5 Easy DIY Overwatch Halloween Costumes

It's that time of year again! The leaves are changing, the temperature's dropping, and pumpkin spice everything is back on the market. Spirit pop-up shops are taking over, and fake skeletons are vying with Christmas trees for retail space at Walmart.

It's October, and Halloween is just around the corner. Which of course means the advent of the annual hunt and scramble for new costume ideas -- and Overwatch has a great cast of characters to use. But their costumes can also be pretty complex at times. While it would be awesome as hell to show up for game night (or any night) fully decked out in a Blizzcon-worthy costume, we don't always have the budget, the skill, or even the time to really make that happen. 

So don't! The secret to a good Halloween costume is that you're having fun wearing it, and whoever sees you recognizes you for who and what you are.

Here are 5 different ways to DIY your own Halloween Overwatch costume! 

(Image credit to Low Cost Cosplay)

Casual Mei

It's probably a good thing that temperatures stateside have been fairly high these days and may still hold out until the end of the month -- at least if you're planning on stepping out as casual Mei from the Overwatch artbook/spray. 

The face that launched a thousand knockoff Ray-Ban sales, "Mei is bae" is source one for the eternal online in-fighting about her waistline and a million closet cosplay selfies. 

And yet... who cares? Head to the next slide for instructions on how to get this look yourself!

(image credit to Sakimi-chan on DeviantArt)

How to DIY Casual Mei

Mei's cosplay popularity is what it is because her stripped-down costume design is easy enough for a filthy casual -- and between the original design and her dozens of different skins, you can ramp up in difficulty to something even a pro would stoop to making. 

Accept it. Embrace it. The beauty of Mei (and D.Va, see later) lies in the fact that her hair is that of a real human being -- and if you're a brunette, a bun and bangs is something you can do yourself with a bare minimum of fuss.

What You'll Need:

1. Wig (if needed): Even if you needed to buy a wig for the cause, Halloween quality wig-wear can get you a good approximation without a great deal of work, cost, or time.
2. Hair Stick: A chopstick, some polymer clay, a wooden bead, some paint, a short piece of jewelry chain, and a snowflake charm will produce a perfectly serviceable hair stick. With Christmas already creeping into craft stores, finding a wintery charm won't be very hard at all. 
3. Glasses: If you want to be super accurate, visible rivets on the frame front are a must. And even if you aren't, the classic Ray-Ban look has been around so long that you're bound to find something at your local dollar store/teeny accessories store to fit the bill. 
4. Blue Spaghetti Strap Tank Top: Belly-baring is totally and completely optional. You can jazz it up like Eclair (pictured above) did with some lace, or keep true to the more athletic style of the original.
5. Drawstring Sweatpants: Gray and/or blue is the key here. The originals are gray with a blue waistband and stripes down the sides. 
6. Bracelet: Light blue/teal bracelet with a snowflake charm. If you can't find something in an accessories store post-Frozen, I guarantee you can easily make your own.

As a bonus, you'll probably already be keeping your datapad-sized phone with you at all times anyway, this time it'll do double duty as a prop. And you'll get to show up in sweatpants and still get away with being in costume. 

My advice? Bring a big fuzzy blue sweater too, just in case!

If you want a closer look at her character design (it won't help you much with your accessories, but that leaves a little room for your own creativity), you can take a look at the official Mei reference kit. 

(image credit to @theawakened_)

Child Reaper/El Blanco

There are a number of things that make Reaper so easily identifiable, but you can most likely narrow it down to the original skin's mask and his twin shot guns. Making your own mask might be a somewhat daunting prospect, but if you're too late to purchase your own mask (painted or unpainted) from a variety of online sellers, you can take a look at some of the other mask designs Reaper sports throughout the game. 

This particularly super-casual spray combines the original mask with a blank hockey mask -- a super easy find during this season's love affair with classic Jason horror. 

And trust me, if you're planning on doing a Halloween costume of Reaper, nothing is too silly. Even the officially licensed version you can buy from Spirit Halloween falls pretty short of our dark, soulless edgelord. So if you want to spare your wallet and wear something just as good, check out the DIY instructions on the next slide. 

How to DIY Child Reaper/El Blanco

When it comes to Reaper, you've got the opportunity of a lifetime to go as crazy or as cool or as casual as you want. Large hoods are a staple at this time of year, so you shouldn't have any problems getting your hands on one. Aand if you go the hoodie route, it ends up being even easier!

What You'll Need:

1. Mask: Which one depends entirely on you. Making a good-looking original skin mask might be a little difficult, and you might want to shy away from the kindergarten paper plate mask. But if you wanted to make the mask from the El Blanco/Marachi skins, skull masks are easy to find at this time of year, and you can add the extra designs and embellishments yourself with a permanent marker. 
   
   
2. Hooded coat: Or hoodie, if you're doing Halloween Kid Reaper. Either way, you'll want a big black hood to hide your head in. Ostensibly you'll want a duster for the full effect -- but if you grabbed a Grim Reaper cloak and wore that instead, no one would fault you. 
   
   
3. Guns, guns, guns! Sure you could try and use Coke bottles like the cosplayer above, or you could make something quick, easy, and light out of both cardboard/foam and paint. Keep a few more in your cloak so you can just drop them nonchalantly everywhere you go. 
   
   
4. Shotgun cartridges: No, not the real ones (although I guess that's always an option). Making the little red canisters and stringing them together won't be difficult with a little bit of spray paint (or even construction paper and glue if you want to go super low-tech) and they'll definitely help the casual observer realize just what kind of gamer badass you really are.  

If you want to add to your armor, you can cut and shape black foam to the front of your shirt, and use duct tape, cardboard, and spray paint to outfit yourself in his giant knee-high boots. They can look even nicer if you have Worbla available to shape around the framework you've already made.

You can take a look at some of the finer details in the official Reaper reference kit.  

(Image credit to Low Cost Cosplay)

Doctor Mercy

Having just lent out my own lab coat and stethoscope for a coworker's daughter's upcoming Halloween costume, I have a fair idea of how easily you can pull together a doctor costume. While this is not exactly an official costume or skin of Mercy's by any means, the Dr. Ziegler cosplay idea has spread in the wake of busy con-goers who wanted a more casual way to represent the most popular support character in the game. 

So while you could deck yourself out in full regalia, either by dropping ~$1200 for it by buying the full costume (with no guarantees that they could make it for you/ship it to you by Halloween) or by trying to make it yourself a la Chrix Design's tutorial, you're probably not going to.

(image credit to Ta-bam on DeviantArt)

How to DIY Doctor Mercy

Admittedly, Victory Mercy is an easier prospect, especially since the Greek Goddess is a staple in cheap adult costumes that you can pretty much hack together without a great deal of finesse or sewing skill. But the wings might give you a bit more trouble. So if you wan to forgo them entirely, here's what you'll need to cosplay as Doctor Mercy instead.

What You'll Need:

1. Halo Headdress: You can skimp on a lot of things, but you won't get out of wearing Mercy's distinctive halo headdress if you really want to make a Mercy. You can follow Chrix's design from her tutorial above, or hunt around for a round plastic jug that you can cut up (like a large bleach bottle) and which will keep its shape. Elasticize the bottom to fit comfortably around your head, and don't be afraid to pin it into place. 
   
   
2. Wig (Optional): Even if you're naturally a bombshell blonde, it will generally take a wig (or a lot of styling) to really make Mercy's hair pop.
    
3. Lab Coat: The key with simple costumes lies in the details. You could have a perfectly plain, serviceable lab coat (costumes stores will likely have them, if not, infiltrate your local college campus bookstore, they're likely to stock them for $10-15) but I suggest sewing/ironing on a Mercy sleeve patch like this onto one shoulder. You can also find other methods of making your own iron-on transfers.
   
   
4. Stethoscope: You can try and just check pulses with your fingers, but who doesn't love an extra prop or two? Drug stores will have fairly inexpensive functional stethoscopes, but you can find fake ones in dollar stores, costume stores, and your local Walmart-type store for less. 
   
   
5. Business casual: While the majority of Dr. Mercy's styling comes from fanart and usually features dark pants and a gray turtleneck, how you do the rest is entirely up to you. Why not burnt orange to play on her original costume coloring, while also invoking the color of the season?  

If you want a closer look at the patches that Mercy uses on various parts of her original costume, you can take a look at the official Mercy reference kit. 

(image credit to imgur)

Grillmaster 76

Long after Dad 76 became a meme, Blizzard finally broke down and played to what the fans really wanted out of Soldier 76 in the recent rendition of the Summer Games event. A number of details stand out to make this skin a gem among Soldier skins, but it's the pure simplicity of it that will make it a hit at your Halloween party. 

Soldier 76's original design isn't too fancy of course, but it is a lot trickier to mock up and make everything that identifies him (e.g. his visor, jacket, enormous gun). With this skin, you could ostensibly tote around a Super Soaker or a coffee mug as your weapon of choice and no one would bat an eye. 

How to DIY Grillmaster 76

Unfortunately, Grillmaster 76's epic combat apron doesn't look like it's actually for sale (although Blizzard did make a few for giveaway purposes). But that shouldn't stop you from being able to make you own!

What You'll Need:

1. Red Hawaiian Shirt: Collared with short sleeves! If you check out the design, he also has a 76 on the back that you can just make a cutout in red fabric for, paint on it in white fabric paint, and either sew or glue it to the back of your shirt. 
   
   
2. Tan Cargo Shorts: With pockets. Extra pockets. You can bet Daddy 76 has optimal storage capacity for all that beer. 
   
   
3. Blue Apron: You can try and fancy it up with extra combat pockets and carabiners, but the most important part is that you stencil on and spray paint "RAISE THE STEAKS" on the front, and keep a pair of tongs and spatula handy. 
   
   
4. Wraparound Mirror Sunglasses: Considering how popular these shades are these days, you should be able to find a low-cost pair at your local gas station or dollar store.
   
   
5. White Dishcloth: Leave it hanging out of one of your pants pockets for easy access.
   
   
6. White Hair Color: Temporary color sprays are super easy to find at this time of year so check out your local stores to get that grayed out Daddy hair.
   
   
7. Beer Armband: At the very least, if you're having trouble finding something leather that you can make this with, use duct-tape and/or electrical tape to simply tape it all together and to your arm!

Don't forget your water gun!

(image credit @playoverwatch)

Officer D.Va

Getting D.Va's hair right may be the easiest for all of Overwatch's ladies (except Symmetra, but Sym's more recognizeable head accessories make her a bigger challenge). And while you can find D.Va's original jumpsuit almost anywhere (including the officially licensed version at Spirit Halloween), this jump-through-my-hoops skin that you receive if you played a certain number of games during one of Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm events is far easier to pull off and make up yourself. 

Since Officer D.Va's uniform is so similar to Judy Hopps's from recent Disney hit Zootopia, it makes it even easier to find the essential parts of the costume. 

How to DIY Officer D.Va 

The only thing that might give you some trouble is constructing a fairly believable looking Asian police hat, but even that shouldn't be too hard to do!

What You Need: 

1. Baby Blue Dress Shirt: Ideally with two front pockets. This should fit you pretty well, since you're going to want to be wearing a tie with this one and won't just be letting it flop open in all the usual stress areas of temperamental button-downs.
    
2. Navy or Black Dress Pants: High waisted ones fit the bill nicely, belted at the top, with shirt tails neatly tucked in. 
   
   
3. Bunny Patch: You can find plenty of Etsy sellers like this one where you can buy a D.VA bunny patch, but you can always make your own and just pin it to the front of your shirt.
   
   
4. Wig (optional): Even if you're a brunettte with long hair, it helps to have the bangs just so. Thankfully, D.Va is super easy to style, and this kind of wig you can find almost anywhere.
   
   
5. Tie: Black and blue diagonal stripes make up the original, but as you can see above, you can play around with this color scheme without too much adverse effect. 
   
   
6. White Gloves: These are crazy plentiful during this season in costume stores and dollar stores, but you can also find them in accessory stores as well (try to look for cotton gloves instead of shiny satin if you can). 
   
   
7. Police Hat: Honestly, even if you nabbed a western police hat and wore it with the rest, you could still find yourself very identifiably D.Va. If you don't want to do this, take a look at your local teeny accessories store (here in Canada, I like looking up Ardene's) for a hat where you can modify the brim (felt hats are really easy to work with), add some braid, and draw the rest of the designs to pin to the front.
   
   
8. Makeup: What makes D.Va instantly recognizable are the marks on her face. Make sure these little triangles pop! You can use makeup or you can use face paint (this might be easier for those of you without a steady hand). If you need to, buy yourself a triangle makeup sponge from the dollar store and use it as a stamping tool.

(image credit @kiyocosplay)

And that's all for now! 

With some extra effort, there are a ton of different Overwatch and Overwatch-inspired ideas that you can DIY but how many of them can you fit in the usual time- and money-crunch of pre-Halloween madness. 

What are some other ideas that you've come up with yourself? Let us know!

Happy Halloween!