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Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu explained: The terrifying tall vampire lady's story

Let's take a trip to Castle Dimitrescu, where we'll uncover the gothic villain's backstory and fate, as Halloween approaches.

Sean Keane Former Senior Writer
Sean knows far too much about Marvel, DC and Star Wars, and poured this knowledge into recaps and explainers on CNET. He also worked on breaking news, with a passion for tech, video game and culture.
Expertise Culture, Video Games, Breaking News
Sean Keane
4 min read
Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters in Resident Evil Village

Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters are pleased to meet you.

Capcom; screenshot by Sean Keane/CNET

You play as concerned dad Ethan Winters in Resident Evil Village, but let's be honest, he's not the true star of the show. No, social media bestowed that honor upon Lady Alcina Dimitrescu (pronounced "Dimitreesk"), also known as the tall vampire lady who'll undoubtedly inspire countless Halloween costumes and convention cosplayers for years to come.

This terrifying villain stalks the halls of the game's castle area along with her three spooky daughters, and Lady Dimitrescu is approximately 9 feet, 6 inches tall in her heels and fabulous hat, developer Capcom confirmed. However, you might be wondering what her deal is and how she fits into the overall plot. 

The game hit the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC earlier this year, so we'll take a SPOILERY look at her backstory here.

Don't read any further if you plan to play the game and want to avoid any plot details.

spoiler alert

A trip to Castle Dimitrescu

Early in the game, you first see the towering Lady Dimitrescu as she argues with fellow village lord Heisenberg over the fate of a captive Ethan. Their leader, Mother Miranda, the game's main villain, hands him over to Heisenberg, but the wily Ethan escapes.

Our hero makes his way to Castle Dimitrescu (the first of the four lords' territories you explore), where he's quickly captured by creepy vampiric daughters Bela, Cassandra and Daniela and brought before their stylish mom. She feeds on Ethan's blood, but says it "starting to go a little stale" -- foreshadowing a revelation we get about him later.

They sadistically hang Ethan from the ceiling by stabbing hooks through his hands (and it looks so darn painful), but he soon escapes and wanders the castle halls. 

Dimitrescu daughter in Resident Evil Village

Bela Dimitrescu greets Ethan with a lovely smile.

Capcom; screenshot by Sean Keane/CNET

Various diary entries reveal that the Dimitrescus have been hiring young women from the village to work in the castle, and the game's concept art confirms that the ghoulish enemies Ethan fights in the castle's dungeon are transformed women. Male victims are simply drained of their blood, some of which is used as the secret ingredient in the family's wine, Sanguis Virginis (which means "virgin's blood" in Latin, so someone should've alerted the authorities long ago).  

Ethan figures out that Bela, Cassandra and Daniela become vulnerable when exposed to the cold, so he smashes some of the castle's windows to let in the chilly breeze from outside and kills them one by one.

Lady Dimitrescu in RE Village

Ethan, you made her mad.

Capcom

Seeking revenge

Lady Dimitrescu is understandably furious at the deaths of her daughters (maybe you shouldn't have been such a bunch of cruel jerks then?) and purses Ethan directly, extending her fingernails into long claws. She slices off our boy's arm -- don't worry, he reattaches it and it works just fine because of his healing abilities -- and follows him around the castle like the Tyrant from Resident Evil 2

"The entire bloodline of House Dimitrescu is done in, by the likes of you?" she yells.

Yay, another scary stalker enemy. (I actually love them, Capcom. Never stop.)

A file reveals the existence of the Dagger of Death's Flowers, a weapon forged in the Middle Ages and coated with a variety of poisons from across Europe. It was designed to kill demons and monsters... and vampires, I guess. It seems someone tried to use it against our magnificent Dimitrescu, and she hid it in the castle so no one could repeat that stunt.

Ethan ultimately finds this Chekhov's gun in a coffin, and stabs Dimitrescu with it. Phew, she's dead.

Mutated Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village

So the poisoned dagger was a bad idea?

Capcom; screenshot by Sean Keane/CNET

Oh wait no, she's actually mutated into a massive, terrifying beast to give us the game's first real boss battle. After a pretty intense fight, Ethan slays the beast and ends Dimitrescu's reign of terror for good.

Where did Lady Dimitrescu come from?

Much later in the game, a file reveals that big bad Mother Miranda lost her daughter Eva to the Spanish flu, a real-life pandemic that ran from 1918 to 1921 and caused an estimated 50 million deaths. The grieving mom wandered into a cave to die and happened on the Megamycete, the source of the mold behind the beasties of Resident Evil 7 and Village. 

Its regenerative properties granted Miranda immortality, and she realized it absorbed the consciousness of people who died -- meaning it could bring Eva back to life. She started using villagers as guinea pigs in her quest to find the perfect vessel for Eva's return, and used the mold to create a yucky parasite called the Cadou for more-efficient experimentation. 

Lady Dimitrescu portrait in Resident Evil Village

Let's try not to think about what Dimitrescu did to the person who painted this lovely portrait.

Capcom; screenshot by Sean Keane/CNET

Medical reports on each of four lords reveals that they were implanted with cadou to test their candidacy as vessels for Eva. Most test subjects just turned into stinky, hairy lycans, so the four lords became village leaders.

The 44-year-old Dimitrescu was an excellent host, since the parasite massively increased her ability to heal wounds, which is why Ethan's attacks were ineffective before using the dagger.

Those regenerative properties also increased her body size, so the internet can thank the icky parasite for her impressive height.

However, a hereditary blood disease meant she had to feast on human flesh and blood regularly to maintain her powers -- thus her vampirism. She also ran the risk of mutating uncontrollably if her regeneration wasn't balanced, and the dagger's poison presumably threw off that balance. Ethan, that was just rude. 

As a result of these problems, Miranda deemed Dimitrescu "an unfit vessel for Eva," but gave her a castle, three charming daughters and a seemingly infinite supply of victims.

And they all lived happily ever after. Until Ethan killed them.

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