On the left is Zarya, hero of the Overwatch universe. On the right, regular human Mina Petrovic with one of the best pieces of Zarya cosplay we’ve ever seen.
The suit is amazing! The hair is also very well done, with a lot more work being done that just wearing a wig or dying her hair. What’s coolest about this cosplay, though, is the transformation Mina goes through to get her arms looking like Zarya’s.
Those burly arms aren’t something she carries round 24/7; they’re instead a slight modification of a technique pioneered by Japanese cosplayers to add muscle mass to an outfit where there otherwise isn’t as much as the source material.
It basically involved sticking a bunch of silicone “chicken fillet” bras all over her arms, then covering them with a skin-coloured sleeve that had Zarya’s tattoo designs all over them. You can see a good breakdown of it in the video below.
For such a simple trick, the results are fantastic.
Here’s some photos of the completed outfit:
You can see more of Mina’s cosplay work at her Instagram.