Ganado

Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

"Ganado" is a term given to the human hosts of the Plaga parasites encountered in Spain. The name is derived from the Spanish "los Ganados", meaning "the herd" or "the swarm".

Biology

Unlike virally-mutated humans such as Zombies, Ganados do not suffer from a decline in intelligence. Their skills are not lost upon parasitisation and they will continue day-to-day life. For instance, Ganado villagers may be seen rearing animals and using pitchforks to turn hay. Ganados do however exhibit a change in living standards, and will comfortably consume rotting flesh on a plate. In social terms, Ganados live together as they did before parasitisation, and work with one another.

Ganados parasitised with Los Iluminados' Plagas are known to follow orders devoutely from their leader, the Prophet Osmund Saddler. Due to a mutant Plaga within Saddler's body as well as his religious leadership, he was able to influence the Ganados and their Plagas. Ordered to keep outsiders out of the region at all costs, Ganados are driven to kill.

An effect the Plaga has on the Ganado body internally is an apparent high pain threshold as well as superhuman strength, with more significantly affected Ganados carrying heavy weapons such as chainsaws. Though they may be taken aback by an initial gunshot, Ganados have the drive to continue standing and to continue an attack. If a Ganado has suffered too much damage, however, the Plaga may tear through their neck to defend itself with its appendages. 

Villager Gameplay

The Villager ganados serve as the basic enemies throughout the Village section of the game (Chapters 1 and 2 of the main game and Separate Ways). Many are encountered in almost every area, as well as in the Mine, Old castle ruins, and the Underground ruins areas during the Castle section of the game.

After Chapter 1 of the main game and Separate Ways, villagers may sprout plaga from their bodies. The first enemy that sprouts an exposed plaga appears during the start of Chapter 2-1, in the Waterfall area, the rest are left to chance of sprouting.

Most villagers will be unarmed or have melee weapons, therefore they will have to run up to the player to attack. Occasionally they will have the means to attack at range. In most situations they can follow the player anywhere, as they can set up and climb ladders, and jump across gaps.

Villagers will flinch from single shots from all weapons, including handguns, and will flinch after a few hits from the TMP or knife. When staggered from a headshot or fallen to their knees from a leg shot, players can perform melee attacks (via a command prompt) on them. They are also susceptible to falling off ledges when shot at or forced off from a powerful weapon or explosions. They can also be left unarmed for a brief period of time when shot in the arms.

When protecting Ashely, they can either attack her or pick her up and attempt to walk away with her. If they reach an exit of an area while holding her, the player will receive the game over screen.

Villagers are featured as the basic enemies in Stage 1 of The Mercenaries minigame.

Moveset

Move	Damage	Description
Choking	QTE-dependent	Ganado tries to strangle Leon
Knife attack	380

The villagers encountered in the game only wield melee weapons which are mostly comprised of farm tools, such as: torches, pitchforks, scythes, hand axes and knives. Some ganados will attack Leon by hurling lit sticks of dynamite at him. These attacks can detonate and obliterate Leon if he suffers one while low on health.

• 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.
• Ganados with the hand axe, scythe, knife, and torch share a basic swing attack that causes about 2.5 to 3 bars of damage if they hit in Professional Mode.
• Pitchfork users' attack is slower but involves them stepping forward giving them more reach. This causes 3 bars of damage in Professional Mode.
• 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.
• Enemies with axes or scythes 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.
• 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).

Related attacks

Not directly related to the regular AIs as do they do not actually preform these actions, the game is scripted to show villagers attacking indirectly in various ways.

• Entering the tall tower in the Village center will prompt the villagers to throw Molotov cocktails to flush out the player (but not during Chapter 2-2 of the main game). Being hit does little damage but they throw surprising accurately. While this happens the villagers simply wait at the bottom and do not climb up.
• Groups of villagers in the Deserted village and Wetlands push boulders off cliffs during the main game. This starts a quick time event where the player must outrun and then dodge the rolling rocks.
• Trip wire bombs and bear traps will be placed in some areas.
• Chapter 1-2 begins with the player having to perform a quick time event to dodge an axe wielding villager. Chapter 2 of Separate Ways also begins with a quick time event where the player must dodge an attacking ganado who swings an axe.
• On the lift in Chapter 2-3 two particular ganado will attempt to unhitch the platform the player is riding on. They must be knocked off to stop them.
• In Chapter 2-3 a ganado will attempt to drive a car into Leon and Ashley. He can be killed with a single bullet, or his car shot multiple times, which will cause him to crash before reaching the player.

Molotov being thrown at Leon

Strategy

• 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.

Cultist Gameplay

The Cultists replace the Villager ganado as the main enemies encountered starting at Chapter 3 of the main game and Separate Ways. Two cultists armed with crossbows can be encountered in the Village section in Chapter 2-2 if the player re-enters the Church. Cultists can carry all three of the plaga variants.

As a type of ganado, they behave almost identically to the villagers, though they are more dangerous enemies. Cultists 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 carrying her away.

The Cultists are better equipped than the villagers, carrying a variety of medieval armaments, such as flails, crossbows and scythes. The Cultists also use dynamite, which they will throw at the player, they also rarely wield rocket launchers. 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.

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 not flinch and take almost no damage from headshots.

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 can only attempt 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 never 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 will usually destroy the entire shield.

Cultists with crossbows 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.

Cultists with large scythes have three attacks. They can perform a wide ranged horizontal melee slash or a faster vertical slash with less range. At medium range they tend to throw their scythes which can travel great distances have a high chance to decapitate if the player is not at full health

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 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

Related attacks

These are attacks conducted by Cultists but are part of scripted events or AI. 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, 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.

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).

Gallery

Re4-ganados.jpg

The Village People.

The Cultists.

Combatant ganados.

Cultist concept art

Ganado in Clan Master.