Five Christmas Characters To Cosplay That You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Before

Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday was chaotic as always, and now it’s officially time to get into the Christmas season. And while it’s feasible to make any cosplay Christmas-themed (a red and white hat works for almost anyone), let’s talk about some Christmas characters that don’t get as much love. While there’s nothing wrong with the classics, this is a list of some of the less-common choices, and perhaps even some that no one’s ever cosplayed. 

Hogfather

There are two options for this. You can either be Death in his Hogfather outfit, or the beast-god-being himself. In both cases, there’s a lot of fun to be had putting your own twist on the outfit. Or you can try to replicate the 2006 adaptation’s costume designs. Whatever you choose, it’s just niche enough that you’ll get excited shouts and puzzled glances. Just please don’t bring any actual hogs to a convention.

Alien Monster Santa

This one is a challenge for only the biggest fans of Invader Zim and outlandishly large cosplay designers. Featured in only one episode (“The Most Horrible Xmas Ever”), this huge, Lovecraftian spider Santa terrorizes some future city, only deterred by plates of milk and cookies. You can’t be that giant, but even a scaled-down version is out-there enough it will turn some heads.

Any Member of Elfa Strike

These Marvel parody characters are a perfect Christmas counterpoint to the usual superhero costume options. If you’ve not seen the episode of Codename: Kids Next Door (“Operation: N.A.U.G.H.T.Y.”), then you’ll probably want to track it down for full context. The basic gist is: take Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus, and make them Christmas-themed. If you’ve already gone as a Christmas tree before, then consider revamping it for Coniferous. He’s a man whose power is to cover himself with pine needles. I can’t promise you anyone will know this cosplay on sight, but it’s certainly a creative and obscure choice.

Greatfather Winter/Great-father Winter

Alliance or Horde? I leave that up to you, but these World of Warcraft characters are canonically connected to the winter season and can give quests. One is an Orc, and one is a Dwarf, and both make for fun body-paint or prosthetic options/challenges. Also, apparently, these two characters hate each other, so there’s a fun double cosplay option for you.  

Old Nick/Nicholas Crowder

This is truly the most deeply obscure “Christmas” character I’ve yet found. He’s an excuse for a Holiday event in the classic Team Fortress 2 game. He’s a madman who lives in the South Pole, kidnaps children to make presents, and then opens those presents—all for himself. He sells the duplicates online for great prices. The biggest challenge of cosplaying him is getting those horns correct and finding anyone else who will appreciate this insanely niche character. If they do, consider giving them some tiny gift, just for fun.

And those are my top five weird, out-of-left-field Christmas cosplays that you should try. Even if only you get what you’re cosplaying as: it’s a lot of fun to be unique. It’s a very cosplay way to celebrate the holidays.