In the spirit of Halloween, let’s take a look at some Pop! Characters who decided to dress up in costume. First of all, no, not like Batman. Sure, that’s Bruce Wayne in a Batman suit, so technically, it’s a costume. But, here we’re talking about characters dressed somewhat unexpectedly as someone or something else, even if they’re already in costume. Unless we’re making an exception.
Speaking of exceptions, maybe Batman can count, now that we think about it. And Batgirl. Both can be seen in their familiar Batsuits, except in the color scheme of Harley Quinn. And why is this? It’s part of the Impopsters series, which features Batman and company in the liveries of various villains. And why is this? It’s the world of Pop!, don’t ask.
Remember how we said we weren’t going to include superheroes who weren’t dressed as someone else? The Coon & Friends gang from South Park are okay here because they aren’t really superheroes with actual powers. So they’re just running around in costumes. Except for maybe Mint Berry Crunch. And possibly Mysterion. But their identity remains safe with us. Besides, spoilers and all…
Several Disney/Pixar characters fit the costume theme, at least a couple of them from actual appearances in films. Finnick from Zootopia looks adorable in his elephant jammies, which aren’t really a costume, right? Well, since he’s actually an adult fox pretending to be a kid, yeah, it counts. In Coco, Miguel appears throughout much of the movie in Day of the Dead inspired makeup to fit in with the underworld. Day of the Dead, Halloween… it’s all good this time of year. And since Star Wars is now part of the Disney universe, let’s count Finn, who’s not a real Stromtrooper, but dresses like one when needed.
Can a work outfit count as a costume? It does when it’s Beefsquatch! Gene Belcher from Bob’s Burgers frequently wears a sandwich board (or is that a burger board?), but on occasion, adds extra toppings with a Sasquatch mask. Beeeeefsquaaaaatch!
It’s not all cartoon characters, either. For example, you’d expect to see Ralphie from A Christmas Story immortalized as a Pop! figure in his bunny pajamas. (Even though we just declared jammies aren’t really a costume). But how about as a wild west sheriff, a costume change that only happened in his dreams? Yeah, that works.
On the other end of the not-a-cartoon spectrum, consider the Daleks from Doctor Who. As it turns out, Dalek Sec is a Cthulhu-like cycloptic creature in a dapper suit, who sits inside the robot casing. And yes, he/it is available in Pop! form.
Can a costume be involuntary? Rick Sanchez, from Rick and Morty is available as a Pop! figure with a facehugger from Alien stuck to his face. Oddly enough, it’s noncanonical as far as the TV show goes, but somehow it all makes sense.
Of course the all-time champion of cross-character-dressing has to be Deadpool. There’s hardly a character or person or trope or idea that can’t be mixed in with Deadpool’s very meta-identity. You can find him as a chicken, a cheerleader, a chimichanga enthusiast… but the best of all has to be as TV painting instructor Bob Ross. And that last one is actually based on a NSFW trailer for the second movie, so it has some basis in reality.
There are some Pop! figures for whom it’s hard to determine which character is wearing which. Freddy Funko has been reimagined in quite a few forms over the years, but what about his mashup with Pennywise, the clown from IT? Is that Freddy in Penny makeup, or Mr. Wise wearing Mr. Funko’s clothes?
Either way, have a safe and fun Halloween, whether you dress as Pennywise, or Deadpool, or Deadpool as Pennywise, or…