Dragon Con 2017: Best Of The Bunny Hutch!

Though Dragon Con is technically a Friday through Monday con, the partying and cosplay is in full swing by Thursday - and nothing kicks off the weekend better than Thursday night's "Bunny Hutch." This is technically a party and costume contest in the Hilton, but it spills out into all the main host hotels. The theme is fandom Playboy bunnies, so you'll see every conceivable mashup of both bunnies *and* Heffs, ranging from hawt to hilarious. And no need to be scandalized; most of the costumes are pretty modest by Dragon Con standards, so you'll see far more skin late Saturday night than you will here. 

For example:

Bunny Bebop & Rock Steady with a Shredder Heff! Bahaha!

Some cosplayers modify costumes they plan to wear later - sometimes just adding bunny ears and a tail - while others go all out with original Bunny designs:

This Fallout bunny has the CUTEST shoes - you can just see the big yellow bows on her ankles. Also note the Vault 111 number on her hip - love that little detail.

Bunny D.Va and BB-8: 

D.Va's heels have green lights in them!

A jaw-dropping Lord of the Rings trio:

Check out the fabric prints in their ears: potatoes, maps, and Elvish script! Plus "Samwise" is holding a tiny frying pan, while "Frodo" has a glowing blue Sting *and* the One Ring! Seriously, these details are SO GOOD.

One of my favorite parts of the Bunny Hutch is seeing how creative cosplayers get with the ears especially. This Wonder Woman made hers look like a tied handkerchief:

While this Spock used enormous Vulcan ears and made me laugh so hard I had trouble focusing:

You'll quickly learn that actual bunny ears are more of a "guideline" at the Bunny Hutch, and really any pair of objects sticking off your head will work, like Loki's horns here:

Can we talk about how gorgeous this outfit it? Please? Because those feathers and that silk cape are singing the song of my people.

Thor's helmet wings work, too:

The award for Most Hilariously Wrong Mashup Ever goes to...

The Handmaid Bunnies.

This is so wrong. SO WRONG.

Though I'm digging that guy's octopus tattoo.

Tom Servo & Crow from MST3K:

Glinda the Good Witch & David Bowie's Star Child:

Pokemon & Poison Ivy:

Here's one of my two top favorite "ears" of the whole night:

 This Aqua Girl is SO ADORABLE I can't even, and the fish for ears? YES.

Here's comes my other favorite pair of "ears" - so get ready to laugh:

It's Bob Ross and a Happy Little Tree, y'all.  He has paint brushes for ears! Bahahah!

There was a lot of Bob Ross cosplay this year, btw, so I think we can thank Netflix for bringing him back into pop culture again.

This Merida & Elsa skipped the ears entirely and went for more of a Victoria's Secret Angel vibe:

Merida's wings are made of arrows, you guys(!!), while Elsa's are feathers and icy-looking branches. So even though they aren't really bunnies, I'm giving them a pass for sheer creativity.

Some Final Fantasy cuties:

That's a Black Mage Heff & Moogle Bunny, plus a Chocobo with the FUNNEST feather headdress.

Btw, John was making that couple laugh so hard it took us like five tries to get a photo. They're Epbot peeps, so everybody say hi!

The 7th Doctor bunny and a TARDIS Heff:

When I asked the guy for a photo, he pulled a TARDIS pipe out of his pocket to pose with! Gotta love fun little details like that.

Our flash bleeds most of the color out of light-up elements, but this Doctor Strange bunny's sigil glowed bright green in real life:

I'm going to get John's help Photoshopping some of that color back in for future photos; we have a lot of super-pale lightsaber shots I need to fix, ha.

A gorgeous Evil Queen:

I wish you guys could see all the fun little bunny tails, too, but photographing those could get awkward pretty fast. :D

 Speaking of, it turns out I can go FULL AWKWARD when asking scantily clad men for photos, but this Sexy Heartless was super sweet about it, even volunteering to relocate to a different side of the room when my flash couldn't pick him out of the crowd:

(That Pyramid Head Heff also had a scary nurse bunny with him, but she wasn't up for a photo just then.)

And hey, for what it's worth, every time I've worked up the nerve to ask for a photo at Dragon Con - of men, women, and all magical creatures in between - I've always been met with friendliness. So don't be afraid to ask, gang; just be respectful.

Here comes another of my all-time favorites:

Elizabeth & Booker from BioShock Infinite! I am LOVING how she split the Splicer mask so she could wear the bunny ears separate, talk about brilliant.

And finally, let's end with a giggle for you Game of Thrones fans:

 Tormund Bunny! Ha!

Hope you guys enjoyed the Bunny Hutch! I'mma go "hunker down" now for hurricane Irma. Good thoughts & prayers appreciated, since there's no telling what this weekend will bring, and it's already been a nerve-wracking few days getting prepared.

Assuming we're not dealing with too much devastation later, stay tuned for lots more Dragon Con goodies!