The villagers were once peaceful residents of the unnamed rural community known as "The Village" until they were exposed to Las Plagas, an insidious parasitic organism. Once infected, they became ruthless savages under Lord Saddler's direct control. The villagers continue to carry out their farming duties, although their living conditions have deteriorated somewhat. When Leon first arrives at the village, he is immediately attacked by one of the villagers after questioning him about Ashley's whereabouts.
The villagers arsenal is comprised mostly of farming tools, including pitchforks, hatchets, sickles, knives, torches and dynamite. Here follows a list of villager's weapons and their uses.
- Pitchfork- Used as a spear, among the least dangerous weapons of the villagers arsenal, although it hurts if it connects.
- Hatchet- Either used in melee or thrown, villagers will often carry several of these as backup if they lose their larger weapons.
- Butcher's Knife- Often carried by the female villagers, a basic melee weapon.
- Sickle- Used in much the same was as the hatchet.
- Torch- A flaming torch, the villager will use this to breath fire on the player. Shoot the torch when the Ganado is breathing in and he will be set on fire instead.
- Dynamite- Explosives lit and thrown, extremely damaging if the player is caught in the blast. Shoot the Ganado's hand when he is prparing to throw and you may be able to make him drop the dynamite early.
- Chainsaw- Only carried by Dr. Salvador and the Bella Sisters the chainsaw will cause instant death if it connects with the player.
The Plagas carried by the villagers are usually of the weakest 'tentacle' type and will only appear at night, after Leon has crossed the lake and beaten Del Lago. The villagers seem to become stronger at night, likely an effect of the Plagas being strengthened by the lack of light.
Upon completion of the game, a series of sketches posing as the background for the credits serves as a flashback to the earlier days of the village. What was once a community distanced from the modern world, populated with farmers and their children, became involved in Los Illuminados and were infected by spores during the Plaga excavation under the castle, turning on those who would not join the cult and accept Las Plagas. The village children were killed accidentally as they were incompatible with the Plagas, while resisters were butchered by the other villagers. Ada is seen reading a book about this in the Separate Ways mission in the beginning of the second mission. According to the booklet included with the Biohazard 4: Incubate DVD, the children of the villagers died after they were injected with the Plaga parasites, explaining their absence in the game. Incidentally, the villagers language is particularly foul mouthed compared to the other Ganados, albiet still spoken in Spanish.
Each villager skin has his or her individual name, featured in a figure-collecting minigame. These are:
- Dr. Salvador.
- don Jose.
- don Manuel.
- don Diego
- don Esteban
- Isabel.
- Maria.
- The Bella Sisters.
In Autumn of 2004, all, or at least nearly all of the villagers were wiped out by the unrelated actions of Leon S. Kennedy and Ada Wong.