One of the coolest things about any gaming convention is the cosplay. Passionate gamers spend weeks or even months working on costumes to show off their love for their favorite characters. While I’m not one to dress up (it tends to make getting to appointments on time difficult), I certainly enjoy seeing all the costumes at every con I visit. We’ll have plenty of cosplay photos from PAX East this weekend, but these eight are some of my favorite cosplays I’ve ever seen.
Got favorite of your own, or a photo of you in costume? Post it in the comments!
Green Army Man
We all had little green army men as kids, right? No? Maybe I’m just old. At any rate, the Toy Story movies brought the little plastic toys back into prominence. This cosplay shows some serious work done to make things just right, including plenty of body paint. All he needs is a buddy with a mine detector.
Lara Croft
Possibly no videogame character has been cosplayed more than Lara Croft. At almost every convention I’ve attended in my 11 years in the business, there have been multiple people dressed as the intrepid adventurer. The great thing about the many Tomb Raider games is the wide variety of options cosplayers have in choosing just which Lara they want to be. DeviantArt user Illyne chose the Tomb Raider: Underworld look in the above picture.
Powdered Toast Man
Powdered Toast Man has been a personal favorite of mine for years, as have the Ren & Stimpy episodes that included him. I found the cosplayer pictured above at PAX East 2014, and I couldn’t leave without getting a picture of him. It’s still one of my favorite costumes from the show.
Vaas Montenegro
Far Cry 3’s Vaas Montenegro has quickly become one of the more popular cosplay costuimes, for obvious reasons. He was a loud, vivid character that people enjoyed, and the costume can be fairly easy, provided you’re willing to go in for the mohawk. DeviantArt user BloodSpiderX makes quite a convincing Vaas in the picture above. Nice scar, too.
Kerrigan, Queen of Blades
Kerrigan is quite possibly the most recognizable character from the StarCraft universe. Despite her intial conception as a one-off character, she would wind up as a huge part of the series. Her infested appearance makes for a difficult costume, but cosplayer Tasha hits it out of the park in the picture above.
Lady Two Face
Meagan Marie might be the Senior Community Manager at Crystal Dynamics by day, but she’s also one of the most dedicated cosplayers around. Her website is filled with examples of her cosplay, but one of my all-time favorites of hers is Lady Two Face. As you can see above, the effect is awesome.
Joker and Penguin
Two of Batman’s arch-enemies together? Holy hockey sticks, Batman! What could The Clown Prince of Crime and The Penguin be concocting now? Both of the costumes above show plenty of attention to detail, but it’s the accuracy of the Penguin’s makeup that really unnerves me.
Ghostbusters vs. Evolve
When 2K was showing off Evolve at PAX East last year, the centerpiece of their booth was a Goliath that stood around 20 feet tall. While that alone was pretty awesome, I was lucky enough to capture a photo that is still one of my all-time favorites. A fully-costumed group of Ghostbusters confronts the monster, and I’m sure they’re wondering if they have a trap that’s large enough to hold it.
