As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance
- Leon's infamously bad No, You insult to Saddler holds more water than most people think. Between the Raccoon City outbreak and the Mexican T-Veronica outbreak, Leon's already a seasoned monster-killer, and compared to what he's already faced, the monsters of Las Plagas are another day at the office, if that, hence his blase attitude when facing them. Compared to Raccoon City, the Plagas outbreak in the boondocks of Spain is almost humorously tiny, and compared to Umbrella or Tricell, Los Illuminados is equally inconsequential. In the big scheme of things, Saddler really is pretty small-time!
- Leon knows Spanish. All the letters that are left around are in Spanish, but we as the players simply see Leon translating it in his head. That's why all the Ganado leave letters all around: they assume he's American and won't be able to read them. If you think about it, he is quick to say "Hasta luego" when he thinks he's going to kill Mendez, which suggests that he does know Spanish. The government would hardly send in an agent who had no idea of the local language.
- That also explains why Mendez, Saddler, and everyone else bothers to speak to Leon in a heavily accented English: they thought he wouldn't understand if they spoke Spanish. As for Luis, he knew about the plan to kidnap Ashley, and when he met Leon, he just put two and two together ("Americano, si?") and concluded that he was the US agent sent to rescue her. Or probably was just used to speaking with Ada... wait, and what about the two policemen that accompany Leon at the beginning?
- No problem really, the Spanish police send two English-speaking officers to make things easier for him, a sensible thing to do. Leon may be able to read Spanish perfectly well, but, regarding his pronunciation of "Luis" or "Hasta luego", he still needs to polish his pronunciation. The officers either wanted to practice their own English or did not expect a "pretty boy" like Leon to be able to know the language.
- No police force is going to let a foreign agent, official or not, act in their territory without oversight.
- In Darkside Chronicles, it is revealed that Leon's mission with Krauser was in South America. This gives more credence to Leon having working knowledge in Spanish.
- That also explains why Mendez, Saddler, and everyone else bothers to speak to Leon in a heavily accented English: they thought he wouldn't understand if they spoke Spanish. As for Luis, he knew about the plan to kidnap Ashley, and when he met Leon, he just put two and two together ("Americano, si?") and concluded that he was the US agent sent to rescue her. Or probably was just used to speaking with Ada... wait, and what about the two policemen that accompany Leon at the beginning?
- All the Ganados have red eyes because of the effects of Las Plagas, except for Bitores, who only has one red eye. It turns out one eye didn't turn because it's a glass eye. In a turn of Fridge Logic, however, when you pick up the glass eye, it's red.
- If you have noticed throughout the game, none of the other people infected with the dominant-strain Plaga have red eyes (Saddler, Salazar, and Krauser). In Saddler's and Salazar's case, the irises have mutated into a different color (Saddler's are white and Salazar's are yellow) and Krauser maintained his blue eyes from before his infection. It could be the same thing with Mendez. Although, if it indeed was the blue eye that didn't turn and was meant to be the glass eye, it was probably a programming mistake.
- When Leon firsts encounters Ada, he manages to subdue her by using his knife against her handgun and remarks:Leon: Bit of advice: try using knives next time. Works better for close encounters.
- Although good advice for the player in general, this is likely a hint for a very late part in the game where you fight Krauser: he shoots you with a TMP from afar, but when he is close to you, starts using his knife and dodging your bullets. The best way to fight him in this close encounter situation is to use the knife.
- Ada eventually applies the advice when a possessed Leon starts choking her; rather than shoot Leon and risk killing him, she sticks him in the leg with a stiletto she'd been packing.
- Speaking of the scene where Leon fought Ada and won by using his knife? He dropped the magazine, then Ada uses a gadget, recovers her pistol but leaves the magazine. Why is there no ammo to pickup then? Because Ada wouldn't kill Leon and probably has enough knowledge of guns to know how easy it would be to accidentally pull the trigger should he not give into intimidation and fight back, something he would be likely to do. So she left the gun unloaded to avoid accidentally shooting Leon.
- While now regarded as non canon, Leon A scenario from Resident Evil 2 shows she has past form for it.
- Regenerator's strained, rapid breath? Hyperventilation. Its Hyperactive Metabolism requires massive amounts of oxygen. This also explains why they try to eat Leon: they need energy. Hell, they may even be sapient, but very, very hungry.
- This could be tied with them bursting when killed. Their blood pressure is massive as well to transport such quantities of oxygen.
- This very well may also just be why you never find Regenerators and Iron Maidens around other enemies; given that they seem to have lost sapience, it's entirely possible that they're quite prone to cannibalism to fuel that metabolism and thus are as much of a danger to the Ganados as they are to Leon. This would also explain why you find multiple Iron Maidens in the trash disposal, as it's entirely reasonable to assume that they became more trouble than they're worth because of this.
- The currency you find in the game is pesetas, which was Spain's currency up until 2001, where it switched to euros (the game takes place in 2004). However, it's highly probable that Pueblo and the surrounding areas have had no contact with outside civilization in many years by the time the game starts, explaining why you don't find any euros lying around.
- Finding live snakes in crates? Fridge Logic. Finding live snakes with uneaten, whole chicken eggs? In normal life, that's Fridge Logic. But in an area rife with mutagenic parasites that can create monsters out of any creature they wish? And with period references to mythological creatures? Probably referring to basilisk.
- Or the joke could just be, you know, a snake in a box.
- Up until the Del Lago fight, you go through Pueblo in the daytime, and none of the villagers ever sprout a Plaga head. Afterwards, things always take place in areas devoid of daylight, and Plaga heads are stupidly abundant. The end-game also reveals that the Plagas are only vulnerable to a certain type of radiation...all of this adds up to a simple conclusion: Las Plagas are lethally vulnerable to UV radiation. The Fridge Brilliance behind this is that it explains why a Plaga-headed enemy can be instantly killed with a Flash Grenade.
- Leon's sudden flirtation with Hunnigan at the end seemed a bit out-of-character, considering the most blatant he got with Ada was a few admiring stares. Then remember that Ashley had just made a pass at him and is still sitting behind him, listening to every word. Sounds like Leon was trying to deflect Ashley's affection.
- Saddler demanding a ransom from the president has an obvious secondary purpose besides him simply wanting money for his "religious community." If he'd just kidnapped Ashley, then returned her a few weeks later, completely out of the blue, people would start to wonder why. But if he demands money from The President in exchange for her, then when he gets paid, he can return her and it will seem like a perfectly natural course of action. The ransom demand was cover so no one would ask questions when Ashley was sent back to the US.
- When people think of the word "zombie", they usually think "undead creatures that feasts on the flesh of the living". The most common complaint is that 4 doesn't have flesh-eating zombies, but rather parasite-infected people. The term itself is Older Than They Think because another usage of the word (indeed, the original usage) is that zombies are slaves with no free will of their own. Thus, making the entire townspeople and the Los Illuminados "zombie slaves" to Saddler.
- I'll do you one better; "Zombie" means "a corpse possessed by a serpent-demon" in Voodoo mythology; created for the use of a Bokor (the proper name for a "witch-doctor"). Certain Plagas organisms look very snake-like (for example, the head-eating Plaga that controls Zealot Ganados and the Larval Plagas infesting Ashley and Leon); and Saddler definitely has an "evil wizard" vibe that nicely compliments his Sinister Minister schtick.
- Leon gains the ability to suplex starting at the Castle, although he can never suplex a villager-type Ganado. There are two reasons for this: the first is that some monks wear helmets which would render his kicks ineffective (they stop bullets, after all). The second reason is that, by this time, he's already aware that Las Plagas are able to pop out of a decapitated enemy at night, and the ones that pop out of monks and military Ganados are far more dangerous in CQC than those in regular peasants (one variety able to chomp his head clean off at any health level and the other spidery one able to rapid-punch him and move on its own outside the host). Suplexing them ensures that if their Plagas does emerge, it will be in no position to immediately threaten him, his head, or his foot.
- Compared to other games, the humble knife gets a massive increase in usefulness against the various enemies you encounter. Then you realize that up until 4, most of the mooks you encounter are shambling corpses and unlikely to be concerned with even fatal wounds to anything other than their head. The villagers, zealots, and soldiers, on the other hand are all living humans and vulnerable to traumatic injury, like the kind committed with a knife.
- Parallel to this. Leon has become quite skilled in the use of the knife. So much that he does not even have to equip it as a separate item or put it in his inventory and he can start slashing just as quickly as he stops shooting. Adding the two points (enemies that react to pain and Leon having more skill with the knife), explains said massive increase in usefulness.
- Perhaps a throwback to the earlier games, but look at Krauser when you defeat him as Leon. No blood puddle. Then who shows up to fight Ada in her scenario? Krauser. And what happens when Ada defeats him? Blood puddle. In the first few games, zombies and other creatures weren't dead until there was a blood puddle, so this may explain why Krauser wasn't dead. There was no puddle.
- J.J., the gatling gunner, aims by starting firing to one side of Leon, then "walking" the bullets onto his target. J.J. has an eyepatch, which means no binocular vision, which means no 3D depth perception. With Aim Down Sights, this wouldn't affect accuracy, but since the gatling gun is offset from his vision, he's forced into the makeshift procedure listed above.
- The weapons that you can get throughout the entire game (sans from the ones you can get from the Merchant) is a homage to classic Resident Evil loadout; The knife, handgun, shotgun, magnum revolver (Broken Butterfly), and rocket launcher, with the latter can be obtained near the end of the game to dispose the Final Boss like in the first game.
- Why does the Merchant help Leon, despite showing obvious signs of Plagas control (pale skin, glowing red eyes at night)? Saddler mentions that a Plagas reflects the consciousness of its host. So through either heroism or greed, the Merchant's original consciousness is influencing the Plagas to rebel!
- Why doesn't Saddler kill Leon whenever he has the chance? It's because he knows Leon was infected with a Plagas and figured that even with Leon showing himself to be a clear threat to his plans, it wouldn't matter once the Plagas in him matured enough to where Saddler could take full control. In fact, one can see Saddler's conversations with Leon as simply him trying to delay Leon long enough so that the parasite could mature. He also had no knowledge that Luis also gave Leon suppressants to slow the growth either. It isn't until he realizes Leon managed to cure himself in their final encounter that Saddler decides to finally drop the act and actively try to kill him.
- Why did the island explode at the end and how did Ada have the detonator to activate the bombs? Well, there is one person who is an explosives expert and was already demonstrated to have the skills to set up said explosives: Krauser, who rigged the tower during his final fight with Leon to explode. Since Krauser is undercover in Los Illuminados working for Wesker who plans to kill off Saddler once the sample is obtained, it was most certainly him who secretly planted the bombs around the island as he performed his otherwise normal duties for the cult. Ada either got the detonator from wherever he had it stashed offscreen or it was in the helicopter all along.
- In Resident Evil 4 (Remake), since Krauser is fully loyal to Saddler and has no affiliation with Wesker in that continuity, its version of the Separate Ways storyline reveals that the bombs were planted by Wesker himself, who unlike the original game is operating on-site on the island with Ada.
- Why is Ramon Salazar a Depraved Dwarf? Well, aside from the meta-explanation of "freaky-looking nobleman" fitting the schlocky b-movie tone of classic Resident Evil, it does make sense; Royal Inbreeding. While Spanish nobles may have a somewhat exaggerated association with it due to the Spanish Habsburgs, keep in mind that the Salazars inhabit a very remote and underdeveloped portion of Spain — even with how large and lavish the castle is despite its decay (and the Las Plagas-induced trashing of the place), they would have been very undesirable partners for many noble families. So what spouses they could find outside of their own familial lines would probably have been from stunted, sickly and desperate families, bringing in all kinds of at least latent genetic disorders, which finally materialized in Ramon.
- Why did the two ganados in Ashley's cell turn off the camera when they had no way of knowing Leon was watching them on the CCTV? Well, the first thing they did was throw Ashley to the ground, and we know Ganados retain some of their original personality. They were probably about to do something Saddler wouldn't approve of to her. This also makes Leon's snarky dismissal of them as "amateurs" and complete lack of concern for Ashley a bit chilling.
- Although given Ashley's unmitigated relief at being rescued and relative cheerfulness, it's safe to say that no such thing happened.
- In real life, the Mauser C96 Red 9's wooden stock is also a holster in which to keep the gun when it's not being used (the shoulder rest side opens up and the gun slides into it). In the game it doesn't serve this function so Leon just carries the weapon open inside his attache case along with the stock. Thing is, the stock only eats up three inventory slots while the gun that is supposed to fit inside it eats up eight, which mean the gun is larger than the stock/holster.
- The most likely answer is that nobody would bother using the thing if it ate up as much inventory space as it realistically should.
