Rose City Comic Con held its 10th Edition of its annual Cosplay Competition on September 10, 2022 at 7:00 PM in Portland, Oregon. With a new set of judging categories, as well as the return of on-site registration, this year’s Cosplay Competition was heralded by fans, cosplayers, and judges alike as a fan-friendly as well as cosplayer-focused contest.

The audience for the event was jam-packed and every row had seats taken throughout the 2,000 person capacity room. Fans excitedly cheered their fellow fans and cosplayers throughout the event.

Kicking off the evening was a celebration of cosplay during the introductory Cosplay Parade. 30 Cosplayers of all levels, including those with store bought costumes, were welcomed to parade throughout the Main Stage as fans cheered them on and celebrated their cosplays. Sign ups for the Cosplay Parade were taken at the beginning of the day in the Cosplay Prejudging room. Fans were also invited to join in on the parade during the event itself.

The 2022 Cosplay Competition began and new this year, the categories had been changed to showcase competitors in the following categories:

  • Youth – Ages 11 – 15
  • Beginner – Anyone who has never won a major costume contest award
  • Intermediate – Anyone who has won between one to three major awards
  • Advanced – Anyone who has won four or more major awards

50 contestants out of over 100 applications were selected to compete among these 4 categories. They were judged by our panel of Cosplay Guest Judges, Our Shield Maiden, Sionnach Studios, and The Honest Cosplayer. The Honest Cosplayer placed Best in Show at the RCCC 2021 Cosplay Competition. After all contestants in the above 4 categories walked the stage, the 3 judges departed to deliberate on the results and the halftime show began.

The Trash to Treasure Cosplay Challenge halftime show was a spectacle of crafting ingenuity meets musical singalong fun. 3 cosplay groups, SheProp!, Z Fighters, and Coscove chose a “champion” from the audience to act as their cosplay live model. The groups task was to create a quick “Superhero” themed costume using only trash bags, duct tape, paper plates, plastic cups, bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, and other trash items. While they created cosplay couture using traditionally trashed items, DJ Elliot and Aussie Dave emboldened the audience to sing sweet songs from the 80’s, 90’s, as well as fan favorites like music from Disney and Pokemon.

After the halftime show, the judges returned and the final winners were announced. The winners of the 11 awards for this year’s competition were:

  • Best in Show Cosplay – Blast as General Sweet Mayhem
  • Best Advanced Craftsmanship – The Mystic Artisan as Ange Serena
  • Best Intermediate Craftsmanship – Red Leaf Cosplay as Vault Dweller
  • Best Novice Craftsmanship – Annie Bugg as Azula
  • Advanced Craftsmanship Runner Up – May Jean Cosplay as Black Mage
  • Intermediate Craftsmanship Runner Up – Faeliae Kitsune as Ahri
  • Novice Craftsmanship Runner Up – General Ninja Cosplay as Astrid
  • Best Youth Cosplay – El as Orym from Critical Role
  • Judges Award Sionnach Studios – Lori Straley as Kai Winn
  • Judges Award Our Shield Maiden – Lugaid Crafts as Doctor Strange
  • Judges Award The Honest Cosplayer – Roberta Pennington as The Skogsra

Stay tuned for next year’s application to go live, and for next year’s Cosplay Competition which is sure to be bigger and better than ever.