Kirby Air Riders comes with an impressive cast of new playable characters and to unlock every single character in the game, you’ll need to complete specific objectives on the Checklist Cards across all four modes. Characters in Kirby Air Riders are basically different playable riders you can unlock and use in races, each having its own set of useful stats, specials, and Copy abilities. So, if you’re looking to round out your character pool by unlocking new racers, here’s a list of all the characters in Kirby Air Riders and how to unlock them.
Kirby Air Riders: How to Unlock Every Character
Kirby Air Riders has 21 playable characters, four of whom are available right from the start, including Kirby, Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. As mentioned, to unlock the remaining characters, you will need to complete various challenges throughout the game’s four major modes: Air Ride, Top Ride, City Trial, and Road Trip. However, each mode has its own set of rules and rewards, and not all characters can be unlocked in every mode.
Moreover, every Kirby Air Riders character comes in at least one alternate color variation, which you can get by completing the unlock challenges again and again. With all that covered, here’s how to unlock every other character in Kirby Air Riders:
How to Unlock Bandana Waddle Dee in Kirby Air Riders
Bandana Waddle Dee is one of the easiest characters to unlock in Kirby Air Riders. He can be unlocked by simply playing a match of City Trial and destroying two item boxes within the first 30 seconds of the match.
How to Unlock Cappy in Kirby Air Riders
To unlock Cappy, you’ll need to complete a full City Trial match without picking up any of the grey, stone-textured Power-Down items. As long as you avoid those debuffs, Cappy will unlock after the match ends.
How to Unlock Chef Kawasaki in Kirby Air Riders
You can unlock Chef Kawasaki in Road Trip’s Air Ride mode by finishing the Air Ride challenge three times. Alternatively, Chef Kawasaki can be unlocked in Top Ride: Mountain by topping the race by at least 5 seconds between you and second place.
How to Unlock Daroach in Kirby Air Riders
Daroach unlocks by lapping another rider and winning a Top Ride match. The easiest way is to use a fast machine, something like the Winged Starm, on a track with lots of jumps so you can create a big lead.
How to Unlock Gooey in Kirby Air Riders
To unlock Gooey, play Top Ride on the Air course and intentionally hit the tornado on every lap, then win the race. If you miss the tornado even once, it won’t count, so take your time lining up your approach.
How to Unlock Knuckle Joe in Kirby Air Riders
Knuckle Joe can be unlocked in Road Trip mode simply by powering up all of your stats to at least 1. Buff each stat once, finish the run, and he’ll join your roster.
How to Unlock Lololo & Lalala in Kirby Air Riders
To unlock Lololo & Lalala, you’ll need to finish Air Ride mode on the Crystalline Fissure course in 3 minutes and 30 seconds or less.
How to unlock Magolor in Kirby Air Riders
Magolor in Kirby Air Riders can be unlocked by hitting the same rider twice with the Drill Driver item in Top Ride mode.
How to Unlock Marx in Kirby Air Riders
To unlock Marx, all you need to do is simply spend 300,000 Miles in Road Trip mode.
How to Unlock Noir Dedede in Kirby Air Riders
Noir Dedede unlocks by defeating the True Boss and watching the true ending in Road Trip mode. This happens automatically once you complete every Road Trip requirement tied to the story path.
How to Unlock Rick in Kirby Air Riders
Rick can be unlocked in Road Trip mode once you have entered the shop three separate times. These visits don’t need to be in the same run and can be stacked across multiple attempts.
How to unlock Rocky in Kirby Air Riders
Rocky unlocks by using a total of 30 items in Top Ride mode or by opening a treasure chest during Road Trip mode. You don’t need to do this in one play session, since the game keeps track of your cumulative usage.
How to Unlock Scarfy in Kirby Air Riders
Scarfy unlocks in Air Ride mode on Waveflow Waters course by defeating an enemy Scarfy without triggering its angry transformation. Attack it carefully from behind because if it turns red, the attempt won’t count.
How to Unlock Starman in Kirby Air Riders
You can unlock Starman in Top Ride mode on the Crystal stage by finishing all four laps in first place. Just stay in the lead start-to-finish and Starman will unlock after the results screen.
How to Unlock Susie in Kirby Air Riders
To unlock Susie, play Air Ride mode and perform five perfect landings in a single race. If you’re struggling, raise the lap count, as this will give you more attempts.
How to Unlock Taranza in Kirby Air Riders
Taranza technically unlocks by winning a Short Race in City Trial mode, but Short Races don’t appear every time. The most reliable method is playing Beanstalk Park and travelling at least 5.469 yards. If you don’t have Beanstalk Park yet, you can unlock it first by completing Mount Amberfalls with a 60-second lead.
How to Unlock Waddle Doo in Kirby Air Riders
Waddle Doo unlocks in Air Ride mode on Floria Fields course by completing the track without crashing into a single enemy.
And that covers every character you can unlock in Kirby Air Riders. Now get out there and race away!
