Lady Dimitrescu, the imposing 9’6 ”vampire villain from Resident Evil Village, has cast a shadow over social media since fans realized that she, well, really tall. It’s probably the best marketing editor Capcom could have expected – but he predicted that thirsty answer? According to art director Tomonori Takano, everything is surprising.
“I don’t think anyone [on the team] I could have predicted how wonderfully the fans reacted to Lady Dimitrescu, ”he said, as part of an interview with IGN. “Personally, I was particularly impressed with comments like, ‘I want to be chased by her.'” Perhaps Takano is just shocked to learn that the Internet has exactly the same fetish.
Lady Dimitrescu is more than just her body, however – she is not really a typical vampire. Her fashion sense is more Edwardian than totally Gothic, and while her yellow eyes give her otherworldly attributes, she is glamorous – a recent trailer shows her applying makeup, for example! All of this, of course, by design.
“In the early stages of planning, we decided to proceed with [a] castle and vampires, ”Takano continued. “However, we didn’t want to be limited by the way vampires were portrayed in various forms of popular entertainment.” Lady Dimitrescu, then, is more seductive and elegant – she apparently was inspired by real-world people like Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th-century Hungarian serial killer.
Capcom’s art department is among the best in the business, so it’s no surprise that he managed to capture players’ imaginations once again with another memorable character design. Lady Dimitrescu’s stardom is somewhat unprecedented – it will be fascinating to know more about her when the game launches later this year.