Azazel: His Origins and Cosplay

I mentioned in my Mystique cosplay post that I attended C2E2 just this last April in Chicago, but what I did not mention was that I had a fellow mutant with me. My boyfriend, Jeb, was by my side as Azazel, one of Mystique’s love interests and father to her son, Nightcrawler.

Who is Azazel?

In some traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Azazel is used as a term for a “scapegoat” or the name for a fallen angel or demon, and the latter would explain why Marvel creators decided to use the name for their red, demon-like mutant back in 2003.

Azazel claims that he is one of the oldest mutants alive and originated from an ancient horde of demonic-looking mutants from biblical times called the Neyaphem. The Neyaphem were involved in a holy war with a group of angelic, xenophobic mutants named the Cheyarafim over opposing views regarding morality.

The Cheyarafim were victorious in the war and banished the “demons” to an alternate dimension for all eternity; however the Neyaphem’s leader, Azazel, was the only one who was able to breach the dimensional void for brief periods of time due to teleportation abilities. His only hope to return to Earth for substantial time periods was by impregnating women; his children would serve as a link from Earth to his own dimension, allowing him and his people the opportunity to live, and rule, upon the Earth once more.

The Makeup Process

I have to say, this makeup was much easier to execute in comparison to Mystique’s, minus the slight blunder we had with the spray paint shown in the picture to the left (ha). It took just a quick stop to Party City for his supplies which consisted of: two tubes of red face makeup, black eyeliner, three cans of black spray paint, rubber ear tips, and a small bottle of flesh latex for scars (keep in mind is was for three days of wear).

Now, in regards to the face makeup, I was surprised that it worked so well since the blue paint I tried from Party City did not cover at all; however, it may have worked a little too well. With the Mehron makeup I ended up using, as soon as I hit the shower, it washed away by water pressure alone. Jeb’s makeup, on the other hand, was very difficult to wash off, so keep in mind that this makeup is inexpensive and offers great coverage, it does come at a slight price.

Reception

Over all, we happily took that trade-off. Our costumes were a great success, and I am very proud of how well we were able to capture the characters’ likeness, especially considering it was our first time heavily relying on makeup to complete our costumes. There were certainly plenty of double takes when we walked into a room, and I cannot even attempt to guess how many photos we took in the three days we attended the convention and even just on the street.

One of the best moments for us was meeting photographer, Corey M. Trotter. We ended up posing for him on the last day of C2E2, and boy did he surprise us with a stunning digital image a few weeks later. We were completely blown away by his skill, and Jeb and I were extremely grateful for such a great way to remember our time at C2E2 2014.