Entry Forms

The online form for the Craftsmanship Contest, Fashion Show and Masquerade has closed!

Thanks to everyone who signed up!  See you at-con! <3

General Costume Rules

The following rules apply to all attendees, whether they are participating in any of the cosplay contests or just wandering the convention.

- All costumes cannot be dangerous to others or the wearer.  Nor should they hinder movement through the convention facility.

- All costumes must be decent enough to be worn in a public area.  If it cannot be worn at a public pool, in front of the eyes of the whole world (Would someone please think of the children!) it is not decent enough for Tekkoshocon.  Sure, pasties and thong would garner you that well-sought after attention, but do you really WANT that kind of attention?  And by "attention" we mean getting asked to leave the con floor so you can change.

- Underwear is not a costume.  Period.

- T-shirts or bodysuits decorated to appear as the naked human form are not allowed.  The exception of course is male "muscle" shirts.

- No sexual paraphernalia, toys or accessories may be carried or worn.  We don't care how "ZOMGYAOI" or canon it is.

- All Tekkoshocon General Rules must be followed.

- Suitable foot-covering must be worn at ALL times.  All footwear must provide the wearer with a hard, stable sole over the entire base of the foot.  Rollerblade and heelies are not allowed to be worn in the hotel but may be carried.

If a staffer asks you to make any change to your costume, or to leave the convention floor because of your costume for any reason, even one not addressed here, you must do so.

Cosplay Craftsmanship Competition

The Craftsmanship Contest is a contest where cosplayers are judged solely on the construction of their costume. A panel of judges will privately interview you and inspect the construction of your costume. Awards for the Craftsmanship Contest will be given at the Masquerade. Any awards not claimed at the Masquerade will be available in Con Ops until the end of the convention. Awards not claimed during the weekend will not be mailed to winners.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Cosplay Coordinator at cosplay@tekkoshocon.com.

This contest is open to all Tekkoshocon attendees that have a membership badge of any level or type. Staff and Guests are not permitted to compete.

You do not have to pre-register online for Tekkoshocon X to register online for the Hall Cosplay Competition. Online registration for Cosplay events will open on Saturday, January 21st on this page and will remain open until all spots are filled or until Saturday March 10th. Any spots not claimed will be available for at-con sign ups at the Info Desk location noted in your program booklet. 

You must have made the costume you are competing in the contest. At least 75% of the costume should be handcrafted by the participant.You can have the costume modeled by someone else, but you, the creator will be the one talking to the judges and the one that is eligible for an award. You may not enter a costume that has won a previous major award for craftsmanship in either a Masquerade or Craftsmanship/Hall Contest.

You may only compete one entry in the contest per day. If you choose to enter both days, it must be with two different costumes. Keep in mind, if you choose to do this, you will be judged against yourself for "Best of Weekend".

Each entry is given 5 minutes of time with the judges. You will be timed and warned at 4 minutes and stopped when you go over your limit.

Group entries will be accepted with a maximum of 5 members in a group. Over this number, and it's hard to judge fairly within time limits. A group entry counts as 1 entry. (Individual members may be pulled for "Judges Awards")

Your costume must be from a source that is relevant to the theme of the convention. This includes but is not limited to, anime, manga, asian video games, manhwa, j-rock/pop/visual kei, tokusatsu, and asian live action. Kingdom Hearts characters competing must be the original characters created by Square Eenix or the re-designed Disney ones.Examples: Roxas, the Heartless, Ansem, Xigbar and Halloween Town Goofy can all compete, but Belle, Tarzan, Tron and Alice cannot. Also official Japanese counterparts to American characters like The Powerpuff Girls and the original characters in Stitch! where they have been redesigned for the Asian marketplace are permitted to compete.

Your costume must be based on an official design. Fanart designs, original characters and interpretations of game sprites (like Navi from Legend of Zelda) that have no official design are not allowed to compete. (But you may take part in the Cosplay Fashion Show!)

It is highly recommended that you have some form of reference with you when you come to judging. Judges cannot be expected to know every detail of every character in existance and you WILL be judged on accuracy of costume detail as well as craftsmanship. Printouts are ideal. In-progress photos are also welcomed and encouraged. A reference you can leave with the judges and do not need back is best.

Arrive at least 5 minutes early for your appointment. If you miss your appointment time you will be disqualified unless there are spots left over, then you will be placed in the next available appointment slot if there is one.

Entrants may choose to participate in the Cosplay Fashion Show during the Masquerade. These people will be assured good seating at the Masquerade! In the Fashion Show, you will walk onstage, do your little turn (on the catwalk, baby) and be seated again. You can take this chance to really ham it up for an audience reaction and show everyone your masterpiece!.

You may compete in a skill level higher than you are actually in, but you may not compete lower than your skill level. We encourage you to challenge yourself! In a group, the skill level of that group is determined by the highest classed skill member of that group. For example, a group of novices with one journeyman must all compete as journeymen. Once you win at a certain level you can only compete at that level or higher from then of out. Purposefully lying about your skill level will result in an automatic disqualification and banning from ALL future Tekkoshocon Cosplay events at the discretion of the coordinator.

Staff reserve the right to disqualify an entry or change the rules for any reason without prior notice.

Please notify the Cosplay Coordinator if you plan on not competing once you've registered. Otherwise you are taking up a spot that would be available to someone else!

Cosplay Masquerade

In the Cosplay Masquerade on Saturday, cosplayers will take to the stage in Main Events and perform in front of a live audience. They will be judged on their performance which includes presentation, charisma, writing, audio quality and movement/choreography. Performers are not judged on craftsmanship, only overall presentationof their costume(s). You may compete with bought or commissioned costumes.

You do not have to pre-register for Tekkoshocon X to register online for the Masquerade. Online registration for the Masquerade will open on Saturday, January 21st and will remain open until all spots are filled or on Saturday, March 10th.  Any spots not claimed will be available for at-con sign ups at the Info Desk location noted in your program booklet. You cannot sign up for the Masquerade on Saturday, if you wish to sign-up at-con, you must do it during the hours posted in your program booklet on Friday and only if there are available spots left. It is highly reccomended you register online to be assured a spot.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Cosplay Coordinator at cosplay@tekkoshocon.com.

This contest is open to all Tekkoshocon attendees that have a membership badge of any level or type. Staff and Guests are not allowed to compete.

You may only compete in one entry in the Masquerade.

Skits have a time limit of a maximimum 4 minutes. No exceptions for any reason so please do not ask. The time it takes for you to get on and off the stage does not count toward your time limit.

Your skit must contain at least one character from a source that is relevant to the theme of the convention (Asian pop-culture). This includes but is not limited to, anime, manga, Asian video games, manhwa, j-rock/pop/visual kei, tokusatsu, and Asian live action.  If the staff feels your skit is too far off-theme, you may be DQed. 

You may not enter the Craftsmanship Competition on Saturday AND the Masquerade. Rehearsal conflicts with Craftsmanship judging times.

You may compete a costume in both the Friday Craftsmanship Competition and the Masquerade, but you must register separately for each. You cannot participate in both the Fashion Show and a skit in the Masquerade.

You may compete a costume in both the Friday Hall Cosplay Competition and the Masquerade but you must register seperately for each.

Tekkoshocon is an all-ages event and the material in the Masquerade must reflect such. No explicit sexual references, explicit language or gestures and nudity. All audio must be edited for content. So basically, keep it PG.

Pre-recorded music and/or dialogue is accepted, encouraged and preferred by the tech, attendees and the judges!! These files are accepted before the convention, emailed to the cosplay coordinator, OR at-con (at rehearsal) as the ONLY file on a CD. Sending your audio ahead of time AND bringing it to the convention as a CD is your best bet to be positive your audio will work. Emailing your audio will make rehearsal go much faster! Please label your CD with your group leader's name or the name of your group.

Performances are limited to 4 minutes and thus your audio track must be limited to 4 minutes. Anything over that will be cut off, even if it cuts into your performance.

Masquerade rehearsal is mandatory unless you have special circumstances you have cleared with the coordinator.

Whatever comes on the stage with you must leave the stage with you. Confetti, silly string, flash powders and other "messy" props are prohibited. Strobe lights, lazers and pyrotechnics are also prohibited.

An introduction may be prepared for the emcee to read PRIOR to your performance. This introduction must fit neaty on a 4x6 index card. The emcee can only introduce you and can no way participate in your act or interact with you in your performance. You are encouraged to submit your introduction pre-convention so we can have all these ready to go for you at-con. You also may not interact with the audience or the judges.

Your performance must me limited to the stage area. Only the official stage entrance/exit may be used.

Please be as descriptive as possible to our tech crew. Our crew will try and accommodate you as much as possible. You have to be clear in what you need from them to be sure there are no problems!

You must notify the Cosplay Coordinator if you cancel your skit. Otherwise you are taking up a spot that would otherwise be available to someone else!

By entering the Masquerade you accept that your likeness will be captured on photo and video by other attendees, press and Tekkoshocon INC.

Staff reserve the right to disqualify an entry or change the rules for any reason without prior notice.

If you perform anything on stage that was not approved, you risk being banned from all future Tekkoshocon INC. cosplay events or even blacklisted from all Tekkoshocon INC. events/conventions period.  Please respect the rules so everyone can have fun.

You may compete in a skill level higher than you are actually in, but you may not compete lower than your skill level. We encourage you to challenge yourself! In a group, the skill level of that group is determined by the highest classed skill member of that group. So a group of novices with one journeyman must all compete as journeymen. Once you win at a certain level you can only compete at that level or higher from then on out. Purposefully lying about your skill level will result in an automatic disqualification and banning from ALL future Tekkoshocon Cosplay events at the discretion of the coordinator.

Cosplay Fashion Show

The Cosplay Fashion Show is an exhibition of Tekkoshocon cosplayers during the Masquerade. It is a non-judged event, just for fun! This show is open to original designs as well as cosplay. If you want to show off your costume from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Team Fortress 2, Halo, Powerpuff Girls, Gaia Online, Beauty and the Beast, or your hand-painted vintage kimono, or how you can look just like Nabeshin, or your stunning sexy-no-jitsu Choji, this is the place to do it! The Fashion Show caters to those cosplayers who don't want to participate in any contests, contests, but still want to show off their stuff, as well as those participating in the Craftsmanship Competition that want to get on stage. You do not have to have made your costume to participate in the Fashion Show.

Fashion Show participants will walk onto the stage and stop on an "X" marked front and center. There they can make a few poses and even shout a line or two if they wish. Then they will exitt on the other side of the stage to be seated once more.

You can sign up for the Fashion Show online starting January 21st and until all spots are filled or March 10th, whichever comes first. You can also signup at-con on Friday at the Infodesk noted in your program booklet for any spots left.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Cosplay Coordinator at cosplay@tekkoshocon.com.