Jennifer Barlow from Brick, New Jersey, as Khonshu, an ancient Egyptian moon good in Marvel's "Moon Knight."
Katsucon is an annual event that celebrates anime. Over the course of three days, the convention helps a largely online community meet with friends and make new connections.
It is also an opportunity to dress up as the characters that bring them together, leading to an impressive demonstration of imagination and craftsmanship. At the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center last weekend, jeans were few and far between: nearly everyone in attendance was in costume as a mythical creature, cuddly critter, princess, hero, villain, sexy animal, or something else entirely.
Here are some of our favorite costumes from the weekend. Kayla McDaniel from Columbus, Ohio, as Ranni the Witch from Elden Ring. “[Being at Katsucon is] really wonderful. I get to meet a lot of people that like the same thing that I do, and it’s just so nice making new friends.”Khamar Hopkins from Baltimore as Jinbe from the One Piece series. “I really connected with him because there’s a long history of how he’s a fish-man character, and in their universe, fish-men have been discriminated against. So, I connected with this character a lot.”
Mason Palmer from Hershey, Pennsylvania, as Papa Emeritus IV, the current persona of the band Ghost’s frontman. “I spent four months making it, so I was going to get my miles out of it.”
Two Abyss Mages from the Genshin Impact video game. Janet Collins, left, is from Cincinnati and is dressed as a Hydro Mage. Lilly Higgins, right, is from Louisville and is dressed as a Cryo Mage. “This is the most fun,” Collins says. “It’s great to just run around, to be a goblin. I get to cause havoc constantly.”Cassandra Ariel from Orlando as Arcanine from the Pokémon games. “It’s such a good energy, just because it’s so many people who love the same thing, all together. Everyone is so supportive. No one is mean. No one is cruel. It’s just one big supportive, positive group of people.”Max Mueller from Redbank, New Jersey, as Ramattra from Overwatch 2. “I was up at night thinking about his design for days and days, and my fiancé is a fabricator and he saw how much it meant to me, and I’m just modeling his art and modeling a character that I care about a lot.”Katie Davies from Oxford, United Kingdom, as Philza from Minecraft. “This costume means a lot to me because I made a lot of friends through making it.”Finn Drew from Salt Lake City as Patchouli Knowledge from Touhou Project series. “I hope to find other fans of the same video game.”Lexi Silz from Golden, Colorado, as Irelia from the League of Legends video game. “I feel pretty cool.”Jennifer Proctor from Louisville as Sun from the game Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach. “[Wearing the costume] makes me very happy, very bubbly, you know, like when you just kind of wanna skip.”
Mason Palmer from Hershey, Pennsylvania, as Papa Emeritus IV, the current persona of the band Ghost’s frontman. “I spent four months making it, so I was going to get my miles out of it.”
