# Sailor Bubba

Sailor Bubba is the nickname for a bearded, heavyset man who dressed as Sailor Moon protagonist Usagi Tsukino at Anime Central starting in 1999, becoming one of the earliest recognizable faces of crossplay cosplay. His photos circulated on early-web forums and YTMND pages through the mid-2000s, eventually landing him bobblehead merchandise and a cameo on the TNT series Leverage.

## Origin
Sailor Bubba made his first documented appearance at Anime Central 1999, the Chicago-area anime convention's second year, where he asked to walk on stage during the masquerade costume contest after his security shift ended[2]. The event's Master of Ceremonies later wrote that Bubba was ineligible for prizes as staff but strode out in full Usagi Tsukino outfit and pantomimed lighting a cigar, bringing down the crowd[2].

Bubba was not a one-off gag but a recurring fixture at Anime Central through the early 2000s, with attendees photographing his costume year after year[1]. The nickname stuck within the con circuit before it ever reached the wider web.

- **Platform:** Anime Central (convention) / YTMND (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 1999

## Overview
Sailor Bubba is the nickname for a bearded, six-foot-plus man photographed dressed as Usagi Tsukino, the pigtailed schoolgirl heroine of the 1992 anime Sailor Moon[1]. The look pairs the character's blue sailor collar, red bow and blonde odango pigtails with a full beard and a linebacker build, and that visual gap between the source character and the wearer is what turned the photos into a long-running convention joke[2].

The cosplayer became a touchstone for crossplay, the subset of cosplay where a performer dresses as a character of a different gender[3]. According to a first-hand account from an Anime Central staffer, Bubba was a longtime member of the con's security team who wore the outfit for laughs during the masquerade, not as a bit for the internet[2]. His photos still circulate as a shorthand for the earnest, unbothered spirit of late-1990s and early-2000s anime cons[1].

## How It Spread
Photos of Sailor Bubba's 2004 Anime Central appearance were uploaded to DeviantArt, and that same year the convention began selling Sailor Bubba bobblehead dolls in its dealer's hall[1]. The merchandise pushed the character from an in-joke among con-goers to a name traded across cosplay message boards.

On November 16th, 2005, MetaFilter user aburd posted a thread introducing Sailor Bubba to that community[1]. Two weeks later, on December 2nd, a YTMND page titled 'Sailor Bubba!' set his photo to a loop of Barenaked Ladies' 1998 single 'One Week,' and follow-up YTMND pages appeared in 2006 and 2007[1]. A Facebook fan page collecting his photos launched on November 14th, 2008[1].

Sailor Bubba then crossed into mainstream television when an actor dressed in the costume appeared in Season 3, Episode 3 of TNT's Leverage on June 27th, 2010[1]. He kept resurfacing on Reddit as well, including a May 23rd, 2012 comment on the r/funny thread 'Greatest Cosplay Ever'[1]. A YouTube clip of the cosplayer stayed the main video artifact fans traded around[4].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Sailor Bubba?
Sailor Bubba is the nickname for a bearded man who dressed as Sailor Moon protagonist Usagi Tsukino at Anime Central starting in 1999, becoming an early face of anime-convention crossplay[1][3].

### Where did Sailor Bubba come from?
He first appeared onstage at the Anime Central 1999 masquerade in Chicago, where he was working as convention security and asked to walk in the costume contest for a laugh[2].

### What does Sailor Bubba mean?
The name refers both to the individual cosplayer and to the broader gag of a large bearded man cosplaying a petite female anime lead, an example of what fans call crossplay[3].

### How do you use Sailor Bubba?
People typically share his convention photos as a reaction image or as shorthand for classic anime-con cosplay, and YTMND pages set his photo to looping music like Barenaked Ladies' 'One Week'[1].

### Is Sailor Bubba still popular?
He is still a classic reference within cosplay circles, with sightings ranging from Anime Central bobblehead merchandise to a 2010 cameo on the TNT drama Leverage[1].

## References
1. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130121154921/http://threatormenace.com/2011/08/11/con-staffer-1-sailor-bubba/](<https://web.archive.org/web/20130121154921/http://threatormenace.com/2011/08/11/con-staffer-1-sailor-bubba/>)
2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sailor-bubba](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sailor-bubba>)
3. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossplay](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossplay>)
4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xC7cpjHAE](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_xC7cpjHAE>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/sailor-bubba
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