Unless you’re a social maladroit or a weirdo who’s “not into pop culture,” it’s difficult not to love cosplay. People offering new spins on both well-known characters and deep cuts alike is one of the best cases of fair use going. For disabled cosplayer Gaby, dressing up as her favorite characters isn’t just a creative outlet, it’s a way to inspire.
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Why Gaby Loves Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon
“As a disabled person myself, I find that this movie has such great disabled representation,” Gaby told PLAYBOY. “Showing kids that you can still be absolutely epic and find ways to achieve your dreams, no matter what your condition is.”
Gaby’s crafted her Toothless cosplay over the course of months, and its quality shows in every one of these charming pictures. Anthropomorphizing the adorable dragon Toothless into a workable costume was a challenge, but a welcome one.
“I’m more of a seamstress, so the crafting aspect was so difficult for me,” Gaby says. “But I was patient, and worked on it continuously.”
For Gaby, who has over 844,000 followers on TikTok alone, one of her favorite parts of showcasing her talents is the response she gets from parents with disabled children.
“I have a lot of parents reaching out to me, saying that their disabled child saw my photos or my videos and it made them feel seen,” Gaby says. “And that to me, that’s the the most important thing ever. To know that you’re not alone, and that you have no reason to be ashamed of your disability.”
Photos by Stephane Larouche.
Who is Toothless?
Toothless is the titular dragon in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. His rider is the series protagonist Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who is instrumental in brokering a peace between Vikings and dragon-kind. His breed is Night Fury, and to date, he’s the only one of his kind we’ve seen. While his initial relationship with Haddock was rocky, the two eventually became inseparable.
Despite being adorable, Toothless is a fearsome fighter, with unmatched intelligence, stamina, retractable teeth, and of course, various fire-breathing abilities.
But you know this, right? You’ve surely seen the movie. If not…there are worse ways to spend an evening. This goes double if you have kids, or nieces and nephews to watch it with.
To see more of Gaby’s cosplay, follow here on Instagram and TikTok.
