In a swell of superheroes, princesses, stormtroopers, ghostbusters, knights, jokers and Italian plumbers, it is the plainclothes grown-ups who look incongruous.
Dublin Comic Con is a shrine to self-expression for children aged 80 and under. One of those at the top end of that bracket is star attraction Anthony Daniels, who has been portraying the gold-plated droid C-3PO in Star Wars films for half a century.
“People thank me for being a part of their childhood, and I really thank you and them for being part of my adulthood,” Daniels tells an audience at the Convention Centre Dublin.
In the morning, when the building has only been opened to early access passholders, a makeshift canteen on the third floor resembles the waiting room for the recently deceased in Beetlejuice.
A morbid assortment of ghosts and vendors prepare for the intensity of the day ahead, sipping coffee and getting their bearings. Discarding his metal helmet, a gallant knight collapses in his chair; a plague doctor peers beyond her protruding beak to scroll on his phone; Hellboy peels back the corner of his mask to take a bite out of a chicken burger.
Cassie Tidd as Vinnie, Ronan Farragher as Black Hat and Robyn O’Neill as Eternal Sugar, all from Newbridge, Co Kildare, at Dublin Comic Con on Sunday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
On the ground floor, Ellen Walsh and Lauren Powell are cosplaying as sisters Jinx and Vi, the protagonists of animated TV series Arcane, which is an offshoot of the League of Legends video games. Walsh is holding a crafted rocket launcher named Fishbones that plays a crucial role in the show.
“It took a couple of weeks,” she says. “[It’s made from] spray foam that I carved.”
“She always makes her weapons for Comic Con,” Powell says, and explains that the duo always wear joint costumes.
These are among the more niche outfits, but there is no hard-and-fast rule for participation. For every Thor and Deadpool – characters from blockbuster films – there are odes to obscure YouTube series and mobile games. Some attendees are dressed in very convincing medic uniforms, though it turns out they just work for the Order of Malta.
Dubliner Mark Woodruffe is cosplaying as Kinger from the indie animated web series The Amazing Digital Circus. It seems like another deep reference, but people are familiar with the character.
“What’s concerning a bit is that it’s not really meant to be a kids’ show but a lot of kids are recognising me,” Woodruffe says, and mystically summons three excited 10-year-olds who shout “Kinger!” in unison.
“At sporting events, you get lads interested in football and all that,” Woodruffe says. “Here, you get a bit of everything. Usually people who are too afraid to go and socialise. They spend a lot of time online talking to each other, but over here they can meet more people in that same community.
“They can make friends. It’s a lot of younger people but you see older people doing it too. We’re all just kids at heart.”
Members of Ghostbusters Ireland, a non-profit cosplay group, dispute the distinction between comic conventions and sporting events.
“It’s no different from supporting a football team,” Paul Higginson says. “People say ‘I’m Man United’; well, we’re ghostbusters.”
“It’s a great outlet for people,” adds his parapsychologist colleague Damien Pollock. “We all have our collections and our costumes, and there’s only so many times you can walk around the house in your gear before my wife [will say] take it off.”
Part of their work is a partnership with Heart Children Ireland, the national charity for people with congenital heart disease. It is an issue that affects a young fan of Ghostbusters Ireland, and they fundraise with him in mind at events around the country.
Dublin Comic Con is an outlet for all sorts of vulnerable young people. Anthony Daniels references it in his speech – a lot of the people he meets at conventions like this one tell him C-3PO is their favourite Star Wars character because of his relatable nature.
“He’s perpetually nervous. He’s perpetually in the wrong place,” Daniels says.
Here, there is no such thing as the wrong place. Jim Smith, an older cosplayer from Belfast, only stumbled across the craft in the last few years. It is hard to miss him today, a bright red, winged devil holding court in the centre of the mob, but tomorrow he will be unrecognisable.
Visitors check in their bags at Dublin Comic Con 2026 at the Convention Centre Dublin on Sunday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
“The thing is with people who unfortunately suffer from conditions like ADHD, social anxiety, those kinds of conditions, wearing a mask is a protection and it helps people who don’t want to be seen,” Smith says.
“They want to interact but the mask is a protection and it helps with their anxiety. These places are fantastic for that because nobody knows who anybody is.”