Childhood & Early Life
Nigri was born on August 5, 1989, in Reno, Nevada, US, to Jacqueline and Cory Nigri. She spent her early years in her mother's home nation, Christchurch, New Zealand. Nigri later moved to Arizona when she was 12 and attended the 'Desert Vista High School,' a public school in Phoenix.
Nigri started playing video games since she was 7. Her father introduced her to the world of gaming.
In 2009, one of Nigri's friends bought her a ticket to 'Comic-Con International' in San Diego. Back then, she did not know much about the event. Hence, she did some research and attended the event dressed up as the glamorous and "mature" version of 'Pikachu' from 'Pokemon.' The look became viral, while Nigri’s cosplay look was dubbed as the most “adult’’ 'Pikachu' of all.
In the same convention, Nigri dressed up as 'Rikku' from 'Final Fantasy X-2,' wearing a costume that was even more revealing than her 'Pikachu' costume. Soon after, Nigri was all over the internet. Thus, her career as a cosplay artist started. Extremely revealing costumes and loud makeup eventually became her trademark.
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Career
Nigri was one of the spokesmodels for 'Amazing Arizona Comic Con 2011’ and subsequently attended several conventions, such as 'Anime Expo 2012’ and 'Anime Revolution 2012.’ She appeared as the mascot 'Senkaku Mei.'
In 2011, Nigri did promotions for the games 'Gears of War 3' by 'Microsoft' and 'GameStop,' cosplaying the game's character 'Anya Stroud.'
In 2012, Nigri won a modeling contest organized by ‘IGN.’ She was offered the position of spokesmodel of 'Warner Bros. Games.' She also bagged the role of 'Juliet Starling,' the protagonist of the 'Lollipop Chainsaw' video game. She has been the spokesperson for the video game 'Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.'
Nigri dressed up as 'Starling' at the 2012 'Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East.’ However, her skimpy pink outfit raised flags and offended the convention officials. She was asked to either alter the outfit or withdraw her participation. Following this, Nigri chose to remain in the event and thus dressed up in ‘Starling's regular costume. However, she was asked to leave again, as even her regular costume was too revealing.
Since Nigri had a contract with ‘IGN,’ 'Kadokawa Games' let her stay on 'Lollipop Chainsaw.' She thus attended 'Akihabara' in Japan. As part of the deal, she also toured many Japanese video-game magazines and websites, such as 'Famitsu' and 'Dengeki.'
Moreover, Nigri was signed for promoting and representing the 'Kill3rCombo' video game 'Elsword' and the comic-book series 'Grimm Fairy Tales' by 'Zenescope Entertainment' and 'Knightingail’ by ‘Crucidel Productions.'
In 2013, game designer Suda51 approached Nigri for the role of 'Vivienne Squall' in 'Killer Is Dead,' which was to be made for his company, 'Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.' She also cosplayed 'Connor Kenway' from 'Assassin's Creed III.' At 'E3 2013,’ she cosplayed the female version of 'Captain Edward Kenway' from 'Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag' (by 'Ubisoft’).
At ‘PAX 2013,’ Nigri represented the video game 'Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z' by 'Tecmo Koei' and cosplayed its character 'Miss Monday.' That year, she also cosplayed at 'Anime Revolution,' 'AVCon,' 'Montreal Comiccon,' and 'Anime South.' She was also a guest of honor at the 'Ottawa Pop Expo.'
In 2014, Nigri attended the 'WildStar PAX East' booth of 'Carbine Studios.' She has been featured on a few 'YouTube' shows, such as 'KassemG' and 'The Philip DeFranco Show.' She has also been part of the card game 'Z.' In addition to cosplaying female characters, Nigri has also dressed up as the female versions of several male characters.
Nigri has also worked as an interviewer for media outlets such as 'GameZone,' 'Book Therapy,' 'RUGGED TV,' and 'Comic.' She owns a line of merchandise and gifts, which she has promoted in the store 'ForHumanPeoples,' owned by her ''YouTuber'' friend Philip DeFranco. Nigri also owns an online poster store called 'NIGRI PLEASE!'
Nigri is a member of the cosplay groups 'XX Girls' and 'Less Than 3.'She has also worked with the male-centric website 'theCHIVE.' The 2018 'Rooster Teeth' documentary 'Becoming Jessica Nigri' chronicles her journey from a being a nerdy teenager to turning into a cosplay enthusiast.
Nigri has featured in several commercial video advertisements and music videos. She has voiced the characters of 'Cinder Fall' (the antagonist of the American anime web series 'RWBY') and 'Sonico' (from ‘Super Sonico: The Animation’). She actively takes part in charitable activities.
Nigri has a self-titled 'YouTube' channel with 1.23 million subscribers, whereas, on 'Instagram' and 'Twitter,' she has 3.8 million and 1.05 million followers, respectively. She also has a personal 'Instagram' page called 'jessica.jska.'
In an interview, Nigri has revealed her plans to eventually quit modeling and study and pursue a career in marketing and advertising.
