If you're into World of Warcraft, Starcraft, or Diablo cosplay, then the only event on your mind is BlizzCon's annual costume contest. BlizzCon is the official convention for Blizzard Entertainment, the company behind three insanely popular game series. It happens to be one of the most anticipated fandom conventions of the year, second only to San Diego Comic-Con, and certainly on par with Penny Arcade Expo. Tickets sell out quickly, meaning only a small (but lucky) percentage get to attend, much less compete in the costume contest.

Alltern8.com's Kelly Rowles recently had a chance to interview the winner of the 2009 BlizzCon costume contest, Lorraine Torres. Her winning costume was inspired by The Mistress of Pain, a concept boss design for Diablo 3. She was drawn twice by Artist Vic Lee, the first of which was introduced in July of 2003. This first version depicts her as a half spider-half woman in a crazed expression with some very sharp teeth. In this rendition of The Mistress, she seems to emanate a similar sexual undertone the creatures in "Aliens" possessed; the most prominent example being the location of her pincers.

The version Lorraine chose to depict was the one introduced in BlizzCon 2008's art gallery. In this new rendition by Vic Lee, he still depicted The Mistress of Pain as a half spider-half woman, but newly clothed in Gothic Victorian regalia, newly fashioned headdress, and a calm but haunting facial expression.

Below is Part 1 of the interview with Lorraine, and you can see more of her amazing cosplay work at her MySpace page: myspace.com/rainyiacosplay. Part 2 of the interview can be found by clicking here.