All Characters Guide: Starting Loadouts & Traits
Every playable character in Enter the Gungeon: each Gungeoneer has a unique starting loadout and passive traits, and choosing the right one shapes your entire run strategy.
Enter the Gungeon has multiple playable characters. Four are available from the start; four more are hidden and must be unlocked through gameplay. A further second-player character, 신비한 동료, is exclusive to local co-op (see Co-op Character). Each character has a distinct set of starting weapons and items, plus passive bonuses that change how you approach every run.
Starting Characters
해병
The 해병 is the most beginner-friendly character.
He starts with one extra point of 
갑옷 and carries 
군사 훈련 — a passive that improves accuracy, reload speed, and charge speed for every gun. His active item 
병기 지원 drops an ammo crate at his feet, refilling his held gun (it cannot be used when that gun is already full).
The 해병 rewards steady, unhurried play: stand still to get tighter shot groupings, and lean on the steady ammo supply to keep firing from a safe distance.
- Starting gun:
해병 휴대 무기 (infinite ammo) - active item: 병기 지원 — drops an ammo crate at your feet
- Passive: 군사 훈련 — better accuracy, faster reload and charge
- Starts with 1 extra 갑옷
죄수
The 죄수 hits hard right out of the gate, starting with two guns for strong early damage.
Her 
저가형 리볼버 is reliable, and the 
총신 개조 산탄총 shreds anything at close range. The 
분노의 사진 passive briefly auto-reloads her gun and boosts damage after she takes a hit. The 
화염병 can zone enemies or set up consistent burn damage.
The 분노의 사진 only pays off once she has been hit, which is why the 죄수 is built for players who like high-risk, high-reward offense.
- Starting gun: 저가형 리볼버 (infinite ammo) + 총신 개조 산탄총
- active item: 화염병 — thrown fire bomb
- Passive: 분노의 사진 — brief auto-reload and damage boost when hit
사냥꾼
The 사냥꾼 brings a reliable toolkit and excellent utility.
The 
석궁 deals high single-target damage and can one-shot many early enemies, and the 
녹슨 사이드암 provides a consistent fallback. Her 
개 companion digs up extra dropped items after clearing a room and barks near disguised 
흉내쟁이s.
That bark saves a lot of 
열쇠s: when a chest looks suspicious, walk the 개 past it before deciding to open it. Some of the 사냥꾼's value does depend on luck, so the payoff is not consistent.
파일럿
The 파일럿 has the weakest early combat but the best long-term economy.
믿음직한 자물쇠 따개 open chests with a 50% chance without spending a 열쇠. 
요령 좋은 성격 gives a 15% discount at all shops. 
비밀 보관함 adds an extra active item slot, letting him carry two active items at once, and raises max ammo by 10%.
He scales dramatically once he gets items — but the 
로그 스페셜 is mediocre, so early floors demand careful play.
- Starting gun: 로그 스페셜 (infinite ammo)
- active item: 믿음직한 자물쇠 따개 — 50% chance to open a locked chest without a 열쇠
- Passive: 요령 좋은 성격 — 15% shop discount
- Passive: 비밀 보관함 — extra passive item slot
Hidden Characters
로봇
The 로봇 is a high-skill pick: once you understand 갑옷 management, he is extremely powerful.
He replaces health with 갑옷 entirely — he has 6 갑옷 containers and no heart slots. Hearts and healing items restore nothing for him (they convert into a small amount of 
탄피 instead), and picking up a 
탄환의 주인 grants him one piece of 갑옷. His 
배터리 총탄 passive turns some shots electric and makes him immune to damage from electrified water. 
냉각수 누출 drops a pool of liquid that slows enemies.
Most importantly, picking up 
고물 gives him a stacking +5% damage boost each (
황금 고물 counts too) — so never drop or sell it. With no healing available at all, keeping 갑옷 topped up is everything.
- Unlock: the
고장 난 텔레비전 only appears in the 총굴 본관 elevator shaft once you have opened that floor's shortcut with 
수리공; carry it down to the 
대장장이 in the 대장간 and let the hand-over cutscene finish (파일럿's 비밀 보관함 makes carrying it easier) - Starting gun:
로봇의 오른손 (infinite ammo) - active item: 냉각수 누출 — creates a slow-field liquid patch
- Passive: 배터리 총탄 — some bullets become electric; immune to electrified water
- Has 6 갑옷 instead of hearts; each 고물 picked up grants +5% damage
총탄
The 총탄 plays completely differently from everyone else.
The starting weapon 
신성모독 is a melee sword — he attacks by swinging it, not shooting, and swings can also destroy incoming enemy bullets. At full health, his swing fires an extra wave of light. The 
인간 탄환 passive causes dodge-rolling through enemy bullets to absorb them and heal a small amount of health, and he takes no contact damage during dodge rolls.
With practice you can negate almost all bullet damage through movement and melee — close-range safety is his defining strength — but it demands deep knowledge of enemy bullet patterns.
- Unlock: after defeating at least one Past with any character,
Red-Caped Bullet Kin rarely appear in random rooms (they wander and don't attack); let 5 of them despawn (spare them) to unlock the 총탄 - Starting weapon: 신성모독 (melee sword, infinite 'ammo')
- Passive: 인간 탄환 — dodge-rolling through bullets absorbs them and restores a small amount of health
- No contact damage during dodge rolls; melee fires a light wave at full health
Paradox
The Paradox has no Past of its own and starts every run with a randomized loadout.
That loadout is a random starting sidearm taken from the other Gungeoneers (excluding the 
슬링거), another random gun, and a random passive item. These random starting items do not count toward Magnificence (unless dropped and picked back up) — see 
What Is Magnificence?.
That amounts to roughly two chests worth of advantage right from the start, so the Paradox usually opens stronger than average — but every run is different and you have to improvise around whatever you are dealt.
- Unlock: after defeating at least one Past, cosmic rifts appear with a 20% chance in random rooms of the 총굴 본관, 화약 탄광, and the Hollow; step into a rift to gain the paradox effect and finish that run to unlock
- Starting loadout: a random sidearm from another character (excluding the 슬링거) + a random gun + a random passive item
- Strength: starts with about two chests of gear, so it plays above average
- Cost to play: 5 × 헤게모니 크레딧
Gunslinger
The Gunslinger is the hardest character to unlock and is the pre-mortem form of the 
리치.
His starting gun, the 슬링거, can be thrown at enemies for damage when reloading, but his real strength is the 
리치의 눈 총탄 passive — it makes every gun automatically trigger all of its synergies.
Paired with items that form synergies, any build is hugely amplified, and the Gunslinger late-game firepower is unmatched.
- Unlock (hardest in the game): as the Paradox, defeat the 리치 in Bullet Hell to start a Gunslinger run; during that run you must get the 과거를 제거할 수 있는 총탄 from the 대장장이 in the 대장간 and kill the Gunslinger's Past to unlock him permanently
- Gunslinger cannot be unlocked on a blessed run (
Blessed Mode) - Starting gun: 슬링거 (infinite ammo)
- Passive: 리치의 눈 총탄 — every gun automatically triggers all of its synergies
- Cost to play: 7 × 헤게모니 크레딧
Co-op Character
신비한 동료 (called the Cultist in Enter the Gungeon) is the second-player character exclusive to local co-op — you cannot pick her in single-player; she is controlled automatically when a second player joins. She has no unlock path of her own, but she does have a Past you can challenge, and her whole kit is built around co-op.
She starts with the 
우정의 쿠키, which revives a downed partner, and the passive 
이인자, which raises her movement speed and damage while her partner is dead. Her starting weapon is the 
다트건 — low damage but infinite ammo.
이인자 keeps her from being helpless when soloing, but her growth is steady and slow, so she relies on pickups to scale.
- Local co-op only: used automatically when a second player joins; cannot be selected in single-player
- Starting weapon: 다트건 (infinite ammo)
- Active: 우정의 쿠키 — revives a downed partner
- Passive: 이인자 — boosts movement speed and damage while the partner is dead (co-op exclusive; unobtainable in normal play until unlocked)
- Has a Past you can challenge: shoot yourself with the Gun That Can Kill The Past to enter it (the 대장장이 will not give her the 과거를 제거할 수 있는 총탄, but it is not needed); reaching her Past unlocks 이인자 and the
태양빛 창
Still not sure who to start with? 
Beginner's Guide & Tips covers recommended starter characters and the basics worth knowing on your first runs.