This Is How ‘Resident Evil 4’ Can Become Truly Epic
James Winspear
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I’m assuming there will be another piece of Resident Evil 4 DLC. If there is, there’s one thing it needs to do to become truly epic. And it pertains to the Merchant.
But let me just back up quickly. Why do I think that Capcom’s not quite done with Resident Evil 4? Well, there’s a financial reason, for one thing. Not only has the game already sold five million copies, but it’s done so quicker than any entry into the series since 2009’s Resident Evil 5. Three of those five million were shipped in the first two days, which is absolutely insane. But my assumption that we’ll get more Resident Evil 4 love is based more on in-game reasons. Primarily, it comes from a couple of glaring loose threads in the recent Separate Ways DLC, which follows Ada Wong’s parallel mission to Leon Kennedy’s.
The first is the church tower in the iconic village square. Someone or something blows it up in Leon’s campaign, bisecting the area. It’s a neat moment that wasn’t in the original game. While playing the main campaign, I assumed that this was Ada’s doing, but apparently not. When she comes across it in Separate Ways, it’s already been demolished. Weird.
The other loose end is Albert Wesker’s presence. Despite playing the role of a detached puppet master, he appears in person to rescue Ada when she passes out at one point. It was a slightly jarring moment, as I had always assumed that Wesker was safely ensconced in his HQ far away from the action, possibly even in another country. In the 2005 version, there was certainly no indication that Wesker was skulking around onsite. If he was, why even bother hiring someone to do his dirty work? Especially someone like Ada, whom he doesn’t completely trust. Whatever. But Wesker’s presence in the village would also indicate how he acquires Jack Krauser’s corpse, as revealed in the ending of Separate Ways.
Because of these gaps, my guess is that we might be seeing one last piece of story DLC for RE4. Of course, there’s always the possibility that these are just oversights. The plots in Resident Evil usually have more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. But if we’re giving the game the benefit of the doubt, then all these elements—the church tower, Wesker’s presence, the removal of Krauser’s body—potentially suggest that we might be playing as the series’ Big Bad himself at some point.
I’m not overly excited, I confess. Wesker has never been anything more than a one-dimensional Saturday morning cartoon villain. But there is a far more compelling character in Resident Evil 4. That’s right, I’m talking about the one, the only, the inimitable Giga Chad: the Merchant. We need a piece of DLC where Resident Evil goes full-on meta with this guy.
What the hell am I talking about? Just hear me out for a second. In my headcanon, I’ve always thought the Merchant was the true architect behind everything in Resident Evil 4. He’s the supreme schemer, an omniscient manipulator who puts the likes of Wesker to shame. All the main elements of the story—Saddler, Las Plagas, the kidnapping of Ashley Graham—are just cogs in his mind-bogglingly complex plan. Down to the smallest detail, everything on the island has been meticulously arranged by him.
The game makes a weird amount of sense when you look at things this way. Who’s gone around painting crates and important ledges yellow? Why can you find ammo lying around all over the place, even though none of the infected Ganados use firearms? Why do those same Ganados politely walk up slowly to their targets, even when they’re evidently capable of running and could simply dogpile them to death? How does the Merchant have treasure maps so implausibly precise that one can even describe the exact location of a jewel that’s washed up on some trash in a disused sewer? It’s all rigged, I tell you!
I admit this is all purely whimsical speculation, but there is one shred of evidence I can use to tie it all back to The Merchant. Although it’s easier to spot in the original, the Merchant’s eyes are yellow, a tell-tale sign that he, too, is infected. Conceivably, he could be the host of a true master parasite that controls even those infected individuals who (supposedly) retain their autonomy. It would explain why none of the Ganados ever acknowledge this guy: he simply blocks them from seeing him. It also explains how he manages to teleport from one stall to another since Resident Evil Village showed us examples of biological entities that grant these unnatural powers.
The big question, of course, is why? Why would the Merchant do all this? For the lulz, of course! He’s got a sense of fun, even if it’s a peculiar one. After all, this is a man who went so far as to set up novelty shooting ranges in places no random tourist would ever be likely to visit. He doesn’t really need the money, as there’d be far better places to sell weapons than in the nooks and crannies of some isolated, monster-infested town. No, he’s an arch-gamesman who orchestrated Leon’s and Ada’s journeys as the ultimate, deadly thrill ride of an adventure.
So let’s have something where the Merchant gets to have the last laugh. Get S rank on everything, unlock all the collectibles, and have the Merchant-as-puppet-master as the final joke reveal. Give him something like the dog ending in Silent Hill 2, where we see him pulling levers in some hokey control room. Or he could make for a great secret boss, like Sans from Undertale, where we confront a character who knows the rules behind the whole game and who knows that the player knows them, too. And make it as over-the-top and silly as possible. The Merchant is one of the most colorful characters in the entire Resident Evil franchise. It’s time he gets the send-off he deserves.
Be sure to check out some more survival horror with Dread Central’s review of Alan Wake 2.
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