Characters in The Binding of Isaac: How to Unlock All, Including DLC Heroes

In this article, we will look at how to unlock all characters from the game The Binding of Isaac, including heroes from expansions. We will also talk about the tainted versions of the heroes.

The Binding of Isaac is an adventure game with roguelike elements, where players must clear rooms of monsters, fighting with a variety of weapons. The game allows you to control several unique characters, and in this material, we will explain how to unlock each of them, including heroes from expansions.

Maggie starts with 4 heart containers and is given the Yum Heart artifact (which has 4 charge bars, each of which restores one whole red heart).

Tainted Version: The Yum Heart is moved to the card slot and now, upon picking up a card or pill, Magdalene can swap them (activated by pressing the Shift key). Also, all healing effects work twice as efficiently.

How to Unlock: Accumulate 7 heart containers, obtaining them from bosses, treasure rooms, and secret rooms.

This character is somewhat of an Isaac but with reduced tear flight range. He moves faster, hits harder, and has an artifact that increases the chances of winning at the slot machine.

Tainted Version: Upon picking up any item, breaks it into several separate items. Cain can collect loot using special bags and, after collecting 10 such packs in various combinations, he will craft some unique item.

How to Unlock: During a single run, you need to accumulate 55 coins (easiest to farm by ignoring shop offers but not forgetting to enter secret rooms to have a chance to summon Greed, who drops a significant amount of in-game currency upon death).

Judas starts with just one heart, so only the most agile players can handle him. As a starting artifact, he uses the Book of Belial, which increases his damage.

Tainted Version: Starts the run in a dark form. He has no red heart containers, but he has a special item Dark Arts, which for a short period speeds up the hero and makes him transparent, protecting from any damage. While in ghost form, Judas, passing through enemies, marks them, and when returning to normal mode, marked enemies receive a good portion of damage.

How to Unlock: When you deal with Mom's Heart/"It Lives", descend into Sheol and challenge Satan, after defeating whom the character you need will be unlocked.

Blue Baby's health is replenished exclusively with soul hearts instead of red hearts. All items that add a health container give one soul heart, which is also used as currency in the Devil Room.

Tainted Version: If Blue Baby takes damage, it will produce small piles of poop, which when placed on the ground deal a certain amount of damage to nearby enemies. Overall, ??? generates a huge amount of feces in rooms, significantly easing the run.

How to Unlock: Kill Mom's Heart 10 times.

If Eve's health drops to one heart, an artifact is activated that increases the amount of damage dealt and movement speed. The second artifact (yes, the character has two at the same time) summons a bird into the room, which will attack all nearby enemies.

Tainted Version: Eve's passive ability is to summon small blood creatures in exchange for half a red heart. Activating the active ability, the character destroys the blood clots and returns the hearts spent on them. If Eve is left with one health stack, the «Enhanced Whore» mode is activated, in which she uses the «active» as a knife (in this mode, blood summons are still revived).

How to Unlock: During the passage of two floors in a row, you should not pick up hearts (use Yum Heart or Book of Revelations for healing, and if hearts block the way, push them away with bombs).

During room clearing, Samson increases his own damage by taking damage from enemies. In other words, the more often you are hit, the stronger the hero becomes.

Tainted Version: Samson gradually falls into a rage during combat. Entering this mode, the character takes a bloodied rib in his hands and uses it as a melee weapon (it can also be thrown). The rage mode lasts for a short time, but each enemy kill extends the duration.

How to Unlock: During the passage of two floors in a row, you should not take any damage (for completing the challenge, we recommend using Sacred Relic and Book of Shadows).

Instead of tears, Azazel uses a special beam that shoots at a short distance. As compensation, the character received the ability to fly, and the starting artifact is a Tarot card that teleports Azazel to the starting room of the floor.

Tainted Version: Azazel attacks both in close combat and at long distances. If you fight up close, each hit will knock your enemy back a short distance.

How to Unlock: During a single run, you need to make three deals with the dark lord.

Lazarus is unique in that he has the ability to resurrect after death. He comes back to life with enhanced stats and the Anemic artifact, which grants Lazarus the ability to leave a trail of blood behind him, dealing damage to enemies who step on it.

Tainted version: After clearing a room, the player switches between two characters, each with different sets of skills, lives, and stats. You can also switch between them using an active ability, adapting to specific enemies.

How to unlock: Accumulate 4 hearts in a row.

When choosing Eden, you will never know their stats or the number of hearts. Unlockable artifacts also endow them with random features, unknown to players before selection.

Tainted version: When the character takes damage, an effect is triggered, endowing Eden with random abilities.

How to unlock: Complete the 4th chapter, the Womb, and all its variations.

Lilith does not have her own attack; instead, she uses her familiars. At the start of a run, she is given an Incubus, attacking from a distance.

Tainted version: The tainted Lilith has her incubus taken away, but instead, she gains her own attack with an embryo, seemingly on an umbilical cord, attacking at a medium distance.

How to unlock: As Azazel, you need to defeat the final boss in Greed Mode and Ultra Greed.

The Lost is an extremely original character with no health. In other words, a single hit is enough to kill him, but he has the ability to fly and receives free items in the Devil Room.

Tainted version: The Lost does not have Holy Mantle, only a Holy Card. He has more health, and the character has a 20-percent chance to replace the acquired artifact with an item of 2 stars and above.

How to unlock: To unlock the character, you need to die in a sacrifice room, having the Missing Poster in your inventory.

This character replenishes health by collecting coins dropped from enemies. Starts with an effect that allows him to shoot 3 tears at once.

Tainted version: At the start, the tainted Keeper has an attack with 4 tears, hearts turn into flies, and coins drop from defeated enemies (though they disappear after a second, so you have to hurry to pick up the loot). Upon visiting the shop, you can see that the items purchased there with coins have become much more interesting.

How to unlock: To unlock him, you need to spend 1000 coins on the machine that appears after killing Ultra Greed in Greed Mode.

This character uses their tears as a weapon for fighting at medium and long distances. The active ability is to absorb artifacts (active artifacts give abilities, while passive ones enhance Apollyon's stats).

Tainted version: The active ability to absorb artifacts is replaced with the ability to summon flies from defeated enemies. The flies fly towards the enemy that Apollyon is shooting tears at and then return to the character.

How to unlock: First, you must have the Afterbirth+ expansion, in which you need to collect the angel key and also use Dad's Key in the starting room. Alternatively, you can use a one-time Get Out of Jail Free Card, after which you will gain access to fight Mega Satan. After defeating him, you will be able to play as Apollyon.

The Forgotten is a melee character who uses a bone as a weapon. He can also throw it, using it as a boomerang, and he uses bone hearts for health regeneration.

Tainted version: Now, The Forgotten doesn't fight with a bone but throws an entire skeleton, which, in turn, fights using bones. The skeleton can attack up close, as well as shoot a bone at medium distance.

How to unlock: After purchasing both DLCs, you need to at least once defeat the final boss of the Dark Room location and also unlock the item Negative. Now, you need to start a new run and deal with the boss of the first floor in less than a minute, after which a shadow of a shovel will appear in the location. Place a bomb there and pick up the dropped Broken Shovel, then continue the run while dodging Mom's Foot.

Without swapping the shovel for another item (otherwise, it will disappear), build a powerful build to defeat all bosses. You can take your time, as the 20-minute limit with the shovel in hand no longer applies to you.

After a series of victories over bosses, the game will gift you the second part of the shovel, which will turn the Broken Shovel into Mom's Shovel. Go to the Dark Room location and find there a room with freshly dug earth in the center. Stand on this spot, use the shovel, and then wait for the message that you have successfully gained access to The Forgotten.

Unlike Maggie, to whom Bethany bears a strong resemblance, this character focuses on offense rather than defense. By picking up soul hearts, she gains «soul charges» and can summon ghosts that shoot at enemies. The spirits remain with Bethany even after leaving the room, and only disappear after direct contact with an enemy or after taking a significant amount of damage.

Tainted version: Bethany's book now creates a spirit of a random passive artifact, and as long as this ghost exists, the item will be at the character's disposal. Moreover, the spirits are capable of dealing damage themselves, as well as protecting Bethany from some of the damage received.

How to unlock: after purchasing the Repentance expansion, complete the game as Lazarus without losing his second life.

In fact, these are two characters in one—Jacob and Esau share coins, bombs, and keys, but they use different artifacts and abilities. They can be positioned in different places by holding the Q button, dropping bombs, or picking up two artifacts at the same time. Jacob and Esau can be «reunited» by bumping them into the nearest wall.

Tainted version: now we only have Jacob at our disposal, while Esau chases his brother while clearing rooms. The demon is capable of delivering several different strikes to both the relative and monsters within range. Jacob can deal with his pesky brother, but then he will turn into The Lost. The demon can be temporarily rid of without consequences when moving to another floor—he will not bother you for some time.

How to unlock: complete the game via the alternate path, dealing with Mom.