The best unlockable characters

They say that fear is the greatest motivator. “Nonsense!” say we. The greatest motivator in the world is the blacked-out silhouette of a character you haven’t unlocked yet in a game. It can be argued that there’s nothing more satisfying than adding a new character to your collection and the excitement the first time you take them out for a race, wrestle, gunfight, or whatever job needs doing.

Over the years, there has been no shortage of epic characters included in video games, ranging from silly and bizarre creations added purely as a joke to epic crossovers that bring together two worlds that might otherwise never have come into contact. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the best inclusions of all time that you had to put some work in to enjoy.

Contents: 

1. Tofu – Resident Evil 2
2. Mewtwo – Super Smash Bros
3. Luigi – Super Mario Galaxy
4. Darth Maul, Wolverine – THPS3
5. Fred Durst – WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It
6. T-Rex – Need for Speed 2
7. Shrek – THUG 2
8. Time Splitters – R One-Oh-Seven

Tofu – Resident Evil 2

The best unlockable characters are the ones that are just absurd, and it doesn’t get much more ridiculous than playing through a dark and scary zombie horror game as a giant chunk of tofu. It may detract from the ominous and sinister atmosphere, but it’s undoubtedly pretty hilarious. The tofu character appears in a minigame called “Tofu Survivor”, where you need to evade the undead armed only with a hunting knife and a bit of extra mass to absorb more damage.

Mewtwo – Super Smash Bros.

Who’s the coolest Pokémon of all time? If you said anything other than Mewtwo, you are very much mistaken (and if you said something like Machamp, you need to have a good look at yourself in the mirror). So, what could be more epic than entering the fray in this awesome fighting classic as the psychic goliath himself to knock the daylights out of an unsuspecting Kirby or R.O.B. the Robot? 

Luigi – Super Mario Galaxy

Poor old Luigi often gets forgotten about and overshadowed by his brother in his many adventures, and Super Mario Galaxy is no exception, until you collect all 120 stars and get to play as Mario Bro #2! Yes, you can even play through the entire game again as the green-capped crusader and rescue yourself from the clutches of the nefarious Bowser.

Darth Maul, Wolverine – THPS3

This game’s unlockables were so stellar we just had to indulge ourselves with a double whammy. I mean, even if this wasn’t one of the greatest staking games of all time, the chance to roll around as Wolverine would be reason enough to buy it. And then they went and added Darth Maul to boot! The sith apprentice’s stats are all excellent, except Switch and Lip balance. We guess it must be hard to balance on a ledge when the top half of your body isn’t attached to the rest.

Fred Durst – WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It

He may not seem the obvious choice for an addition to the WWF’s impressive 2001 roster, but that makes the inclusion of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst as a playable fighter all the more gnarly. To unlock the 90’s legend, all you need to do is beat 15 other wrestlers within 10 minutes in a Slobberknocker match as the Undertaker (the Undertaker used the band’s “Rollin” as his entrance song during his biker phase).

T-Rex – Need for Speed 2

This one really speaks for itself. It’s literally the king of the dinosaurs as a playable vehicle. You might have expected the developers to scale down the prehistoric titan to make it more similar in stature to the other cars, but no! You play as a full-size tyrannosaurus, dwarfing your opponents and no doubt instilling in them levels of terror they weren’t expecting when they signed up for the latest street race. Other honorable mentions from the series include a fire engine, a helicopter, and a log.

Shrek – THUG 2

While Pro Skater brought the cool characters to the party, Tony Hawk’s Underground decided to go for the memes. Yes, if you simply complete the game on Easy difficulty, you get to hit the streets as everyone’s favorite ogre and roll around on a little plank of rotten wood. You get a special grind trick that involves using earwax to lubricate the rail under you, and instead of spray-painting your tag on walls, you burp a big green “S”. 

R One-Oh-Seven – Time Splitters: Future Perfect

The Time Splitters series is known for its huge selection of wacky characters, including Eli Scrubs the hillbilly cactus, the Shoal – a top-hat-wearing whale – and the iconic Monkey. However, there’s one character that is sure to win your heart over all the others – R One-Oh-Nine – just a regular fella who think’s he’s a robot and wears a cardboard costume to complete the effect. He’s a great pick for a multiplayer clash as you’d have to be pretty cold-hearted to try and kill this loveable rogue with his beeps and boops.