A couple of trailers, a demo, and a nine feet tall woman (who is more terrifying than tall). That’s what we have from Resident Evil 8 so far. It’s more than enough to get the hype going. Gameplay, graphics, and story aside, there’s one thing that caught everyone’s attention: that tall, terrifying woman with the hat in head, heels in feet, and claws in hand called Alcina Dimitrescu.
We don’t know much about her – but we want to know everything possible. Since there’s little to no information about Lady D so far, we will do what we do best and speculate away.
Guessing isn’t the only thing that we’ll do today, though. There’s something important behind her stature and her place of birth. Blood connects them both – read down below to find out what’s going on!
Who is Alcina Dimitrescu?
Alcina Dimitrescu, Lady D, that tall woman with the hat, Lady Alcina Dimitrescu, and a couple of other names refer to the same person.
We don’t know much about her, but we can piece a little bit of the puzzle from the trailer videos and Maiden, the demo that was released a couple of days ago. Capcom has also released information through social media.
Keep in mind everything stated here comes from official sources and wild speculation from us. It wouldn’t be fun to tell you which one is which, though.
What we know so far
The first thing we all noticed is her height and her pale complexion. It is confirmed she is 6 ft. 9 inches tall, which makes it impossible for her to board most rides in Disneyland for all the wrong reasons.
Other than that, we know she lives with three other women, who she calls her daughters. Most people believe they’re the result of an experiment, and not really her daughters.
Speaking of experiments, Lady D and her, hum, daughters, all engage in vampirism and similar rituals that have a heavy Eastern European vibe. You know, Eastern Europe, Dracula’s hometown (Is that the connection we were talking about? Maybe not).
This troublesome foursome has been kidnapping young people since the 1950s. 70 years have gone by and they all look in their 30s, which makes vampirism a good anti-age strategy.
Please remember that a video game is not proof enough to dabble in vampirism. Do not bite your brother’s neck.
Other than that, we have more mystery than material so far. We have to wait until May to find out more. Don’t worry, though. We have a little something for you!
We found out about two key elements in Dimitrescu’s origin story. The first one is in Japan; the second one, in Eastern Europe.
The lady behind Lady D
It’s not Lady Di. Let’s just get that one out of the way.
Because of her tall stature and kidnapping antics, most people relate Dimitrescu to Hachishaku-sama, a Japanese myth.
Hachishaku-sama (translated, roughly, as eight feet tall lady), also known as Hasshakusama, is a Japanese spirit. She is often linked to murder, kidnapping, and all sorts of illegal things that you shouldn’t try.
This Japanese spirit is portrayed as a tall woman wearing a white dress and a hat (similar to that one videogame character) who preys on young kids.
She stalks her victim for days, sometimes weeks, until she finds the right moment to kidnap, and eventually kill, the unfortunate child.
It sounds straight out of a creepy pasta, but Hasshakusama’s story is hundreds of years old!
Hasshakusama is only one half of this recipe, though. Yes, Lady D looks like this rather unique Japanese myth – but you still have to figure out the Eastern European half.
Don’t worry, we did it for you.
Eastern Europe isn’t a coincidence either
We could take the easy way out, scream Japanese myth, and call it a day. But that’s not how we are when it comes to weird, supernatural stuff. We take this stuff seriously – mainly because we’re scared. Please don’t kill me, vampire lady.
Even though Dimitrescu might be somewhat inspired by Count Dracula and similar stories, the real person behind her bloodlust and other antics is a woman called Erzsebet Bathory.
Who was this lady? Mrs. Bathory was a Hungarian noblewoman and Guinness record holder who had a particular hobby, killing and maiming commoners.
She loved to kidnap, torture, and kill other people. Mainly to drink and bathe in their blood. And she did it all to preserve her youth.
Once again, we’re completely against vampirism as an anti-age strategy.
Countess Bathory did all kinds of terrible things to a lot of people. Her Guinness record, the one we mentioned before, is for being the most prolific female murderer of all time, with more than 650 victims to her name.
After a long career in the murder business, she faced trial and execution for her crimes. Just kidding, she got house arrest until she died a couple of years later.
She was a noblewoman in medieval Hungary, she was never going to get the electric chair. First, because the electric chair didn’t exist back then; second, because connections are more important than justice. One of those two things has changed after 500-or-so years.
So, allegedly, Alcina Dimitrescu is one half Japanese myth, one half Hungarian mass murderer. But is she as important as it seems?
Final boss or first course?
We have all watched the latest trailer (one too many times, maybe). And there’s something that will catch anyone’s ear: that phone call between Dimitrescu and Mother Miranda.
Who is Mother Miranda? Well, let me tell you right now: I have no idea. People at Capcom aren’t dumb, though – they know what they are doing. They are planting that little double-M seed and watching it grow.
There’s one thing that’s clear, though. Mother Miranda can pull rank on Lady D, which means one of them is the final boss – and the final boss is never the second-in-command.
So, who is Mother Miranda? What’s the ritual? Can I shoot the undead now? We have nothing but plenty of questions and a couple of months until we get the answers.
I’m calling in sick in May, that’s for certain.
Want more? Check out our Podcast episode all about Lady Dimitrescu below!
