How to defeat the El Gigante boss in Resident Evil 4 remake

Taking out the big guy

You can’t have a Resident Evil 4 remake without delivering at least one El Gigante fight: thankfully, 2023’s iteration delivers. Here’s how to take down the El Gigante in the quarry, possibly with a little help from your friend.

Make sure you save the dog first

If you save the dog, he’ll distract the El Gigante during the fight, making your life a lot easier. Note that you can still save the dog in the remake, but it’s going to be in a slightly different spot.

Right as Chapter 3 starts, exit the house and go to the side of it to find the dog. Let it out of the trap and it’ll come back to help you during this El Gigante encounter. We have a full guide on how to save the dog here.

Go in every little house and grab all the supplies you can

When the fight starts El Gigante will slowly make its way toward you, but you have a ton of time at the very beginning of the encounter. Go into each house and clean up everything you can: you’ll need it.

Throwing a grenade right away is another method to stagger El Gigante so you can pick everything up (plus it’ll damage it so the fight is done quicker). Tossing grenades after the El Gigante is done with one of his exaggerated attacks is a surefire way to load up on easy damage.

Hit him until the tentacle comes out of his back

Use your weaponry to fire on El Gigante and aim for the head. Keep some distance, but if he’s close and just missed you, a shotgun will work fine. Then quickly move after 1-2 shots and use your pistol or another weapon with more range (to add some variety to the types of ammo you consume). After damaging him enough a tentacle will appear out of his back, which is your cue to fire on it.

We recommend using the SR M1903 rifle for the tentacle and conserving some of your ammo for the tentacle. You’ll want to hit it to cause critical damage, which will down him. Run up and press the prompt to jump on his back and slice the tentacle (with R2/RT).

Rinse and repeat this process twice to take the El Gigante out. All you need to do is run (farther than you think) to keep his attacks at bay; and given how big the arena is, you aren’t going to have that much of a problem keeping your distance. Loot his body when you defeat him and move on!