One of the smartest things Capcom's marketing team did in the run-up to the release of Resident Evil Village was to focus on Lady Dimitrescu (ie Tall Vampire Lady) and her deadly daughters. It was all the internet could talk about for months, and all they continue to want to talk about since the game's recent release. But now that gamers everywhere are actually digging into the gameplay of Resident Evil Village and its post-game content, let's just say that Lady D and her daughters are not the end-all, be-all baddies in this game; not by a long shot. Spoilers follow from here on out.
That same smart marketing that allowed Capcom to keep other Resident Evil Village characters and potential plot spoilers a secret by distracting everyone on Earth might have backfired just a little bit once the game was out. Players quickly found out that Lady D and the Dimitrescu Daughters appear early in the game, and Ethan rudely escorts them out of existence in short order. After that, there's a good three-quarters of the game left to go. Some folks were either a little miffed or a little disappointed by that fact, though it didn't stop Resident Evil Village from being one of the franchise's best-selling titles to date. And even though Lady D was gone too soon, she remains a newly iconic and unforgettable figure.
With that in mind, we wanted to revisit Lady Alcina Dimitrescu and the Brides of Dracula her daughters Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra in order to give the devils their due. What follows is a breakdown of everything we learned about the fatally attractive family from our playthrough of Resident Evil Village. Last warning; spoilers follow.
When first-person perspective player character Ethan Winters crashes into the unnamed Eastern European village that gives RE8 its title, he soon comes face-to-face with Lady Dimitrescu. Not immediately, of course; he's got other dealings with Heisenberg, a crafty old hag, and a legion of Lycans to handle first. But he soon arrives at Castle Dimitrescu in order to find his kidnapped daughter Rosemary. Standing between Ethan and the first piece of that puzzle is not only the noble lady herself but her own daughters, setting up a rather interesting battle of the parents.
But who exactly is Lady Dimitrescu and what's behind her unique appearance and power set? Though she stands at 9'6" (with high heels and hat) when Ethan meets her, Alcina Dimitrescu was once quite a bit more comfortable in her ancestral castle home. The doorways she now has to stoop through were originally perfectly proportioned. That desk she casually throws across the room and reduces to splinters? Once an impossibility for the very human and hereditarily afflicted Alcina. So what happened?
Mother Miranda met Lady Dimitrescu; that's what happened. The leader of the Lords of the Village, Mother Miranda is directly responsible for their transformations and sources of power. Miranda discovered a miraculous mold (the megamycete) some 100 years ago that not only granted her incredible powers but also proved a likely avenue of scientific research to pursue in order to bring Miranda's own dearly departed daughter back to life, through a worthy vessel, of course. Seeking subjects on which to experiment, Miranda found a mostly successful specimen in Alcina Dimitrescu. (Most died due to exposure to the mold; many who did survive were transformed into Lycans, who then fed upon the surplus of corpses.)
Alcina was afflicted with a hereditary blood disease in life, a disease that continued to plague her even after her transformation through exposure to Mother Miranda's mold and its vector, the Cadou parasite. The disease led to her vampiric fondness for drinking blood and consuming man-flesh, while doing so caused her gigantic size thanks to the augmenting powers of the mold. Alcina, age 44 at the time of her exposure, was able to control the more extreme versions of her transformative powers (which Ethan witnessed first-hand just before defeating her). Mother Miranda saw enough potential in Alcina's abilities (despite her perceived imperfection) to become one of the four Lords of the Village. Alcina took up residence in her family's ancestral castle as a countess. But every countess needs ladies-in-waiting, and much like Mother Miranda sacrificed everything for her children, so too did Alcina wish to have daughters of her own.
During the better part of a century before Ethan's fateful arrival, Alcina managed the village and its people (essentially treating them like cattle) while employing a small housekeeping staff and workers who operated the family's vineyard. But more importantly to the story of Resident Evil Village, she also assisted Mother Miranda with her scientific research. The fruits of these labors led to the creation of Alcina's daughters: Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra.
Miranda may have overseen this experiment, but it was Alcina who imprinted upon the "newly hatched" creatures. Apparently, carnivorous, blowfly-like swarms, which hatched from the eggs of the molded Cadou, consumed the bodies of three women's corpses, which were delivered by someone named Rednic. (Possibly a Renfield reference to the overall "Dracula" theme?) These swarms took the form of three young women while regenerating, and they took to obeying Alcina immediately. While they, too, were sustained through drinking blood and consuming man-flesh, they were mortally weak to cold temperatures, forcing them to remain trapped inside the confines of Castle Dimitrescu.
The Dimitrescu Family passed the intervening time by feeding on the village inhabitants as needed, draining them of their blood and turning them into the undead Moroaică and Samcă thanks to the powers of the mold. They also drained maidens of their blood for use in a special vintage of wine known as Sanguis Virginis. For a time, they were quite happy ruling their particular slice of the village. But when Rosemary arrived, Mother Miranda gave Lady Dimitrescu (and all the village Lords) the order to begin slaughtering their staff and any remaining villagers in order to sacrifice enough biomass to the Black God to achieve Rosemary's rebirth as Miranda's reborn daughter. That decision ultimately led to the defeat of Mother Miranda and the end of the Dimitrescu Family line.
Ethan systematically defated the three daughters, who were weakened by the cold and turned into crystalized remains upon death, and eventually ended the enormous, winged gargoyle/dragon creation that was Alcina Dimitrescu's true form. The Dimitrescu Family ends here, as valuable calcified statues, but it's just the beginning for Ethan Winters' journey (even as it foreshadows his own end...)
Would you like to know more about Lady D and her daughters? I sure would, and I have a feeling I'm not alone. I wouldn't be surprised to see more lore emerge about the Dimitrescu Family, including a possible return in some manner, if only because the characters were immediately iconic and unforgettable. Here's hoping this isn't the last of Tall Vampire Lady and her Bugged-out Daughters.
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