Shaco's Full commentary

I've asked the person for whom the Shaco costume was made for to write a piece for this blog. I thought any readers might want to see the other side of the story. What was the finished product like, how his time at PAX went. Here is Andrew's full story story:

Hi there, I’m Shaco! At least that’s who I am when I’m wearing the costume. My real name is Andrew, but most of you probably know me as CombatCube. You might have seen me in this costume at PAX or Anime Evolution. I’m a huge League of Legends fan and I’ve been playing it since Orianna came out. You’re probably wondering how and why Dan and I made this costume, and it’s an interesting story.

At the beginning of August 2012, I received an email informing me that I won a contest which I had entered on Facebook, whose prize was a ticket to PAX Prime. I couldn’t believe it at first, but the email was really convincing. After a few emails back and forth, and assuming it was legitimate, I got some details about the trip, as UBC’s eSports Association was coordinating it. One of the requirements for the trip was to do something creative that was related to League of Legends or Vancouver, and the email suggested cosplay. My sister told me that her boyfriend, Dan, had been considering a cosplay project for the practical skills and experience, and then we got talking.

There was a lot to take into consideration, like “Do we have enough time? PAX is August 30.” “How much money do we have to spend?” “How complicated are the pieces?” Before long, we decided to create a Shaco costume and get to work. However, it turned out to be much more work than we thought. Thanks to some skilled friends and family, and our relatively empty schedules, we finished on time with a very respectable costume. After a quick photo shoot outside my house, I was off to the station to board my bus.

Luckily for me, my friend Jason had won another contest run by the UBC group, and he was able to accompany me for my trip. He carried my backpack which was full of emergency sewing supplies and other personal effects that I couldn’t carry while wearing the costume. We made it to the convention center before it opened, and I was already in costume. From the moment I stepped out of the car, I realized I would not be just another attendee.

It’s weird, I got into cosplaying because I thought “It’ll be fun, I have to do something creative anyway, and there’s nothing better to do.” When we got to work, I found out exactly how stressful it can be. But at the convention, I put that aside for I realized just how awesome it feels.

Here's why I think that's the case. As comic books are merely ink on paper, video game characters are nothing more than lines of code translated into light and sound – nothing more, that is, until you play it.

As soon as the game starts, an interesting effect takes place. Your identity is extended into the character. You lend some life, a bit of you, into the otherwise lifeless object. You occupy this character’s shell and enter this virtual realm, effectively taking the character’s identity. Fiction in other forms, such as comics, books, movies, and television, has always enabled people to “travel to other realms,” but video games allow us to do so much more interactively.

When you put a costume on, the opposite effect takes place. Instead of extending your identity, you remove your identity by covering your face and body with the costume. The character lends part of its identity to you. The character occupies your shell and is brought into the real realm, effectively taking your identity. And that’s why it feels so good. I feel like Shaco is lending his identity to me so I can be him for a bit, bringing him from the virtual world to the real world. I wasn’t Andrew to anyone, except Jason and the rest of the UBC group. I was Shaco.

I plan on making some more costumes in the future, perhaps with the help of Dan as well as other cosplayers I met at PAX and at AE. Check out my Facebook page for updates =)