Chairman's Award (Most striking likeness) at AMA 2003
Honorable Mention, Craftsmanship at AMA 2003

Ramirez is most definitely my favorite video game villain, and hence I had no choice but to cosplay each and every one of the outfits he wears in the game. This particular outfit, seen in one scene of an optional sidequest of the "director's cut" version of the game (Skies of Arcadia Legends) is the one wore before he came down to Arcadia, back "when he used to smile". A powerful testament to the utmost corruptibility of man, and a beautiful, intricate costume made this one of my personal favorites.

As far as craftsmanship, I do not have photos of the completed costume (these are missing the sequin and detailwork on the golden cuffs) and my stuffed Cupil, but they still give a good idea of the costume. The microchip-like designs are all small hand sewn strips of gold vinyl and sequins, each sleeve clocking in at about 7 hours of painstaiking work. I took all the details off of Fina's in-game renders (the capability to rotate characters is just great for cosplay purposes) since the one shot of Ramirez in the game shows the presence of designs, but is not clear enough to be able to judge what they really are. And, yes, the shoes are accurate too. Take my word for it, you can't really see them...

I had the chance, at Acen, to have the lovely Lilli cosplay as Fina, which simply made my day. What was a bit more tedious was answering "FINA!" with "I am wearing pants, I am not Fina". The price of being an obscure form of an obscure character... but it won't stop me from attempting the one Ramirez outfit I am missing... when I feel like making a lot of armor that is.