A battle to the death by audience support!

You enter the stage in an attempt to claim the audience’s affection...the louder they are, the father you go! Will you face the audience and win their hearts? Or be overwhelmed by your enemies and slaughtered in front of a room full of fans? Our beloved Mookie returns once again to host a blood bath in the name of Odin! Characters and teams will fight one on one to climb up the ranks as judged by audience support until one contestant emerges victorious - your Champion!

Do you want to see how well you’ll fare in the brackets? Fight for your honor and sign up NOW!

The winning cosplay(s) will receive a free badge to next year’s convention!

How it Works: The Death Match is a bracketed competition event where 32 contestants face off 1 versus 1 on the big stage with the winning cosplay of each match determined by how loud the audience cheers. The competitors will act out a fight on stage for the audience and the losing cosplay/team will return to their seats. The event runs for 5 rounds (46 fights in total), with each winning cosplay facing a new competitor in the next round who also won the previous round.

The ConnectiCon Death Match is a PG-13 event. We do advise parents and younger audience members to take this into account.

IMPORTANT: Cosplay Event Rules and Regulations are posted on the Cosplay Events main page. If you have not already, review these and the rules below BEFORE you apply to any ConnectiCon events. There may be something that is run differently at this convention than others that you have attended. The Convention Rules apply at all times during the Cosplay Events.

DEATH MATCH RULES & GUIDELINES

• Winning cosplayers from previous years are not allowed to compete again wearing the same costume. This applies to any cosplay that was worn in Death Match and won in any previous year.
  • A cosplayer who won cannot compete again the following year.
• Group applications may include no more than 3 cosplayers.
  • Larger groups may be accepted in special circumstances (such as two parents and two children). Please contact the Event Producer at programming@connecticon.org if you have a larger group that would like to compete.
• Accepted applicants will be bracketed by the Death Match Event Producer based on character popularity and applicant experience with this event. Brackets are arranged in as fair a competition as is possible and may be changed at any time at the Event Producer’s discretion. Please respect the Event Producer’s decisions or you will be dismissed from the competition.
• Applicants may be asked to pair with other cosplayers from the same series to create a single team. This is not mandatory but can sometimes get you into the event when you may not have been selected.
• Accepted contestants must arrive at the appropriate call time to review the rules and practice fight choreography for both winning and losing. Better acting means the audience will love you more!
• Any stage combat and choreography must be agreed upon by all competitors in that round and performed safely. Use non-contact choreography unless consent for physical contact is explicitly agreed upon by all cosplayers participating in that round.
• Contestants cannot jump or run off the stage at any time.
• Props and weapons are allowed in this event as long as they follow the convention rules and have been inspected and approved by Safety.
• Failure to follow rules and instructions specified to you before and during the event will result in dismissal from the event and can lead to a ban from future cosplay events up to and including a ban from the entire convention.

REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN

• Cosplayers must apply to be in the Death Match via the ConnectiCon website prior to the convention. No new entries will be accepted at the convention.
• All cosplayers appearing on stage must be listed in your application form. You may not have unlisted participants, and you may not add anyone to your competition group after you are accepted or waitlisted.
  • If you would like to update your application to include another cosplayer in your group, please use the Google Forms link to update it or email the Event Producer at programming@connecticon.org
• Once you arrive at the convention, you must check in at the Cosplay HQ desk for call times and your backstage access sticker.
  • Details will be emailed to all accepted competitors before the event.
  • If a Cosplay Events waiver for underage competitors is needed, it must be emailed ahead of time or dropped off at the HQ desk when you check in.
• Access to backstage areas is restricted to individuals listed on your event application. If any individuals who are not part of your competition group need to be backstage while you are competing (such as a legal guardian or disability assistant), please notify the Event Producer at programming@connecticon.org.