What Were The Most Popular Cosplays in 2020?

What were the most popular cosplays in 2020?

When I write my annual popular cosplays for the year, I always come back in this December to see if I was wrong or right on my choices. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I miss.

But boy was this year totally different to say the least.

When I wrote my annual cosplay ideas for 2020 back in January, I did not think the world would be taken over by a global pandemic.

That basically ended pretty much all cosplay conventions beginning in March. That’s certainly one thing I did not predict! And who knows if we’ll get our Anime conventions back anytime soon. Oh well, we’ll have to wait and see what’s happens in 2021.

In any case, despite hardly any cons happening this year, it’s still worth seeing what the most popular cosplays were in 2020.

In this post, we’ll go through the picks I made earlier in the year to see if I was correct or not. Then we’ll go through some cosplays that were actually popular in 2020.

Let’s find out right now!

Final Fantasy VII – Right

Let’s face it; Final Fantasy VII is the most popular FF game out there. And with the remake being released in 2020, that pretty much got everyone hyped up to cosplay FF7 characters! We got to see so many awesome renewed cosplays such as Aeris and Tifa this year. Now that Sephiroth has been announced for Smash, the FFVII hype train will continue onto 2021!

Cyberpunk 2077 – Wrong

Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed, so this pick ended up being wrong. The game was meant to be released back in September. But because of the pandemic, the developers had to delay a game a bunch of times. It has finally been released to much fanfare and I can already see the game is living up to the hype (despite all the glitches).

This will lead to some awesome Cyberpunk 2077 cosplays for next year. However, I was wrong when it comes to this game being one of the popular cosplays in 2020.

RE: Zero – Right(ish)

I thought with the new season of RE: Zero being released in 2020, we would see a bunch of cosplays such Emilia, Rem and Ram. It was pretty common to see RE: Zero cosplays when the first season of the Anime aired a few years ago. But a resurgence of RE: Zero cosplays didn’t really happen in 2020.

Maybe it was because of the pandemic delaying production. Or the lack of conventions this year, which didn’t allow the Anime to be hyped up as much. Either way, I was wrong about RE: Zero being a popular cosplay for 2020!

In/Spectre – Completely Wrong!

Oh boy was I wrong about this one! Haha I think the only time I heard about In/Spectre was when it first premiered back in January. After that, I didn’t hear anyone talking about the series, let alone cosplaying. Sometimes an Anime is so good that it ends becoming a trendy cosplay choice. Look at Love Live! for example. But it certainly didn’t happen with In/Spectre.

Love Live! – Right

Everyone loves idols, and Love Live! is the poster child for idol cosplays. It’s crazy to think that the main series came out over 5 years ago, and the series is still popular to this day. So unless a new Idol series comes out that takes over the scene, you can expect Love Live! cosplays to be around. And that’s not a bad thing…I think. it will always still be popular because it’s a cosplay group staple. If you want to learn more, check out my guide for how to run a Love Live! cosplay group.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Wrong

Much like RE: Zero and In/Spectre, Madoka Magica didn’t quite takeoff as I thought it would in 2020. With a second season of Magia Record (spinoff) being released earlier this year, I figured that would spark some interest in this now legendary magical girl Anime. But I suppose Madoka is so overdone at this point that it’s far past the cosplay hype stage, where it’s kind of cool to cosplay Madoka or Homura for the nostalgia. We’re getting old now!

Still, even though Magia Record didn’t revive interest in cosplaying Madoka, the series is still a great choice if you’re looking to wear magical outfits!

Demon Slayer – Right

Of course I was right about this one! Even before 2019 ended, Demon Slayer was already picking up in popularity and that for sure carried over to 2020 this year. Initially, I figured the cosplay hype for cosplaying Demon Slayer would wear off by no later this year.

However, Demon Slayer has still been one of the most popular cosplays in 2020. Why? I feel like the lack of conventions meant the saturation cosplay hype phase wasn’t as bad as it would have been. If Weebs had to see a bunch of Nezuko cosplays in-person, I feel like people would get less excited about seeing the character. But the lack of cons this year probably meant we didn’t mean seeing some more Demon Slayer cosplayers.

I feel in 2021, the hype will start slowing down. But if you like Demon Slayer, don’t let that deter you from cosplaying from the series!

Fire Emblem – Right(ish)

Let the lesson begin!

Now we’ve already seen lots of Fire Emblem cosplays on social media, especially characters from Three Houses. I’ve personally have viewed a bunch of Byleth, Hilda and Edelgard cosplays this year. But the series would have been even more popular had cons been running like normal.

A big part of Fire Emblem cosplays is having those big fancy group photoshoots! Because there’s something truly something special about having Fire Emblem cosplayers together.

Unfortunately this year, group photoshoots weren’t possible due to the pandemic. Aside from Katsucon, there was no opportunity to get a bunch of Three Houses cosplayers together.

Had it not been for pandemic, I’m sure Fire Emblem cosplays would have been even more popular.

In any case if you’re looking to cosplay from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, check out my post for some ideas!

Overwatch – ???

I feel like Overwatch is still a popular series to cosplay. But it seems like for 2020, the hype is slowing down. I didn’t see as many Dva, Tracer or Widowmaker as I did back 2-3 years ago when the first game came out.

Don’t worry though; a sequel for Overwatch is coming soon, so I’m sure Overwatch hype isn’t going away completely. Not to mention that Blizzard regularly releases new skins and outfits for characters, so more Overwatch cosplans for you!

My Hero Academia – VERY Right

Plus Ultra! My Hero Academia is pretty much a staple in the cosplay world these days. There’s no sign of the MHA fandom slowing down anytime soon. You’ll be seeing your favorites like Deku, Froppy, Bakugo, Todoroki, Uraraka and Toga for a very long time. And that’s a good thing because who doesn’t love My Hero Academia cosplays?

Fate – Right

Fate is a
series that has been around for a long time, but I’m surprised to see how well
it’s still doing. This year, I’ve seen so many Fate cosplays such as Rin, Saber
and Scathach. A combination of new Fate spinoffs, on top of the mobile game
(Fate Grand Order) releasing new outfits mean that this series will continue to
be popular at conventions!

League Of Legends (KDA in particular) – SO SO RIGHT! (Most Popular Cosplays in 2020)

Wow! When it comes to League of Legends cosplays, I knew that KD/A was going to be popular. But man, were my expectations exceeded. Riot Games just keeps releasing KD/A music videos for the group and we keep eating it up! K/DA took over the cosplay world a while back, and with the latest music video they’ve got all us simping for more. Regardless whether there will be conventions next year or not, you’ll still be seeing a lot of KD/A cosplays online.

Oh, and there were a bunch of different LoL cosplays such as Spirit Blossom. But of course nothing compared to K/DA.

Senpai’s Cosplay Popularity Prediction Score: 7/12

For a crazy year that was 2020, getting more than half of my predictions is not too shabby

Which fandoms were surprisingly popular in 2020?

I showed you my predictions I had for 2020. But what was actually popular in 2020 that I missed? Here are a couple:

Among Us

For those who don’t know (I certainly didn’t at first), Among Us is mobile multiplayer game where you try to guess who are the bad guys before the bad guys do the killing! The game was actually released back in 2018, but went viral due to a bunch of Twitch users playing the game and making it popular.

Among Us has become mainstream and that translated into the cosplay world, with lots of Among Us cosplays! Will it be popular in 2021? We’ll wait and see.

She-Ra

She-Ra was surprisingly another one of the popular cosplays in 2020. She-Ra was a superheroine cartoon character way back in the 80s, but it received a reboot series this year. That is probably why I’ve seen a bunch of She-Ra cosplays online. Makes sense though; She-Ra is powerful and awesome!

There you have it; all the popular cosplays in 2020! It’s definitely been a crazy year. Want to know which cosplays will be popular next year in 2021? Stay tuned, that’ll be a future post coming up soon!