History Trivia / ResidentEvil4

* DevelopmentHell: Counting the early proposal that became ''VideoGame/{{Devil May Cry|1}}'', ''Resident Evil 4'' was in development for at least half a decade. The premise was changed several times in this timeframe.[[note]]From fighting zombies, to mist enemies, to the puppet humans in the final version.[[/note]]

* Among the content cut from the version of the game that was released, a few files were cut out of the game. Among these files was one that revealed that Del Lago was an ancient mutant from the time before the first castellan sealed away the Las Plagas.

* BadExportForYou: Due to Germany's [[MediaWatchdog youth protection laws]], the German version of the game is missing the "Assignment Ada" and "The Mercenaries" minigames. It's also ''brutally'' trimmed down in terms of violence, to the point that German gamers took to importing copies from Austria instead.

* RoleReprise: Sally Cahill and Creator/RichardWaugh as Ada Wong (returning from ''[=RE2=]'') and Albert Wesker (returning from ''[=RE0=]''), respectively.

* ReferencedBy: The Merchant in ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'' is a takeoff of everyone's favorite friendly Ganado. Fidget even jokes that he'll "[[BreifAccentImitation Buy it at a hoigh proice!]]" in reference to samples of ItemCrafting materials.

* ReferencedBy: The Merchant in ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'' is a takeoff of everyone's favorite friendly Ganado. Fidget even jokes that he'll "Buy it at a high proice" in reference to samples of ItemCrafting materials.

* ReferencedBy: The Merchant in ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTale'' is a takeoff of everyone's favorite friendly Ganado. Fidget even jokes that he'll "Buy it at a high proice" in reference to samples of ItemCrafting materials.

* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the N-Gage (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne (2016), UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the [=PlayStation4=], UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} (which is probably due to Creator/{{Microsoft}} all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and UsefulNotes/WiiU (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).

* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the N-Gage (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne (2016), UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} (which is probably due to Creator/{{Microsoft}} all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and UsefulNotes/WiiU (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).

* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the N-Gage (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne (2016), UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation 4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} (which is probably due to Creator/{{Microsoft}} all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and UsefulNotes/WiiU (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).

* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the N-Gage (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne (2016), UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the PlayStation 4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} (which is probably due to Creator/{{Microsoft}} all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and UsefulNotes/WiiU (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).

* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the N-Gage (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne (2016), UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} (which is probably due to Creator/{{Microsoft}} all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and UsefulNotes/WiiU (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).

* ColbertBump: A minor example for the Zeebo. This Brazilian video game console would've likely flown under the radar internationally had Resident Evil 4 not had a port for it. The port is essentially another point in favor of the game's PortOverdosed status.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Usual trivia]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Franchise call backs]]
* The franchise's fondness for helicopters (getting blown up) continues.
* The one water control valve in the sewers of the Castle is a {{continuity nod}} to the many valve handles in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''[='=]s history.
* On the elevator ride in the tower in Chapter 4-4, when Leon has to keep zealots from overloading the elevator in order to rise, one of the whiteheaded zealots in red robes is marked like a zombie. A continuity nod to when a ''Resident Evil'' game wouldn't be complete without a zombie.
* The opening cutscene contains footage from cutscenes in the early games:
** The missile used to destroy Raccoon City, which appeared at the end of ''Resident Evil 3''.
** The oncoming zombies, which use the zombie models from the old game engines, and look both crude and more than a little out of place.
* In Separate Ways, one of Ada's reports references Luis sending an email for help to a college friend he was unaware had passed on. Ada intercepted it, which got her and Wesker involved. Apparently this friend was John, Ada's internal contact when spying on Umbrella in ''VideoGame/{{Resident Evil|1}}''.
* Leon tells Ashley "We're sandwiched all right" at the Cabin intro is call back to Barry's "You were almost a Jill sandwich" in the first ''Resident Evil'' game.
* At the end of Separate Ways, Ada's helicopter flies off into the rising sun, just as the surviving members of the team do at the end of ''Resident Evil''.
* The stag's heads mounted on the wall in various places in the Castle seem a callback to the stag head in the aquarium room in the first ''Resident Evil''.
* Salazar becoming a giant plant thing that Leon must fight is a call back to Plant 42 in the original game. "''Looks like we got to the'' '''root''' ''of the problem.'' - Chris.
* Del Lago is a combination of the giant snake Yawn in ''Resident Evil'' and the giant crocodile in ''Resident Evil 2''.
* The dining hall with the paintings and clues is a call back to the previous painting puzzles in the first ''Resident Evil'' and ''Code: Veronica'' games. [[spoiler: This really helps set the player up for the ambush.]]
* The flying Novistadores around the hive are an improved remake of the bees and beehive in the first ''Resident Evil'' game.
* The "dam blocking the waterfall to let the player access a secret entrance behind the waterfall" in Chapter 2-1 is the same in concept as what the player does to advance past in the barracks in the first ''Resident Evil'' game. The execution is vastly better. Perhaps a case of "this time we have the hardware to do this scene right."
%% I'm going to check videos of both the original game and the REmake to see if the latter did do it right, after all, RE4 originated on the same hardware as the REmake.
* Garradors are blind, dangerous, and hunt by sound. They can hear you if you run, but not if you walk. Just like lickers from ''Resident Evil 2''.
* Shooting the crates down to form a series of platforms across the water at the waterfall/dam reprises the crate pushing to form a platform across water in both ''Resident Evil'' and ''Resident Evil 2''
* The Cabin brawl in Chapter 2-2 with Luis is a much improved version of Leon travelling with Ada through the tunnels in ''Resident Evil 2''. Ada will even kill all the zombies if Leon lets them get close enough.
* The fight with U3 on the hanging rigs is a lot like the boss fight with William Birkin's dog form towards the end of ''Resident Evil 2''. Birkin/It leaps up and down onto the tops of tall containers while Leon runs through the corridors between them.
* The Separate Ways minigame, with the sequences and actions that are impossible to reconcile with the main game, is a shoutout to the same problems with the different character scenarios in the first two games.
* The many rampaging trucks are a reference to the runaway truck in the opening cutscene of ''Resident Evil 2''.
* The gondola ride is a callback to the gondola ride in ''Resident Evil 2''.
* The Butler's letter Ashley finds isn't so much a call back as a near identical copy of the one in ''Code: Veronica''.
* Using an eyeball to unlock an entrance is a callback to ''Code: Veronica'', where Claire uses an artificial eye in an anatomical mannequin to open the entrance to the cellar of the Prison Area.
* Shooting out the first searchlight on the Military Base on the Island is a call back to Claire shooting out the searchlight when she first meets Steve in ''Code: Veronica''.
* Leon and Ashley counting to three then activating the switches simultaneously to unlock the door to the bulldozer/truck path is a reference to Chris and Claire counting to three and releasing the locks simultaneously to release the lock on the Linear Launcher in ''Code: Veronica''.
* Ashley uses a turnstile to open a hidden doorway to a secret area in Chapter 3-4, just as Claire does in the basement of the Prison area in ''Code: Veronica''.
* The flying robots in the boss battle with Krauser are a self reference to the little robots in ''Code: Veronica'', where they summoned Hunters if they detected Chris.
* The re-writable electronic door keys are a callback to the re-writable MO disks used to open the cell in the secret laboratory final level in ''Resident Evil''.
* Ada throws Leon a rocket launcher, from way up high, for the final boss fight. Just like ''Resident Evil 2''.
* Leon's shoulder sheathe for his knife is a callback to Chris and Claire's (non-functional) shoulder-mounted knives in ''Resident Evil 1'' and ''2''.
* Leon boosts Ashley up to get into the room with the Broken Butterfly, much as he did Ada in ''Resident Evil 2''.
* Saddler's [[EyesDoNotBelongThere "mouth eye"]] is a callback to William Birkin's first form in ''Resident Evil 2'', which had an eye embedded in upper arm muscles. Neither is a suitable place for an eye, as it would be constantly deformed by changing pressures, leading to heavily distorted vision.
* When Leon and Ashley do their slow motion leap out of the stained-glass windows in a cutscene in the church, it's a callback to Steve's slow-motion leap in through a window in a cutscene in ''Code: Veronica''.
* In the cutscene in the church, Leon's "sounds more like an alien invasion" is a reference to the movie ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'', where humans are replaced by identical copies under alien control.
* The typewriter {{save point}}s are a major continuity nod with the early games, but their placement frequently makes no sense. This subverts one of the usual qualities of a save point, which is that they're usually placed at some kind of traveling nexus, after/before major fights, new equipment, etc. ''Resident Evil 4'' has typewriters in place with no strategic places at all.
* When Ada faces [[spoiler: Krauser]] in Separate Ways, the cutscene opens with a view of a giant muscular arm wrenching loose a steel girder to use as a weapon. This is a callback to when Birkin's first form wrenched loose a metal pipe handrail to use as a weapon vs Leon in ''Resident Evil 2''.
* Enemies that throw projectiles like hatchets, sickles, scythes, etc. only do so if they're in Leon's line of sight. This can be useful at the top of a ladder while knifing enemies as they climb up. Simply reposition Leon a little, turn 90 degrees and start knifing. Facing a wall can also help.
* Before his final confrontation with Leon, Krauser raises his razor sharp steel strong mutant arm high vertically like a swordblade, saying "[[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Witness the power!]]" ByThePowerOfGrayskull indeed.
* In the cutscene with Ada in Ch. 5-4 on the Island, Leon temporarily succumbs to the plagas in him. The camera cuts to a close-up of his face as his eyes burn red. There's an almost identical shot of William Birkin, right down to the burning red eyes, in ''Resident Evil 2'' as he succumbs to the virus he had just injected into himself.
* Verdugo, the inhumanly quick and tough enemy with blindingly fast melee attacks, is only weak to liquid nitrogen. And Verdugo's not all that weak even then. This is a callback to ''Resident Evil 3'', where Nemesis is an inhumanly quick and tough enemy with blindingly fast melee attacks, and his main weakness is to freeze (liquid nitrogen) grenades. And it's not much of a weakness, merely a short slowdown, much as Verdugo is only slowed for a bit.
* The optional crane in Chapter 5-1 (after the first Regenerators) is a callback to the short crane section in Claire's section in ''Code: Veronica''.
* When [[spoiler:Krauser]] dies, he has soft tissue swell out of his chest and pulse, just like the weak spot in the first Tyrant battle in ''Resident Evil''.
[[/folder]]

* NamesTheSame:
** Ramon Salazar, the psychopathic terrorist dabbling in bioweapons, is even crazier than [[ShapedLikeItself Ramon Salazar]], the psychopathic terrorist dabbling in bioweapons in ''Series/TwentyFour''.
** Ashely Graham shares her name with a real life model.

* NamesTheSame: Ramon Salazar, the psychopathic terrorist dabbling in bioweapons, is even crazier than [[ShapedLikeItself Ramon Salazar]], the psychopathic terrorist dabbling in bioweapons in ''Series/TwentyFour''.

* TalkingToHimself: Paul Mercier provides the voice of both Leon and the Merchant, so he's not only talking to but also buying and selling things to himself.

[[folder:Franchise Call backs]]

* NoExportForYou: The UsefulNotes/NGage port was released only in Japan, the Zeebo port was released only in Brasil (as the console itself was only released there, despite being developed in America), and the Android version was released only in Korea outside of very few Samsung phones through its own store at the time of release.
* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [=GameCube=]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to [=PlayStation=] 2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the Nokia N-Gage (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), Wii (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), [=PlayStation=] 3 and Xbox 360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), [=PlayStation=] 4 and Xbox One (2016), Nintendo Switch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the [=PlayStation=] 5, Xbox Series [=X|S=], and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the Xbox (which is probably due to Microsoft all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and Wii U (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).
* SequelGap: The game was released 6 years after ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3''.

** Development on the first iteration of the game overlapped with that of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' (back when that game was still considered to be ''Resident Evil 1.9''), predating Creator/ShinjiMikami's decision to switch to the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube. According to an interview with [=1UP=].com, Creator/HidekiKamiya claims that, initially, this was to be the third ''RE'' game instead of the one that came out. He is likely referring to the game featuring HUNK on a cruise ship, being called ''Resident Evil 3'' at the time Kamiya worked on it - and before the number went to the game with Jill and Nemesis. That "''[=RE3=]''" that Kamiya worked on barely got past concept phase before being scrapped, and his team moved on to the next project, which is known as the first version of ''Resident Evil 4''. The cruise ship version of ''[=RE3=]'' got revisited twice: once with the non-canon ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilGaiden'', the second with the fourth ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor'' game, ''Resident Evil: Dead Aim''.

** The "Biohazard 4 2000" build, internally referred to as the "Stylish version", featured a superhuman private investigator named Tony Redgrave as the protagonist, with him and his twin brother Paul being the Progenitor Virus-mutated sons of Earl Oswell Spencer. Tony was a superhuman cop that would explore and fight throughout the hidden Umbrella base of Mallet Island, its castle and the lab facility beneath it. Its development included several trips to Spain and England to study castles as the inspiration for the environments. This game was deemed to be too great a departure from the {{survival horror}} genre, and would be {{retool}}ed into ''{{VideoGame/Devil May Cry}}''. While the game's setting remained unchanged (other than Mallet Island becoming more supernatural), Tony and Paul became Dante and Vergil, the B.O.W.s became demons and Earl Spencer's role was split into two separate characters: Sparda became the twins' father, and Mundus took his place in the story as the BigBad.

* BadExportForYou: Due to Germany's [[MediaWatchdog youth protection laws]], the German version of the game is missing the "Assignment Ada" and "The Mercenaries" minigames. It's also ''brutally'' trimmed down in terms of violence, to the point German gamers took to importing copies from Austria instead.

* TalkingToHimself: Paul Mercier provides the voice of both Leon and the Merchant, so he's not only talking but also buying and selling things to himself.

** After that version was scrapped, Capcom made various short gameplay tests to decide the path that the next version would take. These gameplay tests included the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_326592&src_vid=kWpEE_5pDzQ&feature=iv&v=k8nKcMwmt3I "Hooked Man Gameplay,"]] which had the same basic gameplay as the previous Castle Version and reused assets, such as the mansion environment, from the previous version to showcase the gameplay. It featured Leon exploring a haunted mansion with his biologically modified dog sidekick, while fighting what appeared to be paranormal enemies, such as medieval suits of armor,[[note]]Which would make it into the final version, albeit not as paranormal.[[/note]] living dolls, a mounted deer head which jumped off a wall and attacked, and the titular, ghost-like "Hooked Man," a possessed-looking chap who wielded a giant hook on a chain.\\

* The franchise's fondness for helicopters [getting blown up] continues.

* Ada throws Leon a rocket launcher, from on high, for the final boss fight. Just like ''Resident Evil 2''.

* In the cutscene in the church, Leon's "Sounds more like an alien invasion" is a reference to the movie ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'', where humans are replaced by identical copies under alien control.

* Verdugo, the inhumanly quick and tough enemy with blindlingly fast melee attacks, is only weak to liquid nitrogen. And Verdugo's not all that weak even then. This is a callback to ''Resident Evil 3'', where Nemesis is an inhumanly quick and tough enemy with blindingly fast melee attacks, and his main weakness is to freeze (liquid nitrogen) grenades. And it's not much of a weakness, merely a short slowdown, much as Verdugo is slowed for a bit.
* The optional crane in Chapter 5-1 (after the first Regenerators) is a callback to the short crane section in Claire's run in ''Code: Veronica''.

* NoExportForYou: The [=NGage=] port was released only in Japan, the Zeebo port was released only in Brasil (as the console itself was only released there, despite being developed in America), and the Android version was released only in Korea outside of very few Samsung phones through its own store at the time of release.
* PortOverdosed: Despite its "Only for [=GameCube=]" label in its original release from 2005, the game has been ported to [=PlayStation=] 2 (months later after the [=GameCube=] version), the Nokia [=NGage=] (2005), PC (2007, a PortingDisaster), Wii (2007), Zeebo (2009), Apple [=iOS=] (2009), [=PlayStation=] 3 and Xbox 360 (2011), Android (2013), PC again (2014, a PolishedPort), [=PlayStation=] 4 and Xbox One (2016), Nintendo Switch (2019), [[UsefulNotes/OculusQuest Quest 2]] (2021), and remade for the [=PlayStation=] 5, Xbox Series [=X|S=], and PC, a total of 17 ports and counting. It has seen releases across four generations of video game hardware and the only major platforms that never got a version of the game in its lifetime were the Xbox (which is probably due to Microsoft all but abandoning the system in 2005 in anticipation of the then-coming 360) and Wii U (which still ended up getting the ''Wii Edition'' ported to its version of the eShop, though the game still had to be played in Wii Mode).

** Right before they settled in [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Not Spain]], the game location was a village in [[{{Ruritania}} Eastern]] [[{{Uberwald}} Europe]]. This would later be revisited in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'', which also takes several design cues from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''.