Cosplay Trivia
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102 free Cosplay trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This cosplay trivia quiz is about costume play itself: the hobby, its history, its conventions and its people (for questions on the anime series that cosplayers so often draw from, take our Anime quiz). It covers Forrest J Ackerman and Morojo's 'futuristicostumes' at the first Worldcon in 1939, the Japanese magazine article that coined 'kosupure' in 1983, Comiket's rooftop crowds, the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, the maid cafes of Akihabara and the 'no costume is no costume' rule. The easy questions are ones any convention-goer knows: what the word blends, what crossplay is, which city hosts San Diego Comic-Con and what a fursuit is. From there it works through the craft and the culture: wigs, circle lenses, EVA foam and Worbla, prop replicas, contest judging criteria, kigurumi masks, cameko photographers, cosplay models like Yaya Han, Jessica Nigri and Enako, the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion, Dragon Con's parade, New York Comic Con's 'Cosplay Is Not Consent' signs, and the reality shows and documentaries that put the hobby on television. There are questions on neighbouring costume traditions too: Halloween costumes, Renaissance fairs, Lolita fashion, steampunk and the peanut-butter costume that got food banned from Worldcon. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entries for cosplay, its conventions and its notable figures before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. Fans may also like our Comic-Con and Manga quizzes.
30 of 102 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The word 'cosplay' is a blend of which two English words?
Costume and play
'Cosplay' blends 'costume' and 'play', following the Japanese habit of joining the first moras of two words (kosu + pure).
Q 02Who coined the term 'cosplay', in a June 1983 magazine article?
Nobuyuki Takahashi
He worked for Studio Hard and wrote for My Anime.
Q 03Why did Takahashi coin a new word rather than use the Japanese for 'masquerade'?
It implied nobility and sounded old-fashioned
He was reporting on fan costuming.
Q 04Who are credited as the first people to wear costumes to a fan convention?
Forrest J Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas
At the 1st Worldcon in New York, 1939.
Q 05What did Ackerman and Morojo call their 1939 outfits?
Futuristicostumes
Ackerman and Morojo called them 'futuristicostumes': a green cape and breeches modelled on pulp-magazine artwork and the 1936 film Things to Come, sewn by Morojo.
Q 06What did Ackerman later admit he had thought about costumes at the 1939 convention?
That everyone was supposed to wear one
Only he and Douglas dressed up.
Q 07What was Morojo's fandom nickname derived from?
Her initials spelled out in Esperanto
She and Ackerman met through the Esperanto movement.
Q 08Which US city has hosted the furry convention Anthrocon since 2006?
Pittsburgh
Anthrocon has met in Pittsburgh, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, since 2006; its downtown parade of fursuiters draws large crowds of onlookers.
Q 09Anime Expo has been held at which city's convention center since 2008?
Los Angeles
Anime Expo moved to the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2008 after earlier runs in Anaheim and Long Beach, and has stayed in downtown Los Angeles since.
Q 10Which costume won the masquerade at the 2nd Worldcon in 1940?
Ming the Merciless
David Kyle won the 1940 Chicon masquerade as Ming the Merciless, in a costume made by Leslie Perri.
Q 11Who made the mask for Ackerman's 'Hunchbackerman of Notre Dame' costume at the 1941 Worldcon?
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen, then a young stop-motion animator, made the mask for Ackerman's 'Hunchbackerman of Notre Dame' costume at the 1941 Worldcon, and Morojo's Akka mask as well.
Q 12What rule did Worldcon adopt in response to a wave of nude contestants?
'No Costume is No Costume'
Worldcon's 'No Costume is No Costume' rule ended the nude-entry trend of the 1970s, though partial nudity stayed allowed when faithful to the character.
Q 13What did artist Scott Shaw's 1972 Worldcon costume 'The Turd' consist mostly of?
Peanut butter
Q 21At Ashinocon 1978, what was one impromptu Tusken Raider costume made from?
A hotel's roll of toilet paper
A friend of future Gainax co-founder Yasuhiro Takeda wrapped himself in a hotel's roll of toilet paper to improvise a Tusken Raider at Ashinocon in 1978.
Q 22Who attended the 1965 Academy Con in New York in a Plastic Man costume?
Roy Thomas
Future Marvel editor Roy Thomas wore a Plastic Man costume to the 1965 Academy Con in New York, possibly the first costume contest at a comic convention.
Q 23Who won first place at San Diego Comic-Con's first Masquerade Ball in 1974, as Ackerman's vampire heroine?
Brinke Stevens
Scott Shaw coated himself in peanut butter for 'The Turd' at the 1972 Worldcon; it went rancid under the stage lights and food was banned from costumes afterward.
Q 14What prop at the 1962 Worldcon led to fire being banned from costumes?
A blaster that fired a real jet of flame
Rules grew in response to specific costumes.
Q 15In what year did the first nude contestant appear at a Worldcon masquerade?
1952
The first nude contestant appeared at the 1952 Worldcon masquerade; the trend peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Q 16Which comic strip Martian is arguably the first fictional character people cosplayed, in 1908?
Mr. Skygack, from Mars
A Cincinnati couple wore Skygack costumes to a skating-rink masquerade.
Q 17Which French novelist sent almost 700 invitations to an 1877 costume ball where guests dressed as his characters?
Jules Verne
Jules Verne sent almost 700 invitations to his 1877 costume ball, where guests came dressed as characters from his novels, an early instance of dressing as fiction.
Q 18Where was the 1891 Vril-Ya Bazaar, an early call for costumed attendees, held?
The Royal Albert Hall, London
The 1891 Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete filled the Royal Albert Hall, London, with attendees encouraged to dress as characters from Bulwer-Lytton's 1871 novel The Coming Race.
Q 19What was fan costuming called in Japan in the 1970s, before 'cosplay' caught on?
Kaso
Comiket launched in December 1975.
Q 20Who wore the first documented convention costume in Japan, at Ashinocon in 1978?
Mari Kotani
Mari Kotani wore Japan's first documented convention costume at Ashinocon in 1978, based on the cover art of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Fighting Man of Mars.
Brinke Stevens, later a horror actress, won first place at San Diego Comic-Con's first Masquerade in 1974 dressed as Vampirella; voice actress June Foray was the MC.
Q 24Fans began dressing as characters from which 1975 film within a year of its release?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Within a year of The Rocky Horror Picture Show's 1975 release, fans came to midnight screenings dressed as its characters; the initial incentive was free admission.
Q 25When was Costume-Con, a conference dedicated to costuming, first held?
January 1983
Costume-Con, a convention devoted to costuming, first met in January 1983 in San Diego; the International Costumers Guild was founded in 1985.
Q 26When and where was the first World Cosplay Summit held?
12 October 2003, Nagoya
Five cosplayers came from Germany, France and Italy.
Q 27Which country won the first World Cosplay Championship in 2005?
Italy
Italy's team of Giorgia Vecchini, Francesca Dani and Emilia Fata Livia won the first World Cosplay Championship in 2005.
Q 28Which broadcaster organised the World Cosplay Summit until 2012?
TV Aichi
Nagoya broadcaster TV Aichi ran the World Cosplay Summit until 2012, when the event was spun into its own organising company.
Q 29Roughly how many countries and regions sent teams to the 2019 World Cosplay Summit?
40
The 2019 World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya drew teams from 40 countries and regions, each chosen through a national preliminary.
Q 30Which Nagoya district gives its name to the World Cosplay Summit's street procession?
Osu
The World Cosplay Summit's parade runs through Nagoya's Osu shopping district; about 100 cosplayers joined the first procession.