+

[Larcenciel]

character they thought you were, would you correct them, or would you let them live in the moment of seeing a cosplayer of this character they never expected?

[Ilafatyu]

I'd just go with it. Make their day, unless you really have no idea who the character is. Then I'd thank them, maybe give a hug if you/they're so inclined (hugs seem to be convention currency?), and hurry off.

[touchmon]

I think I also would go with it. Not break the dream of the person right? However, if they start talking about the show or obviously want a picture, I probably will say I'm not the character they think I am.

[ShadowCharizard]

Hm... I think I might be in the minority and correct the person.

I can't see anyone getting so excited over a cosplay that they start crying, nor believe that the mistaken cosplay would make anyone's "dream come true." Besides, what if that person wants to get into a discussion over this character? Chances are, I would have never even heard of the original game / anime, and end up either looking like an idiot for cosplaying something I knew nothing about OR a jerk for straight-up lying to the poor individual. Too many awkward feels.

[Ilafatyu]

Charizard: It might be because I've been spending a lot of time with someone diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but I don't consider not correcting someone to be grounds for being labelled a lying jerk. I see it more as making a quick deviation from strict truth to make someone happy. Chances are this person will never be seen again, so there's no point in bursting their bubble.

[Kell-chan]

Seconding "awkward feels". I've had this happen once. The poor guy was so excited that he ran across the hotel courtyard to see me. I couldn't really pretend because I only vaguely knew the show he was talking about, so I had to let him down.

Would have been a bit awkward no matter my reaction, really.

[LluviaSarcasm]

I'm still not sure how someone can be such a huge fan of a character, yet not notice you actually look different and subsequently mistake you.
I'd probably tell them unless the exchange was really brief.

[Lithium Flower]

I had someone mistake me for a character that dressed specifically like Alice in Wonderland so I thought it was a pretty easy mistake. They asked if I was 'Alice' and I said yes before they finished and I was like "D: Oh no I am Disney Alice" and they shrugged, took my picture, and thanked me anyway.

I guess to be fair there's not a lot of Disney Alice around at anime cons, they're mostly at Comic Con and specific gatherings.

If it was like, a really excited little kid I might just bite my tongue and not disappoint them. But I don't think it's any big deal.

[BlondieSundae]

Originally Posted by Lithium Flower

I had someone mistake me for a character that dressed specifically like Alice in Wonderland so I thought it was a pretty easy mistake. They asked if I was 'Alice' and I said yes before they finished and I was like "D: Oh no I am Disney Alice" and they shrugged, took my picture, and thanked me anyway.

I guess to be fair there's not a lot of Disney Alice around at anime cons, they're mostly at Comic Con and specific gatherings.

If it was like, a really excited little kid I might just bite my tongue and not disappoint them. But I don't think it's any big deal.

They might have thought you were femme England who's name is Alice (after the lewis carroll character) and looks pretty much exactly like her and dresses like her.

I think if someone was brought to tears over my cosplay I'd just be like... "uhm...." and hastily walk away after thanking them. Nope not dealing with people crying over me. If it was a kid I wouldn't crush hopes and dreams.

However in a normal situation, I'd probably say "oh no I'm actually blahdeblah" however guys have come up to me in my Ty Lee costume, asked for a photo and said "Thanks Aerith/Aeris!" and walked away before I could say anything.

Shit happens yo.

[dx7879]

I don't think I would correct them, unless they asked me character specific questions that I had no idea how to answer

[Tigersoul]

There are a lot of character designs that are generic, and with people often opting to do an 'interpretation' of a character, I can see certain characters being mistaken if they're not iconic in some way, especially if the fan hasnt seen the series in a long time...

Depending on the level of reaction and the age of the fan I might go along with it if I could, if it was just "Hey, Mr X, your so awesome I never thought I'd see an X cosplay from Y! Can I have a Picture? Thank you so much! Kthankxbi!" then I'd just smile and nod, but if they started getting really deep into the series and asking me questions I'd explain that they were mistaken or I'd give them some generic answers if they were really young or really old and say I had to get to a panel. I'm soft heh ^_^

[MissLunatic]

Actually kind of this happened to me once and I corrected the person about it.
But as Tigersoul already said it depends on the level of reaction and on the age of the person in question.

(In my case it was just a guy who thought it was a cool idea to take pictures of a certain version of Soul from Soul Eater playing the piano... but in fact I was cosplaying the ten years older Gokudera Hayato from KH Reborn! who also has a strong connection with the piano (even more than Soul usually I think).)
Well, it was just my pride to cosplay this certain character I love and I couldn't deny it, plus I was too startled to lie anyway.

[Kagomekai]

That happened to me at Anime North '12 when I was in my Liliana of the veil cosplay and I just went with whatever they thought I was and posed for the picture

[Shirayuki~Chan]

Yeah, depends on the age. If it was a kid, then I'd go along with it! But if it was another teen, or someone older, I'd definitely correct them. I'd feel bad not correcting them, and I'd feel like I was lying to them.

[AnimeAndMusical]

For me it would depend on the situation, I would be much more inclined to agree with them if I knew the character and series they were referring to. That being said I have never been in that situation, anyone who got my character wrong initially eventually realized who I was on their own.