P.R.L. 412

The Plaga Removal Laser 412 is a directed-energy weapon with unlimited ammunition found in Resident Evil 4 (excluding the GameCube version). It can harm any enemy infested by Las Plagas, and can destroy any of the bosses with a direct hit, even Osmund Saddler.

In the PlayStation 2 and PC version, the P.R.L. 412 cannot damage or affect any inanimate objects, including barrels, chains, switches, etc. The weapon was changed for the Wii version, where it charges much faster and fires multiple beams which hit multiple enemies on screen without aiming. It also cannot harm Ashley. The P.R.L. 412 is unlocked by beating the main game on Professional mode. Once unlocked, the weapon is free when the player starts a new game on that file.

The P.R.L. 412 takes up 21 spaces (7x3) of Leon's inventory, making it one of the bulkiest weapons in the game. It is equivalent in size to the Chicago Typewriter.

The basic mode of fire for the P.R.L. 412 is a short-ranged pulse of light, which damages and stuns enemies, much like a flash grenade. This flash can destroy most enemies in 3-4 hits. It can also kill some creatures with just the flash, like the Verdugo and even Osmund Saddler. When charged up, the P.R.L. 412 fires a penetrating laser beam that pierces and kills most enemies in one shot. It can also take down groups as in the Wii version, it has a recoil force, so you basically don't have to aim, though that decreases your overall accuracy. However, when fully charged, the full laser sight is shown, making it decent for long-range shots.

The P.R.L. 412 has no listed stats and cannot be upgraded. The P.R.L. 412 eliminates the need for flash grenades, which can be sold to the Merchant for extra money. However, the flash of the P.R.L. 412 has a shorter range than a flash grenade, so exercise caution. Its light burst is effective against groups (in a straight line or tightly packed) and kills difficult enemies, such as Regeneradors, Iron Maidens and J.J. in one blast, one of the 2 weapons able to do so, the other being the Rocket Launcher. It is not available in the GameCube version. One of the few enemies able to survive a charged blast from the P.R.L. 412 is El Gigante, who in this case requires two charge shots: one to weaken him and reveal his Plaga, and another to hit the Plaga directly and finish him off.

The weapon has 2 settings, a flash, where you just aim and fire, or a charged blast. This weapon has a meter that shows how charged up the weapon is when you hold the fire button. If the meter glows red, release the fire button and you can take down any boss or enemy with ease. However, once fired, the weapon must recharge it's basic energy pool, so you cannot just blast away with flashes, or continuously charge the main laser.

Since what actually kills Las Plagas is not the visible spectrum of light but the UV light, the weapon is most likely firing intense light (whether in a blast or a straight line) of the UV spectrum with some of it being visible as blue / violet light, which is what comes after UV in the light spectrum.

Trivia

 * The P.R.L 412 bears a striking resemblance to the Devil May Cry 3 weapon Artemis. This is suggested by the fact that both weapons use the entirety of the user's forearm & that they both fire concentrated laser blasts (although on DMC3's case, Artemis is described as firing arrows powered with demonic energy.) Due to their uncanny similarity (and the fact that both RE & DMC are Capcom properties), one can safely assume that Artemis was put as an inside joke of RE4. Nightmare Beta in the original Devil May Cry also behaves like this.
 * It is interesting that the description for the P.R.L. 412 states that as a weapon, it only targets the Plagas inside a host, and not the host themselves, stating that the host is not harmed. Since it only works on fully matured Plagas, this is not possible, and as such, even simple Ganado are killed by the weapon.
 * When fully charged, the PRL's ability to kill almost every enemy in one shot makes it remarkably similar to DOOM 3's BFG9000.
 * The weapon itself is non-canon, being an after-game addition unlocked to make it more fun for those who completed the game. In the storyline, research into removing the Plagas only went as far as the machine used to remove the parasites from Leon and Ashley.
 * In Resident Evil 4 HD, which is based on the Wii version of the game, the P.R.L. will lock onto and destroy most crates, bear traps, dynamite traps, and blue medallions, and destroy them (though the counter which keeps track of the number of blue medallions will not appear on-screen if the medallion was not the primary target). When in the area of the Pearl Pendant over the filthy water, the P.R.L. will destroy the wood holding up the lid and will then cause the pendant to fall in the same shot.