There are 20 different playable Spelunkers available in Spelunky 2 that can be used in all single player and multiplayer game modes.
Four are available from the beginning, but the remaining sixteen must be unlocked by finding them throughout the caves.
Unlocking all 16 secret characters will cause a large cardboard cutout of a buff dog to appear in the Camp.
Every Spelunker has identical abilities; the only differences are cosmetic. Every single spelunker has their own custom rope, while some have a custom whip.
Description: She's come to the moon to find her mom and dad. An easygoing young lady with the heart of a hero.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by default
Margaret Tunnel
Color: Magenta
Description: A fascination with the ocean led her away from the family business. Her dream is to buy her own pirate ship.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by default
Colin Northward
Color: Cyan
Description: An inquisitive artist and engineer who's obsessed with Olmec and the Curse of the Caves.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by default
Roffy D. Sloth
Color: Black
Description: He has a lot of deep thoughts, but not a lot that he wants to say out loud.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by default
Alto Singh
Color: Cinnabar
Description: He works in physical education and wants to make sure everyone's taking good care of their health and staying positive.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in Dwelling 1-4 at the bottom of the level after facing Quillback.
Liz Mutton
Color: Green
Description: A tough-as-nails adventurer who is hard to warm up to and needs her solitude, but also cares deeply for her friends.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in any level of The Jungle.
Nekka the Eagle
Color: Olive
Description: A ferocious warrior chief who wants to confront the gods and question them about the problems of the universe.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in The Black Market.
LISE Project
Color: White
Description: A robot designed to explore and enjoy herself. After 1000 years she'll return to her creators with the data she's collected.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in any level of Volcana.
Coco von Diamonds
Color: Cerulean
Description: The creator of the world-famous Von Diamonds fashion and lifestyle brand. She's on vacation right now.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening one of the coffins in Vlad's Castle.
Manfred Tunnel
Color: Blue
Description: Mama Tunnel's husband and Margaret Tunnel's father. He's decided to finally try his hand at spelunking after many years of building shortcuts.
Unlock: This character is unlocked opening the coffin in the sub-area of Olmec's Lair.
Little Jay
Color: Lime
Description: A self-proclaimed "Spelunkyhead" trying to become a famous explorer. Gets a little overly excited around his heroes.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in 4-1 or 4-2 of Tide Pool.
Tina Flan
Color: Lemon
Description: The wife of Guy Spelunky and the mother of Ana Spelunky. As a relatively unknown caver she managed to hit King Yama with an Eggplant. She tries to downplay her fame!
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in the waters of Abzu.
Valerie Crump
Color: Iris
Description: An avid fan of music and video games. She's trying to find creative inspiration through travel.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in 1-2 of Temple of Anubis.
Au
Color: Gold
Description: A monk with bright golden skin. By challenging his mind and body he's trying to find peace in a chaotic universe.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by opening a coffin in The City of Gold.
Description: Tina Flan's husband and Ana Spelunky's father. He's spent his life in pursuit of adventure (and treasure). A young man no longer, he's re-evaluating what's most important to him.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by beating the game's normal ending by defeating Queen Tiamat in Neo Babylon and exiting through the main door in Tiamat's Throne.
Classic Guy
Color: Orange
Description: A version of Guy Spelunky from a parallel universe made of large, flat blocks of colors.
Unlock: This character is unlocked by defeating Hundun in Sunken City and taking the exit at the top of Hundun's Hideaway to beat the game the hard way.
Colin Northward: Rope suction cup attaches to wall.
Nekka the Eagle: The vine-like Rope makes an organic attaching noise.
LISE Project: The electrical plug at the end of the Rope makes a soft attaching noise as it inserts into the background.
Manfred Tunnel: Sound of Rope "Digging" into wall.
Tina Flan: The carabiner clip at the end of the Rope "clanks" onto the background with a loud metal sound.
Valerie Crump: The chewed gum at the end of the Rope sticks to the wall.
Au: Deploying plays a loud, tube like unfurling noise.
Pilot: The arm-like Rope makes a rubbery flailing sound as it is thrown upward.
Classic Guy: The Rope makes the same sound effects as it did in Spelunky Classic.
Custom Whips
Some characters have their own custom Whips. These whips function identically to the default whip, and only appear different. Notably, Hired Hands and the Eggplant Child also have their very own custom whip.
When a Spelunker dies in co-op, they will drop a Corpse Bag and become a Ghist. The colors and features of the Ghist resemble the player character that died.
Player Ghists can use the attack button to hold their breath and release a puff of air, knocking anything forward. If a player Ghist holds their breath for over 2.5 seconds, they will be able to shoot a short-ranged Ice shot just like the Freeze Ray when released.
Pressing the "bomb" button while playing as a ghist will boost them forward.
Pressing the "rope" button while playing as a ghist will cause them to shake and make a loud rattling noise. This has no effect on gameplay.
Leaving powerful enemies to be easily defeating using their ice blast, such as Quillback, Osiris, or even Tiamat.
Player Ghists can provoke Shopkeepers and other NPCs by freezing them.
For each player Ghist that exists, the amount of time in a level before The Ghost spawns reduces by 30 seconds.
Taking a picture of a player Ghist using the Camera will momentarily and forcefully freeze them into an odd shape or expression.
NPCs
NPCs are Non-Player Characters encountered throughout the caves. Many of them offer questlines or services, each of which are elaborated on their respective pages.
Named Parsley, Parsnip, and Parmesan, these characters can be found in caves in the Jungle; upon rescuing them, they will be found again near the Ankh cave's exit in the upper-right corner of Olmec's Lair, where they will give rewards to the player.
Rescuing one sister in one playthrough will yield a pile of Ropes, two will yield a Bomb Bag, and all three will yield a Bomb Box.
One of the many sons of the original Yang from Spelunky HD, he loves Turkeys. He can reward the player Treasure for giving him Turkeys in Dwelling, which would prompt him to open a Turkey Shop later.
Hailing from a prominent ninja family, she defied her parents and turned to thievery to challenge authority. Sparrow can be met by the player after stealing something, and can assist them in stealing from Madame Tusk.
One of the many grumpy old men who are a part of the Shopkeeper Association, running their own Shops. Their main hub is The Black Market, and they originate from The Mothership.
Trivia
Much of the Spelunky 2 cast is either related to or made up of former Spelunkers. For example, it is implied that Little Jay and Valerie Crump are The Round Boy and The Round Girl from the original adventure or at the very least related to them, with both having lost weight and gaining more individuality.
Colin Northward is based on Colin Northway, a friend of Spelunky and Spelunky 2's lead designer Derek Yu.
Roffy D. Sloth's namesake is a reference to One Piece's main character, 'Monkey D. Luffy'
Van Horsing returns as an NPC in Spelunky 2, previously being a Spelunker in Spelunky HD. His namesake and appearance is also a reference to Van Helsing, a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. Both serve as vampire hunters in their respective appearances.
Tina Flan's description is a reference to how she was the character used by the Youtuber/Streamer BananasaurusRex during the first successfully recorded solo eggplant run.
This reference is further intensified by a unique dialogue during her interaction with the Eggplant King, as he yells: "Ah, you've come to finish the job!" as he's killed.
The Pilot appears to be a reference to one of the games in the upcoming UFO 50 (also by Mossmouth), as he appears here in the trailer.
Demi Von Diamonds is a reference to the Damsel from Spelunky Classic and HD. Her dialogue hints that she is the same character from the first game, seeming to know Guy and the original Yang from the first game.
Dirk Yamaoka and Sparrow are siblings. If Dirk Yamaoka meets Sparrow, she will say, "Big brother! I never thought i'd catch you stealing..."
Au is the Periodic Symbol for Gold, hence the Golden Monk's name.