STRUCK FIRST: Jessica Nigri + Kinpatsu Cosplay as Sally Whitemane and a Death Guard!

Photo by David Ngo

Struck First gives you a first look at a cosplay just as it's been debuted/had its first photoshoot. Cosplayers have been kind enough to let me have a first crack at analyzing the cosplay by providing me with brand new pictures.

Arguably one of the most ambitious cosplay groups I've seen so far, Knights of the Ebon Blade just debuted this month at BlizzCon. Coming from mastermind illustrator Zach Fischer, dozens upon dozens of beloved Warcraft characters were re-imagined as servants to the Lich King. As such, I wanted to take this month (and part of December) to highlight some of my favorite cosplays that were a part of this group. Due to the sheer number of people I have, these will be done in pairs. I'm starting things off strong with Jessica Nigri and Kinpatsu Cosplay as Sally Whitemane and a Death Guard respectively!

As you'll see with these posts, the cosplayers truly went all out and I'm just astonished at the sheer number of people that got involved with Zach's crazy idea. So let's start off Jessica Nigri's portrayal of Sally Whitemane. Warcraft lore places her as the former head of the Scarlet Crusade. When I look at this, my eyes head straight to the bodysuit/leotard where most of the top portions are resting on. Compared to Jessica's other Zach Fischer designed cosplays, I imagine this must have been very comfortable to wear in some parts. So then what about the top part? Well it's a breastplate full blown in blood red and gold. The layering lines are expertly crafted.

Photo by Kevinertia

Right in-between the boob cups is a skull buckle of sorts which then extends into a tabard like fabric. Chains  are seen draping downward as well. The arms and shoulders are where things get crazy. Again you have red and gold being the primary color scheme with some black added in on edges for shading/weathering purposes. The shoulders have giant spikes coming out of them and that same tabard like part draping down from a skull that's placed on it. Jessica's arm gauntlets are layered up with spikes that I'm pretty sure light up since it looks like resin was used.

Jessica is also rocking a choker with a bright red gem stone smack dab in the middle of it. It looks like she's also wearing full on black sleeves which cover her hands as well. The long white wig is especially beautiful and REALLY helps the red pop out. The markings on her face are pretty stellar as well. Can we also talk about the massive crown Jess is wearing? Here, it's pretty massive in size and this whole design is just beautiful!

I'm talking various silver lines + shapes, and a Diablo-esque skull that is again placed in the center but the horns extend to the sides of the helmet. It looks to be resting comfortably on her head! Weapon wise, Jessica crafted a pretty massive polearm that even goes above her already massive helmet! The blade is shaped with an interesting spot of empty space that probably was meant for some red gemstone of power to be placed. Some of the photos even replicate that! You've got red stones, a golden pommel guard, and the full staff alternating between red and gold.

Some of the shots give peeks at Jessica's leg area (speaking of, DANG GIRL THIGH GAME STRONG <3). From what I can see, the armor is placed on skin tight leggings with straps peeking out. Bracelets done in the color scheme are visible around her legs. Along side armor in crazy shapes, the tabard I mentioned earlier goes down that far you guys! Jessica pumped out so much stuff with this cosplay, there's also a cape that can be seen on her backside. Other shots make it look like she's rocking white makeup from the chest up! Jess, you never cease to amaze me and this is definitely a cosplay you should be proud of!

Photo by David Ngo

Now, let's move on to Kinpatsu Cosplay who portrayed a Death Guard in service to the Ebon Blade guard and of course the Lich King by extension. These designs were open to all as Zach gave off examples of what they could look like. Cosplayers who wanted to do these were open to choose their favorite race, main color theme, and even add other elements not seen in the initial design. For Kinpatsu, she went with the "default/initial" blue elf design that was shown. Compared to Jessica'a, Kinpatsu is fully decked out in armor from neck to toe. I also wanna stress HOW DAMN CLEAN THIS ALL LOOKS! As if they came fresh out of a freaking blacksmith armory for Kinpatsu to wear! Various straps can be seen on the underside of some spots such a her arms in addition to fabric that the armor is resting on. The blue + silver color scheme is beyond beautiful to me!

Photo by Martin Wong

Some of these pieces have intense shading and sculpt work with the skulls on pieces like the shoulders. There's also black shading along the edges of some armor spots like I mentioned earlier with Jess' cosplay. You've got spikes out of the shoulders, a breastplate with armor coming down her stomach/torso area amongst a whole bunch of other pieces. The hip armor features skulls as the main attraction, PLUS there's fur peeking out as the underlying part of mostly every armor piece.

For the Death Guard, you can also see again various straps on her legs which I imagine help hold up certain pieces. There's also a deep blue and ragged cape that you can see off of Kinpatsu's back. Chains can be seen hanging off at the end of the stomach armor as well! Her weapon of choice looks to be a one handed axe with inscribed runes on them. The main blade is a gorgeous shade of blue and I'm positive those runes are purple and THEY GLOW! This prop here is just as clean as the rest of Kinpatsu's armor, more so like this came out of Blizzard's gear shop!

Kinpatsu also went through some body spray to get that blue skin look. Her wig is also full on white with that stylish side cut. The elf ears are also pretty fabulous with some parts having armor even! The bracers have an interesting line pattern and are colored up pretty beautifully as I mentioned how EVERYTHING ELSE IS <3. You've also got your neck cover and some small blue stones for some of the skull eyes throughout the full cosplay. I'll wrap up this post with all the pics I grabbed of these ladies. Check them out!

Photo by JwaiDesign Photography

Photo by Martin Wong

Photo by Dave Yang

Photo by NELS

Photo by Saffels Photography

Photo by Mineralblu

Kinpatsu and Jessica are some incredibly talented cosplayers and arguably some of the best this community has to offer. You'd be crazy not to check out their work! I really hope you all enjoy this Ebon Blade coverage I'll be doing for the next few weeks, I'm incredibly excited to do the others!
https://www.patreon.com/kinpatsucosplay
https://www.patreon.com/JessicaNigri

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