As I prepare my own post about Terzoâs facepaint and the artist influences behind it, the Gonstfm beautiful podcast episode about the Meliora era costumes revealed some amazing insights about Terzoâs look:
The mask Terzo debuted with wasnât exactly the wrong mask. At the time of his first show, the team hadnât finalized the design of his face paint, and that mask wasnât even his first one. During the Summoning video where he is introduced, we only see Terzoâs silhouette in the darkness, but in truth, he did have a mask on, and it was this one:
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His white and gold suit in He Is was actually a âbullfighterâ costume bought on Amazon.
The mask Terzo wore in He Is was already badly damaged at the time of the video shoot, but they used it anyway because there was no point in creating a new one, since Terzo was about to be âretiredâ shortly after. The damage was caused by the support system Tobias used to keep the mask in place, combined with frequent use. However, the mask later underwent an expensive restoration and was sold to a fan, who now keeps it displayed in his home. To this day, it remains the only Papa mask that has been well preserved.
The uncanny, unpainted mask in the Back on the Road chapter: no real effort was put into that mask. It was simply a mask that âwas thereâ. They slapped on some eyebrows, added hair with the wrong hairline, and put it on someone who didnât fit in.
The infamous ball-fight during From the Pinnacle to the Pit was one of the reasons a change in stage outfit was implemented. After the fall, Terzo hurt his leg and reconsidered the wisdom of kicking a giant ball while wearing a full Papal costume.
I love how they emphasize that Terzoâs mask was a true work of art, with hyper-realistic details such as skin texture, wrinkles, visible pores, and even vein coloring, all created by a small local artist who, according to them, did a better job than the big mask company currently producing the masks.
