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Resident Evil Wiki
Resident Evil Wiki

Blade (ブレイド bureido?) is a variant of Hunter that was intended as an enemy type for Resident Evil 4 during its "Stylish" (1998-2000) stage of development. When the game became Devil May Cry, it was too late in development to remove them, and they were instead changed to demons in the new story, which prompted the design team to add the shield and helmet as well as the claw missile attack.[1][excerpt 1] Presumably, judging by gameplay from Devil May Cry and the fact that the artbook states that the Hunter was mostly unaltered, save for the addition of armor, the Hunter that would eventually become the Blade would have had almost the same abilities as the Blade in the final iteration. In the final iteration, the Blades attack in large groups, with Blades of two different sizes, large and small. The larger ones are less common and seem to serve as leader or something similar and have slightly more health. They are incredibly fast and can dart in and out of the player's attack range. they also can burrow underground for ambushes, but this seems to mostly be reserved for new ones spawning in. The Blade in the final iteration also has an instant death attack as well similar to Resident Evil games. When Dante is low on health, the blades will close in on him and kill him, causing his sword to fly off his back and fall blade first into the ground while his lifeless body falls face first in front of the Blade. According to the artbook [2][excerpt 2] the ability to fire claws was actually added after the game had become Devil May Cry. This gave a traditionally melee oriented creature extra firepower and a surprise punishment for players trying to keep their distance.

Based on concept art present in the Devil May Cry HD Collection, the Blade was proposed as a mid-strength enemy to appear in the game's third stage.[3]

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excerpts
  1. Tomoya Ohtsubo: My best memories are of the minor enemy "Blade". It had been around since before the title even became "DMC". Before the change, when the game was still "RE 4", Blades were B.O.W.'s [bio organic weapons]; half-man and half-beast, with no shield or helment. After the change, though, Blades went from being B.O.W.'s to demons, so we gave them shields and helmets, and Kamiya-san said, "Make sure they can fire their claws." (laughs) That was key. So I started working on their "claw missile" attack. That was the point when I started really liking these guys.
  2. Tomoya Ohtsubo: My best memories are of the minor enemy "Blade". It had been around since before the title even became "DMC". Before the change, when the game was still "RE 4", Blades were B.O.W.'s [bio organic weapons]; half-man and half-beast, with no shield or helment. After the change, though, Blades went from being B.O.W.'s to demons, so we gave them shields and helmets, and Kamiya-san said, "Make sure they can fire their claws." (laughs) That was key. So I started working on their "claw missile" attack. That was the point when I started really liking these guys.
references
  1. Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphic Arts. p.200
  2. Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphic Arts. p.200
  3. Devil May Cry HD Collection: Enemy Illustration 14 - Blade
    3ステージ
    中型モンスター
    " ブレイド"