Dragon Ball characters are weird, let's be honest. But, it's part of what we love about them; they're unique and strange and designed so unlike anything else, both in terms of Akira Toriyama's art style and the ideas that come together for his designs. The eccentric, but inspired characters of the world of Dragon Ball have some of the craziest designs in anime history, which is why it is such a difficult series to cosplay. Things like Goku's impossible hairstyle, the villains' strange alien/sci-fi designs, and the overall wackiness of the characters makes it nearly impossible for cosplayers to recreate them in real life.
And yet, some cosplayers have proven their costuming skill levels to be over 9,000 by creating some of the most accurate Dragon Ball cosplays we've ever seen. In fact, some of them are so close to the real thing that it seems downright impossible. These cosplayers have found ways to bring Dragon Ball into the real world, some going for anime-accurate interpretations, others finding ways to add some realistic touches to the unique character designs. So, if you're looking for some of the best Dragon Ball cosplay out there, then look no further. We've got 15 of the most impossibly accurate Dragon Ball cosplay for you right here.
15 TECHNORANMA'S VEGETA
Starting off, we have a stunning Vegeta cosplay brought to us by N. Warner, otherwise known as TechnoRanma on Deviantart. Warner has given us a cosplay of Vegeta that looks like it stepped right out of the anime and into real life, bright colors and all. This one earns a lot of points for really capturing the look and feel of the anime; everything from the cuffed gloves, the bright colors, the shape of the armor and the perfectly styled wig all make it seem like the prince of Saiyans himself is in the picture.
The armor is particularly impressive, since it looks just like Akira Toriyama's distinct art style. Warner has also captured the almost puffy nature of the armor's design; the same goes for the appearance of the gloves, which were also made to capture Toriyama's art style. Check out the hair as well -- Warner did a fantastic job of styling a wig to look just like Vegeta's straight-up hairdo. Where some cosplayers might attempt to make a realistic approach to the ridiculous design of Vegeta and his armor, we love how TechnoRanma was able to capture the cartoonish look of the anime, her cosplay being one of the most accurate we've ever seen. For more of TechnoRanma's cosplay, click here.
14 DAT-BAKA'S SUPER SAIYAN GOKU
Next up, we have a costume by Deviantart user Dat-baka, a cosplayer from Australia who has given us a more realistic take on Goku. Well, perhaps realistic isn't the right word, since Super Saiyan Goku's hair is crazy and hard to pull off. But, Dat-baka managed to find a really cool middle ground between realistic and anime, something he applied to both Goku's golden hair as well as his whole outfit. The hair might not be so deliberately shaped, but the effect is still there, and the slightly dulled blonde makes this Super Saiyan cosplay appear a bit more realistic.
Dat-baka's version of Goku's signature orange gi is simple and doesn't go overboard with detail, much like the anime version, but there is one particular clothing choice we like: the segmented belt and sweatbands. There is something about the look of these elements of the costume that make it seem a bit more realistic while still keeping with the original design. Maybe its because the segmented look makes the sweatbands look more ceremonial, more traditional martial-arts-looking. In any event, this cosplay finds the medium between realistic and cartoony, making for a highly accurate depiction of Super Saiyan Goku. Check out more of Dat-baka's work here.
13 REDCRANE AND MAYHEM'S PICCOLO
Goku and Vegeta are hard enough to cosplay because of their crazy hair and fashion sense, but one of the hardest Dragon Ball cosplays to pull off has to be Piccolo. In fact, you don't see a whole lot of Piccolo cosplayers out there, which only further illustrates just how difficult the character is to pull off. Yet, Harrison May did it with flying colors. May is part of a cosplay group known as RedCrane and Mayhem cosplay, and this Dragon Ball costume is easily one of his best works.
Like the previous entry, this one finds a nice middle ground between realistic and anime-y, which we thinks makes it look more accurate. May's makeup is spot on, as are the sleeves, which capture Piccolo's strange Namekian biology in a way that looks real and convincing, while still remaining faithful to the look of the anime. The muted colors of the clothing are a nice choice as well, the darker purple working to make Piccolo look grizzled; same goes for the ripped and weathered cape. We also love the way this picture makes it look like Piccolo is floating in a meditation position, something the character is known for. For more RedCrane and Mayhem cosplay, click here.
12 REALISTIC BEERUS
Some of the best realistic cosplay of Dragon Ball comes from one cosplayer in particular: Sosenka. Sosenka uses painstakingly-crafted prosthetics to add a ton of detail to the characters she cosplays as; some of her coolest hyper-detailed interpretations being her Dragon Ball costumes. We wanted to feature all of her Dragon Ball cosplay, but it would be enough to fill up half the list, so we're going to limit it to three, the first piece we want to showcase is her Lord Beerus cosplay. There is a lot to love about this cosplay, first and foremost being the realistic take that Sosenka took with the cat-like god of destruction.
The prosthetic mask Sosenka has used seems to be designed after the cat that Beerus himself was based on, but with much more detail, making this alien god seem much more frightening and intimidating. But the mask is not the costume's only great feature, since the direction that Sosenka went with the clothes also has some great choice. Particularly, we like how the collar is interpreted, looking much more like a solid piece of ceremonial armor rather than just a piece of cloth. The same could be said of the loincloth piece, which looks just as incredible as the collar when given a realistic twist. Sosenka completely nailed Lord Beerus with this cosplay, and you should check our more of here work here.
11 AOKIJI13'S WHIS
After presenting a cosplay of Lord Beerus, it only makes sense to show a cosplay of his angel attendant/teacher, Whis. This depiction of the character is brought to us by a cosplayer known as Aokiji13 on Deviantart. This Whis costume looks like it stepped right out of an episode of Dragon Ball Super, the clothes, the colors and the hair are all perfect. He even got Whis' very proper posture and pose down! Seriously, there's a lot to love about this cosplay, as every tiny detail is incredibly accurate to the character.
Let's start at the top, shall we? Whis' crazy whip-cream swirl of a hairstyle is recreated perfectly by Aokiji13, and his use of blue makeup/body paint is expertly done, looking real and colorful, but not too bright or obvious. The halo collar piece is perfectly in place and has the floating effect seen in the anime, leading into an inspired choice of material for the top layer of the outfit. As for the bottom layer of the outfit, the silk robes look fantastic, making Whis seem as godly as he is. Lastly, the spats and dress shoes fit perfectly to represent Whis' shoes in the anime. Oh, and the character's staff looks great as well. Everything about Aokiji13's Whis is perfect, and you should check out more of his work here.
10 BARON BRACH'S MAJIN VEGETA
Easily one of Vegeta's best moments as a character was after he gave in to Babidi's power, only to redeem himself by self-destructing in an attempt to defeat Buu. Before he blew up, he gave everyone the feels when he had a father-son moment with his son, and this cosplay, brought to us by Baron Brach, is lifted straight from that dramatic moment in the anime. Brach's Majin Vegeta cosplay is spot-on, choosing to go with a middle-ground between anime and real life, which seems to be one of the best ways to bring Dragon Ball characters to life with cosplay.
Brach, who also goes by Badman Cosplay, made a lot of cool choices with the costume and executed them to incredibly cool results. Let's start with the hair, which is still as crazy as Vegeta's Super Saiyan 2 hair in the anime, but is much more realistic looking in that it appears more like one swoop of spikes rather than a bunch of jutting spikes. Brach did a great job with all the battle damage, especially to the spandex. The way he created the booths and gloves is great as well, and the whole costume comes together with Brach's scowling expression, which matches Vegeta's perfectly. For more Badman Cosplay, click here.
9 A GREAT GREAT SAIYAMAN
He is the unmitigated champion of justice who tolerates no evil, the Great Saiyaman! Great is truly the only way to describe this cosplay, since every detail is spot on. The Great Saiyaman was a superhero identity that Gohan took on during his first year of high school in order to fight crime and keep his powers a secret from his friends and classmates. The outfit was designed by Toriyama to be a tribute to Tokusatsu-styled superheroes, which might be the reason why the helmet is so detailed and complicated, making this one difficult cosplay to pull off.
But, Mlchaosdrifter managed to recreated the costume with impossible accuracy. The helmet looks like it came right out of the anime, as does the rest of the suit, which is bright and colorful and evokes the same sense of cheesy, classic superheroics that the Great Saiyaman saga of Dragon Ball Z did. There are also some nice personal touches added, like the gloves, which, if you look closely, you can see they are the same types of gloves that are worn by the Power Rangers/Super Sentai, some of the earliest Tokusatsu heroes. For more cool cosplays from Mlchaosdrifter, check out their amino apps page here.
8 QUANTUM DESTINY'S GOHAN
Gohan has had a lot of different looks over the years, each one cooler than the last. In fact, Gohan has had the biggest variety of hairstyles throughout the entire Dragon Ball franchise! But, perhaps the most iconic, or at least, one of the most popular, was the outfit he wore during the Cell Saga. This costume was given to Gohan by Piccolo by his request, since he wanted to dress like his first martial arts teacher. Gohan actually pulls the look off better if we're being honest! Why doesn't he wear it more?
This look has one of Gohan's most complicated hair styles, which, combined with the difficulty of making Piccolo's shoulder pad cape outfit, makes this particular version of Gohan incredibly hard to cosplay. But QuantumDestiny managed to create an incredibly accurate costume of this iconic Gohan look. This cosplay is absolutely perfect. The hair matches the anime but looks realistic, the shoulder pads and cape are executed wonderfully, the colors are on point and the way the clothes wrinkle look just like Toriyama's style. This is easily one of the top contender on this list, an impossibly accurate Cell saga Gohan. For more breathtaking cosplay, you should definitely check out more of QuantumDesinty's work here.
7 A PERFECT PERFECT CELL
In the Cell saga, Gohan's outfit was one of the coolest, and the iconic look is incredibly hard to cosplay. Even harder than that is Cell himself, specifically his perfect form, which is easily one of Akira Toiryama's best character designs in the entire franchise. But, it is because of how detailed the design is that it is so hard to cosplay. Heck, Toriyama himself said he was mad at himself for making the design so complicated, since it made it harder to draw in the manga!
So, you'd think with how hard it was to draw, making a cosplay would be even harder. And yet, Andrew's Cosplay recreated the character in real life with impossible accuracy. Cell's segmented armored skin seems like it would be impossible to cosplay, but Andrew's costume recreates it perfectly, complete with some impressively accurate colors. The headpiece is also rather impressive, recreating the crazy shape of the villain's head in real life, and the shiny black parts and the wings are perfectly accurate. Everything about this Perfect Cell cosplay is, well, perfect. This is seriously one of the best cosplays we have seen of one of the hardest characters to cosplay. For more Andrew's Cosplay, click here.
6 LIVING ICHIGO'S SUPER SAIYAN GOKU
There are quite a few things that contribute to Dragon Ball characters being near impossible to cosplay, chief among them being the crazy hair and bizarre designs. But there's another issue that comes up for those who wish to cosplay as characters like Goku or Vegeta: the physique. Not to say that you can't be Goku if you're not buff, but when you see a Goku cosplayer who looks just like the character in the anime, one can definitely appreciate it. This cosplayer in particular, who goes by Living Ichigo, completely capture's Goku Super Saiyan power.
On top of being in Saiyan shape, Living Ichigo also has some great costume making skills, since his cosplay is incredibly accurate to Goku after his first Super Saiyan transformation. Complete with rips and tears, this cosplay looks just like Goku while fighting Frieza, including having an on-point Super Saiyan wig. There was also a great photo of Living Ichigo as Goku being yelled at by a Chi-Chi cosplayer, which we had to throw in since that is even more accurate to the character than anything else! Plus, his expression is perfect. For more of Living Ichigo's cosplay, click here.
5 REALISTIC SUPER BUU
Next up we have another hyper-realistic Dragon Ball cosplay from Sosenka, who completely knocked it out of the park with this Super Buu cosplay. As we mentioned before, Sosenka is amazing at recreating a character and adding a ton of detail to make it appear as realistic as possible, and her Dragon Ball pieces are amongst her coolest works. This Super Buu cosplay in particular is as incredible as it is frightening. The basic nature of the cosplay is spot on -- the colors, the build, the clothing -- but Sosenka takes things to another level once more with her realistic prosthetics.
The mask is frightening and makes the costume seem even scarier than Super Buu already is -- the brow and indented eyes come straight out of the anime. We also love how the color looks on the whole costume, since it has an airbrushed effect that adds another layer of realism to the cosplay, as does the way the holes on Buu's body look, appearing organic and fleshy. The painting of this costume really brings the whole look together, putting a realistic, scary spin on Super Buu, which makes it impossibly accurate to the anime. Plus, we kind of dig the "street version" that Sosenko has created as well.
4 TKTHETIGER'S FUTURE TRUNKS
Future Trunks is easily one of the most beloved characters of the entire Dragon Ball franchise, and who can blame the fans for loving him? He's from the future, he's got a cool outfit, he carries a sword, and he was second Super Saiyan to be featured in the series. Speaking of Super Saiyan, Trunks' Super form is one of the coolest in the series, since his hair stays parted when is tilts upwards into golden spikes, a unique and interesting design choice. However, as cool as his Super Saiyan hair is, it is also the reason why the character is so hard to cosplay.
It is a balance that is difficult to perfect, but cosplayer Tkthetiger managed to find that balance beautifully, which is part of the reason why her Super Saiyan Future Trunks cosplay is so accurate and incredible-looking. The Super Saiyan hair looks like it's right out of Future Trunks' first appearance in the anime, and the rest of the costume captures the character perfectly. The sword, the boots, the belt and strap, the jacket -- everything is so accurate that Tkthetiger makes it seem like the character was brought to life! For more of Tkthetiger's cosplay work, click here.
3 ALEX WAR'S FRIEZA
We couldn't do a Dragon Ball cosplay list without including a Freiza costume! And what a costume it is, bringing the intergalactic villain's first form to life with some crazy impressive costuming skill. As we mentioned in the intro, the villains of Dragon Ball are the hardest to cosplay because they are usually aliens or strange beings of some kind with unique and hard-to-recreate designs, and Frieza is one of the most difficult of them all, especially his first form, which was far more detailed than his final form. But, cosplayer Alex War, also known as Glay, managed to pull it off to awesome effect.
The material that Glay uses for this costume is really what makes it pop. The bright purple for Frieza's armor and head is shiny and deep enough that it feels like the anime, but with some adjustments of real-world lighting, and the soft material chosen helps recreate the roundness of Toriyama's art style. The line segments on Frieza's legs and arms are depicted are nice and subtle, keeping accuracy without being too cartoony. Everything about this cosplay is spot on and incredibly accurate, almost impossibly so, and we applaud Alex War for her work! For more of Glay's work, click here.
2 SMASHING COSPLAY'S MIGHTY MASK
This is easily the funniest entry on the list, a hilarious costume by Smashing Cosplay. For those who don't get this one, or perhaps don't remember this part of Dragon Ball Z, "Mighty Mask" was a character who entered the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. Unfortunately, he never actually got to compete since Trunks and Goten, wanting to fight alongside the adults, stole his costume and stood on each other's shoulders to compete as an adult. Y'know, that classic grift!
Smashing Cosplay perfectly recreated this part of the anime with his Might Mask costume, going above and beyond to make it as funny and as accurate as possible. Instead of just creating the costume that Goten and Trunks wore, Smashing Cosplay put Trunks' face under the mask, and put Goten's eyes popping out of the torso, making it look like there were two kids in the costume. It is very simple, but super affective, accurate and hilarious, nonetheless. In fact, most of Smashing Cosplay's work is more humor-oriented, each of his pieces being as funny as they are well put together. For more of his work, click here.
1 REALISTIC JIREN
Last, but not least, we have our final piece by Sosenka Cosplay, a realistic take on Jiren the Grey. Jiren is an interesting character because his design is so simple. Instead of being an overly-detailed and/or complicated alien, Akira Toriyama went in a different, simpler direction, basically going against his usual alien designs by taking the oldest, most basic concept of what people think aliens look like and making him super buff and powerful. It was a smart movie that paid off, since this grey-alien-looking character makes for a simple, but effective design.
However, just because the character has a simple design, doesn't mean that adding detail doesn't look awesome, which is exactly what Sosenka did with her crazy accurate Jiren cosplay. This costume is not much in terms of outfit, but the head is where it really shines, working off of both Jiren's design and the idea of grey-aliens in general. Altogether, the attention to detail here makes for a creature that looks like if an alien in a "secret area 51 autopsy" video worked out and gained crazy amounts of power. We really love this one since it keeps the accuracy, but adds some killer details to spice up the original design. Another nice job on Sosenka's part.