A Retrospective on

Cosplay
 First of all, what is cosplay?
The word cosplay comes from "costume play". Basically, the participant
(called cosplayer) dresses up as a fictional or real character, often adopting
this character's personality, interpreting him. This character may be from a
video-game, a TV series, a movie, etc., or it may be an original character
created by the cosplayer himself.
Cosplaying is mostly a hobby, practiced for fun. These are two common
reasons why a person chooses to cosplay a certain character: 
• For attention, picking the character for his fame rather than by his
personality. This type of cosplayer pays lots of attention to costume details
and accessories, but is often criticized for not really knowing the character
traits and history;
• For his personality. The cosplayer either relates to the character or admire
him, willing to impersonate him. Since the cosplayer does this for himself,
he may end up not giving attention to the costume, but only to the acting.
 The late 30’
It was in 1939, during the first
Worldcon, when cosplay was
first introduced. Heroes and
other characters from comic
books were cosplayed, only. As
it was a really shy and small
movement, it was practiced
only in the U.S. for many
decades.
Costumes were made from fabric,
as there wasn’t much variety of
materials.
Spider Man and Doctor Octopus, by
unknown
Batman, Batman,
by unknown by unknown
Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman,
by unknown by Yaya Han
 The 70’
Cosplayers from the U.S. get to
know Japanese comic books
and animations and start to
cosplay it, and later it also
became famous in Japan.
In 1977 the first movie of the
Star Wars series was
released, being later
cosplayed by many fans.
Also, something similar to
cosplay was created: LARP.
(live action role-playing)
Kame Sen’nin from Dragon Ball,
By unknown
Darth Vader from Star Wars, Unicorn
by magique-artistry on DeviantArtBy Miragecld Gundam from Gundam,on DeviantArt
 The late 80’
and 90’
Video-games gained better
graphics, stories and
characters started to be
more developed and so, fans
started to cosplay them.
Marvel characters were still
famous, but Japanese
characters were gaining
much more attention.

Scorpion from Mortal Kombat,

By CosplayQuest on DeviantArt
Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Kenshin from Samurai X,
By Yaya Han By SerahSerrin on DeviantArt
 From 2000 and beyond
Cosplay became incredibly famous through Japan, and is now
mostly known for animes and mangas, and people from all
over the world do cosplay.
Recently cosplayers got access to better materials to work
with, being the most recent innovation the use of LED lights
for costumes, giving a really special look to cosplays.
Adaptations from animal or other non-human characters
and new interpretations and versions of costumes started
being created, cosplays have become more creative and
realistic. It also became popular to cosplay characters from
our childhood, like Disney princesses, and celebrities, like
Freddie Mercury.
Snow White Alice from Alice in Wonderland
By benny-lee on DeviantArt By dandelionswish on DeviantArt
 Rapunzel from Tangled
By usagi-tsukino-krv on DeviantArt
 Rocket Team from Pókemon,
Jessie by ryoko-demon and James by rei-doll on DeviantArt
Sesshomaru from Inuyasha, Inuyasha from Inuyasha,
By unknown By anzai-d on DeviantArt
Takaishi Takeru from Digimon, Yamato Ishida from Digimon,
By r-kira on DeviantArt By malindachan on DeviantArt
Angewomon from Digimon,
by on DeviantArt
 Wanda and Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents,
by Randomness909_ and Spuncken on DeviantArt
Mario and Luigi from Mario Bros
By miux-r on DeviantArt
Skyrim characters,
By unknown
Pyramid Head and Nurse from Silent Hill Demon Hunter from Diablo III,
By unknown By unknown
YuGiOh card from YuGiOh, Stormtrooper from Star Wars,
By unknown Lego version,
By unknown
 Toy Soldier by unknown
(you must remember this one from Toy Story, right?)
Medieval Fantasy LARP characters, by unknown
Steampunk LARP characters, by unknown
A medieval LARP battle scene, by various unknown
 That’s about it!
Thank you for the attention!

By Isabel Queiroz, nº 5