The Beretta 92FS “Samurai Edge”
The Beretta 92FS Brigadier Model “Samurai Edge” from Resident Evil
Resident Evil fans know the Samurai Edge as the sidearm of S.T.A.R.S., but under the fiction sits a very specific Italian classic. The in game gun is a customized Beretta 92 built for S.T.A.R.S. by the Kendo brothers. The official Tokyo Marui booklet translated by Project Umbrella spells out why it looks the way it does and names the Brigadier style slide as the basis, complete with “STARS” and “SAMURAI EDGE” markings on the flanks.
The Brigadier is a 92FS with a heavier slide and other durability tweaks. Beretta built it to tame recoil and withstand hotter loads, and that extra mass is the visual tell most people associate with the Samurai Edge slide. The Brigadier profile and dovetailed sights are factory features on current 92FS Brigadier models, which is useful if you are cloning because you can swap sights without too much extra work.
IMFDB has tracked the series through multiple games and consistently identifies the Samurai Edge as a custom Beretta 92FS Brigadier, with Resident Evil 3 being the first to show the Brigadier slide in game models and the 2002 remake and later titles keeping that same direction.
Black Brigadier vs the Inox
If you have hunted for a real Brigadier you have probably noticed a pattern. The market is full of Brigadier Inox pistols, both new and used, while true black Brigadiers are not as common. Retail listings and completed sales heavily feature the stainless Inox configuration, and Beretta regularly catalogs the Brigadier Inox. That tracks with what most buyers see day to day.
The good news is that black Brigadiers do exist as California roster variants with ten round magazines. Beretta’s 92FS Brigadier model J92F700CA appears on the California Department of Justice roster and shows up at mainstream dealers. That means a black donor gun is not a unicorn and can be found on places like GunBroker.
Building a credible Samurai Edge clone
Start with a 92FS Brigadier, ideally a black one if you want the true aesthetic without refinishing. The Brigadier gives you the heavy slide, dovetailed sights, and the right silhouette. From there you are chasing details that are well documented in official materials and licensed replicas.
Core visual and functional cues called out in the Tokyo Marui booklet include the Brigadier style slide, front and rear serrations, a stainless barrel and guide rod, three dot combat sights, and S.T.A.R.S. medallion grips. The S.T.A.R.S. and Samurai Edge markings are named officially as part of the design language. Grips with S.T.A.R.S. medallions are available from small makers if you are cloning for display.
If you want to sanity check proportions and markings, the licensed Tokyo Marui replicas are valuable references because they are produced in collaboration with Capcom and mirror the official naming and layout. You are not copying an airsoft gun. You are using a licensed physical reference of the in-universe gun to place text and details correctly.
Variants inside the canon
The franchise is full of character specific Samurai Edge builds such as ones found on the main characters. The Project Umbrella translation lays out the Standard Model and then the personal guns for Jill, Chris, Barry, and Wesker. Barry’s version is the most radical, chambered in 40 S&W with a reinforced slide, a large four port compensator, and a rail unit. Those features are explicitly described in the booklet rather than being fan conjecture. Wesker and others receive their own unique touches across later media.
If you want to recreate the look tied to a specific game, IMFDB notes which titles show which slide and sight arrangements. That matters for things like front serration patterns and the presence or absence of an accessory rail on later movie or game appearances.
IMFDB’s overview on the 92 series records that the Brigadier concept was developed as a thicker, heavier slide intended for higher round counts and hotter duty loads, originally tied to a United States agency requirement. That origin is what the Tokyo Marui booklet leans on by calling the Samurai Edge slide a “Brigadier style built to handle power and endurance”. The lore maps to this.
If you want a black base pistol, the California compliant 92FS Brigadier with ten round magazines is a straightforward path. Dealers list them by the rostered configuration and they remain orderable, which keeps prices more predictable than hunting a discontinued run. Stainless barrels and guide rods are readily available from the aftermarket for the two tone look that shows in most official art. Licensed grip makers supply S.T.A.R.S. medallion panels. Slide engravings are the final step and are documented in the booklet and on licensed replicas. I also recommend parts from Collector Design Werks.
The Samurai Edge isn’t just a Beretta with a badge. The artists/writers chose a Brigadier for reasons that make sense to anyone who has shot a 92 hard. Heavier slide, easy sight work, and durability. In the real world the easiest donor remains the 92FS Brigadier. Black is rarer than Inox in normal distribution, but the California roster keeps a black ten round model in circulation, which gives clone builders a legal and available base to convert. The rest is details, and the details are all written down by the people who created the gun in the first place.
Sources:
Beretta’s current 92FS Brigadier product pages outline the heavy slide and dovetailed sight features that anchor a clone. Project Umbrella’s translation of the Tokyo Marui Samurai Edge booklet documents the Brigadier style slide, markings, and character variants. IMFDB entries track how those traits appear in each game. California DOJ roster and dealer listings confirm that black ten round Brigadier models are actively sold as of 2025.
