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00:00Today, video games contain very few secret characters.
00:03Most of them are discovered within days, if not hours of a game's release, and get shared
00:07so quickly and widely across social media, you rarely get a chance to find them on your
00:11own.
00:12Go back a few years, though, and there are plenty popular games with hidden characters
00:15that can only be found via hidden knowledge.
00:17I'm Scott from MockCulture.com, and these are 10 Hidden Playable Video Game Characters
00:21You Totally Missed.
00:23Number 10, Gray Fox, Metal Gear Solid Special Missions.
00:26Did anyone other than me actually do the VR training in the original Metal Gear Solid?
00:31These were a series of virtual reality tutorials that looked awesome, but that was about it.
00:36It's not a big surprise, then, that expansion Metal Gear Solid Special Missions, also known
00:40as VR Missions, didn't make much of a blip on anyone's radar.
00:43After all, it didn't continue the Metal Gear Solid story, it just added more of those bespoke
00:47VR levels.
00:48Unfortunately, anyone who skipped out on this re-release-feeling package missed out on a
00:52playable version of Gray Fox, the franchise's original cyborg ninja.
00:57You had to complete the bulk of the game as Snig to unlock Ninja Mode, but once you did,
01:01you were treated to a whole new way to play Metal Gear Solid.
01:04Running like the wind, turning invisible, flipping over an enemy's head and taking
01:07them down with one lightning-fast slash to the back.
01:11Where the hell is my Metal Gear Fox game?
01:13Number 9, Green Goblin, Spider-Man The Movie 2002.
01:18Treyarch's Spider-Man in 2002 was one of the first good games to be licensed from a
01:22movie, and the first Spider-Man game to really do the wall-crawler justice.
01:26For one, it was the first Spidey game to introduce physics-based web-slinging in an open world,
01:30at least in certain levels, which became the basis for just about every Spider-Man game
01:34since.
01:35It also included one of the most fleshed-out hidden characters that no one found.
01:39By finishing the game on the hardest difficulty, a controller-smashingly frustrating task,
01:44or entering a convoluted series of cheat codes, you could unlock Green Goblin Mode.
01:48Coming with his own unique playstyle and story, Gobby picks up after the events of
01:52the movie, casting you as Harry Osborn, using his villainous father Norman Osborn's iconic
01:56armour and gadgets.
01:58Utilising the Goblin's glider and unique arsenal of bombs, guns and blades, you could
02:02zip around the city in a mode that's never been replicated in a Spider-Man game.
02:06Number 8, Guy Savage, Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
02:10There's no shortage of creator Hideo Kojima's signature Kojima-ness in Metal Gear Solid
02:143 Snake Eater.
02:16But it was still a shock to some players when they loaded up their save and were suddenly
02:19playing a completely different game.
02:22If you unlocked this sequence at the time, then you probably had no idea what the hell
02:25was happening.
02:26You just turned off Metal Gear Solid 3 for the night, and now you were hacking away at
02:29zombies with hook swords for arms as a dude called Guy Savage.
02:33Turns out at a specific break in the story, after being captured and tossed in a cell,
02:37the game will prompt you to save.
02:39Only by quitting and reloading that save will you unlock the segment informally known as
02:43Snake's Nightmare.
02:44Apparently this came from an in-progress tech demo that Kojima liked the look of, but
02:48eventually the segment will come to an abrupt end.
02:51Snake will wake up in his cell and complain to his friends over radio that all their talk
02:55about Dracula the day before has given him nightmares.
02:58Number 7, Suikoden Protagonist, Suikoden II
03:02As if the Suikoden series' infamous 108 recruitable characters weren't enough, Suikoden
03:06II boasts several secret characters too.
03:09However, the most secret is without a doubt the protagonist from the first game in the
03:12series, McDoll.
03:14By loading a completed Suikoden save at the start of the sequel, you can encounter McDoll
03:18later in the game.
03:19The two of you will temporarily join forces to rescue a local boy who's been kidnapped
03:23by bandits.
03:24After taking him to be healed in a nearby city, McDoll leaves the party, returning to
03:28his own house.
03:29If you talk to him again though, he will agree to rejoin you temporarily.
03:33Be warned though, this basically breaks the game.
03:35Not only does McDoll have the end game level and gear you completed Suikoden with, but
03:40he also comes equipped with the extremely powerful Soul Eater rune.
03:44Able to be used with your hero for some insanely devastating attacks.
03:47God mode very much unlocked.
03:49Number 6, Doomguy, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
03:53I'm willing to bet that not many people played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 on the PC.
03:57These were the days before controllers for PC games became mainstream, and Tony Hawk's
04:01on a keyboard was not a nice experience.
04:04By Pro Skater 3, fans knew to expect the unexpected when it came to the series' awesome cast
04:08of unlockable characters.
04:10From original creations like Officer Dick and Private Carrera, to familiar faces like
04:14Spider-Man and Darth Maul.
04:15However, by far the most obscure of these was Doomguy.
04:19Only available in the PC version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Doomguy was actually easy to
04:23unlock by entering the cheat code IDKFA, which should be familiar to players of Doom and
04:29Doom 2 as the code that unlocks all weapons.
04:32To this day, people are still surprised to learn Doomguy wasn't Tony Hawk's at all.
04:36Number 5, Crystals and the Crystal Cruiser
04:39FTL, faster than light.
04:41For a brief moment after its release, Subset Games' FTL was the hot ticket item for indie
04:45games.
04:46A combination of management sim and roguelike, FTL is all about racing against time while
04:51surviving numerous random encounters.
04:53The game features a number of unlockable ships, but the Crystal Ship and its Crystal Crewmen
04:57are by far the most well-hidden.
04:59Even the chance to unlock both relies on making the correct choice in two separate random
05:03events.
05:04First, you have to be lucky enough to stumble upon the Crystal Cruiser, inside of which
05:08you'll find a stasis pod.
05:09Next, you need to, once again randomly, find the Zoltan Research Facility.
05:14Only they can safely open the stasis pod, which contains, you guessed it, a crystal,
05:18a friendly version of the normally hostile Rockmen aliens.
05:21He will then guide you to the hidden Crystal World, a place on the map only accessible
05:25through him, where he will then point you towards the remains of the Crystal Cruiser.
05:29You won't actually be able to use it or recruit Crystal Crewmembers until your next
05:33playthrough, but being FTL, that probably won't be very long.
05:37I sound like the oldest man in the universe, but back in the 90s, one of the things that
05:44made Final Fantasy VI so unique was the fact that you could stumble onto new party members
05:48you didn't know existed.
05:50By far the most unlikely one you'd find without a walkthrough was the Mimic Gogo.
05:54For starters, you have to go to Triangle Island, an unassuming island of no significance in
05:59the World of Ruin.
06:00Once there, you need to walk around until you get into a random encounter with a Zone
06:03Eater, a giant worm that can instantly KO party members by eating them one by one.
06:08Then you have to not run from what seems like an imminent game over, and when all four members
06:12of your party have been devoured, you'll be transported to the Zone Eater's belly.
06:16Here you'll find Gogo the Mimic, just hanging out.
06:19Gogo is one of the most powerful party members in the game, given his ability to mimic other
06:23party members' unique abilities.
06:25This means using Edgar's overpowered chainsaw twice in a single turn, every single turn,
06:30until you beat the game.
06:32Number 3, Mew, Pokemon Red and Blue.
06:35As Pokemon found its footing across those first few generations, you really didn't
06:39know which Pokemon specifically you were missing out on until you physically started talking
06:43to other players.
06:44As both Red and Blue players amassed that first 150 together though, word began to spread
06:49of a secret 151st Pokemon.
06:52Whilst playgrounds filled with word of the MissingNo glitch, Mew was bandied about but
06:56never found.
06:57Turns out, they weren't supposed to be.
06:59Mew was intended as an exclusive gift to people who attended various official Nintendo events.
07:03You could unlock Mew using a glitch, but the process was so precise, requiring step-by-step
07:08instructions and very tight timing.
07:11Anything less and your copy of Red or Blue was capped at 150 Pokemon.
07:15Number 2, Lin, Valkyria Chronicles.
07:18Valkyria Chronicles features a huge cast of characters to recruit for your squad of underdogs,
07:22and rightfully so, as they can die permanently.
07:25Also they come with their own stats and hidden skills, with some being way better than others.
07:29So with all this in mind, why would anyone use Carl, a middling engineer who has a tendency
07:34to not evade enemy attacks?
07:36He practically makes the game one giant escort mission.
07:39Well, Lin is why.
07:40Married to Carl, Lin is one of the best shock troopers in the game, but to unlock her you
07:44have to use Carl a lot to unlock his hidden potential.
07:48Called Headlet Deer, this grants him the ability to freeze when shot at.
07:51Now just let Carl get KO'd, and upon winning the battle, Lin will join your squad to keep
07:56her husband safe.
07:57And number 1, Akuma, Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
08:01A Street Fighter stalwart now, even crossing over to Tekken 7, Akuma wasn't given a name
08:05until Street Fighter Alpha, Warrior's Dreams, but was hiding out in the background of Street
08:09Fighter II's third and final release, Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
08:13An evil counterpart to Ryu and Ken, you'll most likely first encounter Akuma as a secret
08:18boss.
08:19I'm assuming you're unbelievably good at the game, as fighting him requires you to win
08:23every match without blocking even once, and finish with the highest score.
08:27At that point Akuma will enter the arena, smoke usual boss M. Bison, and then probably
08:32smoke you too, because his old school Dom levels are really hard.
08:36Fortunately you don't need to fight Akuma to unlock his much weaker playable version.
08:40All you have to do is go to the character select screen and highlight each of the following
08:44characters for 3 seconds.
08:46In order, that's Ryu, T-Hawk, Guile, Kami, and Ryu.
08:49Then hit start and all three punch buttons simultaneously.
08:52All of this will make Akuma yours, because yes, some people spend a lot of time in an
08:56arcade figuring all this out.
08:59And those are our picks for hidden playable video game characters you totally missed.
09:03Let me know your favourites down in the comments below, and please subscribe to the WhatCulture
09:06Gaming Podcast.
09:07For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com, thank you very much for listening, and I'll
09:11catch you soon.