Peek inside Adam Savage's famed SF Comic-Con costume closet

Of all his costumes, Savage chose No-Face from “Spirited Away” as one of his most accessible costumes, both build- and cost-wise for cosplayers. “It's a little bit falling apart, but this is pretty much my favorite costume-wearing experience, wearing No-Face. This costume took about a week-and-a-half and cost maybe 150 bucks.” Savage said he is planning to rebuild the costume, in the hopes of making it lighter and easier to support with his body — he admitted the costume is “rough to wear on the body” given that the white face is supported by a kayak helmet. After learning that the Jim Henson Company never let actors support their costumes with their neck, he’s now thinking of how to improve the build for the future. less Of all his costumes, Savage chose No-Face from “Spirited Away” as one of his most accessible costumes, both build- and cost-wise for cosplayers. “It's a little bit falling apart, but this is pretty ... more Photo: Chris Preovolos, Hearst Newspapers Photo: Chris Preovolos, Hearst Newspapers Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Peek inside Adam Savage's famed SF Comic-Con costume closet 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

Scroll through the slideshow to revisit Adam Savage's cosplay costumes over the years.

Adam Savage's love of costumes began in childhood.

Long before he stepped foot onto the floor of a San Diego Comic-Con, dressed in one of his famously intricate cosplay builds, the former "MythBusters" host was like any starry-eyed kid dreaming up fantastical outfits.

Inspired by the 1981 movie "Excalibur" and a desire to wear mirror-polished armor "everywhere," Savage detailed how he once built a homemade suit of armor from corrugated cardboard as a child, in a 2016 TED talk he gave on his love of cosplay.

That suit of armor was one of many costumes Savage would build, and that enthusiasm has only grown years later as he has embraced his role as storyteller.

"It took me a long time to realize what my job was at 'MythBusters,' and ultimately coming to understand on a deep level that my job was telling stories," Savage told SFGATE.

"And I realized that the oldest human need is to tell and share stories about how the world works, and we are a story-obsessed culture, which is wonderful to me," he continued. "I love the stories told in film and cinema, and those tend to be the stories that resonate most deeply with me. I found really early on that there were these movies that I identified with — and I wanted to be in them."

READ ALSO: Former Mythbuster Adam Savage builds an Iron Man suit, takes it for a flight

That love of storytelling is not only now apparent in his job as a television host, but is evidenced in his Mission District warehouse. Housed within the confines of the building, often referred to as Savage's Cave — available as a "tour" on Google Maps — is not only a workshop space, but a museum of items he's collected over the years and a treasure trove of costumes he's put together for various conference appearances.

By Savage's account, he has been to San Diego Comic-Con "over a dozen years," and has since added other "Cons" to his repertoire. Plenty of the costumes on display at the Cave have all taken a turn on the conference floors of the San Diego, New York and Silicon Valley Comic-Cons, as well as other fan gatherings such as DragonCon and Phoenix Fan Fusion.

And he's built quite the roster of costumes: Savage has attended Cons dressed as Hellboy, Kane from "Alien" (with a film-accurate spacesuit and Facehugger, to boot), No-Face from the animated film "Spirited Away," the Rocketeer, Totoro from "My Neighbor Totoro," a Ringwraith from "Lord of the Rings," historically accurate NASA spacesuits, a number of characters from "Star Wars" including Admiral Ackbar, Chewbacca, an Imperial Stormtrooper ... the list goes on.

"Cosplay is much more than paying homage to a franchise that you like; it is injecting yourself right into that narrative — and it's also intrinsic that the community is part and parcel of that whole journey," Savage said. "When you wear a costume from a franchise you love out on the Comic-Con floor, you're gonna meet other people who are going to love that franchise. They are going to understand it.

"They're going to play with you, and it is a form of theater and interaction that's also really amazing, especially when you run into other people who have done the same costume and you know that both of you have chewed and suffered over the same problems."

Community. The "Savage Builds" host uses the word often when describing cosplay and Comic-Con, and it's clear that he's embraced the immersive worlds, just as much as the two communities have embraced him. Savage's penchant for bringing a cache of self-made costumes has earned him notoriety among attendees — especially in his interactions with those at the conferences — as well as a healthy respect from other cosplayers.

"Over the years, the Comic-Con floor is where other fellow cosplayers, they see me, and they just go, 'Oh, hey Adam.' And I love that," Savage said of his costumed convention appearances.

Savage recalled a time he attended Phoenix Fan Fusion, where an attendee did a double-take upon spying him.

"I dressed as Captain America [in Phoenix] which doesn't hide a lot of me: You could see my beard. I'm on an escalator, and this guy's on the escalator, and he looks over, and he's like, 'Whoa,'" Savage remembered. "And he goes, 'I was wondering if I would run into you.'"

"I was like, 'Well, it's good to see you' and he replies, 'Have a good Con.' And in that moment, we're just part of a community. And I really, really appreciate that I feel really welcomed by that community."

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Over the years, Savage has convinced a number of celebrities to join that cosplay community with him and walk the conference floor — usually incognito. Savage's more elaborate getups have afforded him some (minor) privacy while strolling the Comic-Con floor, as many of his costumes often either hide his face or require elaborate makeup. And it is that anonymity and theatrics that has drawn a few friends and TV personalities to join him, from celebrity chef Alton Brown to actor John Hodgman to astronaut Chris Hadfield.

Photo: Norman Chan Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Adam Savage in costume at San Diego...

As Savage has continued to make appearances at various Cons, it has since become a game of sorts to figure out which movie character he is masquerading as each year.

And while it may be too late to start planning a costume for this month's Comic-Con, Savage had advice for those who were on the verge of joining the cosplay world, and trying to figure out how to make that leap.

"The very first thing is to choose a costume you're obsessed with," Savage advised. "A character, a movie, a performance, a coat. To me, it's about the event of putting on the costume, not necessarily what the costume is ... what I realized when I investigated [what I like about cosplay] was that I'm looking for an experience — I'm looking for an authentic experience.

"It's about giving over to that impulse, because it took me a while to realize that the drive I had to put on these costumes was a drive for transformation, and it was a drive for deeper assurance of a narrative that meant something to me," Savage added. "I'd say, think about a character you can't stop thinking of, or somebody you identify with — or even just a coat you want to wear. Maybe it's Agent K's coat from 'Blade Runner 2049.' It's a great coat. If that's where you want to start, then that's where you should."

***

Savage will miss his first San Diego Comic-Con in years this summer, but with good reason: He is participating in two projects in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission's moon landing, pulling double duty as co-host of a National Symphony Orchestra concert event for the occasion and working on a live build of a full-scale replica of the crew hatch at the National Air and Space Museum on July 18. Still, he took SFGATE through the costumes in his warehouse and talked about each one at length.

Scroll through the slideshow to revisit Adam Savage's cosplay costumes over the years, with commentary on the builds or experiences of wearing each one to conventions or on his television shows.

Dianne de Guzman is an SFGATE producer. Email: dianne.deguzman@sfgate.com