Before Resident Evil Village launched, Lady Dimitrescu became an idol of the internet. RE fans and even people who'd never played the franchise before fell in love with the villainous Lady of the castle before they even knew anything about her. Capcom certainly didn't mind the attention and used Lady Dimitrescu in many of their advertising ventures.
Though Lady Dimitrescu may have been getting the most attention, many more people attached themselves to her vampiric daughters post-launch. The three sisters were sadistic mini-bosses that plagued players throughout the castle section of the game, and players loved every second of it. Not much is known about the Dimitrescu daughters. Though they are only in the game for a short time, there are plenty of interesting tidbits to learn about them.
Updated December 25, 2021 by Joe Barbieri: As the year comes to a close, many are looking back on their favorite games of the year. Though it didn't win Game of the Year, Resident Evil Village was still very successful and well-liked by Resident Evil fans. Lady Dimitrescu stands among characters like Nemesis and Albert Wesker in recognizability, and her English voice actress Maggie Robertson was awarded the Performace of the Year award at the Game Awards. Many characters took special places in the hearts of fans, including Lady Dimitrescu's vampiric daughters, Bella, Cassandra, and Daniela. Though these characters weren't given the same story treatment as Heisenberg or Dimitrescu herself by Capcom, they are fan-favorites and little is still known about them. Here's what fans might not have known.
9 Nicole Tompkins Voiced Daniela
Fans who played Resident Evil 3 Remake will remember voice actress Nicole Tompkins's fantastic performance as Jill Valentine. During the Resident Evil Village demos, many fans spotted Tompkins's voice once more, this time for the villager Elena.
After playing the role of a series heroine and a frightened villager, many fans might be surprised to learn that the vicious Daniela Dimitrescu was also voiced by Nicole Tompkins. Daniela is the last of Lady Dimitrescu's daughters that Ethan faces and has a fair amount of dialogue inside the fight. As with the other sisters though, she eventually falls to Ethan after he utilizes the library's skylight to weaken her.
8 Daniela Is The Youngest Of The Three
While exploring the castle, players come across little to no lore on the sisters. They remain mostly mysterious in their origins and what they're like outside of drinking people's blood on the weekends. Though the actual ages of the sisters remain a mystery, Capcom has said that Daniela is the youngest of the Dimitrescu daughters.
She is also regarded as the most unhinged of the three, acting both playful and violent with Ethan in her boss fight. While the other sisters see fighting with Ethan as a literal fight for survival, Daniela seems to treat it almost like a game. Unfortunately, things don't go her way and she eventually is defeated by Ethan. Just before she crystallizes a glimpse of humanity shines through as she says that she, "Doesn't want to die."
7 Bela Is The Oldest Of The Three
Cassandra is the first of the Dimitrescu daughters to chase Ethan. She is a bit overconfident in her pursuit and surely underestimates Ethan. She is seen as the eldest daughter and the "leader" of the three, though she falls fairly early on in the castle part of the game. Bela traps Ethan near the kitchen after her sister chased him into the cells below the castle.
The fight is fairly difficult as Bela traps Ethan in a room with few obstacles that can help in dodging her attacks. Not only that but enemies left alive can wander into the boss room from the stairs below, sending Ethan into an unfair matchup. Ethan manages to beat Bela though, crippling the dynamic of the daughters and of the entire Dimitrescu family.
6 The Dimitrescu Daughters Weren't Always Evil
Though the Dimitrescu daughters surely caused players a lot of troublein their playthroughs, it should be noted that these characters probably weren't always evil. Normal people falling victim to bioterror or corporate abuse have long been themes inside the Resident Evil franchise. Even the series' most famous villainm Albert Wesker, was a victim in his youth to the experiments of Oswell E. Spencer and "Project W."
As such, Bella, Cassandra, and Daniela weren't always the cannibalistic monsters that Ethan Winters encounters. It's likely that they were normal women taken by Lady Dimitrecu herself for Cadou experimentation. The girls remember nothing of their previous lives and are victims to the Megamycete, just like Rose Winters or Ethan Winters. The difference is that they were made into monsters by the foul experiments done by Lady Dimitrescu and Mother Miranda.
5 The Daughters Are Completely Invincible At First
While in their insectoid forms, the Dimitrescu daughters are completely invincible. Players can do little more than run away whenever one of them appears to harass Ethan. No amount of firepower will do anything against the sisters when they're able to shift into clouds of poisonous insects.
Their true weaknesses are exploited once Ethan shatters a window during his fight with Bela. The freezing wind immensely weakens Bela and removes her ability to transform into a cloud of bugs. Instead, she's forced to fight Ethan with her weapons and wits. Players should be sure to keep this in mind and avoid wasting resources on trying to fight the sisters before their actual boss rooms!
4 Cassandra Was Responsible For Most Player Deaths
Most modern Resident Evil games will ask players if they're willing to give their play data over to RE.NET before they start playing. Thist site offers a library of fun facts and data for players to see, as long as they're logged in and have a linked account. The website shows everything from how many miles the player base has walked in-game to the number of lycans the players have defeated together.
Per the original writing and publishing of this article, RE.net showed that Cassandra (the middle daughter) was responsible for most player deaths. This makes sense, as Cassandra's fight is arguably the most difficult, requiring players to blast a hole in the armory wall with an explosive before being able to damage the mini-boss. The cramped room can be easy to get stuck in as well, often leading to Ethan getting bit or sliced up.
3 The Dimitrescu Daughters Were Probably Inspired By Dracula's Brides
Resident Evil Village is full of references to popular horror titles and the game is clearly inspired by Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. The Dimitrescu daughters act as the "family" of Alcina Dimitrescu though they are not related by blood. In a similar fashion, Dracula's brides are his "family" through vampiric seduction and not by blood.
The brides strive to please Dracula with their service and this same theme can be seen as soon as the Dimitrescu daughters capture Ethan. He is brought to Lady Dimitrescu and offered as a gift to the imposing countess.
The daughters also share many classic vampire abilities and traits. They need to consume flesh and blood to survive and they can dissipate into a cloud of insects. Most other vampires can become clouds of bats but, the idea is still the same!
2 The Insects Act Like RE0 Leeches
Resident Evil 0 is something of a black sheep in the franchise. It has a cult following of fans that love it but most Resident Evil fans wouldn't place it in their top three favorites by any means. Regardless of fan reception or feeling, the game is important for the story and acts as a prequel to Resident Evil. In the game, players face the classic cast of undead foes including shambling zombies, vicious dogs, and even aggressive zombie monkeys.
The nemesis of Resident Evil 0 is the leech though. Leeches can be found all over the setting of the game, and they sometimes form together into the shape of a human. The leeches can almost perfectly mimic the appearance of a human, very much like the bugs that created Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela. These leeches are resistant to gunfire and enemies formed from leeches can be tricky to take down.
1 The Daughters Were Once Human (Around The 1950s)
Though Ethan Winters only knew the Dimitrescu daughters as vampiric witches, these vicious women were once human beings. Thebugs that make up the Dimitrescu daughters were bred from Mother Miranda's creation, the cadou. The cadou is a parasite that can infect mold-infected persons and change their biology. Many of these cadou experiments were catastrophic failures that led most test subjects into becoming lycans.
The cadou parasite if left long enough laid eggs that bore the bugs that created the Dimitrescu daughters. These eggs were laid in the bodies of Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela and the process of transformation began under the careful watch of Lady Dimitrescu. The three women were "reborn" by the bugs, and the bugs became an irreversible part of their biology.
It's unknown what the women were like before they became monsters, but they were all trapped in the age they were in the 1950s. They were forever youthful, but at what cost?