Within the world of The Wheel of Time, each Trolloc is a unique, magical experiment turned wrong, in an attempt to make the perfect soldier. Each one is an amalgamation of human and animal stock, resulting in humanoid monstrosities featuring aspects of wolves, bears, boars, goats, and even some avian breeds. While they may not be the most intelligent of the Shadow’s creations, their sheer size and brute strength made them truly frightening adversaries.
Trollocs are also scavengers, stealing weapons and armor from their fallen foes. This, along with their unique nature, allowed us the freedom to approach our costumes from different perspectives. Kelcey Casson approached his costume with a focus on make-up and prosthetic work, as well as making accurate, historical armor. Paul Bielaczyc focused on prosthetics and weapon crafting, but his main goal was to imitate the imagery (primarily the helm) from the original cover artwork for the 5th book in the series, The Fires of Heaven. Chip Moore’s emphasis was on leather working, primarily armor building. And lastly Paige Gardner enjoyed taking found objects, toys, thrift stores finds, etc. and altering them significantly to make some incredible armor and a beautiful, fur-lined helm.
Kelcey’s Wolf-ram Trolloc
Kelcey Casson’s costume was heavily influenced by Narg, one of the only named Trollocs in the entire series. Every aspect of his costume was designed and fabricated by either Kelcey or Paul, with the exception of the mask. The horns and hooves appliances were made by Aradani Studios, but Kelcey modified these extensively for his costume. In order to attach the horns directly to his skin, Kelcey had to cut and hollow out the horns to reduce their weight. The painting and attachment of the facial appliance was a collaboration between Kelcey and makeup artist, Sarah Nakamura.
Kelcey strove to make historically accurate chainmaille that would still work well in a fantasy setting. The armor is European 4-in-1 barrel and strap design, with leather pauldrons in place of chain sleeves. These are based off 15th century style pauldrons, and are riveted directly to the chainmaille. Both the leather and chainmaille have been carefully damaged and chipped to reflect the realism of a battle worn Trolloc. The badge on Kelcey’s chest is hand-tooled leather featuring the symbol of the Dhai’mon (the Iron Fist). He also constructed the fur legs, claws, and the rest of the clothing for this costume, including a padded yoke under the chainmaille for comfort.
Paul’s Wolf-goat Trolloc
As a traditional artist, Paul wanted his costume to be an homage to the late Darrell K. Sweet’s artwork for the 5th book, The Fires of Heaven. He was especially inspired by the long, slender helm protecting the Trolloc’s beastly snout. Starting with a child’s baseball helmet, the helm is constructed of sculpting mesh, Magic Sculpt, Model Magic, and a multitude of other materials to create the iconic look. Finally a pair of hard foam horns were mounted to the helmet using 3 inch steel bolts. These horns were made by Aradani Studios, the company owned by Paul and his siblings, and were molded from actual ram horns.
The massive ax was meant to be just as inhuman as a Trolloc. Standing over 3 feet tall, the haft was made by shaping and carving a wooden dowel, and the head was constructed of foam insulation board and 2-part plastic resin. The resin created an extremely durable, but lightweight prop. The armor consists of spaulders, gauntlets, tassets, and belts, all made from 10 ounce leather, which was cut and wet-molded to create the spiked, twisted forms. The gauntlets themselves are backed with a real rabbit pelt, and they have handmade claws extended through the glove’s shredded fingertips. Craft foam was employed to alter the shape of Paul’s body, both to create a large hunched back and to alter his legs so they resemble the hind legs of an animal.
Sometimes the hardest part of making a costume is that final step necessary to make it look real. Aragorn’s clothing in The Lord of the Rings movies is so believable because of its worn, ragged appearance. Trollocs are filthy, tainted creatures. To achieve that gritty, realistic look, various paints and makeups were carefully splattered and applied to the costumes to create the appearance of blood, mud, and the absolute filth in which Trollocs live.
Credits
- Designer and Model: Paul Bielaczyc
- Designer and Model: Kelcey Casson
- Designer and Model: Chip Moore
- Designer and Model: Paige Gardner
- Photographer: Dim Horizon Studio
Find Out More
http://www.aradani.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aradani-Studios-Fantasy-Artwork-Elf-Ear-Prosthetics/49002953474