Cosplay truly has evolved into an artform of its own. No longer is it just fans stitching together random objects for a Halloween costume. With a bevy of resources at hand, cosplayers have made incredibly professional, awe-inspiring costumes that sometimes look better than what we see on screen. With all the blood, sweat, and tears that can go into these products, it’s nice to see such hard work rewarded. Case in point, Julian Checkley, whose Batman suit has broken a Guinness World Record.
Julian Checkley has been in the film industry for many years, working in model making, art direction, and creature effects. He’s also a longtime Batman fan, and, using his talents and resources, he spent three months in his Ireland-based studio building a functional Batman suit based off the video game, ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’. The suit earned the Guinness World Record Title for “Most Functional Gadgets In A Cosplay Suit”, as it includes 23 Bat-centric gadgets, all of which, according to the guidelines, must be integrated into the suit, and not carried as separate pieces. The full list of gadgets, many of which we see in action in the video above, is as follows:
- Fireball shooter
- Gauntlet video screens
- Bat tracking beacon
- Batsignal projector
- Folding batarang
- Grapnel gun
- Cowl respirator
- Pneumatic tranquilizer gun
- Ultrasonic anti-dog device.
- Bat shurikens
- UV lamp
- Ball bearing grenades
- Gauntlet flashlight
- Medical kit
- Battery pack
- Laser designator
- Bat-cam
- Strobe stun gun
- Gas dispenser
- Smoke bombs
- Bat flask
- Concealed laryngeal microphone
- Two-way radio
And you thought you went all out for your costumes. As to why he made this suit, Checkley explained his love of Batman and the excitement of bringing him to life.
“I’ve always been a Batman fan. He’s kind of an anti-hero. He’s kind of dark, but he’s still a good guy. And there’s so much scope to do so many fun things with the suit – I love the suit. I loved building it.”
And when asked how it felt to earn this title, Checkley seemed more than honored.
“To be a Guinness World Record title holder is probably one of the things I wanted to do since I made that first Darth Vader costume when I was a little seven-year old. It’s amazing. It’s quite literally amazing.”
There you have it, Bat-fans. You now have competition for Supreme Fan of Batman. Congratulations to Julian Checkley, whose tireless hard work clearly payed off for him.
Source: Guinness World Records
