Knife

The Knife is confirmed as due to appear in Grand Theft Auto VI. No GTA VI-specific model, manufacturer attribution, purchase price, gameplay demonstration, trailer timestamp, screenshot placement, promotional image, or regional pickup location is identified. Details from earlier games therefore cannot be treated as confirmation of the GTA VI version.

The weapon has not kept one fixed design through the series. Vice City used a large kukri-like blade. Vice City Stories instead drew ostensibly from First and Second World War trench knives, although its construction and blade profile looked more modern than those historical examples.

Grand Theft Auto IV adopted a design resembling the knife made for and seen in First Blood. It retained the blade’s characteristic sawback, but used a shortened guard without the Phillips- and flat-head screwdriver ends. Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online kept a very similar form, changing the serration pattern and using a green cord-wrapped handle. The GTA V version is described as having a seven-inch blade. The material does not name the real-world pattern used by San Andreas or Liberty City Stories.

In the 3D Universe, the Knife inflicted middling damage and produced a blood-impact effect. From Vice City onward, victims could bleed after being cut, with blood loss sometimes proving fatal. San Andreas gave CJ a stealth execution when attacking from behind: the victim’s throat was cut quietly. Killing a police officer this way produced only one wanted star, while repeated killings in a short period could also trigger that level.

GTA IV omitted San Andreas-style silent takedowns. Around five or six hits could kill an opponent, and knife attacks did not generate a wanted level. Body armor offered no protection against them. A successful dodge followed by an attack could produce a one-hit counter, while rapid locked-on slashes could critically injure or kill targets. It was weaker than a Baseball Bat but struck more quickly.

GTA V and Online restored stealth kills, though the animation changed to a stab in the neck rather than a throat cut. The weapon was useful at close range but lacked the force of the Crowbar and Nightstick. Alongside the Antique Cavalry Dagger and Knuckle Dusters, it was one of three weapons usable underwater, including against sharks. Blood could remain visibly smeared on the blade after attacks.

In GTA IV, Little Jacob, Terry Thorpe, and Armando Torres sold the Knife for $100. It could also be taken from Dardan Petrela during Bleed Out, collected from Eddie Low during his second encounter, or obtained from Mr. Santo in The Ballad of Gay Tony mission Momma’s Boy if Luis defeated the third opponent. Gang members sometimes armed themselves with one when threatened.

GTA V allowed the Knife to be bought at Ammu-Nation for $100, taken from certain street criminals, or acquired from a Chinese Thug who attacks Franklin in Fresh Meat. In GTA Online it unlocked at Rank 1 at Ammu-Nation for $400, and the protagonist received one during the Silent & Sneaky route in The Diamond Casino Heist. Hawk & Little is the listed manufacturer in GTA V and GTA Online.

The San Andreas stealth animation was shared with Manhunt’s Hasty execution. An advanced martial-arts attack could make a target bleed while CJ held a knife even when the blade did not connect. On the 2013 mobile release and The Definitive Edition, a stealth kill required CJ to crouch behind the target; other versions allowed it while standing.

A Tear Gas glitch allowed stealth kills to affect multiple pedestrians in a crowd: everyone caught by the gas could perform the death animation together. On rare occasions, performing the move within the smoke killed CJ as though he had been stealth-killed. Recruiting a gang member at the same instant as a stealth kill could leave that member using the death animation before standing back up.