Cardiff Comic Con 2019: Why do people dress up as their favourite character?

Cosplay has been a popular outlet to showcase one’s fandom and creativity. What makes people want to dress up as their favourite characters?

This year’s Film and Comic Con held at Motorpoint Arena saw hundreds of people dressed as their favourite characters from comic books, films, TV shows and video games. For die hard film, TV and comics fans, the two-day event was a platform to showcase their creativity and play their favourite character.

The energy in the room was something different, but it oozed art, and almost everyone who was dressed up stood out. Of the many people who participated, some had replicated their favourite character’s look, while some had created their own interpretations of it, having spent months.

Cosplay has been a part of the pop culture and is growing increasingly with every Film and Comic Con event as more and more people experiment with their costumes and get creative. For some people, it is a chance to be their favourite character for a while, but for many, it is much more than just dressing up. InterCardiff hit the Film and Comic Con event and asked people what made them want to dress up as their favourite characters.

Joker (The Killing Joke), 19

“I’ve always loved dressing up, ever since I was younger. Its nice to be acting as a character and fit in in a place where a lot of people share the same freedom really. I’ve also made a lot of friends through cosplay. This is like my eighth comic con. I always play the Joker from The Killing Joke because it’s kind of my thing now.”

Theodore Roosevelt, 66

“When I was a little boy I always wanted to be a cowboy, so I decided to do a memory of Robin Williams from Night at the Museum. I’m glad that I get to be a cowboy for real now. When I go to the country on the weekends I dress up in the cowboy outfit, military outfit, sabres and everything.”

Harley Quinn, 28

“I love the DC character and I’ve got all the comic books, action figures and everything else, you name it. It just makes me feel really connected to the character and I relate with her. This is my own interpretation of Harley Quinn. My little girl’s going to be doing comic con soon as well. She’s only five and loves Dragon Ball Z so she’s going to be doing that.”

Fran (Final Fantasy), 27

“So, most of the time it’s because I’m a fan of a game or a comic or something like that, but sometimes I might see the design of a character and I might see it as a challenge and I’m like ‘that looks difficult to make, so let’s try it’. But, a lot of the time it’s also because I really connect with the character, especially if they are particularly badass, which I’m not, so I get to be like someone else for a day.”

Azariah, 20

“Probably all the outfits. But also, because you can make so many friends just by cosplaying. I guess I just needed friends. I started when I was 15 and I’m 20 now and I’ve made tonnes of friends through this. This is my own version of the character because I wanted to be out of the box but still wanted everyone to know who I was. It’s something I put together three days ago.”

Divine Trickery, 21

“I had been to conventions before where I realised that most people dressed up, so I thought I needed to do this as well. And I study fashion in university, so it just made sense to me to make the costume on my own. So I planned the costume in October and made it myself actually spending hours of days making it and detailing it.”

Kitt Myth, 23

“I originally did cosplay for a TV show when I went for a convention to meet the actors from that I loved it. Then I got hold of a few friends who I did lots of different shows with. It makes me feel closer to the character, I can identify with her but also because I’ve got a really big group of friends who are all into cosplay and love doing it, so there’s also a big social friendship aspect to it.”

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