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
