Heroes of Cosplay (2013) s01e10 Episode Script

Male narrator: Tonight on Heroes of Cosplay Holy [beep.]
! Batgirl, she's such a beloved character.
I really want to do it right.
So, John, back when you were working on Star Wars, is this how you would do it? My dad invented the lightsaber and blew up the death star.
- [laughs.]
- Ha! That totally works.
I'm, like, already kind of feeling the pressure of how little time we have.
[laughs.]
I wanted to make this bow light up.
That looks so cool.
All of a sudden, my lasso dies.
One light.
What that does even mean? If they're damaged on the way to the con, there's no fixing it.
[Gasps.]
My battery just died! Narrator: This week the Heroes of Cosplay are heading to Portland, Oregon, for the Wizard World costume competition.
Bang bang, copper! Narrator: This premiere stop on the convention circuit attracts well over 50,000 comic book and pop culture fans.
And this year's contest will be one of the fiercest and largest to date.
In Los Angeles, Chloe doesn't have competition on her mind just yet.
She's hard at work on her latest series on BiteSize TV with a few of her friends.
We're back on Chaotic Awesome.
- I'm Michele Morrow.
- And I'm Chloe Dykstra.
Michele Morrow is one of my best friends.
We've known each other for a couple of years.
We bonded over video games.
And now, we work together at BiteSize, filming our show Chaotic Awesome.
Today we're talking with cosplayer Meg Turney.
- Meg, welcome to the show.
- Hi.
- Hey, Meg.
- Thank you.
Hi, thank you for having me.
My name is Meg Turney.
I am 26.
I've been cosplaying for 12 years.
I never thought that something I started with my grandmother for fun would be something I was doing well into my 20s.
Meg is a great guest to have on our show because she's bubbly.
She's fun.
She's interesting, and she's funny, and she's very talented at her cosplay.
When did you start cosplaying? I was 14 when I started cosplaying.
My grandmother helped me Actually, that's my first costume.
My grandmother helped me make it.
- Oh! - Oh, my gosh.
I still fit into it, and I wear it all the time.
- Yeah.
- You know what's weird? I realized that we've never cosplayed together.
- We should.
We should.
- Let's do it.
I would love it.
And you could totally be in our group 'cause you I've never cosplayed before.
I think it'd be really fun to drag Michele into a competition because she hasn't really seen this side of the world that I'm so familiar with.
It's funny 'cause, the other night, I saw like, this really awesome piece of art that was, like, all the old Batman villains but, like, in sort of '50s greaser style.
- Oh, cool.
- Ooh.
Not like the original from the '50s, but they just took the characters and made 'em all '50s.
There's Harley Quinn.
There's Poison Ivy.
- There's Catwoman, there's a couple of - Catwoman? Really? - Oh! You love Catwoman? - I love Catwoman! - Do you want to be Catwoman? - Really? That's funny because I actually was planning to do a Harley Quinn, like, bomber-style.
And then I could be Poison Ivy.
[Laughs.]
I think Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman are great to group cosplay.
And with Wizard World Portland coming up, it's a perfect time for us to all compete together as a team.
- Cool.
- Okay, awesome.
Well, thank you, Meg, so much - for coming on the show today.
- Thank you for having me.
We really appreciate it.
Yay! Narrator: In Atlanta, Brian has the caped crusader on his mind as well, as he prepares to reveal a big surprise to Yaya.
- Hey.
- Hey, Hon.
So glad you made it.
Narrator: He's hoping it will lead to some much-needed costume inspiration for Wizard World Portland.
Holy [Bleep.]
! I can't believe this is real.
- Can I touch it? - You can.
Holy cow.
This is crazy.
Two years ago, Brian told me that he wants to build a life-sized, working Michael Keaton/Tim Burton-style Batmobile.
It's actually gonna have guns that come out of the fenders.
Oh.
Yeah, like in the movie.
So these will flip up.
The guns will come out.
They'll fire off some propane.
- You're gonna have guns? - Mm-hmm, yeah.
Okay.
[Chuckles.]
When I saw the Batmobile, I was really excited and really inspired.
Can I drive this if I was Batgirl? If you're Batgirl, I'll let you do parades in this.
[Gasps.]
Oh, my God.
I could make the new 52 Batgirl.
I really would like to do a great job on this costume and make a very authentic, utilitarian, but still very iconic Batgirl.
I love it.
Narrator: On the other side of town, Riki and veteran cosplayer Katie George are getting ready to compete in Portland.
- Hey, girl, hey.
- Hey.
I brought donuts.
My name is Katie George.
I'm from Atlanta, Georgia.
I'm 25 years old, and I've been cosplaying for ten years.
In 2012, I won the world cosplay summit with a costume from Princess Tutu.
I was the villain, and I danced my way to Japan.
Over half of them are gone! What happened to those? Oh, my gosh.
Katie and I have known each other for about two years, and we really just hit it off.
I just like being around her.
I've decided I am going to wear Wonder Woman.
- You're gonna do it? - Yes! That's so cool.
But this will be the first time that we've ever competed against one another.
So it should be interesting.
The most difficult part is not even going to be the costume - so much as the props.
- [Laughs.]
As what? Because you know I never do props.
Oh.
Are you thinking of my bow? - Yeah, I am.
- Is this your lasso? Yeah, it's gonna be my lasso.
I'm gonna put LED's throughout them.
- Ah.
- And so it'll, like, actually light up and be, like, a golden lasso of fire.
I think from like, a distance, too, it'll look really I think it's gonna actually be really bright.
I'm a little bit concerned because there are so many things that can go wrong when you have costume pieces that light up.
So you're working on your League of Legends costume.
I am.
I'm doing Ashe, a frost archer from the League of Legends game.
I wanted to cosplay her in Ottawa, but the weather messed up with the curing of the silicone, which is what the mold was made out of for my Ashe bow.
This is just starting to gel.
The bow is the most iconic piece of the character.
Now that I have more time to do Ashe, I don't have the excuse of not making it the best it can be.
Basically, where that like, huge percentage of not being done is electronics.
- Oh, of course.
- You know? Yeah, I'm feeling you right there.
I'm a really strong cosplayer, but I think Riki picked the more challenging design, and I definitely think that's gonna give her an edge in the competition.
So it's gonna be glowing lasso versus glowing bow.
- That's right.
- You're gonna kick my ass.
- No.
- [Laughs.]
Everyone loves Wonder Woman.
People will be like, "look at that girl.
" Narrator: Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Chloe, Michelle, and Meg are embarking on their costume planning.
With Wizard World Portland less than a week away, there's very little time to get everything completed.
Yeah, I'm already kind of feeling the pressure of how little time we have.
[Laughs.]
I have no idea how you guys do this under this pressure.
This is fun! This is fun! Yeah, and we get to do it together instead of doing it separately.
That's the nerve-racking part, is when you have to do it alone.
Yeah.
So my Poison Ivy She's kind of, like, an evil librarian.
And I was thinking that, you know, in the art, she's got these cool flowers that look kind of like ivy too.
When I saw this picture of Poison Ivy, I got really excited because she's got these really cool flowers surrounding her.
And I'm like, "how can I re-create that?" So I thought, "what about, like, animatronic flowers.
" It's not hard enough yet.
- And the wow factor, right? - How are you gonna do that? I don't know.
[Laughter.]
But that is why I'm calling my dad, who has a background in the effects business.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
This is, like, a bettie page wig, like, right out of the box for you.
Yeah.
I don't know how to sew, so that's, like, the big thing.
While I think Michelle's costume is simple ish it's perfect for her first competition.
For Harley Quinn, I have to make the poodle skirt, and I've already ordered the roller skates.
- Awesome.
- Disaster will ensue.
Yes! I'm not worried about Meg at all 'cause she knows what she's doing.
But I want to be with Michelle and help guide her through the process so she feels comfortable.
All right.
So, to make your ears, basically, what I like to do is just draw out a pattern.
So now you would just glue those together and then use a thin piece of foam underneath.
That [Bleep.]
will not come undone if you use the right stuff.
So traditional poodle skirts are made out of felt.
So, for Harley's skirt, I'm gonna go traditional and make it completely out of felt.
And I just need to sew the circle skirt as is and also add the diamonds on top.
What do you think? I can't believe how fast that was made.
Narrator: For the animatronic flowers she wants to make, Chloe reached out to her dad for advice and longtime friend and expert Grant Imahara.
- How you doing? - Good.
Grant, this is my dad, John.
John, this is Grant.
- Pleasure to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
My dad was the visual effects supervisor for the original Star Wars.
He invented a motion-controlled camera called the Dykstra flex that made all the strings on the spaceships go away.
And he invented the light saber and blew up the death star.
Dad's pretty cool.
Are you ready to get down to work? - Absolutely.
- Let's get down to business.
My dad's got really good ideas.
Grant will be able to take those ideas and help us make these flowers come to life.
So I'm doing, like, a '50s librarian Poison Ivy, and what I want to do is make these little animatronic flowers so they open and close.
- Like a clam shell.
- Yeah, exactly.
I have some little mockups I did.
Oh, cool.
If we're gonna make this out of, like You know, with a hinge and stuff, I don't know how to hide it.
The servos have to be fairly small.
A servo is a simple motor with two wires for simple animatronics.
- Wow.
- All right.
- That's cool very little.
- Yeah.
Oh, my God.
It's tiny.
- Do they got enough juice? - I think so.
We're going to craft the flowers out of worbla and then fit the servos inside their mouths.
And when you put in a battery, they'll go I hope.
What if you heated it and then put this on the surface here and take it down to that edge? Right.
So you keep the shape.
Oh, I see.
Right.
Okay.
Now you got an edge to work, and we could trim this - All right.
- Hey.
And then you get two of 'em, and they close up.
Look at that.
Look at that.
Perfect.
Perfect cut, right there I'm really glad that you're here, dad.
You're always working, so it's fun to bond with you over this stuff.
So, John, back when you were working on Star Wars, - is this how you would do it? - Yeah, exactly.
So let's put the wires around like that.
If you want to open it a little bit, just sort of Aah! It totally works! Yeah.
Now, there's one really important thing, Chloe.
Yeah.
When these are done, they're gonna be super, super fragile.
So you have to make sure that when you transport them, they have to be really packed well.
If they're damaged on the way to the con There's no fixing it.
Oh, God.
Okay.
- All right.
Good.
- Yeah? Thank you so much, Grant, seriously.
- You're my hero.
- It's been great.
- Good to see you.
- Talk to you later.
I've never done anything like this before.
It's literally like cosplay Christmas.
[Laughing.]
That looks so cool.
There's always things that could go wrong.
Oh, my gosh.
Watch this.
When I plug it in, one light.
What does that even mean? Until her plane takes off for Portland, Riki and Chris are hard at work on Riki's League of Legends costume.
Do you need room on the table here? Or you want to put it on that table? Narrator: With the mold finished and the resin fully cured, they're ready to extract the bow A prop that is key to Riki's chances at winning the competition.
I tried this costume once for the Ottawa competition, and I wasn't able to get it done in time the way I wanted to.
I think I need your help.
[Laughs.]
With the setback I had with the mold the first time, I'm so excited to actually see it finally come out of the mold.
It's like Christmas.
It's literally like cosplay Christmas.
- Man, look at that.
- Ooh.
Holy crap.
That looks awesome.
Do you think we can feed a light through here? Yeah.
Because Ashe is a frost archer, I just thought it'd be really neat to, like, make the bow light up so it looks like it's glowing blue ice.
So the way it's gonna work is the power source is here.
It goes underneath the gauntlet.
Getting this bow to light up is gonna be incredibly difficult.
I have no experience in electronics.
I have no experience in wiring.
I've never soldered anything, and I'm a little nervous.
Well, you want to see? It'll be the first time it's all lit up.
Oh.
[Laughs.]
That looks so cool.
Getting the bow to light up in our workshop is one thing, but getting it to Portland safely after traveling across the country is another.
That is so cool.
I've never done anything like this before.
- I mean, you helped me.
- I know.
You're welcome.
[Chuckles.]
Narrator: Also still at home in Atlanta, Yaya is racing to finish her Batgirl costume before having to leave for Portland.
You know, I love Batgirl.
She's, like, such a beloved character.
I really just want to make sure that I do it right.
The new '52 version of Batgirl incorporates a lot of armor and different textures while retaining the classic look.
She has, like, all of these torso pieces and the chest piece and such.
So I was thinking because it's so body fitting, I wanted to make them out of something flexible, like rubber, so they would contort to me.
The gauntlets are very sculpted.
For the gauntlets, I'm using a mixture of worbla and fabric because I want them to be robust, lightweight, and sturdy.
While I tackle the gauntlets, Brian is helping me by making the armor pieces out of urethane rubber.
To finish the gauntlets, I heat up the worbla pieces I patterned out, shape them to my arms, and then cover them in fabric so they match the rest of the costume.
[Chuckles.]
My unfinished suit that still needs a lot of work.
It looks good.
It fits good.
I got to look at everything together, because otherwise, I can't visualize it.
I had absolutely no idea what a massive undertaking Batgirl would be.
If we need to pull any more pieces for the belt, I'll go in and start pulling those too.
- All right, let's get to work.
- Okay.
Narrator: On the other side of town, it's just one day until Portland.
Katie has a lot of work to do on her injustice Wonder Woman costume.
It's not your, you know, average Wonder Woman.
It's very, like, technically intense.
Injustice onder Woman has an armored breastplate.
She's got a shield with lots of details, and it's got a big eagle on it.
It's actually kind of, like, a leafy texture going on behind her eagle.
So I'm just gonna simplify that and interpret it as one garland that goes up and around like this.
My biggest challenge as a cosplayer is always time management and money.
I'm hot-gluing the leaves around the shield in a garland shape so that I can kind of capture the romanesque aesthetic of the shield.
I'm heating the worbla up and then using a crafting tool to get the shape of the leaves to show up.
- Hey, babe.
How's it coming? - Pretty good.
See? Wow.
That actually looks really good.
I want you to check something out.
Cliff originally came to me with the idea of a glowing lasso, and I was really not sure I wanted to do it.
But I'm competitive, so I'm gonna try and take my Wonder Woman to the next level to make it something that would be worthy of winning an award.
- So pop that on.
- [Squeals.]
- Awesome.
- And pop it in.
There we go.
I think what makes me an award-winning cosplayer is that I pay attention to really small details and, you know, kind of don't skip over anything 'cause it's too hard.
I'm so worried that What if the batteries die? What if, like, the lights break? The power source is, without a doubt, the biggest concern on my lasso.
If I don't have a wow factor, I'm probably not gonna win any awards.
It's a few connection points.
This is not out of your skill range.
Okay, I'll give it a shot.
Narrator: In L.
A.
, Chloe and Michele, a first-time cosplayer, are putting the finishing touches on the animatronic flowers for Chloe's Poison Ivy costume and hoping they work on the first test run.
That color's really nice.
That's gonna look good.
So, when they do the judging, do they get mad if people helped, or are they cool with Well, it depends on the competition.
Some people are really insane about doing every part of their costume, but even Yaya gets help from people, you know? What are the kind of experiences that people have when they first go up there? Do they get really nervous? When I was alone, I was more scared than when I was competing with friends.
- Mm-hmm.
So, since we'll be together, we'll be totally fine.
You know, I can tell Michelle all that I know about competing and cosplaying.
But until she's actually up onstage, we won't really know how she's gonna respond to everything.
Um, should we - Should I just try it? - Let's do it.
Set it up? - All right, you ready? - Okay.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, they're perfect.
Oh, they're perfect.
Oh, my gosh! [Laughs.]
They're gonna look so great! Oh, my God! Oh, thank the cosplay gods.
My flowers work.
[Sighs.]
What's wrong with you? All of a sudden, my lasso dies.
Next up, Ashe from League of Legends! [Gasps.]
My batteries just died! My batteries just died! And in Los Angeles, Chloe and Michelle are stopping by Meg's house to ensure that everything is ready to go for the competition.
[Knock at door, dog barking.]
All: Hi! We're leaving for Portland tomorrow morning, and tonight I really just want to show Meg what I've done on these flowers, 'cause we have worked our butts off on it.
- Let me see your flowers.
- All right.
All right.
Oh, gosh, Chloe, Chloe, this one's completely unhinged.
Is it supposed to be like that? No.
That's not supposed to be that way.
Oy, I'm worried about this guy.
Yeah, I know.
It's not good.
- This is, like, way off.
- Okay.
All right, so the other guys are working.
- See? [Gasps.]
- Oh, cool! [Cries mockingly.]
It looks like what happened is the top is glued onto the servo.
- See how it sort of moved? - Yeah.
If I glue them back together like that, I'm just worried that the glue's not gonna hold.
I need to call Grant Imahara, who helped me with these flowers, because he's the only one who knows how to fix them.
[Line trilling.]
Hey, Grant.
It's Chloe.
Hey, I have the flowers, and they're all perfect.
They're all done.
They're ready to go Except there's one that's having a little issue with its mouth.
It looks like the glue didn't hold properly.
Would I be able to come over and use some of your glue and 'Cause I also don't want to muck up the electronics.
Shoot.
- - In the morning.
- Thanks, Grant.
Bye.
- I made three animatronic flowers.
I made three of them.
And I am not going to get on to that plane if only two of them are working.
So you're really gonna change your flight? I think it might be smarter to just go talk to Grant and have him help me with this.
I just hope that I'll make it in time for the competition.
Just because we have to go onstage regardless, in worst-case scenario, if you don't make it, what's the protocol here? Don't you worry.
Mama's gonna make it.
Narrator: It's competition day, and our Heroes of Cosplay are beginning to arrive for Wizard World Portland.
While Michele and Meg are checking into the hotel, they run into a familiar face.
Oh, hey, Hon.
How are you? Good.
Oh, my God.
So good to see you.
Brian and I are checking in at the hotel in Portland, and we run into Meg.
And I've known her casually in the cosplay circuit for over 12 years now.
- This is Michele.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- I'm Michele.
- I'm Yaya, and this is Brian.
- Nice to meet you.
What are you guys doing in Portland? We're actually part of a group.
We're doing '50s Batman villains.
- [Gasps.]
Really? - Yeah.
- No way.
- Wow.
That's awesome.
- I'm doing Batgirl.
- [Gasps.]
Really? Good.
So we'll fit right in.
So which one is gonna be who? - So I'm Harley Quinn.
- I'm Catwoman.
And then Chloe is our Poison Ivy.
- Oh, Chloe.
- Yeah.
- Where's Chloe? - She's gonna be here.
- Yeah, she's on her way.
- She's on her way.
Chloe didn't actually travel to Portland with Michele and I because she was having trouble with one of her flowers.
So she gets in tonight.
- Bye, guys.
- Bye.
See you later.
Narrator: Meanwhile, Katie is already in her room checking her costume to ensure that everything arrived safely and intact.
Yeah, nothing broke.
Narrator: Riki arrives shortly after Katie and is anxious to check that her bow is still in one piece.
So how was your flight? When I got off the plane, I could hear them just hucking the luggage, - and I had checked the bow.
- Oh, yeah.
And I'm like, "I don't know.
My bow might be in two pieces when I get off this plane.
" I mean, any jostling, the wires could still come loose.
So let's see if your homemade case made it.
- Oh, my gosh, I'm so nervous.
- Let's see.
- Is it okay? - Everything looks good.
All right.
- That looks really cool.
- I hope so.
Well, the bow made it one piece, but will it still light up? All right, moment of truth.
[Gasps.]
Cool! - It works! - It works! It's so beautiful.
Riki's bow looks so cool.
So will a lasso beat a bow, or will a bow beat a lasso? Tada! Narrator: With the convention in full swing and the competition starting in just a few hours, our Heroes of Cosplay are preparing to suit up.
Chloe, having just flown in from L.
A.
, has already begun transforming herself into Poison Ivy.
- Aah! - Hey! Hey, what's up? Aah! You're green! Well, half green.
She made it! She made it! I could not be happier right now.
Oh, jeez.
[Coughs.]
- You can't open the windows? - No.
- Why not? - Because it's a hotel room.
Oh, jeez.
I just it just went in my face.
- Hey.
- Hi.
- How are you? - Good.
How are you? Good.
Are you ready? - Chloe is green.
- Hi.
I want to see.
Do you want one of us to help you with your eyes closed? Here, I'm gonna let you do it.
Normally it can be pretty stressful for some people to compete in a group because they're so worried about their costume distracting the judges.
And what if my costume isn't good enough and I'm the one that brings the group down? But Chloe and I We just really want to have fun and celebrate the characters.
As long as one of us doesn't fall down or crack the other in the face with a whip, a-plus for everybody.
Hey, guys.
How you doing? It's time to wake up.
Oh, my God, I hope they work.
So they're all in one piece.
That's positive.
Please work.
Please work.
This guy's got His mouth is a little bit open, I think.
- Yeah, his mouth is open.
- [Gasps.]
Oh, no.
Ugh.
I open my box to see my flowers, and they work, except for one of them.
How did that happen? It's just hours before the Wizard World Portland costume competition begins.
And Chloe has just discovered that her recently repaired flower is broken again.
And this time, Grant Imahara isn't there to help.
How did that happen? I'm looking into the mouth of the dying beast, and I see that one of the servos has sort of come unhooked.
Oh, I don't have superglue.
Do we have superglue? - We have hot glue.
- I need superglue.
- Wait.
What about Riki? - Riki? Yeah, let me go ask Riki.
Riki's got to have some.
Riki is a master at cosplay, and she brings everything to a convention Everything.
- Good luck.
- Thank you so much.
Ugh.
Hold you breath.
This stuff stinks so bad.
- Yeah, epoxy is gross.
- I don't like it.
Okay, I hope that'll work.
I hope it'll be strong enough to hold it.
Narrator: Down the hall, Yaya is getting ready to judge.
Having never worn her completed costume, she hopes it will all come together.
All right, let's put on the rest of the outfit.
Putting the Batgirl costume on for the first time, I'm incredibly nervous.
It is a very complicated costume and very heavy, and there are a lot of delicate pieces to it.
All right, time for the cowl.
I hope you people think that I did Batgirl justice.
Sweet.
[Camera shutter clicking.]
Narrator: The countdown to the competition has begun.
Michele and Meg are nearly ready, but Chloe is still waiting for the glue to dry on one of her flowers.
Does it usually take this long to cure? I'm not really patient.
I want it to work now.
All right, all right, I'm gonna try it.
This is probably not the best thing to do.
- Oh, he's working.
- He's working! Oh! Riki! Riki, I love you! You saved my life! It's all good.
So it seems like the flower's fixed but I'm still worried that that glue is not going to hold.
It's showtime.
High five! Whoo! Ugh! [Camera shutter clicking.]
Narrator: Meanwhile, with the competition starting in less than an hour, Riki helps Katie get laced up and do a final check on the wiring for her glowing lasso.
So the wires come up my leg.
They plug into Oh, that's what that is down there? Yep, they plug into my battery pack that's gonna be in my boot.
And then this is going to plug into my lasso.
God, I hope this works.
If my lasso doesn't light up onstage, it's gonna look really lame.
[Chuckles.]
Break a wire! [Laughs.]
[Camera shutter clicking.]
Narrator: Back at the hotel, Katie is cutting it close.
She's the last one to finish getting ready.
What's gonna be strange about competing with Riki is that I feel like she's influenced my costumes a lot and kind of made me want to take my cosplay to the next level.
So it'll be interesting to go up against her, because, essentially, her influence has made an impact on all of my costumes ever since I met her.
[Camera shutter clicking.]
Narrator: With all of the heroes now in costume, the cosplayers are lining up, and the contest is about to begin.
Portland, are you ready? [Cheers and applause.]
I am Eric "The Smoke" Moran.
Are you ready to meet the judges? [Cheers and applause.]
Ivy Doomkitty! [Cheers and applause.]
Green Ranger, White Ranger, Jason David Frank! [Cheers and applause.]
The one and only Yaya Han! [Cheers and applause.]
Portland comic con's costume contest is a little different than others because they have no divisions and no prejudging.
Performance is weighed almost as much as craftsmanship.
Portland, are you ready? [Cheers and applause.]
We got Apocalyptic Punisher! Brilliant.
Awesome construction.
[Cheers and applause.]
Coming to the stage, here's the Giant Alien! [Cheers and applause.]
You scare the hell out of me.
[Cheers and applause.]
- How do you feel in there? - Fantastic.
Narrator: The contest is under way, and while Chloe, Meg, and Michele anxiously wait backstage, Katie and Riki are nowhere in sight.
What's wrong with you? All of a sudden, my lasso dies.
I have no idea what's going on, and I am in panic mode.
Hey.
What's going on? I have no idea.
Watch this.
When I plug it in, one light, one light.
What does that even mean? The moment I saw Katie struggling with her lasso, to have something break or short out is really difficult because you've put so much time and effort into it.
Do you want to try mine? - Your pack? - Yeah.
- Is your bow working fine? - Yeah.
You can even plug your battery pack into mine.
I guess this will officially determine if it's the lighting or the - So it's your battery pack.
- It's the batteries.
Oh, thank God! Why don't we switch battery packs? If I go onstage first, I'll come off and quickly take off my battery pack, and we'll throw it in your shoe.
So, since my batteries weren't working, the plan is to switch packs with Riki after she goes onstage.
Okay, let's go get in line, I guess.
It'll be cool.
Don't worry.
[Cheers and applause.]
Can you just tell us what your favorite part about the costumes are? It would have to be my shield.
I got to say it's my quiver.
[Cheers and applause.]
- What did you make that out of? - Wonder flex! It's wonderful! [Cheers and applause.]
Narrator: Backstage, there are only two contestants to go before Riki takes her turn in the contest.
[Electricity sizzles.]
[Gasps.]
My batteries just died! My batteries just died! It's the middle of the competition at Wizard World Portland, and seconds before Riki takes the stage, the signature piece of her costume Goes dark.
My batteries just died! My batteries just died! You just have this sense of, like, dread.
Like, "what am I gonna do? How can I fix this?" Oh, my God.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Excuse me.
Damien, Damien, can I please switch? My batteries just died.
I get out of line, and I beg him [Chuckles.]
To basically say, "can I have more time? I have to charge my batteries.
" - Yeah.
Go.
Go.
- Thank you.
I helped Katie with her costume fix.
I helped Chloe with her costume fix.
And then my bow goes down? Where are you, karma? No, no, my batteries died.
No.
That's really a bummer.
Coming to the stage next, here's the agents of aim.
[Cheers and applause.]
According to my judging sheet, Riki's Ashe is next, but that's not Riki coming out onstage.
I just feel bad 'cause Katie's depending on my charger, and then all my stuff dies.
All I can do is start charging the batteries.
Hopefully they're ready in time.
[Cheers and applause.]
First my batteries die, and now Riki's are dead.
[Laughs.]
Lovely.
- Yeah.
- What kind do you need? Double "A"? I happen to have three spare right here.
No way! Seriously? You don't need them for your helmet? No, no.
My batteries are still fine.
- Seriously? You're a hero! - No problem.
In a fortunate twist of cosplay fate, another contestant just happened to have a few extra batteries to spare.
[Cheers and applause.]
We would love to hear how this costume was created.
Everything is made out of foam and hot glue.
[Cheers and applause.]
My heart is pounding, wondering whether or not my lasso is going to stay on onstage.
Next, from one of my favorite video games, Injustice, I give you Wonder Woman! [Cheers and applause.]
Can I ask how long it took you for the shield construction and the sword construction? Actually, I made the shield and the sword in about one week.
- [Chuckles.]
- Wow.
That's impressive.
- Good job.
- [Cheers and applause.]
As I run offstage, all I can think is, I've got to get my batteries to Riki so that her bow can light up.
Hey.
Do you want my batteries? I mean, look, they're not strong, - but do you want to try? - [Sighs.]
The coordinator's letting me go last.
So, rather than using Katie's batteries, which are almost drained, I'm gonna hope that my batteries get charged in time.
Up next, it's a steampunk engineer Hong! [Cheers and applause.]
Narrator: Nearing their turn and having witnessed Riki's electrical issues, Chloe, Meg, and Michele aren't taking any chances with the animatronic flowers.
Maybe when captain America goes on, I'll put your battery in.
I think that where Hatsune Miku is.
Chloe keeps asking me to put the battery in, so she can test the flowers.
But I'm really, really hesitant to put them in because I don't want them to work for 30 seconds that we're backstage and then break.
If they're gonna work for 30 seconds and break, I'd like it to be onstage that they're working.
Oh I hope they still work.
- They'll work.
- Battery we got it.
- We have the battery.
- We at least have the battery.
- Here is the Queen Predator! - [Cheers and applause.]
- I think we're up next, guys.
- Yeah.
Suddenly the nerves are starting to set in.
I didn't think that I was going to be so nervous, but I realize I'm the first one to walk out there onstage.
On the stage next, Batman's favorite girls Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman! [Cheers and applause.]
[Wolf whistle.]
[Whip cracks.]
As I walk through that curtain, everyone starts cheering.
Oh, it felt so good! [Cheers and applause.]
I'm Batgirl, and I'm smitten.
[All laugh.]
Right now I can't help but stare at the little plants Keep opening and closing.
How did you do that? I had a little help from my friend Grant Imahara, and my dad, 'cause I've never worked with animatronics before, but we worked together, and we designed it.
- They're awesome.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
[Cheers and applause.]
Narrator: Backstage, Riki's batteries for the bow still aren't fully charged, and time is running out.
I know.
I know the feeling.
Nothing is working, and we keep seeing the line for the costume contest get shorter and shorter.
It, like, worked so well before.
It did.
It worked beautifully.
Are you ready to go? Those are supposed to be orange, not green.
I don't ever want to go onstage and not be, like, at 100%.
Like, I want to be happy.
[Cheers and applause.]
Okay, we're down to the last contestant Ashe from League of Legends! [Cheers and applause.]
What did you make your armor from? Fiberglass and resin.
Oh, wow.
So you cast it? Yeah.
Everything was sculpted and cast, including the bow.
- Wow.
Very nice.
- [Cheers and applause.]
I'm disappointed that the bow didn't light up, but I'm still really happy with the audience reaction.
So at least I'm leaving here with that.
[Cheers and applause.]
Ladies and gentlemen, judges are gonna go into deliberation.
We'll be right back.
[Applause.]
There was a lot of amazing costumes.
A lot of great entries.
I think the '50s villains are definitely contenders for best team.
I really liked the originality of it.
I would agree.
I really, really liked the original fantasy characters.
I liked the fact that they used multiple types of materials.
Katie was Wonder Woman.
What do we think about her? I really don't know if my costume is big enough or cool enough to win me an award.
Sauron was great, of course.
There's just a lot of detail on the They did great.
Let's talk about Riki's Ashe from League of Legends.
I thought it was a beautiful costume.
You know, she did a lot of advanced technique.
I know that bow was supposed to light up.
Did you guys see the bow light up? - I didn't see that.
- I didn't.
Anyone who is familiar with Ashe from League of Legends knows that her bow glows.
So I hope that the fans aren't disappointed by the fact I didn't come through on that aspect.
So do you think we've made a decision on the winners? - I think we're good.
- Yep.
Yep, I think so.
[Cheers and applause.]
Judges, are you ready? - We're ready.
- All right.
The judges at Wizard World, Portland have completed their deliberations, and they are now ready to reveal this year's winners.
[Cheers and applause.]
- Judges, are you ready? - We're ready.
All right.
So we're gonna start off with best group.
And that award was really tough to give out.
But ultimately, we decided on The original fantasy duo.
[Cheers and applause.]
The best male villain goes to The Giant Alien! - Where's the Giant Alien? - Oh, wow.
That is just awesome! Let's hear it for the Giant Alien! [Cheers and applause.]
And we have best female hero.
There are a lot of lovely female heroes that entered tonight, so this was, again, a very difficult decision.
But we decided it is - Katie George as Wonder Woman! - [Cheers and applause.]
We absolutely loved the level of detail on there.
The shield was phenomenal.
Good job.
[Cheers and applause.]
It's time to announce who's going to get best in show.
Are you guys ready? [Cheers and applause.]
For best in show, we'd like to announce Sauron! Congratulations! [Cheers and applause.]
No surprise Sauron wins best in show.
He deserved it.
He completely deserved it.
[Cheers and applause.]
The first honorable mention that we have is Dovahkiin from Skyrim! [Cheers and applause.]
Coming up next, we have - The '50s villains from Batman.
- [Cheers and applause.]
We won an honorable mention! We won! We are just completely stunned! We had no clue! [Cheers and applause.]
Coming up We have Ashe from League of Legends.
[Cheers and applause.]
I'm kind of surprised.
I mean, I'm really happy with what I produced, but there were so many amazing costumes.
But my outfit could still stand on its own without a bow lighting up.
Great job, all of you guys.
You look fantastic, very creative costumes.
[Cheers and applause.]
I would call this competition a success for us because nobody got whipped in the face, nobody fell down on their roller skates, all the flowers munched at the right time, and we won honorable mention.
- Good job! - Thank you.
To be Honest, I think if Riki's bow had lit up onstage, she would have beat me.
Well, congratulations to all of you, my award winners.
Oh.
And are you ladies ready for New Orleans? - Oh, my God.
- [All shouting.]