100 Things You Never Knew About Resident Evil
43. The Most Famous Character
Resident Evil might have four major protagonists who have had repeat showings but there's a one-time guest star who gets all the love.
The Merchant in RE4 and his gruff, Cockney-ish accent was one of those examples of video game characters that everyone fell in love with instantly. Spawning memes before the word "meme" was even normal nomeclature, The Merchant became one of the most iconic aspects of Leon's excursion around rural Europe. "What're you buyin'", calling the player "strangerrr" and his chuckle have become as synonymous with Resident Evil as the likes of the phrase "master of unlocking".
Village's equivalent The Duke mentions The Merchant, and RE6's Elephant Killer is also a reference to the man asking Leon if he's going to hunt an elephant with the Hand Cannon. But many non-RE games also shout out everyone's favourite shopkeep. Characters in the likes of Nier Automata, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Lego Brick Tales, League of Legends, Bayonetta and so on have given some of The Merchant's lines as dialogue. Borderlands 2 features an achievement called "Waddaya Buyin", whereas Doom Eternal has a store in one level called "Whatcha Sellen".
The love for The Merchant runs deep.