Building and wearing cosplay is a popular way to engage in the fanbase surrounding many different types of media, including games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Cosplay can range in difficulty and complexity, with some ideas simply modifying a character's aesthetic to a cute themed outfit while others require complex sewing projects and full-body make-up. Animal Crossing: New Horizons offers cosplayers of every skill level plenty of different choices. Whether a fan wants to mimic Isabelle's cute outfits, or build a set of prosthetic sheep's horns to recreate the villager Muffy, the hardest part of Animal Crossing cosplay is picking the perfect character.
Building cosplay can be a time-consuming process, requiring modification to existing clothing, sewing items from scratch, building props, and styling wigs. While cosplay is a fun way to express connection to a certain story or character, it helps to pick characters that aren't too complicated for a first-time cosplay experience. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has many characters that work well for easy cosplays. A good example is recreating a player's main character as a cosplay they can wear. Because the main character in Animal Crossing is human, they may not require body paint or special props like ears or horns. All a cosplayer needs to do is choose what outfit they want to make, and then put it together to model for pictures.
However, there are also plenty of options both in Animal Crossing NPCs and villagers that would also make good choices for light cosplay adventures. TashSquash23 on Reddit shares a cute take on the fan-favorite NPC Isabelle. Isabelle is a Shih Tzu dog, but TashSquash23 has opted to omit Isabelle's ears, sticking to a human version of the character. Isabelle's outfits are usually shirts and skirts, allowing cosplayers creative freedom that isn't overly difficult to create. Isabelle's simplicity makes for a good first-time cosplay, or a fun pick requiring less construction time. However, there are plenty of other characters that offer a more challenging costume build for those wanting to take on some complicated crafting.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Cosplay - Raymond
One of the best Cosplay choices can be characters that are popular in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons fandom, so as to be recognizable to others when going out dressed up. Currently, the most popular Animal Crossing villager is the smug cat Raymond. Raymond is exclusive to New Horizons and offers a Cosplay option that is recognizable, but not so difficult it feels overwhelming. Jaye on Twitter shares their Raymond cosplay, with a sleek blond wig taking the place of Raymond's signature cream hair swirl. They are also sporting a pair of fuzzy black cat ears, leaning away from the fully-human version of the character, and including Raymond's Animal Crossing species.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Orville & Wilbur
Creating cosplay in groups or in sets can be even better than cosplaying alone. HiPhobos on Reddit shares a cute cosplay duo reimaging the Dodo Airlines pilots Orville and Wilbur. Cosplay isn't limited by gender, and characters are often flipped to be more inclusive to the cosplayer portraying them. These gender flips can bring a whole new design element to a character's xosplay. HiPhobos has also opted out of designing a Dodo beak while portraying the plucky birds, opting instead to use a bandage over the nose and an overall human character design.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Cosplay - Flick
Animal Crossing: New Horizons also has characters who can pose a good challenge for cosplayers. Purinex on Reddit has recreated the popular, bug-obsessed NPC Flick. The chameleon character is more of a challenge than other Animal Crossing NPCs or villagers thanks to his pointed horns and piercings.
Purinex has tackled this by using prosthetic horns on their forehead and nose to portray the chameleon features, as well as including a curling tail to go with a bug net. The use of prosthetics can be uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. but are a special touch to cosplays possessing unique original designs.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Cosplay - Marina
There are many different species in Animal Crossing. While creating a cosplay based on a cat or a rabbit may be less complicated to build, reimaging Marina the octopus offers a different set of hurdles. Marina is bright pink, with large yellow swirls to mark her cheeks. She also wears a multi-color sweater that would likely need to be hand-designed and sewn to get an accurate imitation in real life. GabbyNu on Twitter has shared a human version of Marina, styling a bright pink wig to stand in for the Octopus villager's pink skin. Careful makeup and a pink sweater complete the look for a simple yet effective presentation.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Cosplay - Pietro
Some cosplay choices will require a serious level of dedication to be built and worn. Animal Crossing characters like Pietro wear clown face paint and have a complex outfit design. Rbfcos on Reddit has shared a dedicated cosplay with full face paint and swirling, teal horns. Complex designs like Pietro, or even Judy the cub, can make a splash when walking through a crowd, or while out taking pictures. The flashy colors and extensive make-up create a challenge for a cosplayer, and often require creative thinking to reimagine the character as a tangible design. These difficult characters can be the most rewarding to build.
Choosing the best cosplay design is up to the person building it. What works well for one person may not be the best choice for another due to skill level, gender presentation, personal comfort, or time. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been regularly adding new characters to its list of NPCs and villagers, and it is possible more characters may be available in the future to add to the current choices for potential unique and exciting cosplay designs.