Mommy, step on me. Those words scourged around the internet in January 2021 after the world got a look at Alcina Dimitrescu in a teaser trailer for Resident Evil Village, alongside her appearance in the PS5-exclusive demo for the game, Maiden. You all wanted a piece of her, so did I, and Capcom couldn't quite believe the outpour of love for the villain - if it had foreseen her popularity, perhaps REVIII would have been different.
Resident Evil's Lady Dimitrescu is one of the Four Lords who answer to Miranda, the big bad of the game. She's actually the first one you face, with you entering her castle early in the game after escaping a rather unpleasant meeting where you're the guest of honor. As soon as you're inside the impressive structure, her three daughters capture you and take you to their mother - it's thrilling, and you can't wait to see how it all plays out with your new vampire mommy.
Well, you finish up after roughly an hour, maybe more or less depending on how thoroughly you explore the castle, and whether or not it's your first foray behind those walls. That's it, then your time with Lady Dimitrescu is done. Four years, five months, and 20 days later (or 1,634 days), and I'm still not over the underutilization of one of the best Resident Evil monsters of all time. No, that's not an exaggeration, and something tells me you agree if you're a fan of the Resident Evil games.
Alcina is as intimidating as she is alluring, and I'm not ashamed to admit I rather enjoyed it when she pummeled me through the door - Mommy step on me, indeed. But all jokes aside, Lady D has everything you need to be a main villain: great background, excellent location, poses a serious threat, and you want to see more of her. She even serves as the equivalent of Resident Evil's Nemesis and Resident Evil 2's Mr X, stalking you through the halls of her home, alongside her daughters.
Hearing her words of anguish after she discovers that Ethan killed Bela isn't something I'm going to forget; there's nothing like a woman scorned, right? Especially one who's just lost her child to you. Her relationship with her daughters had the potential to play an even bigger role in the story, given that you, Ethan Winters, are only in this hellhole of a village in search of your own daughter. There's a certain parallel that I think could have been interesting to explore further, especially as even Lady Dimitrescu herself acknowledges the similarity in her boss fight. "How dare you talk about saving your daughter when you've murdered mine?"
Now, in all fairness, Alcina, you and your daughters aided in the kidnapping of Rose and admittedly deserve what Ethan does, just saying. Still, had Alcina been the overarching villain or perhaps been permitted to live a bit longer, Capcom could have explored what it might be like for the hero and villain to reluctantly acknowledge a certain kinship. Yes, I'm more than aware of Miranda's motivations, but she doesn't offer the same pizzazz as Alcina, and I don't much care about her story.
Beyond that, the Castle and Lady D are arguably the best portion of the entire game, very closely followed by the next area you explore - if you know, you know. I'd honestly have been happy for the entire game to take place in the castle. The first Resident Evil takes place in a mansion, so why couldn't this one solely be in a castle, or at least allow us to see much more of it than we do? Think about it, the three daughters each serve as a boss fight, so the basis was already there; Capcom just needed to offer up more areas in the castle and make you work a bit harder to reach each of them - this would even have worked to give you more time in the castle, even if you still needed to move on to other locations eventually.
The backstory of Alcina and her daughters is also fantastic; it's easily among the best narrative tidbits of Village, with numerous notes and items offering a deeper look as you explore Castle Dimitrescu. There could be an entire game centering around these four - the Resident Evil Village DLC even takes place in the castle, showing just how important and impressive it is. An expansion centering on Lady Dimtrescu would have been great, too, even if I enjoy Shadow of Rose.
I think DLC in which you get to play as a young girl trying to escape the clutches of Alcina, evading capture and doing what you can to survive, only for it all to be in vain, would work really well. Yes, you can argue that's essentially what happens in the 30-minute Maiden demo, but with a whole expansion, Capcom could put even more into it. Besides, the ending to my imaginary DLC is that you wake up, look in the mirror, and… you're one of her daughters.
Theoretically, this would offer a look at the family years before Ethan Winters's arrival and answer some pressing questions. I, for one, would love to know how things played out when it came to Alcina Dimitrescu adopting her children - I'd also love to get a better understanding of her deep-rooted hatred for men.
Ultimately, Capcom had numerous ways to capitalize on Lady Dimitrescu's popularity, and yet it didn't. All these years later, she, along with Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra, continues to fascinate me, and I'll forever think that it's a crying shame that the team didn't foresee her status as an icon, or at least take charge and give us more of her after the fact. Taking up just one small portion of a game and leaving an impact like Alcina Dimitrescu is no easy task, but she's done it - really, Capcom, could you not have just gotten rid of the hideous fish man, Salvatore Moreau, and given us another encounter with Lady D?
As much as I'm content to live in the past with my beloved Alcina Dimtrescu, I'm excited for the future, with the new Resident Evil game being just around the corner.