Jaw-dropping tauren cosplay is larger than life
by Anne Stickney 
Dec 8th 2011 at 5:00PM
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page.
Just how tall would a tauren be, if one suddenly appeared in real life? Monstrously huge, apparently! While we've had submissions from plenty of female cosplayers over the past couple of months, we haven't seen anything from the male side of the spectrum, and I was delighted to open my inbox and see the above photo of tauren warrior Mokkun, fully realized and come to life. This gigantic costume is didn't make an appearance at BlizzCon this year -- instead, it made its first showing at WindyCon, a science fiction convention in Illinois.
The best part about all of this? It was a family project, of sorts. Mokkun's mother and father both play WoW and got him into the game, and his mother created the costume. Meant to be a stage piece rather than an up-close, detailed production, the costume still manages to impress. But don't take my word for it -- follow after the break for a few words from Malkinius, Mokkun's father!
Just how tall would a tauren be, if one suddenly appeared in real life? Monstrously huge, apparently! While we've had submissions from plenty of female cosplayers over the past couple of months, we haven't seen anything from the male side of the spectrum, and I was delighted to open my inbox and see the above photo of tauren warrior Mokkun, fully realized and come to life. This gigantic costume is didn't make an appearance at BlizzCon this year -- instead, it made its first showing at WindyCon, a science fiction convention in Illinois.
The best part about all of this? It was a family project, of sorts. Mokkun's mother and father both play WoW and got him into the game, and his mother created the costume. Meant to be a stage piece rather than an up-close, detailed production, the costume still manages to impress. But don't take my word for it -- follow after the break for a few words from Malkinius, Mokkun's father!
Greetings....
I think this qualifies at this point for a World of WarCrafts article!
I sent some pre-production work-in progress information on this costume more than a year ago. The costume has finally been finished at least enough to enter a masquerade at the WindyCon 2011 science fiction convention. My wife Mary is the creator of this, not me. I am just the one
who addicted my son, Mokkun to WoW and my wife has had to learn a lot about it from the massive amount of time we have spent on there. But, I am the one passing this on so others can see it. A couple of the official pictures are included and more can be found at squirrelsnest.org.This is Mokkun, a Tauren tank on Drakka (US-H) and a member of the guild Impatient Undertakers. The armor is what he was using about the time the costume was first being created. Yes, it has been that long in creation! It is meant as a stage costume so it does look better at a distance but when he was walking down the hallway to the masquerade there really were stereotypical eye-popping, mouth gaping expressions on people. I wish I had some pictures of those! I am trying to get pictures of the walk down the hallway and we were stopped many time for photos.
The costume will appear again after some repairs are made. The attachment for one of the hooves broke just outside of the masquerade hall. They were going to abort the entry but were told by the head of the masquerade and the convention that he would enter even if they had to carry him on stage. Yes, he did win grand prize for the masquerade even without his hooves on. It deserved it!
The hands can open and close as does the jaw. It had to be modified a bit from the original armor but the style of it was kept and he was made small enough to go through normal doors. He barely goes through them but he can sideways walk through them.
Thanks muchly and enjoy!
Malkinius of Blade's Edge (US-A) / Malinjurius of Draka (US-H)
Thanks for the email, Malkinius -- I hope the damage can be repaired, and I hope we'll perhaps see you wandering the halls of BlizzCon next year!
If you are a cosplayer or crafter and you'd like to be featured on the site, send us an email and we'll make it happen!
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including arts and crafts, fan art, WoW-themed recipes, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing anne@wowinsider.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.
Filed under: World of WarCrafts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ladygamertn Dec 8th 2011 5:15PM
I am really sorry about this.... HOLY COW!!!!
Amazing!! WOW!! Nice job... I would sure stop and look as well.
Curokk Dec 8th 2011 5:17PM
I'm not really big on this kind of thing, but damn that's pretty cool
Whispe Dec 8th 2011 5:20PM
That guys really isn't horsing around.
Yes, that is what I meant.
Also, eek....some of the people on the link look scary, and not because of the cosplay.
(it could be because I have no idea what look they were going for)
johnthediver Dec 8th 2011 5:27PM
I always thought I was fat. I guess I'm California fat, not Chicago fat.
Nopunin10did Dec 8th 2011 5:39PM
@johnthediver
Can we avoid judging people on their appearance, particularly their weight?
Hih Dec 8th 2011 6:01PM
Some of those... (Kelly! I'm going to have nightmares of.. him? Her?) were... wow. Ok.
Others... it looked like one guy they just pulled off the street and were like, "You're wearing a t-shirt and jeans, clearly you're cosplaying. Mind if we take your picture?"
raingod Dec 8th 2011 8:28PM
@john - You may be CA fat, but stupidity knows no bounds.
Pyromelter Dec 9th 2011 5:35AM
Okay so I'm not going to defend John, but I have to stick up for him on this statement here:
"Can we avoid judging people on their appearance, particularly their weight?"
If you put a picture of yourself on the internet, or allow a picture to be taken that will be put up publicly (such as that windycon gallery), then you are subjecting yourself to judgment. We judge people on their looks all the time, including their weight.
Now yes, John was being a complete douche about it, but if someone wants to make a comment criticizing the appearance of people, then I say have at it. Hih's post above is a good example of a legitimate criticism of some of the people in that gallery, but he does it in a way that isn't overly mean or jerky.
Peepers Dec 9th 2011 8:25AM
That first Klingon is the saddest Klingon in the world. He could use a cuddle!
Possum Dec 12th 2011 2:23AM
I think anybody criticizing a person's appearance on the internet should first post a picture of themselves. ;)
Jack Mynock Dec 8th 2011 5:28PM
Was there any description of the actual height of the costume. From the picture I'm guessing something like 7'6".
Jabadabadana Dec 8th 2011 8:49PM
Costume runs between about that, and maybe 7'10" if I stand completely straight up. Actually getting to 8' (which is what tauren are supposed to be) adds an extra level of complexity because the costume gets taller than some ceilings, not just most doors.
Unfortunately, the creator of the costume isn't entirely enthused with this getting put up without her permission, especially considering the number of things that went wrong at what essentially was a beta test.
Hih Dec 8th 2011 5:54PM
I'm a little confused, is it something you wear, or is it "just" (using quotations because it's hardly an insignificant piece either way!) a "statue/prop"?
Also curious how tall it is. The woman in the picture looks like she could be 4'6" tiny which would still have the piece ending up being nearly 8' tall at its highest point! But if she's taller than that and is just looking dwarfed by the tauren, well...
Pyromelter Dec 8th 2011 6:09PM
Has to be a costume, because the "cos" in cosplay stands for costume (meaning it can't be just a prop or stand).
Pyromelter Dec 8th 2011 6:00PM
Loving that armory, with transmogrified boots and all :)
Philster043 Dec 8th 2011 6:15PM
Jareth wouldn't stand a chance.
(Sorry, for whatever reason that movie popped in my mind.)
Aids Dec 8th 2011 6:23PM
Oi! OI! What are you doing outside your pen? Get back in there before I have to use the electric cattle prod!
Erthshade Dec 8th 2011 9:38PM
Holy carp. I would love to see more angles on this. Plus I can't tell if the costume is that big or the woman is that small just from the one comparison.
libfeathers Dec 8th 2011 11:11PM
I was gonna say something, but my jaw fell on the floor.
viciouspen Dec 9th 2011 2:20AM
that's a lot of steak.
*looks for A1*