As a Wild Mass Guessing subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
The Ganados will speak real, authentic Castilian Spanish this time.
The original RE4 had the Ganados speak Mexican-accented Spanish, which sounds out of place in a Spanish-speaking country in Europe. Hopefully, with the remake's increased production values, Capcom can contact actual Spanish voice actors living in Spain to voice the Ganados.- The remake will also perhaps remove a lot of the Spexico that was a major criticism of the original game, to better depict Spain much more faithfully.
- Confirmed in the Demo and gameplay trailer - the accent of the Ganados is Castilian Spanish.
This remake will be a composite adaptation of both Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica.
Veronica is probably not popular enough to have its own remake, yet at the same time, it's too important to be glossed over entirely, being the game that re-introduces Wesker. Perhaps CAPCOM will kill two birds with one stone by adapting elements from Veronica straight into 4. This way players who get introduced to the series by the remakes won't get confused when Wesker shows up again after 1. This will also fix 4's sparse plot in the second half by giving it Veronica's plot. Claire and Chris appearing wouldn't be too strange, as Steve from Veronica was originally supposed to be Leon to begin with. Perhaps the start of the remake will play out exactly how it was in the original, only to get completely hijacked by the Redfields' hijinks later on. Another support for this whole theory is the supposed Wesker concept art leak, which shows him in a more combat-ready attire, hinting that he will play a more proactive role this time around.- Perhaps a Code Veronica campaign can be unlocked after beating the main game (alongside the remade Assignment Ada and Separate Ways) or as an eventual DLC?
- Jossed. It’s a remake of only Resident Evil 4 with no references to Code Veronica. A Code Veronica DLC is theoretically still possible but rather unlikely due to the size of said game.
Some high-ranking Los Iluminados characters will survive as a Call-Forward to Umbrella Corps and Vendetta.
Both of the above works take place after 4 and reveal that Los Illuminados is still active as of 2017, implying that someone intelligent is still running the place. Perhaps the Remake will acknowledge this by introducing at least one new dominant Plaga holder who will survive to take over after Leon's rampage.- Jossed. By the end of the game Leon has killed Saddler, Salazar, Méndez and Krauser and there are no other known high-ranking cult member.
Related to the above, the new dominant Plaga holder will not actually be a new character. He will be...
...our dear and beloved Merchant. The original Merchant is visibly infected with the Plaga, but he shows no sign of being under the cult's control. This may hint towards his nature as a dominant plaga holder and a prime candidate for taking over once Saddler and co. die. Furthermore, the Merchant in his original form is too arcadey to fit the more grounded tone of the remake. He needs to become an actual presence in the plot rather than just a walking game mechanic. Turning him into a more sinister character who provides weapons to Leon so he can take over the cult accomplishes this perfectly.- Jossed. The merchant is the still the same character as in the original.
Leon will get more flashbacks to the Raccoon City Incident.
Bitorez Mendez has been given a hat in the remake while keeping his imposing longcoat, making him look similar to Mr. X who has also given our hero a Neck Lift while trying to strangle him at one point, which might make Leon recall unpleasant memories of his encounters with the Tyrant throughout the RPD.- Jossed.
The Merchant will mention his friend.
- Jossed
Luis will either be Spared by the Adaptation or die near the end.
In the trailers we see him assisting Leon during the double El Gigante fight as well as the minecart section. Both of which took place after his death in the original. Either Luis won't die here or he'll die later. Toward the end.- Due to the seemingly greater focus on Leon's infection, perhaps he'll kill Luis when Saddler takes control of him.
- Semi-confirmed. Luis still dies albeit later than in the original and is killed by Krauser shortly before the Salazar boss fight.
Salazar's second Verdugo will appear as a boss Ada encounters in the remake version of Separate Ways, replacing Krauser.
Self-explanatory. The reason why the Verdugo suddenly disappears and never appears again in the main game is because it's being set up as a boss for Ada to kill in place of Krauser in her DLC campaign, since having Krauser suddenly spring back to life just to fight her would take away from the remake's more dramatic and poignant portrayal of his death at Leon's hands. It also wouldn't make any narrative sense since the remake versions of Ada and Krauser don't even interact onscreen nor seem to care for each other's presence.- Confirmed with the eventual release of Separate Ways. The second Verdugo becomes a Recurring Boss that stalks Ada during the village and castle portions of her DLC, and it's eventually revealed to be called the "Pesanta", a subvariant that strongly resembles the original's U-3, making it a Composite Character in the process.
Alternately, Krauser will return, but so mutated that he now resembles U-3.
The camera lingers on Krauser's corpse for a few seconds before leaving the arena for good, most likely hinting that he's not done yet. Since he's received such a poignant death, perhaps his appearance in the Separate Ways will further highlight his tragedy by showing how his pursuit of power has reduced him to nothing more than a mindless beast. Supporting this, in the original, Krauser's plaga mutations started to shrink and wither when Ada finally killed him for good. Here, his body doesn't break down after Leon beats him. Even ignoring any post-fight looting the player likely did, Leon still hung around long enough that he would have seen his body breaking down.- Jossed. Ada never interacts with Krauser in this version of Separate Ways, only observing him from afar at some points. Neither does Krauser get back up to become the U-3, since that role falls to the second Verdugo instead.
Krauser was aware of the US government's involvement with Umbrella, and this is why he defected
Operation Javier obviously was a major cause of Krauser's disillusionment with the US government, but if it was just a mission gone bad then there were legal solutions like a press release that could have put egg on the face of the administration. What if during Operation Javier, Krauser uncovered intel that proved the US government worked together with Umbrella to create bio-weapons, and he was disgusted by the hypocrisy that the government had him hunting down bio-weapons but were themselves responsible for the menace in the first place. Assuming Krauser even knows about Wesker in this version, it's very much possible that Krauser's disgust towards Umbrella caused him to ignore Wesker's invitation, or at least come up with plans to betray Wesker at a later date. Operation Javier fails in this continuity because Leon isn't a part of it
Pretty self-explanatory. Being who he is, Leon is probably worth as much as Krauser's entire team put together, plus a lot more. Without him carrying the operation, it just fails. Also, since he's such a valuable asset, the U.S government would never abandon him like it would Krauser alone. The PRL-412 is going to show up in an update or DLC.
Where Ada takes the Plagas sample
She's taking it either to Derek Clifford Simmons or worse… Mother Miranda. The Merchant is a vengeful member of the Salazar family.
The Merchant is very interested in retrieving treasures from the region, and most of his requests are aimed at indirectly attacking the Las Plagas cult by destroying their sacred relics and killing notable monsters, in particular the unique "super-mutant" Colmillos in the village and the Iron Maiden on the island. One of the few exceptions also revolves around throwing an egg at the portrait of Ramon Salazar, the current legal heir to the Salazar family, that hangs in the castle's throne room. This is a clear symbolic gesture of contempt and disrespect — all the more poignant because Ramon in the remake is canonically allergic to eggs. Perhaps the Merchant is also a Salazar — a cousin or a bastard brother of Ramon's, maybe — who wants Los Illuminados wiped from existence to atone for his family's failure to annihilate the cult, and maybe even to claim the land for himself once Ramon is dealt with. Leon and/or Ashley in the remake-continuity will name their first son(s) Luis Sera Kennedy / Luis Sera Graham
As a gesture of their gratitude to him for saving their lives and very humanity, while also simultaneously honoring and redeeming the former Umbrella Scientist's legacy.