(cos)WED: FFXV Ardyn Izunia cosplay
Written by: Riri (@lillyums)
Welcome to our Cosplay Wednesday feature, introducing a North Carolina cosplayer, The Black Bard Cosplay! He is cosplaying as Ardyn Izunia from FFXV. I literally just finished FFXV a few weeks ago (I know, I'm late to the party) and so seeing this cosplay gave me all the happy feelings. In case you don't know, Ardyn is the Chancellor of Niflheim and the main antagonist of the game. Ardyn is a man shrouded in mystery and is quite ruthless until his real personality is revealed as an evil and vicious man. Overall, we love seeing villains being cosplayed, especially one as powerful as Ardyn. I hope you all enjoy what The Black Bard Cosplay has to say about it!
Cosplayer: The Black Bard Cosplay (FB)
Cosplay: Ardyn Izunia
Series: FFXV
Photographer: Kyle Duncan Photography (website)
1. How long have you been cosplaying?
6 Years. My roots are in fashion design and character design. I have no idea why it never dawned on me to cosplay!
2. Why did you choose to cosplay this character??
His story is very powerful, and once you start unlocking a lot of the fan theories and see what really happened during the events of FFXV you actually see he's more important and powerful than initially thought. And he had some of the best one liners...ever. Most of the FF villains have been manic (Kefka) or silent (Sephiroth) but Arydn was sort of this Joker/Ceaser figure.
3. How long did it take you to complete?
Started in Dec, wasn't fully realized until May.
4. Any difficulties when constructing the costume?
First time using worbla...so that was an interesting experience. Most of the time in cosplay, for me, the trial run is the one I'm using for the cosplay. Also, finding fabrics to match as screen accurate as I could lead me to make digital design some fabrics and have them made (Thanks, SpoonFlower.com!) I ordered 3 yards in a fabric that didn't work for the pants, and had to reorder. $$$.
5. What do you love most about cosplaying this character?
I'm a cosplayer who still very much me in character, except in when I wear this one. He's bad, and jokey, a little deceitful and he'll be the first to stab you in the back...or front, and don't get on a train with him...BUT he's charming. And depending on your view of the game, he could be more interesting than Noctis.
6. Where did you debut this costume? If you haven't... where do you plan to debut?"
It was supposed to debut at Ichibancon (NC) but ended up being pushed back to Triad Anime Con (NC). The 2.0 version was debuted at Animazement (NC). He'll be making his final run later this year.
7. What's next? Cosplay related of course...
After 10000 years I'll be free...
Grand Sorcereress Queen...Rita Repulsa.
YES! I can't wait to see more of your work.
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