How to unlock characters in Mario Kart World

4 days ago 5

There are a ton of characters in Mario Kart World (50 to be exact), but you have to unlock a few of them first. If you’re rushing to unlock Cataquack or Rosalina, you’ll want to know the specifics for unlocking certain characters, as some require you to clear a cup, whereas others require you to use the Kamek item.

For the sake of organization, we’re considering character outfits an entirely different thing. We know that they’re listed on the character menu as a separate entry for each outfit, but their unlock requirements are different, so… y’know. We’re breaking it up or else this page is going to have too many entries and it’s going to be confusing.

Below we explain how to unlock all characters in Mario Kart World.

Update (Dec. 24): We’ve added Kamek locations for the various characters we’ve unlocked and added more context about the Kamek item.

Mario Kart World characters unlocked via completing Grand Prix cups

For the cups, you’ll need to play and complete the cup in the Grand Prix. It doesn’t matter if you place or not.

The following characters unlock by playing these cups:

Donkey Kong: Mushroom Cup
Daisy: Flower Cup
Rosalina: Star Cup
Lakitu: Shell Cup
Birdo: Banana Cup
King Boo: Leaf Cup
Bowser Jr.: Lightning Cup

There is no character locked behind clearing the Special Cup, which unlocks after you complete the aforementioned seven cups.

Mario Kart World characters unlocked via Kamek

Kamek-based characters are a bit trickier as it can be a bit random. You'll need the Kamek item, which is pretty rare in a normal race.

However, with the Version 1.4.0 update, you can now customize which items appear during your VS races — meaning you can set the only item to be Kamek.To do so, start a VS race in Single Player, Multiplayer, or Online Play with Friends, and switch the "Items" category to "Custom Items." Once you've done that and set all of your settings, press the A button to go to the item menu. Select the "All Off" button and then click on the Kamek item to turn it on. Now, you're free to go into one of the most chaotic races you've ever done.

Based on our testing, here’s how Kamek works:

To unlock the character, you need to be hit by Kamek. So if you are the Kamek-user and you turn others into Coin Coffers, this will not unlock Coin Coffer for you.
Kamek hits everyone in front of the player who uses it, so you’ll want to be towards the front of the pack to maximize your chances of getting hit.
If you have a moment of invulnerability (like right after you get picked up by Lakitu after falling off the track or you already crossed the finish line), Kamek will not transform you.
Kamek transformations do appear to be tied to specific courses, but we’re not 100% sure if it’s just a boost in chance to get that specific character or if some characters can only be found on their specific maps.
The courses in question seem to have a semblance of common traits, like Cataquack on Peach Beach (where you can find Cataquacks roaming around), but some characters like Chargin’ Chuck can just be found across many maps that don’t seem related to the character.

Below we list the Kamek characters along with locations that we can confirm we’ve been turned into them. There may be more locations than this, but these are the ones we can personally confirm so far.

Character

Confirmed Kamek locations

Cataquack	Peach Beach
Chargin' Chuck	Boo Cinema, Airship Fortress, Bowser’s Castle, Choco Mountain or Dandelion Depths
Coin Coffer	Peach Beach, Mario Circuit or Boo Cinema
Conkdor	Dino Dino Jungle or Faraway Oasis
Dolphin	Koopa Troopa Beach
Fish Bone	Dry Bones Burnout
Peepa	Boo Cinema
Pianta	Koopa Troopa Beach or Starview Peak
Rocky Wrench	Airship Fortress
Spike	Koopa Troopa Beach, Dino Dino Jungle, DK Pass, Rainbow Road, Dandelion Depths, or Boo Cinema
Swoop	Dandelion Depths

Mario Kart World characters unlocked via UFOs

A cow being sucked up by a UFO's tractor beam in Mario Kart World.

The final way to unlock characters is by turning into one of the UFOs found around the map. As UFOs aren't really the easiest thing to spot in Mario Kart World, this may not be the best way to unlock characters, but it's pretty helpful if you're looking for a specific character. All you'll need to do to unlock a character with the UFO is suck them up with your tractor beam, and you'll turn into and unlock said character once you leave the UFO. If there are multiple characters you'd like to unlock in one area, you'll just need to return to the UFO and repeat the process, but if the UFO has disappeared, you'll need to "reset" your world by fast traveling to a location to make the UFO quickly respawn.

Alternatively, if you have a friend who has all the characters unlocked and is willing to lend you a hand, you can also use the UFO to unlock whichever character they're playing. The two of you will need to make a Friends lobby in Online Play and head to one of the UFO locations that we've marked on the map below. Then, the player with all of the characters unlocked would switch through the roster, while the other player would use the UFO to suck them up, unlocking the character in the process.

If you've never driven a UFO before, holding down on your left analog stick will make you ascend, while holding up will make you descend. Holding down the R button will make you use your tractor beam, which will let you pull up characters, obstacles, items, and more. Everything else remains the same, so you can drive like normal!

Below, we've made a map listing some of the guaranteed UFO spawn locations in Mario Kart World that have unlockable characters nearby.

Location

Fast Travel Point

How to get there

Nearby characters

South of Dry Bones Burnout	Bowser	Immediately turn around and drive over the boosters ahead. At the end of the bridge, charge jump over the wall on your right and drop down to find a UFO on the cliff.	Fish Bone (in the water)
Between Boo Cinema and Starview Peak	Boo Cinema	From Boo Cinema, drive towards the Starview Peak racecourse. As you exit Boo Cinema and the grass is covered in snow, follow the left path until you see a large ramp just ahead of you. Take a sharp left to see two tents and a campfire on the cliffside. Follow the path along the wall ahead of you until you spot the UFO on the cliff below you.	Peepa and Swoop (near Boo Cinema)
DK Pass	DK Pass	From DK Pass, drive through the tunnel ahead and continue straight ahead, do not follow the road to the left. Follow the road ahead until you reach the turn, where you will again ignore the road and drive to the left around the railing. Continue ahead while hugging the left wall to find a UFO.	Coin Coffer (beside the UFO)
North of Mario Bros. Circuit	Luigi	Drive under the I-beam frames and take the first left. Follow this road until you see a P Switch on your right. Start driving off-road and hug the cliff on your right until you reach the UFO.	Condor (ascend the cliff to find two Condor)
Between Whistlestop Summit and DK Spaceport	Pauline	Immediately turn around and follow the road ahead. Take the path to the right where you'll see a Mario Kart banner up ahead and a P Switch button on your left. Immediately after the button, turn left and drive off-road. Continue ahead while hugging the wall on your right to find a UFO.	Spike (in the area around the UFO)
Peach Beach	Peach Beach	From the Peach Beach starting line, drive ahead and take the path on the right. Rather than following the road, hug the wall on the left to find a ramp that leads into the ocean. Continue driving along the wall on the left until you reach the UFO under the castle.	Cataquack (along the beach), Dolphin, (in the ocean), and Pianta (on a sailboat before the ramp into the ocean).