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One of my most unusual cosplays!

None other than Gruntilda from Banjo-Kazooie, taken from the game over scene of the first game, one of the most amusing surprises of that era to watch.

The witch with motor oil hair and who brushes her teeth with moldy cheese toothpaste, managed to defeat the bear-bird duo and steal the beauty of Banjo's little sister (Tooty), thanks to her macabre technology.

And here she is just out of the Spice Girls (the comparison at the time was with Victoria :°D).

Realization:

I prefer to call it an instant cosplay because it was a very improvised and mostly digitally fixed thing (the green body painting is not real, I really couldn't pull it off). I luckily came across a similar wig and a little dress I had bought several months ago to wear in everyday life, which gave me the idea. For the rest, I quickly made a couple of accessories out of foam: the flower that Mumbo gives to Grunty after she transforms, and the feathers on Mumbo's skull itself, which I applied to one of my fake skulls. For the eyes, I stuck two still-sealed candies kept since Halloween :°D

Surely, Mumbo doesn't seem to be in great shape, probably Grunty accepted his love taking much more than a flower!

And now that she has become unstoppable, it's time for Banjo and Kazooie to return to fight the witch in Banjo-Threeie, don't you think?

For this set, I worked a lot on the creation of some backgrounds: some, like the ones where Grunty is sitting on a throne (where you can see a bear skin on the floor and the roasted chicken on the table, with the red feathers suggesting the identity), I made them in 3D with "Dreams" on PS4. Unfortunately, the screenshots resolution was quite low, but I managed to adapt them for the web format.

In a couple of them, I even created, piece by piece, the beauty-stealing machinery that Grunty uses. It wasn't easy to handle Dreams with the controller, but the result was cute!

That said, I still consider Banjo-Kazooie the best platformer of all time. I've always been torn between it and Mario 64, but today I can say that I've dispelled any doubts: Banjo has elevated what was already considered perfection.

The themed game worlds are beautiful to explore without ever feeling scattered, the design is always incredibly inspired (remember the brilliant four-season level?), so many characters, collectibles, challenges, always different enemies, so many things to unlock, unique transformations thanks to Mumbo's powers, countless actions and moves, but also Grunty's castle acting as a central hub was always a discovery, Spiral Mountain - serving as a tutorial - that you always wanted to replay, and for this, I started the game dozens of times... and again, the characteristic and always catchy music, improved controls and camera, the graphic style and colorful even richer in details, and the secrets! Shall we talk about secrets? When you thought you had finished the game 100%, you discovered that damn unreachable ice key could really be taken, and you can found other inaccessible areas in other levels. It was a surprise from the beginning to AFTER the end!
 

Speaking of the end, let's not forget the aforementioned post-Game Over scene, as the last touch of class: once all lives are lost, with Banjo's defeat, the game doesn't limit itself to a simple "Game over" message but shows what happens next: the ugly witch who kidnapped Banjo's delightful sister manages to activate the beauty steal machine, and what happens leaves everyone surprised. Gruntilda comes out of the machine completely transformed and ready to strut down a runway, with a now seductive voice and long, slender legs. Mumbo completely forgets about poor Banjo and Kazooie and falls madly in love with Gruntilda, so he betrays them by falling at the witch's feet!

Finally, poor Tooty, from a cute and adorable little girl bear, "absorbs" the witch's ugliness, turning into a huge, frightening, greenish bear monster, with sharp claws and nails ready to skin her brother.

"Banjo! Your sister wants to have a word with you... now!" she says.

It seems that it wasn't the witch who turned Banjo into a carpet!

You really couldn't ask for more, a perfect platformer in every way.

Its sequel was just as beautiful, but I found it more scattered and I never managed to complete it 100%.

For this reason, I hope that the news about the return of this beautiful saga can become official and realize my dream, like that of many others, of the long-awaited Banjo-Threeie.

Who knows what they'll come up with for Grunty this time?

In the meantime, enjoy the gallery!