Within the newly released Resident Evil Village, players will come face to face with Mother Miranda and her four lords. But while Lady Dimitrescu, the towering and bewitching mistress of the castle, may have received the most attention from fans in the run up to RE Village’s release, she is not actually the most powerful of these lords. Karl Heisenberg is, in fact, a far superior folly for Ethan Winters, despite his smaller and less imposing stature.
[Warning: Spoilers for Resident Evil Village below]
Within Resident Evil Village, players follow the trials and tribulations of Ethan Winters as he desperately searches for his lost daughter Rose. His search brings him to an isolated and snow-covered village, devoid of modern amenities. The village residents are living under the shadow of Mother Miranda, whom they worship, along with the four heads of houses: Alcina Dimitrescu, Donna Beneviento, Salvatore Moreau, and Karl Heisenberg. Each of these figures possess supernatural abilities that were “gifted” to them by Mother Miranda. While Lady Dimitrescu has had the chance to, quite literally, flex her claws ahead of Resident Evil Village’s release, the others still remain somewhat of a mystery. And, contrary to popular marketing-based misconception, it is actually Karl Heisenberg who is by far the most capable and cunning of any of the other Resident Evil Village antagonists.
In Resident Evil Village, Heisenberg is calculating, bitter, and arrogant. He posses the ability to control metal thanks to his electric organs (a side effect of his mutation “gift” from Mother Miranda) and wields a giant hammer. He is an expert engineer that can also mutate into a giant mechanical beast, amalgamating metal scrap to his bodily form. Heisenberg uses his skills as an engineer to brutally forge an army of other mechanical humanoids within his factory on the outskirts of the village. However, while the other lords within Resident Evil Village are all more than happy to serve Mother Miranda and do her bidding, Heisenberg is not quite so easily appeased by the winged deity that sees herself as his matriarch.
Resident Evil Village: Heisenberg’s Rebellion Against Mother Miranda
Before the events of Resident Evil Village, Mother Miranda kidnapped children to do experiments on them with a Cadou parasite. This was to further her research into reviving the dead, as her own daughter died during the Spanish flu outbreak years earlier. This left her devastated and ultimately drove her mad. Heisenberg, along with Lady Dimitrescu, Donna Beneviento, and Salvatore Moreau, was one of these children. Unlike the others, however, Heisenberg resents Mother Miranda for what she has done to him and believes her actions to selfish.
Throughout Resident Evil Village, Heisenberg will laud Ethan Winters for his progress and strength while faced with adversity. He even goes as far as to try and secure an alliance with Ethan, revealing that his barbarically crafted mechanical army are part of his bigger plot of rebellion - he plans to use his creations to finally destroy Mother Miranda as an act of revenge for her mutations and experiments on him. However, Ethan ultimately chooses not to side with Heisenberg, and instead the two battle each other outside the factory, before Chris Redfield blows up the factory and Ethan destroys Heisenberg.
Despite his presence being overshadowed by Lady Dimitrescu in the run up to Resident Evil Village’s release, Karl Heisenberg is a key driving point throughout the game’s narrative. While certainly not to be trusted, his easy charisma makes him an engaging character from the start of Ethan’s Village ordeal right through to his final, and brutal, climax.
Resident Evil Village is out now for Google Stadia, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S