Cosplaying

Chris dressed as his mary-sue counterpart in 2005.

Cosplay, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which a person dresses up as a character or idea. The practice is commonly seen in the anime fandom, but can also be seen in other fan realms, such as video games and Star Trek. Chris was first seen in cosplay attire with the famous Ash Ketchum costume. Any attempts at cosplay are usually rare; however, a major wave of cosplaying by Chris, presumably to impress/amuse Jackie, appeared in late 2010.

It should be noted that the costumes are created at his home using construction paper, markers, paints, and anything else he can purchase in the craft section of a Wal-Mart. They are crude interpretations of the original image he is attempting to portray and most seem put together quickly and with little effort. Most of the costumes barely resemble the characters Chris is trying to mimic. The only costume he appeared to put any effort into was his Sonichu form, in which he painted his face and body along with constructing a few minor details to make the look complete. This shows a complete lack of interest in actual cosplay itself unless it is depicting one of his own creations or personal interests.

Ash Ketchum cosplay

Pimp mah riiide!

That hat is pretty goddamn dirty.

Chris appeared in his Ash Ketchum costume from around 2000 to 2004. It was originally purchased or made by Snorlax as a Halloween costume in either 1998 or 1999. He proudly wore it to The GAMe PLACe every week and to the 2004 Anime Mid-Atlantic convention. With it, he won a costume contest against five kids dressed up as Team Rocket. The prize was a T-shirt. Television footage of Chris playing card games with little kids while dressed as Ash was also featured on his DVD.

For a while, Chris resurrected this look for his profile picture on The Hook Cafe and eventually evolved into the Gay Trucker.

The Ketchum-style trainer outfit consists of:

• Faux-denim vest
• Cut up gardening gloves
• Pokémon League ballcap
• Fanny-pack (also known as a "belly-bag" and a "bum-bag" to Britfags)

The ensemble was usually accompanied by a yellow Pokémon T-shirt, or white Sonic Heroes tee-shirt underneath (see gallery below). Chris can no longer wear this costume due to his obscene girth. Nevertheless, it remains as his best cosplay yet, and the only one that helped him win anything.

Chris also wore this costume to a Halloween party on 31 October 2009 - he had wanted to go as Captain N but couldn't make the jacket.

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  HOT ROD 138, I c-ch-choose you~!

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Jackie and cosplay

“	At least I am doing this and I have myself a woman, so there. So she'll appreciate this very much. She appreciates almo- everything I do for her. Especially these videos.	”
Chris

The master costumer at work.

On 16 September 2010, Chris uploaded a video of himself depicting Mr. Popo from the Dragon Ball Z series, stating that the cosplay and song was for his girlfriend. At the end of the video, we learned that it was indeed for his sweetheart Jackie. At first, this seemed like a typical Chris move to impress a girl in the possible hopes of getting china. Apparently, either by Jackie urging him to do more or by Chris noticing that his sweetheart found amusement in his costume play, this was only the beginning.

We wouldn't again see Chris's efforts to amuse his beloved until 2 October 2010, when Chris released the video I like Mary Poppins. Though simplistic and crude, the idea that Chris is trying to portray is indeed a form of cosplay. This was just a tiny hint of what was to come the following day, when Chris uploaded a video attempting to be The Hamburglar. In this video, he prances around insanely yelling "Robble robble robble" repeatedly in a quickly put together costume. Several other videos followed of Chris depicting everything from famous musicians to trolls. Not until the "Sonichu Transformation" video would we be officially told, by his own mouth, that Chris was doing this for Jackie's amusement. Though it may just seem like speculation, it seems that any cosplay video starting from the original Mr. Popo was influenced by Jackie in some way.

Most of his costumes during this period were made haphazardly and probably with whatever Chris had laying around his room. Typically, they consisted of nothing more than colored construction paper attached with tape or string to the front of his regular clothes. This is probably a result of his laziness and general lack of effort, though he usually seems satisfied with his work output (the "considerably weak video" being a notable exception).

Characters Chris has cosplayed as during this period:

• Mr. Popo
• Hamburglar
• Grimace
• Clyde Cash
• Liquid Chris and Alec Benson Leary (though just vocally depicted)
• A member of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• A Cherokee
• Chris-chan Sonichu
• Fred Flintstone and Homer Simpson (the latter in the same costume but with a different "head")
• Cleveland Brown (a new low, with just a DVD case over his face)
• A wizard from Hogwarts
• A "gangsta"

Gallery

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  As Ash Ketchum

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  Flexing his PaRappa muscles.

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  Chris as Groucho Marx.

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  As a Juggalo.

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  CWC as Mr. Popo.

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  CWC tries to look like The Hamburglar, but he comes off as an even creepier version of Voldo.

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  As the Evil Grimace.

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  As Clyde Cash.

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  As a member of Sgt. Pepper's Virgins With Rage Band.

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  As Liquid Chris.

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  As a Cherokee.

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  Chris in his super-mode.

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  As Fred Flintstone.

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  As... Homer Simpson-Flintstone?

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  As Cleveland Brown. Ingenious.

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  From Hogwarts. Learnin' spells n' yeah.

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  As Rainbow Dash

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  Artist's depiction.

See also

• Chris and fashion
• Ian Brandon Anderson
• Liquid Chris
• Robert Simmons V

External links

• Cosplay at Wikipedia.