Lady Dimitrescu Resident Evil Village 1

Lady Dimitrescu, the towering 9’6” vampire villain from Resident Evil Village, has cast a shadow over social media since fans realised she’s, well, really tall. It’s probably the best marketing publisher Capcom could ever have hoped for – but did it predict such an, ahem, thirsty response? According to art director Tomonori Takano, it’s all quite surprising.

“I don't think anyone [on the team] could have predicted how wonderfully fans have reacted to Lady Dimitrescu,” he said, as part of an interview with IGN. “Personally, I was particularly struck by comments like, ‘I want to be chased by her.’” Maybe Takano is just shocked to learn that the Internet has the exact same fetish.

There’s more to Lady Dimitrescu than just her frame, however – she’s not really your typical vampire. Her fashion sense is more Edwardian than outright gothic, and while her yellow eyes give her otherworldly attributes, she’s glamorous – a recent trailer shows her applying makeup, for example! This is all, of course, by design.

“In the early stages of planning, we decided on going with [a] castle and vampires motif,” Takano continued. “However, we did not want to be constrained by how vampires have been portrayed in various forms of popular entertainment.” Lady Dimitrescu, then, is more seductive and classy – she’s apparently 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 real surprise that it’s managed to capture the imagination of gamers yet again with another memorable character design. Lady Dimitrescu stardom is somewhat unprecedented, though – it’s going to be fascinating to learn more about her when the game launches later this year.

[source ign.com]