The little blue fairy that guided many of us through our first journey across Hyrule has one of the simplest designs across the The Legend of Zelda series: a little glowing ball of light with two pairs of wings. Originally the developers of Ocarina of Time wanted Navi to be a little fairy girl but due to the hardware limitations of the Nintendo 64, the design was cut back to something simpler. For creators like Jina D, this design choice leaves room for interpretation when bringing the little fairy to life, especially in cosplay form.
Unfortunately, none of us have the power of a talking hat to shrink down to the canonical size of Navi, but being able to size her up creates space to put more details into the design. Jina’s original design of Navi incorporates various elements to bring to life a bouncing and bubbly fairy. The main feature of the design includes a blue ball gown with a corset top and a layered blue and white skirt of tulle, pearls and glitter. The skirt bounces around its many layers giving the design shape yet a wild free look perfect for a fairy of the Kokiri Forest.
Jina paired the dress with many accessories to complete the aesthetic of a Hyrule fairy. Blue arm cuffs continue the puffed outline of the dress’s neckline, accenting the floating nature of the design. A silver circlet crowns Jina’s head complete with a triforce symbol and Hyrule crest, labelling Navi as an important. And lastly, but most importantly, no fairy is complete without a set of wings. Jina commissioned a pair of translucent wings from Fancy Fairy Wings and Things (@fancyfairyangela), and while the wings won’t help this Navi fly through the forest, the illusion of possibility adds that magical touch.
Lucid Visual Photography
To complete the look, Jina styled a blue and white wig with a voluminous but simple hairstyle. Little gemstones sparkle throughout the strands, mimicking the glimmers of magic that follow Navi’s movements. The blue and white strands perfectly frame around the long pointed ears like many who dwell in the Kokiri Forest. Continuing on the theme of blue, Jina chose to wear bright blue contacts that stand out amongst the bold makeup. Studio Facade is credited for being behind the black and blue eye makeup iced with droplets of magic.
Lucid Visual Photography
Beyond each element, Jani brings Navi to life with their bubbly energy and dramatic showcase of emotions through her photo shoots. You could almost hear the “Hey! Listen!” shouting through the camera. They can even be seen dragging Link from their sleep and shouting at the lazy hero to hurry up and save the world, and that she most certainly won’t get in the bottle like all other fairies Link encounters.
Navi’s reincarantion doesn’t stop at a few snaps with Link. Jina took her Navi cosplay to a masquerade ball, changing the dress and wig to fit a royal French court. Paired with a white mask, Navi is ready to dance the night away and gossip about all the courtiers to tell Link all about it in the morning. Jani also crafted an “Art Nouveau” version of Navi, adding an abundance of roses to the hair and altering the dress to fit the art style. Crafting alternate costumes for characters to match aesthetics not usually found in their own world adds another step of creativity that starts with the question “What if?” Navi would never find herself in a French court or the subject of a European painting but for just a moment we can imagine what the character would look like if they were transported to another world for a day.
What started out as a little blue fairy telling players to listen, inspired a world of art and creativity. Jina D is one of many creators who took their love for the character and game and gave them a new interpretation fit for the helpful friend. Her whimsical approach may not be the same as someone else, but that is the beauty of such a character. Navi is whoever we want her to be.
Featured Photography by FallMoonlitRose Photography
