Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. In Capcom Survival horror video game Resident Evil Village, the character Ethan Winters finds himself beset by werewolves, vambires, and other creatures of darkness in an
unnamed Eastern European rural location. Particular village is governed by four lords, but the most impressive of these strange rulers is Lady Dimitrescu of Castle Demitrescu. Her lordship might otherwise be mistaken for any other Gothic fim fatal figure, resplendent with classic vampiric qualities and a stylish ensemble, but she also stands well over nine feet tall, and it's forced to duck as she moves through doorways in her otherwise
high ceilinged castle. While she often employs brute giant strength and dispatching her enemies, she can also manifest scimitar like claws to cut them limb from limb. She is arrogant and vain but also highly protective of her three vampiric daughters. The character has proven highly popular, quickly joining the likes of pyramid Head and Nemesis in the pantheon of great
memorable horror video game monsters. And dissecting the influences that brought this character together, we of course have to give a proper nod to both Dracula and Countess Elizabeth Bathory. But many commentators have also pointed to the modern Japanese yuri or yokai known as Miss eight foot Tall or has Haku Sama, who has depicted in a wide brimmed hat,
much like the Lady Demitrescu. According to haik Issuhani in a two thousand eighteen thesis paper titled Mythology Marches to Modernity Yokai in contemporary Japan, this spirit seems to have originated in a Japanese internet forum in two thousand and eight. However, the author stresses that Hasaku Sama's origins might actually extend back much further, to an older yokai named taka Onwa literally Tall Woman, briefly mentioned in the Illustrated Night Parade
of a Hundred Demons published in seventeen seventies. Six. However, the idea of a fearsome giant Tests is far older than any of these examples. Some variations of the Irish and Scottish winter Hag and deity uh Kieligak are described as a giant test and she is credited with kidnapping this pirit of summer. Other legendary hags are also given giant proportions from time to time, including the Baba Yaga. There's also Zunuqua of the quack Utel people of British Columbia,
who hunts the children of man. Multiple giant tests is of varying temperaments can be found in Norse mythology, and these are often described as beautiful to behold and in Hindu traditions, the demon giant tests Putana attempts to kill the infant Krishna by taking on a human appearance and breastfeeding him poisoned milk. Baby Krishna, however, turns the tables on the demon by draining her of all her milk
and her life essence. Suffice to say, Lady Demitrescu is but the latest in a long line of intriguing fictional giantesses employed to express varying ideas about feminine power. Her ancestors run the gamut of hags, demons, heroes, and goddesses. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your
Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.