Characters

“We just want to play!”

–Webber

Character select before the world generates.

Character select in Don't Starve Together.

There is currently a combined total of twenty-five playable Characters in Don't Starve, its DLCs and Don't Starve Together (DST). Each Character has at least one character-specific perk, in addition to various bonuses and penalties to their stats, and usually are different in play style. Each Character is "voiced" by a different instrument, and speaks differently when examining items and objects. The only exception to this is Wes, the speechless mime, who uses pantomimes instead of sounds or quotes.

The first accessible Characters are Wilson and Wagstaff, considered the protagonists and the focus of the game's story. Most of the other Characters can be unlocked when sufficient Experience has been accrued, gained at Death or when escaping to a new world. There are currently six Characters that are not unlocked via experience, but through game feats. If the player has not unlocked a Character, they will appear as their respective silhouette. Upon selecting a silhouette, the Poster on the left will be a coffin shut with chains and a lock, and the description will simply say "The Unknown".

Don't Starve Together

Don't Starve Together includes all Characters from the base game and Reign of Giants DLC, but excluding Wagstaff, Walani, Wilbur, Woodlegs, Wilba, and Wheeler. The majority of Characters are unlocked from the start and several perks have been changed and balanced for the multiplayer aspect of the game. The first DST exclusive character was Winona who was added as a free update on September 13, 2017.

On January 22, 2019, free "character refreshes" for the DST roster as well as paid DLC characters were announced to be released throughout 2019. A total of four DLC characters were originally announced, however, as of the 2020 Roadmap, Klei stated that they were not going to commit to a specific number of new characters. Character refreshes continued in 2020, starting in March as in the previous year and ending in September. Refreshes and 1 DLC character were announced in the 2021 Roadmap, with 2021 refreshes beginning in April and ending in December. The 2022 Roadmap announced 4 more refreshes set to all be released by Q1 2023. Each character update was also released with an animated short featuring the refreshed or newly added character.

The character refreshes consist of revamped abilities as well as a new purchasable skin set. This also included Warly who was a new addition to DST from the Don't Starve DLC Shipwrecked and was given a refresh to fit into a multiplayer environment.

Paid DLC characters can be unlocked through direct purchase of either a regular chest (including the character and one skin set) or a Deluxe chest (including the character and 3 skin sets) with the price depending on the character. They can also be woven with 2700 Spools.

Below is a list of all DST character updates released starting in 2019:

Character	Release Date	Type
Winona	March 7, 2019	Refresh
Wortox	March 28, 2019	Paid DLC
Willow	May 7, 2019	Refresh
Wormwood	June 6, 2019	Paid DLC/Refresh
Warly	July 25, 2019	New Character/Refresh
Woodie	September 12, 2019	Refresh
Wurt	October 24, 2019	Paid DLC
Wendy	March 19, 2020	Refresh
Walter	June 15, 2020	New Character
Wigfrid	September 24, 2020	Refresh
Wes	April 1, 2021	Refresh
Webber	June 24, 2021	Refresh
Wanda	September 9, 2021	Paid DLC
Wolfgang	December 16, 2021	Refresh
WX-78	April 28, 2022	Refresh

List of Characters

Below are the abilities and requirements to unlock each Character.

• Don't Starve
• Don't Starve Together

Wilson	Willow	Wolfgang
Grows a magnificent beard.	Immune to Fire damage. Has a sweet Lighter. Lights fires when nervous.	Grows stronger with a full belly. Is afraid of monsters and the dark.
Wendy	WX-78	Wickerbottom
Is haunted by her twin sister. Feels comfortable in the dark. Doesn't hit very hard.	Can upgrade with circuits. Not a picky eater. Is charged by lightning, but damaged by water	Knows many things. Self-publishes books. Can't sleep, hates food spoilage.
Woodie	Wes	Maxwell
Has a lovely axe. And a terrible secret. Is thankful for bountiful harvests.	Can't talk. Has trouble staying alive. Practices balloonomancy.	Is dapper, but frail. Can split his mind into pieces. On a first-name basis with the night.
Wagstaff	Wigfrid	Webber
A great inventor. Nearsighted. Delicate Stomach.	Excels in battle. Absorbs the power of fallen foes. Only eats meat.	Is a monster. Can befriend spiders. Grows a silky smooth beard.
Walani	Warly	Wilbur
Loves surfing. Dries off quickly. Is a pretty chill gal.	Has a refined palate. Cooks in custom kitchenware. Brings a stylish chef pouch.	Can't talk. Slow as biped, but fast as quadruped. Is a monkey.
Woodlegs	Wilba	Wormwood
Can sniff out treasure. Captain of the "Sea Legs". Pirate.	Is a pig. Carries her father's legacy. Is afraid of the dark.	Plants relate to him. Has a Green Thumb. Food fills his stomach, but not his heart.
Wheeler
Armed with an air horn. Has a knick knack for finding things. Travels lighter than most.

Wilson	Willow	Wolfgang
Grows a magnificent beard.	Immune to Fire damage. Has a sweet Lighter. Lights fires when nervous.	Grows stronger with a full belly. Is afraid of monsters and the dark.
Wendy	WX-78	Wickerbottom
Is haunted by her twin sister. Feels comfortable in the dark. Doesn't hit very hard.	Can upgrade with circuits. Not a picky eater. Is charged by lightning, but damaged by water	Knows many things. Self-publishes books. Can't sleep, hates food spoilage.
Woodie	Wes	Maxwell
Has a lovely axe. And a terrible secret. Is thankful for bountiful harvests.	Can't talk. Has trouble staying alive. Practices balloonomancy.	Is dapper, but frail. Can split his mind into pieces. On a first-name basis with the night.
Wigfrid	Webber	Winona
Excels in battle. Absorbs the power of fallen foes. Only eats meat.	Is a monster. Can befriend spiders. Grows a silky smooth beard.	Is a skilled builder. Gets one free hit from the dark. Invents her own gadgets.
Warly	Walter
Has a refined palate. Cooks in custom kitchenware. Brings a stylish chef pouch.	Not afraid of anything, except getting hurt. Good with a slingshot. Has a four-legged friend. Allergic to bees. Has no interest in fashion.

DLC Character

Wortox	Wormwood	Wurt
Is an imp. Can hop through time and space. Less nourished by physical food.	Plants relate to him. Has a Green Thumb. Food fills his stomach, but not his heart.	At home in the Swamp. Has big plans for Merm-kind. Is a vegetarian.
Wanda
Has excellent time management skills. Only as old as she feels. In a constant race against the clock.

Hidden internal Character

Wonkey

Whoever they were, they're a monkey now.

Non-player Characters

Maxwell (Antagonist)

Main article: Maxwell (NPC)

Maxwell initially serves as the main antagonist of Don't Starve. He appears before the start of every game, saying, "Say pal, you don't look so good. You better find something to eat before night comes!" He disappears before the player assumes control of their character.

As seen in Forbidden Knowledge, Maxwell gives Wilson the knowledge necessary to build Maxwell's Door which captures Wilson and takes him into The Constant.

When the player chooses to play as Maxwell, non-playable Maxwell will not appear. Maxwell will instead awaken and exclaim "Freedom, at last!"

Abigail

Main article: Abigail

Abigail is Wendy's twin sister, and as Wendy's perk, she can be summoned with Abigail's Flower.

Don't Starve Together

Woby

Main article: Woby

Woby is a lost dog who accompanies Walter. As part of Walter's perks, she acts as a mobile chest and can become large and rideable.

Curio Collector

Main article: Trade Inn

The Curio Collector is the purveyor in charge of the Trade Inn feature. During the Year of the Beefalo event he was featured as the judge of the Beefalo Pageant.

Pugna

Main article: Battlemaster Pugna

Battlemaster Pugna is the leader of the warriors in the realm beyond the Molten Gateway. He is exclusive to The Forge event.

The Gorge NPCs

Main article: Mumsy
Main article: Billy
Main article: Pipton
Main article: Sammy
Main article: Swamp Pig Elder
Main article: Swamp Pig
Main article: The Gnaw

These characters were exclusive to The Gorge event. Include the goat mother Mumsy and her son Billy, the Mermified traders Sammy and Pipton, as well as the Swamp Pig Elder and his people. The Gnaw is the creature that terrorized the people of the Gorge and turned most of them into Merms.

Crabby Hermit

Main article: Crabby Hermit

The Crabby Hermit was introduced in the Return of Them update She Sells Sea Shells. She can be found on the Hermit Island. She rewards players for helping her and she trades items in exchange for Empty Bottles.

Unimplemented Characters

Main article: Unimplemented Characters

There are several additional characters for Don't Starve and and Don't Starve Together that have yet to be implemented. These other characters only exist in the form of portraits, sound, and other assets found in the game files.

Removed Characters

The character Warbucks was the first character introduced in the Hamlet DLC, but was later removed from the game and replaced with Wormwood. However, the developers left his code in the game, allowing players to use him via console commands.

Minor Characters

See also: Minor Characters

Character Mods

Main article: Mods

On the PC version of Don't Starve, Characters created by users can be published on the Steam Workshop or the Klei Forums using the Don't Starve Mod Tools. Once downloaded, the character can be set up in its directory. When the player starts up the game, they can click the Mods button to enable the character. They will now be available for use after restarting.

Trivia

• All playable characters' names start with W apart from Maxwell's. Within the game's code, Maxwell's name is written "Waxwell," in line with the other characters and not to confuse playable Maxwell with NPC Maxwell. The trailer puzzles confirmed that Maxwell's real name is William Carter.
  • Having all characters' names start with W was unintentional at first, but Klei decided to go with it. ^{[Verification Needed]}
• Wolfgang was previously unlocked after Wendy.
• All characters are ambidextrous thanks to their sprite work.
• For the characters' voices being played by instruments, the developers were inspired by both the teacher's voice in the Peanuts specials and the musical composition Peter and the Wolf.
• Before the Shipwrecked characters were released, they each had a locked character portrait, the title of "The Unfinished", the motto quote of "Don't look at me. I'm not ready yet.", and the perk of "Hasn't arrived on the island yet".
• Upon his release, Wortox's speech file contained examination quotes for a character labeled "NEXTCHARACTER". These quotes were removed at some time between Warly's update and Woodie's refresh.
  • Generic- "Hyuyu, what are you up to %s?"
  • Attacker- "Don't get my goat, little %s!"
  • Murderer- "Eep! Don't slaughter me!"
  • Reviver- "Thank-you, thank-you, little goat!"
  • Ghost- "Don't worry, I'm not hungry."
  • Firestarter- "Little goat! You played pranks without me!"
• When idling, all characters perform the same random animations, such as scratching themselves and kicking the ground. Exclusively in Don't Starve Together, each character is given a unique idle animation starting with Wormwood's debut. The animations are as follows:
  • Wormwood mimics butterfly wings with his hand leaves, as he does in Lunar Roots.
  • Wortox dances happily. His animation was added in the June 10, 2019 update.
  • Warly sniffs a waft of air. This was added in his debut update.
  • Winona stretches her shoulder. This was also added in Warly's update.
  • When holding Bernie, Willow hugs him. This is the third idle animation added in Warly's update.
  • When holding Lucy, Woodie caresses her. This was added in Woodie's refresh update.
  • Wurt scratches her horn.
  • Wendy plucks petals from a flower. This was added in Wendy's refresh update.
  • Walter salutes.
  • Wigfrid takes a bow. This was added in Wigfrid's refresh update.
  • Wes blows up a red Balloon which pops in his face. This was added in Wes' refresh update.
  • Webber makes a small web with a heart shape hole in his hands.
  • Wanda impatiently checks a watch.
  • Wolfgang flexes and poses.
  • WX-78's arm falls off, then they reattach it.
  • Wonkey looks at their tail
  • Wickerbottom does a shushing gesture
  • Maxwell adjusts his sleeves with a small chance of a card falling out and him hiding it with his foot.

Gallery

Wilson's sprite Willow's sprite Wolfgang's sprite Wendy's sprite Wx-78's sprite Wickerbottom's sprite Woodie's sprite Wes' sprite Maxwell's sprite Wagstaff's sprite Wigfrid's sprite Webber's sprite Walani's sprite Warly's sprite Wilbur's sprite Woodlegs' sprite Warbuck's sprite Wilba's sprite Wormwood's sprite Wheeler's sprite Winona's sprite Wortox's sprite Wurt's sprite Walter's sprite Wanda's sprite Wonkey's sprite All the characters in-game. Wilson's beard growth. Willow and her Lighter. Wolfgang's different looks. Wendy and Abigail by a fire. WX-78 during their "System Overload". Wickerbottom summoning lightning with her book. Woodie in his Werebeaver form. Wes and his balloons. Maxwell creating Shadow Puppets. Wigfrid wearing her special helm and spear. Webber with his silky beard and some Spider friends. Walani surfing on her Surfboard. Warly cooking his exclusive recipes in Portable Crock Pots. Wilbur running on all fours. Woodlegs sailing on The 'Sea Legs'. Characters can hold items with their left and right hand. The Strange New Powers update introduced gameplay differences to many characters. The portrait on the character selection screen for a locked character. The portrait for selecting a random character in DST. Random character in DST. The old version of DST's character selection screen. Promo poster for new DST characters from the Don't Starve Together Roadmap 2019 forum post. Promo poster for new Hamlet and base game characters from the Don't Starve: Hamlet Roadmap forum post. Teaser image for the first DST character refresh in 2022. Originally found with the file name "nothing_to_see_here.png". Test version of the character's structure in the game Random character emoji from official Klei Discord server. Random character emoji from official Klei Discord server. Random character emoji from official Klei Discord server. Character emoji from official Klei Discord server.