Original characters are a common theme in the cosplay community. Designing a back story, personality and costume all from scratch can help express that creative side. These OC cosplay ideas are just what you need to bring something new to life. Whether you’re looking for a closet cosplay or something to craft, there’s bound to be something on this list that strikes your interest. Your only limit is really your imagination when it comes to creating something. Sometimes it helps to start with picking a theme. Thus the list below is mostly themes, species or universes to choose from to create your OC around.
Original Character Cosplay Ideas
Species OC Cosplay Ideas
- Mermaid – A mermaid or siren both are incredible species to create an original character out of. Pick a color scheme you desire and create either a real tail or tail skirt. There’s tons of fabrics out there to choose from with mermaid scale patterns even.
- Vampire – Vampires are a commonly loved species from many different forms of media and folklore with a variety of design options. You can go creepy with a concept similar to original Nosferatu or more sex appeal with original Dracula.
- Ghost – Poltergeists, banshees, spirits and more can all be made into a ghost OC. These have opportunities for cool back stories with their past lives, death and why they choose to haunt.
- Humanoid mushroom – There are far more species of mushrooms than you may realize. Create a humanoid version of your own design from options such as chanterelle, morel or flying amanita.
- Humanoid fawn – Design a fawn or deer creature into a human! These species are cute and great for the ren faire. Bring the look together with a fawn makeup look and hoof shoes.
Universes/Fandoms for Original Characters
- DnD character – If you have a DnD character you created and want to bring to life, you can do it with cosplay. You have a variety of options such as druids, rogues and paladins and there’s nothing stopping you from wearing it next time your group meets.
- Star Wars species – From alien species to the different factions, the Star Wars universe is massive with room for tons of unique characters. Create Twi’leks and Togruta or bounty hunters and siths with a back story and home planet you love. Make sure you explore other Star Wars cosplay ideas for more ideas of species and factions you could create from.
- NPC from a videogame – Open world games have tons of NPCs with back stories. With how massive these universes can be, you can create one of your own from games like World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls or Fallout.
- Avatar bender – Ang, Katara, Zuko and Toph aren’t the only benders in the Avatar universe. Pick which element is your favorite and decide if you’re using your powers for good or bad.
- Got/Hotd house or unique house – Choose to be a distant relative in major houses like Baratheon, Stark, Lannister or Targaryan. Or create your own unique house in Westeros or even Essos. You can create a unique character story with where they aligned during the many wars, a house sigil and the type of garbs they would commonly wear.
- Pokemon trainer – You can either be a young trainer out on the road trying to collect all the badges and Pokemon or you can choose to be a gym leader of a type of your choosing. Check out the different attire from the franchise and come up with one of your own and a story of how your character got started in the world of Pokemon.
Other Themes for OCs
- Pirate – There is pirates from pop culture sources to create from, or you can be unique and make one for your own. You can also use this for pirate themed days at your local ren faire.
- Super hero or villain – There is tons of heroes and villains out there to cosplay as. But if you can’t find one with powers, motive and a costume you love, you can make one of your own. Decide your weaknesses and how they came to be and then bring them to like with cosplay.
- Princess or prince from preferred era – Create either a modern princess, prince, king or queen or choose a period in history you’d like to create a ruler for. Whether you like the Tudor period or Victorian era, you have a variety of options and plenty of sewing patterns to fit any point of history. These also make great costumes for the renaissance faire.
- Zombie apocalypse survivor – There is so many zombie themed shows and movies out there that you could create your own survivor from. Or you can come up with your own apocalypse by doing some world building. Then create your character to exist in that space. This is a great opportunity for a closet cosplay since survivors often wear regular clothes that are distressed.
- Killer clown – As scary as they are, you can’t deny killer clowns are a fan favorite. So why not come up with your own? You can have an in-depth back story like Pennywise or none like Art the Clown. Make sure to have something fun like balloons, space cotton candy guns or air horns.