“Cosplay has been a part of the UAE’s underground culture for a while now,” says Arafaat Ali Khan, lady loki costume the director of PR for MEFCC. Syed Shujat, 32, now a regular on UAE’s cosplay circuit, was one of them. That first convention, in 2012, spurred on and inspired existing cosplay enthusiasts and ­encouraged others to get involved. Shujat, who won the first runner-up prize for his efforts.