Most Iconic Halloween Costumes From the Last 25 Years

If you have a sweet tooth, Halloween is all about candy corn and miniature Snickers. If you’re a kid—or were once a kid—Halloween is all about the candy, yes, but it’s equally, if not more so, about what you’ll wear while receiving the aforementioned candy.

Trick-or-treating is no fun unless you can do it as someone other than you. Most years are unremarkable in that you can always find the basic princesses and superheroes trolling the neighborhood for sugar, but those same years are also remarkable when a certain costume or theme stands apart, usually based on trends in pop culture.

Inspired by the blog Personal Creations's infographic of the most popular costumes from the past 25 years, we've put together some of the most iconic looks.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Back before they were cool with a shortened name and Megan Fox sexing them up, they were just good old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—and they ruled the roost among costumed trick-or-treaters.

The turtles—named after Renaissance artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael—did what the police couldn’t, which is save New York City. And the costumes did what many parents couldn’t, which is get kids to bundle up on what can often be a chilly autumn evening.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

It’s not as if female superheroes didn’t previously exist, but they were usually fighting crime on their own, and in skirts. When the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers burst onto the scene, however, they had a girl on their team warding off evil with them, and in pants. The pink costume allowed girls to feel strong, pretty and empowered.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Want to guarantee nightmares to last a lifetime? Wear a mask that signifies evil, horror and death that everyone of a certain generation will recognize instantly. The original "Scream" movie premiered in 1996, and the character of Ghostface wore a mask fashioned after Edvard Munch’s "The Scream" painting. Ghostface wasn’t confined to a single character, rather a disguise worn by many of them who all had one thing in common: being a serial killer. Happy Halloween, kids!

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Dressing provocatively on Halloween is nothing new, but when a teenage Britney Spears gyrated through the hallways of a high school in a Catholic-school uniform in her “Baby One More Time” video, the sluttification of 14- and 15-year-olds went mainstream. If it were on MTV, it must be OK. At least on Halloween, anyway. Please? Mom and Dad?

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Reading has been around forever, although the advent of the Harry Potter series took the pastime to a whole new level when kids (and their parents) devoured the fantasy novels along with the subsequent films. Harry Potter costumes were made for Halloween, with a pair of round spectacles, black robe, wood-carved wand and carefully placed scar.

Being a Potter fan, and dressing as the half-blood for Halloween, meant you were well-schooled in wizardry and firmly against the dark arts, all while magically navigating through the dark in search of sweet treats.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

It’s rare to find a costume for boys that’s the perfect blend of naughty and nice with a dash of Robin Hood and Superman thrown in for good measure. Meet Jack Sparrow.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, played by Johnny Depp in three films, survives—and usually just barely—by expertly blending his dashing personality with his quick wit and the occasional muscle. Sure, maybe you’d rather your son chose a hero with a more legitimate job, but you can’t argue with the lack of weapons and the abundance of character.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

You may imagine that parents of young kids who allow them to watch a character who resides in a pineapple under the sea to be in need of an inexpensive babysitter—and you’d probably be right.

While, yes, SpongeBob SquarePants airs on Nick, it’s questionable whether it’s really a show for kids or it’s a more a show for adults who let their kids watch it with them in the name of family bonding.

Just because it’s animated doesn’t make it appropriate: There are some seriously dark subplots and even more annoying characters. So perhaps when this costume reigned supreme, it was more about parents making a statement of indifference then kids enjoying in dressing up as a porous dishwashing aide.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Nothing could have delighted geeky kids from the '70s and '80s more than their grown geek selves having their kids geek out on the same franchise. "Star Wars: Episode III" picked up where the franchise left off a few decades earlier, or more accurately, where it started, thereby allowing young kids at Halloween to please their dweeby dads (and moms) by dressing as Luke’s father before he would be become better known as Darth Vader.

And what better way to spend more money on Halloween candy to dole out then by saving money on a costume that you’ve been preserving since you were your kid’s age?

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Perhaps The Joker would have been a popular costume in 2008 anyway, but it didn’t hurt that the actor who played him in an Oscar-winning performance died earlier that same year. As an homage to the late Heath Ledger, the costume was ubiquitous on Halloween, thereby allowing costume-loving, villain-adoring fans to combine a knack for pop culture and a nod to a great actor who probably would have relished in taking his own biggest fan, his daughter Matilda, trick-or-treating.

Illustrations by Alex Coward

Let it go. That’s what parents of little girls (and big ones) will be saying on Nov. 1. It’s time to let it go. Please. The movie came out nearly a year ago, and yet the "Frozen" frenzy keeps gaining steam, not losing it. The icy princess made famous with a long blonde braid and some mad carving skills will undoubtedly be what Snookie was to Halloween in 2010 and Sarah Palin in 2008, which is annoyingly everywhere.

Illustrations by Alex Coward