Dressing up is a part of growing up. Little girls dress up in fancy clothes and boas and put on fake makeup and high heels to be like mommy. Boys dress up as soldiers to play war. Halloween carries the ritual a step further with costumes limited only by one's imagination.

The advent of video game characters has taken dress up to a whole new level with CosPlay, and Dallas Pursely at the Examiner.com scoured through DeviantArt to find some of the best CosPlay out there.

It is amazing the time and effort some people are willing to put into their passion. And we appreciate it, because it makes great fodder for posts like this.

(Image courtesy of DeviantArt)