EA Play brought a lot of excitement this year. But one of the most interesting stories to emerge from the event concerns a cosplayer named Erin Ball, who portrayed Octane from Apex Legends. Like Octane himself, Erin Ball is a double amputee.
How Erin Ball’s Amazing Octane Costume Was Made
According to Octane’s character background, he was in pursuit of a Gauntlet course record when he had an accident with a grenade. This took both his legs off. So as a result, he wears prosthetics.
To help Erin Ball to capture Octane’s look as realistically as possible, prop maker Aaron Vindua turned to 3D modeling for help creating prosthetics which would fit comfortably and functionally while appearing as similar as possible to Octane’s in-game prosthetics. ABS plastic was used to create the components. Hard foam helped to reinforce the finished pieces.
So despite how heavy-duty the prosthetics look, they were apparently lightweight. But the most uncomfortable thing that Ball was wearing was the mask. So being as it was a hot day, it became pretty stuffy under there.
Talking to Eurogamer, Ball shared her feelings about being able to bring representation to the event. She said, “I think it’s incredible that they’ve brought in an amputee, and representation is very important. I see a lot of movies, for example, where an amputee’s role is played by somebody who is not an amputee, and there are many amputees out there looking for work who are talented, and so I think it’s important for that reason. I think it’s important for kids to see all the different possibilities.”
Pretty awesome story, right? But we should also mention that Erin Ball herself works at a circus. So she’s not just a talented cosplayer—she is also pretty badass in her own right, performing in an industry that requires both creativity and physical finesse. So she hasn’t let her double amputee status stop her any more than Octane has. Don’t miss out on other cool news about Apex Legends. Keep up with our Apex Legends news feed.