Diablo IV’s ‘Beyond the Veil’ Series Focuses on Filipino Cosplayer Prince De Guzman
In a nutshell
- Inspiration and Passion: Filipino cosplayer Prince De Guzman shares how Diablo IV inspires his cosplay, starting with horror characters and evolving to iconic Diablo characters like Necromancer and Lilith.
- Pushing Boundaries: Prince enjoys pushing cosplay boundaries, including cosplaying Lilith himself when his partner declined, and now tackling the new Spiritborn class from the Vessel of Hatred expansion.
- Cosplay Philosophy: He emphasizes the power of cosplay in escaping reality and inspiring others, especially within the Filipino Diablo fan community, encouraging happiness and uniqueness in the craft.
Blizzard Entertainment has released the second episode of a 3-part series celebrating the launch of Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred expansion.
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred 3-part Series ‘Beyond the Veil’ – Episode 2
In the second episode, Filipino Cosplayer Prince De Guzman shares how Diablo IV has been a source of inspiration for him, and how his passion pushes him forward in his craft.
“I started cosplaying horror characters because it’s very complex and it thrilled me. So I did Pennywise, Michael Myers, the horror icons. I met a lot of friends playing Diablo. They influenced me so much.”
“I started with Diablo 2. That’s how I jumped into the game. I was very fascinated with the Diablo designs. My very first Diablo cosplay was Necromancer. I’m always a Necromancer user and I’ve always wanted to cosplay Necromancer.”
When Diablo IV was announced, Prince was enamored by Lilith’s design, and he tried to convince his partner to cosplay the Queen of the Succubi. While she declined, he saw this as an opportunity to do it himself, recalling her design as “genius.”
“I was convincing my partner, Awie, to cosplay Lilith, and she doesn’t want to. If you don’t want to, I will. That’s the first time that I did a female character. I really love pushing the boundaries when it comes to cosplay, exploring the darker side. That inspired me to do Lilith.”
“Lilith is powerful, thrilling to experience her powers but I’m very relatable to Mephisto. So if I can put my feet in any shoes in the world of Diablo, Memphisto, the Lord of Hatred. It’s very hard to balance because I badly want to play games, not just because it’s part of the job. At the same time, this is an opportunity for me to play and I’m just really being thankful.”
As Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred Expansion launched, Prince saw this as another opportunity to cosplay the Spiritborn, the newest class that calls upon the spirits of the animals to guide them in combat.
“Spiritborn cosplay for me is a challenge. Necromancer is creepy full armour. Lilith is full on dress. This time, I have been working out a lot to, you know, put it into the Spiritborn and I love cats. So seeing that is very unique.”
“I’m very much looking forward to this new storyline, the new maps, and, of course, the Spiritborn. That excites me very much.”
Lastly, Prince shares his motivations as a cosplayer.
“Being in cosplay, playing games, the mutual feeling is feeling powerful. This special moment when you’re not yourself and you’re fully immersed as someone who can summon the dead. You escape from reality. Enjoy fantasy for a while, so you can get back into reality a little bit stronger than before. There are a lot of people in my community who are inspired to cosplay when they see me cosplay Diablo, from what they said, it’s quite rare for them to see a Filipino, Diablo fan cosplaying the characters.”
“The number one, “special sauce” in cosplay is be happy.”
“And don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to explore the darker side. Don’t be afraid to be unique.”
You can watch the full episode HERE.
Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred is now available.
