Resident Evil Village is putting a great deal of emphasis on its antagonists, and following in the footsteps of Resident Evil 7 – where the Baker family stole the show – it seems like the upcoming survival horror title is going to make its villains crucial to the experience in more ways than one. Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters have been hogging the limelight for a long time now, but she’s just one of several villains in the game. A recent article published by IGN shares new details on the others.
The four main villains are the aforementioned Lady Dimitrescu, Donna Beneviento, Karl Heisenberg, and Salvatore Moreau, who together are known as the four Lords of the titular village. Each of them rules over their own parts of the village, and players will, of course, be going to each of these locations. Each location is differently themed and takes inspiration from different styles of horror (gothic horror for Lady Dimitrescu, werewolves for Heisenberg, supernatural horror for House Beneviento), and each area has enemies that are unique to it.
Of course, besides Lady Dimitrescu, Heisenberg and his factory have also been in the spotlight of late– it’s the other two that have been shrouded in mystery up until now. So what’s their deal? Well, there’s Salvator Moreau, who presides over Moreau’s Reservoir. According to art director art director Tomonori Takano, Moreau was designed “with the concept of creating the most repulsive character on Earth.”
Then there’s Donna Beneviento, who has her own schtick. She’s clad completely in black, with even her face being covered, and she operates a puppet called Angie (which may or may not have a life of its own). “In the United States, people’s reactions towards the puppet were pretty intense,” director Morimasa Sato says. “Of course, this made me happy, but as a Japanese person, it surprised me that they found the puppet that scary.” He also adds that House Beneviento, the location where Donna Beneviento and Angie can be found, takes the horror elements of Resident Evil 7 further.
None of these four Lords is the big bad, however- Resident Evil VIllage’s primary villain is Mother Miranda, who’s briefly come up at times in the game’s trailers. Something of a cult leader, Mother Miranda is the head honcho of this hellish village, and the four Lords all answer to her. Almost everything about her seems to be shrouded in mystery right now, so we’re just going to have to play the game to learn more about here.
Resident Evil Village is due out for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on May 7.
