The best of QuakeCon cosplay
Doomguy, Nuka-Girl, Commander Keen, and lots more colorful costumed characters visited QuakeCon 2019.
QuakeCon is famous for being the largest LAN party in North America, but it's also a big community event for cosplayers interested in characters owned by Bethesda: Doom, the Elder Scrolls, and Fallout in particular.
They definitely showed up in force this year. Here are the best cosplay characters we met at QuakeCon 2019. If you want a closer look, you can click the icon in the lower right for the option to view these photos full-size. You can also check out our gallery of the best custom PCs from this year's QuakeCon.
Note: while we did speak to each cosplayer to ask them if we could photograph them for PC Gamer, we unfortunately did not get their names. We're sorry! If your picture is included here, please contact us (hit up Chris via email: clivingston@pcgamer.com) and we'll update this gallery!
Yes Man from Fallout New Vegas
Not only is Yes Man, a modified securitron in Fallout: New Vegas, one of my favorite side characters, but this costume is one of the most impressive pieces of engineering I saw at QuakeCon. More of a puppet than a costume, Yes Man is balanced on a large single tire and piloted from behind by a puppeteer.
Goon from Rage 2
I love a lot of little details about this Goon cosplay—especially when the cosplayer did a spot-on recreation of the Rage 2 box art. Smears of color, spots of paint and blood, torn cloth and chains: it's a lot of layers that make up one good costume. Plus, her hair looked sturdy enough to stab someone.
Nuka-Cola Power Armor from Fallout
The only set of Power Armor I saw all weekend was also a shining example of the form: dirty, rusty, and clunky beneath a spiffy, cherry-red paintjob. This armor looked extra dangerous armed with a heavy-looking Super Sledge.
Doom Slayer from Doom
There were a few Doom Marines, Doom Slayers, Hell Walkers, and other demon-slaying protagonists walking around QuakeCon, but this one was the best. Not only is he suitably filthy and dirty, but the cosplayer shaved his head in the iconic zig-zag haircut. That's full commitment to the bit, and I respect it.
Nukatron from the Fallout 4 Nuka World add-on
Nuka-Girl from Fallout 4
This cosplayer nailed the look of Nuka-Girl's crop-top space suit and glass bubble-helmet from Fallout 4. The combination of pin-up girl style and retrofuture costuming really sum up the attitude of the Fallout universe.
Commander Keen from Commander Keen
Commander Keen is an id Software deep cut from 1990, but it still gets some love from fans every year at QuakeCon. The costume is deceptively simple, but little details—freckles and the horrified expression—make it great.
Marauder from Doom Eternal
This costume gets extra points for speed: the Marauder is a new enemy in Doom Eternal, which was only just revealed in detail at E3 in June.
Bethesda Mashup
Unlike all of the other characters, cosplayer Yvonna Lynn didn't focus on a single character or even a single game. Each quarter of her costume represented a different game from a different Bethesda studio: Morgan from Prey, Emily from Dishonored, Frau Engle from Wolfenstein, and Nyx from Quake Champions. Creative!
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