Village of Shadows

Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

The Village of Shadows storybook as it appears in the game.

Village of Shadows is a book introduced in Resident Evil Village. It is a folktale about a family living in an Eastern European village near a forest filled with supernatural creatures.

Story

The story begins with a little girl going out with her mother to collect berries in the forest, while her father works. The mother and daughter find no berries, but determined not to disappoint, the little girl goes off on her own, further into the forest.

Becoming lost, she encounters the Bat Lord, who bites his own wing and offers her the blood so that she might quench her thirst. Continuing on, the girl enters a graveyard, and where she is met with a bitter cold. From the shadows, the Dark Weaver appears, and crafts a beautiful dress from the mist, which he then gifts to the girl to keep her warm. The girl continues on and finds a boat, hoping it might carry her home. As she crosses the water, however, she is beset by hunger. Suddenly, the Fish King appears, and offers one of his scales for her to eat.

Finally, as the little girl enters the dark heart of the forest, an Iron Steed appears, bearing a beautiful golden gear. The Steed says nothing as the little girl approaches and takes the gear, believing it to be another gift. The Steed grows angry and summons the other creatures from her travels. A wild wind rises around the beasts and suddenly, a Witch appears. The Witch chastises the little girl, saying that since she took more than was given to her, they must be repaid in kind. The Witch then traps the girl in a mirror.

However, the two are found by the girl's Mother and Father, who have been searching for her. The Father attacks with his torch, raging against the Witch, while the Mother's loving touch frees the Girl from the mirror. However, the Witch is too strong, and in fighting her, the forest has been set on fire. The Father calls for the Mother and the Girl to escape, as he fights the Witch to the death.

It is still said that any child who gazes too long at the charred remains of the forest will have nightmares of becoming lost while picking berries.

Transcript

(Spoiler)

Long ago, a young girl went with her mother to pick berries for her father who was hard at work.

But the forest greeted them with a dark, cold silence, the bushes empty.

Yet, determined to find the berries, the rascal broke free from Mother’s grasp and vanished into the trees.

Mother’s worried cries faded fast as the girl ran on; over vine, and under branch and into the forest deep.

Feeling strange eyes upon her, the girl recalled Mother’s scary bedtime tales and her throat became bone dry.

Then the Bat Lord appeared! He greeted her warmly and bit his own wing.

“Come, child. Quench your thirst,” he said.

So she drank the thick, dark blood and smiled with joy.

Passing through a graveyard, menacing storm clouds loomed and the air turned bitingly cold.

The girl was shivering in her thin clothes.

Then a Dark Weaver appeared, and with a click of his fingers, crafted mist into a beautiful dress.

“Come, child, warm yourself,” he coaxed.

So she clothed herself and smiled with joy.

Across waters deep and ominous she went, hoping a boat she found would carry her home.

But hunger’s grip tightened and her heart grew heavy.

Then the Fish King appeared and offered one of his many fins.

“Come, child. Eat your fill.”

So the girl ate and smiled with joy once more.

Continuing on, she soon entered the forest’s dark heart.

Then an Iron Steed appeared, bearing a beautiful, golden gear.

The creature said nothing as the girl approached…

…and snatched what she thought was another gift.

The horse grew angry and summoned the other monsters.

Terror filled the girl’s heart as a wild wind rose about the beasts.

Suddenly, a witch appeared – dark, yet regal.

“Gifts we gave, but more you took,” she snarled.

“So more, in turn, is due.” In a blink, the girl was trapped inside a mirror.

Her parents, though, had searched all day and, at last, arrived.

With rampant rage, Father fought the Witch while Mother’s loving touch shattered the dark enchantment.

But the Witch was strong and Father yelled, “Save our daughter!”

So Mother bore their child to safety as the forest was consumed.

Even now, the burnt forest is a grim reminder of Father’s sacrifice.

To this day, any child who stares too long into the charred wasteland will be haunted by nightmares of getting lost while picking berries.

Appearances

While disguised as Mia Winters, Miranda read Village of Shadows to Rosemary Winters shortly before Chris Redfield attacked the Winters household. She stops reading at the point where the Witch traps the girl in a mirror, but the full tale is revealed during the credits of the game. Rosemary herself is also shown reading the book in the post-credits scene.

Village of Shadows also appears on one of the film strips found in the Projector Room of House Beneviento's basement. It is used with four other film strips (including the Film found in the Mia Doll's mouth) to open a hidden passage behind a bookcase when placed in the right order. The clue to the puzzle found nearby (written from Mia's perspective) claims that Rosemary really likes the folktale.

"Village of Shadows" is also the name of the highest difficulty level in the game.

Further notes

• Village of Shadows acts as foreshadowing for the game's plot as a whole and its characters.
  • The girl who ran into the forest is supposed to be Rosemary Winters, who was abducted by Miranda and taken to the village.
  • The four creatures represent the Four Houses and their associated lords; the girl meets them in the same order that Ethan Winters visits the Lords' territories. Additionally, their "gifts" are depicted as gold in color, mirroring the color of the flasks containing Rose's body parts.
    • The Bat Lord is in reference to Alcina Dimitrescu; his white coloration is similar to her attire and her skin (in both human and Molded forms), and feeding the girl with his own blood echoes the Dimitrescu family's winemaking history, particularly Alcina's signature Sanguis Virginis. The story also depicts three bats preceding the Bat Lord, potentially referencing Alcina's daughters.
    • The Dark Weaver is in reference to Donna Beneviento. Whilst she isn't a dressmaker per se, a part of puppet-making does require the creation of outfits and golden thread can be found in the Beneviento house; alternatively, the Dark Weaver echoes Donna's ability to "weave" illusions with the help of hallucinogenic pollen. The Dark Weaver's multiple limbs are somewhat echoed in the bladed limbs of Donna's Living Dolls, and the girl meets him in a graveyard similar to the one near House Beneviento.
    • The Fish King bears a resemblance to Salvatore Moreau's mutated form, particularly with its multiple eyes and general body shape. His watery realm echoes the Reservoir, which Ethan traverses by boat at a few points.
    • The Iron Steed references the family crest of House Heisenberg: the head of a stallion framed by a horseshoe. The gear on the Iron Steed's head refers to the Heisenberg family's industrial roots and the Factory section of the game.
  • The Iron Steed being the one to turn on the girl may foreshadow Karl Heisenberg's plans to betray Mother Miranda as revenge for "using" him and the other lords. It can also be seen as an inversion of the Lords' interactions with Ethan in-game; while the Iron Steed is the only one not to offer a gift to the girl, Lord Heisenberg is the only Lord who isn't immediately hostile to Ethan, instead guiding him to the Torso Flask and offering to help him kill Miranda (albeit for his own reasons).
  • The Witch is Mother Miranda, being the apparent master of the other four creatures and the last one to appear in the story; additionally, she occasionally disguises herself as a shaman-like Hag when Ethan travels through the village. The first time Village of Shadows is read in-game, Mia Winters is revealed to be reading the story just as she delivers the Witch's first line, hinting to her real identity as a shapeshifted Miranda.
  • The girl's entrapment in the mirror could allude to how Rose's body is split into four pieces and put into flasks.
  • The finale of the book has the father of the girl proceed to fight the witch whilst the mother escapes with her daughter. In the end, the forest burns to the ground, killing the father. This references Ethan's final moments against Miranda and how he sacrificed his life in order for Mia and Rose to escape, also destroying the entire village and the Fungal Root beneath it in the process.
  • The verse "To this day, any child who stares too long into the charred wasteland will be haunted by nightmares of getting lost while picking berries" most likely references that the decimated village will forever serve as a traumatic memory for Mia and Rose, how they both lost a loving relative who gave his life for them.
• The Story itself teaches the morale that taking what is handed to you always comes with a price; The Girl takes the gifts for granted without showing any sign of gratitude, which cost the Girl her freedom. Her Father then holds off the Witch while the Girl and her Mother escapes, the Girl winning her freedom at the cost of losing her Father.

Gallery

Concept art of the book, with an earlier name.

Ethan Winters holding the book.