Novistador

Novistadors (faux Spanish from "no vista" or literally "no sight", combined with dor, a common Spanish suffix ("er" in English)) were large, insectoid creature encountered by Leon during his exploration of an isolated Spanish region.

Biology
Novistadors are found in two forms at three locations within Ramon Salazar's Castle. When killed, Novistadors provide "eye" stones of three colors (red, blue, and green), which can be combined with the Butterfly Lamp for greater resale value (32.000 with all colored eyes).

Leon encounters the Novistadors in the sewers below Salazar's castle. The Novistadors which attack him here are flightless, but have a remarkable chameleon-like ability to turn invisible, giving them absolute stealth. Fortunately, their glowing eyes, dripping acid and an outline of fog reveal their positions, allowing them to be detected, but if the player has a good eye, and perhaps the Wii version, the aiming reticule will turn red when an invisible novistador is targeted. Additionally, one can tell if a Novistador is on the hunt when a loud "thud" sound is heard when it drops down to the floor and it's heavy footsteps pounding the floor as it closes in. They attack with a series of swipes, kicks and grabs. When a Novistador grabs onto Leon, they will vomit a highly corrosive liquid over his head. If the player doesn't shake the novistador off, the Novistador will kill Leon by melting his face.

Leon encounters a second breed of Novistadors in a castle tower where they had built a large hive, and again in a cave system far beneath the castle, kidnapping Ashley in order to give her to Salazar. In both cases, these creatures lacked their predecessors' camouflage ability but instead gained wings to compensate. Whether these two creatures are developing stages of the same monster or different breeds entirely was never stated. The flying Novistadors are notably less durable than the others, and can be killed with a few handgun shots while airborne.

According to Luis's third memo, Novistadors (along with other creatures such as El Gigante) are "merely by-products of the diabolical and inhumane experiments conducted on the specimens that were once human."

Trivia

 * The Novistadors cannot cloak and fly at the same time, but in the Nest Tower, if you look closely, you'll spot one flying while invisible. It appears only once (It will disappear the next time you play the level).


 * If a Novistador is flying, it will die with a single shot from any weapon.


 * If you have only one quarter of health left, a slash from any Novistador will decapitate you (If having the same amount of health and the Novistador leaps on to you, it will spit corrosive acid onto you and melt part of your face revealing bone, flesh and an eye socket).


 * The Novistdor nest located in the castle can be destroyed. When it has been quite a large number of Red/Blue/Green eyes fall, along with two novistadors that die on impact with the floor.


 * The Thermal Imaging Scope found in the medical complex reveals the location of cloaked Novistadors, however a player can only see their multiple eyes in a greenish color, alowing to do a perfect headshot (that might instantly kill the Novistador).


 * Novistadors can be seen with the naked eye using the rifle's scope. If you zoom in close, you'll see the creature's breath misting in the cold air, and you can even make out saliva dripping from the creature's mouth.