Blizzcon 2014’s mystery costume contest winner was an amazing Grand Empress Shek’zeer

BlizzCon’s yearly cosplay contest has been famous for attracting some of the world’s most talented amateur costumers. This year’s con (2014) was met with an interesting, unfortunate, yet absolutely understandable accident. While only having had a brief glimpse of the winner’s costume, I was absolutely shocked. It’s rare to see such amazing craftsmanship paired with a truly original idea. Cosplay Py was the fabricator responsible for this masterpiece resembling Grand Empress Shek’zeer, a raid boss in World of Warcraft’s Heart of Fear dungeon.

As you can see, the first prize was greatly deserved. Our congratulations to Cosplay Py for this magnificent representation of a character thought impossible to bring out of the digital world, in costume form. If you’re interested in seeing the entire arduous process behind its creation, you’ll find it on Py’s Facebook page.

Unfortunately, we’ve also heard criticism and a cry (qq) for disqualification due to accusations in the costume breaking Blizzard’s rule of required mobility. Let me personally say that I’ve seen this contraption move. Slowly, but surely, The Empress wiggled her way towards both the judging area and the award ceremony. This is when a series of unfortunate events leading to a sprained ankle prevented the audience and viewers at home from witnessing this marvel.

Here’s the full explanation of events directly from Py:

Morning guys. What a day! So, I know there are some stories going around. Those close to me have been telling the story, but I’d like to tell you too. This is long, I’m sorry. Yesterday, a small army helped me transport Shek upstairs to the judging area and we got me dressed. After a few small adjustments to make her mobile, I walked into the photography room for photos and then into the next room for judging. It’s important for me to let you know that Shek was completely mobile. I could walk, slowly, but she was independently mobile without help other than keeping me from smacking my back legs into things as I turned. On the way out of the judging room, i caught the toe of my boot in the carpet and went down. In the process, i snapped the pvc skeleton in one of the legs. This was just from the angle I fell and the force of my weight on the joint. Blizzard staff was amazing and gave us plenty of time to work out a fix. By contest time, she was 100% back up and running. What happened at the contest is pretty much 100% separate. There were two ramps. We had practiced on some steepish ramps and had a plan of action. The first ramp was difficult, but we managed. Unfortunately, the second ramp was much more steep. When I did manage to hit the top, the weight of my thorax and bag legs (still on the slope of the ramp) literally pulled me off of my stilts. In the process I injured my ankle. At this point, there was absolutely no way for me to walk on in the costume. So, my husband and the most fabulous stage hand in the world got my costume off of me while I went into a full on meltdown. I still wasnt really together yet before I was told that I’d won and I lost it all over again. I apologize for not being very eloquent or sounding ungrateful on stage. I can’t say enough about how great the Blizzard employees and judges were to me. Truly amazing. I suppose the take away here is that Shek was independtly mobile. I did trip (i’m a klutz!) and break one of the legs, but it was full repaired (if a little ugly). The costume did not fall apart backstage. I injured myself on the ramp and was literally ripped out of the costume. We are working to bring her down for you guys to see her. I won’t be able to walk because of my ankle, but I hope you guys will give me the chance to share her with you.

Yet again, we wish you congratulations, and a speedy recovery, Py. Hopefully we’ll get to see a photo-shoot with this costume soon, as I’m sure many are anxious to see this complicated construction in its full glory.