Knife

The Knife is a starting weapon that the player begins the game with, along with a handgun. It appears in many Resident Evil games as an extremely weak weapon used when the player wants to save ammo or use it as a last ditch effort to kill a Zombie if the player has no ammo remaining.

Code: Veronica
In Resident Evil - Code: Veronica, the knife would see a boost to its efficiency. Properly timed swipes at enemy zombie's legs could result in causing the zombie to collapse to the ground, buying either Chris or Claire Redfield time to either use their firearm on a less mobile enemy, or continue to stab at them. Additionally, properly placed swipes of the knife could result in multiple strikes on an enemy in a single attack, allowing for the possibility of killing zombies before they can get back to their feet.

Resident Evil 4
In Resident Evil 4, Leon Kennedy uses his knife quite frequently throughout the entire game. The knife is always present, does not take up any space in his inventory, and is mapped to a different button than Leon's currently equipped firearm. Through normal gameplay it is used against Los Ganados, as well as to break open boxes that may contain useful items - or snakes. The knife is also used in major battles such as the El Gigante fights, the cutscene fight with Jack Krauser, and the final encounter with Osmund Saddler.

Both Leon and Krauser use knives based on actual knives, albeit with slight modifications. Leon's knife is a with an altered grip, while Krauser carries a | Masters of Defense Mark V CQC ATAC Tactical Fighter that has had the horns above the grip reduced.

Resident Evil 5
In Resident Evil 5, the knife retains its usefulness from the previous game. Several of the context sensitive 'Help' animations depict the characters using their knives to rescue their partners from bad situations, such as being absorbed into Uroboros, impaled by a Licker's tongue, or latched on to by Bui Kichwa. Sheva Alomar uses a small khukri, while her partner Chris Redfield wields a much larger MercWorx Goliath, which is immediately evident due to its distinctive grip. Oddly, both knives do the same amount of damage to enemies. Unlike Chris, Sheva uses the knife in both of her assassination techniques, Impale and Throat Slit.