Zelina Vega’s Cosplay Countdown: She & Rhea Ripley Pay Tribute to Death Note (Exclusive)

Halloween is officially this Thursday which means that ComicBook’s Zelina Vega Cosplay Countdown is coming to a close. Over the last month, ComicBook has exclusively shared first-looks at WWE superstar Zelina’s nerdy cosplays which have been anime forward given she’s a huge fan of the genre. She’s pulled from Jujutsu Kaisen, Sailor Moon and Naruto, to name a few.

Before things officially wrap up, however, Death Note and WWE fans will rejoice with this one! This week, Zelina and former WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley are breathing life into the iconic Death Note Manga series which turns 21 this year. The duo recreate the iconic Japanese Death God Ryuk and Misa Amane.

“Misa Amane from Death Note! One of my absolute favorite anime’s of all time,” Zelina dished to ComicBook. “This may surprise some, but to the people who truly know me, my favorite character being Light Yagami is no surprise. The absolute GENIUS this man is — both alluring and scary. I hope to be as smart as him, minus the God complex and ya know..”

As for Ripley, she makes a beautifully terrifying Ryuk who is known as a Shinigami, the western equivalent of the grim reaper. She’s got the pale skin and big wide, black smile down perfectly and her height is perfect for this cosplay as Ryuk is very tall and slender.

“Speaking of God … did you know that God’s Of Death love apples? I wonder if that is the presence that I feel next to me. I just can’t seem to put my finger on it … whatever it may be, she seems like the perfect Ryuk to my Misa. Rhea and Ryuk, a menace match made in heaven and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have to give it to her.. The detail she put in to it was pretty dope.”

[RELATED: WWE Discussing Rhea Ripley vs. Dominik Mysterio Intergender Match]

As mentioned above by Zelina, Ryuk loves apples and often compares it to human vices such as alcohol and cigarettes. Except, Shinigami apples are much different than traditional apples — these ones have a sand-like texture to them.

The exciting thing about this week’s cosplay is that aesthetically, it doesn’t feel that far off from their day-to-day appearances. In the Manga, Misa has a crush on Light (Kira), though her unwavering faithfulness to him is often note reciprocated. But her character is often oversimplified in that she’s not just some clueless bimbo, she’s smarter than people give her credit for.

She knows that Light likely won’t feel the same but explains he can use her anyway. She also knows that Kira is the only one that can help bring justice to her parents who were murdered and she sticks to her guns, stopping at nothing to get what she wants in the end. This lends her to being a bit one-dimensional, but there’s no doubt that she helped further the story around Kira.

Ripley has been very outspoken about her love of Death Note over the years. Her early ring gear that she designed while she was in NXT was, in part, inspired by Ryuk himself. Additionally, one of her cats was named after the humanoid-esque character. So, yeah — it’s safe to say she’s a fan.

Keep up with all of Zelina’s cosplays past and present (like her Queen of the Damned Akasha look) on her X and Instagram accounts!