Osmund Saddler
Much of Saddler’s early background remains a mystery, but he grew up heavily influenced by past teachings of the Los Illuminados, a secretive group that allegedly practiced strange occult religions. It’s also possible Saddler was a descendant of a past member as though the feudal family Salazar had battled the Los Illuminados to the verge of extinction, it is widely accepted the cult survived and that remaining members simply went in hiding, waiting for the right time to emerge once again. That time came in the early 21st Century, when the Salazar dynasty was at its most vulnerable.
Through the study of ancient texts from predecessors chronicling the discovery of the Plagas and their subsequent banishment by the Salazar family, Saddler learnt of the current lord, Ramon, and the parasites still entombed beneath his castle. He visited Salazar and manipulated his fragile personality into believing his ancestors were wrong to banish the Los Illuminados and persuaded him to undo the seal trapping the Plagas beneath the castle. He also promised Salazar a great power in exchange for his help. The young Castellan, just a teenager at the time, was easily manipulated by Saddler’s almost hypnotic persuasion.
With Salazar under his spell, he had the young lord gather workers from the local village to help excavate the Plagas beneath the castle which after all this time had become fossilised inside the rocks. He also built up a relationship with the village chief, Bitorez Mendez, converting him into a follower of the religion and the missionary work he wanted to carry out.
After the Plagas were resurrected, Saddler began a process of manipulation over the village residents by holding sermons at the local church. He managed to convince them that the Los Illuminados were a group with honourable intentions and that the first Lord Salazar had gotten in the way of their good deeds. By banishing the Illuminados all those years ago, he had left a tarnished legacy and now the time had come for the village to cleanse themselves of this sin. In order to do this, they had to be injected with sacred blood which unknown to them was a Subordinate Plaga parasite. One by one, the villagers turned and willingly took this gift into their bodies. Saddler forced them to build a massive facility on a remote island for research and this was only the first step in a plan to realise his dream of using this awesome power to take control of the world.
He also employed a local researcher called Luis Sera who held a deep fascination with the parasites. Sera’s work was invaluable in understanding the biology of Las Plagas and the Dominant Strain Plaga was soon created, followed by several primitive but effective B.O.W.s. A team of mercenaries were hired to guard and protect the island facility and these guards were also injected with Subordinate Plagas, ensuring their absolute obedience at all times. Saddler’s trusted lieutenants; Salazar and Mendez were given Dominant Strain Plagas after swearing their absolute fealty to Saddler. This meant that Mendez could control the village Ganados, Salazar the cultists residing in his castle, and Saddler the researchers and forces on the island.
As his power grew, Saddler began to set forth his plans using the parasite he called the power of the Los Illuminados. He held a deep hatred for America and their arrogance and self-belief that they could police the world as they saw fit. He planned to use the Plaga to gain control from within, seizing power in US Government, the military and large and influential corporations. He also needed an extortionate amount of money to keep his research going and wanted to acquire an important world figure as a hostage to secure this finance.
Saddler was an imposing man with a hypnotic stare and wore a long purple cloak with golden crests to symbolise his status as cult leader. It also helped conceal a mutated tentacle with a sharp blade mounted at the end used for self-protection. He also carried a Plaga encrusted cane and researchers from the rival company had theorised this ceremonial staff may have contributed towards his control of other subjects as it was believed the Plagas could sense ultrasonic sound waves in a similar principle to a dog whistle.
Around this time, the rival Company had learnt of the Plaga and the village and cult were under observation by Albert Wesker. He sent in Jack Krauser to infiltrate the Los Illuminados and acquire a Dominant Plaga sample. But despite being impressed with Krauser’s combat skills, Saddler distrusted him due to his American nationality and military background fighting for his country. However, he recognised his skills and Krauser was injected with a Dominant Plaga. Despite his absolute loyalty to Wesker, Krauser was hypnotised by the power of the Las Plagas.
By now, Saddler’s plan was finalised and his kidnap target was the U.S. President’s daughter, Ashley Graham. In order to buy trust, Jack Krauser carried out the kidnapping and brought her back to South Europe. Saddler planned to inject her with a subordinate parasite and return her to the U.S. once he had received his ransom money. By then the Plaga egg would have hatched and he could control her at will, spreading the parasites all around the inner circle of the Presidential cabinet. He also prepared a personal invasion fleet and had somehow acquired a war ship ready for his army of Ganados to sail to America when the time was right.
When Leon S. Kennedy was dispatched to Southern Europe to locate Ashley, Saddler had him captured and injected with a Subordinate Plaga. He also personally went to Salazar’s castle and killed Luis Sera after he betrayed him and stole a Dominant Plaga sample he planned to hand over to Ada Wong in return for protection. After that, he returned to his island and ordered Krauser to take care of Leon after both Mendez and Salazar had failed. But when Krauser also failed, Saddler personally ensured Leon’s rescue helicopter was destroyed and then captured and subdued Ada Wong, holding her captive to try and flush Leon out so he could finally get rid of this constant thorn in his side. Until now, Saddler had let Leon live, having been impressed with his survival skills and planned to make him his personal bodyguard once the Plaga inside him took hold.
However, his plan finally unraveled when Leon and Ashley located Luis’ Plaga removal machine and managed to destroy the parasites inside their bodies before they reached full maturity, ending Saddler’s hold over them. Enraged that his plan was failing, Saddler trigged his full mutation and transformed into a massive spider creature. Countless tentacles and four crab-like legs emerged from his head, leaving his body little more than a shredded husk. He was eventually destroyed when Leon shot him with a rocket launcher thrown down by Ada.
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