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Whether you’re an event planner for a con, a local bar hosting a Halloween costume contest or an individual having a costume party, it’s important to think of how you will be rewarding your best competitors. Coming up with cosplay awards ideas doesn’t have to be hard. Consider some of these options for your cosplay contest.
Cosplay Awards Ideas
- Best in Show – Most conventions have their biggest award be a Best in Show. Depending on the criteria and what is being judged for the specific contest, this would be the cosplayer that did the best over everyone else.
- Best Craftmanship – If you aren’t running a craftmanship specific contest, you can give out an award for Best Craftmanship rather than breaking it down into categories by skill or technique.
- Best Performance – The same goes for contests that aren’t performance specific, you can have a singular award to give to someone who just had the best stage presence of them all.
- Best Group Cosplay – If your contest is allowing groups, give an award for those specific cosplayers. Because they have more costumes, there’s more to judge on and they should be rewarded accordingly.
- Best Prop – Sometimes the best part of the cosplay is the prop. If there’s one that particularly stands out from everything else, give it the award it deserves.
- Best Original Design – Not all cosplayers will use preexisting characters. Some will create original characters (OCs) or original designs of existing characters. If you want to reward the design they came up with, create an award for them.
- Best FX/Armor/Needlework/Larger Than Life – For craftmanship focused competitions, they may break down into categories that focus on techniques. From there you can grant rewards for the best at those skills. Some of the common techniques include special effects (FX), needlework, armor or larger than life.
- Best Novice/Journeyman/Master – Craftmanship contest can also be broken down into skill level categories. Give some attention to the best in each of those groupings to make master to novice level cosplayers feel seen.
- Crowd or Fan Favorite – Give the crowd a vote by having a fan favorite reward. You can judge this by applause, online voting or physical ballots.
- Judge’s or Host’s Choice – Let your judges and hosts get their own picks to give an award to. This way they can pick a special costume that really spoke to them.
- Most Eco Friendly – Sustainability awards is a great way to encourage people to make more eco friendly costumes.
Funny Cosplay Awards Ideas
If you’re hosting more of a “for fun” contest and want funny cosplay awards ideas, try some of these:
- Funniest Costume – Sometimes the funniest award can just be for the funniest costume. There’s nothing better than a cosplay that can make you laugh.
- Funniest Couple or Group Costume – Allowing for groups and couples in your contest? Make sure to reward the funniest costumes for those specifically too.
- Most Hot Glue Used – Cosplayers who focus on craftmanship often joke about their costumes being held together by hot glue and a dream. So for the cosplayer who used the most hot glue have a reward.
- Best Waddler or Least Mobile – Armor builds or larger than life cosplays can sometimes impact mobility. For a funny award, give one to whoever has the best waddle because of their costume.
- Best Meme Cosplay – Some cosplayers where costumes of memes. These can be even funnier than your funniest costumer. So give them extra recognition.