The hottest day of the convention provided the hottest cosplay.
Dragoncon 2014 wasn’t as big as San Diego Comic Con – this year’s estimated 60,000+ number of attendees is technically dwarfed by SDCC’s more than 130,000. But you wouldn’t know it from the scene, where it seemed that every single inch of downtown Atlanta was crammed full of brilliant costumes and great people and, once the sun went down, drunk people.
The apex of this crush of humanity happened on Saturday during the annual Dragoncon parade, when thousands gathered to watch as attendees marched through downtown and showed off not only their skill – seriously, these costumes! – but also their dedication (I think I may have mentioned how hot it was, right?).
Related: Be sure and check out our previous coverage of Dragoncon 2014 here.
We got so many great photos out of the parade, in fact, that we had to split our coverage in two. If you missed it, check out part one of our Dragoncon Parade gallery, then come back here for the thrilling climax. Borderlands? Check. Mass Effect, complete with an appearance by Mark “I should go” Meer? Double check. Incredibly mind blowing Samus costume? Triple check. All that and more await you. Click on, and stand in awe.
First up, here’s a look at just one section of the crowd who turned out to see the fun.
All photos by Ross Lincoln and Newton Grant
As is required at all fan conventions, Star Wars fandom was out in force. Specifically, a force of Mandalorians, seen here taking in a Jedi prisoner and probably feeling a little annoyed that the expanded universe has been removed from canon.
One of my favorite cosplay trends is the proliferation of Boba Fett mashup costumes, like this awesome Spartan.
Here’s Mark Meer, leading the N7 Elite through Atlanta.
In case you’re wondering, yes, that is a Green Lantern N7 commando.
The biggest dick move Robert Zemeckis ever pulled was to claim during the making of Back To The Future II that the hoverboards seen in the film were based on real world technology. They totally weren’t of course, causing much disappointment, but the reflection of the sun off this board here almost makes up for it.
It was something of a shock to see just how much of an event Dragoncon is for the city of Atlanta, and one more reason why I can’t wait for my next excuse to visit the city.
You may be asking who was wearing the bolo, me, or the shark? Answer: Yes.
Spaceballs? Oh shit, there goes the planet.
There’s nothing quite like a Stormtrooper blasting Tupac to make the heat and humidity all worthwhile (don’t worry, it was the radio edit.)
What do we say to the god of death? That it’s incredibly hot in Atlanta during the summer, and please cut that out.
This sole picture of Doctor Who? cosplayers should not let you think Dragoncon wasn’t packed with Whovians. Because it was.
Even lil’ Ghostbusters need to get to the scene of a haunting fast.
The local SCA chapter were out and somehow, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW, managed to keep this sword fight up throughout the entire parade route. Pant gasp faint diefromheat.
See? I wasn’t lying. This is by far the best Samus I have ever seen, and I suspect, you too.