The mysterious Resident Evil 8 character called Mother Miranda has finally been brought to light by Capcom, though it's holding back most of the details for players to discover themselves.
We've only heard tangential references to Mother Miranda before, and fans have theorized that she was the one in that elaborate mask in some promotional art for the game. It turns out those fans were right on the money, and Resident Evil Village director Morimasa Sato teased a little bit more information about her role in the game in an interview with IGN.
"For Mother Miranda, I think it's better for the players to find out for themselves by playing the game," Sato said. "But I'll say this: Mother Miranda and the inner side of her character are extremely important factors in the game."
Capcom has confirmed that Mother Miranda is "a presence worshipped by the villagers". Art director Tomonori Takano told IGN about the symbolism of her mask, which extends to the aesthetics of Resident Evil Village as a whole.
"The mask resembles a crow's beak," Takano said. "As a symbol of horror, crows function as a theme for Village in its entirety as well, and they appear in the actual game. Since she has a symbolic role within the village, we implemented that same design theme for Mother Miranda."
As scavengers, crows have long been associated with death and decay. But they're also very intelligent birds who love collecting shiny things and can mimic an impressive range of sounds - including human speech. But if Sato has his way, we'll have to play for ourselves to find out what aspects of the crow Mother Miranda embodies in Resident Evil Village's story.
We may get another chance to play soon, as a new Resident Evil Village demo has allegedly been uploaded to the PlayStation database. Don't forget to check out the latest Resident Evil 8 pre-order prices.
