Missed TF Opportunities in RE5

[TF-Viewer]

Originally Posted by Keichan

Uhm, from what we saw in the rest of the game, Excella becoming infected by the Ouroboros would have simply turned her into a shapeless, writhing mass of tentacles.

You're phrasing it as though that isn't exactly what happened when she was infected in the game.

Not everyone who was infected by the Uroborus parasite (not a virus, this thing is a creature that is inserted into a body, not a microorganism) becomes a writhing mass of tentacles though.

[thrandrall]

I'm still a little surprised about las plagas in RE-4.. Apparently they have the capability to drastically increase mass/volume in addition to changing into something else - and while they're still inside normal human bodies.....

Still, interesting enough.

[TF-Viewer]

Originally Posted by thrandrall

I'm still a little surprised about las plagas in RE-4.. Apparently they have the capability to drastically increase mass/volume in addition to changing into something else - and while they're still inside normal human bodies.....

Still, interesting enough.

It doesn't really make sense the way those guys work. Sometimes they're heads explode and huge razor covered worms come out swinging like crazy while their bodies are still walking around. And sometimes these huge flying bugs come out when the host dies.

Then again, I guess it's not supposed to make sense...

[Sutibaru]

Originally Posted by TF-Viewer

It doesn't really make sense the way those guys work. Sometimes they're heads explode and huge razor covered worms come out swinging like crazy while their bodies are still walking around. And sometimes these huge flying bugs come out when the host dies.

Then again, I guess it's not supposed to make sense...

Not to speak some take host in empty suits of armor.

[Cursebearer]

Taken from the Resident Evil Wiki.

Originally Posted by Resident Evil Wiki

Once injected, it blends with the victim's DNA and tries to merge with it, adaptating itself to the host's genetic sequence, potentially giving to its host tremendous capabilities, to the point of artificially forcing its evolution. However such instances are rare in the extreme, and hosts which would reject the virus will become its fodder, quite literally: as a parasitic organism, Uroboros will start devouring any organic matter in its surroundings so as to preserve its existence, eating away at the host body completely and turning its own cellular matter into countless blackish, leech-like pustules.

At least in Excella's case, the virus was not a mutative agent but a devouring one, more like a parasite eating its host from the inside out than a TF. Seriously too bad, Excella is pretty close to an ideal TF victim for me...

[Hermod]

Originally Posted by TF-Viewer

It doesn't really make sense the way those guys work. Sometimes they're heads explode and huge razor covered worms come out swinging like crazy while their bodies are still walking around. And sometimes these huge flying bugs come out when the host dies.

Then again, I guess it's not supposed to make sense...

I thought the explanation for that was that the Razor Worms were immature plaga, the big head eating worms were at an intermediary stage and the Bug plaga were fully matured plaga ready to leave the host and spread the parasite. I only ask because that's how I remember it, but it's been a while since I've played Four.

As for Excella... well it was nice lead up.

[TF-Viewer]

Originally Posted by Hermod

I thought the explanation for that was that the Razor Worms were immature plaga, the big head eating worms were at an intermediary stage and the Bug plaga were fully matured plaga ready to leave the host and spread the parasite. I only ask because that's how I remember it, but it's been a while since I've played Four.

As for Excella... well it was nice lead up.

The part about that though that doesn't make a lick of sense, is how the worm has more body mass than the host did. How did it ever fit inside?
It's at this point you just have to look at it and say "Hey, it's a video game.. they weren't going for realism here.. natural laws be damned." and just keep shooting people in the head.

[dsojourn]

I don't come over here often, but thought I should point out that a bunch of people in the thread seem to confuse Las Plagas with Uroboros. Las Plagas is a parasite, a living organism all of it's own that takes over, and mutates and posseses its host based on random factors and needs. The different forms have nothing to do with the rate of mutation, age, or life-cycle of the Plaga, it's simply the case that different Plaga mutate differently depending on the host. Some just happen to produce the Kipepeos (the flying things in RE:5).

Uroboros on the other hand, is NOT a parasite, its a virus, specifically one created by a synthesis of basically all of the other viruses existing in the storyline to date (T-, G-, T-Veronica, Progenitor, etc., as well as their Plagas research). Despite what someone said above, it will ALWAYS produce a writhing mass of tentacle things regardless of circumstances, except in the small percentage of people, like Wesker, who it adapts to. And he's not the best case, cause his body was already a messy cocktail of this and that. Even amongst the few people it would adapt to, the result would always be different, because it was forcing some sort of mutation based evolution.

[TF-Viewer]

Originally Posted by dsojourn

I don't come over here often, but thought I should point out that a bunch of people in the thread seem to confuse Las Plagas with Uroboros. Las Plagas is a parasite, a living organism all of it's own that takes over, and mutates and posseses its host based on random factors and needs. The different forms have nothing to do with the rate of mutation, age, or life-cycle of the Plaga, it's simply the case that different Plaga mutate differently depending on the host. Some just happen to produce the Kipepeos (the flying things in RE:5).

Uroboros on the other hand, is NOT a parasite, its a virus, specifically one created by a synthesis of basically all of the other viruses existing in the storyline to date (T-, G-, T-Veronica, Progenitor, etc., as well as their Plagas research). Despite what someone said above, it will ALWAYS produce a writhing mass of tentacle things regardless of circumstances, except in the small percentage of people, like Wesker, who it adapts to. And he's not the best case, cause his body was already a messy cocktail of this and that. Even amongst the few people it would adapt to, the result would always be different, because it was forcing some sort of mutation based evolution.

I don't think that's correct. If you recall when Wesker punches open a canister of Uroboros the thing that comes out isn't some liquid or gas full of microscopic viruses. It's a writhing mass of tentacles already, a multi-celled organism, an animal in it's own right. Not a virus or bacteria or germ. They latch onto him, crawl up his body and proceed to be dominated by his will.

So either you're wrong, or everyone is wrong due to the writers not affixing Urboros as any one kind of thing.

The whole thing never made any sense to begin with.

[Sutibaru]

Originally Posted by TF-Viewer

The part about that though that doesn't make a lick of sense, is how the worm has more body mass than the host did. How did it ever fit inside?
It's at this point you just have to look at it and say "Hey, it's a video game.. they weren't going for realism here.. natural laws be damned." and just keep shooting people in the head.

Somehow I think I should mention that the source reference that Capcom took the whole design of those spear las plagas was from a manga depicting alien parasites which both take over and merge with the flesh of a human and then be able to manipulate itself into blades from the head. That also includes Krauser's arm design which appeared in the same series.

I suppose then we can say is that they did not consider the mass of the parasites since they did not come up with the whole design on their own.
It's pretty common for Capcom to borrow concept designs from other sources.

[Cursebearer]

Originally Posted by TF-Viewer

I don't think that's correct. If you recall when Wesker punches open a canister of Uroboros the thing that comes out isn't some liquid or gas full of microscopic viruses. It's a writhing mass of tentacles already, a multi-celled organism, an animal in it's own right. Not a virus or bacteria or germ. They latch onto him, crawl up his body and proceed to be dominated by his will.

So either you're wrong, or everyone is wrong due to the writers not affixing Urboros as any one kind of thing.

The whole thing never made any sense to begin with.

Uroboros is indeed a virus, as is stated many times in the game. Maybe Capcom doesn't realize the exact nature of a virus in real life, but despite clumping itself together in a big living writhing mass, it's still a virus. I believe you can just consider it a huge colony of many very tiny creatures that formed into one oozing mass by 'eating' the flesh of those it's injected into. Rather than a single multi-celled organism, the Uroboros 'monsters' are colonies of the virus sustained by dead flesh.

[TF-Viewer]

Originally Posted by Sutibaru

Somehow I think I should mention that the source reference that Capcom took the whole design of those spear las plagas was from a manga depicting alien parasites which both take over and merge with the flesh of a human and then be able to manipulate itself into blades from the head. That also includes Krauser's arm design which appeared in the same series.

I suppose then we can say is that they did not consider the mass of the parasites since they did not come up with the whole design on their own.
It's pretty common for Capcom to borrow concept designs from other sources.

What manga did the idea originate from?

Originally Posted by Magugag

Uroboros is indeed a virus, as is stated many times in the game. Maybe Capcom doesn't realize the exact nature of a virus in real life, but despite clumping itself together in a big living writhing mass, it's still a virus. I believe you can just consider it a huge colony of many very tiny creatures that formed into one oozing mass by 'eating' the flesh of those it's injected into. Rather than a single multi-celled organism, the Uroboros 'monsters' are colonies of the virus sustained by dead flesh.

No part of that matches with what a virus is. If Capcom called it a virus, it still doesn't mean it is one. It just means that someone at Capcom doesn't know what a virus is. A virus is not a living thing to begin with. Uroboros as we have seen is a living organism that invades, and mutates it's host into an unrecognizable mess. But it doesn't destroy it's host like a virus would. It's a parasite, a highly aggressive one true enough, but not a virus. A virus isn't just another word for microorganism or bug, it's a specific description of the nature and habits of an biological entity. Viruses kill their host, parasites live off their host. It is in the parasite's best interest to not kill it's host. A virus on the other hand simply uses the host's cells as a means to reproduce itself and spread. A virus is considered "non-life", it does not really match the definition of a living thing, it can't reproduce on it's own, and it's essentially a rogue particle of DNA that gets inside another organism and begins making copies of itself by consuming the cells of the host. That is not what the Uroboros does, it instead merges with the host and both continue to live, though the host is impacted very negatively by this arrangement, it's behavior changes, it's body changes, and ultimately it could die from bullet related complications as a result of the merger. But it is still not a virus.

Examples:

Flu = virus
Tapeworm = parasite

Many people often use the term virus to describe anything infectious, but it is really not that simple. Capcom may not have made the distinction because they either:

A. Themselves fall into the group of people who don't realize the misconception
or
B. Realized that it's a commonly accepted definition and 'went with the flow' rather than the actual definition