Al Lester

Albert Lester was the director of a hospital in the Arklay Mountains. Long since closed down, he became a psycopath known as "the Axe Man".

Background
Al was the husband of Dorothy Lester. He loved her very much and was very much devoted to her. After she contracted terminal cancer, she was injected with a last-ditch mutagen based upon the t-Virus. While this successfully fended off the cancer, it caused her to develop the disease. Albert was left devastated and without answers as to what truly killed his wife.

Years later, he returned to the Abandoned hospital (which still held his wife's cadaver, still in her room) and saw as a decorative plant grew due to the viral infection. This plant consumed Dorothy's body, causing Albert to envision it as a form of life after death. After this, Albert took on the persona of the psychotic murderer known as the Axe Man, having noticed the plant grew even more when fed animals, and later even took his obsession to the point of willing to murder and feed some campers to the monstrous being. By then, his physiology had started to mutate too. He no longer felt pain or cold, even when shot point-blank by a Shotgun.

During the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, Alyssa Ashcroft and the other survivors from Raccoon City were led by Al to the hospital, intending to kill them and offer them to "Dorothy". However, this proved to be a fatal mistake when Alyssa and the survivors were capable of driving him away with heavy fire power, eventually discovering the process necessary to vanquish the insane anomaly that had consumed Dorothy.

Upon weakening the plant sufficiently, it released Dorothy's remains, and took down the hospital with it, as its roots were the only thing truly keeping it stable. Albert was killed by falling debris when the hospital collapsed, crushing him and the corpse of his wife together.

Gameplay
All four versions of Al can be unlocked as playable characters, giving him among the highest alternate costume count of any character in the game.

The first set is unlocked simply by beating "flashback" on any difficulty. This includes Al in his old Hospital Administrator outfit at a younger age (as seen in one of Alyssa's flashbacks.) which is called Al C. Al C. starts off with a mix of three green herbs in his inventory. This is a George type character predictably.

The other version is just called Al and is in the outfit he wears when he lures the player into the hospital. This version starts with a recovery medicine in his inventory and is also a George type.

In addition, two other versions of Al can be unlocked by beating Flashback on Very Hard mode: Al B (Also called "Unmasked Freak" by the collection menu). is a shirtless version of Al that's seen in the ending when he takes off his mask. This version is a Kevin type. However, it means he can take pot shots with handguns and do a kick. (The kick being one of Axeman's attacks when encountered as an enemy.) He starts with a mix of three green herbs.

The other version is Axeman, making him one of the rare instances of being able to play as a boss/sub-boss within the main game, as most other bosses are only playable in minigames. Axeman is a Mark-type which is fitting considering Axeman wields an axe. Unfortunately, Axeman does not start with his namesake weapon, the Axe; instead, he uses an iron pipe. If played as in File 1 via Data Convert, Axeman becomes a David-type character instead of a Mark-type and is referred to as "Maskman". He posesses a high attack power.

Further Notes

 * There is an unused model in the game for an NPC with a potato sack on its head (similar to Chainsaw Man) and a bloodstained Labcoat. It may possibly be an early version of Axeman.