The 25 Best Secret Video Game Characters Ever

A lot of the video game industry is built on secrets. Developers are constantly adding easter eggs, secret levels, and sometimes entire secret endings to their games. One of the best ways this comes about is through secret characters. If a game has a good-sized roster of playable protagonists, there’s a solid chance the developers have snuck in a few secret characters as well. These characters can run the gamut from prominent figures to strange crossovers to wacky jokes. Here is a list of the strangest, silliest, and most spectacular secret characters you can unlock in 25 different video games.

Diddy Kong Racing: Drumstick

The beloved Diddy Kong Racing has more than its fair share of beloved characters, and Drumstick is one of the best. The character is referred to in the manual as a top-tier racer, and possibly the best hope for defeating the game’s antagonist Wizpig. Unfortunately, for most of the game, he is mysteriously absent. In reality, the sinister sorcerous hog has transformed Drumstick into a frog. One of the most surprising things about Drumstick is how he is unlocked. To break the spell and return this legendary racer to his proper rooster form, you have to run him over with your car. Once you do so, he’s free to join the fight, and you can take advantage of his powerful stats for yourself.

God of War: Chains of Olympus – Spud of War

The infamous Spud of War from God of War: Chains of Olympus isn’t technically a character. Kratos remains Kratos as he wears this ridiculous ensemble. But it’s hilarious enough for an inclusion anyway. The Spud of War costume, true to form, makes Kratos dress up as a baked potato. The potato’s peel is carved away in a pattern reminiscent of his iconic tattoos. He fights with a pair of potato peelers instead of his signature Blades of Chaos. You unlock this hilarious costume by beating the game, and replaying it with the spud costume will take a lot of gravitas out of Kratos’ bloody quest.

Tekken 3: Gon

The adorable Gon is the silent protagonist of a manga series of the same name. It follows his quest for survival and, more importantly, food in his prehistoric home. Oddly enough, in 1997, Gon took a break from this and appeared in Tekken 3 as a truly bizarre secret character. The tiny dinosaur can be unlocked by beating him in Tekken Ball or by achieving a high score in Survival mode and inputting the name “Gon.” His tiny size gives him a considerable advantage in combat as he is much harder to hit than most characters.

Fighting Vipers: Pepsiman

Pepsiman is one of the most infamous pop culture figures in the world. This absurd character is a walking advertisement for Pepsi, appearing amidst fanfare to shill for the carbonated soft drink. He got his own licensed game in 1999, but before that, he had a much more surprising appearance. Fighting Vipers is a 1995 fighter created by Sega, and the Japanese version included the illustrious Pepsiman in its roster. To unlock this ridiculous product placement, you simply had to load up a stage in arcade mode and let the computer beat you. This is a fittingly absurd method for this absolute joke of a character.

WWE 2K16: The Terminator

The Terminator isn’t exactly a secret character, but it’s still strange enough to warrant inclusion. This legendary pop culture figure was included in WWE 2K16 as a pre-order bonus. The pack came with two versions of the iconic killer robot, from the original film and Terminator 2: Judgement Day respectively. 2k happily advertised their preorder bonuses. However, this exclusivity did mean that it was still a surprise for fans who didn’t preorder when they found themselves in the ring with the Terminator himself.

Soul Calibur 4: Yoda

The Soul Calibur franchise is no stranger to crossovers. The GameCube version of Soul Calibur II famously included Link, the hero of the Legend of Zelda franchise, for instance. But Soul Calibur 4 took things in a decidedly stranger direction when it introduced Jedi Master Yoda, the iconic Star Wars character. This legendary figure can be unlocked with a special code in-game, and he was also paid DLC in the PS3 version. Yoda, like the aforementioned Gon, is a surprisingly powerful character due to his very small size. This renders him immune to grabs and most high-reaching attacks. To balance things out, Yoda frequently indulges in the acrobatic leaps and spins he displayed in Revenge of the Sith.

Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport – Barney the Dinosaur

Xenophage: Alien Bloodsport is a strange fighting game from 1995. It features a variety of alien creatures kidnapped by the enigmatic Council and forced to battle each other. Almost thirty years after its release, when it might have been buried by dozens upon dozens of subsequent fighters, Xenophage still has one unusual claim to fame. The title includes Barney the Purple Dinosaur, an iconic children’s entertainer, as a fighter. Technically he appears as Blarney, a legally distinct, copyright-compliant version of the figure, but he still throws it down. However, the developers don’t seem to have had a particularly high opinion of the children’s mascot. Barney, or Blarney, falls over after one hit, and you can then freely beat him down.

Fighters Megamix: Hornet

Another vintage fighting game is Fighters Megamix, released by Sega in 1995. Like a sort of proto-Super Smash Bros., Fighters Megamix was a crossover. It combined characters from several Sega arcade fighters, giving them all a chance to throw down. One guest character was the Hornet, a race car from Daytona USA. This car makes for a very surprising sight reared up on its back wheels, and it has also been scaled down to avoid dwarfing the other fighters. Throughout a battle, opponents can punch the chassis away from the Hornet, revealing the engine within and even altering the car’s moves.

Saints Row: The Third – Toilet

If any game will let you play as a toilet, it would have to be Saints Row: The Third. The game is infamous for its immature jokes and irreverent humor. Throughout Saints Row: The Third’s wacky campaign, your character will have cause to disguise themself as a toilet. This preposterous disguise goes even further if you beat the game. Doing so unlocks the ability to play through the entirety of Saints Row: The Third again, but this time as a toilet.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance – Mokap

The Mortal Kombat franchise is infamous for its secret characters but in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, the series outdid itself. Mokap is a human man in a motion capture suit. As his appearance might suggest, Mokap is a somewhat generic fighter, without his own unique fatalities and moves. He was created as an homage to real-life motion actor Carlos Pesina, the actor who portrayed Raiden in the original games. He may not be as flashy as Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but Mokap is a charming tribute to the hardworking actors who made this iconic franchise possible.

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga – Indiana Jones

The LEGO Star Wars games represented a truly charming piece of foundational video game history. The ability to play through the plots of your favorite sci-fi movies in LEGO form was a delightful experience for a lot of young gamers. This delight was heightened even more by the countless easter eggs and secrets hidden throughout the game. One such secret was a LEGO form of Indiana Jones himself. To unlock him, all you had to do was go into a bonus room at the hub and watch a trailer for LEGO Indiana Jones, an upcoming game from the same developer. After the trailer ended, you could purchase Indy and use his whip and pistol in a galaxy far, far away.

Skate 3: Meat Man

Meat Man is unquestionably one of the strangest entries on this list. The otherwise straightforward skateboarding simulator of Skate 3 gets turned on its head when you unlock this character. As the name suggests, Meat Man is a slab of meat riding a skateboard. To unlock him, you must simply beat all the Hall of Meat challenges in the game, most of which require you to fall off your board in the most graphic and alarming ways possible. Once you’ve done that you too can hit the skate park as a rough slab of raw meat.

Wii Punch-Out: Donkey Kong

The Punch-Out franchise has a long and venerable history stretching back to the earliest days of gaming. When Nintendo released a new entry for the Wii, the history of Punch-Out became intertwined with that of another figurehead of classic gaming. The iconic Donkey Kong waits as an opponent at the end of the road in Last Stand and Exhibition Mode. Donkey Kong is the toughest challenger in the game. With his gorilla strength, he can bring you down with just one blow. You’ll have to constantly stay on your toes if you want to avoid being brought low by this legendary ape.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2: Spider-Man

The Tony Hawk franchise set the bar for skateboard video games in a lot of ways. Including wacky secret characters was one of them. You unlock one of the most iconic in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 by getting 100% on Career Mode with a created skater. Doing so allows you to play as the legendary web-slinging superhero Spider-Man. The character’s famous agility lends itself well to the high-flying stunts and tricks of Pro Skater 2. That and the effort required to obtain the hero in the first place makes Spider-Man something of a badge of honor for fans of the game.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Akuma

The legendary Akuma is one of the most daunting figures in the entire Street Fighter franchise. This menacing warrior lurks as a hidden boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, who will face you at the end of a long winning streak if you impress him. Using a long and convoluted series of inputs, however, you can also play as this formidable warrior. The exact process changes depending on which version you’re playing. For instance, if you have the 30th Anniversary Collection, you can learn how to play as Akuma from this GameFAQs post. However you unlock him, Akuma is an absolute beast in combat, and a huge trial to overcome.

Super Smash Bros. Melee: Mewtwo

Nintendo games are a hotbed for secret character rumors and urban legends. When Super Smash Bros. Melee came out many fans claimed that it was possible to unlock Toad from the Mario games, but this has been soundly debunked. One secret character that DOES exist in the game is Mewtwo. This iconic Psychic-type creature is one of the most prominent faces in the Pokémon franchise. Even though his moveset in Melee wasn’t stellar, he was still a popular inclusion. Melee was considerably lighter on Pokémon characters than more recent games, so the appearance of Mewtwo made a lot of fans happy.

Need for Speed 2: T-Rex

1997’s Need for Speed 2 is a fairly straightforward racing game with an emphasis on exotic luxury cars. It becomes considerably less straightforward, however, with the use of cheat codes. There are some pretty outlandish options, but the most memorable code is definitely TREXME. As you might guess, this code lets you ride a Tyrannosaurus Rex down the streets of Need for Speed 2. The towering reptile makes for a truly commanding presence and a very unique racing experience.

Super Mario Galaxy: Luigi

Luigi plays a pretty prominent role in Super Mario Galaxy. The perennial sidekick sets out to aid his brother in collecting Power Stars but routinely gets trapped in levels throughout the game. If you want to help Luigi recover from his nonstop streak of bad luck, you just need to obtain every power star in the game, including the ones Luigi finds on his ill-fated missions. Completely 100%ing the game in this manner will let you play as the green brother on a subsequent playthrough, shaking up the experience in a big way as you travel through space.

NBA Jam Tournament Edition: Bill & Hillary Clinton

The NBA Jam franchise was a classic series of arcade sports action. Unlike modern AAA sports sims, NBA Jam understood that sometimes devotion to realism isn’t as important as a bombastic sports matchup. To that end, not only did NBA Jam defy physics at every turn, but it also included some of the most preposterous characters to ever grace the courts. 1994’s NBA Jam Tournament Edition brought this to a head by including former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary as playable characters. You had to enter special cheat codes to unlock them, but when you did, they would handle the ball just like the pros.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walkers – Hideo Kojima

The increasingly convoluted lore of the Metal Gear Solid series means that it’s hard for any secret to compare to the actual main events of the franchise in terms of strangeness. That said, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker does have one secret character that might take the cake. While searching a garage full of trucks for explosives, you can open one truck to encounter legendary developer Hideo Kojima himself. Kojima will cheerfully greet the character he created, and go on to appear as a recruitable soldier for future operations.

Super Mario 3D World: Rosalina

While Super Mario 3D World hasn’t earned quite as much acclaim as other titles in the Mario franchise, it’s still a standout title. It’s also full of secrets. Beating the entire game will unlock Star World, an expansive series of bonus levels. If you beat Star World’s second level, you can even unlock a new playable character. Rosalina is not only a special treat for Super Mario Galaxy fans, but she’s also considerably powerful. The character has a special spin attack that can prove instrumental if you’re corned by enemies without a power-up. It takes a long time to get to her, but this cosmic princess is well worth the wait.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3: Doom Guy

The aforementioned Spider-Man is far from the strangest character to appear in a Tony Hawk title. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 included Doom Guy, the dour space marine at the heart of the iconic Doom franchise. This legendary warrior can be unlocked by entering the code “idkfa” in the cheats menu. This is, incidentally, the same code that unlocked all weapons in the original game. This easter egg is a delightful tribute to one of gaming’s greatest characters, and it doesn’t hurt that the Doom Slayer can absolutely shred a half-pipe.

Resident Evil 2: Tofu

The Resident Evil franchise is rich with gripping horror action and frightening monsters. But things take a turn for the bizarre in Resident Evil 2’s secret minigame, The Tofu Survivor. This is a surreal and bizarre take on The 4th Survivor, a related minigame from the same title that tasks you with escorting an Umbrella Corp soldier to safety and escaping a horde of zombies. The protagonist of the Tofu Survivor is, unsurprisingly enough, a walking block of tofu. The reasoning behind this bizarre inclusion is unknown, but it certainly makes for an entertaining diversion from the grim main game.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Toon Link

Like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Brawl has its fair share of secret, unlockable characters. New fighters will constantly appear to challenge you as you play, but if you want to take them on early, there’s another way. Many fighters are hiding in the game’s expansive story mode, Subspace Emissary. If you find their hidden doors, you can challenge these secret characters before they challenge you, and unlock them early. One such character is Toon Link, an alternate take on the iconic hero of Hyrule that’s more faithful to his appearance in the hit game The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This charming design makes Toon Link a popular character, and the slight tweaks to his moveset when compared to his counterpart make him a particularly dangerous fighter.

Mortal Kombat: Reptile

It wouldn’t be right to list secret characters without including the one who started it all. The iconic Reptile would periodically appear to players of the original arcade game and taunt them with cryptic hints and instructions. Following these instructions required a lot of patience and care, but players were eventually rewarded with a fight at the bottom of a pit. Reptile himself is a brutal adversary, combining the most powerful moves from both Sub-Zero and Scorpion. This gnarly fighter is arguably the first secret character to ever appear in a game, and the challenge he presents is more than worthy of that legacy.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Promotional image for Saints Row: The Third.