The Tragedy of Ethan Winters (Artwork, Commentary)

Art Director’s Comment
“Resident Evil 7 character designs included some character models that were
different or didn’t even appear in the final version of the game, such as the dog.
Chris was originally going to be early middle-aged.”
“Initial rough drafts of Ethan and Mia when they were not going to be married
but strangers. Ethan was an investigator, and Mia was a missing person.”
“Family photo of the Bakers. When this picture was planned, the old woman and
young girl were separate characters.”
“Initial rough draft of the Baker family included a wide range of bizarre
characters. They included a violent father, mother made of bugs, trapper
brother, Mia was practically an invisible sister, twin younger brothers, and a
crazy grandma.”
“Another rough draft of the Bakers has each member associated with a
particular color. Jack was yellow, Marguerite was purple, Lucas was blue, and
Zoe was red.”
“Rough draft of Eveline, Chris, and Dave. The young boy in the middle was
originally the youngest Baker, Remy, but he was cut. Eveline ended up taking his
place.”
“Jack’s glasses were his key focal point for his character during early
development.
The image on the right is of his chainsaw fight.”

“The left shows an early design for a mutated Jack where he looked more like
himself. But this was later changed so the player could easily identify his weak
points.
The picture on the right is a design for Mia’s colleague, Alan.”

“One idea for Marguerite’s mutated form. We originally thought up a design
similar to earlier Resident Evil games with lots of body parts coming out of her.
But we ended up going for a new and refreshing design.”

“Design for Eveline’s final form, enlarged by mold. When we were designing her,
we had to show each department how every part of her fit together with the
head in the center.”
“There are rough drafts of Eveline’s final form. Her old woman form transforms
into a giant monster that absorbed her body.”
“The main antagonists were the Baker family so the designs of the general
monsters, the Molded, were some of the hardest ones. They needed to stand out
without taking attention away from the Bakers.
The Bakers look realistically human thanks to a technique using scanned

photographs so we wanted the Molded to not outshine them.”
“Design for the Four-Legged Molded. The name “Molded” comes from “mold” and
“transformed.”
We wanted the enemy names in Resident Evil 7 to be ones that the Baker family
might have come up with themselves.”
“Design for the Fat Molded. In the bottom right you can see how the Molded are
made. Victims are kept in cages, covered with mold, then left for two or three
days to turn.”
“The moment the Molded are born.”
“Rough draft for a type of white Molded that was axed. This was going to be a
female variety that had tentacles resembling hair. Underneath the “hair” was a
mouth-like appendage that extends out and attacks.
There were also early development plans to have an antibody gun that would
have been effective against the Molded.”
“Designs for Marguerite’s creepy-crawlies. From the top, there are adult and
young man-eating insects, as well as man-eating spiders that live in doorways.
They were made pallid in order to appear less repulsive. Insects found in some
real abandoned buildings in Louisiana were used as reference.”
“Art from early development of Resident Evil 7. This was the moment we decided
the setting, and from there the whole game was based in the American South.”
“The main dining room inside the house. There weren’t plans for a main house
and guest house at this point.”
“This was drawn when we were coming up with ideas for the guest house and
trying to work out the size and layout of the house.”
“An underground area where the family kept a terrifying monster that needed a
large feeding hatch.”
“Early concept art of the guest house. The size is close to the final version, but
the light coming in made it less scary. The final version was a lot darker.”
“Concept art for the guest house living room. This became the room where the
VCR was found in the release version of the game.
This layout became too difficult to understand and navigate in-game so it got a
complete overhaul.”
“Concept art for the second floor of the guest house. This was changed to the
third floor with a hidden staircase added.”
“Concept art showing Andre’s corpse in the guest house basement. One initial
idea was to have the player take the flashlight from Andre’s body.”
“Concept art for the scene in the guest house where Mia crawls up the stairs
towards Ethan.”
“The final design of the main house was based on on-site research of Louisiana.
The outside of the Bakers’ home is based on plantation houses that date back to
the American Civil War and the era of slavery in the US.”
“A rough design of the main house. Initial plans had a windmill in the front yard,
but later research revealed there are no windmills in Louisiana.
The house was also surrounded by open land and not the bayou, which didn’t
make it feel like a horror game at all.”
“The talisman design for Resident Evil 7. Made by Jack out of a cow head and
legs. We based it on images of mold, bacteria, and cells.”
“Early development concept art for the main house. The final version didn’t have
you enter through the front door. The layout for the second floor was also
completely different.”
“The dining room of the main house had a completely different feel from the final
version. The room and lighting atmosphere changed after on site-research.
One of the biggest differences was the main table. It used to be square, but we
found a round table in a Louisiana home which better suited the family coming
together.”
“The garage in the main house that you fight Jack in. Initial plans had the garage
and boiler together in a single room.”
“The sunlit entrance hall in the main house. This is very different from the final
version with the grandfather clock in the center and curved stairs.”
“Until the final version, early concept art included a large open yard.”
“This concept art for the entrance hall is much closer to the final version. The
room is full of furniture and several taxidermied animals, giving it a lived-in
feel.”
“Concept art for one of the shadow puzzles in the main house. These rooms
needed to be used for fights and puzzles, so we tried to make them as
disconcerting as possible.”
“Shadow puzzle in the old house.”
“Shadow puzzle in Lucas’ room.”
“The crow key, scorpion key, and snake key and their doors. On the right is the
design for the three-headed dog relief.”
“Concept art for the yard. There were always plans to have a trailer in the center
of the yard, trapped by the house around it.”
“Early on during development Zoe’s room was not going to be the trailer but a
room in the main house which Ethan saves her from.”
“The old house was once situated on solid ground but was flooded by a hurricane,
which is why it was separated from the main house and barricaded up.
Louisiana is a region that is often hit by major hurricanes, and we wanted to

show that the Baker family were impacted by them too.”
“You can see dolls in this concept art for the old house. We left objects associated
with children all over the house because that was where Eveline’s room is.”
“A web-covered room inside the old house.”
“This concept art for the old house shows an image of a room with a severely
damaged floor. Beyond that, you can see the staircase that leads up to the child’s
room.
Marguerite walks down the corridor with a candle to receive mold from Eveline.
The destruction in the room was caused by a hurricane.”
“This jetty behind the old house that leads to the bayou. The crow key is kept
away from the house in a remote location so no one can get to it.”
“Concept for an overgrown greenhouse where Marguerite used to grow her
plants. It was once a beautiful greenhouse but turned to ruin when Eveline
arrived. This is the location for the boss fight with Marguerite.”
“Concept art for mutated Marguerite. Her arms and legs are warped in a
terrifying way as she relentlessly pursues Ethan.”
“The child’s room in the old house that Eveline lives in. It’s full of toys for girls
like a doll house and dolls.”
“These dolls are unlike the ones in the entrance to the old house and are based
on the Molded. Eveline grows her family ever larger with the mold.”
“A temporary design for the room behind the child’s room where a life-sized doll
is seated instead of Eveline.”
“The final design for the room behind the child’s room where you can find the
body of the D-series. The ceiling was made to be low to give it a claustrophobic
feeling.”
“Concept art for Lucas’ section of the game. When you enter the room, there are
black lights, which make it feel almost like a nightclub.
This was to give players a new, different sense of fear from the rest of the family.
Blue and white were the key colors for Lucas.”
“‘Let’s Play’ written on the entrance to Lucas’ section of the game.”
“Continue into Lucas’ area, and it expands into white rooms covered in plastic
sheeting. Half-way through development, we decided to make tripwire bombs
Lucas’ main weapon of choice.”
“We wanted to make the design for Lucas’ area different from a traditional
haunted house. His avant-garde interests really stand out. It was difficult to get
the right balance between crazy and comical.”
“Concept art for when the Four-Legged Molded first appear in Lucas’ section.”
“More concept art for Lucas’ area.
A strange puzzle in Lucas’ section where various items are laid out, but the room
is white. This created a very unique space in the game.”
“You can see a number of strange puzzles scattered about Lucas’ section in this
place. They’re based not just on Lucas’ twisted interests but on the concepts of
“family” and “life and death.”
Such as a birthday cake being a symbol for life, while a picture of hanging corpse
and grave are connected to death, the goddess’ stomach symbolizes life, but it is
also accompanied by pain.
The mold infection does not have a strong grip on Lucas. As a result, he is filled
with the most hopelessness, joy, and desire for destruction.”
“Concept art for a cut boat fight when Mia and Ethan escape the house. The idea
was that the fight with Jack would take place in the muddy waters.”
“Concept art for the shipwreck, a destroyed tanker which Eveline split in two
with her powers. Louisiana used to have a thriving gas industry with a large
number of tankers.
Mia and her colleague Alan get passage on the tanker from Europe to the US,
pretending to be Eveline’s parents.”
“The aim of the shipwreck at the endgame was to give the player a renowned
sense of fear. A change of pace from the excitement of the fights and puzzles in
the Baker house.”
“Concept art for Ethan being trapped in mold by Eveline on the shipwreck.”
“Concept art for the mine, just in front of Lucas’ research lab. It’s a salt mine,
which is why the cave walls are white.”
“Concept art for Eveline creating mutamycete. This whole incident with the
Baker family was caused by a single girl wanting to create a network of mold
across the world in order to have a family of her own.”
“A concept design for Ethan from early on in Village’s development. He had a
backpack for his inventory instead of a suitcase.”
“Concept art of Mia reading the picture book. In our early drafts she was still
recovering from the incidents during Resident Evil 7 and was in a wheelchair.”
“Early plans had a mysterious masked person that saves Ethan. This was going
to be Ada Wong investigating the village, but this was cut due to a number of
conflicting scenarios.”
“A rough draft of an early design for Dimitrescu. Her concept was a bewitching
vampire with giant garden clippers.”
“Early development concept art for the Beneviento family, based around the idea
of a ghost family.
Their house was always going to be a single building in front of a giant waterfall.
The family were rake-thin parents and children wearing strange masks.
There’s also a picture of the wife who threw herself into the waterfall due to a
tragic incident in the past.”
“A rough draft of the monster Moreau. He was always going to be a disgusting
merman, and although his design didn’t change that much, the parasite on his
back was originally going to be a girl he once had feelings for. You can also see
the flooded village setting.”
“An early rough draft of the wolf men. There was going to be a scene where the
young men of the village drank from a chalice and turn. But this was eventually
cut.”
“An early draft of Heisenberg’s family. The biggest difference was that
Heisenberg was going to be a twin, and his mother was a subject for brain
experiments.”
“Heisenberg’s father was going to be the leader of the village, and the boss fight
with the mechanical mutation was originally going to be with him.”
“Early development rough draft of the leader of the village’s religion, before we
came up with Miranda. He was going to transform into a dragon-like monster,
but this idea was later used for Dimitrescu’s boss fight.”
“Early development concept art for the Duke, the merchant. From the very
beginning to the final game, he was always going to be a large character.
The Duke is a merchant and a foodie, and was going to be the fifth lord in early
drafts.
In Resident Evil 7 we utilized a photo scanning technique for the character

designs. But in Village we decided to be more creative and tried character
designs that didn’t look like regular humans.”
“The merchant’s carriage. Duke travels with his horse and carriage all over the
village. It’s his home, business, and means of transport.”
“The symbol of the merchant is a lantern decorated with goat bones. The idea
was that you would know it was a safe location, even from a distance.
We have a number of designs, but decided a round silhouette would be more

impactful.”
“A rough design for the remains left by enemies when you defeat them. The
overall balance needed to be achieved in the thumbnail image.
The remains for Dimitrescu and V ârcolac are different from the final version,
which has a more ornamental feel.”
“The typewriter for Village was designed to be distinguishable from previous
games like Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3.
The costumes and objects are based on 1960s designs, including the typewriter.”
“Even from early development the same gameplay as Resident Evil 7 was used,
which meant using item boxes.
However, as development went on we decided to change the game to be more

like Resident Evil 4 and removed the item boxes.”
“Design for the labyrinth based on Castle Dimitrescu. The labyrinths were
designed after something you’d see at the end of the 19th century and were
originally going to be tributes to the Four Lords.”
“The labyrinth on the left is Beneviento’s and was based on Donna’s area. The
path passes through a graveyard and over a waterfall via suspension bridges.
The labyrinth on the right is based on Moreau’s reservoir, with the windmills in
the center. There was also a design of the fishing village with boats when it
wasn’t flooded.”
“Heisenberg’s labyrinth is based on his factory. It uses train tracks between a
house and the factory, moving into the coal mines.”
“Early development concept art. Initial ideas had the story switching between
the village in modern day and the past, set in medieval times.”
“Two early designs for altars in the church that display the castle gate reliefs.”
“An early design for an altar in the village that displays a castle gate relief.”
“An early design for the safe rooms had a camera as the save point instead of a
typewriter.”
“Storyboard for the lycan’s first appearance. We wanted them to have a wild and
animalistic image unlike the zombies and Ganados of the previous games.”
“Storyboard for Ethan’s trial with all the lords. At this point in development, it
was still the hag followed by the four lords.”
“An early plot point was to have Ada, disguising herself with a mask, help Ethan
escape from his trial.”
“This storyboard shows the end of the trial scene, as well as Miranda’s
experiments. Miranda was initially going to be a researcher investigating the
village’s strange creatures.”
“Concept art for an event that happened in the village before Ethan arrived. The
surviving villagers had locked the gate because of the number of people killed by
the lycans, sealing it with the Winged Key.”
“Castle Dimitrescu concept art. You can see Dimitrescu casually drinking blood
as if it was wine.”
“Concept art of the flying enemies in the courtyard of Castle Dimitrescu.”
“Early concept art of Castle Dimitrescu. This was cut from the final version, but
this was where Ethan was going to fight Dimitrescu.”
“Concept art for the gate leading to the lycans’ lair. We came up with a few
designs for the gate that leads to the Stronghold.”
“Early concept art for the “birth” of lycans. A victim is slowly encased in mold
and then emerges transformed.”
“Moreau concept art where he watches old romance movies and falls into
melancholy. He also loves eating cheese.”
“Concept art for one of Donna’s dolls. It has a hidden pair of scissors inside it that
it uses to attack Ethan.”
“Concept art for one of Donna’s dolls that turns into a spider-like monster.”
“We had a number of ideas for Donna’s dolls including one with knives coming
out of its back and a few wielding in their hands.”
“Cut design for a large lycan who commands two chained V ârcolac.”
“Various lycan weapons, including a spiked hammer, torch, and sling.”
“Various lycan weapons, including a hunting knife and scabbard, sledgehammer,
and more torches.”
“Lycan equipped with claw-like weapons which are made from a variety of
blades found throughout the village.”
“Designs for armor used to protect the lower half of the body.”
“Concept art for a temple close to Heisenberg’s factory. This was initially going
to be the spot where Miranda sat on her throne and conducted the ceremony.”
“Miranda’s throne. There was going to be a scene where Miranda set here
holding Rose during the ceremony.”
“Concept art for Heisenberg’s factory where Ethan is chased by the Soldat series.
If the reactors in their chests are destroyed, then the parasite inside will attempt
to escape.”
“Designs for various Soldat reactors, but the final design was a grotesque
mechanical heart.”
“Concept art of a day in the life of Heisenberg. Night after night his modified
henchmen dig up corpses from the graveyard to be used in his metal army.”
“Boss fight with mutated Heisenberg where he turns into his final form.”
“Concept art for Chris’ part of the game. Although we were unable to explore
these characters in depth, the details behind Chris’ team, the Hound Wolf Squad,
have been pinned down.”
“Storyboard from when the player takes control of Chris to the point where he
infiltrates the village. One plan was to focus on each member of the Hound Wolf
Squad.”
“Storyboard of Chris fighting alongside the Hound Wolf Squad inside the village.”
“Storyboard of the BSAA arriving at the village, as well as saving Mia.”
“Rough design for mutated Miranda where she was going to transform into a
mold creature.
The final design looks more like Miranda which worked better for the plot.”
“Storyboard for the end game with Ethan’s death and Chris’ decision, creating a
sense of uncertainty as a helicopter flies over the village.”
STORYBOARD FOR THE END CREDITS
“Long ago, a child was born to a family. The family lived in peace… for a while.
One day a sickness fell on the village and one by one, the people began to die.
The wife too succumbed to the illness. There were more graves than survivors. It
wasn’t long before the daughter got sick. But Miranda used the Cadou to create
a miracle, and she became a saint.
Then the villagers infected with the parasite Cadou, turned into lycans.”

The Tragedy of Ethan Winters (Artwork, Commentary)

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Art Director’s Comment

The image on the right is of his chainsaw fight.”

The picture on the right is a design for Mia’s colleague, Alan.”

But we ended up going for a new and refreshing design.”

The Bakers look realistically human thanks to a technique using scanned

Louisiana is a region that is often hit by major hurricanes, and we wanted to

In Resident Evil 7 we utilized a photo scanning technique for the character

We have a number of designs, but decided a round silhouette would be more

However, as development went on we decided to change the game to be more

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