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[Ilafatyu]

I have the curse of cosplaying unknown characters. Going around unknown never really bothered me. I never really knew what it's like to be recognized at a convention, so when I was making the final list of characters to cosplay this year, I made damn sure I put on some instantly recognizable ones. Details to come, I guess.

[Starfleet]

I went to Ohayocon with a group and one day we cosplayed as all the member's of Thor's family from Thor/The Avengers: Thor, Loki, Odin, and Frigga. I didn't have a screen accurate representation of Frigga, and even if I had I doubt anyone would have recognized me. I sort of counted on being part of this group as being my identifier, but someone stopped us for pictures and had no idea I was part of said group at first, so it didn't matter. xD But someone else did get a picture of our whole group and it went on their blog, and I still had a ton of fun walking around in a fancy dress and feeling regal all day!

[AnimeAndMusical]

As long as you like the character and are okay with not being recognised and possibly mistaken for a different character than you should be fine. That being said, any fans of the series that recognise you will probably be really happy to see the cosplay.

I have cosplayed a not too well known character (Zwei from Pandora Hearts) and I was recognised; however when I cosplayed Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist, the closest anyone got was Wrath from the same series.

I have no problem with not being recognised, but I found it interesting that a pretty important character from a fairly popular anime was not as easily recognised as a minor character from a fairly obscure anime where there were four (at the time, now there's more) other characters that wore practically the same thing.

[pltshp]

when i cosplayed "beauty and the beach" gary oak, i got recognised by one person all day, and that was the guy who gave me my wristband. i wasn't too upset, since the costume only showed up in two episodes in the first season of pokémon, and one wasn't even aired until later because of it being originally banned (thanks, james's boobs). and i'm pretty positive that nobody is gonna recognise the shigeaki kato cosplays i'm making, unless they're actually news fans and have seen the specific live concerts and pvs... which is fairly unlikely. but i'm not overly fussed - i'm more into doing cosplays because i want to do them, and approval from people at cons doesn't tend to shake me to be honest.

[interstellarowl]

I was going to do Magic Man from Adventure Time but apparently he's not popular.. o_O

[AlanaOwlet]

When I cosplayed Lara Notsil (a VERY obscure Star Wars EU character) at Dragon*Con two years ago, no one recognized me. However, the photos of that costume I put online have gotten a massive response and more messages of appreciation than any other costume I've ever done, including the very obvious and recognizable ones, mostly because fans have never seen anyone do that costume before. Just because no one recognizes you at a convention shouldn't stop you from cosplaying a character you love, and even if only one or two people recognize you I bet it will make their day seeing an obscure character they enjoy get some love!

[ToroSonyCat]

I had this issue when I was considering cosplaying Sylvia from Mao-Chan! because I've probably only ever met one or two other fans and those were the only people who had even heard of the series too. It depends, are you the type of cosplayer who cares a lot about being recognised or hanging out with other people from the same series? If so, it won't be for you.
If you don't care about that, go for it! It'll be even more fun if you do meet a rare fan because they'll probably be super happy to see you since it's not common.

[blacksteelforge]

I haven't done a lot of cosplaying, but I will tell you one thing.
When going to ConnectiCon one year, the day before, I played for about 40 straight hours of an incredibly obscure game, called Dark Cloud. I loved it beyond belief.
As soon as I got to the hotel for the con, the first cosplayer I saw there was cosplaying as my favorite character from Dark Cloud, not even the main character. It made my entire day! And hers as well - she wasn't expecting to be recognized either.
Moral of the story is - go for it! I love it when people cosplay as obscure media. Just think of what amazing coincidences might happen.

[aimee]

it really depends on how YOU feel. I've had some cosplayer friends before who cosplayed a character that was obscure and didn't have a very interesting design. They did a really nice job on the costume, but it wasn't that interesting to most of the con attendees and so they were disappointed that no one would ask them for a photo or knew who they were.

I know a big part of what my husband enjoys about cosplaying is having people know who he is cosplaying.

On the other side of the coin, if you cosplay something obscure that has a flashy design, often people don't care whether they know what it is or not, they'll still be interested and want your photo.

And when you're in an obscure costume, the few people who DO know who you are are SUPER EXCITED to see you, so that's awesome.

So it's up to you, how much do you care whether people know who you are or not?

[Tigress]

Originally Posted by aimee

On the other side of the coin, if you cosplay something obscure that has a flashy design, often people don't care whether they know what it is or not, they'll still be interested and want your photo.

I'll ditto this. When I cosplay Princess Allura from Voltron, very few people recognize the costume (or mistake it for something else, usually Sleeping Beauty). But a lot of little kids will ask to take a picture with me because OMGMOMMYPRINCESS!

[keimi]

Don't worry if people don't know the character your cosplaying as. I really believe that if you like the character and/or their outfit that's all that matters I would like to someday do an unknown cosplay as well

[Visage]

There are pros and cons to obscure characters, and a lot of it comes down to what you want out of a cosplay experience. Personally, I enjoy cosplaying well-recognized and obscure characters for different reasons.

As many already stated, having someone recognizing you in an obscure costume is a really awesome experience. You help make the other person's day, and you automatically have something to talk about since you're both obvious very big fans of said series. Another HUGE bonus to wearing something obscure is not having someone stop you ever 3 feet for a picture. (Unless your costume is extremely elaborate, in which case that might happen anyway.) It gives you a lot more freedom to do the things you want to do when you want to do them.

On the other hand, if you really enjoy having your picture taken, well-recognized characters are a much better option for that. A lot of times, well-recognized goes hand in hand with "popular series", so you're probably also more likely to run into other cosplayers from the same series, be invited to a photoshoot, etc. More people will likely approach you in general.

Personally, I had a lot of fun in my obscure cosplays and found the experiences to be very rewarding, but I realize it's not necessarily the case for everyone. Depending on what you find the most fun about cosplay, an obscure character may or may not be within your idea of fun.

[emmisu]

Hey, it's up to you!

Some characters will get recognized more than others, if that's really important to you it should be considered when choosing a costume. but if you just really want to make a costume, don't let that stop you!

For example, when I cosplayed as the corpse Bride, even people on the street knew who I was (or at least thatI was something, got mistakenly called a Naavi lol) and wanted to take pictures of me or with me. I love that costume and I'm glad cause I put a lot of work into it and felt very gratified.

On the other hand, when I cosplayed Heisuke, nobody knew who I was or even that I was supposed to be a boy. (He is rather effeminate with his long ponytail lolz) It was the first costume I ever actually made, and I loved it and had so much fun just posing with my sister and stuff. But despite not getting recognized by many, the two or three people (especially that group of three asian girls who were SO excited) that recognized be made the entire costume incredibly worthwhile.


Either way I had fun and I'm sure you will too

[Quinn The Spazz]

Cosplay whoever you want, whether people know it or not. Hell, I obsessively cosplay a character from a James Patterson book. There is literally no way to recognize that cosplay unless someone figures it out from the armband, and I still love cosplaying him.

[Oniigiri_Basket]

For me, cosplaying obscure characters is just as fun as cosplaying well-known characters. I only cosplay characters I really love, so I'm always happy to be cosplaying regardless of how many people recognize my costume.