Garrador

The Garradors, which means "Clawer" in Spanish, are rare Zealot enemies that inhabit Salazar's Castle from Resident Evil 4.

Characteristics
Appearing as a large armored gladiator-like warrior with retractable claws grafted to each forearm, the Garrador is a dangerous and extremely aggressive enemy which has a high resistance to frontal attacks. The Garrador has two main weaknesses, the first is its lack of eyesight and the second is its visibly exposed Plaga erupting from its spine. Keep in mind though, that flashbangs will allow them to detect the player, and they will immediately charge. However, hitting The Garrador with an Incendiary Grenade will disable them.

The Garrador finds its prey by hearing and will charge towards the origin of any loud noises in earshot, viciously swiping with its claws. Garradors are extremely dangerous and can kill a player in seconds if they are caught in the path of one of their rampages. If caught by a charge with medium low health, the Garrador will use a special death animation, where the he plunges it's claws through the victim's face, followed up with a stab to the chest. Getting hit by a swipe with low health will also decapitate the character.

The only way to defeat a Garrador is to try and trick them into turning their back on the player. Either by remaining quiet and waiting for the Garrador to go on patrol (it will retract its claws and start walking around the area, occasionally stopping to listen) whereby it may turn its back on the player allowing for a shot at its Plaga. Running makes noise that can alert the Garrador, but walking won't allow the player to simply walk around behind the Garrador. Another tactic is to stand by a wall or door and attempt to goad the Garrador into charging the player. If timed successfully the player can move out of the way, the Garrador will plunge its claw into whatever surface the player was standing by, and the monster will become immobilized for a few seconds allowing another shot at its spine.

Another method that uses more ammo is to shoot it in the stomach or leg with a powerful weapon (such as the shotgun or magnum) and run behind it to shoot the plaga. A great, but a bit slow, method is to have Ashley with you. Use the "Wait/Follow" trick so the Garrador can hear you. Move aside so the Garrador won't hit you then proceed to either knifing or shooting its back. The game also provides handy sources of sound for the player to employ in the form of tactically placed bells. For more details on these, see below.

Castle prison cell
The first Garrador Leon encounters is chained up inside a cell in one of the first rooms he passes through after penetrating the defensive walls of Salazar's Castle. Though restrained at first, it soon breaks its bonds as Leon enters the room and attacks him. In this battle, there are two bells in the dungeon where the Garrador is imprisoned. Using its sensitive hearing to his advantage, Leon discovers that the tolling of the bell will drive the Garrador to a state of rage, charging the bell and exposing it's vulnerable back, although the bells will shatter when stuck by the Garrador's claws. It is advisable to leave Ashley outside the door to the prison, as the Garrador will kill her with a single swipe.

Cage
Next, another Garrador is found in the room where the Hourglass w/Gold Decor is found. Soon after the cage in this room is lowered, this Garrador plunges into the fray, and Leon is forced to do battle with it to survive. The best tactic to use here is to toss a grenade towards one of the doors of the cage, or to employ a stun grenade, but make sure to do it before the Garrador lands (you can do this by skipping the cutscene), as flash grenades allow them to see you. This will stun the Ganados surrounding the cage, giving you a chance to blow the lock off one of the doors. Using the shotgun, TMP, or a grenade, try to open the door opposite of the one you entered through. Run back into the banquet hall and pick off the zealots that follow. By not shooting the near door, any Zealots in the cage, and the Garrador (assuming you didn't lag on your way out) will try to attack Leon through the bars, and you can safely shoot out of melee range.

Tower
The final Garrador is fought upon entering Salazar's Tower in a large room with several Zealots as well. There will be two on Normal and Professional Difficulty, however one of them is armored and is slightly more resilient than the normal Garrador, however it still retains the same weakpoint. It is the easiest to defeat of the two on easy mode due to the open spaces and the fact that it is incredibly easy to navigate around it for a shot to its back, provided you kill the additional zealots that will enter the room.



Mercenaries Minigame
The Garrador also appears in the The Mercenaries mode, where they appear as the special monsters of the Castle Plaza scenario. In the room behind the gate on the highest level of the castle, one of two Garradors may randomly be released, along with a group of Ganados if your score is especially high. Also if you should choose to play as Albert Wesker, you can shoot enemies and the Garrador with the silenced Handgun and it will not notice you or charge at you. Also when playing as Jack Krauser you can also kill the Garrador by shooting it's front with the bow, or with his special arm.

Forms of Killing
One way he brutally kills his prey is by lashing about blindly, decapitating an opponent. An alternative form of killing an enemy, is by throwing his claws into the face of his prey, then impaling the victim's torso, killing him almost instantly. For some reason, the claw that is stabbed through the victim's head doesn't instantly kill them, when it obviously pierces through the brain.

Trivia

 * The Berserker enemy from the popular video game Gears of War is inspired by the Garrador. Cliff Bleszinski (a.k.a. CliffyB), the creator of the Gears of War series, claimed to be a fan of Resident Evil 4.
 * A direct hit with a rocket launcher will instantly kill a Garrador even it shot at the front
 * When Leon is impaled by the Garrador, he screams in pain, even though the claws go through the brain.
 * A Handcannon will penetrate his front and procede to damaging him severly, if not killing him (Only a maxed and exclusively upgraded Handcannon can do this)