You'll notice that there are a lot of characters to unlock in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode. With a total of 29 characters, the battle royale mode features a variety of characters from past Blacks Ops multiplayer, zombies, and story campaigns. If you're vying to get them all, you'll need to do a little legwork.

To unlock most of these characters, you'll often need to complete a specific set of challenges associated to them. After finding a special item for the character on the map, you'll activate this special challenge, which often includes getting kills with a specific weapon, taking out zombies, or using specific support items.

Below you can find a list of all the characters you can unlock. It's worth noting that not every character in the character select menu is unlockable yet; we assume they'll be made available at a later date. We'll be sure to update this feature as that information becomes available, as well as provide more detail on the characters we're currently missing.

If you're new to Blackout mode, be sure to check out guide highlighting tips you should know before starting. You can also read our informative feature that details Black Ops 4 as a whole in all of its modes. For folks more curious about how Blackout compares to Fortnite and PUBG, check out our in-depth comparison feature. Otherwise, be on the lookout for more Black Ops 4 guides in the coming days.

Blackout Characters

Only a couple of the Blackout characters are unlocked from obtaining their special items and completing their mid-match challenges.

Woods

Obtain the Bandanna by killing zombies or fallen player
Get in a Helicopter during a match
Win a match

Menendez

Obtain the Locket
Kill an enemy with a shotgun
Kill an enemy with a melee attack
Finish the match with the Locket in your inventory

Ranger

Unlocked at Echelon 20

Frogman

Unlocked at Echelon 40

Airborne

Unlocked at Echelon 60

Seal

Unlocked at Echelon 80

Battle Hardened

Unlocked at Echelon 80 Prestige

Zombies Characters

With the exception of Shadow Man--who is unlocked via the Blackout pass--all of the zombie characters are unlocked by discovering a special item on the map and completing the challenge objectives.

Shadow Man

Unlocked with Blackout Pass

Dempsey

Find a Death Machine
Kill Zombies
Finish the match in the top 10

Nikolai

Find a Cymbal Monkey
Kill Zombies
Finish the match in the top 10

Takeo

Find the Katanas
Kill Zombies
Finish the match in the top 10
Scarlett

Obtain the Racing Goggles and Bandanna by killing zombies or looting fallen players

Multiplayer Characters

Characters from the Multiplayer category are unlocked by finding their special item and completing their challenge objectives. It's worth noting that many of their weapons and equipment can be found and used regardless of whether you're playing as them or not. It's more of a cosmetic choice at the end of the day.

Battery

Obtain Battery's Wat Machine
Get kills with the Grenade Launcher
Finish the match in the top 15

Firebreak

Obtain the Burned Doll by looting a supply box or supply drop
Confirm a Kill or Clean up a downed player with fire
Finish the match with the Burned Doll

Ruin

Craft the Grapple Gun from missing pieces
Finish the match in the top 15

Seraph

Find the Annihilator
Get Annihilator Kills
Finish the match in the top 15

Ajax

Loot fallen enemies for Broken Armor Plating
Finish the match with three Broken Armor Platings in your inventory

Crash

Obtain Poker Chips
End the match with 15 Healing Items
Finish the match in the top 3
Finish the match with the Poker Chips in your inventory

Recon

Obtain the I Ching Coins item
Avoid collapse damage
Finish the match in the top 7
Finish the match with the I Ching Coins item in your inventory

Torque

Obtain the Note from Torque from a supply box or supply drop
Deploy two Razor Wires and one Carricade
Place in the top 7
Finish the match with the Note from Torque in your inventory