Krauser - Las Plagas Or No?

[Becky's Butt]

I'm recycling this old debate because it recently came up again on another board and I want to see what people here think at the moment.

Here's my argument for him not having the Plaga.

Osmund Saddler: Replacing that loss will not come easy. I must choose wisely; for the Plaga reflects the conscience of their hosts. If chosen poorly, they could betray me.

I need men who will swear their allegiance to me.

I've learned my lesson when Sera betrayed me. I will not make the same mistake again.

He then says to Leon "I was contemplating how to get rid of [Krauser]" and "Do you really think I'd trust an American?"
(least I think those were the lines)

Saddler, who controls all Plaga, would obviously not hav ea problem disposing of someone who has it nor would he give one to a person he hasn't trusted at all since the start.

To continue:
Ada says " can deal with that arm of his". If the arm was a Plaga mutation she wouldn't know as she'd have no clue how it worked.
We know he worked with Wesker so it's very possible he gained a virus from him for his enhancement.
All Plaga mutation was extreme. Saddler's head ripped off into a giant pair of spider legs, Mendez turned into...whatever he was and Salazar merged with a plant. Nothing as simple as a single arm turning into a blade/shield.

The only thing even vaguely supporting Krauser having Las Plagas is "No doubt Krauser has already fallen to the temptation of Las Plagas and the power they represent."

For starters, she's guessing. She's making what she thinks is a right guess but it's still not proven.
Second, the power they represent? Las Plagas has a lot of power in a lot of different areas. It doesn't have to be physical enhancement.

So those are my thoughts. How about you?

[Bertha]

I didn't think Krauser was infected with plagas...he would have turned Ada over the moment he had the chance. He didn't try to kill her until AFTER she acted against orders and spared Leon. And Ada would not have known about his arm's mutation unless it had happened before Spain. Krauser's infection was probably something a bit different...but since the developers really didn't put much effort into making the monsters and mutations look very different....*shrug* Sadly I doubt we'll see any more of Krauser, so it'll probably never be answered.

[-Evil Shady-]

Altough I think Krauser's arm is Las Plagas, I agree with what was said by Rosetta Mist.... but, we actually don't know how long Saddler and the Los Illuminados has been around, so maybe it happened before the whole Ashley affair started....
His arm is a characteristic Plaga, with the blades and the color tones.....

Some people think Krauser is alive. I think it was left in the open in Leon's game, but they made Ada finish him off in Separate Ways. With the series trying to continue thew pre-RE4 plot, I don't think he's coming back

[Becky's Butt]

It can't continue the pre-RE4 plot as the plot of RE4 was about Wesker...same as 1, 2 and CVX. Well after the retcons that's how it is. And since Wesker is in RE5, RE5 will continue where RE4 left off with Wesker doing his thing.

Also remember Krauser's Mercenary ending showing him away from the island when it explodes IIRC.

[Bertha]

It can't continue the pre-RE4 plot as the plot of RE4 was about Wesker...same as 1, 2 and CVX. Well after the retcons that's how it is. And since Wesker is in RE5, RE5 will continue where RE4 left off with Wesker doing his thing.

Also remember Krauser's Mercenary ending showing him away from the island when it explodes IIRC.

That...doesn't necessarily mean anything. In RE3 you can play the Mercs as Mikhail...and we all know he dies.

His arm is a characteristic Plaga, with the blades and the color tones.....

While I agree they look alike...it goes back to what I said about the developers not really putting any thought or detail into his transformation. However...it very well may be plagas. Krauser had to have been affiliated with Saddler long enough to "win his trust" by kidnapping Ashley. Though we know Saddler really didn't trust him, that gives us a vague time frame of Krauser at least being a henchman to the cult for a little while.

If Krauser was alive, being in RE5 would be...interesting to say the least since he was Wesker's minion as well.

[Becky's Butt]

Nah. He'll be back in RE7 when we play as Leon again.
He'll have been transformed into a cyborg ninja!

That...doesn't necessarily mean anything. In RE3 you can play the Mercs as Mikhail...and we all know he dies.

Anything is possible was all I'm saying. His mercs ending could be seen as a hint for all we know at the moment.

[JcFFx]

Also remember Krauser's Mercenary ending showing him away from the island when it explodes IIRC.

Results screens don't mean anything.

And the full picture's on this site. He's still on the island (and not scarred...)

http://the-horror.com/imagedisplay.php?img=features/bhi/images/jpg/11.jpg

[Darkmoon]

I always assumed he had Las Plagas. For a start...there's no mention that he has something else. Surely if they gave him a virus or something different to Las Plagas they'd feel it was a plot point worth mentioning? RE4 may be light on plot but I think that would have been too important to leave out.

Secondly, Las Plagas can control the host. That's the whole point of getting Ashley to infect her father. We see it with Leon and Ashley. Hell, there was even talk of Leon being turned into a bodyguard, if I remember, which shows how much faith they had in the control process. Luis probably broke it's control before it was mature, since I'm pretty sure he mentions you have to remove it before it matures. Krasuer probably didn't.

Now, if as is claimed Las Plagas controls people, why wouldn't Saddler give one to Krasuer to control him? Surely he'd be easier to control with a mind controlling parasite in him?

As to why Krasuer wasn't trusted...well, he was working for Wesker. Maybe Saddler was concerned that Wesker could break the control, or was still somehow monitoring Saddler. Maybe Krasuer was strong enough of will to be able to remain loyal to Wesker and report to him when Saddler wasn't giving him direct orders. Or maybe Saddler was simply racist and didn't trust an America who'd gone rogue and now he'd served his purpose wanted rid of him.

As for how Ada knew about Krasuer's arm...how long has he had it while leaking information to Wesker? If it's been a while and Wesker passed the information to Ada it's not really all that surprising, is it?

The main issue with Krasuer having Las Plagas is the free will he shows. Both Leon and Ashely, as well as the Ganados, show a distinct lack of free will when the control of Las Plagas is exerted. On the other hand, some of the creatures like El Gigante show a distinct lack of control, killing off there own allies. And some folk, like Mendez, don't seem to be drones but rather have free will and a distinct loyalty to Saddler. it's possible Krasuer was allowed free will for some reason, possibly to allow him to do his duties and use his skills without having to be ordered each time. The average Ganado is not bright.

That's what I think, really. If Saddler didn't trust Krasuer it makes no sense for him not to infect Krasuer with Las Plagas, a way to control people he wants to dominate. And since Krasuer was after Plagas it makes no sense for him to refuse it.

[Mr_Zombie]

But that's the main problem. If Saddler infected Krauser with Las Plagas because he didn't trust him, then why does Krauser still have the free will?

[JcFFx]

But that's the main problem. If Saddler infected Krauser with Las Plagas because he didn't trust him, then why does Krauser still have the free will?

Referring to the first post of the topic (and also one of the RE4 files)

[...]"Replacing that loss will not come easy. I must choose wisely; for the Plaga reflects the conscience of their hosts. If chosen poorly, they could betray me."

That said, maybe it also depends on the type of plagas. Salazar and Mendez seemed to have their will very much intact (Hell Mendez openly questioned Saddler's motives in one of the files, IIRC), and they don't have head-popping plagas like the commoners did.

Saddler's a moron. Almost as big as a moron as Kendo. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he gave Krauser a super-special-awesome plagas and then went "oh crap, maybe I shouldn't have done that" 10 minutes later.

[Bertha]

Results screens don't mean anything.

And the full picture's on this site. He's still on the island (and not scarred...)
http://the-horror.com/imagedisplay.p...ges/jpg/11.jpg

That's of the ruins being destroyed, not the entire island. You can see the water way back in the background and the tall, stone pillars in the front a bit.

@Darkmoon
Very good thought. However, I don't think Krauser was infected. As we all know, Capcom doesn't exactly explain the backstories to some of their characters. Krauser is one of them. We DO know Krauser faked his death via some sort of crash before RE4. I would assume that was when he 'defected' to fully devote his time to Umbrella. Krauser was a peon. Strength of will or not, he would have succombed to the plaga had he been with Saddler for any great deal of time.

Ada obviously had time enough to study Krauser's arm. Even if a person had a strong will against the plagas, it wouldn't have mattered. A plaga hatched and took over its host in a short time. Krauser would have had moments where he was completely under Saddler's control, and therefore would have spilled his guts about Wesker and Umbrella, not to mention kill Ada. One of the reports mentions that if she were seen she needed to be killed off.

I really don't think it matters either way. He's dead and unless he shows up in any of the future games, I doubt his past is ever going to be fully disclosed.

[Becky's Butt]

Saddler's a moron. Almost as big as a moron as Kendo.

Compared to Umbrella, Saddler is a genius. How many outbreakd did Umbrella have? The only person who infiltrated Saddler's compound were super-agents while Umbrella has their labs snuck into by college girls. They also leave their labs in the hands of total lunatic ssuch as Vincent Goldman, James Marcus and William Birkin. What could go wrong there I wonder.....

As for how Ada knew about Krasuer's arm...how long has he had it while leaking information to Wesker? If it's been a while and Wesker passed the information to Ada it's not really all that surprising, is it?

Except Krauser's arm isn't a reversible mutation in canon as far as we know. She couldn't have data on his arm if it hadn't ever been used before.

[Archelon]

The Plagas Removal Laser kills Krauser with just a flash, for what it's worth.

Also, we know from Ada's Report that the parasites themselves did not control their hosts. Saddler controlled them using his special staff that emitted a frequency the parasites were sensitive to. Whenever we see Krauser and Saddler together, Saddler doesn't have his staff. If Ada and the Organization knew about the staff, it's not unreasonable to assume Krauser did, too. As soon as he got injected with the plaga, he'd just high tail it out of the range of Saddler's staff.

Ada's Report also seems to imply that Ashley had been missing for at least a month. At some point during that time, the Organization got ahold of a tissue sample of a plaga, which is how they arrived at their theory regarding Saddler's staff. We know Wesker was keeping tabs on Krauser, and Krauser may have even been reporting back to Wesker directly.

It's possible, and this is a stretch, admittedly, that the tissue sample the Organization got their hands on was from Krauser himself. Assuming Krauser's arm worked like it did in Mercenaries, Krauser could have demonstrated the power of Las Plagas to Wesker, Ada, and the rest of the Organization by transforming his arm for them. Maybe even taking part in a few "tests," as mentioned in Ada's Report.

However, upon seeing the power Krauser now possessed, Wesker may have feared Krauser would switch sides and join Saddler's cult, or at least attempt a coup within the Organization. Thus, Wesker sent Ada in to spy on Krauser. This would explain how Ada already knew about Krauser's arm prior to the events of RE4.

It's a tenuous explanation at best, but I think it works for the most part.

[Dot50Cal]

"Now, if as is claimed Las Plagas controls people, why wouldn't Saddler give one to Krasuer to control him? Surely he'd be easier to control with a mind controlling parasite in him?"

People of strong will can break the control, apparently. At least, I recall reading that somewhere. Actually, now that I think about it, Salazar says something to this effect, about being in complete control (though that was due to his genetics).

"That's of the ruins being destroyed, not the entire island. You can see the water way back in the background and the tall, stone pillars in the front a bit."

Yep, I was going to mention this too. Anyway, Separate Ways fixes this. He survived that explosion, but Ada kills him on the roof area.

Archelon, I like your theory the best. I was initially going to chalk it up to just a common art style they went with, but perhaps you are right. I doubt we'll ever get a proper explanation, though.

[Becky's Butt]

Also, we know from Ada's Report that the parasites themselves did not control their hosts. Saddler controlled them using his special staff that emitted a frequency the parasites were sensitive to. Whenever we see Krauser and Saddler together, Saddler doesn't have his staff. If Ada and the Organization knew about the staff, it's not unreasonable to assume Krauser did, too. As soon as he got injected with the plaga, he'd just high tail it out of the range of Saddler's staff.

Who says there is a range? Saddler controlled every Plaga-infected person on the island so why whould Krauser be the only one not in range?

It's possible, and this is a stretch, admittedly, that the tissue sample the Organization got their hands on was from Krauser himself. Assuming Krauser's arm worked like it did in Mercenaries, Krauser could have demonstrated the power of Las Plagas to Wesker, Ada, and the rest of the Organization by transforming his arm for them. Maybe even taking part in a few "tests," as mentioned in Ada's Report.

Lik eI said in the OP, Ada was just guessing with Krauser having Las Plagas. If he had actually shown everyone he had it, she wouldn't phrase it like 'I have no doubt" as if she's making an educated guess.

People of strong will can break the control, apparently. At least, I recall reading that somewhere. Actually, now that I think about it, Salazar says something to this effect, about being in complete control (though that was due to his genetics).

I'd say Leon has a strong will and he was controlled once and rendereded immobile a few other times.