when wounded enough, with their heads exploding so the tentacles can get out. Leon has to put them down quickly before they get too close, as their tentacles have blades on them that inflict heavy damage. And of course, there are the game's boss encounters, which include a man whose spine extends to make him twice as tall while tearing his torso open, a man whose arm turns into a massive blade, and the FinalBoss fight being against a man who turns into a spider monster.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Merchant.[[note]]Ironically, the game guide calls him the Weapons Dealer. It's fairly obvious which stuck.[[/note]]

** Saddler's weak point, in both forms, is the eye in his mouth. Both Leon and Ada during the respective boss fights can run up and plant ''the whole blade of their knives'' in it. That's gotta hurt.

* FaceRevealingTurn: Subverted. Raccoon City incident survivor Leon approaches a strange man from the back, the man doesn't answer his question and in general doesn't seem to be aware of Leon. Everyone who has a slightest notion of what the previous games in the series were about goes shrieking, "No, Leon, no, it's a zombie, and it will do its DeadlyLunge now!" The man turns around and - he's normal. He even answers Leon with a few insults in Spanish. [[spoiler:Of course, he is still a murderous maniac as well as the other villagers, but definitely not a zombie.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Saddler, all the way. When Leon [[DeadpanSnarker makes quips at his expense]], Saddler always responds with a good-natured chuckle before telling him in a conversational tone how he's going to kill him, and never lets on that Leon is anything more than a source of amusement for him. Even when Leon manages to rescue Ashley [[spoiler:at the Island after being cured of Las Plagas via radiation]], Saddler's only reaction is to express amusement at him for managing to foil his plans before transforming.

* FishingMinigame: Early on in the story, Leon comes across a lake, a boat, and an infinite supply of harpoons. He can use the harpoons to spear fish, which he can either eat or sell. You can also harpoon Colmillos on the opposite bank from the safety of the boat. However, do ''not'' try to shoot any fish with your guns before crossing the lake, or else it'll result in an instant death for Leon.

* ForeignCussWord: Spanish peasants like calling you any number of foul things.

* FourIsDeath: HUNK, who is nicknamed "Mister Death" and has a habit of being the only member of his squad to survive, comes back as one of the four characters in the Mercenaries mode of this game. The fourth stage in this mode has the deadliest enemy in the game, which can spawn twice in a run; completing said stage also unlocks Albert Wesker, the BigBad of the majority of the games, though not in this one.

** Ada can barely take a hit, and is the most fragile of all the playable characters. Her run speed is the highest of five characters.

* GlamourFailure: Normal forms of Las Plagas (Control and Master Plagas seem to be exempt). It's supposed to mimic human behavior, but they get a taste for raw/rotten meat, attack non-carriers, have no sense of hygiene, glowing eyes at night, and photosensitivity, more so than a normal person.

* HarderThanHard: Professional mode significantly shines in this department. Every enemy is a damage sponge. Plagas are more likely to pop out of heads. Enemies will run towards you, which is bad for getting crowded, and also means that shooting them in the legs will drop them to the ground instead of making them kneel for a quick melee follow up. Ammunition drops are rarer. Enemies do ''way more'' damage, to the point that two good hits at the beginning of the game will kill you, and three good hits at the end of the game with a fully upgraded life bar will do the same. The timing windows for QTE moments are narrower. Even the Tactical Vest, one of the most important items in Normal mode, is ''completely unavailable'' in Professional. The only thing in your favor is that the lack of ammunition drops from enemies means that you'll be getting more money drops, which allows you to upgrade your weapons more consistently. And you'll ''need'' to upgrade your weapons.

* HeroKiller: Saddler kills Leon’s best buddy Luis, and later a coworker of his; ''and'' would have effortlessly killed Leon himself too, had Ada not shown up to harmlessly pump dozens of bullets into him before blowing up Leon's escape route instead.
* HeroicDog: A dog help Leon fight El Gigante if Leon freed him from a trap earlier in the game.
* HideYourChildren: An entire town is infected by a parasite, which turns them into bloodthirsty zombie-like beings. No children are ever seen, of course. A montage during the credits gives a glimpse of how the parasites were introduced to the villagers, and children are seen. Thus, one way or another, a lot of kids died before the game began. [[spoiler:There's a strong implication from that sequence that the children were murdered by the Plaga-infected parents.]]

** Another common way to die, via Garrador claws, [[spoiler:Krauser]]'s knife, Leon's ''own knife'' (thrown back at him), and one particularly nasty trap in the castle, should you fail the button prompt.
** Iron Maidens can kill Leon by extending their spikes and fatally stabbing him.

* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: The Mercenaries mode features enemies that wield ''[[ChainsawGood double-bladed chainsaws]] that are on fire''.

** The Chicago Typewriter, an infinite-ammo Thompson M1928 SMG. Can kill anything in the game in one or two hits, but does a poor job penetrating surfaces like wood and is very inaccurate at long range.

* InstantDeathBullet: Ashley and the Merchant will both be killed by if you hit them even once with anything more powerful than an egg.

* IntrepidMerchant: The Merchant. He may be infected by [[TheVirus Plagas]], given his GlowingEyesOfDoom, but he seems like a pretty cool guy regardless. Rather than bludgeon Leon's brains out he'd rather earn some cash selling weapons and upgrades to the agent. He always manages to somehow be one step ahead of Leon to set up shop in unusual locations that the player had to fight to the death in order to reach.

* JawsFirstPersonPerspective: Del Lago is introduced in this fashion, being a gigantic salamander who lives in [[MeaningfulName a murky lake]] close to the village where Leon arrived prior. Also the case with Verdugo, and the Novistadors when one captures Ashley while [[{{Invisibility}} camouflaged]] ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' style.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:Saddler only kills Luis and Mike the pilot in the game, both of which die mid-conversation after helping Leon, and only really serve to show how much of a bastard Saddler is. Unsurprisingly, Leon angrily promises vengeance both times.]]

** It's more "shoot/stab them while they're down, otherwise they'll kill you."

* LargeAndInCharge: Mendez, the village chief, is eight feet tall.

* LastNoteNightmare: The song from the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCvJHDzi0ZI End Credits]] springs to mind. As the song starts, it's a pleasant recap of how village life used to be when everything was pleasant...and then [[PuppeteerParasite the Plagas]] showed up.

* LaughablyEvil: Salazar is usually seen laughing when he talks to Leon.

** Verdugo, the illegitimate love child of Tyrant and the Franchise/{{Alien}}, is even faster and deadlier than the Tyrants, and is NighInvulnerable unless [[KillItWithIce frozen with liquid nitrogen]].

** The Waterworld stage in The Mercenaries to some extent for HUNK and Leon, largely because their lack of stopping power to deal with Super Salvador. The amount of damage he can take [[ImplacableMan before flinching]] can vary wildly from a well placed shotgun or spray to the face to multiple grenades or exploding barrels. It sucks seeing the futility in trying to slow someone who can instant kill you [[InstantDeathRadius just by being next to you]].

* LudicrousGibs: When you kill an enemy with a headshot, its head explodes -- a bit over-the-top, but not totally unreasonable. However, ''the same thing happens if you kill them by kicking them''. When you kill a Regenerator, it explodes very wetly from the waist up.

* MeaningfulName: All the Plaga enemies have fitting Spanish names:

* AMoltenDateWithDeath: This can be the [[HaveANiceDeath unexpected fate]] of Leon if the player isn't careful. There's a boss fight against two El Gigantes in the middle of a factory with a giant pit of molten iron in the middle. One of the ways you can defeat one of them is to trick it into walking into the center and flipping a switch that will drop it into the iron. If you do it but stray too close to the hatch before it closes, the badly burnt El Gigante will lurch out, grab Leon and drag him down with it.

* MoneySpider: What are by all indications perfectly regular crows can drop money upon being killed, and even ammunition or grenades.

** In one of the first {{cutscene|PowerToTheMax}}s, Leon demonstrates his new [[TookALevelInBadass badass upgrade]] by breaking a villager's neck, using only his foot and the mook's own weight, at least if you hit the buttons on time.

* NoOSHACompliance: Neither the castle nor the facility in the island are exempt from having worker-unfriendly environments. The castle in particular takes it further with exposed vats of molten liquids where you're encouraged to dispatch mooks with them.

* OffWithHisHead: Leon (and all playable characters in The Mercenaries) can get decapitated by Centipede Plagas eating his head, Zealots throwing scythes at his head, Garradors going into a berserker rage, and Dr. Salvador, the Bella Sisters, or Super Salvador lopping off his head with a chainsaw.

* OminousClouds: The skies over the island where Leon has been sent to rescue Ashley are consistently cloudy, gray, and foreboding. Fitting, considering everything he finds when he gets there.

** Ashley will die instantly if she takes any damage. This is averted if she's equipped with the suit of armor.

* ParasiticHorror: The game involves a mutative PuppeteerParasite known as ''Las Plagas''. They often reveal themselves as carnivorous worms growing on people's spines after their host gets decapitated.

* PetTheDog: Sure, those cops may be jerks, but one of them at least offers Leon a smoke. It's just enough to [[spoiler:make you feel bad they’re both dead not fifteen minutes later]].

* PresentDay: Most likely the intention. The game is set in Autumn 2004, but wasn't released until January 2005, missing its intended setting by a few months.

* RealIsBrown: Before this was even popular. The game's color palette consists largely of grays and browns. This is because the game's graphics heavily taxed the [=GameCube=]'s processor, so the game made it take place in a heavily forested area during what appears to be either late fall or early winter and a derelict military base at night to justify the palette. Things are a little more colorful in the castle, though, with quite a few reds, golds, whites, and even blues. The ''HD Edition'' ports and onward, however, unintentionally made the game's color palette somewhat more brown than the [=GameCube=]'s original bleak grayish hue (compare [[https://imgur.com/fqqhgOR this]] to [[https://imgur.com/OVi3Vte this]]).

* RunOrDie: Armadura are first encountered in Chapter 3-4. Given Ashley has no weapons and they can't be killed with the lanterns like the few Zealots roaming the area, the player's only choice is to run.
* {{Ruritania}}: The game takes place in an unnamed European country where [[{{Spexico}} the people speak Spanish with Mexican accents]] and have Spanish names, an in-game map places the village in the center of the Iberian Peninsula next to Madrid, and the currency is Peseta, which was Spain's currency before switching to Euro, the developers have outright claimed that the country ''isn't'' Spain. The fact that the actual in-game environment is a mix of this and {{Uberwald}} otherwise just makes it even more confounding.
* SackheadSlasher: Dr. Salvador is a sack wearing villager who featured heavily in the marketing for the game. He's much more durable than the common Ganado enemy and is encountered infrequently from the first village battle onward, alternating with his DistaffCounterpart, the Bella Sisters. They will decapitate Leon if they get too close to him.

*** "MIIIIKE!"

* SlidingScaleOfLinearityVsOpenness: Though the overall progression through the game is very linear, many areas can be tackled in multiple ways, and exploration is frequently rewarded with items and ammo.

* SmugSnake: Salazar and Saddler both. While Salazar eventually has a VillainousBreakdown, Saddler is fully convinced to the very end that he is going to win.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Leon first encounters the villagers, who typically wield farmhand tools as weapons. Then he encounters the zealots in the castle, who have better weapons and wear masks and shields to protect themselves from Leon's gunshots. Finally, he visits the island, which contains Saddler's militia, who are faster, can attack in greater numbers, and have a wide diversity of weapons.

* StockNessMonster: While not the plesiosaur type, the game has the Del Lago, a man-eating mutant salamander that inhabits the village lake.

* SuperStrength: Leon can kick enemies' heads off with a RoundhouseKick and [[https://steamusercontent-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/38603820198440639/7AA9D920E8202E23602A58B9D27013695502B53F/ smash their skulls]] with [[SuplexFinisher a suplex]].

* SuplexFinisher: Leon can do this to the Ganados with a button prompt if they are on their knees on front of him. Ashley can do it too, if you exploit a bug during her level (Chapter 3-4) in the [=GameCube=] version. The "suplex" prompt only applies to the cultist and soldier Ganados seen in the Castle and Island; the villager Ganados instead have an alternate "kick" prompt.

** Saddler has an opportunity to kill Leon immediately after disposing of [[spoiler:Luis]], yet chooses to leave the task to Salazar, despite Leon being right in front of him. He also misses another opportunity to kill Leon after he stunned him by aiming at his heart.

** Even Ashley gets in on this during the brief time you play as her, as she takes down a few Zealots without a weapon.

* TypicalTentacleTactics: Though not a squid, Salazar, after his "ritual", certainly pulls this off. And be careful with those tentacle arms; one of the attacks is a OneHitKill.
* UndergroundMonkey: The Iron Maiden is a more demonic version of the Regenerator, outfitted with spikes that gives it far more damaging attacks.

* UnstoppableRage: El Gigantes, Garradors, and Super Salvador all have ''very'' deadly charging attacks.

* VaderBreath: Regeneradors and Iron Maidens have raspy breathing that alerts you of their presence.
* VaginaDentata: The Iron Maidens have upper jaws that look like this.

** Shooting and killing the defenseless cows dotted around the earlier levels increases the difficulty.

* VideoGamePerversityPrevention: You get an in-universe scolding for trying to look up Ashley's skirt. She crosses her legs and calls you a pervert. This can happen even if the player wasn't doing it on purpose, such as getting knocked down from an enemy attack and Leon's face landing near Ashley's legs.

** Salazar would have been able to kill Leon a dozen times over if he had just stopped playing games and sent both of his lieutenants after Leon at the same time. One Verdugo is so dangerous that Leon only survives by sheer luck of having several nitrogen canisters nearby. Two Verdugos would have likely easily overwhelmed him.

* WaterfrontBossBattle: [[SeaMonster Del Lago]] is fought as it drags the hero around a lake in a small boat. Fortunately, the boat conatins an [[BottomlessMagazines unlimited supply of harpoons]].

* WeakenedByTheLight: [[TrickBomb Flashbang Grenades]] can kill Las Plagas instantly. Their light sensitivity is the reason why they don't start emerging from their Ganado hosts until night falls.

** The Plagas that hatch out of the various Ganados are difficult to deal with. However, once "popped", they can be killed instantly with a single flash grenade... yes, that's right, the otherwise useless blue grenade you've probably been selling off for upgrades and beefier guns.
** Your knife, the thing that has been with the PlayerCharacter since the game's start, doesn't occupy a single slot in the inventory, and has a dedicated button to use, will always remain as your best damage dealer, although hampered by the obviously short range, and the inability to cut through armor plating or hardened skin. When neither is present, you won't find anything more reliable to finish off your enemies.

* WouldHitAGirl: Leon, besides killing females opponents like the Bella Sisters, almost strangles Ada when the Plaga started taking control of his actions forcing Ada to stab him in self-defense.
* WouldntHitAGirl: Done half-heartedly with Ashley, the game's DamselInDistress. While the player is escorting her, the mooks do not directly hit her or handle her the same way they would Leon when she is in their proximity. Instead, they give her a nice OverTheShoulderCarry to the closest loading zone door unless Leon can get her off their grasp. In the small section where the player does play as Ashley, it is played quite literally in that they do not hit you; rather, they just grab you by the neck, giving you a nice NeckLift until you are strangled to death while not striking you once. However, variations of enemies and even shield mooks do not hesitate to give her a nice beating until she dies. Ada gets no favors either.

* XenomorphXerox: The Verdugo is a type of enemy created by splicing humans and insects together, and is over eight feet tall; has razor-sharp claws; a long, segmented blade-tipped tail, and a biomechanical black exoskeleton. Scenes from its POV even emulate the fish-eye lens effect from ''Alien 3''. On the other hand, its head design with segmented mandibles is more of [[PredatorPastiche reminiscent of a Predator]].
* YouALLLookFamiliar: Each "group" of enemies (villagers, cultists, soldiers) only has a handful of character models.

* YouMonster: Afer Mike's death:

* YouShouldntKnowThisAlready: One of Leon's early objectives is to find a church, where Ashley is being held prisoner. The church door is actually locked, however, and Leon has to go find a key. It's completely possible to avoid this entirely and go get the key immediately. When Leon reports to Hunnigan he's recovered it, she irritably asks him if he's even ''been'' to the church yet. Leon replies in a rather confused tone that he has, regardless of whether he had in that particular playthrough.

* ZergRush: The main, and indeed only, tactic of the Gannados. The Militia and the Los Illuminados also engage in it, but will try to use other tactics, such as flanking and attacking up close while a few in the back pepper Leon and Ada with arrows.

* DaylightHorror: Played with. The village section takes place during the day, which doesn't prevent Leon from getting mobbed by AxCrazy villagers. It isn't until Leon crosses the lake that night falls, and stays that way until the boss fight with Saddler. And it turns out that you really ''were'' safer in the daytime, since [[PuppeteerParasite Las Plagas]], which are sensitive to bright light, will start emerging from their hosts once the sun has gone down.

* YourHeadASplode:
** Apparently, the skulls of everyone are [[MadeOfPlasticine made of cheap plaster]]. Why else would they detonate when the enemy is killed with a headshot? Maybe Las Plagas soften up your skull. This doesn't even require a high-powered weapon like a shotgun or a magnum -- Leon can elbow, kick, or suplex infected humans so hard that their heads burst.
** This game features [[EverythingFades corpses that frequently melt after seconds on the ground]], so it isn't just the heads that are [[MadeOfPlasticine soft]]. A few Ganados at the start don't fade but the point still stands.
** Ironically, when you start out, blasting them in the face causes an injury animation that makes it seem like someone punched them in the face. It takes anywhere from five to eight un-upgraded handgun shots to get them to explode.

* BossArenaIdiocy:
** Salazar's Right Hand (i.e. one of his two main servants) has several liquid nitrogen tanks that slow him down and make him vulnerable in his area.
** When you fight two El Gigantes, there's a lava trap you can use to kill one, but it technically isn't required in any way.

* StoppedDeadInTheirTracks: In the ''Separate Ways'' campaign, Ada is walking across a bridge on a video call with Wesker. When he mentions that he ordered Krauser to kill Leon, she stops in her tracks and doesn't move for the rest of the call. Once the call is over, she immediately changes course to stop Krauser from assassinating Leon.

* BreakingOldTrends: ''4'' was the first mainline entry in the series to phase out the fixed camera in favor of a third-person camera, a design choice that would carry over to almost every later entry.

* ProactiveBoss: Two bosses in Chapter 5-3 harass Leon well before the latter manages to confront them in boss fights to finally defeat them. The first is U-3, which will constantly throw attacks at Leon while he makes his way out of the three-part Container Mazes that hang above a bottomless pit, and won't be challenged in a proper battle until Leon reaches a crag at the end. The second boss is Krauser, who already pestered Leon in a prior chapter, and will periodically come at him to attack him until being driven away temporarily; Leon has to make his way through a network of ruins until reaching the roof of a watchtower (at which point he'll have two key fragments) to fight him in a proper battle under a time limit in order to get the last fragment and escape before an explosion kills him.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While Ashley and Luis are having an argument, Leon is running around and barricading the doors in the background.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: If you kill an enemy while Ashley is hiding behind you, she'll sometimes [[NotSoAboveItAll pump her fist in approval]].

* ArcWords: Knights & Princesses. A motif played straight and affectionately parodied with equal measure.
** Leon is the knight in shining archetype rescuing the princess embodied by Ashley. She even dreamily states this how an armor would look appropriately "dashing" for gallant knightly gentleman like Leon, before awkwardly justifying how it would be bullet-proof.
** Luis frequently refers to Leon and himself as gallant knights rescuing and protecting the princess Ashley, and even (half) jokingly referred to his shotgun as his lance. Leon even [[spoiler: eulogizes him as a "Fine Knight" like the equally goofy but well-meaning and kind Don Quioxote, as he dies with his OneLastSmoke. ]]
** Of course, Ashley's infamously hilarious LethalJokeItem costume, the Knight's armor returns, making her a ''"Princess'' In Shining Armor."