A Serial Killer and a Famous Goth are Among the Inspirations
We all know Lady Dimitrescu AKA tall lady AKA vampire lady AKA 2021’s most questionable sex symbol. The killer looks to be one of the larger threats of Resident Evil: Village, in all possible senses of the word, towering over even famous Resident Evil villains like Nemesis and Mr X. Still, the same internet that’s decided that The Babadook is a gay icon have likewise decided that she’s a sex symbol, and a lot of attention has gone into her design, and now we know a bit more about her inspiration thanks to art designer Tomonori Takano.
The first inspiration mentions is Elizabeth Báthory, one of history’s most notorious serial killers. With a body count alleged to be in the 650 area, legend says that Báthory would bathe in the blood of the servant girls she murdered in an attempt to preserve her own youth. Báthory previously appeared in the video game horror movie Stay Alive, albeit with elements taken from New Orleans based serial killer Madame Delphine LaLaurie, and LaLaurie repaid the favor by taking elements of Báthory’s crimes into her own characterization on American Horror Story: Coven. Often considered one of the inspirations for the modern vampire myth, the inspiration is easy to see.
The second mentioned is Morticia Adams, the matriarch of the Addams family. Morticia never lost her cool or her grace, always stalking around the family home making flirtatious comments or supporting her children’s dreams. However, despite being a dark character, Morticia was always perfectly nice, even to people trying to kill her. Could we be seeing an affable side to Lady Dimitrescu?
The third mentioned inspiration is Hasshaku-Sama, an eight-foot-tall ghost from a Japanese creepypasta. Hasshaku-Sama dresses in a wide-brimmed hat and becomes obsessed with people who then die within days, and she’s confined to her village by magical statues. Could we likewise see Lady Dimitrescu confined to the village?
All in all, there’s a lot of reasons to be excited for Village when it drops, and with this much care being put into just one of the monsters stalking the hamlet, expectations are higher than ever.