Luis Serra (ルイス・セラ,Ruisu Sera?) was a Spanish biologist native to an isolated region of Spain. After time elsewhere, supposedly Madrid, he was recruited by Osmund Saddler into Los Iluminados' research project on the Plaga parasite. While suspicious of the project, he continued to work on what became clear was illegal human testing and bioweapons research. By 2004 he had made contact with an anonymous organization, offering them the seed of Los Iluminados' labour in exchange for his safety. On attempting to undermine Saddler's efforts, however, Serra himself was ultimately killed.
Serra was born and raised in Valdelobos, a devoutly Catholic village located within the sparsely populated mountainous region of the same name in Spain; the population there were traditionalist luddite isolationists who had shunned most modern technology in favour of a pre-industrial lifestyle. Among his family there was his grandfather who hunted in the woodlands in the valley.[3] In his adult life, Serra sought to be a scientist and earned a biology degree.[4]
Los Iluminados[]
Sometime around the Millennium, Sera was recruited into Los Iluminados, led by Osmund Saddler who styled himself as a Prophet. The organisation used the village's superstitious legends and devout religiosity as a recruiting tool for their real objective: the creation of bio-weapons for use in a world domination plot. Serra was hired to lead the genetic research and modification of the Plagas on a private island facility, and had been given instructions by Saddler to discover ways to weaken and/or remove the Plaga from hosts. The true intent and purpose of such research for Saddler was to learn the parasite's weaknesses and thus engineer a new generation of Plaga that were resilient to these weaknesses and near-impossible to overcome.[5] During Serra's research, he was enchanted by his discoveries and the various mutation effects one or several Plagas could have on hosts, leading to the development of the El Gigante and Regenerador; further research into hybrid organisms resulted in U-3, Verdugo and the Novistador.[6]
While Serra over time became aware of Saddler's true agenda, he continued with his research out of pure fascination though became increasingly guilty as the project reached its conclusions, seeing himself as equally as responsible as Saddler himself.[7] With access to the internet, he attempted to contact a friend he met during his time at university, hoping he would assist Serra in his escape, afraid of involving the police. Instead, he found himself in contact with Ada Wong, then an agent for The Organization, who had access to the friend's email account after his death.[8] The Organisation successfully infiltrated the cult with Jack Krauser, but with time being of the essence, would later send Ada Wong to serve as Serra's liaison. In his escape from the island, Serra stole a vial containing an egg of the Dominant subspecies, which he was to hand over to Wong.
Serra was kidnapped by Fr. Bitores Méndez's forces as he made his way through the village, and was sealed in a cabinet to be interrogated later. Saddler refused to allow his execution until the location of the sample was revealed and instead had him injected with a Plaga egg. This opened up a window for his escape when the decision was made to take him to a camp with fellow prisoner, Leon S. Kennedy, a USSTRATCOM agent sent to search for Ashley Graham, who the group had abducted. Serra was aware of the operation, but refused to divulge his identity to Kennedy, instead claiming to be a police officer from Madrid taken captive by the group and having overheared the cult's conversations.[9] Sera manages to escape after narrowly dodging an attack from a Ganado with Leon, fleeing in the chaos. Following his escape, the cult made capturing Sera their top priority as he had the Sample in his possession but we're unable to find him. A troubled Méndez speculated that Sera had gone into hiding with the sample deep in the forests surrounding the area using secrets paths his grandfather had shown him. Sera runs into Leon once more who was accopanied by Ashley after they seek refuge in a cabin that was about to be assaulted by the Ganado, although they manage to defeat them before Luis left again. They reunite at Salazar's Castle, where Serra was able to destroy the Plaga egg injected within him before it hatched.[3]
Unfortunately, Saddler soon caught up to Serra and impaled him through the chest with a scorpion-like tentacle from underneath his robes, retrieving the sample of the dominant-strain Plaga. Fatally wounded, Serra revealed to Leon that he had been a researcher for Saddler and provided Leon with pills designed to suppress the growth of the Plaga in his body,[10] as well as leaving behind all of his research notes scattered throughout the castle and island complex. Leon thereafter swore vengeance for Serra's death.
Excerpt from biohazard4 kaitaishinsho revised edition, p. 12: 村の小屋に監禁されていた男。28歳。身勝手なふるまいを見せつつも、命の恩人であるレオンと行動をともにすることになる。人を小馬鹿にしたような口調で話し、軽ロばかりたたいて腹の底は見せようとしない。「マドリッドで警官をつとめ、現在は無職」と自称するものの、レオンたちの身体に起きた異変への対処法に妙にくわしいあたり、その経歴だけでは説明しきれない過去を背負っている様子。