The Wacky, Wonderful World of 40K Cosplay
Brent here. I’m sort of in trouble with the boss over last week’s article. Turns out, the owner of a wargaming site doesn’t like talk of a GW blackout.
Who knew? It was unrealistic anyway, I’m afraid. In the US, at least, 40K remains King, Queen, and Consort, and we’re going to continue talking about it. This week is lighter fare: a Terrible Tuesday article on the wacky and wonderful world of 40K cosplay.
Before diving into images and YouTube videos for this article, I would have thought that cosplay was limited to images from movies and comic books; I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s pretty obvious to the regular reader that BoLS authors – if they aren’t uploading original images – search for pictures using keywords related to the article. I wrote a brief article on the Adepta Sororitas when the digital ‘dex came out and stumbled on something I thought fairly interesting. Hobbyists may be mixed about the current metal Sisters models, but Sisters of Battle are everywhere on the cosplay scene. Images from a Google Search were pretty clear on that.
In hindsight, the reason is pretty obvious; outside of Dark Eldar, there are no real strong female images in the 40K universe quite like the Sororitas. They’re instantly recognizable. A female Catachan might be a Stargate character, or a female Dark Eldar Wytch might be mistaken for a World of Warcraft dark elf, but throw on a white wig and a corset, grab a Bolter, and you’re a Sister of Battle.
Assuming you’re female. Otherwise, you’re probably an Emperor’s Children love slave. (Lucky you; I dropped that image, but it’s out there.)
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| This is probably my favorite image of the lot, combining theme with makeup with intricate armor. Or maybe I have an ear fetish. |
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| These two images, above and below, are from a blog called Protagonist 4 Hire. This guy documents his work on full suits of mock Power Armor, among other things. Very cool stuff. |
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| Turns out, Big Red – who’s mad at me, did I mention? – keeps a forum on the BoLS Lounge dedicated to cosplay. He’s always a step ahead: check it out here. |
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| Here’s the link on this one. |
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| And a female Inquisitor. The antique looking pistol is attention to detail. |
I’m not an expert on cosplay by any means. I’ve been to Sci-Fi and Comic-Cons in Dallas, Texas, so the culture is not unknown, but in my limited research and experience it seems that cosplay is fairly represented across gender and interests. Which fascinates me. I have that old bias that nerd culture is a mostly male interest – and my first thought on women in cosplay was a fairly sexist, “That makes sense, since girls love to play dress up.”
That’s a middle-aged person’s stereotype. It went from counter-culture to sub-culture and ended up as just culture. Which is just very cool.
What’s also cool is the effort involved in some of these costumes, compared to decades recently passed. In my 20’s, cosplay was more ‘live-action role play,’ or LARP. A guy walking around a convention hall in homemade Power Armor is fun; contrast that with all the vampires running around biting each other and reading Sylvia Plath – that didn’t age well.
All this cosplay was interesting, but it wouldn’t have captured my interest for more than a few minutes if there wasn’t a thriving Warhammer and Warhammer 40K visual to hold my interest. The Iron Fist Terminator is crazy good, and someone told me about a Blood Angel with a Power Fist with working joints.
I’ve grabbed a few images and embedded two videos for this article, but really just check out YouTube, FaceBook, Deviant Art, or Google Images for 40K cosplay or Privateer Press cosplay… whatever, really. It’s crazy with the stuff out there. The videos from China and Japan are wild – not only are they judged on costumes, but they choreograph moves and play to the crowds, like a grim, dark rock concert from the band, Inquisitor.
I think Dallas has a ways to go before catching up… although the singing Inquisitor has me stumped.
Now, on to other important questions. Which would be a better ‘Famous Rap Battles of 40K History!’ The Emperor versus Horus, or Magnus versus Russ?
As always, thoughts? Comments? 40K cosplay slightly-creepy leering with absolutely no hugs and gropings?
