In Resident Evil 4, Ganados appear in three varieties known as Villagers, Cultists, and Combatants. Of these there are minibosses, such as Chainsaw Ganado, Garrador, and Gatling Man, who are represented elsewhere. The Villagers appear in Chapters 1 and 2 as the standard enemy, and briefly appear in Chapter 4 in the underground ruins. The Cultists appear briefly in Chapter 2-2, but are otherwise exclusive to Chapters 3 and 4. Meanwhile, the Combatants are entirely exclusive to Chapter 5.
Villagers are generally armed with hand tools (such as axes, sickles, pitchforks, and kitchen knives), with a minority armed with dynamite. If at a distance, they may throw their weapons. Cultists have greater access to ranged weapons and may use bow guns. Combatants use a mixture of these weapons, but may also wield stun rods.
Moveset
Attack
Damage
Description
Strangling (首しめ)
Unarmed ganados will only be able to rush forward and grab the player in an attempt to strangle and throw them to the ground to break the character's neck. Upon grabbing, the player will start taking damage and a quick-time event will appear where the player has to shake the control stick to damage the Ganado and break free. Failure to do so results in the villager lifting Leon off the ground and throwing him down. This attack causes a minimum of 2 bars of damage in Professional Mode, and can do up to 3.5 bars of damage if not resisted. If a Ganado grabs the character from behind, it will not do any damage but the quick-time event will still appear and this position provides other Ganados with weapons an opportunity to attack.
Knife attack (包丁攻撃)
380
Ganados with the hand axe, sickle, knife, and torch share a basic swing attack that causes about 2.5 to 3 bars of damage if they hit in Professional Mode.
Axe attack (オノ攻撃)
380
Ganados with the hand axe, sickle, knife, and torch share a basic swing attack that causes about 2.5 to 3 bars of damage if they hit in Professional Mode.
Sickle attack (カマ攻撃)
380
Ganados with the hand axe, sickle, knife, and torch share a basic swing attack that causes about 2.5 to 3 bars of damage if they hit in Professional Mode.
Fork attack (スキ攻撃)
380
Pitchfork users' attack is slower but involves them stepping forward giving them more reach. This causes 3 bars of damage in Professional Mode.
Torch attack (たいまつ攻撃)
380
Enemies with torches also have an attack where they attempt to blow fire at the player. If shot at in the middle of their attack, the ganado will burst into flames and fall to the ground. Touching the ganado while he/she's burning does not damage the player. This attack will do about 3.5 bars of damage if Leon gets hit in Professional Mode.
Flail attack (フレイル攻撃)
480
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 never throw these weapons
Shield attack (盾攻撃)
480
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 will usually destroy the entire shield.
Large sickle attack (大カマ攻撃)
700
Cultists with large sickles perform a wide ranged horizontal melee slash or a faster vertical slash with less range.
Stunrod attack (スタンロッド攻撃)
768
Hammer attack (ハンマー攻撃)
912
Axe throw (オノ投げ)
380
Enemies with axes or sickles can throw their weapons, which causes 2.5 bars of damage in Professional Mode. Usually, enemies can pull out an infinite number of extra weapons after throwing the one they were carrying (other than the scythe, which can only be thrown once). Thrown weapons can be stopped in mid-air by causing any kind of damage, like shooting, being hit by an explosion or stopped with a knife swing.
Sickle throw (カマ投げ)
380
Enemies with axes or sickles can throw their weapons, which causes 2.5 bars of damage in Professional Mode. Usually, enemies can pull out an infinite number of extra weapons after throwing the one they were carrying (other than the scythe, which can only be thrown once). Thrown weapons can be stopped in mid-air by causing any kind of damage, like shooting, being hit by an explosion or stopped with a knife swing.
Large sickle throw (大カマ投げ)
700
At medium range Cultists tend to throw their sickles which can travel great distances have a high chance to decapitate if the player is not at full health
Dynamite throw (ダイナマイト投げ)
1200
Ganados with dynamite must first light their sticks before throwing it. They will have an infinite amount of sticks and being hit can cause anywhere between 4-6 bars of damage, depending on how close the player is to the explosion. The explosion can harm the Ganado who originally threw it, as well as other Ganados close to the explosion. While holding a lit stick, it can be shot to explode it right away, instantly killing the carrier or shot while in mid-air. The player can also force the Ganado down with a strong firearm and wait until the dynamite explodes in their hand after a set amount of time. If a Ganado grabs the player while holding a live stick, failure to escape from his grasp will result in instant death for the player (the Ganado explodes with Leon, leaving no body). 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.
Fire blowing (火吹き)
Bowgun attack (ボーガン攻撃)
400
Cultists with bowguns can only shoot at the player, they do not use the grab move or any melee attacks. They can shoot two bolts at a time before pausing to reload their weapons. They usually have less health and rarely reveal a Plaga.
Rocket attack (ロケット攻撃)
Very few cultists carry rocket launchers. They have to kneel down before firing and will never perform a melee attack unless their rocket launcher has already been used or they were forced to drop them
Stone throwing (投石)
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.
Flame radiating (火炎放射)
Gatling attack (ガトリング攻撃)
600 each
In Chapter 3-2 in the Castle parlour, if the player fails to stop the red robed cultist from reaching the middle of the room, he will unveil and mount a large machine gun turret.
Strategies
It is not recommended to attempt to go in the large tower while they are attacking. It is very hard to avoid the Molotov cocktails and the crowd that gathers at the bottom will be unavoidable.
When facing ganado with dynamite, it is possible to lure large groups of other ganado into the explosion's blast usually killing most of them.
When close to a villager who is not carrying dynamite, sprinting towards them in a short burst will trigger them to perform their primary attack with the weapon they are holding. While they finish the animation there is ample time to run up to them and deliver a well placed knife to the head, allowing Leon to either kick them or back away with enough time to avoid damage from a second attack.
The Mercenaries 3D
All Ganados in The Mercenaries 3D are cultists. 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 decapitated, they show signs of Type 2 Plaga as they reuse the Majini animations.
