There are many, many creative cosplays at any comic con, and they were extremely impressive. At Grand Rapids Comic Con this weekend, we were surrounded by hundreds of phemenonally artistic costumes and people. But, as you may have guessed from the title, I absolutely loved the literary cosplays people chose. 

Pop Culture 101

What is cosplay? It's a costume roleplay, and you can choose to create and wear a costume from anything you love - books, movies, video games, history, theatre, music... the list goes on and on. It arose in Japan, as part of the Otaku culture (here's a great guide). And, it's an enormous amount of fun, and requires an endless supply of creativity. 

Here are just some of the best Literary Cosplays at Grand Rapids Comic Con we found on Sunday.

Our daughter Lillie as the Steampunk Mad Hatter, at the Geek of Thrones. Created by Artistic Apes Studio, the Geek of Thrones has swords from many, many different fandoms, including Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Minecraft, Final Fantasy, Zelda, WOW, Frostmourne, Attack on Titan, He Man, Star Wars, Skyrim, Lord of the Rings, and more (wow!). 

Can you spot Newt Scamander?

Blue Wizard, Tolkein's Lord of the Rings - taken from Tolkien's notes

Melisandre and Jon Snow, Game of Thrones

Belle

Charles Addams' Wednesday and Morticia

Peter Pan

Lord of the Rings Elf

Death Eater Jack Harkness and a Slytherin student

Slytherin student and Death Eater

Claire Randall, Outlander and Death Eater, Harry Potter

Ms. Frizzle - Magic School Bus

Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter

Gryffindor student

Hufflepuff student (and what a clever bag!)

Live action and original Beauty and the Beast

Luna Lovegood

Alice in Wonderland - Cheshire Cat, Hatter, and Alice (yours truly!)

All photos taken with permission - thank you to everyone who allowed us to take their photo and share their creative work!