Cosplay has become one of the most popular forms of appreciation towards all things pop culture. Here, we celebrate this art form and some of the best cosplays from around the world in 2018.
You might be familiar with the word “costume”, but less so with the word “cosplay”.
In short, cosplay is when someone portrays a character they like by wearing that character’s outfit. Think of it like “costume” and “play” rolled into one convenient term.
Though it has been going on for decades, cosplaying rose to popularity with the increase in interest in conventions like Comic-Con, E3, PAX, and more. As such, the cosplay competition is intense these days, with some cosplayers creating mechanical pieces.
In celebration of International Cosplay Day, here are some of the best cosplays of 2018.
Let’s Start With Some Fortnite Skins at Gamescom
Gamescom isn’t known for its epic cosplays like other conventions. But these Fortnite cosplayers are too cool not to include.
You can see a character named Thora in the thumbnail wielding the llama-corn pickaxe. The video goes on to interview cosplayers dressed as other skins from the game. Most of it is in German, but scrub through to see some great props and cosplays.
With an ever-evolving line of skins and new, spooky story threads appearing, Fortnite cosplays are sure to be many, varied, and llama-filled.
This is the Best Warhammer Cosplay. Ever. (Fight me)
If you are familiar with the Warhammer family of games and media, you will immediately recognize the character in this video.
Scott Schofield started this Black Templar Space Marine cosplay in December of 2016. That’s right — this cosplay took two years to make, but that comes as no surprise when you take notice of the insanely incredible details throughout the cosplay.
The cathedral themed back piece relates to the lore surrounding how the Black Templars recruit people (think intergalactic crusades). And yes: those flamepots and candles on the back piece totally light up.
Schofield also 3D printed the statues and the cover for the “Book of Litanies” you can see on his belt. He will reveal the entire finished product at Salt Lake Comic Con this year.
Anime Fans go Hard for Cosplays
Comic books and video games make natural cosplay inspiration. But many fans of cartoons and anime bring their favorite animated characters to life, too.
Anime Los Angeles and Anime Expo are a few popular conventions in the U.S. Houston also has its own anime convention known as Anime Matsuri. Japan has its own conventions of course, but anime fans cosplay all over the world.
You can see some pretty epic Evangelion cosplay right at the beginning of this Romics 2018 video. Romics 2018 took place in Italy earlier this year.
People even dress up their pets as their favorite anime characters like this Beerus cat from the Dragon Ball series.
Cosplay Inspires Everyone to Create
I didn’t know there was a World Cosplay Summit, but Mexico won (and rightfully so).
Banana Cospboys’ members Luis and Lalo portrayed Chun-Li and Dhalsim in an epic Street Fighter duo cosplay. They even did a huge stage presentation with some sweet and surprisingly flexible moves.
This celebration of cosplay all over the world extends not just to countries, but to every ethnicity, as well, with Blerdcon having happened over the summer.
“Blerd” is a pop-culture term for “black nerds” and this Kotaku Cosplay article shows off some of the best the convention had to offer.
That’s part of the beauty of cosplay — everyone gets involved, including older people.
News dropped last year about the retired couple Millie and Steven Tani who do different couple cosplays. Their Facebook page “CosplayParents” highlights their adventures.
Where to Find Some Neat Cosplays Online
If you want a channel where you can reliably see silly cosplay shenanigans, D Piddy always delivers in true Deadpool fashion.
Mineralblu posts many videos, but much of his focus surrounds scantily clad cosplayers. Still, this footage of an insane Bumblebee (from Transformers) is really cool.
Volpin Props makes consistently crazy amazing cosplay props and outfits. In this video, he constructs the sword from a fantastic video game called Transistor.
Another excellent company for original cosplay design is GeekyU – a small, California-based company that can make custom designs and prints for any fandom under the sun.
But some of the best cosplaying footage of all time (not this year, sorry) comes from the Blizzard Cosplay Contest at Gamescom every year. 2017’s was epic and 2018’s contest did not disappoint either.
If you are more interested in weapons and the like, Man at Arms Reforged on the AWE me channel, does anime, video game, comic book, and even Star Trek builds frequently. The recent build of Thor’s Stormbreaker ax is a must watch video.
Video game developers also sometimes sponsor builds of their characters.
Above, you can see “javelins” from the upcoming Bioware game Anthem. In it, you play as freelancers for hire who pilot these giant suits to perform tasks. I’m super hyped for it.
I’m sure we can expect to see more inspiring and fantastic cosplays in the months to come.
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