Los Ganados

First appearance: Resident Evil 4

Information

The term used by the main villains in the game to refer to common enemies with a humanlike appearance is "Los Ganados," which means "the cattle" and references the plans of the Los Illuminados cult involving taking over the population by parasitic infection. Los Ganados includes a broad range of enemies with a variety of strengths and a range of different appearances. In the early moments of the game, Los Ganados appear as male and female villagers of various ages that are extremely hostile and violent to Leon for then-unknown reasons.

Villagers may be unarmed, or they may carry pitchforks or axes. Villagers armed with axes or sickles may throw their weapons when at long range. Villagers that light and toss dynamite sticks should be targeted immediately, both to prevent Leon from being caught in a blast and to cause the enemy to drop their explosive, killing themselves and others in the resulting explosion radius. Rare villagers carrying chainsaws are quite a bit tougher to kill than the rest, requiring several attacks. Chainsaw maniacs and hags are much more aggressive.

The best way to eliminate Los Ganados is by shooting them in the head, attempting to score a critical headshot that decapitates the villager completely. Even if the villager is not decapitated, shooting them in the face causes them to scream in pain and stagger.

Throwing flash grenades blinds villagers, allowing you to move in close to attack. By knocking several villagers to the ground, Leon is in less danger of being attacked. Prone villagers can be shot continuously until dead. Crowds of oncoming villagers can be eliminated or knocked to the ground instantly with shotgun blasts, hand grenades or incendiaries.

At night, the parasites that control Los Ganados may be revealed if the enemy is decapitated. These monsters, called "Las Plagas" and detailed further in the following description, give a Ganado a second chance to attack Leon. Because emerging Plagas require more ammunition to kill, it becomes necessary to reduce attempts to inflict critical headshots. Los Ganados later take the form of Los Illuminados cultists in black or red robes. The religious zealots in red are quite a bit harder to kill and usually reveal their Plaga regardless of where they are shot. Cultists wearing steel masks cannot be eliminated with a critical headshot. Zealots behave more intelligently than villagers, and attack by throwing scythes or by firing flaming arrows from crossbows.

The Island is inhabited by all new commando enemies, incredibly resistant to damage and well-armed. Soldiers on the island sometimes fire guns or crossbows, or even rocket launchers. Commandos wearing helmets can only be decapitated by shooting them in the face, and then only rarely. Enemies toting massive gattling guns or giants wearing bulletproof armor prove extremely difficult to kill.