The woeful tale Resident Evil Village protagonist Ethan Winters has found himself embroiled in is likely to go far deeper than Capcom has been letting on. It’s wholly to be expected that the developer is hiding major plot elements until release day rolls around, of course, but if fan theories hold true, there could be far more than just a handful of characters yet to be introduced.
Suspicions that things (as they’ve been presented in trailers, at least) are far more than they seem first surfaced following the reveal of Village‘s luxurious collector’s edition and specifically, a map of the game world included alongside a high-quality replica of the jacket worn by Chris Redfield. You’ll have to put down a whopping $1800 for the right to wear that fashion item, though hobbyist cartographers have already deciphered the former’s contents and made some interesting discoveries in the process.
While there’s seemingly no geographic significance to their placement, four houses are specifically named on the map. Two of these – House Dimitrescu and Heisenberg – will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s been paying attention to previous trailers. The first belongs to castellan Lady Dimitrescu and her three daughters whereas the latter, despite much less being known about its family tree, is known to be the same name as that given to Dimitrescu’s brother. The enigmatic man seen in initial promotional material wearing a Victorian-era get-up is largely believed to be Heisenberg himself and to have command over another mythical monster: werewolves.
The remaining two – House Beneviento and Moreau – however, remain utterly unexplained. The former is notable for being not dissimilar in name to the Italian city of Benevento, home to a long-held folklore story surrounding a coven of witches. Moreau, on the other hand, could be a reference to H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, though to what extent, if at all, remains to be seen. Wells’ novel tells of a titular mad scientist who conducts hideous experiments on humans, so the two certainly fit.
Whatever the case, we imagine Capcom will have more to share before Resident Evil Village launches on May 7th, but until then, feel free to share your own theories with us down below!