Cultists

The Cultists were Ganado and members of Los Iluminados based in Ramon Salazar's family castle. They were dressed in clerical robes and habits bearing the cult's insignia. Black is worn by the regular cultists, purple by elites, with red worn by the cultist leaders. They are featured as enemies in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.

Biology
Likely having not left the castle for years, the Cultists' skin is much paler than that of the villagers, and all of them appear to be bald, although their baldness is likely a result of having deliberately shaved their head as a religious statement rather than as a symptom of their infection. Others are ritually tattooed or scarred. Overall, the Cultists are likely the most sinister and frightening of the Ganado.

The Cultists are better equipped than the villagers, carrying a variety of medieval armaments, such as scythes, flails, crossbows, dynamite, and even rocket launcher wielding Cultists appear occasionally as well. Some Cultists also carry heavy wooden shields or wear iron masks to protect themselves. All ranks may wear a helmet but it seems most common on Cultists wielding melee weaponry.

The colors of a Cultist's robe appear to indicate rank or status within the cult:


 * Black robes are worn by the lowest ranking Cultists, who can appear wielding any weapon. Black robed Cultists are less likely than the others to reveal a Plaga upon injury.
 * Purple robes may indicate higher ranking Cultists or simply a more elite cadre as they only start appearing when the player has progressed deep into the castle, usually in whole groups of their own. Leader variants of this cultst with goat skull masks are not uncommon. These Cultists tend to carry the "B" stage Plaga.
 * Red is worn by the leader Cultists, who may also wear a goat skull mask or Amulets. Note that these Cultists will at first only appear leading groups of lower ranking cultists, but in later areas may attack in whole groups of their own. Although often unarmed when leading groups, red robed Cultists are usually much tougher to kill than their subordinates. These Cultists usually carry the older "C" Plaga.

Gameplay
The Cultist replace the Villager ganado as the main enemies encountered starting at Chapter 3 of the main game and Separate Ways. Two cultists can be encountered in the Village section in Chapter 2-2 if the player goes back into the Church. Cultists can sprout all three different plagas.

As a type of ganado, they behave almost identically to the villagers. Cultist must run up to the player to attack. Less of them throw weapons at the player but they have access to crossbows. They can also follow the player by setting up and climbing ladders and jumping across gaps. When staggered, players can perform melee attacks via command prompt on them. As Leon, his kick attack is replaced by the suplex. They also have the options of attacking Ashley or picking her up and walking away with her.

Cultists can drop their weapons if shot in the arms but it is not as likely to happen compared to the villagers. Also, they never take out new weapons after throwing or dropping the ones they spawn with (not counting the dynamite throwing ones). The Cultists with helmets will no flinch and take almost no damage from headshots (they do take an extremely small amount of damage though).

During Chapter 3-2 when reentering the Temple from the top floor, a group of cultists will be occupied with performing some kind of ritual. Before they are alerted, the player can aim and fire a rocket from a rocket launcher at them triggering a special cutscene where they all will be hit.

Cultists are featured as the basic enemies in Stage 2 of The Mercenaries minigame.

Moveset
Unarmed Cultists will only try to grab the player starting a shake off quick time event. This includes the two Cultists encountered as Ashley during Chapter 3-4.

Cultists with flails will run up and attack with a larger range than villagers with axes. When attacking, they will first swing the mace in a circle. They can change their attack direction in mid-swing, allowing them to spin around and hit the player if they try to run around their sides. They do not throw these weapons.

Cultists with spiked wooden shield will always carry them up to protect themselves. They can still move either fast, or slowly approach when close to the player. They can perform a quick shield bash which will knock down the player or, if they have a flail in their other hand, perform the flail swing. The shields will break when shot at. Piercing weapons will also hit the cultist behind the shield, causing them to flinch or even die. Shotgun fire or explosions can destroy the entire shield.

Cultists with crossbows can only shoot at the player, they do not use the grab move. They will shoot two arrows at a time before having to pause and reload their weapons. They usually have less health and rarely reveal a Plaga.

Cultists with large scythes have two attacks. They can perform a wide ranged melee slash or throw them at mid range. If the player if killed by a scythe attack, they will be decapitated.

Cultists with dynamite act similar to villagers with dynamite. They can throw only one stick at a time, it can explode in their hands, and they can always take out a new stick.

Very few cultists carry rocket launchers. They first have to kneel down and then fire them. The rocket travels in a straight path. Some can reload their rockets.

Related attacks
These are attacks conducted by Cultists but are part of certain events or certain AIs. Regular cultists can not perform these actions.

In Chapter 3-1 in the Castle wall area and in Chapter 4-1 Outside the clocktower, Cultists man catapults that launch giant flaming boulders. They can be killed which will stop the catapults from being used.

In Chapter 3-2 in the Castle parlour, not stopping the red robbed cultist from reaching the middle of the room, he will unveil and mount a machine gun turret.

In Chapter 4-1 in the Weapon exhibition room, going down the long hallway will trigger a cutscene where a the door closes separating Leon and Ashley. Then two cultists driving a giant machine with a wooden drill will break down the wall and attempt to run down Ashley. Killing them will cause the door to open up (but the machine will continue to move down the hall).

Bottlecaps
The player can obtain Bottlecaps modeled after the various cultists. There are four of them and are all regular prizes that can be won when playing Game C. Their names are displayed as "Zealot w/ Scythe", "Zealot w/ Shield", "Zealot w/ Bowgun", and "Leader Zealot". Their sound effects are variety of chants heard throughout the game.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Cultists appear as the sole standard-enemy characters from Resident Evil 4. They are the only standard enemies that appear in the Village levels, although they can also be found in maps like the Old Castle, Public Assembly (likewise, Majini appear in the Old Castle on some missions), the second boss fight (Mission 5-5), and both Survival missions (Missions 4-5 and EX-9). Rarely, they will fight alongside Majini. Cultists have a much more limited weapon set than Majini, lacking Stun Rods, grenades, body armor (aside from masks) and their wooden shields can be broken through (the Cultist arsenal is the same as in Resident Evil 4, although the flail was replaced by a standard mace). However, they make up for this with significantly higher resiliency. They also have a tendency to reveal Cephalo. When decapitate, they show signs of Type 2 Plaga as they reuse the Majini animations.

Quotes

 * "¡Allí está!" - "There he is!"
 * "Cerebros, cerebros..." - "Brains, brains..."
 * "Cogedlo, cogedlo..." - "Get him, get him..."
 * "¡Mátalo!" - "Kill him!"
 * "Morir es vivir" - "To die is to live"
 * "Muere, muere..." - "Die, die..."
 * "¡No dejes que escape a la isla vivo!" - "Don't let him escape to the island alive!"
 * "¡Que sí, quiero matar!" - "Ah, yes, I want to kill!"
 * "¡Quiero su cabeza!" - "I want his head!"
 * "¡Ya es hora the asplastar!" - "It's time to crush!" -- ("asplastar" is actually a mispelling of "aplastar")

Further notes

 * If you shoot the hood-less ones in the head, their heads are most likely to hang there and a parasite will appear.
 * In Chapter 4-1, if you kill a cultist that is patrolling the tower with the jammed gears in it, you will notice that the top part of his cloak disappears.
 * During the Castle level, some will say "No dejes que escape a la isla vivo", which means "Don't let him escape to the island alive" revealing where they have planned to move Ashley.
 * Several times, the cult is ungrammatically referred to as "the Los Iluminados"; this is literally the equivalent of saying "the The Illuminated", as 'Los' is a definitive article.
 * A number of drafts were proposed, but the goat skull mask was chosen as a suitable enemy skin due to its relations to black magic.