With Final Fantasy's huge number of titles and iconic characters, it's unsurprising that there are still so many fan creations for games that came out decades ago. Final Fantasy 8, as hugely successful as it was, often sees less love than Final Fantasy 7 in this regard, with characters like Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart the ones most people think of when the franchise is brought up. One Redditor has taken it upon themselves to bring Final Fantasy 8 into the spotlight, however, with a wonderful cosplay of the game's main villain, Ultimecia.
Final Fantasy 8 is one of the most renowned titles in the franchise, being the fastest-selling Final Fantasy game until the release of Final Fantasy 13 in 2009; which only secured the title due to being a multiplatform release. The complex story of Final Fantasy 8, its iteration on past battle mechanics, and introduction of a whole new set of characters made the game a fan-favorite, and while Ultimecia is perhaps a lesser known villain in the franchise, possibly due to her lack of dialog, her character design makes for an incredible cosplay.
Reddit user LidiaGumi has done a wonderful job capturing the likeness of Ultimecia, using an array of different fabrics to emulate the Final Fantasy character's intricate in-game design. Ultimecia's outfit is definitely high-concept, so it is impressive to see the work that LidiaGumi has done to recreate certain features. The headdress of hair that the character has atop her head has been crafted out of fabric instead, likely to better capture the shape of the original, and smaller details like Ultimecia's face tattoos and yellow eyes have been recreated incredibly faithfully.
Many in the comments were glad to see a Final Fantasy cosplay that wasn't Tifa, a character that, while beloved, has certainly been the subject of the majority of cosplays for the franchise at this point. On top of that, Ultimecia's design is so intricate that many were impressed by the amount of time it must have taken to put the cosplay together, given all the elements at play. One thing that stands out in particular is the furry trim on Ultimecia's long dress that leads to the wing like protrusions at her back. LidiGumi has managed to recreate the feature expertly, as it must have been incredibly hard to make and wear while posing, given the sheer amount of material being used.
Certain parts of the original design, such as Ultimecia's demonic claws, have been altered, likely to make the already complex cosplay a bit more manageable, however, these minor changes are remedied by LidiaGumi's impressive pose and expression, which helps to bring the character to life. While accuracy is always an important element in cosplay, the cosplayer's ability to capture the character in their face and posture is equally so, and LidiaGumi does a wonderful job here. Hopefully, if Final Fantasy 8 gets a remake akin to 7, we will see a whole new array of cosplays coming out from creative fans.
Final Fantasy 8 Remastered is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.