Multi Playable Characters are playable characters which contain more than one character on one vehicle. Currently, there are 4 multi playable characters: Irresponsible Dad, Moped Couple, Santa Claus and Irresponsible Mom.
Dual Playable Characters
A dual playable character is a playable character that includes two people riding on the same vehicle. These characters have two types of characters in them: Primary characters and secondary characters. Both characters are controlled simultaneously, but the buttons used to eject them are different. A primary character is the one operating the vehicle. If the primary character dies, the level can no longer be won via a finish line, but tokens can be collected by secondary characters. The father of Irresponsible Dad and the man of Moped Couple are the primary characters of the duos.
A secondary character always rides behind the primary character on the vehicle, except for Santa Claus, in which the secondary characters are in front. Since it does not matter whether the secondary character lives or dies, they will often by ejected or thrown to their deaths to drop weight off the vehicle and allow for faster speeds, or simply for humor.
Irresponsible Dad
Main article: Irresponsible Dad
Irresponsible Dad was the first and only dual primary character until the introduction of Moped Couple. This character consists of a father and son on a bicycle, with the father being the primary character controlling the bike (and was on the Akira Bike), and the son being the secondary character riding in a child seat on the back of the bike. The character's name comes from the practice of flinging the child off to his gruesome death, something only possible with dual characters (rarely with Moped Couple). Pressing Z will eject both the father and son, while Shift will eject only the father and Ctrl will eject only the son.
Moped Couple
Main article: Moped Couple
Moped Couple is the second dual playable character, and the first character added after the introduction of the game, which included the original four characters (Wheelchair Guy, Segway Guy, Irresponsible Dad, and Effective Shopper). The couple consists of a French man and woman (presumed to be in some sort of relationship) riding on a moped. The primary character is the man, who controls the moped, and the secondary character is the woman, who is on the back holding onto the man's waist.
Unlike Irresponsible Dad, both characters in Moped Couple are relatively the same weight, so dropping off the woman will give a noticeable increase in velocity compared to ejecting the child, with the flipside being a noticeable decrease in balance. Two things can happen when you press Z, the first ejects the man only and makes the woman quite limp and floppy, the second ejects the man, but the woman holds onto the man's waist until her arms are broken. Pressing Shift ejects the woman only and has absolutely no effect on the man.
Triple Playable Characters
Triple playable characters consist of three people on the same vehicle. The primary character on the vehicle must make it to the finish line to win, but they can also win by collecting tokens, which can be caught by primary characters and secondary characters. All three characters are controlled simultaneously while ejected, but while riding a vehicle they work separate actions. Triple playable characters are similar to dual playable characters.
Santa Claus
Main article: Santa Claus
The first triple character is Santa Claus. He uses his two secondary characters to drag his vehicle, although he can propel himself forward without the secondary characters. He is the first character that has secondary characters that serve a purpose as well as being the first character not to have visible wheels.
Irresponsible Mom
Main article: Irresponsible Mom
Irresponsible Mom was added on September 21st 2012 as the fourth multi playable character, and the second triple playable character. Much like Irresponsible Dad, the mom brings her kids on a bicycle. Only one of the secondary characters serves a purpose (the older child can pedal). This is the first character to have three visible wheels.
Trivia
- By default, pressing 'c' will cycle through the people's "camera" on the vehicle.
- Only the primary character appears when the Hide Vehicle option is used in a level.
- On the iOS version, the secondary character will still appear with the primary character.
- The lightest character and heaviest character are all found as multi playable characters.
- Moped Couple is the only multi playable character to not include a small character.