Papyrus is a major character in the 2015 indie game Undertale.
The game itself is a rather simple game. Just a 2-dimensional ‘top-down/bird’s eye’ perspective action-RPG. It was made using the Gamer Maker: Studio game engine by Toby Fox. However, despite its simplicity it has garnered a sizable following of loyal fans.
And that’s where we start here with our focus today.
The character of Papyrus.
Although you generally don’t need any background information regarding the character itself for strictly just Cosplaying/dressing up purposes. It’s certainly helpful to at least be able to talk a little about the character itself and just who exactly they are if you are ever asked about them...besides...it would look kind of bad on your part to not know anything about your own character.
So here it is!
Papyrus is:
1) The brother of Sans (a boss character).
2) His primary motive in the game is to capture a human so that he can become a part of the Royal Guard (who are defenders of the Underground).
3) He’s a skeleton (obviously) who wears a “battle body” that includes a: (1) white chest, (2) orange-red gloves, (3) blue briefs, and (4) knee-high orange-red boots.
4) He is flamboyant, confident, and charismatic to many.
5) The player chops his head off.
6) And he likes to cook spaghetti in his spare time.
OK let’s move on to the good stuff...the costume itself!
Here’s what you need to pull off a Papyrus costume
1) Football shoulder pads
2) Red scarf
3) Red mittens
4) Red boots (tall ones)
or these sweet red wrestling boots if you can find them somewhere...
5) Gold athletic tape
6) Blue shorts
7) OR Blue boxers with gold waistband
8) A skull mask
9) And a skeleton halloween costume
Now you’ve probably noticed that the specific items you are getting are not quite ‘accurately’able to mimic the look of the character.
Don’t worry! There are things you can do to modify these parts into an awesome Papyrus costume.
How to modify your stock costume pieces into a better looking Papyrus costume
1) Use white cloth, white tape, and white paint/spray paint over the surface area of the football pads to more closely resemble Papyrus’ chest piece. Simply begin by wrapping cloth gently but tightly around the pads as best as you can. You can use a safety pin to ‘tie’ ends together. Then use the white tape over the surface area as well. The cloth will prevent the tape from following the contours and the shape of the pads too closely, but instead provide a more uniform and ‘even’ look. Finally, use either white paint or white spray over the tape to cover any ‘lines’ of the tape.
NOTE: It should go without saying that the actual skeleton costume as well as the skull mask should go on first, and not be near the football pads when doing the above step.
And now for the rest of the instructions on how to actually put on your costume:
1) Tie your red scarf around your neck.
NOTE: You may want to consider just simply using a piece of red cloth instead of an actual scarf...scarves can be very expensive and they also may lack the overall necessary amount of fabric to properly mimic a red cape. Which is what Papyrus is wearing.
2) You may wear the blue boxers with gold waistband by themselves or if you prefer a more modest approach and appropriate look (maybe there’s going to be kids around), then simply wear the blue gym shorts first and then put on your blue boxers with the gold waistband. The gym shorts should be small enough so as to not extend too far down...alternatively, simply test out this configuration first and then cut the blue shorts to the length you want.
3) Wrap the gold athletic tape around the wrists (upper arms right where the shoulder begins to turn into the bicep/triceps if you want as well...you may also wrap another ‘circle’ at the bottom of the football pads or even below it onto your skeleton costume as well...although this second method may not always ‘fit’ right).
4) OK, now just put on the red mittens and boots.
And there you go!
One complete and (relatively) affordable, do-it-yourself cosplay costume of Papyrus from Undertale.