Character Select
Welcome to Character Select, a weekly column where PC Gamer takes a look at the art and cosplay created by you. Each week, I’ll highlight a few of my favourite pieces, spotlight and interview creators and artists, or generally just chew your ear off about the talents of the gaming community.
It doesn’t take a lot to make me scared. When I have to turn the lights off before I walk up the stairs it takes me mere seconds to convince myself that some horrendous monster is right behind me and if I don’t run I will inevitably meet my end. But despite this, I still play horror games. Sure, it probably doesn’t do wonders for my constant underlying fear, but hey—at least all the monsters stay on my screen.
Or so I thought. As it turns out, that’s not always the case. Instagram user Littlejem has done the unthinkable by bringing one of my most recent nightmares to life in animatronic form—the girl from Resident Evil: Requiem. Yes, it’s just as horrifying as it sounds, but you can’t deny the fact the craftsmanship and level of detail is impressive. Let alone the fact it can move too.
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The entire process of building the creature was shared across two Instagram reels. The first reveals the project and the initial stages, such as building the frame from an existing Halloween animatronic and using PVC pipes, wire, and cardboard to start building the general structure of the beast. Then, the silhouette was created with expanding foam and what I can only imagine is a lot of filing and chopping to make the entire thing look smoother.
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The head is by far the most unsettling part of the build, with horrendous elongated teeth and skin that seems a little bit too big for the skull, and I actually applaud Littlejem’s bravery in spending so much time looking at a reference image to make sure they were getting all the little details right. I can barely look at the creature for a second before I feel the need to run for my life, let alone live amongst a lifesize replica of it.
However, if there’s one thing I have learnt about watching this creation process, it’s just how much detail I missed from only experiencing the girl in the game. You don’t really pick up on all the little skin details or quite how unsettling the mouth and eyes are when you’re fearing for your life, so if anything, it’s given me a new appreciation for all of the small things that have gone into making this monster as horrendous as possible.
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Littlejem’s second reel goes more into detail about how the dress for the beast was made, alongside finishing touches like the hair and all of the airbrushing to really bring the girl to life. Then, the final creation was revealed in all its disturbing glory. The animatronic structure means its jaw chatters, which is just enough movement to make it feel alive without feeling like it will chase you.
It’s not just about the monster either. To go with the animatronic, Littlejem created a cosplay of Grace which didn’t involve anywhere near as much work but still looks incredible. The same wig used for the girl was styled into Grace’s short bob, and Littlejem shared that they used materials they “already had in the workshop” to create the rest of the cosplay, which is a skill in itself. My closet cosplays don’t look anywhere near as good.
But what impressed me most though was that in the first reel, Littlejem shared that they had decided to take on this project in just nine days. Only nine days to bring this year’s most terrifying videogame beast to life, and to make it look as detailed as it does. Not to mention a second cosplay to go with it. I do wonder where the animatronic will go now Resi is out though. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you can just leave around your house, unless you want the monsters at the bottom of the stairs to be real that is.
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