A secret character (not to be confused with an unseen character) is usually a playable character (though not always) in a video game that can only be played (or in some cases fought) by completing some task in the game. Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters — characters who are currently in frequent interaction with the other characters and who influence current story events — who are never seen or heard by the audience and only described by other characters. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Computer and video games redirects here. ...

Secret characters are more common in fighting games, which are fundamentally based around a set of different characters. However, they can occur in many game genres. Screenshot of The King of Fighters XI (2005, SNK Playmore). ...

In some cases, secret characters are given as a reward for completing a game (a process usually described as unlocking a secret character). The Tekken games are one example of this, as they actually provide empty spaces on the Character Select screen for characters that have not yet been unlocked. Tekken lit. ...

Other secret characters, however, are far more secretive, and can be classified as a kind of Easter egg. Some may require the player to accomplish impressive or unusual gameplay feats, and some can only be obtained by using cheats or hacks. A virtual Easter egg is a hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. ... For other uses, see Cheat code (disambiguation). ... A hack in progress in Lobby 7 at MIT. Hack is a term in the slang of the technology culture which has come into existence over the past few decades. ...

Popular secret characters sometimes return as main characters in sequels of the original game. Ayane was a secret character in the original Dead or Alive but is a main character in every subsequent installment of the series. For other uses, see Sequel (disambiguation). ... Ayane ) is a video game character from the Dead or Alive video game series. ... Dead or Alive (DOA) (デッドオアアライブ) is a video game series produced by Tecmo that is comprised primarily of fighting games. ...

Notable secret characters

• Abyss (Soulcalibur III)
• Devil Jin (Tekken 5/Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection)
• Travis Barker (Tony Hawk's Project 8)
• Akuma (Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha, Pocket Fighter)
• Gon (Tekken 3)
• Marionnette (Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower)
• Ein (Dead or Alive 3)
• Umaro and Gogo (Final Fantasy VI)
• Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII)
• Metal Sonic, Tails Doll, Metal Knuckles and Egg Robo (Sonic R)
• Most of the Legendary Pokémon (Pokémon series)
• Dan Hibiki (Street Fighter Alpha)
• Luigi, Ness, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff (Super Smash Bros.)
• Mewtwo, Luigi, Mr. Game & Watch, Marth, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf, Falco Lombardi, Dr. Mario, Pichu, Young Link and Roy (Super Smash Bros. Melee)
• Minion (Twisted Metal series)
• Reptile (Mortal Kombat) This was the first secret character in any versus-fighting game.
• Smoke, Noob Saibot and Jade (Mortal Kombat 2)
• Smoke (Mortal Kombat 3)
• Blaze and Mokap (Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance)
• HUNK (Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4)
• Tofu (Resident Evil 2)
• Zero (SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom)
• Castile, Laharl, Etna, Flonne, Salome, Valvoga, King Drake, Pram the Oracle, Lord Zetta, Seedle, Yoshitsuna, Super Robo Suit, and Asagi, (Makai Kingdom)
• Richter Belmont (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
• Kliff Undersn, Robo-Ky and Justice from Guilty Gear XX
• Alucard (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow)
• Simon Belmont (Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance)
• Solid Snake (DreamMix TV World Fighters)
• Nordom (Planescape: Torment)
• Ms. Mowz (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
• Roll, Shadow Lady (Marvel VS. Capcom)
• Fred Durst (WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It)
• Officer Dick (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater)
• Super Sonic (Sonic the Fighters, Sonic R, Sonic Shuffle and Sonic Riders)
• Bleu (Deis in the Japanese version) (Breath of Fire II)
• Devil (Tekken/Tekken Tag)
• Fake Crash (Crash Team Racing)
• Metal Sonic (Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Rivals)

Abyss ) is a fictional character designed for the Soul Series of fighting games. ... Soulcalibur III ) is the sequel to Soulcalibur II and is the fourth overall installment in the Soul series of fighting games. ... Devil Jin is a fictional character in the Tekken fighting game series. ... Tekken 5 is the sixth installment in the popular Tekken series. ... | Img =TravisBarker. ... Tony Hawks Project 8, also known as Tony Hawks Pro Skater 8 but officially abbreviated as THP8, is the eighth installment in the Tony Hawks Series. ... Akuma as seen in Capcom VS. SNK 2, illustrated by Shinkiro Akuma (demon in Japanese), known in Japan as Gouki , strong oni(strong demon,strong ogre)), is a video game character created by Capcom. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Street Fighter II. (Discuss) Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers was the penultimate release of a long string of fighting games in the Street Fighter II series. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Pocket Fighter ), released as Super Gem Fighter: Mini Mix in North America, is a fighting game released by Capcom in September 1997 on the CPS-2 arcade system. ... The gon is a measurement of plane angles, corresponding to 1/400 of a full circle, thus dividing a right angle in 100. ... Tekken is a fighting game and is first of the series of the same name. ... Dead or Alive 3 is a fighting game in the Dead or Alive series. ... Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano Umaro is a somewhat-playable character in the Squaresoft game Final Fantasy VI. He is a large Yeti (or sasquatch in Woolseys localisation) who lives in the Narshe caves. ... Gogo is a fictional character of the Square Co. ... Final Fantasy VI ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1994 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Vincent Valentine ) is a secret playable character in the PlayStation RPG Final Fantasy VII and its CGI film sequel Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. ... Final Fantasy VII ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix), and the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy video game series. ... Metal Sonic ) is the fictional robotic counterpart and a rival of video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. ... The Sonic the Hedgehog universes and continuities have several minor characters, many of whom are anthropomorphic animals. ... In the fictional universes of the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, there are a significant number of villains present. ... Eggrobo is an egg-shaped humanoid robot used by Dr. Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog series appearing in Sonic & Knuckles for the Sega Genesis. ... A screenshot of the PC version of Sonic R. Sonic R (ソニック R) is a racing game developed by Travellers Tales and Sonic Team for the Sega Saturn and PC, the latter version being ported to the GameCube in Sonic Gems Collection. ... Legendary Pokémon ), sometimes known as legendaries or mirage Pokémon ), are characters in the Pokémon franchise. ... The official Pokémon logo. ... Dan Hibiki ) is a character from Capcoms Street Fighter series of fighting games. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the Nintendo character. ... Ness ) is a fictional character and the hero of the EarthBound video game. ... Captain Falcon ) is a character in Nintendos F-Zero series of video games, co-created by Takaya Imamura and Shigeru Miyamoto. ... Jigglypuff Purin in original Japanese language versions) are one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise – a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. ... This article is about the original Nintendo 64 game. ... Mewtwo ) is one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the Japanese Pokémon media franchise, designed by Ken Sugimori. ... This article is about the Nintendo character. ... Mr. ... Marth ) is a character from the Fire Emblem series of video games. ... Jigglypuff Purin in original Japanese language versions) are one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise – a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. ... Ganon ), also known as Ganondorf ) in his human form, the King of Evil, is a fictional character and primary antagonist of several games in Nintendos The Legend of Zelda series. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Box art of Dr. Mario for the NES. The Dr. Mario series is a series of puzzle video games made by Nintendo, starting with Dr. Mario. ... Pichu ), who is Pokémon #172 (#155 in the Hoenn Pokédex) is the pre-evolved version of Pikachu in the Pokémon franchise. ... Link ) is the fictional protagonist of Nintendos The Legend of Zelda video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto. ... Roy (ロイ Roi) is a fictional swordfighter from the Fire Emblem series of video games. ... Super Smash Bros. ... Screenshot of Twisted Metal: Black. ... Reptile is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mortal Kombat was the first entry in the famous and highly controversial Mortal Kombat fighting game series by Midway, released in arcades in 1992. ... Smoke is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Noob Saibot is a fictional character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Jade is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mortal Kombat II is the second game in the Mortal Kombat video game series, and is considered by many to be one of the best games in the series. ... Smoke is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mortal Kombat 3 (also known as MK3) is the third game in the Mortal Kombat series, released in arcades in 1995. ... Blaze is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mokap is a character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. ... Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is a video game developed and produced by Midway. ... // Main article: Leon S. Kennedy Main article: Claire Redfield Main article: Ada Wong Sherry Birkin (voiced by Lisa Yamanaka) is a 12 year old girl who serves as Claires partner in the game. ... Resident Evil 2 , Biohazard 2) is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998 and the second installment in the Resident Evil series. ... Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as biohazard 4 ), is a third-person shooter, published and developed by Capcom. ... For other uses, see Tofu (disambiguation). ... Resident Evil 2 , Biohazard 2) is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998 and the second installment in the Resident Evil series. ... Zero ) is a video game character and one of the three protagonists in the Mega Man X series and protagonist of the Mega Man Zero series of video games. ... This article contains information on characters from the video strategy/role-playing games Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories for the PlayStation 2 video game console, developed and published by Nippon Ichi in Japan, and published in North America by Atlus Co. ... This article contains information on characters from the video strategy/role-playing games Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories for the PlayStation 2 video game console, developed and published by Nippon Ichi in Japan, and published in North America by Atlus Co. ... This article contains information on characters from the video strategy/role-playing games Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories for the PlayStation 2 video game console, developed and published by Nippon Ichi in Japan, and published in North America by Atlus Co. ... Makai Kingdom boxart. ... Richter Belmont from Dracula X: Rondo of Blood Richter Belmont is a hero from the Castlevania series of video games. ... Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SOTN) is a Japanese action-adventure game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation video game console. ... This article or section on a video game-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... Simon Belmont ) is a fictional protagonist in the Castlevania series of video games published by Konami. ... Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a video game created by Konami for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance system. ... Solid Snake ) is the protagonist of the Metal Gear video game series. ... DreamMix TV World Fighters ) is a 2003 multiplayer fighting game for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in Japan. ... Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) that takes place in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Planescape setting. ... Ms. ... Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the sequel to the Nintendo 64 video game Paper Mario, and is the fourth in the series of Mario role-playing game titles that includes Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. ... Roll is a female video game character in the Mega Man Classic series in its many continuities, and is largely considered to be the female lead in many of them. ... The Marvel vs. ... William Frederick Durst (born August 20, 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida) is the founder of the rap rock band Limp Bizkit. ... WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It (Exciting Pro Wrestling 3 in Japan) is a professional wrestling video game released on the PlayStation 2 console by THQ and developed by YUKEs Future Media Creators. ... Tony Hawks Pro Skater on Game Boy Color Tony Hawks Pro Skater (Tony Hawks Skateboarding in Europe), often called THPS, is a skateboarding video game, and the first in the Tony Hawks series. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Sonic the Hedgehog (character). ... Sonic the Fighters (Sonic Championship in US arcades), is a fighting game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. ... A screenshot of the PC version of Sonic R. Sonic R (ソニック R) is a racing game developed by Travellers Tales and Sonic Team for the Sega Saturn and PC, the latter version being ported to the GameCube in Sonic Gems Collection. ... Sonic Shuffle ) is a video game for the Sega Dreamcast and was Segas answer to the successful Nintendo party game, Mario Party. ... Sonic Riders ) is a racing game developed by Sonic Teams UGA Division (a second-party developer for SEGA) for the video game consoles Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and PC DVD-ROM. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic... bleu or BLEU may be French for blue A 1993 movie, Three Colors: Blue. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed compared to the rest of the article. ... Devil (sometimes called Devil Kazuya) is a character in the Tekken fighting game series. ... Tekken is a fighting game and is first of the series of the same name. ... Tekken Tag Tournament is an update to Tekken 3 and is the fourth installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. ... Fake Crash is a fictional character in the Crash Bandicoot series. ... Crash Team Racing , Crash Bandicoot Racing) is a racing game for the PlayStation, made by Naughty Dog. ... Metal Sonic ) is the fictional robotic counterpart and a rival of video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. ... Sonic Adventure DX (Directors Cut) is a video game for GameCube and PC CD-ROM. Its the basic Sonic Adventure with more stages and some improvements. ... Sonic Rivals is a game in the Sonic series, developed by Backbone Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation Portable. ...

Notable fake secret characters

The following characters are not actually playable in their corresponding games, but rumours and/or hoaxes purporting the contrary were at one point widespread:

• Metal Mario (Super Smash Bros.) (One of the non-playable characters in the game, playable via cheat only)
• Goku (Super Smash Bros.) A rumour spread out on the internet that if the player completes the game in Very Hard mode with 1 stock with Link, the player fights Goku and cuts his tail off.
• Sonic and Tails (Super Smash Bros. Melee) An April Fool's Day hoax placed in the magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly said that Sonic and Tails could be unlocked by beating 20 opponents in the difficult Cruel Melee setting. The magazine came under heavy fire after they told everyone it was a joke.
• Sheng Long (Street Fighter II)
• "All Bonds" (GoldenEye 007): A multiplayer mode feature supposedly allowed the player to use any of the actors who had portrayed James Bond in the movie series. It was originally going to be in the final game, evidenced by images for the heads, suits, and portraits found in the data, but was scrapped due to licensing issues.
• Luigi (Super Mario 64) (Later became a playable character when the game was re-released on the DS)
• Waluigi (Super Mario 64 DS) (Rumours about a black box seen when selecting a file)
• Goro (Mortal Kombat II) (Became a playable character in later Mortal Kombat games.)
• Ermac (Mortal Kombat) (Became a real playable character in later Mortal Kombat games.)
• Akuma (Resident Evil)
• Inferno - While playable in Soulcalibur I, he was not playable in II or III, although he could be used in SCII by means of cheat devices, but would result in the game crashing at the end of the match, or after Inferno had taken an amount of damage.)
• Night Terror (Soulcalibur III)
• Seymour Guado (Final Fantasy X) - Is playable for one fight. Can then be made playable using Gameshark codes. Seems like the developers had a change of mind about his role.
• Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII) - While initially playable in the first portion of the game, Aerith is killed during a key scene. Rumors abounded that, through some sequence of events, it was possible to resurrect her and return her to your party.
• General Leo (Final Fantasy VI) - The character is playable for a short time; it was said that when he died there was a way to revive him.
• Noob Saibot (Mortal Kombat 3)
• Razz Jackrabbit (Jazz Jackrabbit 2) - Rumoured to be in the game, but was later confirmed to be in Jazz Jackrabbit 3, but did not due to the cancellation of the game.
• Toad (Super Smash Bros. Melee) - It was said that if you shot all the screen credits, you fought Toad.