Scree-tings, one and all! This is the Community team reporting in with our next Community Spotlight~
Any Warriors of Light out there who attended the Fan Festival 2023 in London or tuned in online will surely remember Yoshi-P’s iconic entrance onto the stage dressed in a viper costume.
Well… it just so happens that the creator of this amazing attire is here with us today. Introducing: Littlejem!
Let’s take a behind-the-scenes look together at what went into making the costume, from the tiniest of details to the incredible finished look.
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Community team: Thank you so much for agreeing to the interview! To start off, could you introduce yourself to our players and tell us how you got into FINAL FANTASY XIV?
Littlejem: Hi, I’m Littlejem and I’m a cosplayer from the United Kingdom. I’ve been cosplaying for about 10 years now and I really love the challenge of bringing fictional characters to life. I first started playing FFXIV through my love of the other Final Fantasy games and an eagerness to share the experience with friends and make new ones along the way! I even had the pleasure of meeting some of my followers in game and doing a few duty roulettes together.
Community team: Can you walk us through the steps of making the viper costume?
Littlejem: When I was first approached by Square Enix and the FFXIV team, I never thought I would have such an amazing opportunity to make a costume for Yoshida-san. However as soon as I was asked, I knew I had to contain my excitement for all the challenges that lay ahead.
When the viper class was revealed to me I instantly fell in love with the design, I really loved the choices of fabric and all the tiny details that really stood out to me.
Breaking down the steps for the costume would be rather difficult as so many parts of the costume utilized different materials and methods. To put it plainly, I needed to make a lot of belts and I needed to make it fit Yoshida-san without him being there to make a mock up and try parts of the costume on! Although this was expected, it made for quite a challenging process because the legs in particular needed to be rather form fitting, and I knew that any incorrect measurement would lead to the costume not fitting. So whilst I was making the costume I meticulously thought about how it would be wearable and comfortable whilst also being easy to put on along with making sure to check my measurements every 5-10 minutes.
Most of the costume actually consisted of different variations of fake ‘imitation’ leather that I tried my best to alter to make it seem even more real. Whilst choosing the materials outside of the fake leather I wanted the costume to be breathable, as I knew that Yoshida-san would be on stage under a lot of lights and would therefore be very hot, so I wanted to ensure that he would not overheat during the Fan Festival. So where there wasn’t fake leather there were breathable fabrics and the coat was lined with a satin fabric.
As the costume featured so many belts I knew that it would be unreasonable to have all these belts function in a normal belt way (if that makes sense) and I needed a faster and more secure way of closing them. It might not have been obvious whilst Yoshida-san was on stage, but none of the belts were actually functional and were secured using side release buckles and a small amount of velcro. This ensured that it would only take a few seconds to connect all the belts together. The belts on the legs however, and on the jacket, didn’t open at all. These were just sewn to the correct measurements and closed at all times, and would be slipped on.
There must have been hundreds of accessories and buckles which were all 3D modeled by me and then resin printed. As for the swords, I also 3D modeled these and then I cast them to ensure their strength. I had never cast something in such a large mould before and so this was quite an experimental process for me, which ended up being very successful. Finally, the armor pieces such as the knee and shoulder armor were hand sculpted using a thermo plastic known as worbla. I decided on this method as I believed this would make the pieces lighter than if they were printed and also stronger. I liked how in the reference they looked as though they had been hand crafted by a blacksmith with imperfections and inconsistencies between the pieces and I wanted to replicate this in a way that felt more natural to me.
Community team: Did you encounter any unexpected challenges or pick up new techniques during the process?
Littlejem: I learnt many new things when making this costume, such as appliqué for some features of the jacket along with learning how to make a two-part mould at such a large size for casting the swords. This design also helped me sharpen my skills in 3D modeling and sewing garments for a model that is not myself.
There were many expected challenges with this costume, such as making a costume for Yoshida-san when he wasn’t there to try it on during each stage of the process. Along with trying to make faux leather comfortable for someone presenting on stage, whilst also making it form fitting. Not to mention the usual challenges you would expect with making a costume.
The main unexpected challenge I encountered however, was with the swords. The original plan was that the swords would be able to join together, which was easy enough, but the hard part came when I was asked to have the connection be invisible when the two swords were disconnected from each other. What I mean by this is that when Yoshida-san would dual-wield the viper swords on stage, there needed to be no visible connection mechanism on display. This was extremely hard to figure out as I knew that anything that would retract would need the tiniest of margins of space to do so and a spring to operate it. I found that the small gap that would allow the mechanism to retract was under an enormous amount of pressure whilst being swung around.
Even though I had a completely working model of this and tested it myself, I simply couldn’t be 100% certain that it wouldn’t break on stage due to the weakness of the retraction mechanism, so I actually made 3 swords! One with the female connection and two with a male connection. One had the original retractable mechanism, and the spare had no retraction and a visible screw connection. At the dress rehearsal, I decided to bring all three swords and see which one Yoshida-san would rather have, ‘beauty over function’ as it were. To my relief Yoshida-san chose the strongest version which was the non-retractable option and therefore I still own the retractable version, which is now a trophy on my wall representing the largest mechanism challenge I have overcome.
Community team: Which part of the costume are you most proud of, or would like to highlight to our players?
Littlejem: Apart from the swords, which I am very proud of because of the many challenges that I was faced with whilst making them, I would have to say that the part I am most proud of is the coat because of all the extra details and accessories that went into it, along with being one of the largest pieces of the costume and so I knew all eyes would be on this element of the costume. I am especially proud of the material choice for this piece along with the way Yoshida-san was able to move freely and comfortably, and he must have thought so too as I don’t think he took the costume off at all during the opening day of the Fan Festival!
Community team: Tell us about your experience at the Fan Festival in London – what was your reaction to seeing the viper costume on stage?
Littlejem: I was absolutely amazed by the Fan Festival. I originally didn’t know what to expect as I hadn’t had the opportunity to attend one before, however I was stunned by how immersive the event was and at how easy it was to join in with all the events and games that were taking place all around me. It was great to meet so many like-minded people and share our in-game stories.
I was initially nervous for Yoshida-san to come out on stage over the fear that something might go wrong with the costume. But these nerves very quickly subsided as I heard the crowd cheer behind me and the whole room was filled with amazement and the excitement as he sprinted across the stage swinging the swords about in true viper fashion (admittedly there were times I was on the edge of my seat and had to look away out of fear). It was so cool to see all the work I had put in on the costume be appreciated not only by the crowd but also by Yoshida-san himself.
Community team: We’ve heard that the viper costume is not your only FFXIV-related work. Can you introduce us to any other FFXIV-related props you’ve made before?
Littlejem: I really enjoy making props from FFXIV because of my fondness for the game, but also because I find that the designs pose a very fun challenge. To name a few, I have made a color-changing ‘Dead Hive Claymore’, a full set of the ‘Elemental Armor of Fending +1’ from Eureka, a set of Pagos gear, and the nouliths from the original sage reveal for Endwalker.
Community team: Lastly, do you have any advice for those interested in making and/or wearing cosplay?
Littlejem: My advice for anyone interested in making or wearing cosplay, is to choose something you really love, because there are always mini challenges to overcome and so choosing something that you are really passionate about will help you to push through them. I can honestly say that the FFXIV community has been one of the most welcoming and kind communities I have every cosplayed in and if you are looking to make stuff and share it, or to start cosplay for the first time I highly recommend starting your journey with the FFXIV community as some of my fondest memories are making new friends over this shared interest.
Speaking of challenges when it comes to creating something as well as wearing a costume, sometimes it can be rather daunting, so take breaks where you can and remembering the end goal can be really helpful. So, if you are looking to make new friends and take some really fun pictures I would try to focus on that goal and challenge yourself to be brave through sharing your creations or cosplays with the community.
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Thank you, Littlejem, for all your hard work and for your help bringing the viper to life! You can check out her YouTube channel here.
While you’re here, be sure to check out our other Community Spotlights below!
Angelus Demonus | Fruity Snacks | Elunia Arlana | Hector Hectorson
