Resident Evil 4 Viper locations: How to sell three vipers to the Merchant

As if mutated monsters weren’t enough, the Valdelobos mountains in Resident Evil 4 Remake are home to another type of dangerous fauna: Vipers.

These fast, aggressive snakes appear intermittently throughout your adventure - even popping up as a nasty surprise in unexpected places - and are actually a lot more useful than they first seem. During chapter 3, one of your first blue notice requests is to sell some for cash.

But as well as featuring in this early-game quest where you sell three vipers to the Merchant, additional snakes you capture can also be used as a great source of healing, just like in another quintessentially Japanese action franchise, Metal Gear Solid.

That’s right, vipers are not a unique item used only for the side quest. You can find plenty over the course of Resident Evil 4, so don’t worry if you missed grabbing one or already scoffed it to make room in your inventory.

To capture a viper, you can shoot it with your pistol and pick it up, but the most efficient way is to use your knife. Hold L1/LB to aim it more accurately, then press R2/RT to swipe.

If you’re selling to the Merchant, all you need to do is tab into the “Sell” menu next time you meet him and hand over the vipers. You do not need to do this all in one go, you can sell one at a time if you wish.

Otherwise, you can hang onto the viper until the opportune moment and use them as healing just like a mixed herb, first aid spray or chicken egg.

Resident Evil 4 Viper locations

Leon comes across the viper note asking for three snakes on a wall next to Merchant, just after he’s gone through the spooky Town Hall using the insignia key.

You just passed the first viper you can find, inside of a wooden box on your left as you enter the Town Hall. Quickly stab it with your knife once the box is broken to collect it.

Don’t worry if you missed this one however, there are plenty more coming up soon.

A second viper can be found in another box once you’ve passed the church and started heading towards the lake on the wooden walkway.

It’s in the hut underneath where the enemy with the torch is standing, so it’s probably best to clear out this area of enemies before you start snake-charming.

Finally, the third place you can find vipers in Resident Evil 4 is the Fish Farm. If you missed a viper along the way, this is where you can make up for it.

As you wade through the water, you can see multiple vipers slithering across the surface and along the wooden structures at the water’s edge. Again, there are lots of enemies in this area, including one of those super-tough cow head guys, so make sure it’s safe before you focus on hunting.

These three places should give you enough vipers to sell to the merchant, but a few more do appear throughout the story areas. Once you’ve sold three however, feel free to use any additional snakes you find as healing.