Louis

"One distinguishing characteristic about Louis is that he represents the 'every day' man."

- Moby Francke, Valve. "Well, it can only get better, right?"

- Louis

Louis is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead. His original concept was an assistant manager at a local retail electronics chain store, but in the game he is a Junior Systems Analyst at “Franklin Brothers” in the IT department located in Philadelphia PA, until the second day after the first Infection. In official media, he is usually seen wielding a Submachine Gun or dual Pistols.

Louis, along with Bill and Francis, appears in Left 4 Dead 2 in the campaign The Passing as they meet with the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors. In The Sacrifice comic, Louis damaged his left leg after a Witch attempted to drag him into a yacht full of other Witches prior to Francis' dream in the Sacrifice Comic and is unable to stand on his own. Due to this he mans a Heavy Machine Gun during the campaign's finale. Also in The Sacrifice comic, Louis was bitten by an Infected individual on the arm hard enough to draw blood prior to meeting the other Survivors. However he remains uninfected and although the virus may be spread by saliva, exhalation droplets or body fluids, Louis was either immune or a carrier. Subsequently it is revealed in The Sacrifice comic that Louis is indeed a Carrier who is capable of infecting people who do not possess a natural resistance to the Infection.

Louis' facial features are portrayed by Sean Bennett and he is voiced by Earl Alexander.

Background
Before the Infection, Louis was working as the Junior Systems Analyst at Franklin Brothers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his lunch breaks, he would often visit the shooting range which his co-workers would mock him for doing so. It can also be assumed he also played video games as he has a figurine of the Heavy from Team Fortress 2 on his desk and mentions Counter-Strike when picking up a gun, and makes various references to Half-Life as well as grieving over the lack of an Xbox on the island on the Keys. Two days after the Infection began, he encountered his first Infected in the men's restroom after trying to convince a co-worker that the press was overreacting and everything was still safe. After killing the Infected, he exited the restroom only to find his office in shambles, his co-workers all dead, and the outside world falling to pieces.

Louis is the most well educated of all the Survivors, holding at least one undergraduate degree and an MBA and at some point learning Japanese during an internship in Tokyo, Japan.

Relationships with other Survivors
Louis is the most upbeat Survivor and attempts to keep the group's spirits up, no matter what the situation. Given the life-threatening risks facing the Survivors, this behavior is manifest to such an exaggerated degree that Louis may be displaying the psychological defense known as reaction formation whereby an individual behaves in way that is the direct opposite of how they truly feel. Credible evidence for this can be derived from the fact that before the Infection, Louis was a serious-minded, diligent and ambitious corporate executive.

He is usually optimistic despite the situation that he and his fellow Survivors are in. Sometimes, he is so optimistic and high in spirits that Francis will callously insult Louis.


 * Bill
 * In the game Louis and Bill do not appear to have much of a relationship beyond the bonds of comradeship imposed by the Survivors' dire circumstances. As Louis is a friendly and up-beat person, he will occasionally direct mild banter Bill's way, such as when responds to Bill's complaining about having to climb stairs (Bill has a stiff knee from an old war wound) by cheerfully encouraging Bill with the claim that climbing stairs is good cardio exercise. Louis also wants to go save Bill when he's incapacitated outside the safe room.
 * The Sacrifice comic reveals that Louis and Bill actually get along quite well with Louis teaching the older man how to make Pipe bombs and earning Bill's respect by showing good initiative in combat. Despite Louis' serious leg injuries, Bill does not for one moment contemplate abandoning him and leaving him behind, as he considers Louis to be "one of his own".


 * Francis
 * Francis' dour, self-centered personality is almost diametrically opposite to that of Louis and consequently he appears to be irritated, if not annoyed, by Louis's cheerful, externally focused disposition . For example, in one classic scenario Francis closes down Louis' babbling optimism by referring to him as "Mr Positive". Not surprisingly Louis is more constrained and wary towards to Francis than he is to any other Survivor. Nevertheless the bonds of comradeship evidently transcend this personality mismatch if the time comes to save Francis when he is incapacitated outside a safe room.
 * In The Sacrifice comic Francis's antipathy to Louis is actually more pronounced than is shown in the game and this quality even manifests itself in dangerous situations when it would be reasonable to expect that such inter-personal difference would be shelved. In particular, The Sacrifice comic episodes 3 and 4 are deeply revealing because they show that Francis has a deep-seated low regard for Louis; for example whilst asleep Francis' sub-conscious mind casts Louis away on a deserted island.


 * Zoey
 * Zoey teases Louis throughout the campaigns. In The Passing when Zoey sacrifices herself in The Sacrifice she'll say that he always has a friend.

Behind the Scenes

 * Louis' beta appearance was much different than his current one. Originally, Louis had short curly black hair and a beard, a bandage on his forehead, a tan, long-sleeve shirt, a yellow undershirt, blue jeans, and a bandolier of shotgun shells over his shoulder.
 * Also, Louis was pretty unfriendly with Bill but, like Zoey and Francis' romantic relationship, this was removed in the game's final version. If this is a legacy attribute, it may explain why talk between Louis and Bill is relatively uncommon.
 * Louis was originally set to be the manager of an electronics store. This, along with his outfit, may also be a reference to Shaun of the Dead, as Shaun manages an electronics store and wears a similar uniform.
 * Louis was to be a "narrator" in the cut campaign intros.
 * The cut lines tell us that Louis was holding out with other people before meeting the other Survivors. Judging by his line "Folks I was with before you three wouldn't keep moving. Figured they could wait it out. They couldn't,", they are likely dead or Infected.