Don't know if you noticed this, but the "You got a smoke" line isn't just some silly line he throws into that first conversation, it's the code word for him to identify Ada, not only does he say it again to Ada herself later on (with the proper response "I do, the kind you like") but on one of the computers in his lab, you find a message to 'AW' asking to meet and if he "remembers the code word" and he replies with "pick me up a pack of cigarettes on your way" He's basically saying "You're the guy sent by Wesker?" and when Leon replies with "Those things will kills you" he says "Oh! Just untie me then" because he realized that Leon wasn't sent by Wesker.
Another thing I loved about the whole “You got a smoke” in the remake is that when Leon says “Those things will kill you”, its ironic that Luis died with one final smoke that Leon lit up…
It's also really poetic that Luis got killed by his narrative mirror, Krauser. The question of "can a person change?" is at the core of this story. Leon considers Luis to be a bad person at the start because of his connection to Umbrella, but then it turns out that Luis is good because he was making conscious attempts, however successful, to be so. But Leon considered Krauser to be a good person, only it turns out that Krauser made the choice to become a bad person. Both of them completely changed Leon's outlook on life.
I like how Leon asks Ada if she’s change, and how it relates to what Luis asked on his death. Also Luis’s “you like thrill rides” being repeated by Leon to Ashley as they escape on the jet ski. It just goes to show Luis is still on Leon’s mind even after his death. That’s great storytelling there.
The REmakes really do an excellent job making minor characters have an overall larger impact on the narrative that I absolutely love. From RE2, Marvin was a larger contributer to Leon that he still even keeps his old knife… and Luis was almost like a brother to Leon and how he avenged him after defeating Krauser
@@cloudshines812Gotta say. I wish he kept Luis' Lighter. Yes it's by Umbrella but still. Damn that would be emotional. Someone sees the lighter and they ask him if he's Umbrella. And Leon responding with "No, it belonged to an old friend" but it's fine. Felt like Wasted Opportunity though.
@@MariusBoss11458 I wouldn’t have minded if the scene had ended with a shot of Leon’s hand holding Luis’ lighter; it would’ve been a nice callback to the og too. Instead of pills, it’s the lighter. But I do like the canon end scene where Leon holds his hand. There’s actually a subtle theme of “lending a helping hand” in that chapter.
As arrogant and ladies man-ish as he’s presented to be, the moment that made me go “oh” was after the cabin fight when Ashley coughs up blood for the first time; instead of just grabbing her hand, he holds his out, says her name then only takes it after she moves it towards him. He asks for her permission first. He doesn’t hit on her or dismiss her. Compared to his creep characterisation in the original, he’s gentle and unaggressive and I just love him for it
I'm really glad to see that mentioned here, that's my favorite "Luis" moment in the entire game, next to his final scene. Just body language, but it tells so much.
It made when he said “Such a loss to the ladies of the world.” Before he died actually a true and sad statement instead of a creepy one. Him dying was a genuine loss because he was a good person.
Another more tragic interpretation of the Don Quixote references (since I love feeling pain over fictional characters) is that we aren't seeing Luis as Don Quixote, but instead are seeing Luis as Alonso Quixana, the true name of the fictional knight revealed in the last chapter of the second, final book. This is after another misadventure that had more dire consequences: Don Quixote must put down his lance and set aside any chivalric gestures for an entire year. He purchases farmland but becomes deathly ill and bedridden, and when Sancho Panza comes to try to liven his spirits with more quixotic talk (haha), Quixana rejects it. He leaves his property to his niece, provided she abstains from reading any chivalric literature even once. He dies a disillusioned man. Looking at Luis through this lens, things start to line up in a very sad way. Initially, when queried on why he's helping them, Luis says that it makes him feel better, and that they'll leave it at that. Later, when he and Leon are first going through the mines after treating Leon with the plaga suppressor, Luis reiterates this, but says "It makes me feel better. ...or, something like that.", as if whatever journey he went through has cracked this armor of confidence he lives in. Then finally, in the elevator, Luis comes clean, and even admits that he doesn't actually think that helping Leon and Ashley will make anything better, but that it's the right thing to do. If we look at Luis as a character who was idealistic when joining Umbrella and even Los Illuminados, as posited in this video, we can see a movement. Luis joined Umbrella as a researcher due to the trauma of losing his grandfather to unknown illness as a young boy. It's likely that this is what motivated him to join the company, to try to make a difference, so that no one would die like his grandfather did. That thought likely kept him going even as he was developing bioweapons, but was soundly shattered after the Raccoon City Incident. His idealistic view was shattered. He wasn't helping anyone. He was just making himself feel better. Then we move forward to Los Illuminados. If we take the idea of him joining the cult due to wanting to bring peace to the world, then we move back to an idealistic Luis. He decided to help with the research, hoping to create a stronger, more connected people, people who wouldn't die to wolves from a forest, people who wouldn't burn one of their own to death out of fear. I don't exactly remember the time period on this, but if Los Illuminados started infesting his home village with plagas, maybe there was also an element of revenge there, from the aforementioned fire. This wasn't just isolating components to build a virus he didn't have to physically see the results of, this was something real in front of his eyes. But he stuck through. Let them feel what his grandfather felt. It'll only be temporary anyway. But there was clearly a breaking point, where he realized that, just like before, he wasn't seeing the world as it was. Just like he created bioweapons for Umbrella, he now created monsters for Los Illuminados. Once again, he wasn't helping anyone. He was just making himself feel better. With this in mind, Luis in RE4R is almost mocking himself when he "explains himself" the first time to Leon and Ashley after the House setpiece. This time, he's stealing a plaga from Los Illuminados and giving it to another interested party. There's no fooling himself on that. It's purely for personal gain, like it's always been. But then Leon and Ashley enter his disillusioned, shitty world, and he jumps at the chance to help them. But why? Because finally, for once, he's not doing something to make himself, and only himself, feel better. He's not lying to himself to live out some savior fantasy that might make him feel better about the grandfather he lost and couldn't save. He helps them because it's the right thing to do. No illusions, no romantic ideals. Just two people who need help. Help he can give. And that's what makes his final scene so tragic to me. When he asks Leon if people can change, there's an unsureness in the asking, and that unsureness is that Luis doesn't know if he has. He dies thinking that, even with all this, he's still a selfish, shitty person. Maybe people don't change. Maybe that's just his new fantasy. And yet, despite that, he still did his best to help. Leon's response, after Luis dies, is to tell him that he was a fine knight, and he calls him Don Quixote. This is important because it's the first time that Leon embraces the role of Sancho Panza, which he's been resistant to this entire section. Not just in-universe, but storytelling-wise. Sancho Panza was a key character in helping Don Quixote live out his fantasies, no matter how maligned or crazed they could be. He even ends the series attempting one final time to indulge those fantasies, though they fall on Quixana's deaf ears. Leon is the opposite. At every attempt, Leon shuts down the idea of himself being Sancho Panza. It happens at least twice, maybe a third if I'm misremembering. But this last line to Luis is him calling him Don Quixote, a silent affirmation of his own role as Sancho Panza. Not directly prompted by Luis either, which is important. In this way, if Luis felt as though he was fooling himself thinking people could change, Leon is almost affirming that fantasy, but sincerely. If believing people could change makes Luis Don Quixote, Leon will be his Sancho Panza, a living confirmation of that belief. Don Quixote can be interpreted as a deconstruction of romantic literature and idealism, and in this way, Luis's story in RE4R is almost a reconstruction of the story. A fool, idealistic to the point of insanity, traveling across lands to fulfill his own delusions, facing the world head on and stumbling into crushing reality, with his illusions falling at his feet. But what if the fool picked himself up, and instead of acting out a chivalric fantasy, he actually did a noble deed? Helped people in need? Even died a heroic death, saving not just those two, but the entire world, due to his actions? What is he then? A good person. A fine knight. Rest in peace, Luis Serra Navarro. Overthinking your story makes me wanna cry
God damn it you made me tear up. I am a sucker for redemption stories, specially those of doomed characters. Bless you my friend, for your analisys and for taking the time to write down here.
Luis asking for “smoke” is actually a secret code shared among research members of umbrella to identify each other. If they answered with “The kind you like” means they are associated with the organisation. You can find this info in Luis lab.
It reminds me of the Railroad in Fallout 4 where if one possible operative says “Do you have a Geiger counter?”, the other possible fellow operative is supposed to answer “Mine is in the shop” in order to identify with one another.
One parallel I love is Luis and Leon’s sense of humor as a means of coping. In this remake, I always viewed Leon’s one-liners as a way of him keeping his mind off the trauma of Raccoon City. The whole situation Leon is sent in could easily trigger PTSD, and it makes hearing those lines all the more satisfying.
I have to wonder of they ever remake Code Veronica if they will make Claire have any trauma. It would be kinda funny if she didnt and was perfectly fine after the events of RE2 remake but Leon was traumatised.
@@Nigel222 I could see Claire being more stressed than traumatized. She & Leon had two vastly different experiences. Leon by his nature is a person who believes that he can save anyone if he puts his all into it which is why Raccoon City was so tragic to him. He watched good people (Marvin & Kendo) die, was manipulated by a woman he fell for (and also believed died), and upon his escape was pressed into special forces to keep his mouth shut while the little girl he was given to protect was seized by the government for experimentation. Claire on the other hand spent her time in Raccoon City ensuring the survival & cure of a previously mentioned little girl, succeeded, and escaped. The only thing she failed at was locating her brother which is why her way of coping with what she dealt with is to finish what she started.
@@officernealy I really do hope they remake code veronica at some point to see what they do with Claire considering how good of a job they did with Leon.
@@Nigel222 she kinda traumatized from RC events in RE Regeneration and She choose to become activist of Terrasave is kinda attempt for Claire to Recover from her past.
Luis just looks so scared as he dies... I think he's just as terrified of Leon's answer as he is of death, because he doesn't know if he HAS done enough to change. Leon's basically a paragon of virtue in his eyes, his answer would have meant everything to Luis, and he never hears it.
Luis became a likeable and memorable character in the Remake. His death truly felt like a huge tragedy. While the original still mentions Luis in the island through notes, in the Remake there's that and even Ashley feeling sad for his death.
One other interesting side effect of the dropping of the "balistics" line is that it suggests that very few people know who Ashley is, or Leon for that matter. In the original, Luis immediately knows that Ashley is the daughter of the US president, and thus Leon is likely some government agent sent to rescue her. This time around he makes no mention of it. He's aware that the illuminados have captured a girl that they are holding in the Church for some reason instead of sacrificing her like the hikers in the intro, but his dialogue doesn't suggest that he knows anything about who Ashley is, nor why Leon is so dedicated to helping her. He isn't around when they talk about it directly (which is actually quite little), nor when Leon talks on the radio to Hunnigan, so Luis might assume Leon is either family or a boyfriend going above and beyond to find the kidnapped girl. There are those who obviously still know, Sadler and Krauser (on his behalf) kidnap her, and Ramon Salazar all but explains the plan to infect the US government via Ashley, but is uncertain whether anyone else knows about Ashley. Even Ada's dialogue suggests she doesn't know since she's constantly trying to get him to give up and join her, she might know but she doesn't bring it up. Luis likely doesn't know, and importantly he doesn't need to know for his decisions to make sense, whereas in the original he knows he's saving the world from Sadler by helping Leon, he could simply be helping Leon and Ashley deal with the problems he was partially responsible for. Also interesting is that by removing his lie about being a cop from Madrid, Leon never tells him his own 1-day history in law enforcement, like in the original. If he had, Luis would have another reason to want to help, since as part of Umbrella and the team that created the Nemesis, he would know that he directly contributed to Leon's traumatic past. It adds a purity to his quest for redemption that he's not helping someone because he knows they're important, or because he's guilty over wronging them specifically, but just the general regret of living a "shitty life", being in a position to help someone, and choosing to do so.
And in Remake Cabin Fight, they in dire situation and Leon pretty Hostile with Luis after knowing His Background and yeah, they don't have idea about each other, Luis don't know about Leon and Ashley and Leon Impression about Luis in that Scene is He is Random Stranger who are Former Umbrella Researchers and possible work for Los Iluminados too who in Leon mind he maybe bad person.
Thanks for the explanation. I keep hearing ppl complain about Capcom dropping that line. I know it’s all about the meme and nostalgia, but every one keeps mentioning about it kinda make me feel annoyed.
Thanks for the explanation. I keep hearing ppl complain about Capcom dropping that line. I know it’s all about the meme and nostalgia, but every one keeps mentioning about it kinda make me feel annoyed.
I think an irony about Luis is that it seems after the death of his grandfather he became obsessed with parasitic lifeforms. The fact that Umbrella took notice of him while still so young says something about his efforts to learn everything he could about parasitism. Then he went on to help create the Nemesis, an older piece of lore says it was Umbrella Europe Team 6 that did it, and the Nemesis was in essence a T-virus Tyrant enhanced with a parasite, just what Luis is good at. This ties him even closer to the series because Resident Evil 3, both the og and remake would still be fresh in the minds of players of 4, giving us another layer to our feelings to the man who made the monster that stalks Jill Valentine through the whole game, and the grief it gave us.
Holy shit you reminded me of a file you can find in Luis' lab; it's a picture of Umbrella's "Europe laboratory 6 dream team", and he is in it. So it's not conjecture, he actually participated in the creation of Nemesis!
Yeah you're right, he might have had a hand in the creation of the NE-α parasite which in turn lead to the creation of the Nemesis T-type tyrant. I gotta say this totally ties RE4R with the new remake continuities.
i don't think anyone is gonna disagree when i say the guy playing luis in the remake is the best actor in the history of the resident evil franchise, his performance impressed me more than any of the other improvements
You missed a note about the regenerador. There it explains that Luis was horrified with the creation of the regenerador and warned the scientist of the dangers but didn't heed his warning.
That could have been anyone honestly, the whole team were mostly Umbrella veterans hired to research las plagas, and they know better than anyone about the dangers of a powerfull B.O.W. breaching containtment.
@@massgunner4152 But considering Luis' plot relevance, the scientist who warned him about the regenerators and grabbed his notebook writing down everything has to be Luis because we know he's against it. They just didn't explicitly mention him like the Navarro family photo heavily implies it's 5yo Luis with his grandpa, but didn't explicitly state his name.
@@DetrasDeTiImbecil Sorry. I was tied up at the moment. I believe that there is enough to conclude that it is Luis who made the warning given that he is the sole survivor of all those scientists. Though I will admit that it's too vague to truly be counted for. So my bad. ✌️
I was bummed as hell when he died. I really wanted them to keep Luis alive and be in other games in the future. The chemistry between him and Leon in this version is so damn good. And the fact that they could make me care for Krauser, the guy who killed Luis, at the end thru his last words to Leon. Made this game that much better. One thing I noticed was that if you aim at Luis after he dies, Leon pulls his gun up. To shoot a friend isn’t something the game will allow you to do. Any other boss, you can fill their bodies with bullets after the battle. But if you aim at Krauser after you beat him, Leon pulls his gun up. Great touch imo
Since I am from Spain I really like the "la familia Navarro" written on Luis and his grandfather photo. It's so well done since in Spain we usually carry the last name from both our parents, and (usually) the mother one is the second. That means that Luis missing parent is a Serra, but his mother and his grandfather are Navarro. I just love this first because it references something unique about my country but also it's a very good way to say "this is Luis" if you know that his second last name is Navarro.
Also, when Luis flicked after Méndez beated up Leon I don't think that's due to Leon's pain but because he knows Méndez is going to infect Leon with a plaga and he feels remorse, he is in some way responsible for that, another victim to one of their creations (even though Leon was already a victim of his work at Umbrella)
Sííí. Al ver la foto con "La familia Navarro" en el altillo de Méndez inmediatamente entendí que el niño era Luis. It's a lovely detail that is both culturally relevant and makes the puzzle pieces fit together!
I've always enjoyed the idea that instead of just getting the plagus parasite (Because it doesn't make sense to me how it's just out and about and able to get into a wolf), Luis's grand father just got rabies... but because of how primitive their village is they skipped straight to a superstitious cause and it cost Luis his beloved father figure. This made him try to live a life of science... only to bring the myth that killed his grandfather to life.
@ The Coffee Drinker Thank you! I’ve been saying this for weeks. He caught rabies from a wild Wolf. Las plagas doesn’t work like that with a bite anyway.
@@MrBGP006 yep, no one who got infected by Las Plagas all got injected by a Plaga egg. Leon, Ashley, the Ganados, Luis(there's a scar on his chest which indicates he removed it in a more rudimentary way) I don't know how the dominant Plaga is inoculated into hosts(like Mendez, Salazar, Krauser, Saddler) but I assume it's also injected in egg form
Lord Habitaxe of Prydonia yup, the only way you can get Las plagas is by inhaling spores which what happened to the villagers that were working/excavating Las plagas under the castle when they were fossilized. And by injecting Las plagas eggs into the hosts body
I think Luis was also good for Leon's character development as well. When he found out that Luis worked for Umbrella, Leon viewed him as evil incarnate. To him, Luis was a contributor to, as well as a reminder of, Leon's worst day and his failure to save the city he swore to protect. Luis's last words challenged his mindset: "People can change, right?" Leon is jaded, or believes he is, and wants to see the world in blacks and whites. How can someone who helped destroy an entire city for profit really change? Luis could even be the reason for Leon and Ada's boat conversation about "change." After watching this video, it's easy to see that the concept of change, whether for better or worse, is/was a running theme for the RE4 Remake 🤔👍
Something else really clever and subtle they did with Luis in the remake is how suspicious he seems. I havent played the original or any resident evil before this game so maybe this is my inexperience with the franchise talking, but i was wholly convinced Luis was not trustworthy for most of the game. The way he ditches Leon in the beginning, his ties to umbrella, the way he dodges Leon’s questions in the cabin and then forces his help on them afterward and quickly leaves, immediately followed by that conversation with Ada, and then his shiftiness in the first half of the castle. It really felt to me that every single time he appeared he seemed more and more fishy. It wasnt until that elevator ride with Leon you showed at the end when he comes clean that i felt i could trust him. And of course, immediately after that resolution is when the writers kill him off. Thats damn good writing. And what i think is really impressive about it is that anyone who played the original already knows Luis is a good guy, so they already trusted him. I like to think my experience with the character is something the writers carefully crafted for new players.
same here, never played the original but love the remake. i'm very impressed with the overall writing but especially the writing for Luis. I found myself genuinely invested in his story and looked forward to when he'd show up again so I could learn more.
i know what happens in the original, so i trusted Luis from the start. but still. even if i knew all that, he was still kind of suspicious. when he died, it was still tragic. it wasnt the same as the original; luis dies and everyone moves on. as mentioned in the video, luis' death is carried on in the game. it affects not only leon and ashley, but the people playing it as well. we ACTUALLY feel bad. so it's pretty much the same experience for new and old players.
Luis's final line hits so hard not because he's asking that question to Leon but because he's asking that question to himself. And looking for Leon to reassure this because he's unsure of it. Making the macho ladies man sauve persona a cover for Luis. Because he hated who the real Luis was so much so he reinvented himself entirely. And in his final moment he looked at himself. And said I changed right? I fixed me right?Trying to make himself buy his own illusion.Damn deep character for Capcom
Really hit me hard how Luis mentioned how he was trying to atone for his past doings and be a better man, a lot of us can really relate to that :(, me especially...
@@ministrel4624 wasn't the best person in my younger years and honestly it haunts me to this day. Life choices basically. Trying to do better as I am older now but it still is a pain to randomly remember how shitty I was back then.
@@reeperdragon88 honestly that exact thing happens to a ton of people, your not alone in those kind of feelings. It’s important to remember that you are who you are now because of your past, and that the better choices you make now in the present and in the future are truly what matter. Life’s too short to always be looking behind at the past, remember the past and let it teach you but don’t let it consume you. I hope this comment helped, even if it was just a little bit. I can understand where you’re coming from because I have had such feelings myself throughout my life so far.
It's also very heavily implied that Luis worked on Nemesis. Which itself is heavily implied to have a plaga inside it. Since Luis is the only one who had experience with the plaga, he is likely the one who suggested using it on Nemesis
A brief history of Nemesis and how it relates to the Plaga in the new canon. The Nemesis Project was an offshoot of Umbrella's Tyrant Project to find a work around for the t-Virus' one critical flaw as a marketable bioweapon, cerebral degradation of the host. The project lead to the development of creatures like Hunters, but they had animal intelligence and could obey basic instructions rather than proper soldiers who could follow orders. Around the 90's, somehow Umbrella's European division heard of an old Spanish folktale of a parasitic organism that could latch on to a hosts nervous system and act as its intelligence. They liked the idea so much they assigned their Sixth Lab Team to artificially engineer a substitute. This was Luis' team and very likely where they heard the Plaga legend from. They went overkill with the organism however as this new *NE-α parasite* wouldn't meld with the host's nervous system in a "healthy" way but instead decapitate the brain from the nervous system and jack the body as a meat puppet. The only surviving test subject's body (Lisa Trevor) was so corrupted by the Progenitor Virus that it ate the parasite and spliced it's DNA into her own which kicked off Dr. William Birkin's research into the Golgotha Virus. Umbrella Europe was about to write the NE-α off as a failure until Umbrella America suggested that their newly developed T-103 series (Mr. X) would be strong enough to survive the implantation and sure enough, they finally succeeded in creating an intelligent BOW with the development of their advanced prototype, the Nemesis T-Type.
Also there is no new canon the new “remakes” are reimaginings this has been said by capcom themselves meant to compliment the originals and are retellings and a companion not meant to replace them like most remakes
I really liked Luis' final words are the words that Leon needed to hear, after Krauser tells him that he hasn't changed and later on Ada too. He could have wasted them on a one liner or a joke but they were all just a final act of compassion to help Leon in his journey and ultimately save him. He tells Leon that people CAN change and he has proved it to the rest of the world by making selfless choices that did matter to him and Ashley. I would like to believe in the future games, Leon will make references to this that he would never forget this man who he knew for a brief time who saved him and the world.
They did such a great job fleshing him out. Luis is such a fun character to interact with and his new death scene hit me hard. I wish he could’ve stuck around more!
Well, I think there's a slight chance he's alive. At the end of the game when Ada steals the sample from Leon she says "Sorry Leon Luis and I had an agreement" suggesting that she can claim the sample because she did her part on the arrangement, which was making sure Luis gets out alive. Additionally, you still cannot aim at him when he's "dead"
In the OG RE4, Sera Luis' death doesn't hit the player until you read his remaining memos later in the game going over his research, fascination over the plaga, and gradual guilt over helping the Los Iluminados with their plaga study. The remake gives more weight to his passing because he's on-screen longer trying & showing he's changed, only to be suddenly killed by another well done character.
The original was one of the best of its time. It influenced Gears of War and Dead Space, and every third person console shooter under the sun. It's still fun to play if you can deal with the controls. The remake did a proper job of tying this story into the broader Resident Evil Remake universe. I was shocked in 2005 that Umbrella had died off screen and played no part in RE4.
The original is fine but the writing is as dumb as the period it came, it's iconic and funny but you are not going to get much from the characters. give it try if you don't mind much the QTE, the gameplay it's kinda its own thing.
I think Luis going right back into researching bio weapons after umbrella adds another layer of tragedy. Every time he has had stability it was ripped away ironically enough by those bio weapons. Also being praised as this star genius like he was was probably the greatest feeling in his life at that point, so no crap he would jump at the first people to give him that praise again.
Also doesn’t help he’s basically a wanted man for even being connected to Umbrella. So where else could he go to that was under the radar than his old remote village? Still, he worked on the las plagas parasite for Los Illuminados. So he knew what he did. Just regrets doing it for them after the fact. So while he has a conscious, it’s still something he did wrong of his own volition. Based on his notes, his big idea was to just make sure his info can be used to stop Saddler and the cult despite knowing the risks of helping the Connections. So all in all, glad he did something right helping Leon and Ashley which in turned stopped the cult overall.
The thing I like about Luis's thread in the narrative is because it plays into Leon's line. Leon starts the game demanding in his own monologue that things have to be different, Luis wants to be different. Change is a central theme and it's what helps bring the two of them together, a desire for change.
I honestly think when Luis looks away at leon being tossed like a ragdoll I dont think hes showing compassion to leon, but rather to mendez Mendez was the new chief and him and Luis had some history together and as a child Luis probably looked up to Mendez and the chief who ran the village because they were compassionate leaders, they engaged with the community and made sure they were safe and After Luis's grandfather died mendez probably looked after him before he left and went to go study in science But now Luis comes back and finds his old compassionate chief become a monster braindead zombie solely focused on the parasitic religion that killed his grandfather and destroyed the once wholesome community Luis cant bare to watch him be like this, this is why he is frightened when Mendez appears, he is afraid of the monster he has become and Luis knows he had a part in it, he worked for Los Illuminados So he feels responsible for ruining this village, and the chief that looked over it
I dunno, Luis’s line is “Not this guy again!” To me, that sounds like between the years of difference and Mendez’s transformation, Luis doesn’t even recognize Mendez. (Which would match up with the Mendez analysis on this same channel, of there being nothing left of the man he once was. And adds another layer of tragedy to the whole situation, when you think about it.)
@@msf2399 There is a theme of Two Years in the RE4 2020 that means Mendez might have been nice guy up until 2002. 2002 might be the year when the entire community was infected. Before that, only a few people were.
In the original Luis' death was less about Luis and more about Leon's ridiculous reaction to it It's a real bummer he died in the remake because he would have been a great asset for BSAA or other anti-terror organizations, and maybe we could have seen him again... but like every great side character in Resident Evil, they come and go
Right, he was forgotten almost immediately after he was killed in the original. Here, Luis' key serve as a literal key to Leon and Ashley's salvation, and Ashley remembers him. She even mourn his death and acknowledged that he saved her life.
@korawitbuttramee618 he wasn't forgotten in the og. You find more of his memos throughout the island and castle. There, you find more about the creatures, and it's his memo that gives you a hint on how to kill the regenerator. It's also HIS memo that gives you the information on how to remove the plaga from a person's body. Even in death Luis still helps Leon
26:21 The thing that you forgot to mention for this specific scene is how dynamic the acting is. You see Luis slide back and forth between different roles multiple times. Ally/Brother-In-Arms to biologist to medical professional and then finally back to default Luis (shady, compassionate, confident). And what makes it so good (in addition to the quality dialogue) is the body language. He becomes more rigid posturing when speaking as a medical expert, but then eases up his body language to speak in layman's terms, realizing that a hard diagnosis is going to potentially make Ashley panic. Even the exposition scene reveals his character underneath everything, and Leon undoubtedly picks up on this. Leon, after all, is heavily implied to detect... whatever is going on with Ada underneath all her field work.
I'd add that "people can change" is the general topic of this game. Leon felt powerless during the Raccoon City outbreak, he keeps telling himself "this time it will be different", and that's probably his biggest motivation to save Ashley. He just can't see more people die, which must have hit him pretty hard when Luis was murdered right in front of him. Krauser changed towards a darker path: Leon repeteadly tries to get him back, but Krauser is too far gone and his anger is blinding him. Notably, both Leon and Luis had terrible and tragic things happen to them too, but they didn't go on this power seeking fantasy. Ironically, Leon is also looking for more power, he wants to be able to protect people and not let anything like Raccoon City happen again. However, he is not going to the extent that Krauser allowed himself to be. In a way, this part is more about not changing, holding your core values and ideals close to heart. Then there's Ada. When Luis died saying these words, it was probably written as a direct reference to Ada. Leon then goes on to question her on whether she is the same as before or not, he kinda wishes she was different. By the end, Leon kinda learns to trust Ada again, at least a little bit (he didn't fight her for the ambar, after all). The cherry on the cake is, of course, the post credits scene, where Ada betrays Wesker, showing that, yeah, people can change even after leading shitty lives, just like Luis thought.
Love the little detail the he does the sign of the cross before an encounter or a mercenaries round adding to his belief and search for redemption and its also very Spanish of him Hope we get a Luis DLC alongside Ada its obvious he was doing some things behind the scenes at the castle
The animation on his face when he dies was so crazy. His expressions were just so realistic and so... poignant. The little changes, the subtle movements, it made me a lot more sad about his death. I was like, "damn, why are his expressions so realistic :'("
I think Luis's pained reaction to Leon getting smacked by Mendez is more than just compassion. I think it's guilt. He knows that Leon is about to be infected with the Las Plagas parasite, the parasite HE helped develop, which means that Luis is watching yet ANOTHER person become a victim to his work. And despite the confident, flippant front he puts on, he does care about the harm he's caused, which leads into his Don Quixote quest to redeem himself. And I do think Luis is aware of how ridiculous his quest is. Maybe he does think he can shmooze his way out of the situation alive, but I think deep down he is cynical enough to realize that he probably won't, and that his desired goal of redeeming himself is next to impossible - but he's going to try anyways.
You could be right about it being guilt, because he helped developed the virus and he does the silly quest thing to hide himself from saying he’ll probably fail, he wanted to try because even though he thinks he’s gonna fail, he wanted to at least try to help Leon save Ashley.
I just noticed, watching your video, that Leon's "Hope you like thrill rides" to Ashley was a callback to Luis saying it to Leon and just...good gods, they really did some awesome writing in this game.
When I played OG, Luis' death didn't do much to me. I about cried in the Remake. I felt so sad and devastated that we lost Luis. RIP Luis Sera Navarro. "You were a fine knight, Don Quixote" .... Also I have to say I love how you used Zelda music for your video
I'm glad you pointed out that it's easy to miss some of the backstory stuff, because I completely missed the fact that the photo and the notes were talking about him. I read the notes and figured they were about some poor unfortunate soul who witnessed the downfall of the village, and possibly to show Mendez' history, rather than be about Luis. I thought they were there to just give some neat flavour text, and focusing on one character can help with that. After all, I got the backstory from Hunnigan, so for the whole game I thought Luis was some guy who worked at Umbrella, then joined Los Illuminados and finally met Leon and tried to do right for once. It was still a compelling story without that, but I totally missed the setup.
Honestly, understanding how family names work in Spain makes piecing it all together easier, to the point I caught on it immediately. In Spain, women don't take their husband's name. We keep ours, which is a mix of both our parents' family names; traditionally the paternal one first, and the the maternal one. Luis is a Serra (his father's family name) NAVARRO (his mother's last name). When you find the grandfather's diary explaining his DAUGHTER died from childbirth, and then the photo with "a grandfather and a boy" with "Navarro Family" written on it, you know: that man is a Navarro, his daughter was a Navarro, his son is a Navarro, but because it's his mother's family name, it appears in second place, and there's only a relevant character with Navarro in his name. In fact, he's the only main character whose full Spanish name we get (you can see the old policeman's full name on his plaque as well, but it's irrelevant to the plot.)
I think Luis can be adequately summarised as a more tragic spin on the swashbuckler character archetype. He's got it all: the pirate-ish look, the voice, the panache, the wits, the resourcefulness
“He is an overconfident smooth talker who’s humor belies an inner trauma. He is kind but flawed. He is doomed by his own choices but also redeemed by them. He grew up in tragedy and lived among monsters but in the end he still tried to do the right thing. He dies hoping for the possibility of change. For the possibility of being better but never knowing if that belief was in something true or a quixotic fantasy.” Literally me. I like how Krauser kills Luis. It’s poetic in the sense of Luis tries to change for the better to atone for his, removing the parasite, sins meanwhile Krauser changes, embracing the parasite, in order to reach his goals. The foreshadowing used when Luis climbs up the hill to Ada saying “I survived” then immediately slipping.
I cant wait for separate ways DLC, im pretty sure Ada changed through the game thanks to Luis. The did/are doing things that are gonna affect a lot of people, and Luis dies trying to change it. That would also explain her change of heart at the end of the game.
Luis being 28 makes sense to me because the game takes place in 2004, and I know this might sound weird, but the more back in time you go, the older younger people look, if that makes any sense
And he's a smoker. That shit can age you quite a bit, and it's easy to assume that he hasn't had the healthiest lifestyle being and orphan from a remote rural town and all...
Separate ways really proved further that Luis is the best written RE character, from his tragic past, motivations and fun persona, capcom outdid themselves there 👏
What really slapped me in the face was the tremble in his voice as he asked "People can change, right? What do you think?" Almost like he's afraid of going to hell after he dies. May just be my religious trauma talking, but it hurt.
He’s afraid of going to hell because he helped the wrong people and he wanted to change himself so he thinks that he’s at least a good person, and he wanted to help Leon and Ashley so he doesn’t want them to die, and he did, he did one good thing, R.I.P Luis Serra.
i just love how they made him actually explain his backstory and his knowledge about plagas, int he orginal he was so vague and kept disappearing to the point you just forget about him, the remake fixed him and made him have more screentime with leon and made his death even more emotional, i also reeally love the tie in with re3 because he was most likely apart of the team that helped create the nemesis in europe, he really is a tragic character cuz of how he did that and contributed to the destruction of raccoon city and how he has to live with those burdens on his shoulders for the rest of his life til death, remake did my boy justice
In the Remake Luis was a very compelling, entertaining and helpful character to have around who was desperate for redemption. Even Leon was clearly torn about it despite Luis' background. It was cool though to see Luis help the others beyond the grave. He wasn't tossed aside and forgotten after his death, you still feel his presence right until the end of the game. Without him Leon and Ashley wouldn't have been able to cure themselves, you get more insight into his character by exploring his labratory and Leon even makes a callback to him right at the end by asking Ashley if she 'likes thrill rides'. Luis certainly redeemed himself. I was gutted about his death and wish he'd survived, but Capcom handled it very well. Still gutted. It’s about time they finally made him playable in Mercenaries mode unlike the OG.
This was a splendid breakdown of a memorable, but initially overlooked character in the franchise. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's my turn to break down because that death scene had all the feels.
I really hated seeing Luis die all over again in front of my eyes, especially with how much he was improved in the remake. However, it’s a bittersweet ending for him because if he didn’t die, then the tragedy of his character wouldn’t exist, removing all purpose of his character. He definitely stole every scene he was in and I’m happy to see his improved character.
When he died I was so sad, and I was ready to throw hands with Krauser. I love this remake so much, but I still like the original hoping for an re5 remake next!
An almost hour long video on the absolute king that is Luis? I'm bestowing this video the highest honour I can afford: watching it while eating spicy ramen on my bed while it rains outside
Gonna be that person - Luis is so frickin' hot in the remake. Not just physically but his overall personality and tragic story make him so attractive. I went back to watch the original and I actually hated him in that version - especially after that "ballistics" line. Luis in the remake is sweet and goofy, and definitely more charming with that little smirk and "Encantado". PS - you left out my favorite part, when Leon tells Luis he was a "fine knight, Don Quixote" 😢
I'm so glad this review of Luis is done so well, especially since this beautiful man is my favorite character other than Ashley in this remake! They did him justice in this remake and made him less of a childish or juvenile character than in the original. They really helped with his character development, and honestly, you explaining about him here does him even more justice.
Fun fact. Europe Lab team 6 is the same team listed as creating NEMESIS in the RE3R collectible Files. So yeah we HAVE fought his creations before. Quite Extensively…
I hadn't played the original game and waited the years to play this one. Luis easily became my favorite character and I think that is mostly due to the mystery and easy-going nature he had. Just going through the game I grew to appreciate his depth a lot more. Seeing the comparisons you made on the original RE4, I don't think I would have liked him the same so I'm glad they were able to rewrite his story in a more positive and fulfilling light.
Yeah, but the tradeoff is the villains overall are actually worse. Sure Krauser got more characterization... buuuut it misses Salazar's and Saddler's banter with leon through his comms system and nothing really changed about mendez despite being a kind man before the events of the remake.
I want him back so much ngl. I feel like he kinda does deserve a chance to redeem himself. I know some people would frown at the prospect of him surviving death but like... I'd love that xD He is my new all time fav character.
Love Luis, and I appreciated that the email between Luis and Ada establishes the “you got a smoke?” Question as a code phrase identifying the wesker contact. So when leon doesn’t respond appropriately he know he is unrelated to wesker.
The remakes (2 and 4) seem to be making a priority of taking their story Seriously. I have high hopes for 5 and 6 remakes if they ever happen because I want to see their stories be told Well, I want to see the characters be written with the dignity and passion they truly deserve. It's wonderful to see a series of goofy games about zombies become a coherent narrative about loss, destruction, trauma, trust and hope. Capcom has revived.
I love Luis’ character so much! I wish we could’ve seen him more! I hope we get some sort of DLC with him like a separate ways styled one like Ada’s where you play as him throughout the game, or something involving his past. People have also suggested the what if scenario like in RE 2 remake where the person actually lives and you play as them escaping from the location, I was thinking that could also be done instead of the Ada missionary mode from the og for Luis where he escapes the island with the plaga a little before the events of the game take place.
You made a mistake here concerning Luis' character in the original. He's actually a researcher in the original too, and was one of the head scientists in the Los Illuminados. He built the machine that removes the las plagas, and he also developed the plaga suppressants.
@@joaolima7131 He also used to treat a different village family to a meal and hear their burdens. He also has an old camera in his attic, implying that he once took in photography as a hobby aside from the chief/church work. Sad 😔
Oh bud, there’s actually a major plot point tying Re3 remake with 4 here. That Umbrella team Luis was a part of made Nemesis. No joke. There was a file I saw of the NE-Alpha parasite being genetically engineered to mimic traits of the plaga parasite from Los Illuminados folklore. That specific umbrella team in the picture also provided drugs to stabilize the parasite. This gives his death WAY more weight than I originally thought. Had he lived to be picked up by Ada with the Amber, events of Re5 would have been very different. You see, the NE-Alpha parasite didn’t just create Nemesis, but the G-virus as well, thanks to the parasite being injected into Lisa Trevor, a progenitor virus test subject Birkin and Wesker had been testing viruses on for years. Wesker literally was very close to potentially recreating the G-virus had Luis not been killed by Krauser. Sure, Luis probably wouldn’t have worked with Wesker willingly, but Wesker is quite persuasive without the need of a parasite. He’d of probably got all the information of the NE-Alpha and plaga parasites Luis possessed before killing him. In short, though Luis’s passing is tragic, it was also an unexpected blessing for the world.
The relation between Luis and Quixote, i figured it was more along the lines of Him realizing their similarities, 2 "lower" individuals trying to be greater, and Luis learned from Quixote's hubris of thinking himself invincible, thats why he weasels his way in and out of things rather than going hands on, JAT.
Luis was certainly a memorable and fun character, I did feel legit bad when he died even though I knew it was coming. His banter with Leon during the mine sections was pretty fun.
The back is the closest to the heart the knife doesn't even have to be that big maybe an inch or two as long as it clears the rib cage to get to it and judging by how that was buried nearly to the hilt his wound was very much lethal it's in fact surprising he lived that long he would have bled out in seconds however given the fact that he was pretty calm as he died he probably bled out slower the cigarette probably even helped to steady his nerves buying him more time which I think adds even more to his death than just bladed hentai Spike through the chest the size of somebody's fist and somehow him living long enough to say or do anything other than gurgling on his blood as it fills his lungs for a grand total of 1 second at least this death was very much real and it makes sense as to why he lived a little longer to help in his last moments
I'm pretty sure died of blood loss and a collapsed lung, he was lying there, bleeding, struggling to breathe for several minutes while Leon fights Krauser.
I really really liked him so much. Probably a little extra because I'm spanish and Louis reminded me of one of my cousins in the way he spoke, his mannerisms, his attitude. Oh man ... I get so sad just thinking about him.
This game was such a masterpiece man, I remember the first time I met Luis and I was like "The hell's this guy" and I never trusted him, I thought that at one point he would betray us or something like that and I was pretty much 100% sure that it would happen. But it shocked me and I felt it really deeply once he felt like a bro and just died, made me cry ngl
A thing I noticed about Luis Serra's design choice is his leather vest; the dark-toned, finely embroidered pattern is in contrast with the rest being brown in colour, and the darker parts are located around his heart, around the scar on his chest. The rest of his clothing speaks Luis Serra's good and natural nature. The darker tones can be interpreted as both of his mistakes and of his affiliations with the Umbrella corporation by choice, tainting himself, and, along the way, imagines himself being the fairy tale hero which the embroidery represents. He managed to stop the spreading enough to be himself but it still encapsulated his entire heart. Even the clothing of the characters are speaking their story, the developers and designers really went out of their way to make such elaborate and multilayered story-telling, and I haven't played any of the Resident Evil games due to me being a scaredy cat of zombies but I love the stories told from them.
Hey just quick mention Hispanics that have two surnames, the first belongs to the father and the second belongs to the mother. So that photo being the Navarro family. The grandfather he's staying with is on his mother's side. I wonder where his father went
Everything you summed up in this video is exactly how I felt while playing! Great job on showcasing the little details and nuances to his character this time round!
"People can change, right?" He said w/ his last 5 seconds of life. It is never too late to change, to be better. Fable taught me that, this reaffirms it 😢😊
Also kind of wishing the Collector's edition came with like maybe a replica of Luis's Lighter or the Key to his Lab. You know something extra to spice things up a little.
People are hyping over Leon (me too, tbh) but Luis?????? I've said this in other RE4R-related yt videos and I'll say it again: if I could trade the whole plot for Luis' life, I'd do it. Let my man live and do more good stuff for the world 😭
Dude these videos are so damn good. You have an incredible eye for detail. I hope you branch out into more nostalgic territory like silent hill and individual bioshock characters. Wonderful work, my guy.
As an artist who recently ran out of video essays to listen to, your videos are an absolute godsend. Your points are really well thought out and they are perfect for me to draw to! Keep up the great work :)
Great video, as always, Brett! Quick question: Will you also do a video on Leon himself? I think there is a bit to talk about, ESPECIALLY after that scene in Chapter 15 where you eliminate the plagas and Leon says "This time... It has to be different". That scene stood out very much and I'd love to hear you talk about it
The "doomed hero" point of view has another meta layer, with this being the remake of the original game, we all knew upon meeting him his fate, engaging in it despite us knowing the ending before it started, and the developers knew that to build up in the dramatic irony
Don't know if you noticed this, but the "You got a smoke" line isn't just some silly line he throws into that first conversation, it's the code word for him to identify Ada, not only does he say it again to Ada herself later on (with the proper response "I do, the kind you like") but on one of the computers in his lab, you find a message to 'AW' asking to meet and if he "remembers the code word" and he replies with "pick me up a pack of cigarettes on your way"
He's basically saying "You're the guy sent by Wesker?" and when Leon replies with "Those things will kills you" he says "Oh! Just untie me then" because he realized that Leon wasn't sent by Wesker.
thats actually pretty clever
Damn that really flew over my head, its pretty cool detail
Another thing I loved about the whole “You got a smoke” in the remake is that when Leon says “Those things will kill you”, its ironic that Luis died with one final smoke that Leon lit up…
Nice catch. I missed that.
My impression of that was that he was genuinely asking for a pack of smokes because he even says “any brand will do”, at the the end of it.
I'm a sucker for the "one last smoke but can't light it himself" deaths
It would've been great if Leon kept the lighter, just like he kept Marvin's knife and Kendo's gun.
@@pll9000I honestly thought he was going to put it in his pocket. But hey, if it's Luis' it's Luis'.
Like in Constantine
@@David-ki2xt He did keep Krauser's knife, so if we get an Re6 remake at some point (Or another game with Leon) I hope we see Krauser's knife return.
Reminds me about MGS4's final scene
It's also really poetic that Luis got killed by his narrative mirror, Krauser. The question of "can a person change?" is at the core of this story. Leon considers Luis to be a bad person at the start because of his connection to Umbrella, but then it turns out that Luis is good because he was making conscious attempts, however successful, to be so. But Leon considered Krauser to be a good person, only it turns out that Krauser made the choice to become a bad person. Both of them completely changed Leon's outlook on life.
In a sense both Luis and Krauser prove this statement, with Luis becoming a good person while Krauser becomes a evil person.
@@shawnwarrynn8609 yeah, Luis chose to change for the better, Krauser chose to change for the worse
One wanted to be better ( Luis ) and one wanted power to feel better ( Krauser)
Ikr...I hate Krauser for it...
@@shawnwarrynn8609Thats the point
I like how Leon asks Ada if she’s change, and how it relates to what Luis asked on his death. Also Luis’s “you like thrill rides” being repeated by Leon to Ashley as they escape on the jet ski. It just goes to show Luis is still on Leon’s mind even after his death. That’s great storytelling there.
The REmakes really do an excellent job making minor characters have an overall larger impact on the narrative that I absolutely love. From RE2, Marvin was a larger contributer to Leon that he still even keeps his old knife… and Luis was almost like a brother to Leon and how he avenged him after defeating Krauser
@@cloudshines812Gotta say. I wish he kept Luis' Lighter. Yes it's by Umbrella but still. Damn that would be emotional. Someone sees the lighter and they ask him if he's Umbrella. And Leon responding with "No, it belonged to an old friend" but it's fine. Felt like Wasted Opportunity though.
@@MariusBoss11458 I wouldn’t have minded if the scene had ended with a shot of Leon’s hand holding Luis’ lighter; it would’ve been a nice callback to the og too. Instead of pills, it’s the lighter. But I do like the canon end scene where Leon holds his hand. There’s actually a subtle theme of “lending a helping hand” in that chapter.
I loved how Luis’s line was used as a question throughout the last section of the game.
Man I don't know how I never picked up on that. Great point man!
As arrogant and ladies man-ish as he’s presented to be, the moment that made me go “oh” was after the cabin fight when Ashley coughs up blood for the first time; instead of just grabbing her hand, he holds his out, says her name then only takes it after she moves it towards him. He asks for her permission first. He doesn’t hit on her or dismiss her. Compared to his creep characterisation in the original, he’s gentle and unaggressive and I just love him for it
Same here! It shows the cockiness is an act, but that he is kind and sensitive. It was a very deliberate moment 😢
I'm really glad to see that mentioned here, that's my favorite "Luis" moment in the entire game, next to his final scene. Just body language, but it tells so much.
"Creep characterization"
You mean from that one thing he said I'm guessing 🙄
@@KaoticReach1999 you mean his most famous line in his entire ten minutes of screen time? yeah that one ☺️
It made when he said “Such a loss to the ladies of the world.” Before he died actually a true and sad statement instead of a creepy one. Him dying was a genuine loss because he was a good person.
Another more tragic interpretation of the Don Quixote references (since I love feeling pain over fictional characters) is that we aren't seeing Luis as Don Quixote, but instead are seeing Luis as Alonso Quixana, the true name of the fictional knight revealed in the last chapter of the second, final book. This is after another misadventure that had more dire consequences: Don Quixote must put down his lance and set aside any chivalric gestures for an entire year. He purchases farmland but becomes deathly ill and bedridden, and when Sancho Panza comes to try to liven his spirits with more quixotic talk (haha), Quixana rejects it. He leaves his property to his niece, provided she abstains from reading any chivalric literature even once. He dies a disillusioned man.
Looking at Luis through this lens, things start to line up in a very sad way. Initially, when queried on why he's helping them, Luis says that it makes him feel better, and that they'll leave it at that. Later, when he and Leon are first going through the mines after treating Leon with the plaga suppressor, Luis reiterates this, but says "It makes me feel better. ...or, something like that.", as if whatever journey he went through has cracked this armor of confidence he lives in. Then finally, in the elevator, Luis comes clean, and even admits that he doesn't actually think that helping Leon and Ashley will make anything better, but that it's the right thing to do.
If we look at Luis as a character who was idealistic when joining Umbrella and even Los Illuminados, as posited in this video, we can see a movement. Luis joined Umbrella as a researcher due to the trauma of losing his grandfather to unknown illness as a young boy. It's likely that this is what motivated him to join the company, to try to make a difference, so that no one would die like his grandfather did. That thought likely kept him going even as he was developing bioweapons, but was soundly shattered after the Raccoon City Incident. His idealistic view was shattered. He wasn't helping anyone. He was just making himself feel better.
Then we move forward to Los Illuminados. If we take the idea of him joining the cult due to wanting to bring peace to the world, then we move back to an idealistic Luis. He decided to help with the research, hoping to create a stronger, more connected people, people who wouldn't die to wolves from a forest, people who wouldn't burn one of their own to death out of fear. I don't exactly remember the time period on this, but if Los Illuminados started infesting his home village with plagas, maybe there was also an element of revenge there, from the aforementioned fire. This wasn't just isolating components to build a virus he didn't have to physically see the results of, this was something real in front of his eyes. But he stuck through. Let them feel what his grandfather felt. It'll only be temporary anyway. But there was clearly a breaking point, where he realized that, just like before, he wasn't seeing the world as it was. Just like he created bioweapons for Umbrella, he now created monsters for Los Illuminados. Once again, he wasn't helping anyone. He was just making himself feel better.
With this in mind, Luis in RE4R is almost mocking himself when he "explains himself" the first time to Leon and Ashley after the House setpiece. This time, he's stealing a plaga from Los Illuminados and giving it to another interested party. There's no fooling himself on that. It's purely for personal gain, like it's always been.
But then Leon and Ashley enter his disillusioned, shitty world, and he jumps at the chance to help them. But why?
Because finally, for once, he's not doing something to make himself, and only himself, feel better. He's not lying to himself to live out some savior fantasy that might make him feel better about the grandfather he lost and couldn't save. He helps them because it's the right thing to do. No illusions, no romantic ideals. Just two people who need help. Help he can give.
And that's what makes his final scene so tragic to me. When he asks Leon if people can change, there's an unsureness in the asking, and that unsureness is that Luis doesn't know if he has. He dies thinking that, even with all this, he's still a selfish, shitty person. Maybe people don't change. Maybe that's just his new fantasy. And yet, despite that, he still did his best to help.
Leon's response, after Luis dies, is to tell him that he was a fine knight, and he calls him Don Quixote. This is important because it's the first time that Leon embraces the role of Sancho Panza, which he's been resistant to this entire section. Not just in-universe, but storytelling-wise. Sancho Panza was a key character in helping Don Quixote live out his fantasies, no matter how maligned or crazed they could be. He even ends the series attempting one final time to indulge those fantasies, though they fall on Quixana's deaf ears. Leon is the opposite. At every attempt, Leon shuts down the idea of himself being Sancho Panza. It happens at least twice, maybe a third if I'm misremembering. But this last line to Luis is him calling him Don Quixote, a silent affirmation of his own role as Sancho Panza. Not directly prompted by Luis either, which is important. In this way, if Luis felt as though he was fooling himself thinking people could change, Leon is almost affirming that fantasy, but sincerely. If believing people could change makes Luis Don Quixote, Leon will be his Sancho Panza, a living confirmation of that belief.
Don Quixote can be interpreted as a deconstruction of romantic literature and idealism, and in this way, Luis's story in RE4R is almost a reconstruction of the story. A fool, idealistic to the point of insanity, traveling across lands to fulfill his own delusions, facing the world head on and stumbling into crushing reality, with his illusions falling at his feet. But what if the fool picked himself up, and instead of acting out a chivalric fantasy, he actually did a noble deed? Helped people in need? Even died a heroic death, saving not just those two, but the entire world, due to his actions? What is he then?
A good person.
A fine knight.
Rest in peace, Luis Serra Navarro. Overthinking your story makes me wanna cry
What the fuck is with this essay deep dive into literature I don't go onto UA-cam to learn... SIKE! I watch informative videos on UA-cam.
God damn it you made me tear up. I am a sucker for redemption stories, specially those of doomed characters. Bless you my friend, for your analisys and for taking the time to write down here.
beautiful read, thank you for typing this, luis’ fleshed out story was amazing to experience and kinda stole the show tbh
I read the whole thing, and all I can say is this.
Much respect to you.
I’m not reading all of this but good job I can’t even write something that long
Luis' facial expression right after he says "I've led a pretty shitty life" is amazing
couldnt agree more, his expressions were so well animated, even when youre in the shooting range with him in the background hes looking fondly at leon
@@rain-pn9pp he is giving bedroom eyes at times and I love it lmao
@@ShieniLicksOnLemons WHAT ARE BEDROOM EYES AJKLSDJAKD but i think i kinda get it?
ty for making me laugh a little
@@isaberuu it's the 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏
@@ShieniLicksOnLemons LMAO KASDJALSDJLADj he is very like that
Luis asking for “smoke” is actually a secret code shared among research members of umbrella to identify each other. If they answered with “The kind you like” means they are associated with the organisation. You can find this info in Luis lab.
That's actually cool.
Not Umbrella, rather to identify Wesker's contact.
It reminds me of the Railroad in Fallout 4 where if one possible operative says “Do you have a Geiger counter?”, the other possible fellow operative is supposed to answer “Mine is in the shop” in order to identify with one another.
@@09spidy though knowing Weskers Umbrella origins, he probably lifted the codes from there
Where do you find that?
One parallel I love is Luis and Leon’s sense of humor as a means of coping. In this remake, I always viewed Leon’s one-liners as a way of him keeping his mind off the trauma of Raccoon City. The whole situation Leon is sent in could easily trigger PTSD, and it makes hearing those lines all the more satisfying.
I have to wonder of they ever remake Code Veronica if they will make Claire have any trauma. It would be kinda funny if she didnt and was perfectly fine after the events of RE2 remake but Leon was traumatised.
@@Nigel222 I could see Claire being more stressed than traumatized. She & Leon had two vastly different experiences. Leon by his nature is a person who believes that he can save anyone if he puts his all into it which is why Raccoon City was so tragic to him. He watched good people (Marvin & Kendo) die, was manipulated by a woman he fell for (and also believed died), and upon his escape was pressed into special forces to keep his mouth shut while the little girl he was given to protect was seized by the government for experimentation. Claire on the other hand spent her time in Raccoon City ensuring the survival & cure of a previously mentioned little girl, succeeded, and escaped. The only thing she failed at was locating her brother which is why her way of coping with what she dealt with is to finish what she started.
@@officernealy I really do hope they remake code veronica at some point to see what they do with Claire considering how good of a job they did with Leon.
@@Nigel222 i wonder if they do if they would remake CV with this same gameplay style, ngl but i kinda hope they do.
@@Nigel222 she kinda traumatized from RC events in RE Regeneration and She choose to become activist of Terrasave is kinda attempt for Claire to Recover from her past.
Luis just looks so scared as he dies... I think he's just as terrified of Leon's answer as he is of death, because he doesn't know if he HAS done enough to change. Leon's basically a paragon of virtue in his eyes, his answer would have meant everything to Luis, and he never hears it.
I hope his soul is satisfied.
Luis became a likeable and memorable character in the Remake. His death truly felt like a huge tragedy. While the original still mentions Luis in the island through notes, in the Remake there's that and even Ashley feeling sad for his death.
About time they made Ashley acknowledge what happened to Luis unlike the original.
He was likeable in the 2005 game too
@@johnfkennedyinanopentopcar8976No. He was just some guy. Just like how Ashely was just some annoying girl.
One other interesting side effect of the dropping of the "balistics" line is that it suggests that very few people know who Ashley is, or Leon for that matter. In the original, Luis immediately knows that Ashley is the daughter of the US president, and thus Leon is likely some government agent sent to rescue her. This time around he makes no mention of it. He's aware that the illuminados have captured a girl that they are holding in the Church for some reason instead of sacrificing her like the hikers in the intro, but his dialogue doesn't suggest that he knows anything about who Ashley is, nor why Leon is so dedicated to helping her. He isn't around when they talk about it directly (which is actually quite little), nor when Leon talks on the radio to Hunnigan, so Luis might assume Leon is either family or a boyfriend going above and beyond to find the kidnapped girl.
There are those who obviously still know, Sadler and Krauser (on his behalf) kidnap her, and Ramon Salazar all but explains the plan to infect the US government via Ashley, but is uncertain whether anyone else knows about Ashley. Even Ada's dialogue suggests she doesn't know since she's constantly trying to get him to give up and join her, she might know but she doesn't bring it up. Luis likely doesn't know, and importantly he doesn't need to know for his decisions to make sense, whereas in the original he knows he's saving the world from Sadler by helping Leon, he could simply be helping Leon and Ashley deal with the problems he was partially responsible for.
Also interesting is that by removing his lie about being a cop from Madrid, Leon never tells him his own 1-day history in law enforcement, like in the original. If he had, Luis would have another reason to want to help, since as part of Umbrella and the team that created the Nemesis, he would know that he directly contributed to Leon's traumatic past.
It adds a purity to his quest for redemption that he's not helping someone because he knows they're important, or because he's guilty over wronging them specifically, but just the general regret of living a "shitty life", being in a position to help someone, and choosing to do so.
And in Remake Cabin Fight, they in dire situation and Leon pretty Hostile with Luis after knowing His Background and yeah, they don't have idea about each other, Luis don't know about Leon and Ashley and Leon Impression about Luis in that Scene is He is Random Stranger who are Former Umbrella Researchers and possible work for Los Iluminados too who in Leon mind he maybe bad person.
Thanks for the explanation. I keep hearing ppl complain about Capcom dropping that line. I know it’s all about the meme and nostalgia, but every one keeps mentioning about it kinda make me feel annoyed.
Thanks for the explanation. I keep hearing ppl complain about Capcom dropping that line. I know it’s all about the meme and nostalgia, but every one keeps mentioning about it kinda make me feel annoyed.
I think an irony about Luis is that it seems after the death of his grandfather he became obsessed with parasitic lifeforms. The fact that Umbrella took notice of him while still so young says something about his efforts to learn everything he could about parasitism. Then he went on to help create the Nemesis, an older piece of lore says it was Umbrella Europe Team 6 that did it, and the Nemesis was in essence a T-virus Tyrant enhanced with a parasite, just what Luis is good at. This ties him even closer to the series because Resident Evil 3, both the og and remake would still be fresh in the minds of players of 4, giving us another layer to our feelings to the man who made the monster that stalks Jill Valentine through the whole game, and the grief it gave us.
Holy shit you reminded me of a file you can find in Luis' lab; it's a picture of Umbrella's "Europe laboratory 6 dream team", and he is in it. So it's not conjecture, he actually participated in the creation of Nemesis!
Yeah you're right, he might have had a hand in the creation of the NE-α parasite which in turn lead to the creation of the Nemesis T-type tyrant.
I gotta say this totally ties RE4R with the new remake continuities.
i don't think anyone is gonna disagree when i say the guy playing luis in the remake is the best actor in the history of the resident evil franchise, his performance impressed me more than any of the other improvements
And the most crazy part is, that THIS was his first voice acting job!
Very talented indeed! 😍
I love the smell of new VA in the morning.
@@isasolorzano9706 Then I hope we will see more of his work in other games.
I just looked him up - looks like he’s from my hometown too (Van BC)! So cool
Yep. André Peña. Amazing talent.
You missed a note about the regenerador. There it explains that Luis was horrified with the creation of the regenerador and warned the scientist of the dangers but didn't heed his warning.
Is there actually any proof that one of them was Luis?
@@DetrasDeTiImbecil It doesn’t say outright. It’s just an assumption it was him.
That could have been anyone honestly, the whole team were mostly Umbrella veterans hired to research las plagas, and they know better than anyone about the dangers of a powerfull B.O.W. breaching containtment.
@@massgunner4152 But considering Luis' plot relevance, the scientist who warned him about the regenerators and grabbed his notebook writing down everything has to be Luis because we know he's against it.
They just didn't explicitly mention him like the Navarro family photo heavily implies it's 5yo Luis with his grandpa, but didn't explicitly state his name.
@@DetrasDeTiImbecil Sorry. I was tied up at the moment. I believe that there is enough to conclude that it is Luis who made the warning given that he is the sole survivor of all those scientists. Though I will admit that it's too vague to truly be counted for. So my bad. ✌️
I was bummed as hell when he died. I really wanted them to keep Luis alive and be in other games in the future. The chemistry between him and Leon in this version is so damn good. And the fact that they could make me care for Krauser, the guy who killed Luis, at the end thru his last words to Leon. Made this game that much better. One thing I noticed was that if you aim at Luis after he dies, Leon pulls his gun up. To shoot a friend isn’t something the game will allow you to do. Any other boss, you can fill their bodies with bullets after the battle. But if you aim at Krauser after you beat him, Leon pulls his gun up. Great touch imo
Not even the remakes do those drastic changes, they may change how they die, but they always die since Re 2
@@joaolima7131 yep because if he didn’t people will be mad because it changes the original too much
@@joaolima7131 yea true. but the possibilities is something I’d have loved to see.
@@Hugo_Tate
1. Are you related to Andrew Tate?
2. Luis MIGHT return in a potential Code Veronica Remake.
Since I am from Spain I really like the "la familia Navarro" written on Luis and his grandfather photo. It's so well done since in Spain we usually carry the last name from both our parents, and (usually) the mother one is the second. That means that Luis missing parent is a Serra, but his mother and his grandfather are Navarro. I just love this first because it references something unique about my country but also it's a very good way to say "this is Luis" if you know that his second last name is Navarro.
Also, when Luis flicked after Méndez beated up Leon I don't think that's due to Leon's pain but because he knows Méndez is going to infect Leon with a plaga and he feels remorse, he is in some way responsible for that, another victim to one of their creations (even though Leon was already a victim of his work at Umbrella)
So basically "Luis Serra y Navarro"?
@@demonking86420 No, it's "Luis Serra Navarro", without the and between both last names.
Sííí. Al ver la foto con "La familia Navarro" en el altillo de Méndez inmediatamente entendí que el niño era Luis.
It's a lovely detail that is both culturally relevant and makes the puzzle pieces fit together!
It's really nice to read that. Seems like Capcom is also working on some past mistakes they made and did a lot of good with RE4.
I've always enjoyed the idea that instead of just getting the plagus parasite (Because it doesn't make sense to me how it's just out and about and able to get into a wolf), Luis's grand father just got rabies... but because of how primitive their village is they skipped straight to a superstitious cause and it cost Luis his beloved father figure.
This made him try to live a life of science... only to bring the myth that killed his grandfather to life.
Rabies would make a lot of sense given the symptoms do look very similar to the plaga, especially to an untrained eye.
@ The Coffee Drinker
Thank you! I’ve been saying this for weeks. He caught rabies from a wild Wolf. Las plagas doesn’t work like that with a bite anyway.
@@MrBGP006 yep, no one who got infected by Las Plagas all got injected by a Plaga egg. Leon, Ashley, the Ganados, Luis(there's a scar on his chest which indicates he removed it in a more rudimentary way)
I don't know how the dominant Plaga is inoculated into hosts(like Mendez, Salazar, Krauser, Saddler) but I assume it's also injected in egg form
Lord Habitaxe of Prydonia
yup, the only way you can get Las plagas is by inhaling spores which what happened to the villagers that were working/excavating Las plagas under the castle when they were fossilized. And by injecting Las plagas eggs into the hosts body
I think Luis was also good for Leon's character development as well. When he found out that Luis worked for Umbrella, Leon viewed him as evil incarnate. To him, Luis was a contributor to, as well as a reminder of, Leon's worst day and his failure to save the city he swore to protect. Luis's last words challenged his mindset: "People can change, right?" Leon is jaded, or believes he is, and wants to see the world in blacks and whites. How can someone who helped destroy an entire city for profit really change? Luis could even be the reason for Leon and Ada's boat conversation about "change." After watching this video, it's easy to see that the concept of change, whether for better or worse, is/was a running theme for the RE4 Remake 🤔👍
you could tell that leon actually wanted to befriend luis, but hard times and rough trainings made him a man that is cautious to his surroundings.
Something else really clever and subtle they did with Luis in the remake is how suspicious he seems. I havent played the original or any resident evil before this game so maybe this is my inexperience with the franchise talking, but i was wholly convinced Luis was not trustworthy for most of the game. The way he ditches Leon in the beginning, his ties to umbrella, the way he dodges Leon’s questions in the cabin and then forces his help on them afterward and quickly leaves, immediately followed by that conversation with Ada, and then his shiftiness in the first half of the castle. It really felt to me that every single time he appeared he seemed more and more fishy. It wasnt until that elevator ride with Leon you showed at the end when he comes clean that i felt i could trust him. And of course, immediately after that resolution is when the writers kill him off. Thats damn good writing. And what i think is really impressive about it is that anyone who played the original already knows Luis is a good guy, so they already trusted him. I like to think my experience with the character is something the writers carefully crafted for new players.
same here, never played the original but love the remake. i'm very impressed with the overall writing but especially the writing for Luis. I found myself genuinely invested in his story and looked forward to when he'd show up again so I could learn more.
i know what happens in the original, so i trusted Luis from the start. but still. even if i knew all that, he was still kind of suspicious. when he died, it was still tragic. it wasnt the same as the original; luis dies and everyone moves on. as mentioned in the video, luis' death is carried on in the game. it affects not only leon and ashley, but the people playing it as well. we ACTUALLY feel bad. so it's pretty much the same experience for new and old players.
Luis's final line hits so hard not because he's asking that question to Leon but because he's asking that question to himself. And looking for Leon to reassure this because he's unsure of it. Making the macho ladies man sauve persona a cover for Luis. Because he hated who the real Luis was so much so he reinvented himself entirely. And in his final moment he looked at himself. And said I changed right? I fixed me right?Trying to make himself buy his own illusion.Damn deep character for Capcom
Really hit me hard how Luis mentioned how he was trying to atone for his past doings and be a better man, a lot of us can really relate to that :(, me especially...
Share ur story
@@ministrel4624 wasn't the best person in my younger years and honestly it haunts me to this day. Life choices basically. Trying to do better as I am older now but it still is a pain to randomly remember how shitty I was back then.
@@reeperdragon88 honestly that exact thing happens to a ton of people, your not alone in those kind of feelings. It’s important to remember that you are who you are now because of your past, and that the better choices you make now in the present and in the future are truly what matter. Life’s too short to always be looking behind at the past, remember the past and let it teach you but don’t let it consume you. I hope this comment helped, even if it was just a little bit. I can understand where you’re coming from because I have had such feelings myself throughout my life so far.
@@reeperdragon88 If you regret. Truly regret bad things you did. You deserve a second chance no matter how bad you were.
@@starlaixystar um not true.
His death is so much more impactful in the remake. I think out of every character, him and Krauser were improved the most.
yes, felt so personal to leon
Ashley was also massively improved...too bad Ada got a bit downgraded.
@@DmT922ha She isnt.
@@DmT922ha ashley is way more annoying and cringe in this one 🤦♂️ cool thing shes involved more tho
@@layoramirez4993I disagree, having her have more character other than acting like a teenage girl all the time like she did in the original was great.
It's also very heavily implied that Luis worked on Nemesis. Which itself is heavily implied to have a plaga inside it. Since Luis is the only one who had experience with the plaga, he is likely the one who suggested using it on Nemesis
No it’s not a plaga it’s a genetically engineered parasite NE-a but most likely inspired by the plaga
A brief history of Nemesis and how it relates to the Plaga in the new canon. The Nemesis Project was an offshoot of Umbrella's Tyrant Project to find a work around for the t-Virus' one critical flaw as a marketable bioweapon, cerebral degradation of the host. The project lead to the development of creatures like Hunters, but they had animal intelligence and could obey basic instructions rather than proper soldiers who could follow orders. Around the 90's, somehow Umbrella's European division heard of an old Spanish folktale of a parasitic organism that could latch on to a hosts nervous system and act as its intelligence. They liked the idea so much they assigned their Sixth Lab Team to artificially engineer a substitute. This was Luis' team and very likely where they heard the Plaga legend from. They went overkill with the organism however as this new *NE-α parasite* wouldn't meld with the host's nervous system in a "healthy" way but instead decapitate the brain from the nervous system and jack the body as a meat puppet. The only surviving test subject's body (Lisa Trevor) was so corrupted by the Progenitor Virus that it ate the parasite and spliced it's DNA into her own which kicked off Dr. William Birkin's research into the Golgotha Virus. Umbrella Europe was about to write the NE-α off as a failure until Umbrella America suggested that their newly developed T-103 series (Mr. X) would be strong enough to survive the implantation and sure enough, they finally succeeded in creating an intelligent BOW with the development of their advanced prototype, the Nemesis T-Type.
@@officernealy yes that is correct
Also there is no new canon the new “remakes” are reimaginings this has been said by capcom themselves meant to compliment the originals and are retellings and a companion not meant to replace them like most remakes
@@tonyjohnson7632 With the expanded backstory, can’t we pick and choose where appropriate?
I really liked Luis' final words are the words that Leon needed to hear, after Krauser tells him that he hasn't changed and later on Ada too. He could have wasted them on a one liner or a joke but they were all just a final act of compassion to help Leon in his journey and ultimately save him. He tells Leon that people CAN change and he has proved it to the rest of the world by making selfless choices that did matter to him and Ashley. I would like to believe in the future games, Leon will make references to this that he would never forget this man who he knew for a brief time who saved him and the world.
They did such a great job fleshing him out. Luis is such a fun character to interact with and his new death scene hit me hard. I wish he could’ve stuck around more!
Same. I really wanted him to be in more games in these remakes. The chemistry between him and Leon in this was awesome.
Well, I think there's a slight chance he's alive. At the end of the game when Ada steals the sample from Leon she says "Sorry Leon Luis and I had an agreement" suggesting that she can claim the sample because she did her part on the arrangement, which was making sure Luis gets out alive. Additionally, you still cannot aim at him when he's "dead"
I agree. I was in denial the entire game, like "maybe they changed it, maybe he'll be ok." I don't know why, considering it's resident evil.
In the OG RE4, Sera Luis' death doesn't hit the player until you read his remaining memos later in the game going over his research, fascination over the plaga, and gradual guilt over helping the Los Iluminados with their plaga study.
The remake gives more weight to his passing because he's on-screen longer trying & showing he's changed, only to be suddenly killed by another well done character.
I went in blind when I started Re4R and I was actually sad when Louis died. I never played the original release.
The original was a lot less sad.
The original was one of the best of its time. It influenced Gears of War and Dead Space, and every third person console shooter under the sun. It's still fun to play if you can deal with the controls. The remake did a proper job of tying this story into the broader Resident Evil Remake universe. I was shocked in 2005 that Umbrella had died off screen and played no part in RE4.
Play it. Red 9 is better there than in the remake. Though the SG is the most busted by then.
The original is fine but the writing is as dumb as the period it came, it's iconic and funny but you are not going to get much from the characters.
give it try if you don't mind much the QTE, the gameplay it's kinda its own thing.
his death was also quite memed since it looks like Sadler kills him with his dick
I think Luis going right back into researching bio weapons after umbrella adds another layer of tragedy. Every time he has had stability it was ripped away ironically enough by those bio weapons. Also being praised as this star genius like he was was probably the greatest feeling in his life at that point, so no crap he would jump at the first people to give him that praise again.
Also doesn’t help he’s basically a wanted man for even being connected to Umbrella. So where else could he go to that was under the radar than his old remote village? Still, he worked on the las plagas parasite for Los Illuminados. So he knew what he did. Just regrets doing it for them after the fact. So while he has a conscious, it’s still something he did wrong of his own volition. Based on his notes, his big idea was to just make sure his info can be used to stop Saddler and the cult despite knowing the risks of helping the Connections. So all in all, glad he did something right helping Leon and Ashley which in turned stopped the cult overall.
The thing I like about Luis's thread in the narrative is because it plays into Leon's line. Leon starts the game demanding in his own monologue that things have to be different, Luis wants to be different. Change is a central theme and it's what helps bring the two of them together, a desire for change.
I honestly think when Luis looks away at leon being tossed like a ragdoll
I dont think hes showing compassion to leon, but rather to mendez
Mendez was the new chief and him and Luis had some history together and as a child Luis probably looked up to Mendez and the chief who ran the village because they were compassionate leaders, they engaged with the community and made sure they were safe
and After Luis's grandfather died mendez probably looked after him before he left and went to go study in science
But now Luis comes back and finds his old compassionate chief become a monster braindead zombie solely focused on the parasitic religion that killed his grandfather and destroyed the once wholesome community
Luis cant bare to watch him be like this, this is why he is frightened when Mendez appears, he is afraid of the monster he has become and Luis knows he had a part in it, he worked for Los Illuminados
So he feels responsible for ruining this village, and the chief that looked over it
Idk. He looked upset that Leon was about to get implanted with the plaga.
The note says he left immediately after Mendez burned down the house. Came back after his stint at umbrella.
I dunno, Luis’s line is “Not this guy again!” To me, that sounds like between the years of difference and Mendez’s transformation, Luis doesn’t even recognize Mendez.
(Which would match up with the Mendez analysis on this same channel, of there being nothing left of the man he once was. And adds another layer of tragedy to the whole situation, when you think about it.)
@@msf2399 There is a theme of Two Years in the RE4 2020 that means Mendez might have been nice guy up until 2002. 2002 might be the year when the entire community was infected. Before that, only a few people were.
In the original Luis' death was less about Luis and more about Leon's ridiculous reaction to it
It's a real bummer he died in the remake because he would have been a great asset for BSAA or other anti-terror organizations, and maybe we could have seen him again... but like every great side character in Resident Evil, they come and go
Right, he was forgotten almost immediately after he was killed in the original. Here, Luis' key serve as a literal key to Leon and Ashley's salvation, and Ashley remembers him. She even mourn his death and acknowledged that he saved her life.
@korawitbuttramee618 he wasn't forgotten in the og. You find more of his memos throughout the island and castle. There, you find more about the creatures, and it's his memo that gives you a hint on how to kill the regenerator. It's also HIS memo that gives you the information on how to remove the plaga from a person's body. Even in death Luis still helps Leon
26:21
The thing that you forgot to mention for this specific scene is how dynamic the acting is. You see Luis slide back and forth between different roles multiple times. Ally/Brother-In-Arms to biologist to medical professional and then finally back to default Luis (shady, compassionate, confident). And what makes it so good (in addition to the quality dialogue) is the body language. He becomes more rigid posturing when speaking as a medical expert, but then eases up his body language to speak in layman's terms, realizing that a hard diagnosis is going to potentially make Ashley panic.
Even the exposition scene reveals his character underneath everything, and Leon undoubtedly picks up on this. Leon, after all, is heavily implied to detect... whatever is going on with Ada underneath all her field work.
I'd add that "people can change" is the general topic of this game. Leon felt powerless during the Raccoon City outbreak, he keeps telling himself "this time it will be different", and that's probably his biggest motivation to save Ashley. He just can't see more people die, which must have hit him pretty hard when Luis was murdered right in front of him. Krauser changed towards a darker path: Leon repeteadly tries to get him back, but Krauser is too far gone and his anger is blinding him. Notably, both Leon and Luis had terrible and tragic things happen to them too, but they didn't go on this power seeking fantasy. Ironically, Leon is also looking for more power, he wants to be able to protect people and not let anything like Raccoon City happen again. However, he is not going to the extent that Krauser allowed himself to be. In a way, this part is more about not changing, holding your core values and ideals close to heart. Then there's Ada. When Luis died saying these words, it was probably written as a direct reference to Ada. Leon then goes on to question her on whether she is the same as before or not, he kinda wishes she was different. By the end, Leon kinda learns to trust Ada again, at least a little bit (he didn't fight her for the ambar, after all). The cherry on the cake is, of course, the post credits scene, where Ada betrays Wesker, showing that, yeah, people can change even after leading shitty lives, just like Luis thought.
Love the little detail the he does the sign of the cross before an encounter or a mercenaries round adding to his belief and search for redemption and its also very Spanish of him
Hope we get a Luis DLC alongside Ada its obvious he was doing some things behind the scenes at the castle
we did 🙏🙏
The animation on his face when he dies was so crazy. His expressions were just so realistic and so... poignant. The little changes, the subtle movements, it made me a lot more sad about his death.
I was like, "damn, why are his expressions so realistic :'("
Luis was by far my favorite RE character. Shame to see him go. 😢
I think Luis's pained reaction to Leon getting smacked by Mendez is more than just compassion. I think it's guilt. He knows that Leon is about to be infected with the Las Plagas parasite, the parasite HE helped develop, which means that Luis is watching yet ANOTHER person become a victim to his work. And despite the confident, flippant front he puts on, he does care about the harm he's caused, which leads into his Don Quixote quest to redeem himself.
And I do think Luis is aware of how ridiculous his quest is. Maybe he does think he can shmooze his way out of the situation alive, but I think deep down he is cynical enough to realize that he probably won't, and that his desired goal of redeeming himself is next to impossible - but he's going to try anyways.
You could be right about it being guilt, because he helped developed the virus and he does the silly quest thing to hide himself from saying he’ll probably fail, he wanted to try because even though he thinks he’s gonna fail, he wanted to at least try to help Leon save Ashley.
I just noticed, watching your video, that Leon's "Hope you like thrill rides" to Ashley was a callback to Luis saying it to Leon and just...good gods, they really did some awesome writing in this game.
When I played OG, Luis' death didn't do much to me. I about cried in the Remake. I felt so sad and devastated that we lost Luis. RIP Luis Sera Navarro. "You were a fine knight, Don Quixote" ....
Also I have to say I love how you used Zelda music for your video
I'm glad you pointed out that it's easy to miss some of the backstory stuff, because I completely missed the fact that the photo and the notes were talking about him. I read the notes and figured they were about some poor unfortunate soul who witnessed the downfall of the village, and possibly to show Mendez' history, rather than be about Luis. I thought they were there to just give some neat flavour text, and focusing on one character can help with that. After all, I got the backstory from Hunnigan, so for the whole game I thought Luis was some guy who worked at Umbrella, then joined Los Illuminados and finally met Leon and tried to do right for once. It was still a compelling story without that, but I totally missed the setup.
Honestly, understanding how family names work in Spain makes piecing it all together easier, to the point I caught on it immediately.
In Spain, women don't take their husband's name. We keep ours, which is a mix of both our parents' family names; traditionally the paternal one first, and the the maternal one.
Luis is a Serra (his father's family name) NAVARRO (his mother's last name). When you find the grandfather's diary explaining his DAUGHTER died from childbirth, and then the photo with "a grandfather and a boy" with "Navarro Family" written on it, you know: that man is a Navarro, his daughter was a Navarro, his son is a Navarro, but because it's his mother's family name, it appears in second place, and there's only a relevant character with Navarro in his name. In fact, he's the only main character whose full Spanish name we get (you can see the old policeman's full name on his plaque as well, but it's irrelevant to the plot.)
I think Luis can be adequately summarised as a more tragic spin on the swashbuckler character archetype. He's got it all: the pirate-ish look, the voice, the panache, the wits, the resourcefulness
“He is an overconfident smooth talker who’s humor belies an inner trauma. He is kind but flawed. He is doomed by his own choices but also redeemed by them. He grew up in tragedy and lived among monsters but in the end he still tried to do the right thing. He dies hoping for the possibility of change. For the possibility of being better but never knowing if that belief was in something true or a quixotic fantasy.” Literally me.
I like how Krauser kills Luis. It’s poetic in the sense of Luis tries to change for the better to atone for his, removing the parasite, sins meanwhile Krauser changes, embracing the parasite, in order to reach his goals.
The foreshadowing used when Luis climbs up the hill to Ada saying “I survived” then immediately slipping.
Chief Mendez himself was an avid photographer, chronicling the growth of his village in pictures up till the arrival of Saddler.
Yeah. Mendez was a very improved character. His boss fight was way harder in the remake.
I cant wait for separate ways DLC, im pretty sure Ada changed through the game thanks to Luis. The did/are doing things that are gonna affect a lot of people, and Luis dies trying to change it. That would also explain her change of heart at the end of the game.
Be nice that the separate ways not only include Ada but maybe what Luis was doing behind the scenes
@@Bowiiihowdy that would be good, because I'm not ready to leave Luis yet. Much as I'm mad about reducing Ada's role in the game.
Spoiler: Separate Ways was godly for a $10 DLC
@@jonahbrown5669eh. It was alright.
Nah, I'm kidding, I expected it to be amazing and it exceeded my expectations hoooooly moly.
Luis being 28 makes sense to me because the game takes place in 2004, and I know this might sound weird, but the more back in time you go, the older younger people look, if that makes any sense
And he's a smoker. That shit can age you quite a bit, and it's easy to assume that he hasn't had the healthiest lifestyle being and orphan from a remote rural town and all...
He needs a shave. That's why Leon looks his age.
Separate ways really proved further that Luis is the best written RE character, from his tragic past, motivations and fun persona, capcom outdid themselves there 👏
What really slapped me in the face was the tremble in his voice as he asked "People can change, right? What do you think?"
Almost like he's afraid of going to hell after he dies.
May just be my religious trauma talking, but it hurt.
He’s afraid of going to hell because he helped the wrong people and he wanted to change himself so he thinks that he’s at least a good person, and he wanted to help Leon and Ashley so he doesn’t want them to die, and he did, he did one good thing, R.I.P Luis Serra.
He does pray/crosses himself before going into battle, at least in Mercenaries.
i just love how they made him actually explain his backstory and his knowledge about plagas, int he orginal he was so vague and kept disappearing to the point you just forget about him, the remake fixed him and made him have more screentime with leon and made his death even more emotional, i also reeally love the tie in with re3 because he was most likely apart of the team that helped create the nemesis in europe, he really is a tragic character cuz of how he did that and contributed to the destruction of raccoon city and how he has to live with those burdens on his shoulders for the rest of his life til death, remake did my boy justice
I’m so glad In remake has both broaden and expanded the role and characterization Luis has better than he was in original resident evil 4
In the Remake Luis was a very compelling, entertaining and helpful character to have around who was desperate for redemption. Even Leon was clearly torn about it despite Luis' background.
It was cool though to see Luis help the others beyond the grave. He wasn't tossed aside and forgotten after his death, you still feel his presence right until the end of the game. Without him Leon and Ashley wouldn't have been able to cure themselves, you get more insight into his character by exploring his labratory and Leon even makes a callback to him right at the end by asking Ashley if she 'likes thrill rides'. Luis certainly redeemed himself.
I was gutted about his death and wish he'd survived, but Capcom handled it very well. Still gutted. It’s about time they finally made him playable in Mercenaries mode unlike the OG.
There is a HUGE chance Luis will return in Code Veronica remake.
This was a splendid breakdown of a memorable, but initially overlooked character in the franchise.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's my turn to break down because that death scene had all the feels.
As a fellow Luis, I'm just happy they pronounced his name right. Not Louis, Louise, Lewis or Lou
I really hated seeing Luis die all over again in front of my eyes, especially with how much he was improved in the remake. However, it’s a bittersweet ending for him because if he didn’t die, then the tragedy of his character wouldn’t exist, removing all purpose of his character. He definitely stole every scene he was in and I’m happy to see his improved character.
For some reason, I feel so bad leaving him where he dies.
Learning Spanish in school: ❌
Learning Spanish by translating phrases the villagers say: ✔
When he died I was so sad, and I was ready to throw hands with Krauser. I love this remake so much, but I still like the original hoping for an re5 remake next!
An almost hour long video on the absolute king that is Luis? I'm bestowing this video the highest honour I can afford: watching it while eating spicy ramen on my bed while it rains outside
Gonna be that person - Luis is so frickin' hot in the remake. Not just physically but his overall personality and tragic story make him so attractive. I went back to watch the original and I actually hated him in that version - especially after that "ballistics" line. Luis in the remake is sweet and goofy, and definitely more charming with that little smirk and "Encantado".
PS - you left out my favorite part, when Leon tells Luis he was a "fine knight, Don Quixote" 😢
Por qué que su pasado sea trágico lo hace ver atractivo para tí? JAJAJAJ, medicate
I'm so glad this review of Luis is done so well, especially since this beautiful man is my favorite character other than Ashley in this remake! They did him justice in this remake and made him less of a childish or juvenile character than in the original.
They really helped with his character development, and honestly, you explaining about him here does him even more justice.
Fun fact. Europe Lab team 6 is the same team listed as creating NEMESIS in the RE3R collectible Files.
So yeah we HAVE fought his creations before.
Quite Extensively…
Don Quixote de la Mancha had a big impact in my youth and got me into books since a young age, made Luis particularly charismatic to me
Voice actor is awesome too. Andrew Pena
I hadn't played the original game and waited the years to play this one. Luis easily became my favorite character and I think that is mostly due to the mystery and easy-going nature he had. Just going through the game I grew to appreciate his depth a lot more. Seeing the comparisons you made on the original RE4, I don't think I would have liked him the same so I'm glad they were able to rewrite his story in a more positive and fulfilling light.
Yeah, but the tradeoff is the villains overall are actually worse. Sure Krauser got more characterization... buuuut it misses Salazar's and Saddler's banter with leon through his comms system and nothing really changed about mendez despite being a kind man before the events of the remake.
I want him back so much ngl. I feel like he kinda does deserve a chance to redeem himself. I know some people would frown at the prospect of him surviving death but like... I'd love that xD
He is my new all time fav character.
Love Luis, and I appreciated that the email between Luis and Ada establishes the “you got a smoke?” Question as a code phrase identifying the wesker contact. So when leon doesn’t respond appropriately he know he is unrelated to wesker.
The fact that the last sense that fades away when you die is hearing, i bet Luis would heard Leon calling him a fine knight.
The remakes (2 and 4) seem to be making a priority of taking their story Seriously. I have high hopes for 5 and 6 remakes if they ever happen because I want to see their stories be told Well, I want to see the characters be written with the dignity and passion they truly deserve. It's wonderful to see a series of goofy games about zombies become a coherent narrative about loss, destruction, trauma, trust and hope. Capcom has revived.
I love Luis’ character so much! I wish we could’ve seen him more! I hope we get some sort of DLC with him like a separate ways styled one like Ada’s where you play as him throughout the game, or something involving his past. People have also suggested the what if scenario like in RE 2 remake where the person actually lives and you play as them escaping from the location, I was thinking that could also be done instead of the Ada missionary mode from the og for Luis where he escapes the island with the plaga a little before the events of the game take place.
Luis was awesome. I wanted that mine cart section to never end. You were a real knight, Don Quixote 😢
This post was made by Broomhandle Gang!
You made a mistake here concerning Luis' character in the original. He's actually a researcher in the original too, and was one of the head scientists in the Los Illuminados.
He built the machine that removes the las plagas, and he also developed the plaga suppressants.
The remake makes Luis a more compelling character and I love it.
5:20 Being kidnapped and tied up by an old friend of him and his granddad probably got to him.
Tbt that *was* an old friend. Now Mendez is just an almost mindless extension of Saddler. That kind, self taught village chief is long gone 😢
@@MMinz26 yeah, there are files saying Mendez really cared about the people, even teaching the kids
@@joaolima7131 He also used to treat a different village family to a meal and hear their burdens.
He also has an old camera in his attic, implying that he once took in photography as a hobby aside from the chief/church work. Sad 😔
You were a fine knight Don Quixote.
Oh bud, there’s actually a major plot point tying Re3 remake with 4 here. That Umbrella team Luis was a part of made Nemesis. No joke. There was a file I saw of the NE-Alpha parasite being genetically engineered to mimic traits of the plaga parasite from Los Illuminados folklore. That specific umbrella team in the picture also provided drugs to stabilize the parasite. This gives his death WAY more weight than I originally thought. Had he lived to be picked up by Ada with the Amber, events of Re5 would have been very different. You see, the NE-Alpha parasite didn’t just create Nemesis, but the G-virus as well, thanks to the parasite being injected into Lisa Trevor, a progenitor virus test subject Birkin and Wesker had been testing viruses on for years. Wesker literally was very close to potentially recreating the G-virus had Luis not been killed by Krauser. Sure, Luis probably wouldn’t have worked with Wesker willingly, but Wesker is quite persuasive without the need of a parasite. He’d of probably got all the information of the NE-Alpha and plaga parasites Luis possessed before killing him. In short, though Luis’s passing is tragic, it was also an unexpected blessing for the world.
The relation between Luis and Quixote, i figured it was more along the lines of Him realizing their similarities, 2 "lower" individuals trying to be greater, and Luis learned from Quixote's hubris of thinking himself invincible, thats why he weasels his way in and out of things rather than going hands on, JAT.
Luis was certainly a memorable and fun character, I did feel legit bad when he died even though I knew it was coming. His banter with Leon during the mine sections was pretty fun.
The back is the closest to the heart the knife doesn't even have to be that big maybe an inch or two as long as it clears the rib cage to get to it and judging by how that was buried nearly to the hilt his wound was very much lethal it's in fact surprising he lived that long he would have bled out in seconds however given the fact that he was pretty calm as he died he probably bled out slower the cigarette probably even helped to steady his nerves buying him more time which I think adds even more to his death than just bladed hentai Spike through the chest the size of somebody's fist and somehow him living long enough to say or do anything other than gurgling on his blood as it fills his lungs for a grand total of 1 second at least this death was very much real and it makes sense as to why he lived a little longer to help in his last moments
I'm pretty sure died of blood loss and a collapsed lung, he was lying there, bleeding, struggling to breathe for several minutes while Leon fights Krauser.
you severely overestimate how hard it is to kill a human
@@09spidy that could also be a possibility although now I'm picturing the smoke trail leaving the knife wound and that's kind of hilarious
Oh come now, you didn't need to edit out your mistake it created an interesting discussion and now it doesn't have any context.
I really really liked him so much. Probably a little extra because I'm spanish and Louis reminded me of one of my cousins in the way he spoke, his mannerisms, his attitude. Oh man ... I get so sad just thinking about him.
Luis is probably the most best anti-hero I've ever seen.
1 minute in and i cried at his death scene. really shows how his writing was just brilliant.
Leon and Luis make a really cool, and fun team, in my opinion. They kicked so much ass making this remake! Very grateful
This game was such a masterpiece man, I remember the first time I met Luis and I was like "The hell's this guy" and I never trusted him, I thought that at one point he would betray us or something like that and I was pretty much 100% sure that it would happen.
But it shocked me and I felt it really deeply once he felt like a bro and just died, made me cry ngl
A thing I noticed about Luis Serra's design choice is his leather vest; the dark-toned, finely embroidered pattern is in contrast with the rest being brown in colour, and the darker parts are located around his heart, around the scar on his chest. The rest of his clothing speaks Luis Serra's good and natural nature. The darker tones can be interpreted as both of his mistakes and of his affiliations with the Umbrella corporation by choice, tainting himself, and, along the way, imagines himself being the fairy tale hero which the embroidery represents. He managed to stop the spreading enough to be himself but it still encapsulated his entire heart.
Even the clothing of the characters are speaking their story, the developers and designers really went out of their way to make such elaborate and multilayered story-telling, and I haven't played any of the Resident Evil games due to me being a scaredy cat of zombies but I love the stories told from them.
Hey just quick mention
Hispanics that have two surnames, the first belongs to the father and the second belongs to the mother. So that photo being the Navarro family. The grandfather he's staying with is on his mother's side.
I wonder where his father went
Everything you summed up in this video is exactly how I felt while playing! Great job on showcasing the little details and nuances to his character this time round!
"People can change, right?"
He said w/ his last 5 seconds of life.
It is never too late to change, to be better.
Fable taught me that, this reaffirms it 😢😊
Luis Serra aka Don Quixote might be a flawed man, who did some shady things. But at his core, he was good man, who died a warrior’s death.
Also kind of wishing the Collector's edition came with like maybe a replica of Luis's Lighter or the Key to his Lab. You know something extra to spice things up a little.
People are hyping over Leon (me too, tbh) but Luis?????? I've said this in other RE4R-related yt videos and I'll say it again: if I could trade the whole plot for Luis' life, I'd do it. Let my man live and do more good stuff for the world 😭
Luis being one of the scientists who worked on Nemesis is such a fantastic way to tie the story to the last games
I cried when Ashley said "For Luis"
Like.... baby please 😭😭
Glad to see an analysis on Luis.
Dude these videos are so damn good. You have an incredible eye for detail. I hope you branch out into more nostalgic territory like silent hill and individual bioshock characters. Wonderful work, my guy.
As an artist who recently ran out of video essays to listen to, your videos are an absolute godsend. Your points are really well thought out and they are perfect for me to draw to! Keep up the great work :)
This is genuinely one of the greatest character overviews I have ever seen of all time thank you for making this
A beautiful video for a beautiful character, thank you for your hard work putting this together!
Great video, as always, Brett!
Quick question:
Will you also do a video on Leon himself? I think there is a bit to talk about, ESPECIALLY after that scene in Chapter 15 where you eliminate the plagas and Leon says "This time... It has to be different". That scene stood out very much and I'd love to hear you talk about it
The "doomed hero" point of view has another meta layer, with this being the remake of the original game, we all knew upon meeting him his fate, engaging in it despite us knowing the ending before it started, and the developers knew that to build up in the dramatic irony
An amazing essay. I enjoyed listening this. Subscribed.