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Ramon Salazar is the lord of the castle inResident Evil 4. He’s arguably the campiest villain in the entire series, complete with wicked monologues, self-aggrandizing statues, and a flair for the dramatic. In the remake, he’s also been given a full background story that players can piece together throughout the game.
Related:Which Resident Evil 4 Remake Enemy Are You Based On Your Zodiac Sign?
We’ve combed through every corner of the castle and its surroundings to find out what makes Ramon tick. If you want to know more about the tragic fall of House Salazar, you’ve come to the right place!This article contains spoilers.
Las Plagas And Los Illuminados
The area that would become the domain of House Salazar was arural village in Spain. While the area was known for valuable mineral deposits, particularly an indigo-colored crystal called “velvet blue” by the locals, it was also home toLas Plagas- a prehistoric, parasitic organism.
A Plaga attaches itself to the spinal cord of a host, integrating with their nervous system andultimately taking control of them.The parasite’s growth typically results in severe brain damage, reducing most hosts - human or animal - to violent, mindless shells. A fully-matured Plaga can even trigger spontaneous mutations in their hosts.
The earliest known record of contact with Las Plagas is an inscription dated 1554, found in the Sanctuary of Los Illuminados - a cult that emerged to worship the “holy insects” and sought communion through their hive-mind. While most local villagers feared Las Plagas, the cultists revered them; indeed, the leader of Los Illuminados was infested with the Plaga Lord, a dominant specimen that could exert total control over the rest of the hive and their hosts.
The Origin Of House Salazar
In 1741, the Spanish Crown ordered that Los Illuminados and the “demons” that they consorted with were to be eradicated. Gregorio Salazar, the leader of the military force that was sent, drove the cult into exile on a nearby island but did not pursue them. Whether he believed they were no longer a threat or simply didn’t have the means to finish them in unknown.
For his service, Gregorio Salazar was made a Count and granted sovereignty over the cult’s former territory. He and his family were givenstanding orders to prevent the return of Los Illuminados and Las Plagasfor all time. Gregorio and his son, Hipolito,constructed a castle to guard the regiondirectly over the Plaga hive, where uncountable more specimens remained preserved in amber.
After Gregorio’s death, Hipolito inherited the title of Count Salazar. During his lifetime, the Salazar Family Chronicle writes that a “plague of demons… emerged from the depths of the earth.” It stands to reason that Los Illuminados infiltrated the castle and, with the power of their Prophet, awakened the parasites beneath the castle in large numbers.
Hipolitoled his soldiers to destroy the resurgent Plagasand seal the tunnels, but was himself killed in the ensuing battle. His son Gregorio took up the banner and spent huge amounts of money to further fortify the castle.
Ramon Salazar
Ramon was the son of the seventh Count, Diego Salazar. As a child, Ramonsuffered from terrible illnessesand was not expected to live to adulthood. His mother, Catalina, could not bear the thought of losing her child, so against Diego’s wishes (and likely without his knowledge) shesought help from Los Illuminados.The cultists injected a Plaga egg into Ramon that would hatch into a new strain that they had developed; the boy wouldretain his personality and higher brain function, but would still be easily controlled by the Prophet.
As Ramon grew into adolescence, he developed amonstrous crueltythat he hid from his father. The family’s chief housekeeper wrote that when Ramon found out that a servant called him “Pulgarcito,” or “Little Thumbnail,” behind his back on account of his height - Ramon was exceptionally short - he tortured and killed the servant bypouring acid on her face, smiling the whole time.
Ultimately, Diego learned of his son’s misdeeds and of his link to Los Illuminados. In the ensuing confrontation, Diego called his son a “demon child” and threatened to send him back to Hell, proclaiming that Ramon should never have been born. Ramon killed his father and assumed the title of Count Salazar.
In Chapter Twelve or Resident Evil 4 Remake, players can find an Easter egg that references this fight - Diego’s portrait in the Throne Room has a knife stuck in it, which Leon can take with him.
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New Plagas
As Count, Ramon lifted the ban on Los Illuminados, welcoming them back to the mainland. Soon, everyone in the castle and the nearby village were infested with Las Plagas, fully under the control of the cult’s fifteenth Prophet, Osmund Saddler. Ramon donated generously to the cult from his family’s wealth, allowing them to develop new research facilities and engineer new strains of Las Plagas.
Salazar also funded his own research projects, building a laboratory underneath the castle for his personal doctor, Isidro Uriarte Talavera. Talavera’s goal was the creation of new organisms by combining human and Plaga DNA; his first success was the Novistador, ahuman-sized insect with natural camouflage. The Novistadors quickly multiplied, filling the tunnels under the castle and ultimately breaking through to the ballroom, which became part of their nest.
Talavera also developed a scorpion-like humanoid he called “U-III,” but only two specimens were ever created. The first, Pesanta, was created transfusing a black bile distilled from the Plagas into the chief housekeeper, who had sworn an oath to spend his life trying to save Ramon from the cult. The second, Verdugo, was Talavera himself. Pesanta and Verdugo served as Ramon’s chief retainers and bodyguards for the remainder of his life.
Los Illuminados Gain Power
Having secured funding from Ramon, Saddler left the Count to his own devices. While Ramon was busy renovating the castle’s clock tower - complete with agiant, fire-breathing statue of himself- Saddler received two golden opportunities.
TheRaccoon City Incidentin 1998 caused the downfall of the global biotech conglomerate, the Umbrella Corporation.Luis Sera, one fo the chief scientists in Umbrella’s European Division, had been born and raised in the nearby village and stole as much equipment as he could before the company collapsed. Sera returned home, hoping to use Umbrella’s technology to put an end to the Plagas for good.
Sera had not expected the Los Illuminados takeover, and the cultists welcomed him back butinjected him with a Plaga eggbefore setting him up with a private laboratory in their island headquarters. Unknown to the cultists, Luis used an experimental radiation treatment tokill his Plaga before it matured, allowing him to work on finding a cure as long as he kept his head down and avoided notice.
The second opportunity that came to the cult was the defection ofUS Army Major Jack Krauser. After being abandoned to die by the Pentagon in South America, Krauser used his remaining connections to find an organization that would allow him to get revenge. He joined Los Illuminados, bringing military knowledge and mercenary contacts with him.
The Abduction Of Ashley Graham
With Sera’s resources, Los Illuminados developed a strain of Plaga that was completely undetectable andmade no overt changes to the host’s personality,but still rendered them fully controllable by Saddler. Deployed in the right place, this new parasite could give Saddlercontrol over a company, a country, or even the world.
In 2004, Krauser planned and executed an operation tokidnap Ashley Graham, the daughter of the US President. Los Illuminados would infest her with the new parasite, then send her home todo the same to her father.As soon as Ashley was discovered to be missing, the United States sentLeon Kennedy- coincidentally, a former Raccoon City police officer who had trained under Krauser in the military - to Spain for her recovery.
Despite the efforts of the cult, Leon was able to find Ashley locked in the village church; the two took refuge in Salazar Castle. Ramon saw anopportunity to gain favor with Saddlerafter largely being ignored, so he separated the pair and turned Ashley over to Krauser.
Leon was able to evade Ramon’s servants, including Verdugo, and pursue Ashley. Along the way, he was aided by Luis, but Krauser discovered Sera’s betrayal and killed him.
Leon ultimately cornered Ramon, forcing the Count toassume his mutated formthrough the power of his Plaga. Even this wasn’t enough, andKennedy killed Ramonin the ensuing battle, ending the Salazar line.
How Old Is Ramon Salazar?
Salazar’s appearance differs greatly between the original Resident Evil 4 game and the Remake. He looks much older in the latter game. According to Famitsu’sBiohazard 4 Kaitai Shinsho,published in Japan, Salazar wastwenty years old at the time of his deathin the original version of Resident Evil 4. It hasnot been establishedwhether the Remake version of Salazar is canonically older, or if his aged appearance is a result of his genetic disorders or a Plaga mutation.
However, Mendez’s notes, which Leon can find in the Village Chief’s House inChapter Fiveof the Remake, suggest that control of the village was given to Los Illuminadossometime in the mid-to-late 1990s. If Ramon was born in 1984, this would mean that he murdered his father somewhere between the ages of twelve and sixteen. This tracks with Diego calling him a “demon child” during their fight, so it stands to reason that Ramon is still a young man despite his appearance.
