Resident Evil Village art director reacts to Lady Dimitrescu fandom: "I was struck by comments like, ‘I want to be chased by her'"

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He was understandably surprised

Resident Evil 8 Village
(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil Village art director Tomonori Takano was both overwhelmed and overjoyed with the internet's response to Lady Dimitrescu, the tall vampire lady in the upcoming horror game.

In a new interview with IGN, Takano discussed what went into Dimitrescu's design and what he and the team made of her reception. Vampires were a central motif for the game from early on, he explains, but Dimitrescu in particular began with the idea of a "bewitching vampire," with Takano incorporating themes and ideas from people and characters ranging from Japanese legends to Morticia Addams. 

"The very first piece of concept art I drew was the scene in the trailer where Lady Dimitrescu ducks down to walk through the doorway," Takano told IGN. "From that moment, I knew I had to do that scene." 

Overall, Takano says that Resident Evil Village uses "similar concepts of 'evil' like we did in Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, which was neither based on normal humans nor zombies." Takano himself sought to "think about the best ways to create fear" when designing the game's characters and baddies – and as we now know, he accidentally stumbled upon arguably the best way to make people horny on main. 

"I don't think anyone [on the team] could have predicted how wonderfully fans have reacted to Lady Dimitrescu," he says of the sudden tall vampire lady fandom. "Personally, I was particularly struck by comments like, 'I want to be chased by her.'"

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.