There are a total of twenty playable characters in Spelunky. You start the game with four, and you find and unlock sixteen hidden throughout the game as you play.
Some of these characters are unlocked fairly randomly, and a few are extremely specific, requiring you to search specific areas or beat specific bosses.
We will run you through the entire list, and tell you how to unlock all sixteen of the hidden playable characters.
I’m sure you already know these, but you start out with four playable characters from the very beginning.
Spelunker
This is your “primary” character, an Indiana Jones-ish (red nosed) Spelunker.
Blue
Your standard safari outfit wearing, hulihee beard donning spelunker.
Green
A curly haired spelunker in a green outfit.
Red
A turban wearing dude sporting a goatee and a red outfit.
These hidden spelunkers are randomly hidden in coffins in nearly any level of the game.
Keep playing and opening coffins, and you’ll find them eventually.
Cyan
A guy with a furry fetish, and apparently color blind as well.
Lime
A dude in a lime colored Mariachi outfit. Awesome!
Purple
A girl in a purple Pirate outfit and an eye patch. True Pirate style!
Yellow
A girl in a yellow outfit and a miner hat.
Meat Boy
A boy made of meat from the Super Meat Boy game.
He can be found near the end of the hidden Worm level, in a green pod. I’ll add instructions to find the worm level at a later date.
The Cyclops
A silly looking cyclops apparently from the interactive story “What is bothering carl?”
Can be purchased (or stolen, if you feel like you can fight off seven shopkeepers at once) in the Black Market.
The Eskimo
A pinkish parka wearing Inuk.
Can be found in a coffin in the Yeti Kingdom in the Ice Caves, which is a Level Feeling noted by the feeling “It smells like wet fur in here.”
The Golden Monk
A golden, statue looking kind of guy.
The coffin for the Golden Monk can only be found in the City of Gold later in the game. I’ll write a guide for getting to The Golden City at a later date and link to it here.
The Ninja
A ninja in a green outfit, with a Yin-Yang bandana. Reptile anyone?
The Ninja’s coffin can be found in the boss Olmec’s chamber, which you’ll find in level 4-4 of The Temple.
The Robot
What is there to say? It’s a frackin robot.. a robot with tank treads I might add!
The Robot can only be found in The Mothership, which is accessible from The Ice Caves. In level 3-4 of The Ice Caves, you may run into a Level Feeling that says “It feels like fourth of July..” which means the entrance to The Mothership is active.
Look in either the upper left or upper right corners of the level for an area with thick metal walls and a tall vertical shaft. Either climb the shaft or blow it in from the sides to access it up to the entrance to The Mothership.
The Round Boy
A plump boy in a greenish outfit.
Located in a coffin that only spawns in a Tiki Village in The Jungle. The Tiki Village has a lower chance of spawning, similar to the Level Feelings.
The Round Girl
A plump, but healthy girl in purple sporting some glasses.
Her coffin only appears in The Mines, in a Level Feeling noted as “My skin is crawling!”
The Viking
It’s a mostly naked Viking sporting a creeper stash.. and metal underwear?
The Viking’s coffin can only be found in an area of The Jungle where you receive the Level Feeling of “I hear rushing water.”
Van Helsing
It’s the famous vampire hunter.. don’t tell me you don’t know this guy?
He can only be found in the hidden Haunted Castle level which can be accessed in The Jungle.
Look for a Level Feeling in The Jungle that says “The dead are restless”, where you will search for a gravestone marked “Ash”, and beneath it you will find a Shotgun, a Crown, and the entrance to The Haunted Castle.
These characters will be given to you after you beat a specific boss, and then exit the level.
The Jungle Warrior
It’s a tribal guy wearing a loin cloth and a leopard headdress.
You’ll unlock The Jungle Warrior when you defeat Olmec on level 4-4 of The Temple, and then reach the exit.
Yang
Jackie Chan? No.. that’s Yang from the Tutorial!
Defeat King Yama in the 5-4 level of Hell, and then leave the room to unlock Yang.
Do you know for certain that any of these are incorrect? Please leave me a comment below so I can fix it!
