- "Hmph. I didn't hear anything."
- ―A villager setting the barn on fire, purposefully ignoring the sounds inside
Laura Victoriano is a minor character and an antagonist who appears in The Evil Within. She was the daughter of Ernesto Victoriano and Beatriz Victoriano and the older sister of Ruben Victoriano who was grievously injured in a barn fire and subsequently died prior to the events of the game.
Appearance
Laura was a beautiful young woman with waist-length black hair that hung on either side and sliver-blue eyes.
She wore a red and white dress with white shoes.
Personality
Laura was a kind girl who cared for and loved Ruben Victoriano.
Background
As a child, Laura was very close to her little brother Ruben Victoriano and the two often played together. Although it is rarely mentioned in the storyline, she is mentioned by Ruvik who, for example, comments that her favorite piece of clothing was a red dress.
In the model viewer, it is stated she was the only person who understood her brother.
The Barn Fire
After the siblings' wealthy parents bought a new land and farm, Ruben Victoriano and Laura were playing in a barn in the newly bought land. Two of the land's previous occupants are shown approaching the barn discussing how they need to show the Victorianos who really owns the land. The two drench the outside of the barn with gasoline. Though one of them notes hearing children inside, the other callously ignores it, and they all throw their torches to light the barn on fire.
Panicking, the siblings find a small window in the top part of the barn. Laura helps her brother up the window, both of them burning at this time. Ruvik falls out the window in flames, escaping the fire despite being heavily disfigured by the burns. However, Laura is unable to escape and she is left to die inside the barn, screaming as she burns alive.
She is then seen to fall backwards off the top floor down into the middle of the barn. She seems to have passed out and become unconscious. Since the fire never reached the middle of the barn, she wasn't burnt any more than she already was.
Aftermath
One of the Krimson Post's articles located within the game says that Laura did not die from the barn fire, but she was badly wounded and left in a vegetative state. However, she eventually passed away.
Being told by their father that Laura did not survive the accident further worsened Ruben Victoriano's mental state. As described in notes left in the Victoriano mansion, it is suggested that in the following years after her death, Ruvik had seen visions of her.
In the events of the game, a distorted version of her can be encountered born from Ruvik's memories of her and his vengeance.
Marcelo Jimenez notes that Ruvik's motivation for the creation of STEM was inspired by his love for Laura. Ruvik also said that he wanted her to see the real him and not his burnt body. It seems that if Mobius hadn't gotten involved and eventually took over, Ruvik would've wanted to use his memories of her within STEM, to bring her out and be with her. That, or he would visit and/or stay within STEM to be with her. Whether it be actually bringing her into existence without problems, or finding a host to bring her back in, similarly to how he needed to leave through Leslie Withers' body.
Manifestation within STEM
Laura (Creature)
Inside the world of Ruvik's mind, there is a creature that bears resemblance to a warped version of Laura, having very similar long black hair. Her body is twisted and warped with four arms, each with razor-sharp claws. The creature pursues Sebastian Castellanos at various points throughout the game. The creature is weak against fire, and screams in agony when burned, similarly to when Laura was trapped in the burning barn.
The creature was born from Ruvik's memory of his sister, and his desire for vengeance.
The Assignment
There's an Easter Egg of Laura in the first DLC. Before you head into the area where you have to head into Biometrics. There are two doors that are broken and continue to open and shut. If you shine your flashlight in there, you'll see Laura standing there, in the long dark hall way. She'll laugh very creepily while standing there in one place and just stare at the ground with her head facing downwards. And if you wait long enough, she teleport closer and closer to the door until she's eventually right there behind the door with her head up, staring right at Juli Kidman.
Relationships
Ruben Victoriano
Laura was Ruvik's older sister and the only person who understood him. They clearly had a very close relationship and cared for each other. After the fire and Ruvik was told she was dead, he became depressed and finally snapped. He even went as far as to killing his parents, blaming them for everything that happened to him. It is unknown on how she felt after the fire during the Vegetative state, but it can be assumed she wished to be with him again.
Beatriz Victoriano
Their relationship was never put into detail but we can infer that they were on good terms. Beatriz passed on a lot of traits to her daughter, such as her long black hair and kindness.
Ernesto Victoriano
Although they were never seen interacting, we can assume they had a neutral relationship, unlike Ruvik. Ernesto knew of his children's closeness, which caused strains in his relationship with Ruvik. It may also be implied that she may have been a safe border between her brother and father.
Trivia
- According to The Art of The Evil Within, instead of the Upgrade Chair, Sebastian Castellanos would originally obtain his skills and improve his weapons via a mysterious woman in red, as a clear reference to the Merchant from Resident Evil 4. This didn't come to pass and Tatiana Gutierrez and the chair were created to replace her role, and her design being recycled into Laura as she is now.
Gallery
Concept Art
Screenshot
Other
.png "Screenshot (547).png (1.24 MB)")
.png "Laura Victoriano model viewer (up close).png (840 KB)")
.png "Laura Victoriano model viewer (full body).png (724 KB)")