Choosing a cosplay character is something some newbie cosplayers have trouble with. The short answer of course is to cosplay whoever you want. You don’t actually have to look like the character you’re cosplaying to dress up as them.

That being said, there are so many wonderful characters out there. There are so many great comics/movies/TV/novels/games characters that it can sometimes be difficult to narrow it down. Cosplayers generally have multiple characters we love. Since we can’t wear them all to the convention at the same time (well, I suppose we could, but it might be a bit uncomfortable 🙂 ), it sometimes takes a little thought before choosing a cosplay character to go as to that particular event. So here are a few tips to helpfully assist the struggling newbie in picking one.

Format and Genre

The easiest way to start knocking characters off your list is to decide on a format. Do you feeling like choosing a cosplay character from a novel, a video game, a comic book, a movie, a TV show? Once you’ve made that choice, you can narrow it down by genre. For example if you’ve chosen to replicate a costume from a movie, decide which type of movie costume you want to do. Would you prefer to do a sci-fi character, a fantasy, or maybe an anime/animated character?

Skill Level

An important thing to take into consideration when choosing a cosplay character is skill level. In truth you can cosplay any character you want no matter what your skill level is. If wearing a box painted red and gold makes you feel like you’re wearing Iron Man armor, then that’s really all that matters.

On the other hand, if you’re a perfectionist about your own work (and most cosplayers are, which is why we often keep updating that one costume every few years trying to make it even better), you might end up frustrating yourself if you choose a costume that’s too difficult for your skill level and it ends up not looking exactly the way you want it to. It might be easier to pick something like Laura Croft for a first cosplay than something super detailed like Caterina Sforza.

Time

Time often goes hand in hand with skill level. Everyone works at a different pace. Just because one cosplayer can finish a certain costume in a week, doesn’t mean every cosplayer can. Not only does personal speed come into play when choosing a cosplay character, but also how much time you actually have to work on costume.

Most of us don’t just make our cosplays for a living. We have work, school, social functions, sleep (well, I guess every cosplayer has probably sacrificed sleep at one time or another to finish a costume in time for a convention), and just life in general that demand our time. As such we may not be able work on our costume as much as we’d like. If you’re short on time to begin with or you’re not sure how much time your costume is going to take, you might want to start with some simpler ones.

Many of the simpler costumes can be made out of clothes you might already own. Or you can often purchase the needed items from a 2nd hand shop without needing to alter them much (i.e. maybe a favorite show where the characters wear somewhat normal clothes like Supernatural, Revolution, or Firefly).

Budget

Your budget is a very important part of choosing a cosplay character. Costume making can be an expensive hobby. (Granted there are lots of techniques and materials one can utilize to keep it on the less expensive side, but that’s for another post). There’s no sense in giving up next month’s rent just for a costume.

If you can’t afford to make your Xenomorph cosplay this year, then don’t. Choose a character whose costume can be constructed for less. Save the expensive ones for a convention down the road when you might have a higher budget for your cosplay. In the end, it’s still just a hobby, and though we tend to take our work seriously, it’s not something to get into debt over.

Comfort

When choosing a cosplay character, it’s important to decide how comfortable you want to be. (I say “want” because there are many characters to choose where you can almost guarantee that you won’t be comfortable). If comfort is high up on your list of cosplay desires, then you should examine the costume closely before you begin construction.

Is that mace going to be heavy to carry around all day? Are those shoes going to make you tired? Will that wig itch? Is that corset going to be too tight? Is that material going to be scratchy? Do you want to wear the multiple coats of makeup for that alien character? etc. What seems comfortable while you’re fooling around for a few minutes can easily become very uncomfortable after a few hours of continuous wear at a convention.

Choosing a Cosplay Character You Don’t Know

Some people will try to tell you that you should never cosplay a character you’re not familiar with. I disagree. There are several reasons a person might be choosing a cosplay character they don’t know. If you’re going to a convention with a group of friends who are all cosplaying characters from the same fandom, you may want to get in on the fun and go as a matching character, even you’re not a fan of the character yourself.

Another reason is that you might simply like the design. I’m not really much of a video gamer, but I’ve seen some video game costumes that I’d love to recreate just because I love the detail, style, texture, and colors of the costumes. And on the same thread, you’ll sometimes find you have spare materials to use up, see a costume or prop they’d be just perfect for, and decide to create it even if you don’t know the character that well. When that happens, a quick internet search can give you the basic background info for your character if you want to learn a little more about them.

In the end, it really does just come down to personal preference when choosing a cosplay character. You can cosplay whoever you want no matter your age, size, color, skill set, or gender. It’s your cosplay and the only person you really have to worry about impressing is yourself. All that matters is how you see yourself when you cosplay.

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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