Pass the Fear Character Guide

Choosing a character in Pass the Fear is not a cosmetic decision. Each hunter ships with a distinct talent tree, baseline stats, and implicit playstyle that shapes how you interact with weapons, relics, affixes, and your twelve-hour escape timer. Whether you prefer to face bullet patterns head-on, carpet-bomb entire rooms, or squeeze every coin out of the island economy, there is a hunter built for that mindset.

This page is your hub for every playable character at full release. If you are brand new, start with our getting started guide before locking in a main. Returning players jumping into online co-op should read team roles alongside these profiles so your party covers aggro, damage, utility, and recovery without overlapping weaknesses.

The launch roster (July 2026)

Pass the Fear shipped on July 23, 2026 with seven playable hunters on Steam, expanding the Next Fest demo roster. PlayMud added Long Tong (Spirit Dragon Amber companion) and Stella (astrologer), kept Elena as a full-release hybrid DPS pick, and returned Jenny as a complete rework of Explosive Cutie — not a separate roster slot. Several veterans received launch-week skill tuning; see patch 7.24 for networking fixes that matter in co-op.

Character	Role	Best for
Iron Bucket Knight	Tank / frontline	New players, Chaos Battle Scar, co-op aggro
Explosive Cutie (Jenny)	AoE / burst	Room clears, Fireworks Master builds
One-Eyed Codger	Utility / control	Affix fishing, Tarot manipulation
Money Whiz	Economy / scaling	Long runs, shop-heavy routes
Mysterious Nun	Support / sustain	Co-op healing themes, safe learning
Elena	Hybrid DPS	Weapon swap tempo, flexible co-op DPS
Long Tong	Spirit / charge DPS	Spirit Dragon Amber, charge weapon lines
Stella	Tarot / Pearl synergy	Chaos Battle Scar planning, astrologer routes

Stella and some hunters may require stage progression unlocks — the character select screen gates a few picks until you advance early chapters. Each name links to a dedicated page with talent breakdowns, recommended build paths, and item priorities.

How character talents interact with the roguelite loop

Every hunter earns Character Talents across runs — permanent upgrades separate from in-run relic pickups. Talents modify baseline stats like movement speed, reload cadence, revive speed, or shop discounts. They stack with Squad Talents in co-op, so a Money Whiz paired with a Mysterious Nun can turn early poverty into late-game relic floods if the team plans routes together.

In-run, your two weapon slots and ten relic slots remain the same regardless of character. What changes is how efficiently you convert pickups into power. The Iron Bucket Knight forgives bad relic rolls with raw durability. The Explosive Cutie turns mediocre area weapons into screen-wide massacres. The One-Eyed Codger rewards players who read affix text carefully — see our affix guide and affix reference tool for the combos he enables.

Weapon customization matters for every hunter, but some characters skew toward specific barrels and parts. Elemental trajectories that feel awkward on a squishy DPS become viable when the Knight absorbs pressure. Economy talents on Money Whiz make expensive Forge rerolls affordable, which matters when chasing Growth or Final Shot lines on a min-maxed sniper.

Picking your first character

If this is your first hour on the cursed island, we recommend Iron Bucket Knight or Mysterious Nun. The Knight teaches spacing and aggro without punishing every misstep. The Nun introduces sustain and support themes that mirror co-op responsibilities even in solo play.

Players comfortable with bullet-hell patterns should try Explosive Cutie or Elena. Cutie accelerates learning enemy spawn rhythms because visible AoE feedback tells you immediately when a room is safe. Elena rewards players who already understand affix synergies and want a flexible second weapon slot identity.

Min-maxers and veterans hunting Chaos Battle Scar scores often rotate between One-Eyed Codger for utility fishing and Money Whiz for economy snowballs. Neither is forgiving early, but both dominate once the island starts paying interest on your risks.

Co-op party composition tips

Four-player co-op is where character roles shine. A common stable comp looks like this: Iron Bucket Knight on aggro, Explosive Cutie or Elena on primary DPS, One-Eyed Codger handling utility and crowd control, and Mysterious Nun anchoring sustain and revives. Money Whiz flexes into any slot when the team commits to shared gold routes and item trading — details in our co-op guide.

Avoid stacking three pure DPS hunters without a frontline unless your group already clears Storm Wall consistently. The Wall punishes parties that cannot trade damage for time. Mix defensive talents, share healing relics, and call out Tarot picks so Codger players can steer the run toward Fragment or Disruption lines your DPS can exploit.

Meta notes and demo carryover

Demo players who mained Jenny should read the updated Explosive Cutie page — Jenny returns in the full game with a complete skill rework, not the demo mobility kit. Elena is a separate hybrid DPS pick; Long Tong and Stella are new launch additions with their own pages.

There is no permanent “best” character — Pass the Fear rewards synergy over raw tier lists. Use our build guides to plan relic lines per hunter, browse relic and tarot pages for drop priorities, and return here when patches add talents or rebalance baselines.

Quick links

• Iron Bucket Knight — tanky frontline and co-op aggro
• Explosive Cutie — AoE room clear specialist
• One-Eyed Codger — utility, control, affix synergy
• Money Whiz — gold scaling and shop advantage
• Mysterious Nun — support and healing themes
• Elena — hybrid weapon-swap DPS
• Long Tong — Spirit Dragon Amber charge specialist
• Stella — astrologer Tarot and Pearl routes
• Beginner guide · Builds · Co-op · Items