"Did you say "old man" Mr. Kennedy? It might come as a surprise, but I'm only 20 years old!"
Ramon Salazar was the eighth castellan of a fortress near an unnamed village in rural Spain, which was governed by a religious cult known as "Los Iluminados" (English: "The Enlightened Ones"). Although his diminutive stature resembled that of a ten-year old, and his gray hair and wrinkled face gave him the appearance of an elderly man, he was only 20 years old.[1][notes 1]
Biography
Ramon, the Eighth Castellan, lived alone with his butler and had no immediate family since childhood. This left him vulnerable to Osmund Saddler's influence, who succeeded in indoctrinating Salazar into becoming a fervent believer in Los Iluminados' teachings. Salazar became convinced that he had to undo the seal of the Plaga in order to atone for the "sins" of his ancestor, the First Castellan. Once the excavation of the Plaga had begun, he was injected with one of the parasites. This would give him power over the Ganado, most of the Los Iluminados' cultists, and two fearsome, mutated bodyguards known as Verdugos. Eventually, he was completely taken over by the power of the parasites. Salazar became a recluse in his castle, as he no longer cared for anything but the survival and domination of Los Iluminados, which led to his assistance in the kidnapping of the U.S. President's daughter, Ashley Graham. Only his butler knew the truth of his full spiritual incapacitation.
In 2004, American agent Leon S. Kennedy infiltrated the village and rescued the president's daughter, Ashley Graham. As the two attempted to escape from the Ganado, they found themselves within the castle, which was heavily guarded with a variety of creatures and death-traps. Leon also has many conversations with Salazar on his radio, due to the latter's ability to intercept, block, and transmit radio transmissions. Leon, after overcoming all of Salazar's obstacles, battled and killed one of the Verdugos. Soon after Leon escaped a giant, mechanized statue of Salazar, an altercation with Salazar and his other Verdugo began. Salazar informed Leon of his intent to turn Ashley into a Ganado. In the middle of his exposition, Leon threw his knife at Salazar's hand, pinning it to the wall. The remaining Verdugo threw it back at Leon with intent to kill, but the throw is dodged.
Salazar then came face-to-face with Leon and merged with his remaining Verdugo and the Queen Plaga, mutating into a plant-like parasitic creature that took an entire second story wall, with two large and dangerous tentacles on each side. The Verdugo became a long thick neck with a large head, with a swollen eye on the left that served as a weak point and when damaged enough, exposed the real weak point: Salazar himself, who was now fused with the neck. After a long, arduous battle, Leon defeated Salazar; the hideous, mutated creature shriveled up and died, ending the reign of the eighth castellan, as well as the Salazar bloodline. This leaves the castle officially leaderless. Later, Saddler mentions that the loss of Salazar (along with Bitores Mendez) was saddening, but he will move on. However, when contacting Leon upon the latter's arrival at the island, Saddler indicated that Salazar was "small time," indicating he may not have actually cared all that much about him.