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Unlocking Characters

You start with four basic knights, but the game features over 25 playable characters. You unlock most characters by beating the game with specific knights or completing the Arena mode.

The Starting Knights​

The game gives you four main choices right away.

  • Red Knight: Uses lightning magic. Great for locking down enemies with his continuous shock attack.
  • Blue Knight: Uses ice magic. Freezes enemies solid, giving you time to reposition or attack safely.
  • Green Knight: Uses poison magic. Deals damage over time, which wears down tough enemies.
  • Orange Knight: Uses fire magic. Good range and area damage.

The Progression Tree​

Beating the game with a starting knight unlocks a new character. Beating the game with that new character unlocks another one.

  • Beat the game with the Red Knight to unlock the Skeleton.
  • Beat the game with the Skeleton to unlock the Bear.
  • Beat the game with the Blue Knight to unlock the Industrialist.
  • Beat the game with the Industrialist to unlock the Fencer.
  • Beat the game with the Green Knight to unlock the Royal Guard.
  • Beat the game with the Royal Guard to unlock the Saracen.
  • Beat the game with the Orange Knight to unlock the Fire Demon.
  • Beat the game with the Fire Demon to unlock the Ninja.

Arena Unlocks​

You unlock other characters by beating the single-player Arena levels.

  • Beat the King's Arena to unlock the Barbarian.
  • Beat the Thieves' Arena to unlock the Thief.
  • Beat the Volcano Arena to unlock the Conehead.
  • Beat the Peasant Arena to unlock the Peasant.
  • Beat the Icy Arena to unlock the Iceskimo.

Insane Mode​

A few characters only unlock when you beat specific levels on Insane Mode, which is unlocked after beating the game once. Be prepared for a brutal challenge if you want to collect them all.

DLC and Version-Specific Unlocks​

The unlock conditions for premium characters vary drastically depending on the hardware platform you play on.

  • Pink Knight & Blacksmith: On the original Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, these were standalone paid DLC packs. In the Remastered versions on modern consoles and PC, they are included in the base game.
  • Hatty Hattington: Historically required verified ownership of BattleBlock Theater on the same account. He is still unlocked this way on PC and Xbox. However, because BattleBlock Theater was never released on PlayStation, Hatty is available for direct purchase in the Insane Store for 1,200 gold on PlayStation and Switch platforms.