There are plenty of great cosplayers out there, but Soulsborne games haven’t enjoyed the same level of support as titles like Final Fantasy or Overwatch. One Dark Souls and Elden Ring fan is filling that cosplay void almost singlehandedly.
Dark Souls games don’t lend themselves well to cosplay. Sharp, contrasting colors and eye-catching faces are important for creating an iconic character and only a handful of people in Dark Souls have either. Solaire of Astora and Siegward of Catarina are fan favorites, but that largely stems from their personality rather than their looks.
And of course, the other big issue is that most of the characters in the series are clad head-to-toe in armor. While everyone is just some face paint, hair dye, and a purple blazer away from being the Joker, it takes a skilled blacksmith to actually put together a fluted helmet.
Cosplayer Johnny “sunlightofastora” Goodwill isn’t actually a blacksmith, but they’ve faithfully recreated the armor of some of the most iconic characters of FromSoftware. He shows off his work on Instagram and is worth a follow for any Elden Ring, Dark Souls, or general fantasy fan.
Check out some of the best Dark Souls and Elden Ring cosplay
sunlightofastora has cosplayed characters from across the Soulsborne series and beyond. His portfolio includes some of FromSoftware’s most recognizable looks, like the hunter from Bloodborne, as well as notable but comparatively obscure names like Roundtable Knight Vyke.
Vyke is featured on the box art of Elden Ring and other official content for the game but only appears in the Lands Between as an invader and optional boss fight. sunlightofastora perfectly captured the character’s most distinctive feature; the melted patches of armor that were touched by the Three Fingers.
Though much of his work is focused on FromSoftware games, he has also recreated some other heavily armored video game characters. The Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2 and Isaac Clarke from Dead Space also make appearances. Elden Ring fans looking for some extra content for the game would do well to give him a follow.
