Merchant

The Merchant is a pseudo-character in Resident Evil 4 created by Capcom as a means for the player to upgrade, sell, and purchase weapons. Another Merchant appears in the iPhone game Resident Evil Degeneration.

Background
The Merchant reveals himself to Leon after he escapes from the house in the valley. From then on, the Merchant will appear at various points throughout the game, offering upgrades and new merchandise to Leon in exchange for pesetas or other treasures. The merchant usually sets up a blue torch near him when he is in business. In certain areas, he has a shop or stand set up, with many pieces of weaponry on display. The merchant also runs the various shooting ranges around the castle and island areas.

Appearance
The Merchant wears a tattered black trench-coat along with a large sandy backpack. A purple piece of fabric covers the lower portion of his face. The inside of his coat contains a number of belts, packs, and pockets, all packed full of merchandise. The Merchant's face shows essense of few scars. He speaks with a slight accent.

Gameplay
The Merchant is used for the selling of a wide-range of items in order to buy and upgrade weapons and health items. This form of interactive inventory upgrade system was replaced in Resident Evil 5 with a pre-game lobby where the player must prepare their inventory box.

In Other Games
The RE4 system returned in Degeneration, though is much simpler. Resident Evil 4: Mobile Edition has another "merchant" version whereby the player is taken to a pre-game lobby where they can sell and upgrade items.

Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game


The Merchant appears in the as an Action Card. The Merchant appears in several in-game scenarios including one themed around him; "Whaddya Buyin'?". The Merchant is a useful card early on in the game. It appropriately gives the player using it +1 Buy and +20 Gold, as well as 1 extra card. The Merchant can come in very handy for characters such as Ada Wong and the promotional Jill Valentine (The former having an ability to lose a Buy in exchange for an Action and the latter able to obtain a second Buy anyway). Other cards that grant additional Buys have been fauted in Alliance.

Trivia

 * In the ports for Resident Evil 4, the merchant is portrayed somewhat differently, possessing red eyes like the ganado. This should not be taken as him being a ganado, however, as he is still immune to the P.R.L. 412, but can be killed by most every other weapon.
 * The person who plays the voice of Leon Kennedy (Paul Mercier) also plays the voice for the Merchant.
 * The Merchant is immune to eggs as they simply slide down his coat or face.
 * Ironically, the Merchant continues to call Leon "Stranger", despite seeing him in several different locations throughout the entire course of the game.
 * In the Separate Ways Scenario, Ada encounters the merchant in a building inaccessible by Leon.
 * The Merchant has a blue-torch in all of his locations except for one.
 * The animation that occurs after you exit; showing him close his coat, can be skipped by swiftly killing him.



Video
thumb|300px|right|Leon's first encounter with the Merchant.