Reaper

Reapers are a mutagenicaly modified insectoid, resembling a giant humanoid cockroaches. Standing upright at around seven feet, they have four upper body claws that they use as arms, as well as two legs. As revealed in this file, found in Chapter 5-2, Reapers were exposed to the Uroboros virus at the Umbrella Africa Research Center.

Shooting off their appendages will cripple a Reaper; the removal of an arm will stop it from using its instant-kill grab. However, Reapers are capable of regenerating limbs extremely quickly, taking only a few seconds to repair its head, arms, or legs. The only two ways to kill a Reaper are to shoot the glowing abdominal sac when the armor plating shifts off to vent gas, or by hitting the Reaper with explosives powerful enough to obliterate its body completely (which usually means that only a well-placed rocket will do the job). The Reaper also has two glowing sacs on its back, which when destroyed (a grenade launcher seems to work fairly well if you have trouble targeting them) stuns the Reaper and forces it to prominently reveal its abdominal weak point.

The Reaper attacks primarily by using its upper claws to grab a target, and using its middle scything talons to repeatedly puncture and shred the victims abdomen, killing them instantly. When one of its claws are destroyed, the Reaper can still counterattack by slicing with its remaining appendages. The Reaper can quickly close distance on enemies by crawling on its six appendages; however, while doing so it cannot attack, revealing the two glowing sacs on its back.

Reapers vent noxious gases from their dorsal and abdominal sacs while exposing their weak points, creating a blur effect that acts as a simple yet effective form of cloak, making difficult to aim at their vitals. Fire is extremely ineffective against a Reaper (incendiary grenades cannot damage a Reaper's weak points, remove its limbs, or slow it down in any way). However, it is possible to kill a Reaper by exposing it to constant, intense heat, such as leading it into an incinerator (as seen in Chapter 5-2).

After a Reaper has been killed, a Heart-Cut yellow Topaz (Power Stone) can be found on their corpse, which sells for ₦5,000. While similar to the Chimera from the original Resident Evil, Reapers are not part of any project, neither from Umbrella nor from Tricell. They were, in fact, a completely random and unprecedented mutation of mere cockroaches which came in contact with the Uroboros virus when a fire broke out in the missile bay of Tricell's African research facility. The beasts were codenamed "Reapers" when whole squads of armed Majini were sent to capture a specimen and were torn apart, as if disemboweled by scythes or spears by it's claws.

Strategy

 * Grenades do not effect it as it will curl up in a ball-like position and roll closer to the player. Only a Grenade Launcher can penetrate it. Acid Rounds seem to do the most damage to the Reaper.
 * Although the Reaper is extremely strong, with the right arsenal it can be quite simple to kill. All it takes is a well aimed stun rod strike and the Reaper will fall, revealing its two destroyable glowing sacs for weapons fire. If you don't have a stun rod, transformers (environmental hazard), electric rounds and flash rounds from the grenade launcher work just as well. In case you do have a stun rod, attack right after one of the limbs has been blown off and don't let up.
 * Dont be afraid to lay down proximity bombs. While even laying down 5 of them won't kill the creature, they'll severely weaken it.
 * Opening fire on it with a machine gun on the upper body is an effective way to expose its weak spots.
 * Stay as far away from it if you can't take out a limb quickly.
 * One direct hit from a rocket laucher will instantly kill it.
 * They seem to be attracted to heat. If you try to leave one of them near an incinerator with yourself far away from it, it will walk into the fire and suicide.

Trivia

 * Players frequently describe the Reaper as the most annoying enemy in the game, due to their incredible durability and the frequency with which they attempt their grab.
 * In Mercenaries mode, the Reaper has been made weaker to give characters an easier time on the Mines.
 * Reapers appear randomly throughout Jill Valentine's and Josh Stone's escape from the Tricell facility during Desperate Escape, on any difficulty level.
 * In Desperate Escape, at a random play on any difficulty, a Reaper can be killed with one explosive device (a grenade or mine) and one or two well placed shot(s) to the weak spot on the abdomen with the VZ61.
 * The Reaper is strongly related to the Drain Deimos, as both creatures are unintentional virus-based creations, have a very similar body structure and attack exactly with the same methods (with the single difference that the Reaper's grab can't be thrown off).
 * Reapers are one of the few enemies that will inflict damage on any majini that is close enough while the reaper is trying to attack the player.