Make Your Own Neeko Cosplay (Chameleon Edition)

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When a Neeko Cosplay peaks your curious chameleon…

Neeko from League of Legends is also known as the curious chameleon
In this post, we’ll show you how to cosplay by making your own Neeko costume!

Almost six months after the announcement of the most recent addition to their champion roster, it was finally time for Riot Games to stir up some news and introduce another League of Legends character. Teased in November 2018 with a watercolor infused trailer, they revealed the shape-shifting reptile hybrid who we now know as Neeko. She is dubbed as the curious chameleon for her unique ability to blend into any crowd by borrowing the appearances of others and hails from the Oovi-Kat tribe, an ancient vastayan people who inhabit a remote and largely unknown island in the far east.

Neeko was forced to flee and leave the island amidst the destruction of the Cataclysm, which wiped out the entire island and most of her people. She was luckily able to shapeshift into a bird to escape and eventually was found by a mercantile vessel at sea, which brought her to shore. Upon reaching land, everything is unfamiliar, and she finds it hard to understand and comprehend. But she is intrigued by it and envisions a magical future. While her old life among the Oovi-Kat may be lost forever, she believes she can create a new larger tribe, filled with vastaya, yordles, humans and other creatures who want to join.

Perhaps the most exciting part of Neeko is that she identifies as a lesbian, making her the first openly LGBTQ champion from League of Legends. She definitely comes across as friendlier toward female characters in the game, and Riot’s head writer confirmed that it’s because of her sexuality.

This paired with her unique ability to shapeshift like a chameleon makes her an extremely unique and equally badass champion. Even though she was just introduced to the world, Neeko has already become a fan favorite, especially with cosplayers. As Riot states, “to know Neeko is to love Neeko, and to love Neeko is to be Neeko.”

So if you’re interested in transforming into Neeko for your next cosplay, then you’ll want to keep reading this post. We’ll go through each piece of her costume and provide our top recommendations. Here is what you’ll need to put together your own Neeko costume:

  • Brown top & skirt
  • Purple and pink wig
  • Pink flower
  • Tail
  • Necklace
  • Magenta lipstick
  • Body paint
  • Leg armor
  • Sandals

What’s needed for your Neeko Cosplay

Doing a Neeko cosplay isn’t exactly easy as she is a uniquely designed character with a ton of intricate details. And because she is so new and fresh, most of her custom pieces are not yet readily available for purchase on the web. As a result, you’ll have to do a bit of mixing and matching and perhaps even some DIY to put together this curious chameleon’s cosplay. Here’s what you’ll need for your Neeko costume:

Brown crop top & skirt

Neeko’s outfit is pretty bare and simple and definitely speaks to her tribal origins. It’s split into two pieces: a crop top and a mini skirt. Both are a brownish color and include lace-up siding and simple markings and designs. While you won’t yet be able to find an exact replica of her out, here are some pretty close options for you:

Purple and pink wig

One of Neeko’s most signature features is her awesome purple and pink hair. She has a pretty short (and messy) bob that is predominantly a deep purple color, with hints of pink highlights stemming out from the bottom. Again, it’s too early to find a completely accurate wig to match Neeko’s hair, but we were able to find a couple options that at least have similar coloring. Check them out:

Pink flower

Another part of Neeko’s costume are the two beautiful pink flowers that she has pinned in her hair. While we’re not exactly sure what flowers these are, they do very closely resemble the Hawaiian Hibiscus. They have five petals and are a beautiful pink color, with small hints of yellow coming out of the center. She places one on each side of her head, and they perfectly match the pink coloring in her hair. Here are a couple of great options for pink flowers:

Tail

The most noticeable part of Neeko is her long green tail. It resembles a lizard tail, extending several feet behind the backside of Neeko. It is green in color, with neon designs and markings and pink feathers/leaves placed on the top side, almost resembling spikes. We’ve scoured the internet to find a suitable tail for a Neeko costume, but to be completely honest, there aren’t any fabulous options out there just yet. Our best recommendation, for now, would be to DIY and create your own custom tail. This tutorial video or this video both give good overviews on how to do so.

Necklace

While Neeko doesn’t have very many accessories, she does wear a beautiful tribal-looking necklace on her neck. The necklace is held on a black string, and three triangular metal pieces hanging on both sides. In the center is a single triangular-shaped emblem that has a bright glowing blue oval stone placed in the center, outlined with a pink border. Her necklace is absolutely gorgeous! We haven’t been able to locate an exact replica of Neeko’s necklace just yet, so for now, we recommend to create your own with supplies from a local craft store.

Magenta lipstick

To match her pink hair and flowers, Neeko also wears a beautiful shade of magenta pink lipstick on her lips. The pink color is quite stunning and really makes her lips pop out. Here are our favorite shades for Neeko’s magenta lipstick:

Body paint

Part of what makes Neeko unique is her coloring. While most of her body is covered in what looks to be human skin, she also has a fair amount of green coloring, which resembles the skin of a chameleon. You’ll notice a couple of shades of green, pink, purple, and even some blue. The best way to transform your skin to resemble Neeko’s is to use face and body paint on yourself. These are some of the best options for body and face paint that you can purchase:

 

Leg armor

Neeko’s shins and calves are protected with some basic leg armor. The armor is a bronze or pewter color and has some basic gold line designs on it. Her armor also happens to extend to protect her ankles and the arch of her feet. For the time being, you probably won’t be able to find an exact replica of her leg armor, but we’ve managed to find some alternative armor options for you to consider:

Sandals

While Neeko doesn’t actually wear shoes, we know that you probably will want to wear something to protect your feet. Neeko’s leg armor extends down over her ankle and under her foot, which makes it look like she is almost wearing sandals. The best option for your cosplay will be to find a pair of sandals that could convincingly look like they are a part of Neeko’s armor. Here are some that we’ve found that are suitable options:

 

You’re now ready to transform into your Neeko Cosplay

As you can probably see by now, Neeko’s costume is a beautiful, but complex work of art. Since she’s so new to the world, you’ll most likely need to bit of your own arts and crafts to put together your cosplay. And you might even need some help from a friend to assist you with the makeup and body paint. But the end result will all be worth it. Neeko is an absolutely gorgeous creature, and we can’t wait to see her come to life through cosplay!

Plus, if you’re interested in more how-to cosplay posts, check out our guides on Bowsette, Booette, Chompette, Princess Peach, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Ashe, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman.

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