Meng Ting Hsieh is from Taipei, Taiwan, and goes by the name Mon.

The only thing more elaborate than her costumes is her makeup, and her cartoon-like photos are often aided by some filters.

Still, there’s no denying that she is one of the most talented cosplayers around – and she has well over a quarter of a million Instagram followers to prove it.

While many of her photos can be on the risqué side, she also does a bit of gender-bending in her roles.

We’re loving her as Sasuke Uchiha, for example, a character from the popular Naruto manga and anime franchise.

Jasmine, aka @uniquesora, is a fine arts student from Texas who has managed to grow her Instagram audience by leaps and bounds over the last year as her costumes have become more elaborate.

She often does cosplay with her partner @khyvacraft, but in this case, she’s on her own to portray Domino from Deadpool 2.

She’s been very vocal about accepting LGBTQ+ people into cosplay as well as allowing people of all ethnicities to play whatever characters they want, regardless of skin tone.

Anna Martin and Juliet Chevelle cosplay together under the handle @magnetomystique.

The makeup and design are done by Martin, but this photo of Chevelle as Mystique from the X-Men franchise gives you a detailed glimpse into just how much goes into some of these designs.

In this case, the costume is meant to show the transformation of that shapeshifter from the soldier who infiltrated a U.S. military base during the Saigon Rescue Mission into her “natural” mutant form.

In many cases, you really have to know the backstory to appreciate some of the nuances, but there’s no denying that this is impressive even if you know nothing about comics!

Rocío Madariaga is a cosplay designer from Santiago, Chile who posts under the handle @rociocosplayer.

While she’s portrayed characters from franchises such as Mortal Kombat to The Justice League, she also famously portrayed a sexy Freddie Kruger in the past!

But she’s pretty amazing here as Wonder Woman, which is a very popular costume these days so pulling it off right requires serious attention to detail.

Her fan base is still growing but has already topped 100,000 followers on Instagram.

Marie-Claude Bourbonnais is a French-Canadian model posting under the handle @marieclaudebourbonnais. Since she started in 2009, she’s become quite a legend in the cosplay world.

This photo is from New York’s 2010 Comic-Con in which she dressed as The Invisible Woman (Susan “Sue” Storm Richards) – not to be confused with Storm from X-Men!

The 41-year-old is still modeling, although her more recent photos are definitely on the NSFW side.

We just love when women take it up a notch and go full Hulk, or at least She-Hulk.

Ginger Kutschbach has modified the image a bit to bulk up, but as a fitness guru, she does have a pretty amazing figure even without the computer-generated muscles (and you can tell what her favorite move is by her handle, @chief_squat_low).

You won’t find too much cosplay on her account, but it’s a great place for fitness inspo!

Tinkerbell goes glam when she’s played by Brisbane, Australia bombshell Tasharni (Tash) Coralie.

Disney characters are fair game in the cosplay world – it’s not limited to geek culture by any means!

In fact, this 23-year-old pink-haired pixie has played everything from Jessica Rabbit to the very real Marilyn Monroe and has been involved in cosplay for over 8 years.

Her main costume is Harley Quinn, but lately her photos are very Tinkerbell-centric.

Needless to say, she knocks it out of the park whoever she plays.

Harley Quinn is a very popular cosplay character, especially following Margot Robbie’s 2016 portrayal of her in Suicide Squad.

RyokoDemon’s portrayal is one of our favorites, but that’s likely because she’s a costumer and professional wig maker.

She often cosplays with friend @ry_creator who you can see on the next slide. The Russian duo has been taking photos together since 2002 and they make each one of their costumes by hand!

They can also be found on Facebook as R&R Art Group.

Here’s the other half of the Russian dynamic duo playing D.Va. from the video game “Overwatch.”

While she doesn’t have a large following just yet, keep an eye out for the self-proclaimed “cosplayer, excessive gamer, eternally tired student” and partner in crime to @ryoko_demon.

Their artistic skills allow them to take their costumes to levels few other cosplayers can.

In March, she debuted her latest costume – Kasumi Yoshizawa from Persona 5 Royal. But like many cosplayers, the COVID pandemic has put a real damper on costume and materials shipping as well as opportunities for in-person collaborations.

There are many different ways to dress as Supergirl, depending on what style you’re after.

Cosplayer @enjinight from Budapest, Hungary has taken the role of Kara Zor-El back in time a bit (as opposed to her latest CW show-inspired look).

As one of the most famous cosplayers around (partly evidenced by her 920K+ Instagram followers), fans often look to her for inspiration for their own costumes. And she’s given them a lot to work with since she’s dressed as a wide array of characters, from cartoons to Lara Croft.

Rachel Meikle gives all the credit to photographer @jeffzoetvisuals and makeup artist @rebeccarubeauty for her amazing portrayal of Dr. Strange from the Marvel Universe. But her creativity in choosing characters and mostly handmade costumes mean not just anyone could pull this off, even with the right team around them.

According to her Facebook page, Meikle’s love of costuming was inspired by her “countless hours playing Legend of Zelda other Nintendo games with and against her family” as a child along with time spent making costumes for her and her horse to wear at local 4-H fairs!

With just a few thousand followers, Lola V is still cultivating her audience in the world of cosplay. But the “Ameri-Kiwi” who now lives in Australia is nailing role after role from Star Wars to Suckerpunch.

Of course, Batgirl is such a classic, and so many people attempt to fill those bat shoes – so it truly takes a dedicated cosplayer to try and get it right.

And in some cases, it’s all about the right angle and attitude.

Lianne L (aka @lianne.cosplay) is a costume maker and hairstylist based in Los Angeles.

You might have to scroll farther back in her feed to find some of her more elaborate work, but we can’t help but love her portrayal of Mantis from the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise.

Even though Mantis ranks low on the “sexiest women in comics” list, this portrayal of her would probably bump the character up the list quite a few notches!

If you want to see more of Lianne’s makeup and costuming skills, check out her YouTube channel as well.

Oh My Sophii is pushing 60k followers on Instagram with her often racy cosplay, and the professional creator who lives in Wichita, Kansas actually makes all of her own costumes and props!

She also creates exclusive content on Patreon for those who donate, including “a number of photo sets (cosplay, boudoir, and sometimes fashion), cosplay music videos, cosplay progress blogs, tutorials, exclusive selfies, prints and behind the scenes, announcements, Discord hangouts and much more!”

As one of the Teen Titans, the character Raven often gets a bad wrap for her demonic parentage. But we see this cosplayer giving a nod to her empath side as well.

Stephanie Rose is a Twitch streamer, content creator, and cosplayer who is taking gender-bending to a glam new level.

In this photoshoot with Fractured Photography, she even manages to make Deadpool look hot (not that Ryan Reynolds was a slouch)!

This was her last photoshoot in the costume before retiring it – apparently, Latex isn’t as easy to wear head-to-toe as she makes it look!

She’s moved on to much more colorful characters since then – at least hair-wise.

Maggie, who goes by @OMgCosplay, has the perfect wholesome look to play Captain Marvel, Brie Larson-style.

In fact, we had to do a double-take since she looks so much like Larson in the film.

With over 750,000 Instagram followers she’s stunned fans with her amazing – and often sexy – costumes and has played everyone from Superwoman to Batman’s sidekick Robin.

She’s even played a convincing Sabrina the Teenage Witch from the new Netflix series, which is thankfully one of her less risqué portrayals.

Jasmine, aka @cutiepiesensei, has some of the best costumes around, and like her over quarter-of-a-million fans, we just couldn’t stop scrolling through her 300+ photos.

She can play Disney princess and badass superheroes alike with equal flair and she’s rocking this DC Comics’ Starfire costume, complete with colored contact lenses!

Believe it or not, this is actually a pretty tame version of the costume – the way the character was originally drawn was pretty PG-13, to say the least!

Dressing up as a video game character is already a lot of pressure since they were never designed to be played by a human.

Nevertheless, Gillian Owen is positively rocking this Petra Venj costume even in her bathroom!

The character is from Destiny, an online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game.

And while Owen doesn’t post a lot of cosplay, her efforts are pretty incredible when she sets her mind to it!

She makes costumes as well, which is probably why this pic is so impressive. And no doubt we’ve seen her work on some other famous cosplayers as well.

@HannahRayNinja is always someone to watch out for at Comic-Con. Not only are her costumes spectacular but she’s a photographer as well, which means she knows just the right angle for her racy but rad Instagram photos.

It’s not often you see Marvel’s The Punisher played by a woman, but maybe that should happen more often since the Netflix series got canceled after 2 seasons!

Should Frank Castle be Francine Castle? If Hannah is playing the character, sign us up!

Spanish model @didsrainfall has an emotional depth that makes her characters believable no matter what pose they’re striking.

Her cosplay ranges from anime to Disney but we’re totally into her League of Legends character Xayah, who wages a war to save her people from destruction.

The wig alone makes the character one of the more elaborate to play, so it’s not often you see a Xayah costume.

We wouldn’t be surprised if other cosplayers were intimidated to try after seeing this effort.

Sure, Hellboy is fine, but might it have been a better movie franchise as Hellgirl?

Tanuki Tinka Asai (that’s her nickname) is a Russian cosplayer taking this character to the next level. And this pic makes us think that gender role-switching brings out the most creative parts of cosplayers.

She makes all of her own costumes and supporting her Patreon account allows her to keep doing so – as well as supporting the hobby she’s enjoyed since 2009.

@ladylocosplay is here to remind you that there’s no one body type that makes a good cosplayer. In fact, that’s something even the role-playing world still needs to accept at times.

Here, she’s taking creativity to the next level with a Pokémon Goldeen costume.

In case you didn’t know, that’s an aquatic character most closely resembling a fish.

We’d love to know the creative process behind turning something distinctly non-human into a costume, wouldn’t you?

Jessica Cruz is a DC Comics superhero and member of the Green Lantern Corps and the Justice League.

Model Sara Moni has us totally buying into the role in her simple but amazing costume.

In fact, color seems to play a big role in her cosplay and she’s proved that she’s all too willing to paint her entire body to get into character.

We weren’t surprised to see she has over 55,000 fans – we’re just wondering why she doesn’t have more!

Lakette Barraza is actually an architect who does cosplay in her spare time, so it’s pretty impressive that she’s racked up over half a million followers on Instagram!

She makes a stunning Queen Mera, the warrior royal from the DC Aquaman comics.

We can’t imagine where she finds the time to work out, but fitness is a big part of her life as well and you’ll find some fit-spo on her account in between cosplay pics.

Known best for her sexy Pikachu costume (yep, you read that right) back in 2000, Kiwi-born Jessica Nigiri now has contracts with Kodakawa Games, Ubisoft, and Tecmo Koei and has relocated to the U.S.

With 4 million followers, she’s one of the most recognizable cosplayers in the world – at least when you can recognize her under her amazing costumes.

Her photos tend to be on the sexy side, but let’s face it, Jon Snow from Game of Thrones was already sexy, just in a different way. But he could have never pulled off that bodysuit!

Speaking of Game of Thrones, it’s no surprise that Daenerys Targaryen is a favorite role among cosplayers.

Russian Cosplayer Filinka Fox attempted to bring the character to life and managed to do a pretty epic job with it!

Funnily enough, her “casual” page has even more followers than her cosplay page – but it’s hard to tell which involves more dress-up.

Her photos are famous for being edited to have a dreamy background that makes her characters look ultra-realistic.

Props to the women who play the less-than-sexy X-Men character Cyclops, especially when they somehow make him look good!

Camila Menezes has donned her fair share of X-Men costumes but she’s also got some mean Dungeons & Dragons and Dragon Ball Z garb as well.

While she identifies herself as a “geek” and a “mutant,” she looks anything but. But that’s the beauty of cosplay, right?

Geek culture is finally getting its day in the sun!

Makeup artist Angela Domanico stuns as Rei Hino, better known as Sailor Mars, from the Sailor Moon manga series.

If you really want to see what she can do with makeup, check out her SFX Instagram story, where things get gory but the talent is wild, especially when she works with prosthetics.

According to her website, “her work has been featured in magazines, film, and television” and she’s “the Key Makeup Artist for Ismahawk, a film production company based out of Las Vegas” in addition to doing freelance makeup work.

Playing the Asgardian, Valkyrie, from Avengers: Endgame, this Filipino cosplayer/dancer/ICU RN(!) is making us wonder how she even finds the time to glam up at all with everything else she has going on.

We’d need some serious escapism too if we had to be an essential worker during a pandemic, and there’s no doubt her 31,000+ fans appreciate everything she does, from saving lives to alleviating their boredom.

Make sure you scroll down far in her 1600+ pics for some seriously amazing costume work.

Polish makeup artist @merrysynth isn’t all about cosplay but that doesn’t mean her art is any less stunning – in fact, being unlimited by the bounds of a character means she can be even more creative.

Her cosplay ranges from princesses to demented demons but we’re loving her as Kida, the Queen of Atlantis from the 2001 Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

She created this look using only black eyeliner and some random foundations for contouring – “No powder, no bronzers, highlighters, no eyeshadows,” she said.

Filipina cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfia is well-known for playing D.Va, but we’re digging her as the warrior Freya from a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game.

She has also been called one of “the Philippines’ most beautiful women” and won endorsement deals for everything from skincare to sushi restaurants!

Gosiengfia has also worked as a TV presenter and actress, but began cosplaying in 2003 at the suggestion of some friends.

She’s so popular that she’s now invited just to show up at conventions and she has well over 1 million Instagram followers.

Liz Katz calls herself a “Feisty lil Cosplay Model, Retoucher, Gamer, Inferior Actress Half Elf, Professional Eccentric & Muse” and 1.3 million people follow her every move on Instagram.

She’s expecting a baby right now, but she’s just proved that you can sport a baby bump AND a sword!

Here, she plays the X-Men’s Rogue, whose ability to absorb and even remove people’s memories is considered a curse by the character herself – well, except that one time she absorbed Ms. Marvel’s powers and got to fly.

While she’s finding less time for cosplay and more for mommy blogging since the birth of her daughter, Lyz Brickley still makes a mean Mercy from Blizzard’s video game Overwatch.

Mercy is a healing character and a field medic.

But can we just talk about this incredible costume? The post might be from 2017 but we really want to know where that ended up because it’s some seriously incredible gear!

Quite a few fans offered themselves up for healing after seeing this photo.

The former burlesque performer-turned-sponsored-cosplayer Stelle Chuu has some wild costumes up her sleeve, but we still love this simple shot of her playing Mako Mori from the Pacific Rim films.

As the adopted daughter of Stacker Pentecost and an officer of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps’ J-Tech division, Mori is a Ranger in training until 2025 when she becomes the new co-pilot of Gipsy Danger.

It’s a badass character for a cosplayer to take on, even if it’s on the tame side, aesthetically speaking.

With 656,000+ Instagram followers, it’s safe to say @kieraplease has found her place in the influencer world.

She can go glam as hard as anyone else can but she can also manage to be sexy as Danny Phantom from the Nickelodeon show of the same name!

It’s not a role we’d expect anyone to take on but it just goes to show that some of the best costumes are out of leftfield and outside the mainstream.

Model Meagan Marie can gender-swap with the best of them but has also taken her turn as sexy characters such as Poison Ivy, Wonder Woman, Lara Croft, and Catwoman.

Here, she stars the Atomic Blonde herself, Lorraine Broughton, who was played by Charlize Theron in the 2017 film based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City.

It’s about a spy looking for a list of double agents who are being smuggled into the West in 1989, right before the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

@eeelyeee is a very famous cosplayer from Taipei, Taiwan known for her elaborate costumes. In fact, you’d be hardpressed not to think she was a cartoon in some of her photos!

With over 765,000 Instagram followers, she’s also one of the richest cosplayers, with an estimated net worth of $1.5 million (and she’s in her early 20s!). Even her cats Regal & Mya are famous!

She’s based in Japan these days – along with the cats, of course – and we think she makes a pretty amazing manga version of Ereshkigal, the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead who rules the underworld.

The Italian cosplayer known as Yuriko Tiger is now based in Tokyo, Japan where she’s also a television personality and model.

Her interest in cosplay started when she discovered anime as a kid but was bullied for her hobby.

She’s played some iconic roles and made a real living as a cosplay celebrity (take that, bullies!) but that doesn’t mean she can’t still get her Disney Princess on.

We think she makes a smashing Snow White.

A legendary figure in the cosplay world, Yaya Han still dons a costume but is also a television personality and American celebrity.

You may recognize her from the Syfy channel’s Heroes of Cosplay or as a guest judge on the TBS reality show King of the Nerds.

While she’s well-known, her character Lio Fotia, the leader of Mad Burnish in the animated film Promare might not be familiar to you.

What can we say is that we love when these amazing women tackle unexpected characters!

Speaking of unexpected characters, we love how @nika_enot took on the role of the least glamorous princess around, Princess Bean from the Netflix web series, Disenchantment.

Do you think this lovely Russian cosplayer can burp as loud as the princess she’s playing?

Normally her roles are a little more glam and she’s got a penchant for Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.

She’s also spent quite a bit of time playing Princess Merida from Disney’s Brave.

It might be an old photo but Amie Lynn’s – aka @misshabit – portrayal of Varric Tethras stands the test of time.

Tethras is a surface dwarf from the House of Tethras in BioWare’s Dragon Age video game franchise.

How often do you see a woman play a dwarf much less one from a pretty geeky (in a good way!) video game?

Of course, she has her share of glam characters as well and is a super popular gamer.

You knew there was going to have to be something from World of Warcraft on here and we chose Lindsay Elyse’s portrayal of Valeera Sanguinar, the rogue hero in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

She considered this costume a milestone in her cosplay career and we can see why.

In addition to her huge social media following, this geek gal is also a popular Twitch streamer – in case you wanted to see that she’s really got game.

We don’t like to refer to women as someone’s wife, but in this case, @violinelf’s audience is far smaller than her husband’s (@danqu15h).

But we didn’t want to leave out the self-proclaimed “quarantine coach” (and really excellent violinist) because her Rapunzel is one of the best we’ve seen!

It certainly helps when you have the hair and don’t even need a wig.

Her other alter ego, you’ll be unsurprised to know, is of an elf that plays the violin.

Over half a million Instagram followers make the German cosplayer Svetlana Quindt certifiably famous. In fact, other cosplayers are excited to catch sight of her at conventions just to check out her armor (and no, that’s not a euphemism – she has great armor!).

She’s mastered characters from every game from Diablo 3 to World of Warcraft.

But one of her coolest costumes is Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. Here, she has on the Shadow Stalward Armor that you’d be lucky to get in the game much less IRL.

Tayla Barter has an eye for costume design and the proof is on her Instagram page at @kinpatsucosplay.

The great news is that if you’re crafty even sells some of her design templates on Etsy!

She’s pulled off some of the best turns as characters from games, films, and anime shows and it seems like each time we scroll her feed we’re pleasantly surprised by something new.

These are the 5 new costumes she’s made this year, but trust us when we say a visit to her page will leave you in awe even after seeing these.

Life can be a real bummer when you’re the last of your species and your adopted father is Thanos.

The woman behind @pink.mason costume shop is often a model for some of its amazing custom-made creations. We don’t know much more about the model other than that she’s an incredible creator as evidenced by this Gamora costume and makeup. She even did the styling for the photo!

This is cosplay at its finest – and it makes us want to buy a costume from the shop for sure!

Aza Miyuko is a South Korean cosplayer with a global audience (and fan club!).

As a design student and big Vivienne Westwood fan, she’s big into fashion, which is apparent in her costumes.

But when she’s not getting glam, you’ll find her playing games like League of Legends, which inspired this amazing Xayah costume.

She also loves traveling and matches her cosplay costume choices to her location. It sounds like she’s on the right track to pursue her goal of someday becoming a fashion designer.

Fitness fiend Laney Jade Fenimore can play villains and vixens alike convincingly. In fact, a photo of Supergirl actress Melissa Benoit’s face has been superimposed on her body and is floating around online.

With over 68K+ followers it’s fair to say the Washington D.C. resident is getting lots of attention for her cosplay.

Her Aqua(wo)man costume is arguably better than Aquaman’s suit itself. (Then again, we don’t need to see Jason Momoa wear much).

She even takes part in some team cosplay with a group called Hero Hotties.

Momo Kurumi is a cosplayer and designer living in Arizona who has a flair for the dramatic!

As a seamstress, she can make her own amazing costumes, including plenty of Disney princesses.

She’s been cosplaying since 2007 and has made over 100 costumes and now she’s an expert and cosplay judge at competitions.

You can even buy some of her incredible patterns on her website.

She’s also passionate about making her community a welcoming one, saying:

“It is my goal to spread positivity, and diversity awareness in the cosplay community. I believe cosplay is for everyone, since cosplay is for fun- and everyone deserves to have fun!”

Cosplayer Hanna Eva really knows how to play Elsa from Disney’s Frozen in all her forms. And splitting time between Iowa and icy Minnesota means she knows how to deal with the freeze.

She makes all of her costumes by hand and does her wig styling herself. She cosplays as a full-time job (or at least she did prior to the pandemic), already winning plenty of awards.

As a photographer and artist, she also knows how to style all of her own photos.

Like many of these incredible women, she’s got it all!

While she only has 4500 followers right now, we predict great things for @zazie.cosplay.

She started a Twitch account this year in which she promised fans they could catch her “watching anime, eating and chatting with you all.”

Here, she’s dressed as the assassin Nitocris from the game Fate/Grand Order who happens to be based on the ancient Egyptian queen that held the throne in the Sixth Dynasty.

She’s a role model for women of color and body positivity in the cosplay world.

We’re totally obsessed with @jazzthebatcosplay and her mission to attend events that “help expose and encourage people of color to explore cosplay and the arts.”

Her gender-bending take as M’Baku from the Black Panther franchise is amazing.

If you don’t remember the movies (or his appearance in Infinity War, where he was one of the few survivors), the character is the leader of the Jabari Tribe that had removed themselves from Wakandan mainstream society in opposition to T’Challa’s rule.

Tessa – aka @hiso.neko – has a huge Instagram following of over 111K people and it’s pretty clear why. She does everything 100% from her costumes to her makeup (and even her contact lenses!).

And she styles it all, even making her own props.

This Himiko Toga costume is pretty fabulous if you ask us and we’ll never look at the character from the manga series My Hero Academia in the same way.

The character is a member of the League of Villains but Tessa’s talents give her hero status in our book.

Janneet is a professional wigmaker and artist whose sexy cosplay has earned her nearly half a million followers.

You can click here to see some of her amazing wigs, which are wildly impressive even if cosplay isn’t your style.

Here, she appears as Urd, a fictional character in the popular Oh My Goddess! manga and anime series and we’re stunned at how the makeup really transforms her into the character.

We’re glad she found the photo since her photographer accidentally deleted a bunch of her snaps from that photoshoot!

Don’t be fooled, this isn’t Wolverine. This is @becksters_lab as X-23, a female clone of the character who later becomes his adopted daughter.

Rebecca is also an artist – in case it wasn’t obvious – and does sketch work and design and makes her own costumes!

Scrolling through her page reveals tons of creativity that will no doubt grow her audience well over her current 3200 followers.

If you like her as X-23, just wait until you see her as Thor!