Benjamin Leatherman
Audio By Carbonatix
There was no shortage of colorful characters at Tempe FanCon 2025. The free annual geek event, held outside the Tempe Public Library, celebrated its 10th edition on Jan. 25, drawing dozens of cosplayers from across the Valley and throughout Arizona.
Tempe FanCon, which started in 2015, attracts cosplayers from across the Valley and around Arizona. This year was no exception, showcasing some truly spectacular costumes throughout the event.
Alongside a range of nerd-friendly favorites – including Ghostbusters, various Jedi and more than a few Deadpools – there were standouts like Glendale cosplayer Jagger Leon’s impressive mash-up of “Mortal Kombat” ninja Sub-Zero and the Spartan armor from the “Halo” game series. Another highlight was Tempe resident Riley James’ original cosplay of an angel who escaped from heaven, which earned them tickets to Phoenix Fan Fusion during Tempe FanCon’s costume contest.
Gilbert resident Amberlyn Cioara went all out creating hand-sewn costumes for her family from the 1986 cult classic “Labyrinth.” She dressed up in a flowing white ball gown worn by actress Jennifer Connelly while her husband, Johnny Cioara, came as Jareth the Goblin King.
Local cosplayers waiting in line to participate in Tempe FanCon’s costume masquerade.
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“I’m a pretty big fan of the movie,” Amberlyn says. “I made these costumes from scratch.”
There were also more obscure characters being cosplayed at Tempe FanCon 2025.
Phoenix resident Rachel Holden attended the event as Mara Jade, while her daughter Kiera Jefferson came as Jaina Solo. Both characters are from the “Legends” canon of books, comics, and video games in the Star Wars universe.
Meanwhile, Valley couple Lar and Lee White were inspired by some deep cuts from the DC Comics archives for their costumes. Lar portrayed Mala, the Kryptonian criminal who battled Superman in the 1950s, while Lee dressed as Liberty Belle, a superheroine that originated in the 1940s.
Lar White of Phoenix as the Kyrptonian criminal Mala, left, with his wife Lee White, right, as DC Comics superheroine Liberty Belle.
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“I really like this villain,” Lar White says. “He was basically in one comic story and that was it.”
The couple told Phoenix New Times they have a habit of cosplaying obscure comic book characters at Tempe FanCon.
“We did Emerald Empress here one year and the guy running the costume contest goes, ‘I don’t know who you are, but you got a cool costume,'” Lee White says. “It was fun.”
Here’s a look at the amazing costumes and cosplayers we encountered at Tempe FanCon 2025.
The members of Baboo Cosplay and their amazing group costume featuring characters from Disney’s 1950 animated classic “Cinderella.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Rachel Holden, right, of Phoenix as Mara Jade, with her daughter, Kiera Jefferson, left, as Jaina Solo.
Benjamin Leatherman
Glendale cosplayer Jagger Leon made a mashup of Sub-Zero from “Mortal Kombat” with Spartan armor from the “Halo” series.
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Ronin Kasai of Phoenix, left, as a Yautja from the “Predator” series with girlfriend Theresa Edwards, right.
Tempe Public Library
Gilbert residents Amberlyn Cioara, left, and Johnny Cioara, center, as characters from “Labyrinth.”
Benjamin Leatherman
Kyle Appel of Tucson as the Green Goblin from “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
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Cosplaying the scene from “Deadpool & Wolverine” with Logan’s skeleton — like dpool_80 of Mesa did at Tempe FanCon — is all kinds of wrong.
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These homeless Nazgûl are down on their luck these days, thanks to all those dirty little hobbits.
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Mesa artist and cosplayer Cosmoplayeregg created this vibrant costume of Boothill from the video game “Honkai: Star Rail.”
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Tempe resident Riley James as an angel who escaped from Heaven.
Benjamin Leatherman
Cosplayers and friends Mizz Valentino of Scottsdale and Caity Crabtree of Phoenix as characters from the popular animated show “Hazbin Hotel.”
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Cosplayers portraying Jupiter Moon, left, and Sailor Moon.
Al Sparrow
Local cosplayers waiting in line to participate in Tempe FanCon’s costume contest.
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The Force was strong with these two.
Tempe Public Library
Local artist and cosplayer CalistieArtz of Mesa came to Tempe FanCon as Cowgirl Peach from the Nintendo video game “Princess Peach: Showtime!”
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Felix Bowen of Tempe, left, CJ Jones of Phoenix, center and Kai Davis of Tempe cosplayed Koroks from “The Legend of Zelda” games “Breath of the Wild” and “Tears of the Kingdom.”
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Maggie Sanchez of Avondale and Mia.Whorror of Tempe portrayed Lilith and Lucifer, respectively, from “Hazbin Hotel.”
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Melody Tucker of Phoenix played Storm from “X-Men” at Tempe FanCon 2025.
Benjamin Leatherman
Phoenix resident Giolilies tied for first place in the youth category of Tempe FanCon’s costume contest for their cosplay of Giorno Giovanna from the anime and manga series “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.”
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Harrison Delap of Maricopa as the legendary Wolverine from “X-Men.”
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Raul Marquez of Mesa as the Hash-Slinging Slasher from “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
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Artist and cosplayer Serenity Nez of Tempe as Shadow the Hedgehog from the “Sonic the Hedgehog” game series.
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Anjali Patel, right, of Tempe portrayed Ahsoka Tano from “Star Wars” at Tempe FanCon while her daughter, Isha, was Rey Skywalker.
Benjamin Leatherman
