Characters


Nuclear Throne has 13 normally playable characters that each have their own unique active and passive abilities. Two of these are unlocked by default while the other ten must be unlocked through either area progression or secrets. Each character can unlock their own golden weapon, any crown and a unique alternative skins (B-Skins and C-Skins).

There are also 3 characters that are considered secret and are not played through normal means, and can't utilize their unlocks. These characters should be considered additional content and aren't actually balanced compared to normal characters.

A character's active is an ability that comes into effect when clicking the active button (right mouse button), while their passive is something that always comes into effect automatically. Some characters have negative passives along with positive ones. Each character also has a unique Throne Butt ability that enhances their active in some way.

This page will brief over every character based on their in-game descriptions. Each character page will go fully in-depth on their unlock, abilities and mechanics.
There are also strategy guides that gives advice on how to play as that character, this is subjective advice and does not have to be followed!

Strategy guides will give a rough rating based on how useful a certain power is.


Strategy Guide Ratings

Meta Defining Extremely beneficial to the run
Very Useful Significantly helps the run
Useful Usually benefits the run
Somewhat Useful Only sometimes benefits the run
Neutral Has minimal impact on the run
Detrimental Actively hurts a run

Note: Many character sprites are upsized for better viewing, meaning they are not completely accurate to how they are seen in-game.


Normal Characters

Fish

  • Unlock: Default
  • B-Skin: Loop With Every Character
  • C-Skin: Unlock all B-skins
  • Active: Can Roll
  • Passive: Gets More Ammo
  • Throne Butt: Water Boost
  • Ultra A: Confiscate
    • Enemies Sometimes Drop Chests
  • Ultra B: Gun Warrant
    • Infinite Ammo The First 7 Seconds After Exiting A Portal
Crystal

  • Unlock: Default
  • B-Skin: Reach 4-? As Crystal
  • C-Skin: Survive over 100 damage as Crystal
  • Active: Can Shield
  • Passive: More Max HP
  • Throne Butt: Teleportation; Shorter Shielding
  • Ultra A: Fortress
    • +6 Max HP
  • Ultra B: Juggernaut
    • Move While Shielded
Eyes

  • Unlock: Reach 2-1
  • B-Skin: Reach 2-? As Eyes
  • C-Skin: Reach the Nuclear Throne without firing a shot as Eyes
  • Active: Telekinesis
  • Passive: Sees In The Dark
  • Throne Butt: Stronger Telekinesis
  • Ultra A: Projectile Style
    • Telekinesis Holds Your Projectiles
  • Ultra B: Monster Style
    • Push Nearby Enemies Away When Not Using Telekinesis
Melting

  • Unlock: Die
  • B-Skin: Defeat The Nuclear Throne As Melting Without Taking Rhino Skin Or Strong Spirit
  • C-Skin: Have 12 mutations as Melting
  • Active: Explode Corpses
  • Passive: Less Max HP; More Rads
  • Throne Butt: Bigger Corpse Explosions
  • Ultra A: Brain Capacity
    • Blow Up Low HP Enemies
  • Ultra B: Detachment
    • 3 More Mutations; Lose Half Of Your HP
Plant

  • Unlock: Reach 3-1
  • B-Skin: Reach the Nuclear Throne In Under 10 Minutes As Plant
  • C-Skin: BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD
  • Active: Snare Enemies
  • Passive: Is Faster
  • Throne Butt: Snare Finishes Enemies Under 33% HP
  • Ultra A: Trapper
    • Big Snare
  • Ultra B: Killer
    • Enemies Killed On Your Snare Spawn Saplings
Y.V.

  • Unlock: Reach 3-?
  • B-Skin: Get A Golden Weapon For Every Character
  • C-Skin: Defeat a Gun God
  • Active: Pop Pop
  • Passive: Higher Rate Of Fire
  • Throne Butt: Brrrap
  • Ultra A: Ima Gun God
    • Higher Rate Of Fire
  • Ultra B: Back 2 Bizniz
    • Free Pop Pop Upgrade
Steroids

  • Unlock: Reach 6-1
  • B-Skin: Defeat Technomancer As Steroids
  • C-Skin: Reach the Nuclear Throne without picking up any weapons as Steroids
  • Active: Dual Wielding
  • Passive: Inaccurate; Automatic Weapons
  • Throne Butt: Firing Gives Ammo For Your Other Weapon
    • More Effective When Firing Both
  • Ultra A: Ambidextrous
    • Double Weapons From Chests
  • Ultra B: Get Loaded
    • Ammo Chests Contain All Ammo Types
Robot

  • Unlock: Reach 5-1
  • B-Skin: Eat Any Hyper Weapon
  • C-Skin: Eat the Rusty Revolver as Robot
  • Active: Can Eat Weapons
  • Passive: Finds Better Tech
  • Throne Butt: Better Weapon Nutrition
  • Ultra A: Refined Taste
    • High Tier Weapons Only
    • Auto Eat Weapons Left Behind
  • Ultra B: Regurgitate
    • Eating Weapons Can Drop Chests
    • Auto Eat Weapons Left Behind
Chicken

  • Unlock: Reach 5-?
  • B-Skin: Reach 2-1 On Hardmode As Chicken
  • C-Skin: Defeat every boss with the Black Sword
  • Active: Can Throw Weapons
  • Passive: Hard To Kill
  • Throne Butt: Throws Pierce Through Enemies
  • Ultra A: Harder To Kill
    • Kills Extend Bleed Time
  • Ultra B: Determination
    • Thrown Weapons Can Teleport Back To Your Secondary Slot
Rebel

  • Unlock: Defeat Throne II
  • B-Skin: Defeat Mom As Rebel
  • C-Skin: Defeat 1000 bandits in total
  • Active: Can Spawn Allies
  • Passive: Portals Heal
  • Throne Butt: Higher Ally Rate Of Fire
  • Ultra A: Personal Guard
    • Start A Level With 2 Allies
    • All Allies Have More HP
  • Ultra B: Riot
    • Double Ally Spawns
Horror

  • Unlock: Defeat Hostile Horror
  • B-Skin: Defeat Hyper Crystal As Horror
  • C-Skin: Reach the I.D.P.D. Headquarters with 3 or fewer mutations as Horror
  • Active: Radiation Beam
  • Passive: Extra Mutation Choice
  • Throne Butt: Beam Charges Up Faster; Prolonged Beam Use Heals You
  • Ultra A: Stalker
    • Enemies Explode In Radiation On Death
  • Ultra B: Anomaly
    • Portals Appear Earlier
  • Ultra C: Meltdown
    • Double Rad Capacity
Rogue

  • Unlock: Defeat The Nuclear Throne
  • B-Skin: Defeat Captain As Rogue
  • C-Skin: Don’t defeat Lil Hunter as Rogue
  • Active: Portal Strike
  • Passive: Blast Armor; Heat
  • Throne Butt: Stronger Portal Strike
  • Ultra A: Super Portal Strike
    • Double Portal Strike Pickups And Capacity
  • Ultra B: Super Blast Armor
    • Super Blast Armor
Yung Cuz

  • Available on update 100 only.
  • Unlock: Reach Y.V.'s Crib
  • B-Skin: Carry 3 Golden Weapons as Cuz
  • C-Skin: Carry 6 cursed weapons as Cuz
  • Active: Cry
  • Passive: 3 Weapons
  • Throne Butt: Cry refills fully when hit
  • Ultra A: Arsenal
    • Twice as many gun
  • Ultra B: Emotional
    • Twice as many tears

Secret Characters

Skeleton

  • Playable: Die As Melting In Necromancer Circle
  • Unlock: Become Skeleton (NTT Only)
  • Active: Blood Gamble
  • Passive: Less HP, Speed, And Accuracy
  • Throne Butt: Better Odds
  • Ultra A: Redemption
    • Back In The Flesh
  • Ultra B: Damnation
    • Fast Reload After Blood Gamble
Frog

  • Unlock: Storing Golden Frog Pistol
  • Active: Toxic Cloud
  • Passive: Can't Stand Still
  • Throne Butt: Toxic Gas Spreads Faster
  • Ultra A: Distance
    • Rads Can Spawn Toxic Gas
  • Ultra B: Intimacy
    • Continuously Spawn Toxic Gas
Big Dog

  • Seasonal content on update 100 & Xbox only.
  • Unlock: Defeat Big Dog (April 1st)
  • Active: Missiles
  • Passive: More HP; Spin Attack
  • Throne Butt: Faster Missiles And Bullets
  • Ultra A: Ultra Spin
    • Improved Spin Attack
  • Ultra B: Ultra Missiles
    • Missiles Fire Bullets