One of the joys of attending any gaming or nerd-culture-oriented conference is taking in the myriad of people who attend them. It’s a fascinating cross-section of big and small, thin and thick, fancifully dressed to tee-shirt clad.
On top of all of these different people are those who choose to attend conferences not as themselves, but as a character from a piece of literature, a videogame, a movie, or (in the case of Gen Con) their imaginations. There were fewer superheroes than at San Diego Comic Con, but that’s to be expected.
Here are a smattering of the best costumes I saw while I was in Indianapolis this weekend for Gen Con. I tended to like the more creative costumes, as opposed to the slutty. The fantasy genre was well-represented, as you’d assume from a convention that stars Dungeon & Dragons and was started by Gary Gygax. But there was more than a few costumes from videogames including this awesome Big Daddy from BioShock:
This was the best group of Gen Con. The Little Sister stayed in character the whole time.
The Force is strong with this one.
These knights just robbed the Steak & Shake.
The Doctor just stepped out of this TARDIS.
Naruto ninjas: wearing safety orange since 1999.
When you marooned me on that god forsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate: I’m Captain Jack Sparrow.
She said that she made that staff herself, but I liked the copper wings.
Poison Ivy, Black Canary and Harley Quinn.
Oh Creepy Wizard, your tiki-torch staff is on fire.
A ranger with a crossbow and a skunk animal companion. Or is that a kill that’s waiting to be skinned. Either way, I’m intrigued.
It’s a bit out of focus, but if you give me a pose like that while wielding blade and gun, you deserve some recognition.
Homemade Master Chief costume. Awesome.
Right after I took this picture, the girl on the right offered me a sucker. How could I refuse?
I assume that Cobra Commander was grimacing under that mask.
She was posing like that all day. Please, someone help her.
The feathers of these Serra Angels were impressive.
You can’t really tell from this picture, but this guy was really tall, almost 7 feet. A real-life barbarian.
Say, everybody, have you seen my balls/they’re big and salty and brown/if you ever need a quick pick-me-up/just stick my balls in your mouth.
This Drow keeps his slave girl close.
The intense stare of the warrior with crazy hair. Is there nothing more terrifying?
