vampire lady

So we finally meet, my dear visitor. Welcome to the shrine of our beloved Alcina Dimitriscu from the horror survival game Resident Evil Village, which is the eighth major entry in the Resident Evil series by Capcom.

The game itself was announced at the Playstation 5 reveal event in June of 2020, and was released on multiple platforms in May of 2021.

"Come now, don't be shy. Show me your terror!"

My hope for this site is to, in my awkward way, try to explain about her to show why I adore her. There won't be any walkthroughs or gaming tips here, so if you are looking for those, I would suggest finding them elsewhere. There will however be spoilers, so beware when forging ahead.

Alcina Dimitrescu

Alcina is also commonly known as Lady Dimitrescu, and was a mutant human aristocrat shown to be presented as a gigantic noblewoman with vampire-like traits, who resides with her three daughters in Castle Dimitrescu.

Her physical appearance shows her wearing a long white gown with pearls, and black flowers on her sleeve. Alcina also wears black gloves, and a large wide-brimmed hat. Her hair is dark, and cut short in an elegant style. Pale skin, dark red lips, long lashes, and a lovely eyeshadow colour. She has a very 1960s style, as Takano wanted to avoid typical gothic imagery. Taking into consideration her hat and high heels, Dimitrescu stands at 2.9 m in height.

When I first saw Alcina Dimitrescu, my reaction was just "wow". She's unique, and gorgeous, and so very terrifying.

She was born to the noble Dimitrescu family sometime before the Great War (prior to 1914), and inherited a blood disease through the family ancestry prior to meeting Mother Miranda. At some point in her youth, likely in the 1930s, she had a brief music career in the the emerging Jazz scene. She went by the name Miss D and played with a band called The Pallboys. In the aftermath of the World War 2 and the abolition of the nobility, Dimitrescu returned to her family's former lands, which had fallen under the control of a neopagan cult worshipping the Black God.

"Shall I drink your blood fresh, or slice your neck and let it spill out first?"

Prior to 1958, at the age of 44, Miranda infected Alcina with the Cadou parasite to see if she was compatible for her plans to revive her daughter. The experiment mutated Alcina's body considerably, granting her profound regenerative capabilities, retractable claw-like nails, the ability to transform into a dragon-like monster; and moreover, it halted her aging process, however her preexisting blood disease required her to ingest large amounts of human blood and flesh on a regular basis in order to maintain her condition.

Alcina dies during a battle against Ethan Winters after confronting him within her estate's family crypt, in February of 2021. It was such a shame that we didn't get to see more of her, since she was such an interesting character.

As A Lord

Although she was no use to Miranda as a host, her claim to Castle Dimitrescu was recognized and she was allowed to take residence in the village as one of the Four Lords. The Lords would maintain order over the local peasantry while aiding Miranda in her research. Alcina also took over her family's vineyard and wine-distribution business.

"Rest while you can, because I will hunt you, and I will break you!"

Relishing in her reclaimed noble status, Alcina developed extreme caste-based views of society, seeing herself as second only to Mother Miranda. She openely loathed the other three Lords, particularly Karl Heisenberg, whom she frequently argued with. She disliked not being Miranda's favourite, and bemoaned that she was treated the same as the others. Despite her dislike of the other Lords, their alliance is what allowed her to rule her castle with barbarous cruelty, regularly taking in new staff to replace those who had been taken to her dungeon to be killed and drained of blood.

The Concept

Lady Dimitrescu was born from the desire to create a charismatic femme fatale character, and was designed to be vampire-like. Her design was inspired by the 16th century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Báthory, the Japanese urban legend of Hasshaku-sama, and Anjelica Huston's portrayal of the character Morticia Addams.

Tomonori Takano, the art director for Resident Evil Village, stated "I drew a piece of concept art in which she stoops down to get through a doorway. That’s when I felt that this was going to work out... We looked at fashion from the era in which actresses like Audrey Hepburn were active, as well as The Addams Family..."

Morimasa Sato mentions that creating characters that leave an impression was a theme for the game from the very beginning, and the reactions to Lady Dimitrescu’s reveal reassured him that this had been the right choice.

Lady Dimitrescu's physical design was based on Polish model Helena Mankowska, while her voice acting and motion capture were performed by American theatre actress Maggie Robertson. Maggie considered her character's movement to be "cat-like", and so used feline movement as an inspiration for her own movements.

Our Tall Vampire Lady is the major boss for Castle Dimitrescu, and in the battle against Ethan Winters, she is able to transform into a massive winged dragon-like creature.

Her Name

Dimitrescu, the name, can be traced back to Eastern Europe, and Russian origins, but is more properly Ancient Greek. Romanian spreakers have said that the correct pronunciation of her name is "dimi-tres-ku".

Although much associated with early Christian martyrs, it is in fact pagan, being a derivation of "Demetrios" and translating as "a follower of Demeter", the first goddess of harvest, grain, and fertility. And, well, Lady D rules over and terrorizes a village of farmers.

"You will learn what it means to insult house Dimitrescu."

The name Dimitrescu has roots in Romania, and the area of Transylvania has long been associated with Bram Stoker's Dracula. He even traveled to England on a ship called the Demeter. This could very well be a subtle nod.

Lady D's first name Alcina is also of European origin, though more specifically Italy. There happens to be an opera of the same name by George Frideric Handel, where the character is a seductive sorceress who lured a knight in using her magic and feminine wiles.

Her Daughters

Dimitrescu's own experiments with the Cadou appear to have been limited, and the only confirmed instance was an experiment that was begun by Miranda. It involved the corpses of three women who were implanted with the Cadou parasites, which then produced fly-like organisms that consumed the bodies. These flies assimilated the women's DNA and then merged to mimic the human shapes the women once had. Dimitrescu immediately formed a bond with the three, whom she named Bela, Daniela and Cassandra, and came to regard herself as the women's mother.

The women obeyed Dimitrescu without question, and were similar to her in that they were ageless and required the consumption of flesh and blood. Unfortunately for them, however, they were completely incapable of withstanding cold temperatures, which left them trapped within the confines of Castle Dimitrescu.

"What have you done to my daughter?"

Bela, the oldest daughter, is quiet and has a strong head on her shoulders. Cassandra is a sadist who enjoys killing. Daniela is the youngest daughter, and is the craziest and most delusional of the three.

The daughters are fitted with a more orthodox black garb that is rather reminiscent of what you might imagine traditional witches to wear. If you look very closely at the pattern of their dresses, you can see that there are finely embroidered floral patterns of the Dimitrescu family crest.

The Pallboys

Miss D & The Pallboys were a group that had a brief career during the 1930s emerging Jazz scene. Decades later, one of their songs on CD would end up in the Winters' household, with Rose Winters taking a liking to it.

The Game Director stated in an interview, "I’ll leave it up to the player’s imagination whether she was a jazz singer in a past life, but she visually most definitely fits the part."

Dimitrescu Castle

The castle is located in Eastern Europe, and was built during the 15th century under the watchful eye of Cesare, a Duke. It was later inhabited by his descendants, the noble Dimitrescu family, who instigated a number of violent murders and mutilations against the local peasantry. There is no information as to what happened to the family, but by the mid-20th century ownership of the castle fell to Countess Alcina Dimitrescu, who was considered an outsider.

“Outside, in front of the castle, you can see bodies that have had their blood drained, looking like skinny scarecrows, and all of them are men. It’s a setting in which women are very strong.”

In 2021, the castle was largely damaged and eventually abandoned after Ethan Winters killed the Dimitrescu family in his search for his daughter. When Ethan detonated an N2 explosive the following morning, the village and much of the forest was destroyed and consumed by fire. However, the castle managed to survive.

The castle is my favourite place in the entire game, and really makes me want to have a place like that of my own. Alas, only in my dreams.

Architecture

The overall structure of the estate dates back to the European Middle Ages, and largely conforms to concepts derived during its High Renaissance period.

Turrets and battlements adorn the castle's fog-enshrouded towers and snowy balustrades, which are interconnected by various belfries.

"Exactly how much do you plan on annoying me?"

The interior ornamentals seem to adopt a heavily Baroque style, which came into prominence during the 17th century and suggest the castle may have been updated during that time. Light is very minimal and left to sconces and candelabras throughout the castle, with many windows having been draped in thick curtains. Its upper echelons are exquisitely decorated, complete with twisting hallways lacquered in ornate golden gildings of vines, expensive furniture, crystal chandeliers, and velvet carpeting lining its checkered marble floors.

In contrast, the castle's lower recesses are heavily decayed from disrepair. There is also a vaulted dungeon fortified with iron cages. These dank caverns lead directly to the sealed off catacombs.

Sanguis Virginis

This is one of the most sophisticated Dimitrescu wines, and its literal translation is "maiden's blood". In order to make this wine, the blood of maids was extracted and combined with grapes. The female victims, now infected with Mold, lived on as Moroaica and Samca, while male victims were consumed and then hollowed out to be turned into scarecrows for the castle vineyard.

It's item description in game is: "A vintage bottle of wine ornamented with intricate silver flowers. It looks like it was bottled a long time ago."

"Fresh blood! If only I had fresh blood!"

The winemaking technique of the Dimitrescu family's vinyard business can be traced as far back as the 15th century, which was long before the current occupants of the castle.

Media & Misc.

• Resident Evil Fandom Wiki // Alcina Dimitrescu
• Quotes // Lady Dimitrescu quotes.
• VII.I.AGE // The Official Resident Evil Village site.
• Villains Wiki // Alcina Dimitrescu
• YouTube // Markiplier's Resident Evil Village Playthrough.
• Spotify // Resident Evil Village OST.
• Steam // Resident Evil Village Screenshots.