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Cosplay means a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me, it has always been about finding ways to embody the heroes from the media that I consume, whether that is from comic books, films, or anime. And I do mean to specify heroes here because, for me at least, there is something magical about seeing a kid’s face light up when they see the good guy walk across a convention floor that you just don’t get from villains.

Don’t believe me? Let me tell you about the time a little girl talked to me while I was dressed as All Might.

Back in 2018, I got myself a brand-new costume to wear. Because my hyper-fixation at the time was My Hero Academia, it was an All Might cosplay. I wore it to MCM London in May 2018 and, let me tell you, it was Hell. Not only was the thing skintight spandex that left far too little to the imagination, but it had surprisingly sharp plastic at the bottom, which I didn’t realize until I had been walking around the Excel all day, developing a massive pair of blisters on my feet. Add in a 12-inch-tall wig and I was in agony most of the day.

This isn’t anything new for cosplayers – we know that discomfort is just part of the experience. So I was taking a much-needed break, sitting on a chair while trying to figure out exactly how powerful of painkillers I could get on the way back to the hotel, when I was approached by a young girl. If I had to guess, she was around 10 years old at the time. She asked for a photo, and being the Symbol of Peace for the day, I obliged, standing up on throbbing feet as her mother stood about five feet away.

Something I always do when I’m cosplaying is stay in character with kids. It is fun for me and helps them get sucked into the wonder of meeting their heroes. So, I did that with this girl. Asking her silly questions while doing my best All Might impression. Has your quirk developed yet? What do you think it will be? Oh yes, Deku is my favorite UA student too but don't tell anyone because a teacher has to be unbiased.

And she is eating it up, getting more and more excited as the conversation progresses. We talk for about ten minutes as my feet are blistering and my head is aching. Finally, her mother takes the picture and the girl excitedly grabs the phone to look at it. Meanwhile, the mother steps beside me.

“Thanks for that,” she says, watching her daughter.

“No problem.”

“She is usually so painfully shy. That is the most she’s talked to anyone all weekend.”

Cue the waterworks as I try like heck not to cry in the middle of the convention floor.

I don’t remember that girl’s name (nor would I use it here even if I did for obvious reasons), but I remember her. I think of her every time I think about cosplaying because she solidified something in my mind that I had always thought but never could put into words, and that was that I really only enjoy cosplaying as heroes. Good guys, even conflicted ones, are more fun to dress up as for me because it fulfils that power fantasy of living in a world where good wins every time.

This isn’t any shade against people who dress up as villains, but it just doesn’t give me any real joy to do. As cheesy as it sounds, there is enough evil in the world without me wearing it on my sleeve. Besides, there is nothing quite like seeing a kid’s face light up when their favorite hero walks into view. It is a special kind of magic that is the thing that brings me back to cosplay again and again. Like Murtaugh, I grumble that I’m getting too old for this before getting up and doing it all over again. Just the other week, I was dressed up as Captain America to help raise money for my local library because books are wonderful and kids deserve the chance to see a hero in the flesh.

I don’t know if that little girl still remembers the goofy American who was dressed up as All Might at a convention nearly a decade ago, but I definitely remember her. She helped affirm my love of cosplaying heroes that I’ve kept with me to this day.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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