Okay, I will preface this by saying this all won’t be 100% medicall accurate because we get way too little information for that in the game. And it is Resident Evil, so I will take my sweet ass right to be a little fudgy with how this works and how he recovers. This game isn’t reality. This game has a magic First Aid spray and healy herbs after all. And spine attaching brain eating parasites.
Krauser plunges that knife into Luis’ back. Several little details happen at once there.
Luis coughs blood almost immediately. Which leads to the assumption that most likely his lung was pierced. Other close candidates would be his oesophagus, but that would have bled more.
His aorta was most likely missed, because that would have resulted in him dying far faster than he did.
The knife is almost perfectly in Luis’ middle at his spine. Almost. I take a bit more of liberty here and say that it is slightly angled to the left of his body. Because if Krauser had really managed to slice his spine and thus spinal cord in half, Luis would not have been able to get up again, like he did.
So in my headcanon that knife got ricocheted from his spine and entered him at an angle to the left.
When it comes to the height of the injury? From eyeballing it and aligning some charts and all, I’d say it would be at vertrebraes T4 or T5. Which means the spinal nerve roots beneath those vertrebrae would be most likely affected alongside the ribs there. Thus making his arms mostly unaffected, but everything beneath his chest? Threatened.
The dorsal (back) root of a spinal nerve is for sensation input, the ventral (front) part for the efferent motoric output.
It’s obvious that Luis can still move after the attack. He even makes it down a whole platform and manages to shoot a knife out of Krauser’s hand. So the damage there can’t be too immediately-ending-it-horrific, not severed instantly and completely.
But we also see Luis soon losing all strength to remain standing. And he stands only with leaning heavily against a crate, plus his left arm isn't used at all. In the end he also loses the strength or coordination to even light a fire for his cigarette with his left hand.
To summarize all this, and because I ignore canon at this point and just say Leon managed to help Luis and make him survive – and then they were rescued from that goddamn island – Luis gets loaded with a ton of healing herbs and that First Aid Spray holds him together.
He is weakened and can barely walk any distances on the island, often takes breaks until they reach his laboratory, where he has some medications that help him, too.
In the end, he gets rescued alongside Leon and Ashley via helicopter.
Already on that flight, they put him under to treat his instability. There surely were some first emergency surgeries happening in Madrid. They did not wake him up afterwards, because he got to go to the USA alongside Leon and Ashley right after that. Washington probably is, where more surgeries happened and Luis found himself groggily waking up in the ICU with an “I lived, bitch” attitude. Though it took him several days to realize that he wasn’t in Spain anymore.
He has the scars on his back, from the knife and from the surgeries.
I will headcanon that at least a small part of Luis’ spine got fused with metal and bolts to stabilize it. So his movement in that part is a little less than before. He has to take pain killers at times, because his spinal nerves still act up.
He occassionally has numbness in his lower left side. He can’t run as fast and far anymore and if he gets tired, his steps become uncoordinated and he is more likely to stumble. His breathing also doesn’t run as deep anymore, he is missing part of his left lung (could be the entire upper lobe of it).
But overall he made a spectacular Resident-Evil-suiting recovery, thanks to Leon probably pulling quite a few strings and favours. Physical therapy was and still is a regular thing for Luis, but he is, as always, optimistic as hell.
Just don’t ask him to run a marathon. Or any kind of race. He won’t.
That is part of why he, even when he joins Leon on his missions for the DSO later, he will be in the background as a sniper and aid. Up close and cozy to the enemies, he would be too much at danger and any hit to his spine probably has devastating consequences.
Revisiting Jill and Wesker's dialogue in RE1 Remake with the hallway scene is sooooo interesting because even though we know Wesker is actively lying and manipulating the situation as needed in both routes, the way he chooses to interact with Jill says a lot about what their working relationship must've been like. With Chris, Wesker is overly curt and gives direct orders. He doesn't make conversation, it's all to the point. Even after the Lisa fight, all he says is he'll remain in the area.
When Jill finds him, Wesker says "So you're safe" (in contrast to how he uses "alive" with Chris, smirking - which is an interesting word difference). Jill isn't afraid to confront him for disappearing (even though he's her superior officer). Wesker actually apologizes for disappearing. Jill is explicitly relieved that he's okay (again, very open and casual, which we see with Barry too). Wesker 'confides' in her about Barry, but mentions that he's unsure about his observations and that he has questions about the area yet to be explored. It's Jill that volunteers to keep an eye on Barry and investigate the area - rather than Wesker giving a direct order. Wesker even encourages her ("I'm counting on you") before leaving.
It's such a small interaction but I think it does say something about their dynamic pre RE1 - it's a lot of back and forth! They approach each other as equals! Wesker doesn't present himself as someone with ultimate authority or even with certainty in that moment, which seems like such an odd way to present himself when he really has no need to. He could approach the encounter as closed off and direct as he does with Chris but he chooses to go about Jill an entirely different way.
I think Jill's route generally gives a better idea of what S.T.A.R.S. was like as a team where she actually gets to interact with Barry and Wesker, and both dynamics add a lot more to the sense of betrayal (Barry being forced to choose between his family and his friends while his life too is in danger, Wesker and Jill feeling more on equal footing vs. the reveal where he mocks her and calls her 'smart girl' and 'dear', Jill realizing that both Wesker and Barry were dangers to her all along).
This is my take on a 38 year old Zeno. A lot of inspiration came from Weskers S.T.A.R.R.S uniform and concept art from the OG Code Veronica concept art.
More ranting on my take of Zeno's backstory and some headcanons under the cut ⬇️
His Origin
Since Albert was officially injected with Progenater at the age of 18 I like to believe Umbrella had there first successful clone that same year. Since he was 1 of 2 of the Wesker children that survived and retained the benefits of the virus since Alex sadly didn't. So because of the injection, it finally allowed the cloning to come to success. But like the Wesker children there was only one successful clone because of the shared DNA. most of the other clones were terminated because they couldn't handle both the virus and the mold co-existing in the same host.
So Zeno was born in 1978, and was kept strictly out of Weskers access and security clearance just in case he became too close to discovering the little clone. Separate facilities were a must.
Upbringing
With Umbrella's downfall The Connections took advantage of this and took the clone to have an "Albert Wesker" of their own. But unlike Wesker he didn't get the luxury of a controlled upbringing that mimicked a normal childhood. The Connections told him exactly who he was and what his purpose was from the get-go. Wesker was the blueprint he HAD to follow or he would be "terminated" or "repurposed".
The Connections put him through strict education and ruthless training. He was educated with advanced classes for his age showing promising results. He was pushed towards a doctorate for virology, but after acquiring the degree he pursued business analytics and global logistics management.
Although most of his early life was spent in laboratories, to retain social intelligence he was allowed to travel outside the facility under strict security and an assigned handler. To the untrained eye he looked as if he traveled with a relative, friend or coworker. Some of these "outings" were required because they were tests or part of his training to meet with allies on the behalf of the connections.
His Training and the Career he's Trapped in
His training consisted of the same martial arts, combat, and weapons training Wesker favored. Zeno hated how naturally it came to him.
He began mentally and physically training as young as 5 years old starting under Umbrella. This was necessary since his powers and abilities developed very early. He continued his training with The Connections. As he approached the age of 20 alongside his current position as an agent he was introduced and assigned to work with a field team. This would mimic weskers time in the military.
As an agent he would shadow his superiors as he was advancing to new positions, this is how he met Dr. Victor Gideon.
In his 20's he slowly adapted into his own person visually, he experimented with his style despite the small disapprovals of the connections. He discovered what he could get away with and what he couldn't. Visually the connections couldn't interject. Reputation and attitude however was a different story.
At this time Zeno grew increasingly more wary and aware of The Connection's plans as a young man. They knew this. To prevent any previous mishaps Umbrella had with Wesker they ensured a kill switch for Zeno. The young man discovered this when he crossed the line more than he was allowed too. To this day he has no idea how it works, and he's not willing to test it (yet).
Instead he resorted to power tripping and manipulation to simulate trust to get closer to freedom.
From 30 years old he had less and less field missions until his last at the age of 38 as he climbed the later of authority. He soon became a high ranking agent at the age of 40 becoming the face of The Connections. We come to the present events of Requiem where he is 48 years old and has been working with Dr. Gideon for roughly 20 years.
Headcanons
Zeno hates doctors offices and the smell of disinfectants because of the labs
He will tell off any new medical staff that attempts to do his medical checks. Staff would have to assign nurses and doctors ahead of time
He too wears sunglasses like Wesker because his eyes are sensitive to light.
His sunglasses aren't prescribed but he does have blue light lenses since a lot of his paper work is digitized.
He got his ear pierced at 18 as his first act of rebellion
He has a code tattooed on the back of his neck that reads ZW78, his initials and the year he was born. He was tagged with it as an identifier when he was born and has had consistent touch ups every 3 years. He HATES it
Through his whole life he was referred to as an asset
He doesn't know a lot of first aid, he doesn't need it due to his abilities and as he had less and less field missions he worked with even less people.
He once got severely injured on the field against a squad with anti-B.O.W weapons that stunted his healing factor. Gideon being one of the most experienced treated him as a patient.
(One of the few times he didn't feel like a tool for The Connections)
He picked up smoking from a fellow agent, who offered him a smoke
Like Wesker he too had a constant anxiety he didn't know the root of, smoking would calm his nerves but the effects would quickly wear off resulting in his chain smoking
The Roads Hill lighter he carries was a gift from Gideon when his personal lighter got lost
Zeno smokes in Gideon's office to piss him off
He is NOT a fan of Emily and the clones, he hates that he feels so strongly for them. Not because of their failure to bring results but because he refused to acknowledge that he could have suffered the same fate
Zeno was the little boy with the black shirt in that photo of Spencer dated 1987, he would have been 9 years old
He has a superiority complex and an inferior complex. Superior because he is physically and intellectually better than any human but inferior because of being seen as an asset and the expectations of Albert Wesker
The mental struggle is real
He was injected with RCS unwillingly. As Zeno and Victor got closer to uncovering elpis the connections grew suspicious of a possible betrayal. To prevent "terminating" a multimillion dollar asset that's still useful they injected him with the promise of a cure if elpis was safely handed over this was his kill switch. (RCS obviously wasn't around in his 20's but Zeno didn't need to know they had a Killswitch to begin with)
Victor and Zeno tried and failed to cure the RCS
Zeno wears his gloves for style and to cover RCS, same goes for long sleeves and turtlenecks
Zeno's constant anxiety comes from the mold he's made out of
He was provided a living space by the connections when he was the age of 20 by the time he was 35 he established a pent house
Spite his elegant appearance in his signature black and white color schemes his pent house is a maxamalist theme
Distinguished brick walls with arched windows that go from floor to sealing with velvet black out curtains for a view in the city he lives in, dark wood furniture and carpets with tasteful patterns in every room. Kitchen with a wood floor and breakfast nook, full set dining room, living room and guest bedroom. A black railed stare case with dark wood steps leading to the second level where his home office and master bedroom are. Living room with a 75in TV and almost every wall decorated with art
This man DESPISES minimalism
Okay that's all for now because that was A LOT
And if you're seeing this thanks for reading to the end!
I tried to keep it as canon compliment as I could, because holy god did Capcom throw us for a loop with him and the timeline.
Shoutouts to characters that don't know the facade isn't their real self. Shoutouts to characters who put up a front so long ago that they have now forgotten it's all an act. Shoutouts to characters who no longer know who they are because they think they're being sincere. Shoutouts to performers so good they fool even themselves. Shoutouts to characters who fall for their own lies.
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