How to Unlock Characters and Trophies in Mario Kart

Unlock trophies and characters in Mario Kart Wii

Apply this guide to a Wii game released in 2008.

If you're looking for a guide for the Wii U game in 2014, check out Mario Kart 8. Note that you can still play Mario Kart Wii on the Wii U.

Unlock trophies by winning third place or higher in available trophies.

Each Grand Prix trophy can be unlocked by winning a trophy (bronze or higher) in the initial trophy. You can choose any Engine Class (engine type) (50cc displacement, for example). Here's the complete unlock:

Star Cup : Finish third or better in the Mushroom Cup and Flower Cup.

Special Cup : Finish third or better in the Star Cup.

Leaf Cup : Finish third or better in Banana Cup and Shell Cup.

Lightning Cup : Finish third or better in the Leaf Cup.

You can also unlock "Mirror mode" for all cups (which causes the circuit to be reversed left and right) by winning first prize in every cup on 150cc difficulty — Quite a challenge!

Unlock characters by winning 50cc races.

Below are the characters that you can unlock in the easiest mode, so try to unlock these first:

King Boo : Win the 50cc Star Cup.

Diddy Kong : Win the 50cc Lightning Cup.

Baby Daisy : Get one star or more in all 50cc Cups (including Mushroom, Flower, Star and Special) on the Wii.

Unlock characters in 100cc.

Next, unlock the following characters when playing the game on higher difficulties:

Dry Bones (Kopa skeleton) : Win the 100cc Leaf Cup.

Mii Outfit A : Win the 100cc Special Cup.

Bowser Jr. : Get one star or more in all familiar 100cc Cups (including Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning).

Unlock character in 150cc.

Show off your skills by unlocking the following characters on the highest difficulty:

Daisy : Win the 150cc Special Cup.

Dry Browser ( Bowser skeleton ): Get one star or more in all 150cc Cups (including Mushroom, Flower, Star and Special) on the Wii.

Unlock characters in Time Trial.

In Time Trial mode, you will race alone against a "Ghost" racer that you cannot touch, representing the record you need to break. If you get past the ghost by a significant distance (sometimes a gap of 2 seconds or more), you will receive a notification that you have unlocked a new "Master Phantom" (with faster speed). You do not need to overcome these expert ghosts, but if you unlock them (enough required number) by overcoming normal ghosts, you can unlock the characters below.

Funky Kong: Unlock four expert ghosts.

Baby Luigi: Unlock eight expert ghosts.

Birdo: Unlock sixteen expert ghosts ( or play online until you surpass 250 players).

Toadette: Play all 32 rounds in Time Trial mode (you don't need to win).

Mii Outfit B (in Mario/Peach outfit): Unlock all 32 master ghosts. This character has the same stats as Mii which is unlocked by winning the 100cc Special Cup. Instead of wearing a normal Mii outfit, this Mii will wear an outfit that looks like Mario (if a male Mii) or Peach (if a female Mii).

Unlock Rosalina.

There are two ways to unlock Rosalina, a character from the video game Super Mario Galaxy. You need to complete one of the following tasks:

Finish first in all 150cc Cups to unlock Mirror mode, then score 1 star in this mode in all eight cups.

or install Super Mario Galaxy on your Wii, start a game of Galaxy and save, then race any round in Mario Kart Wii until Rosalina appears.

Learn advanced racing techniques to unlock many difficult things.

Whether you're racing in Time Trial mode or the 150cc circuit, knowing how to race advanced can save you hours of effort. You can learn for yourself how to race like a master to overcome all challenges, and you should also know the tips below:

Use heavy vehicles (Heavy) in Time Trial mode, as they have the highest maximum speed. Acceleration doesn't matter much because there are no racers in your way.

Find secret shortcuts. There are many shortcuts like this in the game, from the dirt road near the starting line in the Maple Treeway race, to the small path under the minecart in the Wario's Goldmine race. If you're having trouble during a particular race, you can search for videos online and maybe find a new shortcut.

Unlock trophies and characters in Mario Kart 8

Apply this guide to the Wii U game.

The Mario Kart 8 video game was released in 2014 for the Wii U. If you're playing Mario Kart on the classic Wii handheld, read about Mario Kart Wii.

Unlock characters by finishing first in every Grand Prix Cup.

If you finish first after a complete trophy (rather than just a lap), you'll be able to unlock a new character randomly selected from the list of free characters you haven't unlocked yet. If you win the same trophy more than once, you cannot unlock a new character, but if you choose a different Engine Class, it can be counted as another trophy. For example: Win the 50cc Mushroom Cup and 100cc Mushroom Cup to unlock two characters. Here are the characters that can be unlocked this way:

Metal Mario

Toadette

Lakitu

Rosalina

Baby Rosalina

Pink Gold Peach

Iggy Koopa

Roy Koopa

Ludwig von Koopa

Lemmy Koopa

Larry Koopa

Morton Koopa Jr

Wendy O. Koopa

Unlock Mii.

Miis are special characters whose weight class is determined by the Mii avatar's current height and weight. There are many rumors on the Internet mentioning how to unlock Mii, but it is more likely that this character is unlocked in the same way as the other characters: winning trophies.

Unlock new trophies.

Unlock the next Grand Prix Cup by finishing first in the previous cup (consisting of four races). Once the trophy is unlocked, you can race with any engine. There are two different trophy completion sequences as follows, and there is an additional special mode that can be unlocked:

Mushroom Cup → Flower Cup → Star Cup → Special Cup

Shell Cup → Banana Cup → Leaf Cup → Lightning Cup

Win all eight 150cc engine trophies to unlock Mirror mode for all trophies, where each lap is reversed left and right.

Buy more characters and trophies.

Connect your Wii U to the Internet and buy the DLC Pack for more gameplay. There are two DLC Packs that have been released.

DLC Pack 1 (available now):

Characters: Tanooki Mario, Link and Cat Peach

Cups: Egg Cup and Triforce Cup

DLC Pack 2 (released in May 2015):

Characters: Isabelle, Dry Bowser and Villager (from the Animal Crossing video game series)

Cup: "Crossing Cup" and "Bell Cup"

Jessica Tanner

Update 04 November 2023