Fans of Resident Evil know a good villain can make or break a game, and Alcina Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village is leaning more toward being a memorable character. Fans everywhere have shown excitement over the size of Lady Dimitrescu and her sheer intimidating prowess.
However, some Resident Evil fans may not know that the previous game actually inspired the character model for Lady Dimitrescu. As part of an interview with IGN, art director Tomonori Takano said Dimitrescu's original prototype was based on Mia from Resident Evil 7.
The basis of Dimitrescu's design started at the beginning of the Resident Evil Village project, when the team reused Mia's character model from Resident Evil 7 and gave her a dress and a hat for an outfit inspired by the fashion of the 1960s. Takano explains this was an attempt to give her a ghost-like quality, but it still wasn't enough to make her scary.
Then, when the team decided to make the character larger - currently standing around 9'6, that set the character into motion. There were also talks about making Dimitrescu more creature-like, but it was eventually agreed that the towering woman concept was the most simple and effective design choice. When Takano drew concept art of Lady Dimitrescu having to stoop down to get through a doorway, he said he knew this was all going to work out perfectly.
From that point forward, the team built the surrounding environment and experience to match the new character's design. Even the castle was changed to be a more gothic vampire-themed castle and renamed after her titled "Castle Dimitrescu." The idea then became a reverse Dracula situation, with a castle full of female villains who drain their male victims' blood. Part of the original plan for the game was to create memorable characters that leave an impression, and when the team saw the internet's reactions to Lady Dimitrescu, they knew the right choice was made.
Director Morimasa Sato said this is all an attempt to steer the team in a direction to try out some fun and unusual ideas not typically seen in video games today. Sato goes into more detail by saying the team takes the idea to the extreme for this idea to work, making sure the experience ends in pure horror. Hopefully, this game turns out to be the nightmare fuel Resident Evil fans are hoping for.
Resident Evil Village is set to release on May 7, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN