Louis

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

- Moby Francke, Valve.

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. Now he is a Junior Systems Analyst in his company's IT department. His clothing resembles the typical business man, but bears a resemblance to Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, who wore a red tie and white shirt. In official media, he is usually seen wielding a submachine gun or dual pistols.

Louis, along with the other Left 4 Dead Survivors will appear in Left 4 Dead 2 in the campaign, The Passing, as they meet with the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors.

Official description
Louis had been working up the courage to quit his job as Junior Systems Analyst at his company's IT department when a virus showed up and downsized the world. Now Louis has a new set of goals (live long enough to succeed) and a new set of tools (guns, sharp objects) to help him achieve them. With any luck, he'll figure out how the new management operates before they get a chance to murder him.

Relationships with other Survivors
Louis is perhaps the most upbeat Survivor and attempts to keep the group's spirit's up.


 * Bill: Louis and Bill do not have much evidence hinting towards each other's relationships. Louis does seem to like Bill however, he will cheerfully tell Bill stairs are good for his cardio when Bill complains about them and wants to go save Bill when he's incapacitated outside the safe room. ("Bill! C'mon guys, let's go help 'im")
 * Francis: Francis appears to get annoyed by Louis's cheerful disposition. ("Hey Mr. Positive! We just crashed! You got somethin' positive to say about that?") And Louis is perhaps the more hostile to Francis than he is to any other survivor (which isn't saying much) but is still willing to save Francis when he is down outside a saferoom. ("C'mon, aren't we gonna help him?")
 * Zoey: Something between Zoey and Louis seems apparent by the way they treat each other. Zoey teases Louis throughout the campaigns, ("Hey Louis, all of these cubicles make you homesick?","Louis, your row isn't boarding yet." ) and even flirts with him from time to time ("Louis... You'd look good in one of those hospital gowns.") Louis's optimism seems to be appreciated by Zoey ("You're an optimist, I'll give you that, Louis.") and they both become saddened when the other dies ("Goddammit, Zoey, wake up!" and "Louis! Oh God, I'm gonna miss you!" respectively). Either on purpose or by a small chance, Louis and Zoey have been placed by each other in all six campaign posters.

Quotes and Captions
"See: Louis/Quotes and Captions"



Trivia

 * Louis' original backstory had him as the manager of an electronics store before the outbreak, but this was changed partway through development. He also appeared to be pretty rich, judging by one of his cut lines("Damn, I had a really nice 401K!").
 * In the original version, Louis was pretty unfriendly with Bill. Same way as Zoey and Francis' romantic relationship, it was cut. This may explain why they do not talk to each other much.
 * Louis appeared to be a "narrator" in the cut campaign intros, alongside Bill.
 * The cut lines, once again, 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 movin'. Figured they could wait it out. They couldn't."), they are likely dead or infected.
 * Louis seems to have a very large knowledge of the sewer system in No Mercy, and is even able to determine when they are under the hospital. He may have worked with city construction records or at a sanitation plant before the outbreak.
 * Next to Ellis, Louis is the only character who mentions anyone but himself and the other survivors, referring to "The guys at the office," who thought it was funny when Louis went to a rifle range on his lunch break.
 * One of Louis' lines mentions Counter-Strike upon picking up a Submachine Gun ( "Oh, MAN! This is just like Counter-Strike!" ); a highly successful franchise also developed by Valve.
 * Despite his background, Louis appears to be very knowledgeable (and enthusiastic) about firearms. He revealed that he often frequented a rifle range during his lunch breaks prior to the Infection. Also, in addition to his above-mentioned quote when encountering a submachine gun, he reacts similarly gleeful when seeing a minigun ( "Now this is a big-ass machine gun!" ).
 * His quote involving, "I ain't got time to bleed," is a reference to the same quotation of Jesse Ventura Predator, and also refers to Duke Nukem 64/3D.
 * Louis' comments involving pills have become something of an ever-popular internet phenomeon, usually portraying him as being extremely obsessed with or even addicted to them.
 * In the very first trailer of Left 4 Dead, Louis is killed by falling from the roof. It is possible that he was punched by a common infected shown a second before a scene with him falling.
 * In the game files, Louis is called "manager".