This towering Anubis costume, all sharp facets, black panels and gleaming gold edges, looks more like a video-game render than something a person can wear. It was made by Martina, a cosplayer who shares her work as Polygon Forge. In 2019 she was described as a game designer from Switzerland, and the build was reported to have taken around 1,000 hours. When she posted a video of herself wearing it on Reddit, it reportedly drew more than 100,000 upvotes, and the photos below show why.
Who is Anubis?
Anubis (in Egyptian Inpu or Anpu) was the ancient Egyptian god of funerary rites, the protector of graves and the guide of the dead. He is shown either as a black canine or as a man with a canine head. Jackals were known to dig around shallow graves, so the Egyptians chose a jackal-like god to guard the dead, "fighting like with like".
His black colour did not stand for evil. It recalled the darkened skin of an embalmed body and the fertile black silt of the Nile, a symbol of rebirth. Anubis was the patron of embalmers and, in later belief, attended the weighing of the heart, when a dead person's heart was weighed against ma'at (truth and order). He appears as a protector of graves as early as Egypt's First Dynasty, about 3100 to 2890 BC.
A low-poly design with Egyptian details
Martina's version keeps the classic signs of Anubis: the tall pointed ears, the long snout and the black-and-gold colouring familiar from Egyptian tomb art and from objects such as Tutankhamun's treasures. What makes it unusual is the shape language. Instead of smooth sculpted surfaces, every part is built from flat, angular facets, the "low-poly" look of early 3D games, which fits her handle, Polygon Forge.
The result reads well at a distance as a clear, dramatic silhouette, while close-ups reveal layers of gold trim, turquoise inlays and a glowing chest piece. Clawed gloves and a double-bladed staff complete the figure.
The finished costume in photos
Photographed in an industrial corridor, the costume shows its full silhouette: crested head, wide shoulders and a curved staff. The black-and-gold palette is a direct nod to how Anubis is painted in Egyptian art.
A side view against a perforated metal wall, with stage smoke at the feet, shows how the armour is shaped to move. The digitigrade, animal-like legs and gold toe claws add to the inhuman look.
Standing in a dark warehouse, the figure holds a staff with a crescent blade at each end. Facing the camera, the costume's symmetry and its tall, pointed ears are at their most striking.
A close crop of the head and chest shows the fine work: mirrored gold edges, blue chevrons and an orange gem on the chest. Each flat facet catches light differently, which is what gives the costume its CGI-like look.
This moody close-up focuses on the jackal head and the turquoise detail around the eye. The narrow, elongated snout follows the traditional Egyptian depiction of the god.
Backlit by sunlight streaming through a large hall, the costume becomes almost a pure silhouette. It shows why a strong outline matters so much in cosplay: the character is recognisable even when details disappear.
These work-in-progress shots show the build itself: a head made from white faceted pieces before painting, a clawed glove, the painted head on a stand, and parts of the staff on the workbench. They show how much of the design is cut and assembled from flat pieces by hand.
Making a costume that works in motion
A costume like this has to do more than look good in a still photo. Large rigid pieces have to leave room for shoulders, elbows and knees to bend, the head must stay balanced on the wearer, and the wearer needs to be able to see and breathe. Faceted designs help here, because the armour can be split along its edges into overlapping plates that slide past each other.
For anyone thinking of a similar project, the build photos suggest a sensible order: plan the design as a 3D model, cut and test the pieces in plain material, assemble and fit them on the body, and only then paint and add the shiny trim. The reported 1,000 hours is a reminder that detail at this level is a long project, not a weekend job.
Cosplay as a craft
The word "cosplay", from "costume" and "play", was coined by Nobuyuki Takahashi of Studio Hard in a 1983 Japanese magazine article, although fans were already dressing up at science-fiction conventions in the late 1930s. Today it draws on many crafts at once, from sculpture and sewing to painting and prop making. Martina's Anubis shows how far that craft can go: an ancient god reimagined through the look of modern games, built by hand.
Sources: Costume by Martina (Polygon Forge); photographers credited under the images. Polygon Forge (Martina) on Instagram, DomiFabienne Photography, Seelenfang, LightWav3r, Wikipedia: Anubis, Wikipedia: Cosplay.
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