Osmund Saddler (RE4) and G-Virus?

[Vovin]

I've been an RE fan for about 20 years now, which means you start to notice some things, such as story connections that are deliberately unexplained. I just had some interesting thoughts and was wondering what others think, especially since I never played some RE games like Chronicles or RE6 that explains a lot of the lore.

Back when RE4 originally came out, I thought that Saddler did not really fit in to the rest of the cult. Clearly he is an outsider who is manipulating all of the infected Spaniards to do his bidding via ultrasonic controls emminating from his staff. Even his accent is off (although that is common for RE lol). And even back when I first fought him in his final form, I thought that his overall design, particularly the big yellow eye tumours that you have to shoot, strongly resemble old Willy B from RE2. And Saddler seems to be a much different creature than anything else in RE4 involving las plagas.

I was just playing through some RE4 after playing through RE2R and I am still seeing the similarities. In RE2R, Capcom made it a point to further emphasize the yellow eye tumours on subjects infected with the G-Virus, particularly as targets. You see it in the Birkin fights and the G-Types in the sewers. This is just like the final fight with Saddler in RE4.

RE2R also has the "indestructable monsters" theme, which Saddler adheres to. But I think there is another connection along these lines. I really dislike the new Ivy Zombie designs in RE2R because I thought they were a blatant copy and paste of RE4 Regeneradors, and also because I personally like the original design more. But then I was thinking that the whole point of the G-Virus, explicitly insinuated in RE2R, is the regeneration factor. Regeneradors are bioweapons created by Saddler, and apparently Saddler himself is a chief bioweapons scientist (or at least according to the RE Wiki page).

Capcom loves to milk the RE series, usually by reimagining previous games in new games that creates convoluted storylines. However, sometimes this changes the context of prior story elements, and I don't think that it is always a retcon and sometimes it may even be intentional.

So follow me on this: Saddler did not just pop up out of nowhere before taking over an entire region in Spain. Saddler was probably a biowarfare scientist in one of the many nefarious biowarfare corporations in the RE universe, where he had access to other viruses like the T-Virus (Luis says he is familiar with it, and Separate Ways makes it a point to describe Luis as being a nobody outside of the cult). He probably had access to a stable version of the G-Virus, infected himself, then went rogue. Maybe Saddler was even involved with Tricell, then went rogue with his own plans of world domination. Separate Ways shows that all the Tricell players distrust each other (Wesker, Ada, Krauser).

I think that deciphering Saddler's background is important because it could make a lot more sense out of RE4's place in the main storyline, instead of merely appearing as a standalone incident at face value. There are two reasons for this: they made Saddler out to be a cartoonish James Bond villain, BUT how exactly did this guy just waltz in and take over in the first place? In Revelations 2, they explain that Alex Wesker took over the Russian island in the Baltic by having the resources to take over local industry (while simultaneously construction biowarfare labs). Doesn't that seem strange to anyone else? I think Saddler was a bigger player than RE4 openly presented him to be.

Secondly, if Saddler was some outsider with the G-Virus, it would make perfect sense in terms of storyline prose. Leon fought the G-Virus in Raccoon City, and now he is fighting it again. I'm pretty sure that the RE4 lore insinuates that Saddler had something going for him long before things happened in that location. Specifically, it is presented that Saddler arrived to the area and then befriended Salazar to help him excavate las plagas fossils, which THEN turned out to actually be still viable in spore form which, of course, led to infection of the locals. So Saddler knew what was up before anyone else did.

So does anyone else know anything more about Saddler? Any thoughts?

EDIT: I just want to emphasize that the yellow eyeball tumour things are designed to be the signature of G-Virus infection, ever since the original RE2. Saddler clearly has them in his final form. The developers probably created the eye tumours because they look crazy, but I may have a further explanation if you're feeling extra nerdy: eyes are the only part of the human body that can absorb oxygen, outside of breathing into the lungs of course. So maybe the G-mutation needs giant eyeballs to suck in oxygen to further the regenerative process.

[talgaby]

Saddler was just a quickly made-up boss, and the third iteration. It is pointless to see anything into the story of RE4 as it has been rewritten so many times and changed genres twice, nothing makes sense in it.
By the way, in RE5, plaga infection, when rapid enough, causes similar mutations as Saddler's.
Plus there were no indications of Umbrella ever managing to create a working version of the G strain, one that does not destroy intelligence. Every single bioweapon that came in later games from the Umbrella legacy was based on the T-virus and its strains.

[Jäveln]

hmm damn well written and yes i think they could play further on this like adding some old writing from a proffesor saddler or something in any future or remade games

[Vovin]

Originally posted by talgaby:

Saddler was just a quickly made-up boss, and the third iteration. It is pointless to see anything into the story of RE4 as it has been rewritten so many times and changed genres twice, nothing makes sense in it.
By the way, in RE5, plaga infection, when rapid enough, causes similar mutations as Saddler's.
Plus there were no indications of Umbrella ever managing to create a working version of the G strain, one that does not destroy intelligence. Every single bioweapon that came in later games from the Umbrella legacy was based on the T-virus and its strains.

You're right in that RE4 was remade several times before it was finally released. Off hand, I don't remember Saddler being in any previous build. The two builds that I do remember were the first one which was very dark in a mansion that involved the hook guy stalking you, which was supposed to be about Spencer I think; second was a village version that was supposed to have RE2R levels of gore (being able to blow away body parts of attacking villagers). Do you know of a specific build?

I haven't played RE5 in a long time. I hated it since it felt like a chapter by chapter clone of RE4, including enemies. And also that is where the RE series went off into this Capcom-esque alternate reality universe that really took away from the overall plot. Not that it wasn't convoluted already (CV:X, RE0, etc), but still.

[Vovin]

Originally posted by Jäveln:

hmm damn well written and yes i think they could play further on this like adding some old writing from a proffesor saddler or something in any future or remade games

Yes exactly, they could do more with Saddler in terms of lore. They also have other characters that need more attention like Nicolai, which would hopefully be taken care of in an RE3 remake.

[Secret Asshole]

The problem (which is both in this game and RE4) is that there is a big difference between a virus and a parasite, but apparently in this universe the two are interchangeable. If G were a virus then how/why do they need to implant embryos and why is Birkin absorbed by some Akira-like monster who grows an entirely new head (and body and eyes)? Is there some sort of link between G and Las Plagas, or is it entire coincidental? My guess is that nobody at Capcom really thought about it, It's just a game after all.

https://youtu.be/x8w95xIdH4o?t=25

[Vovin]

Originally posted by Secret ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥:

The problem (which is both in this game and RE4) is that there is a big difference between a virus and a parasite, but apparently in this universe the two are interchangeable. If G were a virus then how/why do they need to implant embryos and why is Birkin absorbed by some Akira-like monster who grows an entirely new head (and body and eyes)? Is there some sort of link between G and Las Plagas, or is it entire coincidental? My guess is that nobody at Capcom really thought about it, It's just a game after all.

https://youtu.be/x8w95xIdH4o?t=25

haha yes, that Austin Powers scene was a great spoof of retcons in general and very apt.

But you do bring up the point of G-types infecting people with parasites, which I forgot to mention. I think in this case, the G-parasites are a result of the infection, and not vice versa. It certainly appears that G-types require the use of G-parasites in order to infect others, as opposed to the myriad transmission methods of the T-Virus (saliva, water, flea, etc). Also, if I recall correctly, I think there are files in REmake that discuss William deriving the G-Virus from Lisa Trevor, who was definitely infected with the Nemesis parasite developed in Umbrella Europe (which also had regenerative abilities).

Furthermore, I was actually quite amused as to how they clarified in RE2R that Birkin specifically wanted to impregnate a parasite into Sherry because it will create a superior, and presumably controllable, mutation because of the genetic relationship; which is why the G-Types are inferior mutants, because they are random hosts such as Irons or Ben. Funnily enough, back in the day, we used to theorize on RE messageboards that this was exactly what was going on, because I don't think it was ever explicitly explained until RE2R.

This also creates a deeper narrative for the story of RE2 involving Sherry and William, aside from the typical insinuation of incest (like with Alfred and Alexia LOL). There's a number of explanations for William turning into such a monster, particularly with considering G's regenerative effects and the fact that William was riddled with bullets. Narrative-wise, William became the monster of his own creation, like Jeckle and Hyde. RE2R intentionally displays the duality of William and the monster, and how William becomes absorbed by the monster throughout his transformations. It was his life's work, and it made him a monster: literally, and figuratively to his family (even before taking the virus into himself).

The other thing that bothered me about RE2R was that Annette names the G-Virus as the "Golgotha" virus. They should have stuck with God-Virus. I mean, c'mon, its vaccine is called "DEVIL" lol