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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.

2 Answers 2

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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.

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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.

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