Many, many things were impacted by the pandemic. It feels safe to say cosplay was among them, given that conventions and fan events are a fantastic motivator to get crafting. Take away the physical events with all the inspiration, encouragement and buzz of appreciation that they deliver, and it’s a lot harder to stay motivated.

South Africa’s cosplay scene could have stalled – maybe it did a little – but there was no evidence of it at Comic Con Africa 2022 this past weekend. The first major comic and pop culture event in the country in three years, and the standard of cosplay was as high as ever, whether people were just dressing up for fun, entering the Casual Cosplay contest held every day on the Main Stage, or signing up for one of the most prestigious cosplay contests in the country, the Championship of Cosplay.

In pre-pandemic times, the overall winner of the Championship of Cosplay went on to represent South Africa on the international stage at the Crown Championships of Cosplay, held at C2E2 in Chicago. South Africans have excelled here, with previous local winners Kinpatsu Cosplay (CCA champion in 2018) and Jinxie Cosplay (2019) placing second and first in the world respectively.

This year’s local champion will be heading to the UK next month, October, to compete in the 2022 global final at MCM London Comic Con. As of 2023, the final will return to C2E2. So who is this year’s local representative? None other than one of the great senpai of the South African cosplay scene, Ludus Cosplay (AKA Luke Andalis), who has pioneered many techniques used by cosplayers worldwide, and who shares his knowledge freely.

Here’s a breakdown of all the CCA 2022 winners:

Champion of Cosplay: Ludus Cosplay (as Aratak from Horizon Zero Dawn)

Masters Champion: BlueCat Cosplay as a Tudor reimagining of Yennefer from The Witcher

Champion of Needlework: Annakapat (as Molly from Critical Role)

Champion of Armour: Toonibug (as Dark Wonder Woman)

Champion of Construction: AhtohCos (as Bane Bloodhoof from WarCraft)

Best Wig: Ruthie_Music (as Rapunzel from Tangled)

Best Prop: MonlyFans (as a Shoretrooper from Star Wars)

Best Newcomer: Chkombi (as Neteri from Avatar)

Building Techniques Award: Just Plain Cal (Bone Armor Set from Monster Hunter)

Green Leaf Award: (Isola as a Nobushi from For Honor)

Judge’s favourite: FrostyKity (as Gorou from Genshin Impact)

Check out some great shots of all the winners here on the GES website.

As for cosplay in general at Comic Con Africa 2022, below you can find a gallery of cosplayers from Day 3 and 4 of the con – that’s Saturday and Sunday. If you want the full-res version of any of these images, feel free to contact noelle@pfangirl.com.

Finally, what characters and pop culture properties were most popular? Jinx from Arcane; Eddie from Stranger Things; plenty of Jedi and a few Mandalorians; Wednesday Addams; Marvel heroes, of course, with Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange appearing most frequently; Joker and Harley Quinn; characters from Disney animated movies, and plenty of anime-inspired cosplays based on Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan.

Special shoutouts to the older movie tributes, like Austin Powers with his fembots, Barf from Space Balls, Maverick from Top Gun, Landlady from Kung Fu Hustle, Dr. Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park, Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, Beetlejuice, and Crocodile Dundee.

Now, enjoy, and see you at CCA 2023.