This Community Spotlight focuses on the incredible Metroid focused cosplay of Pamigu, a french cosplayer living in Sweden who has faced her demons of her past, and realised that it’s absolutely fine to do something that she enjoys, without caring what others may think.
Pamigu
Hello I am Jennifer, aka Pamigu. I am a French woman living in Sweden. I am a software test engineer, crochet artist and cosplayer. I am also a gamer, fan of SciFi and Fantasy, Anime, Manga and I raise Huskies. As a child of the 80s, I grew up in around people who did not appreciate girls playing video games or liked “boy stuff”. Cosplay was not known and female video game players were “rejected”. It was tough. I played games on a self-built computer my dad gathered parts for, but they couldnt get me a console. My parents did not have money so I was hanging out at a neighbor’s who had a SNES. This is when I first met Samus.
He never let me play sadly, but I will always remember when we both realised Samus was a woman. It changed my life! From then on, I was able to be myself no matter the critics and bullying I faced. But it is not until I moved to Sweden eight years ago that I felt really free to express myself and be me. My husband (Måns) was part of a community painting Warhammer miniatures. He loved it and did not care what people might think. He encouraged me to create art. Creating art saved me really. I was able to express myself, make Amigurumi fan art (plushies made of crochet). This is from there that come my artist name Pamigu.
One day, we went the SciFi fair in the city. It was awesome. I could meet people as geeky nerdy as me. But most of all, I saw cosplayers. These amazing people, all amazing and different, that just dressed up as their favorite character. That is when I decided to create my first cosplay. Of course, my first cosplay was a mess. As a big RPG fan, I just wanted to honor one character of the series I really enjoy from Final Fantasy Type zero. Sadly, it was a huge failure. Not only nobody knew who I was, but I couldn’t do proper makeup. My wig was a mess. I got laughed at by people and it made me depressed. So I focussed only on my crochet art.
Two years after, I decided to come back with a second cosplay. I started to exercise, lost lot of fat and gained muscle. I managed to convince Måns to cosplay with me. We went as Bombur and a lolita R2D2. It was not perfect but it was fun to make. I love Star Wars and I love Droid. So yeah, R2D2. Måns loves Dwarf so he chose Bombur. We both worked hard and were very happy with the result. Even though Måns’ wig was not so good (my fault). I was able to go backstage and I met some amazing cosplayers again! One of which would become one of my closest friend today. But most of all, I managed to stand on stage at the convention, stand in front of thousands of people and they applauded. Many took pictures. Kids were smiling asking me to do the beep beep sound (which I failed miserably but they laughed). Seeing people smile made me so happy, i felt my hard work had paid of. This is when I told myself I must be Samus, I must make her armor.
It took me a year and a half to start working on her Varia Suit. I knew nothing about creating cosplay armor, so it was a big challenge. I watched lot of videos and read books in order to find out how to make it. After I spent lots of money in materials, I started building. This really tested my patience, I couldn’t work with the suggested glue and nothing seemed to work. The armor looked like a mess and I wanted to give up even more.
As an artist, I am my worst critique, I constantly judge myself and undermine what I do, I did not know how to recover from it. But Måns reminded me of Samus, even though he does not know much about Metroid, he knew who she is, how badass she is. This gave me the courage to not give up and try again. After several attempts, my first piece was made, and I felt so relieved, it all came together and the base of the suit was made.
For painting, I asked Måns help cause I paint like a two year old. I am so very thankful to him cause he has done an amazing job. The suit would not have been the same without his skills, and it is why I wish to credit him too for this cosplay armor. It was a first for him too, as he is so used to painting miniatures, not large scale armor. After several attempts at getting the color I wanted, we finally got the metallic armor I dreamed of. I couldn’t believe we finally made it. The Varia Suit was there.
When I decided to post it online, I was nervous. Again I was wondering how people would react to it and judge it, whether they were fans of the series or not. When I posted the video, I received a lot of amazing comments. A lot for my doggy too, which was standing in the back for the video. I felt very glad that Metroid fans enjoyed it. But then the photoshoot came and this is when all changed. I was overwhelmed!
The amount of love the cosplay got and all the comments I received, it was unbelievable! I got invited to various events, and even Comic Con nordic featured my cosplay (I was screaming like a fan girl that time). I got new followers that shared the same interests, and it has been amazing, so much that I decided I must make the whole suit. Even though we don’t have any storage space, I want to eventually wear the PED suit, the Dark suit and the Light suit. I dream of being able to make them 3D printed, and create an arm canon that can switch color and open up like it can in the game. Even though this is unlikely to happen, I still want to achieve this goal, and I know in time, I may make it.
In all, cosplay taught me a lot: not giving up, not comparing myself to others, not being afraid to fail in order to learn and be better, and definitely to enjoy what I do without caring what people may think. It opened so many doors for me, and I have met amazing people both online and in person. It brought me a kind of happiness that I wish for everyone.
Our Thoughts
Darren
Pamigu is an inspiration to us all. Not only does she have an exceptional cosplay, she has overcome a lot of demons to get to where she is today. Reading her story of how she reached this point reminded me of my own confidence issues when I approached something. With the support of her husband and her fans, I am sure her ambition to create more of Samus’ suits will become a reality. Keep up the fantastic work Pamigu!
Image Gallery
For more of Pamigu’s works, please visit one of the links below: