Genshin Impact is an action-roleplaying game, released in 2020 by miHoYo, set in the rich fantasy world of Teyvat. As a live service game, the developer releases constant updates and new content into the game for players. In addition, the game has seen plenty of playable new characters join the already expansive roster, many who possess special elemental abilities. Barbara Pegg is one of the playable Hydro characters and is known for her gentle nature and healing abilities.
One Genshin Impact fan has tapped into their creativity and impressed players with their huge papercraft tribute to the hydro character called Barbara Pegg. The life-sized paper sculpture is three-dimensional, complete with obligatory banana for scale.
MeanForce1, whose real name is Tobyn Jacobs, is a papercraft artist based in San Diego. He posted the creation to the /r/Genshin_Impact/ Reddit community, sharing images of the life-sized character. The basis for the design was created by modifying an existing papercraft template using Pepakura Designer. The template was originally meant for a 10-inch paper figure. The piece took several days to complete, starting with the upper body, in a process Jacobs documented on Reddit.
Commentors on Reddit praised the piece. One user joked that it would be a disaster if the paper Barbara were to use her Hydro elemental skills, while another described it as impressive, but warned Jacobs to be careful where he put it.
“[…] that thing (would) get punted all the way across the kitchen with a scream (if) I saw it out of the corner of my eye at 3 AM getting some water,” warned /u/KlarkKomAzgeda. Jacobs replied that there were far scarier paper creations in his home, and he wasn’t lying. Jacobs’ home contains many works, some which are over 20-feet high.
Jacobs has been earning something of a reputation for his enormous paper sculptures and cutouts, which are often inspired by anime and videogame characters, as well as figures in the gaming community. Although the Barbara Pegg papercraft is bigger than most handmade figures, it is nowhere near Jacobs’ largest piece. In December, Jacobs produced a 21-foot-tall cutout of Hungrybox, a streamer and professional Super Smash Bros. player. He also displayed a 41-foot-tall paper cutout of Sayaka Maizono (of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc) at Anime Expo in 2019, comprised of 460 individual pieces printed from a humble HP printer and goodness knows how much ink. These are just a selection of his works which seem to be getting larger and more complex.
Asked if he was planning to make any new Barbara-inspired paper sculptures, Jacobs’ said he had no plans for more creations based on the character, but was considering creating more other Genshin Impact character papercrafts. Jacobs’ creations are surreal and unique, and it's hard not to be impressed by the work required to produce a full, 3D paper version of a videogame character. It will be interesting to see where Jacobs’ printer takes him next.
Genshin Impact is now available for mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5, with a Switch version on the way.
Source: Black & Yellow Otaku Gamers