The curious case of Daniella Belli

Haunting Ground is a game I hold very dear to my heart, for many.. many reasons. One of the main reasons is because of the second stalker in the game, Daniella; the maid of Belli castle. There are a lot of questions regarding Daniella; how did she arrive to Belli castle? Why can't she feel anything? Why is she so loyal to Lorenzo? But the main one is... well...

What is Daniella?

Haunting Ground (or Demento) has alchemy as one of its main themes, which has lead many to believe that Daniella is a homunculus. This is a common belief among the fans, which is a very valid thing to believe; Daniella, during the dinner scene, recalls that "my creator said he made me the perfect woman... but I cannot taste, or experience pleasure... or feel pain", the keyword being creator. The fact she calls Lorenzo/Riccardo her creator is one of the main reasons why people believe she's a homunculus, and it is very likely she is one, but there is more to it than just one line. There's a cutscene early in the game, while you're still being hunted by Debilitas, you can see Daniella being interrogated by Riccardo. She's harmed during said interrogation but has no reaction to it.

Daniellas chase theme.

Another thing that I think confirms she's a homunculus, her stalking theme; Something Lacking. (Which is playing now :3)

The song, which is one of my favourite themes in the whole game, sounds very mechanical and robotic, interspersed with female breathing, which could be seen as commentary on Daniellas character in general; as she is rather "robotic" in her mannerisms. There's also the name of her theme, "Something Lacking", which adds to this; there is something about her that lacks humanity, that makes her somehow less than perfect. My first thought about Daniellas theme is that the title was in reference to her lacking the Azoth, which is the reason why she chases after Fiona, but I no longer believe it to be the case. In my mind, it's not that Daniella lacks the azoth but that she instead lacks empathy for Fionas situation; and she lacks the respect that Fiona is being given thanks to her holding the azoth. Daniella has been through a lot of pain and torment being the sole maid of Belli castle so she rightfully is jealous that everyone else is making a fuss over the young girl when she had been there that entire time.

Daniellas demise.

Moving on to Daniellas death, it's heavily implied that Daniella had the opportunity to move out of the way of the falling shard before it impaled her, yet she chose to remain where she stood. It's likely she was sick of her existence, of not being able to feel anything while unaware that those negative feelings she held were... well... feelings. Fiona makes a comment about the fact that Daniella, in death, is smiling... a real, genuine smile, which only makes it all the more sad to me that we were unable to get Daniellas redemption (something Capcom unfortunately scrapped). To me, the fact that Daniella smiles shows that she finally realised that she could feel, or it was joy that she finally felt pain.

Another point about Daniellas death is the fact that there is no blood on the glass she is impaled with, which is likely a mistake that they didn't fix before the game released but I like to imagine that Daniella didn't bleed because she was a homunculus.

My conclusion.

In my opinion, I believe Daniella is a homunculus. But homunculus or human, she is an incredibly tragic and interesting character. It we ever got a Haunting Ground remake I would love to learn more about her and potentially have her origins explained. Either way, thanks for reading my mindless rambling about a character no-one knows, lol!