Costumes That Take Cosplay To The Next Level

You’ve probably dressed up as a fictional character at some point, whether it was for Halloween or a costume party. But there’s a whole community out there who take their love of fictional universes to a whole other level. With outfits ranging from the terrifying to the gigantic, these insanely creative people prove that the art of recreating the look of a fictional character, known as cosplay, is much more than just dressing up!

Boasting 12 movies and seemingly-endless comic books, novels, and games, it’s no surprise that Star Wars is always a big presence at any cosplay convention. From the timeless Luke Skywalker to epic monster builds like this Rancor from Episode 6 in the image below, the series offers endless possibilities for awesome costumes, and everyone’s looking to stand out!

Obviously, there are many Star Wars superfans out there, but how many do you know who would actually wear stormtrooper gear on their wedding day? Well, a guy named Brad Hartsock did just that. But when the standard-issue Stormtrooper outfit he wore to his wedding got a little worn out, Brad set his sights on becoming the brightest star the galaxy had ever seen when designing a new one.

Seven and a half months, 51,000 rhinestone crystals, and 43 bottles of superglue later, the Crystal Trooper was born, all thanks to an impressive DIY job from Brad’s wife, Charlotte. Brad debuted his blinged-up armor at the official Star Wars Celebration Championship of Cosplay 2017, winning himself most elaborate and best overall cosplay awards.

Moving on from interstellar bling now, to Big Macs! Brendan Isaacson was inspired to create one of the most unique cosplay characters ever after getting just a little bit tipsy one night. After stumbling across the golden arches of McDonald’s, he said everything clicked: what if Ronald McDonald was Thor!

From that moment, Brendan made a meal out of his idea, crafting this amazing costume using craft foam and vinyl, complete with his very own version of Thor’s famous hammer made from a chicken nugget box, of course! While the costume itself might not be the most serious cosplay ever, it ain’t no small fry, and the armor alone took around 60 hours to make!

Since McThor’s debut, dozens of people wanted to join the gang with their own fast-food inspired character ideas from Wendy’s Widow, which is Black Widow and Wendy’s, to Grimos, in a nod to the almighty Thanos and Ronald’s righthand man, Grimace! As the superfood group grew, they became known as the McVengers and now travel the convention circuit together, saving one McMuffin at a time!

While McThor hasn’t caught the attention from the guys behind the golden arches, he got one better and actually got his picture featured on the set of Thor: Ragnarok. You can bet he’s lovin’ it!

Originality can get you a long way, especially in a world where accuracy and detail are king, so it’s no surprise that McThor has some company in the unique cosplay terrain. One such original character is a monster created by Kevin Huckabee, known as the Gate.

Huckabee came up with the concept of a terrifying, shapeshifting elemental creature that eats people using the gaping maw in its glowing abdomen and used it as the basis of a short film. To generate hype for his concept and movie ambitions, he debuted the Gate at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. The suit was a monster hit with the crowd, and for good reason.

The Gate Megacon "Nothing is Coming" by The Gate

This terrifying titan took Huckabee’s team around 4,000 hours to make, and came complete with ethereal green lights and smoky tendrils of vapor that wafted from the inside of the beast. Since the Gate was such a hit at Comic-Con, Huckabee’s short film, The Gate: Nothing Is Coming garnered a decent amount of attention, and I, for one, hope to see this sinister creature on the big screen soon!

Up next, showing us exactly how to take cosplay by the horns, we have this epic cosplay created by Beverly Downen of Downen Creative Studios back in 2019!

Beverly’s marvelous headdress most definitely stands out in any crowd and is based on the one worn by Hela, the goddess of death in the Marvel Comics and Thor Ragnarök. While you might think this looks pretty impossible to wear, Beverly used EVA foam, which meant that the headdress is actually really, really light, weighing in at just about 2 pounds!

She also installed a few magnets so the horns can be taken on and off as she navigates her way through crowded convention centers. A self-professed obsessive for the details, Beverly even recreated the 3-D effect of Hela’s get-up with her own custom bodysuit embellished with heat-transfer vinyl that took over 8 months to perfect!

Yet another example of fantastical headgear is this complex looking cosplay of the Shiva sisters, Stiria and Nix, from the thirteenth instalment of the Final Fantasy series.

In this case, the headdresses were made with styrene and foam and lined with wire to create those elaborate shapes. The shape of the helmets made it quite the challenge to secure onto the head, but some simple clear plastic straps around the chin helped keep things secure. Still, even with supports, you won’t envy the neck strain those hefty head-dresses must’ve caused!

The world of cosplay isn’t just for comic book characters, videogame stars, and superheroes. While adults aren’t usually expected to cosplay as their favorite characters at Disney parks, conventions like the D23 Expo are perfect for those looking to make all their classic Disney-related-roleplaying dreams come true!

Just take Jose Davalos, the poor, unfortunate soul who spent hours willingly roasting inside this phenomenal cosplay of Ursula the sea witch.

You can’t help feeling like those thick layers of latex must’ve left Jose sweaty enough to feel like he was in the Mariana Trench! Other cosplayers, meanwhile, have fused Disney’s classic characters with their latest acquisitions in the Star Wars franchise! Enter this Star Wars cosplay, crossed over with the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast.

A tale as old as a long time ago in a castle far, far away, this Lei-Belle and Beast-bacca were created by cosplayers Elizabeth Rage and Daniel Young, complete with a Lumiere lightsaber!

But while Star Wars and Marvel Studios may be under the domain of Disney now, that doesn’t mean the cosplay mashups are all closely related to the Disney’s properties. This amazing mashup, for example, has nothing to do with Mickey Mouse, and instead weaves EDM artist Deadmau5’s iconic headpiece with Marvel’s friendly neighborhood superhero to create Spider-mice!

Here’s hoping the next Spiderverse movie shows Peter Parker’s secret identity as a progressive house DJ!

Mashups like these are great for when you’re torn between two costume ideas, but are also the perfect way to really make a unique statement. This X-Men mashup, created by costume creator Francsterling, combines Mystique and Wolverine, seemingly midway through one of Mystique’s characteristic transformations.

Combining Mystique’s glimmering scales with Logan’s menacing claws, this extraordinary, gender-bending crossover sends a message that echoes through all the cosplay universe: you can be whoever you want to be!

You might be thinking that all epic cosplays require specialist materials and techniques to look as good as they do. Well, prop-maker Carl Leck turned that notion upside down back in 2017 by creating this scarily accurate Demogorgon using household materials with such skill that it even rivals Stranger Things’ Joyce Byers’ slightly-deranged, DIY creativity!

Carl learned to build costumes while working at a movie prop company, and applied his mastery to this terrifying project. Of course, many cosplayers have created realistic Demogorgon costumes in the years since Stranger Things hit Netflix back in 2016, but Carl’s really stands out!

Not only did he manage to build his version in a mere 35 hours; he also gave it an unfurling head made from little more than cardboard and tape, with bike cables and rubber bands helping to create an opening mechanism, all operated with a flick of the wrist!

We all know that ogres are like onions! But this Dota 2 Ogre mage cosplay most definitely won’t make you cry, unless you try to wear it for too long.

The sister duo responsible for this creation, known as the Styrogirls, specialize in two-person costumes and extreme props. For this blue behemoth, most the of the materials were pretty low-tech: cardboard, paper mâché, duct tape and, of course, Styrofoam. The sisters handcrafted everything, including the spinning, motorized, LED-lit back-plate, and after a mountain load of acrylic paint and enough glue fumes to wake a sleeping giant, their Siamese Ogre was born.

The International 2018 Cosplay Finalist Show #TI8 #cosplay by Neil Patrick

Not only is the costume itself a marvel to behold, but these ogre-achievers also had to rise to the physical demand of a two-person costume, from walking in sync, to what I imagine must have been a pretty complicated bathroom break!

Tarrin and Sorrel built this costume to participate in the International Cosplay Competition in Vancouver, Canada 2018 and smashed their way to winning the Biggest Transformation award! Considering how convincing the costume is, you can bet even Shrek would invite these two over for dinner.

Cosplay isn’t always just about looking like a character. It’s about acting and moving like them too, and this isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off, especially when the character you’re cosplaying as can fly! But that’s no issue for Aviram Carmeli. This god-tier cosplayer doesn’t just dress himself up for his cosplays of famous movies; his beloved skateboard gets the full treatment too, unlocking endless possibilities!

Unlike many other cosplayers who usually just stick to convention center events, Aviram takes his creations to the streets of Tel Aviv, weaving in and out of traffic in a full Aladdin get-up, complete with a stuffed-toy Abu latched onto his shoulder!

Aladdin Masrik by Aviram Carmeli

What really launches this cosplay off the ground is the magic carpet, thanks to his skateboard, it really looks like it’s hovering, elevating the craft of cosplay into a whole new world!

Many cosplayers will admit to spending a lot of money perfecting their costumes, but not many have spent as much as our next cosplay pro. Thomas DePetrillo is an expert in extreme costume making and has been at it for over 20 years, but one larger-than-life project he debuted in 2015 took some serious nerves of steel.

Costing a staggering $60,000 to build, this mammoth Hulkbuster cosplay, from Avengers: Age of Ultron, stands 9 and a half feet tall and 6ft 6 inches wide! What’s more, it weighs in at a whopping 95 pounds and took 1,600 hours to make across 2 whole years!

Hulkbuster Iron Man by Ogrinz Labs

The colossal costume takes Thomas 20 whole minutes to get fully suited up, and given its weight, he can’t move around in it for too long! But, even if it may leave you physically exhausted, there’s no denying how much of a tank this thing would make you feel.

Cosplays like the Hulkbuster require some serious commitment and don’t always leave the wearer room to sit down, let alone get comfortable! This incredible Thanos cosplay is one such costume.

Created by professional FX artist, Walter Welsh, AKA Waltimusprime, this cosplay is brought to life with the clever use of prosthetics that perfectly mimic the computer-generated giant. The realistic wrinkles and creases seal the deal for the true Thanos attitude, resulting in a cosplay so good that you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for the real thing!

Conveniently for Walter, he had the perfect friend to help achieve this gigantic cosplay feat, a 6ft3 friend, at that. Using platform shoes to elevate this costume even further into the next level, 6ft 8inches to be exact, Walter was able to set the bar for Thanos imitations everywhere!

The platforms, along with the rest of the armor took a week to construct, while the arms also took around a week. To top it off, Walter spent 2 weeks painstakingly sculpting the face. It was all worth it though, and his efforts made this cosplay a true snap success!

As one of the most popular heroes of all time, you’ll always seen plenty of Iron men at cosplay conventions across the globe. Authentic-looking Iron man suits are super complicated to recreate and, because of the character’s popularity, it can be difficult to stand out in the crowd.

But this Tony Stark costume, from NYTonyStark, takes things to the upper echelons by not only wearing a hyper-detailed suit; but by looking considerably similar to the steely hero even with his visor flipped up!

Not only that, but he even brought along a cute date to the 2019 New York Comic-Con in the form of none other than iron-suited Pepper Potts herself.

This Pepper Potts Rescue cosplay is the work of Shannon Rona, who went all-out on her mission to create the most high-tech suit she could. Her magnum opus is complete with lights, a wireless light-up helmet and even a built-in sound system that plays the end credits fanfare from the Endgame movie! What better way to announce your entry to a room, right?

Shannon’s cosplays are so good that actress Lexi Rabe, who played Morgan, the daughter of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in Avengers Endgame, got in touch with Shannon to request her to make this amazing custom Rescue suit for Halloween!

Some characters seem completely impossible to recreate, but that doesn’t stop the most dedicated artists from trying, and the results are truly next level! Venom is one such character, and Alex Brenot, also known as Sinistur on Instagram, been creating Symbiote costumes since the 90s. Needless to say, he’s come a long way since then, and his recent Carnage symbiote is one of the best, and scariest, off all time!

This killer cosplayer’s creations are always dripping with detail, including lifelike tendrils and eye-popping textures. What’s more, Alex is often seen accompanied by his costumed girlfriend, dressed up as the equally-impressive she-carnage.

This next cosplay is nothing short of a roaring success! Izy Cheung is a Canadian costume maker, artist and animal enthusiast who created this extremely good cosplay of Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon movies.

It’s easy to forget there’s actually a person inside this cracker of a costume, so it’s no surprise Izy needs a helper at all times to guide her around! Wearing a helmet attached to Toothless’ head, Izy actually spends the whole time looking straight at the floor while crawling around conventions, which has at times led to some pretty hilarious moments.

Looks like Toothless still needs a little training. Some similarly-impressive, though much more intimidating, fantasy creatures have been constructed over the years by monster-builder, TrisRex. His attention to detail and eye for monstrous design is best seen in the intricacies of his magnum opus: Swamp Thing.

TrisRex described the project as the hardest paint job of his life, and the meticulous detail on the countless individually-crafted armor plates took an overwhelming two months to create. The mega-suit draws inspiration from not just one, but three different rendered versions of the Swamp Thing character, and in doing so, brings something totally unique to life.

Some parents can get pretty obsessed with creating the most awesome Halloween costumes for their kids. But photographer Josh Rossi took this to heroic proportions by dropping $1,500 to make his 3-year-old daughter Nellee’s dream of becoming Wonder Woman for Halloween a reality.

Months of preparation, alongside a collaboration with McGrew’s costume studio in Salt Lake City, were required to create a real leather, handcrafted costume. The photoshoot Josh arranged to bring the character to life was no small feat either, and Josh had just 2 hours to get the perfect shots before Nellee’s noon-time nap! Josh also had the backing of his very own super-team who were integral in helping him achieve a truly wonderful result!

Teaming up with the unstoppable power of Photoshop, Josh set about adding a bit of CGI flair to the Wonder Woman getup, just like the movies! After the Wonder Woman shoots went viral online, Josh now continues to publish amazing images of what he refers to as the Justice League Kids! You can probably smell a spin-off franchise in the making.

Have you ever wondered what your favorite video game characters would look like in real life? Look no further. Starting with Borderlands, which is known for its comic book feel and dramatic shading, its characters are only recreated accurately by the most dedicated cosplayers out there.

When the third instalment of the game was released, master costume maker Maul Cosplay got to work on creating this epic Zane costume.

The in-zanely detailed cosplay of the crafty vault hunter looks straight out of the game, from the authentic cell-shading across his hair, skin and gear, to the LED eyepatch. The hair and makeup take hours to craft each time, and is pretty uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. But when the end result is that good, it’s all worthwhile.

Recreating cartoony-looking graphics in real life is one thing, but what about bringing to life the more unique looking cartoon characters in a somewhat realistic way? Well, one artist decided to look that challenge right in the eye! Check out this masterclass in cartoon realism, a cosplay of Leela from Futurama that’s so realistic, it genuinely seems like there’s a cycloptic woman on the loose!

The eye for design in this case belongs to Sabrina Cruz Castro, who created the realistic mask of this Futurama character by life casting her own face and then modifying her features to match Leela’s mutant look. The eye itself is sculpted from clay, but the hard part was painting it to look as realistic as possible.

On top of that, you’d think there’d be some difficulty actually seeing out of two eyes in a one-eyed costume like this, right? Wrong. Sabrina included the two tiniest eyeholes, cleverly placed within her giant eye’s wrinkles so you’d never notice them!

Moving into the videogame world of Overwatch now, we have Maria Fernanda, who created this super accurate D.Va cosplay.

Given that it only involves a headset, face-paint, and a stretchy bodysuit, it may not be quite as grueling to wear as some of the other cosplays we’ve seen, but sometimes, simplicity is just as good. Throwing it back to the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of gaming now, Dan Cattell is an artist passionate about bringing 2D Nintendo characters into our 3D reality with his wearable pixelated cosplay outfits.

Despite how amazing Dan’s costumes look, their construction is surprisingly simple, usually only requiring cardboard, paint, tape and rope. Bringing the visual style to these designs, however, takes quite a bit of work, and Dan hand-paints each carboard panel to mimic pixelation before attaching them to himself using the rope and tape.

This particular costume of a space pirate from the Metroid series took months of planning and around 24 hours to paint.

But as long as you gaze upon it from the right angle, the sensation of our 3D world being invaded by a 2D alien menace is well worth the effort. You know how some things are just so gross, you just can’t look away? Well, this Resident Evil cosplay is the very definition of that!

NYCC Resident Evil William Birkin Cosplay by Chaos Productions Inc

Based on one of the chief scientists of the Umbrella Corporation, William Birkin, who, after injecting himself with the G-Virus mutates into a gruesome monster that runs rampant throughout Resident Evil 2. A cosplayer known simply as Gai, made Resident Evil fans feel right at home when he debuted this nightmarish first-phase William Birkin mutation costume at the World Cosplay Summit in 2016.

At first glance you might think that it’s just a bodysuit with an attachment, but shockingly enough, that realistic human head’s actually not a real face, but a hyper-realistic mask! Gai is completely hidden inside all that silicon and plastic, peeking out through carefully hidden eyeholes that are invisible to onlookers. The detail that went into this cosplay experiment is downright insane, from the veins to the vast, bulging eye!

What’s more, Gai is no stranger when it comes to creating shocking cosplay suits of this kind, as he also made a suit of Birkin in his second phase in the game! We all need another look at Josh Rossi’s adorable mini-Wonder Woman to take our minds somewhere more pleasant after all that horror.

If you were amazed at these costumes that take cosplay to the next level, you might want to read about how close we are to a real iron man suit. Thanks for reading!