The Lord of the Rats

📷 ST Kerr

Nick O'Brien specializes in historical and historical fantasy cosplay. Among his favorite builds are a "mostly-accurate" Viking, a "historically-plausible" fantasy knight, a 1st Century BC Roman legionary, Ludwig (an early 13th Century inspired mercenary for one of his LARP events), and Harald (possibly his most popular build, a Norman-esque fantasy character for his other main LARP event, pictured directly to the side here).

One thing that Nick takes great pride in his that he personally crafts a good deal of his kit. Originally, this started at the suggestion of a friend due to his difficulty in finding things that were a good fit, and also that were what he was going for visually and materially. This quickly evolved into a love of the craft, both as a way for him to express himself, but also as a way to keep his brain occupied and learn new things.

About his characters:

• Harald 📷 Nicolas Bruno

  Harald is a Norman-esque fantasy character he built for one of his two main LARP events, Weekend Warrior Experience. This fearsome fisherman joined the famous Throian navy to defend his homeland from those who would do it and its people harm. Clad in various shades of blue, his personal sigil of the rat can be found both stitched into his clothing, as well as painted across his shield. A fierce warrior, proficient with both the sword and spear, yet known primarily for his healing abilities!




• Viking

  Nick's Viking build is what he refers to as "mostly-accurate." While not a completely faithful reconstruction of a Viking, it gets many of the overall appearances fairly accurate for a 9th- or 10th-Century Viking (depending on which sword Nick is using). It was one of the very first characters Nick put together, and is probably his most-used cosplay. It also has the first two pieces Nick ever made- a slightly padded tunic to wear over his main tunic and under his maille, and his famous rat shield.




• Roman

  The 1st Century BC Roman legionary is Nick's newest addition and was an instant favorite not only for him, but also among his friends. It's also probably his most historically authentic cosplay to date- not only is the majority of the kit more or less faithful to that of a Roman legionary from the late 1st Century BC, but he also hand-made his tunic using historical techniques, from dyeing it himself using natural dyes, to hand-stitching it with historically accurate thread. From when the idea of cosplaying first started rattling around in his head, this was a character he always wanted to do, and is thrilled that he's finally had the chance to put him together.




• Knight

  Very rarely does Nick venture into pure fantasy with his characters. The knight is one such example of this. However, even in his fantasy designs, Nick still likes to keep them what he refers to as "historically plausible." You can see this in the cuts of clothing used, in the way the knight has his armor in layers, and the type of sword used. Even if individual pieces may be anachronistic to one another, they still don't scream "modern sensibilities" at all (well... mostly. The plate armor is fairly nonsensical from a historical standpoint).




• Ludwig 📷 620 Films

  Ludwig (pictured in red) is Nick's other main LARP build, designed for War of the Barons, where he fights for the rebel cause under the command of the Baroness of Gloucester. Ludwig was an incredibly fun build for Nick, as he had to balance historical authenticity of an early 13th Century Man-at-Arms with the practicality of a LARP event with strict parameters on kit. Nick also had quite a bit of fun with Ludwig as he made much of the soft kit for the character himself, as well as painted his shield.




• Hades

  The Lord of the Dead, Hades rules the Underworld beside his beloved wife and loyal dog. Long has Nick wanted to branch into mythology, and Hades gave him the opportunity to finally do so. Creating the outfit himself, Nick strived to create a "historically plausible" design for Hades, built around clothing and styles that would have been seen when legends of this feared god were at their peak.





• The King of Autumn

  Nick's biggest forray into pure fantasy, the King of Autumn is a fairy king of the woodland realms, wreathed in autumn foliage. He can almost always be found side-by-side with this queen, the equally powerful and twice as beautiful Queen of Autumn.






• Beren

  Beren is one of the most famous characters from all of the Tolkien legendarium- the romantic hero from The Silmarillion, whose eternal love with the elf Luthien was inspired by Tolkien's love and devotion to his own wife. This was Nick's first time cosplaying an alread-existing character, and he couldn't have had more fun in doing so.





• Paladin

  On the surface, the paladin may look very similar to the knight- however, not only does he have some upgrades to his armor, he also has the ability to use magic! This character provides Nick with the opportunity to work on his photo and video manipulation skills, as well as his crafting and design skills.

Additional characters: