The phrase “Bob Ross God of War cosplay” probably isn’t the first thing that would come to most people’s minds when trying to think up what to wear to their next convention. After all, Bob Ross is one of the most calming presences in television history – known by many as the father of ASMR for his relaxing, upbeat presentation and gentle brush strokes. God of War’s Kratos, on the other hand, is… not. He is, in fact, perhaps the angriest figure in the history of videogames.
Combining Sony’s furious father with the soothing artist, then, is rather a stroke of inspiration on the part of Reddit user bradleyb623, who shared his delightful DragonCon outfit to the Cosplay subreddit. It combines the iconic soft, fluffy permed hair sported by Bob Ross with the pale-faced look and iconic red marking associated with Kratos (and, of course, a rather magnificent beard).
The outfit skews much more Ross – a loose blue shirt and jeans – but the look is rounded out by the equipment, which draws inspiration from the axe and shield wielded by Kratos in the 2018 God of War. However, Brad reimagines them as a giant paintbrush and palette, as so often sported by Ross. There’s many of his favourite colours there, of course – from Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Yellow to Bright Red and, of course, Prussian Blue. Sadly, there’s no Titanium White on show, but it looks like some may have been used to craft some of the remaining colours. The whole thing is brought to life with Brad’s fantastic expression, which perfectly captures the roaring fury of Kratos.
We can’t lie – as soon as we laid eyes on this we burst out laughing at the wonderful ingenuity of it. Whether it was planned from the start or a happy little accident, Brad’s cosplay proves that you can do anything, as long as you believe. And perhaps it’s not quite the mismatch in tone that it first appears – after all, who better to beat the devil out of something than the God of War?
God of War mods are relatively new, but that hasn’t stopped users from making Master Chief vs Doom Guy in the RPG game. We’re expecting to see more Sony PlayStation exclusives on PC in the future after great initial sales – take a look at the Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered system requirements to see what it takes to run Sony’s latest PC offering. If you prefer your cosplay in-game, one Lost Ark character creation expert showcased a range of celebrity models they’ve created including the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift.