Vanillaware doesn’t do things by half when it decides to make a new game, and Unicorn Overlord is the perfect example of that. This is the studio’s first tactical RPG, and it features more than 60 characters you can recruit to your army in a single playthrough.
From your starting party of Alain, Lex, Chloe, and Scarlett to war-dominating additions like Amalia, you will have numerous options for how you want to build out your deployment formations as you travel through Fevrith. Some units will join your army automatically as you progress through the story. Others, meanwhile, are locked behind side quests, in-battle requirements, or decisions where you will be asked to recruit or execute former enemies. All of this plays into Unicorn Overlord’s massive cast and list of potential recruits—and here is a guide to help highlight each one.
Unicorn Overlord Character Recruitment guide: All characters and how to recruit them
In an interview with Famitsu in September 2023, Unicorn Overlord director Takafumi Noma and designer Wataru Nakanishi confirmed that all of the game’s 60-plus unique characters can be recruited in a single playthrough, and there are no units who are explicitly hidden or locked away. The only time you will miss out on recruiting a character is if you fail to meet a certain requirement, such as having a specific unit talk to them in a mission or execute someone key to a side quest later in the game.
Here is an overview of every character, their class, and when you can recruit them to Alain’s Liberation Army. This guide is listed in roughly the order that I encountered the characters during my playthrough, along with additional info on how to recruit units that are potentially missable.
This list will remain mostly spoiler-free, but some characters require very specific means to recruit them. That, paired with some recruitable units being bosses or post-game content, could lead to a few quests or surprises being spoiled if you aren’t careful.
| Character (starting class) | Recruitment requirements |
| Alain (Lord) | Begin The Unicorn Ring quest |
| Lex (Fighter) | Begin The Unicorn Ring quest |
| Chloe (Soldier) | Begin The Unicorn Ring quest |
| Scarlett (Priestess) | Complete The Unicorn Ring quest and then rescue her during The Priestess Abducted. |
| Josef (Paladin) | Begin The Unicorn Ring quest |
| Hodrick (Hoplite) | Complete The Unicorn Ring quest |
| Clive (Knight) | Complete the Call to Action quest |
| Travis (Thief) | Complete the Call to Action quest |
| Aubin (Housecarl) | Complete the Call to Action quest |
| Rolf (Hunter) | Complete the A Solitary Resistance quest |
| Gammel (Rogue) | Complete and choose to free him during the A Solitary Resistance quest. Becomes recruitable after the A Shifting Tide quest. |
| Auch (Wizard) | Complete and recruit him instead of executing him during The Mercenary Trial quest. |
| Bruno (Gladiator) | Complete the As the Tricorns Ride quest |
| Sharon (Cleric) | Complete The Winged Knight quest |
| Mandrin (Sniper) | Complete and choose to free him during The Winged Knight quest. Becomes recruitable after the A Shifting Tide quest. |
| Ochlys (Feathersword) | Complete The Winged Knight and the An Angel’s Request quest. |
| Mordon (Warrior) | Complete and spare him during The Battle Barbatimo quest. |
| Adel (Knight) | Complete the Province of Famine quest. |
| Fran (Gryphon Knight) | Complete the Province of Famine and The Priestess Abducted quests. |
| Kitra (Warrior) | Complete the The Priestess Abducted quest. |
| Miriam (Radiant Knight) | Complete the The Priestess Abducted quest. |
| Selvie (Shaman) | Interact with her in the overworld and agree to help investigate Sigils around the map. Starts with The Sigil’s Trial, Beginner 1 quest. |
| Nina (Warrior) | Have Mille’s unit talk to her unit before battling her in the Uprooting the Rock Rats quest. |
| Yahna (Witch) | Complete The Ravaged Swamp quest. |
| Rosalinde (Elven Augur) | Complete The Winding Wood quest. |
| Berenice (Sellsword) | Complete The Mercenary’s Trial quest. |
| Virginia (Crusader) | Complete The Battle for Mier quest. |
| Leah (Swordfighter) | Complete The Battle for Mier quest. |
| Primm (Cleric) | Talk to her with any unit during The General in Black quest. |
| Aramis (Swordfighter) | Talk to him with Primm’s unit during The General in Black quest. |
| Berengaria (Dark Marquess | Complete The General in Black and Heir to the Dragonlands quests. |
| Hilda (Wyvern Knight) | Have Primm in a deployable unit and talk to Hilda during The Champion of Order quest. Speak to her again in the overworld after the quest is finished. |
| Jeremy (Sellsword) | Complete and choose not to execute him during The Battle for Adopti quest. |
| Renault (Great Knight) | Complete and choose not to execute him during The Battle for Adopti quest. |
| Melisandre (Swordfighter) | Bring a unit with Alain and use him in battle during The Blade of House Meillet quest, then choose not to execute her after the battle. |
| Colm (Fighter) | Bring a unit with Alain and use him in battle during The Blade of House Meillet quest, then choose not to execute Melisandre after the battle. |
| Monica (Radiant Knight) | Complete The Unyielding Shield quest. |
| Gilbert (Prince) | Complete the Heir to the Dragonlands quest. Only joins if you already recruited Aramis. |
| Amalia (Dreadnought) | Win every ranked battle in the Coliseum. |
This article is being updated as we work through Unicorn Overlord’s large overworld and many side quests. Don’t forget, however, that these characters also have Rapport and Romance options available in the game.
