Cosplaying

Chris dressed as Chris-chan 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. 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 Sept/Oct 2010.

It should be noted that most of 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're 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 character's Chris is trying to mimic; unlike his Ash Ketchum cosplay which had at least some effort put into it. The only other 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 creations or deep interests.

Ash Ketchum cosplay

That hat is pretty goddamn dirty

Chris appeared in his Ash Ketchum costume from around 2000 to 2004. It was originally created as a Halloween costume in either 1998 or 1999.^[1] He proudly wore it to The GAMe PLACe every week^[2] 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.^[3] Television footage of Chris playing card games with little kids whole 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.

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

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 releases 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 uploads 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.^[4] 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. The majority are made out of construction paper taped or tied onto himself and quickly colored on. This is probably a result of his laziness and general lack of effort, though he seems satisfied with his work output.

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 Cherokee
Chris-chan Sonichu
Fred Flinstone 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)

Gallery

Flexing his PaRappa muscles
Chris as Groucho Marx
As a Juffalo
CWC as Mr Popo
CWC tries to look like the Hamburglar, but he comes off as an even creepier version of Voldo.
As the Evil Grimace
As Clyde Cash
As Liquid Chris
As a Cherokee
Chris in his super-mode.
As Fred Flintstone
As.. Homer Simpson-Flintsone?
As Cleveland Brown. In genius.