87 DIY Halloween Costumes Inspired by Movie and TV Show Characters

Everett Collection
Photo Illustration: Michelle Alfonso
Everett Collection
Photo Illustration: Michelle Alfonso

It's OK to admit it: you already want to be your favorite TV show or movie character IRL, so why not make that dream a reality this Halloween? Whether you want to be Ariel from "The Little Mermaid," Wednesday Addams from "The Addams Family," Barbie from the "Barbie" movie, or Woody (or Jessie) from "Toy Story," you can bring your onscreen icon to life when you transform into them with a DIY costume.

No need to splurge on new items. Channel your character's cool, quirky, or unique style in a totally original (and cheap!) way for spooky season, using clothes and accessories you already have in your closet. Most costumes from movies or TV show Halloween costumes already have wildly cool looks (basically everything worn on "Mean Girls" and every "Clueless" outfit ever), so dressing the part will be easier than you imagined.

Finding easy character costumes to replicate this year should be a breeze with TV shows and movies like "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Succession," "Stranger Things," "Black Panther," "The Umbrella Academy," Star Wars, and more. Ahead, take a peek at the best DIY Halloween costume ideas for some of the most legendary TV and film characters to grace our screens.

— Additional reporting by Lauren Harano

01

Cowgirl Barbie From "Barbie"

  • Movie character costumes: Margot Robbie's Barbie from the "Barbie" movie.
02

Barbie and Ken From "Barbie"

  • Movie character costumes: Barbie and Ken from the "Barbie" movie.
03

M3gan From "M3gan"

  • Movie character costumes: The robot M3GAN from the scary movie of the same name.
04

Regina George From "Mean Girls"

  • Movie character costumes: Regina George's spring fling outfit from "Mean Girls."
05

Princess Rhaenyra from "House of the Dragon"

  • Movie character costumes: Emma D'Arcy's character Princess Rhaenyra from HBO's "House of the Dragon."
06

Shiv From "Succession"

  • Movie character costumes: Sarah Snook's Shiv from "Succession."
07

Roger and Jessica Rabbit

  • Movie character costumes: Roger and Jessica Rabbit, who first appeared in Disney's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" in 1981.
08

Deirdre, Evelyn, and Joy From "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

09

Doric From "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"

  • Movie character costumes: Sophia Lillis's character Doric from "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves."
10

Bowser From "The Super Mario Bros. Movie"

  • Movie character costumes: Bowser (who was voiced by Jack Black) from "The Super Mario Bros." movie.
11

The Ghostbusters From "Ghostbusters"

  • Movie character costumes: The Ghosbusters crew from the horror-comedy movie franchise.
12

Elliot and E.T. From "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"

  • Movie character costumes: Henry Thomas's character Elliot and the famous extra-terrestrial from 1982's "E.T."
13

Garth and Kat From "Saturday Night Live"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Fred Armisen's Garth and Kristen Wiig's Kat from their long-running "SNL" skit on the "Weekend Update" segment.
14

The Women Prisoners From "Orange Is the New Black"

  • Costumes from TV shows: The ladies from Litchfield Penitentiary in Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black."
15

Beetlejuice From "Beetlejuice"

  • Movie character costumes: The creepy titular character from "Beetlejuice."
16

Dionne and Cher From "Clueless"

  • Movie character costumes: Best friend-duo Dionne and Cher from "Clueless."
17

Han Solo and Princess Leia From "Star Wars"

  • Movie character costumes: Han Solo and Princess Leia from the "Star Wars" movie franchise.
18

Jack Skellington From "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

  • Movie character costumes: Jack Skellington from Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
19

Darla From "Finding Nemo"

  • Movie character costumes: Brace-faced Darla from "Finding Nemo."
20

Peter Pan and Wendy From "Peter Pan"

  • Movie character costumes: Peter Pan and his love Wendy from "Peter Pan."
22

Elle Woods From "Legally Blonde"

  • Movie character costumes: Reese Witherspoon's Harvard grad, pink-obsessed character from the "Legally Blonde" franchise.
23

Wednesday Addams From "The Addams Family"

  • Movie character costumes: Wednesday Addams, daughter of Gomez and Morticia, in "The Addams Family" franchise.
24

Cruella de Vil From "101 Dalmatians"

  • Movie character costumes: The iconic fictional villain from "101 Dalmatians."
25

Romy and Michele From "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion"

  • Movie character costumes: Mira Sorvino's Romy and Lisa Kudrow's Michele from 1997's "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion."
26

The Plastics From "Mean Girls"

  • Movie character costumes: Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners, and Regina George from "Mean Girls."
27

Twisty From "American Horror Story"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Twisty the disgraced clown from "American Horror Story: Freak Show."
29

Hermione Granger From "Harry Potter"

  • Movie character costumes: Emma Watson's Hermione Granger from "Harry Potter."
30

Mary Poppins From "Mary Poppins"

  • Movie character costumes: The magical English nanny from "Mary Poppins."
31

Wonder Woman From "Wonder Woman"

  • Movie character costumes: The titular superhero character from "Wonder Woman."
32

Pink Ladies From "Grease"

  • Movie character costumes: The pink ladies from the classic movie "Grease."
33

Squints and Wendy Peffercorn From "The Sandlot"

  • Movie character costumes: Squints and Wendy Peffercorn from "The Sandlot."
34

Marty McFly and Doc Brown From "Back to the Future"

  • Movie character costumes: Marty McFly and Doc Brown from the "Back to the Future" movies.
35

Neytiri From "Avatar"

  • Movie character costumes: Zoe Saldaña's Neytiri from the "Avatar" franchise.
36

Gomez and Morticia Addams From "The Addams Family"

  • Movie character costumes: Gomez and Morticia Addams from "The Addams Family" movies.
37

Effie Trinket From "The Hunger Games"

  • Movie character costumes: The colorful District 12 escort, Effie Trinket, from "The Hunger Games" movie series.
38

Mia Thermopolis and Lilly Moscovitz From "The Princess Diaries"

  • Movie character costumes: Mia Thermopolis and Lilly Moscovitz from "The Princess Diaries" movie franchise.
39

Erica Sinclair From "Stranger Things"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Priah Ferguson's Erica Sinclair from Netflix's "Stranger Things."
40

Ashley O From "Black Mirror"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Miley Cyrus's Ashley O from "Black Mirror"'s "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" episode.
41

The Child From "The Mandalorian"

  • Costumes from TV shows: The child from "The Mandalorian."
43

Lola and Bugs Bunny From "Space Jam"

  • Movie character costumes: "Space Jam"'s Lola and Bugs Bunny.
44

Sabrina Spellman From "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Sabrina Spellman from Netflix's "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina."
45

Dora the Explorer From "Dora the Explorer"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Dora the Explorer from the staple Nickelodeon series of the same name.
46

Carmen Sandiego From "Carmen Sandiego"

  • Costumes from TV shows: The titular character from Netflix's "Carmen Sandiego" series.
47

Chip and Joanna Gaines From "Fixer Upper"

  • Costumes from TV shows: "Fixer Upper" stars Chip and Joanna Gaines.
48

Detective Pikachu From "Pokémon Detective Pikachu"

  • Movie character costumes: The famous Pokémon character from the 2019 film "Pokémon Detective Pikachu."
50

Archie From "Riverdale"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Archie from The CW's "Riverdale."
51

Dorothy From "The Wizard of Oz"

  • Movie character costumes: Dorothy and her dog, Toto, from "The Wizard of Oz" musical.
52

The Terminator From "The Terminator"

  • Movie character costumes: Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator character from the sci-fi action film franchise.
53

Joel Goodson From "Risky Business"

  • Movie character costumes: Tom Cruise's Joel Goodson character from "Risky Business" featuring his iconic shirt and underwear outfit.
54

Zero From "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

  • Movie character costumes: Zero from Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
55

Ariel From "The Little Mermaid"

  • Movie character costumes: Ariel from Disney's "The Little Mermaid."
57

Billy From "Stranger Things"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Dacre Montgomery's character Billy from "Stranger Things."
58

Moana From "Moana"

  • Movie character costumes: The titular character of Disney's "Moana."
59

Black Panther From "Black Panther"

  • Movie character costumes: The titular character from the Marvel franchise film.
60

Belle From "Beauty and the Beast"

  • Movie character costumes: Disney princess Belle from the iconic "Beauty and the Beast" film.
61

Jasmine From "Aladdin"

  • Movie character costumes: Disney princess Jasmine from "Aladdin."
62

Roxanne From "A Goofy Movie"

  • Movie character costumes: Roxanne from the "A Goofy Movie" film series.
64

Batwoman From "Batwoman"

  • Costumes from TV shows: The titular character from The CW's "Batwoman."
65

Snow White From "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

  • Movie character costumes: Disney princess Snow White from the classic film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
66

Alexis and Moira Rose From "Schitt's Creek"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Alexis and Moira Rose from "Schitt's Creek."
67

Klaus Hargreeves From "The Umbrella Academy"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Klaus Hargreeves from Netflix's "The Umbrella Academy."
68

Dwight Schrute From "The Office"

  • Costumes from TV shows: Rainn Wilson's hilarious "The Office" character, Dwight Schrute.
69

Tiana From "The Princess and the Frog"

  • Movie character costumes: Disney princess Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog."
71

Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala From "Star Wars"

  • Movie character costumes: Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala from the "Star Wars" movie series.
72

Clark Kent From "Superman"

  • Movie character costumes: Clark Kent, aka Superman, from the DC film franchise.
73

Cher From "Clueless"

  • Movie character costumes: Alicia Silverstone's Cher Horowitz from "Clueless."
74

Velma From "Scooby-Doo"

  • Costumes from TV shows: "Scooby Doo"'s Velma.
75

Aladdin and Jasmine From "Aladdin"

  • Movie character costumes: Princess Jasmine and Aladdin from the classic Disney movie.
76

Slytherin Student From "Harry Potter"

  • Movie character costumes: A student from the Slytherin House in "Harry Potter."
77

Tiana and Prince Naveen From "The Princess and the Frog"

  • Movie character costumes: Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from Disney's "The Princess and the Frog."
78

The "Scooby Doo" Crew

  • Costumes from TV shows: Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred from "Scooby Doo."
79

The Golden Girls Crew From "The Golden Girls"

  • Costumes from TV shows: The beloved four-girl friend group — Rose, Dorothy, Sophia, and Blanche — from "The Golden Girls."
80

Harley Quinn From "Suicide Squad"

  • Movie character costumes: The eccentric Harley Quinn from the "Suicide Squad" franchise.
81

Indiana Jones From "Indiana Jones"

  • Movie character costumes: Harrison Ford's gun-toting explorer character from "Indiana Jones."
82

Danny and Sandy From "Grease"

  • Movie character costumes: John Travolta's Danny and Olivia Newton-John's Sandy from "Grease."
83

Rapunzel From "Tangled"

  • Movie character costumes: Rapunzel from Disney's "Tangled."
85

Kim Possible From "Kim Possible"

  • Costumes from TV shows: The titular character from Disney Channel's "Kim Possible."
86

Holly Golightly From "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

  • Movie character costumes: Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly from "Breakfast at Tiffany's."
87

Ms. Piggy From "The Muppets"

  • Movie character costumes: Ms. Piggy from "The Muppets" franchise.