Thanks to all the fans who visit the Inven Global cosplay page. We have been working on a series of interviews with popular Korean cosplayers. This time, we’re back with 용산의빵테온(DragonBread), one of the most popular cosplayers in the scene. We hope you enjoy this interview, looking into who 용산의빵테온 is behind his costumes.

Hi, please introduce yourself to worldwide readers.

Hello, I’m the guy who made Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck cosplay Pantheon.

Isn’t this your first time being interviewed for foreign readers? How does it feel?

I’m really nervous. It’s been about 4-5 years since I had an interview for Korea as well. It’s been a long time, and I’m even more nervous since you tell me this interview is going out in English.

You do a lot of unusual cosplays so the official broadcast often catches you on screen. Foreign LoL fans might recognize you. How did you first start cosplaying?

At first, I wanted to find something to cosplay with two people rather than just myself. That was how the Annie-Tibber was created. I don’t remember exactly if I used the official illustration for reference. The illustrations for NA and China were different and I think I looked at the Chinese one. The one where Annie is riding Tibber. That was the start. I thought it could look more like the actual illustration if I really had Annie on my back.

A lot of game characters are good looking so the cosplay scene is more about beauty. But compared to the trend(?), you attract eyes through a unique image. How does it feel when you see people react to your cosplay? Was there a reaction you remember specifically?

It’s fun. I enjoy it. When Worlds was held in Korea in 2014, I cosplayed a turret. When in the turret outfit, I’m about three heads taller than other people so I get to hear people around me talk on the phone. I remember hearing someone say, “I’m at the turret next to the vending machine, come here.” I became like a landmark. I thought, ‘You won’t meet here, I’m going to move.’

How do other cosplayers react to your cosplays?

Occasionally, there were people who thought I’m a weirdo, so they tried to avoid me, but now that I’ve been maintaining this unique concept for several years, they’re more natural around me. My friends also tell me I’m nuts.

What’s the most enjoyable about cosplaying for you?

I enjoy the atmosphere of the scene. When I go to the scene, many usual fans feel awkward around cosplayers, but in my opinion, the best part about cosplaying is that anyone can do it. I want to do cosplays that everyone can enjoy together.

I usually aim for lowering the level of difficulty of cosplays. It’s not that I don’t do cosplays that require more work for higher quality like Urgot, but I don’t hesitate to do cosplays that are a lot lower quality as well. For example, there’s my ‘Getting Over It’ cosplay. All I did was buy the pot.

Also, you can do enough cosplays with just the goods that can be bought from the Riot store. Although it’s been discontinued, the Tibber outfits or Fizz outfits are examples. Recently, I’ve been planning to use the Maokai or Urf Onesie pajamas to its fullest.

Which cosplay that you’ve done up to now do you treasure the most?

First is Pantheon and the second is the Scuttle Crab. Nothing was as easy as the Scuttle Crab cosplay. It felt even easier because the previous cosplay was Urgot.

What’s the hardest thing doing cosplays?

The cosplay itself, the turret was the most difficult. I wasn’t just standing, I made a structure and stood on top of that, so it was harder. If I excelled at making such things, I could have had better quality, but I didn’t have time. I almost fell down. But it still came out alright.

The hardest moments, others would have the same thought. The process could be scheduled properly, but there could be issues on the day of the event. Maybe there could be too much traffic… And since I often do cosplays that take up a lot of room, I need to call a truck and the delivery man could get lost. In 2018 at Worlds, the delivery man got lost and I was late an hour.

Are there cosplays that you’ve referred to because they were so good? Or had a good impression?

In Korea, Ekiholic and Pion are excellent in interpreting and expressing the characters, so I’m fascinated by them. Out of the country, I look up cosplays in forums. The most interesting cosplay was the person who cosplayed Corki in an electric wheelchair.

Were there cosplays that you wanted to do but couldn’t? Or are there cosplays that you’d like to do someday?

In 2018, I tried to do a Baron Nashor cosplay, but I didn’t have enough time and it rained too much, so I wasn’t able to make it. So I transitioned to the cannon minion. I’d really like to try Baron again.

I recently thought of cosplaying Sejuani and Bristle. With Sejuani riding my back. I also want to cosplay the 10-year Annie-versary Teemo in high quality. Blue and Red buff too. Whenever I think of what to cosplay this time, Blue and Red buffs are always on the list, but they are always pushed back.

Is there a specific cosplay you’re planning recently?

The Star Guardian Urgot. Another one is minions. Before, I did a single minion, but this time, I want to try cosplaying a whole wave. I’ll probably need about 14 people including both the blue and red sides. If other cosplayers join me, it would literally be the laning phase. If it’s combined with Nexus Seige, maybe the Nexus can get up. It would be like a diorama cosplay. Then, the audience could join our cosplays naturally and have fun.

What kind of cosplayer do you want to be considered as?

There are already people who think of me as I want to be considered; I want to be remembered as a fun and cheerful person.

You said that you aim for easy cosplays. Any words of advice to cosplay beginners who haven’t yet properly started?

I think you shouldn’t be too conscious of how other people see you. When I did a certain cosplay, it was what I wanted to do, even if there are people who criticize me for low quality. If you’re satisfied, that’s all you need. I had a Spartan cosplay with my friends in a native Korean village and that got viral on the internet. Anything can happen.

Have there been people who copy you?

There hasn’t been anybody that copied me yet. There are people who misunderstand, though. When we did the Spartan cosplay, we aimed for low quality. One day, there were people who went to the native Korean village wearing a very real-looking Roman elite soldier armor. People thought they were one of our members. I talked with those people, and they weren’t copying us. It was kind of awkward.

If there are more people who attempt interesting cosplays as I do, I think the cosplaying scene can get bigger. More people would make synergies as in TFT.

Lastly a word to the readers?

Thank you for reading this interview. There should be some pictures included in this interview; you may have thought each of them is different people, but they’re all me. (Laughs) Now that you know, there will be more coming up in Korea, so please remember me and have fun watching.