As we walked around the showroom floor of Seattle’s PAX Prime 2015, we couldn’t help but to notice many of the magnificent cosplays that dedicated video game fans had put together for this special event.
While dressing up as one of your favorite characters is not in any way a requirement for attending PAX Prime, you’ll find that many of the people who choose to go take passion and pride in the craft of cosplay, turning the PAX Prime convention center into a magical place filled with wandering characters from different worlds.
With the vast amount of attendees that were engaging in so many unique cosplay, it’s not always easy to say that one is better than another. That being said, we’d like to show you the 10 best cosplays that we saw at PAX Prime 2015.
Geralt of Rivia and Triss Merigold
If you’re a fan of CD Projekt Red’s Witcher series, then you’re surely familiar with the romance between everyone’s favorite witcher, Geralt from Rivia, and the powerful sorceress, Triss Merigold. Though their love is not a traditional fairy-tale romance, they are beautiful together, nonetheless.
The elegance of Geralt’s costume is conveyed through his hair color, his weapons, his potions, and all of the lather from his shoulders down to his boots. But one detail you might not notice at first glance is that this Geralt cosplayer is wearing special contacts to give himself authentic mystical cat-like vertical pupils. While there are less details for Triss to execute, she nails the hair color and open-chested dress that we have come to expect from the sorceress.
Petra Venj and The Speaker
In Destiny’s House of Wolves expansion, players were introduced to a few new colorful characters. One of the new House of Wolves characters that brought a little flair to Destiny‘s story was Petra Venj. We see her above standing next to The Speaker, who most Destiny players should be familiar with as the voice of The Traveler.
Both of these costumes are expertly executed. The Speaker is a bit easier to pull off with less individual items but that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that this cosplayer was able to craft a mask and robe in the exact fashion of The Speaker. Then we have Petra Venj with her pale grayish skin, color contact glazed eyes, purple hair, Queen’s Wrath armor, Queen’s insignia badge, and eye patch as she menacingly wields her dagger. It’s obvious a lot of work went into this costume and it paid off.
Borderlands Psycho
Not everyone wants to cosplay as the hero. Sometimes it’s more fun to dress up as a psychotic villain, as the cosplayer above has clearly chosen to do. If you’ve never played Borderlands, this right here is a Psycho. Psychos are the crazy bandits whose obsession with the vault have driven them into a shirtless, orange pants wearing, homicidal frenzy.
What seems most impressive about this cosplay is the way in which he appears to almost have just hopped out of the screen. The Borderlands series is well known for its unique animation style, and this cosplayer has chosen to add black lines to darken the border lines of his muscles really works here.
Hagrid
I’m pretty sure I saw this guy walk straight out of a wall coming fresh from Platform 9 3/4. Here we have one of the most lovable characters in the Harry Potter series, Hagrid. Just look at this big teddy bear of a half-giant. Despite his rugged beard and dark raggedy clothing, the inner Hagrid shines forth from the tiny pink umbrella that he proudly holds in his right hand.
If you’re familiar with the Harry Potter series, you may also remember that Hagrid secretly hides the pieces of his broken wand inside his umbrella, reminding us again that not everything is the way that it appears on the outside, which is a constant theme in the series. This is a spectacular Hagrid cosplay that couldn’t even be made better with magic.
Asaris On Smart Phones
As we walked past the PAX Prime 2015 atrium, our attention was piqued by a rare sighting in the hallway. Here we see two Asaris out in the wild on their smart phones. It is a mystery how these advanced alien lifeforms have entered our timeline and procured our technology. Known to have a millennium-long lifespan, it is possible that these Asari are not from the future, rather they are ancient Asari from a long forgotten galactic past.
All kidding aside, these are two amazing Asari cosplays. The facial makeup is perfect in tone and detail. The outfits fit perfectly within the Mass Effect universe, along with the matching pocket book the Asari on the left is holding. But by far the coolest part of these costumes is how perfectly they were able to replicate the top of an Asari head, tentacle-like grooves and all.
Vex
Speaking of traveling through different timelines and dimensions, we seem to have happened upon a wandering Vex from the Destiny universe. This cosplay is on a whole other level. If I wasn’t there to see it myself, I might question whether this was actually a cosplay or if it was just a large statue replica of a Vex. When the Vex was standing still, it was hard to tell that there was a human being in there underneath all of that metallic armor.
It you look closely at the Vex’s eye in the picture, you’ll notice that it is glowing red, just like in the game. This means that in addition to all the details on the outside of the costume, this cosplayer also went one step further to wire some sort of electrical or battery setup inside the costume to power the red light.
Rick
If you’re a fan of the Adult Swim original series Rick and Morty, you might have already heard that Rick and Morty will now be a part of DOTA 2. We may also soon see the pair in virtual reality, as the co-creator of the show is creating original VR games with Valve’s HTC Vive and has intentions of eventually creating a Rick and Morty game.
What you should immediately notice first about the picture above is that there’s no Morty. When I inquired to the whereabouts of Rick’s young and stuttering companion, he said, “I don’t fucking know man, but I’m screwd, he’s got my portal gun.” Yeah that’s definitely the Rick we know and love, worried about inter-dimensional life and death issues yet hiding it all behind sarcastic alcoholism. Okay, so maybe Rick isn’t a great life role model, but without a doubt this is a phenomenal Rick cosplay.
Master Chief
Up next we have one of the most iconic characters in video game history. Whether you’ve ever owned an Xbox console or not, the majority of gamers are familiar with Halo’s Master Chief. Similar to the Vex cosplay, this is yet another costume that could almost appear to be a statue when the person inside is standing still.
As we have come to expect from Master Chief, his reflective visor prevents us from ever being able to get a full glimpse of what his face looks like underneath the helmet and all of that armor. Every piece of his armor appears to be perfectly in proportion including the black joints that allow for flexibility and movement. He brandishes his gun with a calculated seriousness as he glows in the lights shining forth from his suit. Job well done.
Rikku
All fans of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 should recognize Tidus’ Al Bhed buddy, Rikku. According to the Final Fantasy Wiki, Rikku is, “A young Al Bhed girl. Her personality is upbeat and positive, and she is not afraid to speak her mind. She works hard to restore her outcast people to their former glory. Rikku handles mechanical enemies with ease, and can steal items from enemies, too.” With her cheery smile and friendly wave, this cosplayer does well in mimicking Rikku’s likeness.
Scorpion and Sindel
From the Mortal Kombat series, we have the fan favorite hell-spawn, Scorpion and ruler of the realm of Edenia, Sindel. While these two wouldn’t necessarily be hanging around together in the Mortal Kombat series, that certainly doesn’t diminish the hard work that went into making these costumes.
Not to mention that both these cosplayers are clearly filled with a passion for theatrics as they pose fiercely for the camera. Scorpion burns with anger as Sindel makes the gesture of a woman who just ripped out someone’s heart and is crushing it between her fingers. It’s not always enough to just wear a costume. True cosplayers become their characters and these two are excellent examples of that spirit.
Honorable Mention: Mad Max Uber
While at PAX Prime 2015, we had the honor of riding in a Mad Max Uber. That’s right, during the conference, Uber was running a special promotion that allowed us to request to be picked up in the beast of an automobile you see above.
Since this was a special promotion sponsored by Uber, we aren’t going to put it in the same category as the top 10 cosplayers of Pax Prime 2015. However, it still without a doubt deserves a prestigious and honorable mention. Not only was Uber providing rides in these pimped out cars, but they were also sending Mad Max cosplayers as the drivers. Way to join the festivities, we love your enthusiasm.
What do you think of these PAX Prime 2015 cosplays? Wowed and amazed? Think you could do better? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
If you enjoy checking out cosplays, also take a look at out These 10 Batman Cosplays and These 8 Destiny Cosplays. And check back in with us soon to see a full gallery of all the cosplays we saw at PAX Prime 2015.
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