It’s that time of the month again! We here at Gamer Headlines have a great appreciation for the effort fans go to show their love for the many games, movies and anime out there, and the characters they work so hard to bring to life. So for the people who follow us and enjoy cosplay as much as we do, we have collected the top ten female cosplayers for March! These girls have been picked for their alluring beauty, creative use of props and presenting an accurate rendition of their character.
#10 Nicole Marie Jean as Frost (Mortal Kombat)
Subject: Nicole Marie Jean
Photographer: JwaiDesign Photography
Nicole is an incredibly popular cosplay artist, with over 15,000 followers on Twitter and 500,000 likes on her Facebook page, despite having only started as recently as 2011. On top of travelling all over the country to appear at conventions, Nicole also runs an online store where she offers high quality posters of herself in various costumes, and a multitude of props and jewellery that are inspired by her love of pop culture. Her portrayal of Frost in her alternative costume easily earns her a place on this list, her glowing snowballs illuminating the entire piece and creating an amazing contrast of light and blue hues.
#9 Bindi Smalls as Drow Ranger (DotA 2)
Subject: Bindi Smalls
Photographer: JwaiDesign Photography
Cosplay artists who go as far as to capture exotic skin colors such as this always earn my respect, as the amount of time and effort that goes into these pieces just leaves me speechless. Combine that with her snow-white hair, amazing attention to detail and the high quality craftsmanship that clearly went into her outfit – the only word I can think of is ‘amazing’. The rest of Bindi’s collection also reflects the care that she brings alongside her passion, with other costumes such as Mad Moxxi (Borderlands 2) and Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite) demonstrating the pride she must hold in each and every design.
#8 Priestess Shizuka as Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII)
Subject: Priestess Shizuka
Photographer: Marcin Wuu
Personally, my experience with the Final Fantasy games is very limited. My first encounter was Final Fantasy XIII, and after a tutorial level that took several hours… it didn’t hold my interest. But while the games failed to impress me, the character design and galleries of fan art has left its mark. I am well aware of Tifa Lockhart’s reputation among the fans, and this is one character I believe people will never stop loving. Priestess Shizuka is a stunning young woman, and while the complexity of the outfit is less than others on this list, she still conveys the determination and overall resilience of the character through her gaze alone, and I’m trying really hard to avoid calling it outright perfect.
#7 Kaira as Caitlyn (League of Legends)
Subject: Kaira
Photographer: Adam Patrick Murray
Caitlyn is one of my favourite characters to come out of League of Legends’ generous collection of champions, and while I know they share very clear differences, I feel as though she gives off the same feel as Mad Moxxi… even though Caitlyn is probably more like the Sheriff of Lynchwood… now there’s a crossover theory. Or maybe I just like women who wear eccentric hats. Kaira does a marvellous job portraying the League champion however, and this particular photo was chosen because the look of her staring down the sights of her gun… that’s the moment where a cosplay artist captures their character perfectly.
#6 Jessica Nigri as Super Sonico (Nitroplus)
Subject: Jessica Nigri
Photographer: Adam Patrick Murray
It wouldn’t be a top ten list without Jessica Nigri. Probably one of, if not the, best known cosplayer currently active in the video games industry. With 1.8 million likes on her fan page alone, Jessica has used her enchanting good looks to great effect, sharing with fans all of her gorgeous outfits since her original ‘Sexy Pikachu’ cosplay went viral back in 2009. Her interests don’t lie solely in video games however, as shown by this surprising portrayal of Super Sonico – a fictional mascot that first appeared at a music festival sponsored by Japanese software company Nitroplus and has since exploded in popularity, gaining all kinds of media portrayals of her own ranging from games, to manga, to figurines. The parallels between how Jessica and Sonico achieved their success has not gone unnoticed.
#5 Yuks General as Jinx (League of Legends)
Subject: Yuks General
Photographer: Yuukiria Photography
Ever since her release, Jinx has become a sensation amongst the League community. At first because of how over-powered her abilities were, fans and players alike have since grown fond of her as a character, and the release of the Get Jinxed music video certainly helped to push that. She’s even the sole reason I started playing League at all. Yuks’ portrayal of the character is as good as it gets, her cosplay and props being of the highest quality, while her petite figure and lip-biting conveys exactly what it is about Jinx that we all love.
#4 Verisa Zaytseva as Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite)
Subject: Verisa Zaytseva
Photographer: Envy the One
Ever since her conception, Elizabeth has been immensely popular amongst the fans, with a variety of cosplay artists taking to portraying her from what they saw in the first trailer alone. So good were some of these cosplays that Irrational Games actually went on to re-model the character after they saw Russian cosplayer Ormeli’s rendition of the main character. Here, Verisa Zaytseva continues to keep the spirit alive by giving us yet another beautiful Elizabeth cosplay, with a vibrant dress and cheeky ‘hush’. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me as though Russian girls are just inherently geared towards being real-life Elizabeths. And while Ormeli may have this girl beat on the classic Elizabeth look, you should see Verisa’s take on Rapture’s Elizabeth. Jaws will hit the floor.
#3 P0kyu as Ashe (Final Fantasy XII)
Subject: P0kyu
Photographer: JwaiDesign Photography
Again, Final Fantasy isn’t exactly my forte. But when I see someone as beautiful and serene as P0kyu dressed in this regal cosplay, I can’t help but swoon a little on the inside. Like other costumes on this list, P0kyu’s has clearly been given a lot of love and care, with the materials and attention-to-detail being no different from what I’d expect from real royalty. This is the kind of quality where if I hadn’t found this on a cosplay site – I would be genuinely inclined to believe she could be a real queen. Her fan page may only have 2,000 likes right now, but after looking through her gallery and other costumes I believe this girl deserves so much more.
#2 Amie Lynn as Yuna (Final Fantasy X)
Subject: Amie Lynn
Photographer: Adam Patrick Murray
This was actually the first cosplay I found when I started working on this article, and despite the dozens more I went through, it has managed to stick out strongly enough to remain. Another Final Fantasy character, Yuna, I have only one word for this: gorgeous. The character design itself is appealing, and while it is a revealing attire, I still enjoy how each individual piece comes together to create what we see above. The props are also well-made, and Amie Lynn captures the character perfectly, in both appearance and stance. She has portrayed several other Final Fantasy characters, such as Lightning and Serah, but Yuna is by far my favourite. You can see her gallery here on her Facebook page.
#1 Yu Hee as Generation Ahri (League of Legends)
Subject: Yu Hee
Photographer: Unknown
In stark contrast to their neighbour, South Korea has always been a source of explosively colorful, creative imagery and media. PSY’s Gangnam Style really brought their culture into global focus, but before then the internet was a gateway that exposed so many of us to the wonderful artists and people originating for the small nation. Cosplay is no exception, and every piece in Yu Hee’s gallery would deserve a place on this list. Her gallery having only begun in 2012, Yu has portrayed enough unique characters in the last two years to give someone like Jessica Nigri reason for pause, and each cosplay has been recreated to perfection. The materials, the colors, the props and the wigs all look as though they could be the real thing. As a beautiful young woman herself, Yu Hee’s sensuality is evident in her portrayal of Generation Ahri.