Last month, Capcom unveiled the huge Resident Evil Village vampire Lady Dimitrescu. At 9’6 ”tall (wearing a hat and high heels), she captured the imagination of many Internet residents – who are almost always asking her to step on them. But she is not the first Gothic high to steal people’s hearts. According to RE8 art director Tomonori Takano, she is partially inspired by perhaps one of the most famous sinister women, Morticia Addams.
“In the initial planning stages, we decided to proceed with [a] castle and vampire motives, “Takano told IGN.” However, we didn’t want to be embarrassed by the way vampires were portrayed in various forms of popular entertainment. ”
He says they chose the concept of a “charming vampire”, inspired by Morticia Addams by Anjelica Huston, 16th-century serial killer Elizabeth Báthory and Japanese urban legend Hasshaku-sama.
This has been an excellent reminder that I am too late to attend the Addams Family Values. Lady Dimitrescu is cool and all, but let’s remember who the real goddess is here.
As for Dimitrescu’s other inspirations, perhaps the most frightening of all is the real-life serial killer Elizabeth Báthory. She was a Hungarian noblewoman in the late 1500s who spent her time kidnapping and torturing peasant girls. Stories and speculation suggest that she was a little vampiric, and supposedly believed that bathing in human blood would keep her young. I’ll be honest, this took some of the shine from Lady D for me.
Then there is Hasshaku-sama, an urban legend that emerged from the depths of 2chan. She said she was a monster that was about 2.5 meters tall, wearing a long white dress and a wide-brimmed hat. This certainly gives everyone’s new favorite Resi villain. Hasshaku-sama is also said to attack young men, so uh, watch out, Ethan.
“I don’t think anyone [on the team] could have predicted how wonderfully the fans reacted to Lady Dimitrescu, “adds Takano.” Personally, I was particularly impressed with comments like, ‘I want to be chased by her.’ ”
Unfortunately, IGN didn’t seem to ask if Takano was surprised at people comparing his height to that of an ostrich. Nate did just that on his final size chart for Lady Dimitrescu. Spoiler: Emperor penguins are bigger than you think.