Ghirahim is everyone’s favorite diva with perfectly framing hair, fabulous sleek armor (complete with a blood-red flowing cape), and a way with words that fills your heart with rainbows. However, his colorful disposition can turn as quickly as a lightning strike. Ruin his performance or tarnish his plans to bring Demise to the world and you’ll meet a rage that burns without mercy. Stardust Cindy captured this rage, pain, and frustration and immortalized it as a digital portrait. It may not be the exquisite, pure, and stunning form Ghirahim wishes to show off, but it certainly would unsettle his enemies.
The flowing cape of red is nowhere to be seen. The gloves are off and the skin of his arms is black, showcasing his purest form. It’s a skin so tough that no blade can pierce it. It would be better worded as armor. The darkness cracks across his form like scars of his failures, marked as if to reflect the slashes of Link’s sword. This is no charismatic villain. This is pure rage born from Link’s persistence to defeat him over and over again.
Stardust Cindy’s portrait of Ghirahim’s rage draws you into his expression. Lavender eyes look down, brows crooked with focus yet chaos reigns in the glaze of eyes. His mouth is captured mid-growl. Those charming words and persuasive tongue have become useless to him. But this is not stagnant anger. His earrings swing in emotion, as if Ghirahim will fall out of the screen and strangle the first soul he finds. The green swirls of energy aid the motion, tracking the most recent movement of his hands. Within a blink, you could swear the piece is moving. It’s time to brush up on those motion-control skills and brace yourself for a merciless fight.
While rather simple in nature, the background represents the shapes of Ghirahim’s magic. In Skyward Sword, Ghirahim disappears and appears through the use of red and gold diamonds. However, Stardust Cindy chose to represent these diamonds in a simple transparent white. They appear both in the foreground and the background but do not overpower the piece in any way. They work quietly, blurring out of focus so the viewer’s attention can remain on the important part of this piece: Ghirahim’s rage.
Overall, the portrait of Ghirahim by Stardust Cindy emits a dichotomic expression of softness and harshness. Whether intentional or not, the style fits Ghirahim’s personality. How many times did Ghirahim come to Link with harsh words and a blade for formidable damage only to let him go? Perhaps if he just fought Link a little harder, he wouldn’t have failed so many times.
