The Video Game Virtuoso

Halloween is funny. It’s the only day of the year where you can walk around half naked or in an extremely offensive costume and have people be chill with it. It also brings out the goofiness in many, like me. Since there aren’t many things in life that I take seriously, I always choose to go the silly route with my costumes, hence why I dressed as a horseman in 2011 and Drake in 2015.

However, when considering possible costumes for Halloween 2017, something dawned upon me; I’ve never dressed up as a video game character. Sure, there were years I considered going all out on a Kratos costume, but I never followed through. The thought of putting all of that body paint on only to have to scrub it off hours later annoys me, so I can only imagine how frustrating actually doing it would be.

But what I came to realize is that there are plenty of distinctive video game characters to dress up as that don’t take that much commitment. If you think about it, you can just throw on a red baseball cap, red and white striped shirt, and jean shorts, and voila, you’re Ness. Likewise, you could tie your hair in a ponytail and put on some dirty tattered clothes to be Ellie from The Last of Us. Or you can put on a raccoon mask, blue shirt, and blue hat to be a pretty convincing Sly Cooper… you get the picture.

While those are some great options, I didn’t choose any of them. Instead, I chose to be Luigi. Why? Because Luigi rules. But also because he’s funny, and his look is pretty easy and cheap to pull off. All I had to do was get the hat, thrift a green shirt, buy a pair of white gloves, get a fake mustache, purchase overalls, and pull a pair of brown shoes from my closet. It sounds like a lot, but it wasn’t very time consuming or expensive. And I think it turned out pretty nice.

Rough Estimate of Costs

• Luigi hat (also included Mario hat) – $15
• White gloves – $4
• Pack of mustaches – $4
• Mustache glue – $6
• Long-sleeve green shirt – $4
• Overalls – $45
• Brown shoes – Free (already had a pair)
• Total – $78

So I spent close to $80, but the way I see it, I already have my costume for next year; I’ll just be Mario. I already have the hat, a red shirt, and the rest of the stuff I purchased for my Luigi costume. Hell, I can even keep it in the family and be Wario and Waluigi the following years, and really get some bang for my buck. Might as well since I paid so much for the overalls. I tried to thrift a pair, but apparently they are impossible to find at thrift stores during this time of year. Makes sense.

With all of the gear I needed, I was ready to suit up for my weekend festivities. I threw on my green shirt and “L” cap, strapped on my overalls, glued on my mustache, slid my white gloves on, and hit the town. What I soon came to realize is that people couldn’t quite understand a Luigi without Mario. With a few successful standalone titles out there, I thought people wouldn’t be so thrown off by seeing Luigi on his own, but I was wrong. Throughout the night, I kept hearing the same question: “Where’s Mario?”

I didn’t quite feel like “just some weird Italian plumber” like Dennis Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia so hilariously put it, but I was still perturbed. You’d think after clearing a bunch of ghosts out of a spooky mansion and rescuing his more famous brother on multiple occasions a guy could get some respect. For fuck’s sake, Nintendo even declared 2013 “The Year of Luigi” to commemorate 30 years of his existence; quite an accomplishment if you ask me. But still, it seems many people can’t grasp the idea of Luigi without Mario.

So this is for all of the Luigi’s out there, living in the shadow of more successful siblings even though they may have notable legacies of their own. Don’t let the world associate you as so-and-so’s brother or sister; let them know that you’re your own person with your own thing going on. I tried to do it as Luigi, and it was probably all for naught, but it felt good. He’s one of my favorite video game characters and I think he deserves more credit. I also had a blast dressing up as him.  It’ll be interesting to see how many times I’m asked “Where’s Luigi?” next year when I dress as Mario. I’m going to guess not many.

Did any of you dress up as a video game character this year? If so, who or what did you choose? Please share in the comment section below!