Mario Kart World stuffs the roster with 50 characters, but not all of them are waiting at the start line. If you’re chasing Cataquack or Rosalina, you’ll need the right approach: some racers pop after you finish a Grand Prix cup, others show up via the Kamek item, and a few are tied to UFOs roaming the open world.
Quick note before we get rolling: outfits are treated separately. Even though they sit on the same character grid, their unlock rules differ, so we’re splitting them out to keep this clean.
Below is how to unlock every character in Mario Kart World.
Update (Dec. 24): Added confirmed Kamek locations we’ve personally tested and a bit more on how the Kamek item works post–Version 1.4.0.
Characters unlocked by finishing Grand Prix cups
All you need to do is play through and complete the cup in Grand Prix. Your placement doesn’t matter.
- Donkey Kong: Mushroom Cup
- Daisy: Flower Cup
- Rosalina: Star Cup
- Lakitu: Shell Cup
- Birdo: Banana Cup
- King Boo: Leaf Cup
- Bowser Jr.: Lightning Cup
The Special Cup (which appears after those seven) doesn’t hide a character unlock.
Characters unlocked via Kamek
Kamek unlocks are trickier because they rely on the Kamek item. It’s rare in normal races, but Version 1.4.0 lets you customize items in VS races—meaning you can make Kamek the only item.
How to set that up: start a VS race in Single Player, Multiplayer, or an Online Play with Friends lobby. Change “Items” to “Custom Items,” hit A to open the item menu, select “All Off,” then toggle on Kamek. That’s it—embrace the chaos.
From testing, here’s what actually matters:
- You must be hit by Kamek to unlock that character. Turning other players into Coin Coffers won’t unlock Coin Coffer for you.
- Kamek affects everyone in front of the user, so being toward the front increases your odds of getting transformed.
- Invulnerability frames (like right after Lakitu drops you or after crossing the finish line) will prevent transformations.
- Transformations seem tied to specific courses. It’s unclear if some are exclusive or just more likely in certain spots, but it’s not random everywhere.
- Many locations make thematic sense (Cataquack on Peach Beach), while others (like Chargin’ Chuck) appear across multiple unrelated tracks.
These are the Kamek targets we can personally confirm, along with where we were transformed into them:
| Character | Confirmed Kamek locations |
|---|---|
| Cataquack | Peach Beach |
| Chargin’ Chuck | Boo Cinema, Airship Fortress, Bowser’s Castle, Choco Mountain, Dandelion Depths |
| Coin Coffer | Peach Beach, Mario Circuit, Boo Cinema |
| Conkdor | Dino Dino Jungle, Faraway Oasis |
| Dolphin | Koopa Troopa Beach |
| Fish Bone | Dry Bones Burnout |
| Peepa | Boo Cinema |
| Pianta | Koopa Troopa Beach, Starview Peak |
| Rocky Wrench | Airship Fortress |
| Spike | Koopa Troopa Beach, Dino Dino Jungle, DK Pass, Rainbow Road, Dandelion Depths, Boo Cinema |
| Swoop | Dandelion Depths |
Characters unlocked via UFOs
The last route is by hopping into a UFO and using its tractor beam to nab characters in the open world. UFOs can be sneaky, so it’s not always the fastest method, but it’s great if you’re targeting someone specific. Suck up the character with the beam, exit the UFO, and you’ll both transform and unlock them. Want more? Return to the UFO and repeat. If the UFO vanishes, fast travel to force a quick respawn.
Co-op trick: if a friend already has the full roster, both of you can enter an Online Play with Friends lobby, meet up at a UFO, and the fully unlocked player can cycle through characters while the other uses the tractor beam to unlock each one.
UFO controls are simple: hold down on the left stick to ascend, up to descend, and hold R to use the tractor beam. Driving otherwise feels normal.
These are guaranteed UFO spawn spots we’ve used, along with who’s nearby to beam up:
| Location | Fast Travel Point | How to get there | Nearby characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| South of Dry Bones Burnout | Bowser | Turn around at spawn and hit the boosters. At the bridge’s end, charge jump the right wall and drop to a cliff with a UFO. | Fish Bone (in the water) |
| Between Boo Cinema and Starview Peak | Boo Cinema | From Boo Cinema toward Starview Peak: when the grass turns snowy, keep left to a big ramp, then hard left past two tents and a campfire. Follow the cliffside path to a UFO below. | Peepa and Swoop (near Boo Cinema) |
| DK Pass | DK Pass | Head through the tunnel and continue straight instead of taking the left turn. At the next bend, ignore the road and go left around the rail, hugging the left wall to the UFO. | Coin Coffer (beside the UFO) |
| North of Mario Bros. Circuit | Luigi | Drive under the I-beams, take the first left, continue to a P Switch on your right, then go off-road. Hug the cliff on your right to reach the UFO. | Conkdor (ascend the cliff to find two) |
| Between Whistlestop Summit and DK Spaceport | Pauline | Turn around and follow the road. Take the right-hand path toward the Mario Kart banner. After the P Switch on the left, cut left off-road and hug the right wall to a UFO. | Spike (in the area around the UFO) |
| Peach Beach | Peach Beach | From the starting line, take the right path and hug the left wall to a ramp into the ocean. Stay along the left wall to find the UFO under the castle. | Cataquack (along the beach), Dolphin (in the ocean), Pianta (on a sailboat before the ocean ramp) |