Super Mario Odyssey - Which Characters Are Playable and Which Are Not

Super Mario Odyssey contains a large number of familiar enemies and friendly characters that span right from the beginnings of Super Mario up to the present day. However, some of the major characters such as Rosalina are not playable. In this guide I'll be covering all of the playable characters in the game and listing exactly who is included and who isn't.

Before we go any further, let's recap on a couple of important topics in Odyssey, namely Cappy and Costumes. These two components provide the opportunity to either play as other characters or visually "appear" as other characters. You'll understand the difference in a minute.

The Cappy companion is Mario's best ally in the Odyssey experience. Not only providing new maneuvers but also the opportunity to control almost every character in the game. When we talk about control, this implies physically controlling the characters movements and using their special abilities. We can equate this to a playable character in the context of this guide.

Squid captured

Example of playing as a captured squid

On the flip side, we also have costumes (aka outfits) which allow Mario to drastically alter his appearance. These can be purchased from merchants or earned as rewards at certain milestones. The big difference between the Cappy capture mechanic and Outfits is that Outfits are purely cosmetic - you don't gain any new abilities or manoeuvres from wearing them. So in this sense we can kind of say that the character is playable but to a limited extent.

Now that we have covered this significant difference, let's discuss who is and who isn't a playable character. The list below shows three sections: one for characters who can be captured, characters that come via costumes and other characters who are not playable at all.

Of all the playable characters the most significant to Mario fans will be both Yoshi and Bowser who are both fully playable. Whilst on the flip side Rosalina, Daisy and King Boo are not playable characters and also have no associated costumes. These characters may come via DLC at a later date but for now they either make a limited appearance or none at all.

In between the two we have many costumes which allow Mario to look like major characters such as Peach (although a rather disturbing costume!), Luigi, Diddy Kong, Wario and Waluigi.

Ok here's the full list...