The Hook Man was an enemy found in the 2003 Resident Evil 4 Hallucination build, which was later scrapped and replaced with the final version released in 2005. Little is known about his overral role in the game's narrative besides that he would be an hallucination faced by former Raccoon City Police rookie Leon S. Kennedy (alongside a sort of "living dolls" enemy type) and would first appear crawling out of an paiting. Out of all of the discarted villains of the Resident Evil franchise, the Hook Man is perphaps one of the most memorable.
Gameplay[]
From what can be seen in the E3 demo for the Hallucination build of Resident Evil 4, the Hook Man would have short ranged teleportation. To him fight off, the player would have to take action on quick time events. It remains currently unknown how much damage the Hook Man would inflige upon the player (with possibility of one hit kill) or even if he would act like Dr. Salvador from the final game and remain threating the player through various points around the game. He appears out of a painting, indicating that maybe he could use paintings througout the game as means of transportation.
Story[]
As a script was unfinishied by the time the E3 demo was shown, it remains unknown how the Hook Man would factor into the story. However, he first appears crawling out of a painting. Considering that the plot thread of Leon being infected with a virus remained from the previous "Castle" build of the game and made it to the final version, it's possible that the Hook Man hallucination is caused by such virus.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- As many fans pointed out, Leon wears the same jacket from the E3 demo in the announcement trailer for the 2023 remake. This has since led to many fan theories and claimed "leaks" that the Hook Man would also be brought from the E3 demo into the remake like Leon's jacket, as said game is confirmed to be an horror-focused reimagining instead of just a remake. Until futher confirmation, however, the Hook Man remains unpublished.
- His apperance, as seen in the "thank you for playing" concept art from the biohazard 4 trial, seems very similar to the Painting Lady form of It, from the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's IT. Not only that, but both crawl out of paintings. However, it remains unknown and highly unlikely (yet not impossible) that there is some inspiration in It's form to the Hook Man.
- With the announcement of a remake of Resident Evil 4 coming in 2023, there has been heavy speculation that he will make his debut in said game.