What's the word for people who pretend and are disguised as a fictional character? For example, there are people who disguise themselves as Spider Man or Han Solo, what do we call these people? I am looking for the noun.
For example:
The kid saw a Han Solo ____ at the new Star Wars theme park in Disney world.
It seems that in Disney they are called Characters.
I would also say that the article "the" would be used if you are referring to the only/official one that would be at a Disney Park. But if you were at a comic con and a fan was dressing up as a character, they would be described as "a cosplay Han Solo" (short for costume play) since there are likely many people dressed as Han Solo there.
One common word is impersonator:
[Merriam-Webster, from impersonate]
: to assume or act the character of : PERSONATE
A more recent term is cosplayer:
[Wikipedia, from cosplay]
Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure), a portmanteau of the words costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.
So:
The kid saw a Han Solo impersonator at the new Star Wars theme park in Disney world.
The kid saw a Han Solo cosplayer at the new Star Wars theme park in Disney world.
I get the impression that an impersonator more generally impersonates a real person than a fictional character, but the dictionary definition doesn't support that, and it may just be how I've come to use that word myself.
