The newest Resident Evil Village is one of the most anticipated games of 2021, and Capcom is delivering. Those of you who embarked on adventures with Ethan Winters in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard will have the honor of joining the protagonist on yet another sinister journey. It all begins with a picture-perfect: Ethan and his wife Mia move away and try to live a peaceful life after disturbing events. However, their attempt fails miserably when their daughter is taken away, and thus the wild-goose chase begins, leading the player, alongside Ethan, into the dark-clad village shrouded in mystery and premonition. There we meet the star of the Resident Evil 8 game – Alcina Dimitrescu, better known simply as Lady Dimitrescu, who took the gaming world by the storm.

RE: Village antagonist – 9’6” tall of vampiric badass

After the launch of the first gameplay reveal trailer, where we witness the first appearance of Lady Dimitrescu along with her three daughters, the intrigue spread instantly throughout the gaming community and the anticipation has grown tenfold. The very first thing that captivated the fans was the character design of the Resident Evil Vampire Lady. Here are the specific (and unusual) facts we know about Alcina Dimitrescu’s design:

  • The towering frame of the vampire lady reaches as much as 9’6” (289.56 cm).
  • Lady Dimitrescu is at least 25 centimeters taller than the tallest real-world person ever verifiably recorded.
  • Her shoe size is 17.3 inches (44cm).
  • The initial prototype of her model was based on Mia’s character from RE7, however, later the design was changed rather drastically.

The overall look of the Resident Evil Village Vampire Lady radiates power and gives off the fear-inducing feeling of somewhat primitive concealed behind sophisticated exterior. No wonder the fans of the game across the world have filled social media with top-notch fan art of the beloved antagonist. What is there not to adore about the 10 feet tall predator clad in genteel Edwardian clothes?

The evolution of Alcina Dimitrescu

In one of the interviews, the RE Village’s art director Tomonori Takano claimed that the choice of white clothing “would be enough to give her a ghost-like quality, but we couldn’t make her feel scary. Then, we decided to make the character model much larger. That was the beginning of Lady Dimitrescu.”, and what a beginning it was! The fans were left breathless by the towering woman coming into the frame. It appears that the design of the famous antagonist is inspired by quite a few historical femme fatales:

  • Elizabeth Báthory, a noblewoman who lived in the 16th century Hungary and had a special affinity for murder – imprisoning and murdering girls.
  • Anjelica Huston’s matriarch and gothic icon Morticia Addams, one of the finest role models for those seeking to master the art of macabre.
  • The eerie Japanese urban legend Hasshaku-sama is, of course, another inspiration for the design of the vampire lady to help add just about the right amount of creepy.

Seeing those iconic figures of horror doesn’t leave any questions as to how the lady has such a refined yet intimidating aura about her! Tanako said that the team that worked on the design of Lady Dimitrescu aimed to stray from the portrayal of vampires in popular entertainment, to deliver a design that bewitches and induces ominous sense of terror yet spellbinds just as much. The approach to the design of one of the most popular game characters has yielded unexpected yet effective results. Resident Evil series is one of the most iconic horror franchises in gaming history, and the Vampire Lady is another grandiose addition to the podium of RE villains.

What of Alcina Dimitrescu’s past and present?

While Dimitrescu’s origins are unknown as of yet, the trailer and demo gameplay show a promising characterization of her, including her background and role in the Resident Evil 8 story.

What we know for a fact is that Lady Dimitrescu is known to consume chaste women, and referred to as the countess in the recent PlayStation 5 ‘Maiden’ demo, in Resident Evil 8. This leaves many speculations as to whether the Vampire Lady is an actual vampire, or knowing the history of Resident Evil narrative, has certain vampiric-like abilities and qualities due to a bio-serum of some kind. The intrigue is gnawing at us! One thing is certain: a cult is involved. In the trailer, Dimitrescu refers to a woman during a phone call as “Mother Miranda”, the outfits and snippets of variations of pentagrams are more than enough of an evidence.

Design is not all there is to RE Village’s Vampire Lady

According to Capcom, Alcina Dimitrescu is not the only antagonist in the game, however, it’s hard to believe that any other villain would beat her charm and the love the gaming public feels for her. And yet, her marvelous design is definitely not all there is to this character. Resident Evil franchise is all about terror and narrative that beguiles, so it should surprise no one that a character like Lady Dimitrescu emerged in RE 8 Village. 

Capcom has strayed from the conventional motifs in the series regarding villains – instead of mutating monstrous abominations, we are facing a vampiric creature. Whether truly a vampire or not, it seems that Alcina resorts to the nature of a vampire: a creature that seduces, drowns its victim in pleasures before striking when expected least, revealing their primitive hunting nature. 

The intrigue surrounding the Resident Evil Village’s Vampyre Lady is growing with each new trailer release, and we are eager to witness her in action as we join Ethan Winters on the perilous journey in the mortifying village long-forgotten by civilization. The journey is set to begin on May 7th 2021, as this day marks the long-awaited Resident Evil Village release – don’t miss out on meeting Lady Dimitrescu face-to-face at last!

Pre-order the newest Resident Evil game today to witness how the story unfolds and see what this iconic character has to show.