Laura Victoriano

Laura Victoriano is a character from the survival-horror video game The Evil Within. She was the elder sister of the game's main antagonist Ruben Victoriano, better known as Ruvik. When she was 17, she died in a tragic fire and Ruvik's already precarious mental state was severely damaged as a result. When Ruvik created his STEM machine, he intended to use it to recreate his sister from his memories of her. Within Ruvik's twisted mental landscape, Laura is reborn as a murderous, inhuman creature.

In life
As a child, Laura was very close to her little brother Ruben. The two often used to play together. Though rarely mentioned in the storyline, she is mentioned by Ruvik who, for example, comments that her favourite piece of clothing was a red dress. It is strongly suggested that Laura and Ruben shared feelings beyond familial love.

After the siblings' wealthy parents bought a new land and farm, Ruvik and Laura were playing in a barn on 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 states there is nothing, and they 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. Laura, however, is unable to escape, and 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.

One of the Krimson Post's articles located within the game says that Laura did not die, but was badly wounded and left in a vegetative state.

Being told by their father that Laura did not survive the accident further worsened Ruvik'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.

Laura Reborn
At multiple points during the game, Sebastian Castellanos encounters a creature within the STEM environment that resembles Laura. This creature has only a vaguely human form, a humanoid torso with six limbs, four of which are configured for walking on with two more limbs on the creature's back for attacking. Each of its six extremities has five digits ending in long, razor-sharp claws, allowing the creature to climb walls and ceilings as well as tear victims to shreds. Laura's head still depicts her picturesque face and long black hair as Ruvik remembers her, but her warped body is covered in scars and burns.

This monstrous re-imagining of Laura represents a specific aspect of Ruvik's mental state, like all the creatures in the game. Specifically, Laura represents Ruvik's heartbreak over his sister's loss and his desire for vengeance. When Sebastian confronts Laura, he is unable to kill her with the meagre weapons at his disposal. The creature is immune to gunfire and is not particularly fazed by explosions, though she is vulnerable to flames. In each of his encounters with her, Sebastian has little recourse but to either run away or use the environment to his advantage when fighting Laura.

Behaviour
Laura moves about on four legs, using her claws to scale walls and ceilings. She can spawn out of dead bodies or large patches of gore to attack, screaming as she emerges. When she strikes, Laura will grab Sebastian and smash his head in against the floor, killing him instantly regardless of how much health he has.

Laura can actually be defeated, though the game emphasises that the player should run away. It is not until after the first playthrough that the player will stand a decent chance of defeating Laura when they have fully upgraded weapons and access to a rocket launcher.

Trivia

 * The Laura Creature resembles the Jorōgumo from Japanese folklore, a spider yokai that takes the form of a seductive woman.