Lady Dimitrescu is already the break out character of Resident Evil Village. The towering villainess became an internet sensation following her appearance in Village's PlayStation 5 demo, Resident Evil Maiden.Capcom responded to the enthusiasm for the character fans have dubbed "tall vampire lady" on Twitter. Village's art director, Tomonori Takano, revealed one important detail about Lady Dimitrescu: her exact height.
According to Takano, Lady Dimitrescu is 9'6" tall. That means she is, in fact, taller than the hulking antagonists of the recent Resident Evil remakes. Mr. X, who chased players through the Raccoon City Police Department in Resident Evil 2, doesn't have an official height (trying to measure him would likely prove lethal). He's estimated to be no taller than 8 feet tall, given that he has to stoop to walk through doors, which he does when he can't burst through walls in pursuit of Claire and Leon. Resident Evil 3's relentless Nemesis measures in at a relatively meager 9 feet tall. To be fair to him, we don't know what kind of shoes Lady Dimitrescu is wearing, if any, due to her long dress. She might be padding her height a bit with high heels.
Capcom hasn't released a detailed character bio for her, given that they want there to be some mystery around Resident Evil's new antagonist. One of the only things gleaned from her brief appearance in Maiden is that Lady Dimitrescu is a homeowner. The castle that the game's protagonist, Ethan Winters, has to escape from belongs to her. She is described as "the mistress of the castle that overlooks the village" in her two-sentence character bio on the game's official website.
While her daughters certainly have vampiric tendencies, it doesn't appear that Lady Dimitrescu is actually a vampire, at least in the traditional sense. The Maiden's diary, which can be found in the demo, indicates she has a vampire's longevity. She's been in charge of running her castle and mutating women since at least the 1950s. The game takes place in the present day, so that means she's been a housemistress for approximately 70 years. Her lust for blood, alabaster skin, retractable claws, and aversion to the sun all scream vampire. That said, the fact that she can see her reflection in a mirror indicates that she may be something different than your garden variety bloodsucker, beyond her towering frame.
What we do know for sure is that Lady Dimitrescu is already a sensation on the internet. She's inspired an impressive amount of fan art and cosplay for a new character. Some of her appeal certainly speaks to how thirsty certain corners of the internet can be. The fact that she's such a striking character design can be appreciated outside of any libidinous context.
Takano said that the Village team did not anticipate the response to Lady Dimitrescu. It will be interesting to see how that translates to her role in the game. As imposing as she is, it's possible that she may be more of a supporting player in the game's narrative.
Her enthusiastic fanbase might have a backlash if she's dispatched by Ethan (or Chris Redfield) in an anti-climatic way. Of course, Capcom might also be rushing some story DLC into production to meet the sudden Dimitrescu demand.