Jack Krauser

You may be able to prolong your life, but it's not like you can escape your inevitable death, is it?

Jack Krauser was a former government agent alongside Leon S. Kennedy, but it was assumed that he died in a helicopter Crash in 2002. However, it is debated as to whether he faked his death or if he just survived the brush with death. Whatever the case, he ended up working for Albert Wesker and joining Ada Wong. He seemed quite loyal to Wesker, as he thought highly of his attempts to use his new Umbrella to bring order to the world, and was distrusting of Wong, who he suspected of treachery toward Wesker, which was in fact true. Ada's Report mentioned that he was a subject of much study and observation by the "Organization" while Ada worked alongside him due to his near-superhuman abilities. He will appear in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. He and Leon are involved in a scenario called Operation: Javier and this explains why he works with Wesker.

Operation Javier
Something's wrong. It smells like...like a battlefield. Yeah...like 'death'.



In 2002, before the destruction of the Russian branch of Umbrella. Krauser, a seasoned operative (a member of the US SOCOM - U.S. Special Operations Command) with a history of brave service, was selected to be Leon S. Kennedy’s partner due to the difficult nature of the operation.

They are sent to a small South American country as part of a secret military detachment after the headquarters were informed that a former researcher from Umbrella contacted a man named Javier Hidalgo in a small South American state.

Krauser and Leon have been sent on a mission by the U. S. government to infiltrate Javier's mansion in small locale of Amparo. Finding Javier is their objective, since he is a drug lord who has taken de-facto control over a large area of jungle. He rules the entire area absolutely. The small government is unable to do anything about Javier’s control of the drug trade, so Krauser and Leon have been called in. The U.S. government has received information that a former Umbrella researcher has somehow entered the region. Sources indicate that something strange is going on, but no accurate information can be obtained. Unwilling to risk a biohazard incident, a secret military agency pairs Leon and Krauser and sends them into this volatile region to determine what, if anything, is going on.

Shortly after they arrive at their drop point zone (the Jungle), but prior to arriving at the village of Mixcoatl, Krauser tells Leon that he doesn't believe in B.O.W.s. Leon speculates that he sees the Enemy as being the same to him.

They found themselves having to cooperate as a two-man cell in a t-Virus outbreak. During their cooperation, he becomes more interested in Leon's experiences in the Raccoon City Outbreak. After learning as much from Leon as he can, he realizes that the enemy they are facing is entirely new to him, and thus starts to realize that B.O.W.s do indeed exist. Upon arriving within Mixcoatl, Leon and Krauser are faced by the zombified residence of the village, before finding their guide mortally wounded as well. They soon struggle past the various B.O.W's which they encountered, only to find a mysterious girl, named Manuela, along with a fierce amphibious B.O.W. which they soon manage to defeat for the time being. As Leon and Krauser are guided by Manuela through Javier's massive dam, only to encounter even more B.O.W.'s, before learning that the young girl is actually Javier's daughter, and had been infected with the t-Veronica Virus, before being separated from her by Javier's men. As Leon and Krauser eventually struggled through the dam and met up with Manuela yet again, they learn that she was administered the virus in order to save her from a terminal illness which she and her mother contracted, with Manuela agreeing to take them to her father's mansion.

Along the way, Krauser, concerned about the possible transformations which Manuela could undergo due to the t-Veronica Virus, learns of Leon being sent in to this mission under the direct orders of the President, in order to completely eliminate the virus. Although Krauser agrees to help Leon, deep down he begins to feel jealous, almost spiteful, of Leon's elite status.

As the two make their way through Javier's mansion, Krauser continues to contemplate the mission, soon finding himself agreeing with Javier's mentality of "becoming stronger to survive", and growing increasingly resentful of Leon and, soon, becomes obsessed with the power of the t-Veronica virus.

As the three make their way down to a warehouse, they find the truth about Manuela's control over the virus: She has her vital organs regularly transplanted from kidnapped girls, in order to both reduce the pain of the virus, and to keep her mind strong. Javier then sends out the same amphibious B.O.W. which Krauser and Leon encountered earlier, only to find that Manuela can keep it from attacking by singing. As they try to protect her, Krauser ends up having his left arm impaled by the beast, severely wounding him, before he and Leon learn that the B.O.W. is actually Manuela's mother, Hilda.

As Javier merges with the Veronica Plant, becoming the "V Compound" bio weapon, Leon, Krauser and Manuela work together to defeat it. All the while, Krauser becomes more and more convinced that the power of this virus is beneficial, and that destroying it would be a mistake. He thus becomes fully convinced that he must become stronger, viewing Leon as a "coward", and deciding that he will become more powerful.

After destroying Javier once and for all, Manuela is taken into the custody of the US Government, while Krauser himself plans to search for Wesker, so that he can gain more strength. His arm does not fully recover, and he is thus taken out of commission from the US Military, further increasing his anger, before he would soon fall further into darkness.

Los Illuminados Incident
Been a long time, 'comrade'. At some point in 2002, Krauser supposedly was killed in a crash, when in truth he had actually faked his death and sought out Wesker, in order to gain the power he desired so much after the incident in South America. Now working for the Organization, he became acquainted with Ada Wong as well, despite being extremely suspicious of her. Krauser was sent by Wesker to the Ganados' island to infiltrate the cult group Los Illuminados and steal a sample of the Las Plagas parasite, preferably a Master Plaga. Krauser was supposed to work with Ada Wong, another agent sent by Wesker, however, they didn't see eye to eye; Krauser believing that Ada was untrustworthy and would betray Wesker. Krauser was ordered to assassinate Leon but failed due to Ada Wong's intrusion, thus increasing his paranoia about her.

In the morning, Leon battled Krauser again in a large ruins area where Krauser appeared and disappeared, shooting Leon all he could with a TMP and throwing flash grenades while Leon had to gather three insignias to open a gate, where he could escape the Ruins. After Leon got the second insignia, Krauser locked him in the tower with him. C4 charges were set to 2 minutes whilst Krauser's arm mutated into a large bladed claw that was completely bulletproof and dealt massive damage. He used it to shield his upper torso, while his legs remained vulnerable to attack.

Defeated by Leon, the third insignia -which he had upon his person- was taken by Leon as he escaped the area before Krauser's C4 would detonate. Krauser, however, survived. After Leon and Ada met near the prison, Ada proceeded to the tops of the buildings where she met Krauser for the last time. He was determined to kill Ada, jumping from top to top of the towers, hoping to slow her down. Although powerful, he was no match for Ada's arsenal and was killed for good.

Abilities
Witness the Power!

Prior to Mutation
Krauser is an excellent knife-fighter, and along with the same training as Leon, knows how to use a wide variety of firearms and heavy ordinance. Compared to Leon, he has a more Rambo-esque fighting style: utilizing surprise attacks from behind cover; long-range longbow shots; simple-but-effective traps such as robotic spiders with TNT strapped to them and small flying robots equipped with full-auto armaments; more physically-oriented, close-range combat; and especially the luring of his enemies into the environment to pull off any one of the aformentioned tactics. He is also capable of executing inhumanly powerful jumps, although this was attributed to his infection with Las Plagas; during the interactive knife-fight cutscene and the fight within the ruins, he displays the ability to pull off powerful back flips to reach platforms or ledges more than six feet from the ground.

Post-Mutation
Prepare for your death, Leon!

When mutated, Krauser's speed, endurance, defensive capabilities and killing potential are increased dramatically. He sports a gigantic bladed arm not only capable of being utilized for cleaving opponents in two, but also capable of 'unfurling' into a fan-like metallic shield, protecting him from the knees up like a personal riot shield. He is also capable of dodging bullets with his enhanced lightning-quick reflexes, and his endurance has also been greatly increased. With the gigantic 'wing', he is also able to execute powerful forward charges, the action of which looks like he's being propelled by jets.

The Mercenaries
In the "The Mercenaries" minigame of Resident Evil 4, Krauser is unlockable. To unlock him, one must get a Four Star Rating on Salazar's Castle level.

Krauser is powerful in The Mercenaries. He wields a powerful bow which has a high probability of a one-hit kill to the head and body as well as the mutated arm which he used in his fight against Leon. It can transform when it is glowing red. The arm can only attack once when mutated, but can destroy any enemy in one hit with a violent explosion, even the Special Bosses such as Super-Salvador and the Garrador. This massively powerful attack also launches Krauser about 15 feet forward, and has a small area affect; in that, even if the arm doesn't physically touch a Ganado, any Ganado within a meter or so will still explode. Krauser has two special moves. When the enemy is hit in the head and staggering, he unleashes a powerful set of kicks that almost always decapitate the foe. Similarly, if an enemy is on their knees, Krauser can knee the target in the face, almost certainly severing the target's head. However, it is very rare that the player will use his takedowns as Krauser's bow instantly kills most enemies with one head shot and and taking only two body shots on most enemies. When knocked down by a foe, Krauser peforms a getup move that is different from the other characters, causing him to move backward. Krauser is the only character with a full 10 bars of health, and can take upwards of 7 or 8 hits before succumbing.

Krauser, although being one of the most powerful of the characters, he does have some weaknesses. First of all, his grenades are all Flash Grenades. Furthermore, Krauser's arm takes over a minute to regenerate, and without his arm being ready, he lacks the power to control groups, unless he can use his flash grenades to stagger a group, and then unleash a flurry of kicks. Also, although Krauser is extremely fast, when injured, he is quite a bit slower, so those who rely on his speed will find their advantage shattered. Krauser's bow also needs to be reloaded after every shot meaning he can't keep a constant bead on his enemies nor can he follow them very well, being as he aims very slowly. Krauser can fire his bow slightly faster if the player skips the reload animation; by rapidly release and then depress the aim button, Krauser will level his bow faster than if the player had kept the button held; however, Krauser loses his aim, and the bow will be aimed at the neutral position again.

Trivia

 * Krauser's mutated arm bears a resemblance to the Devil May Cry sword, Sparda.
 * Of all the antagonists in Resident Evil 4, Jack Krauser is the only one to make an appearance in all game modes, Main game, Another order (Separate Ways), Ada the spy (Assignment Ada) and The Mercenaries.
 * According to Yasahiro Setu's Blog "Talking Evil" as well as Nintendo Power's Darkside Chronicles coverage, Jack Krauser is Setu's favorite Resident Evil Character.
 * To promote Operation Javier before Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, a Twitter account for Jack Krauser was created, which details what he does during the Operation Javier mission.

Appearances/Voice Actors

 * Game Canon (2 games)
 * Resident Evil 4 (First appearance) Jim Ward
 * Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles