Unique Characters: What they do and where to find them

A compilation of all the important, suspected to eventually be important, or otherwise noteworthy characters encountered in your travels.

Introduction

Kenshi is a vast game, full of interesting or noteworthy characters. My eventual goal for this guide is to catalog them and provide detailed information about who they are, what they do, and where you can find them. This is my first ever guide, so I apologize if it's a little... rough.

Unique Recruits

The world is a vast, unforgiving, uncaring, and dangerous place. Fortunately for you there are some loonies around who don't mind adding their blades to your adventure. Usually for a price, of course.

Unique Recruits
Characters with fixed names, looks, and stories. The closest thing this game has to Companions.


Infinite Wingwang
What would this guide be without starting off with the legend himself. Formerly the strongest recruit in the game, and arguably the only unique character to boot, Wingwang has been eclipsed with the coming of the new world but is certainly still an effective combatant. Just be careful what you say to him, you may end up paying more than you'd like.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Mongrel only, although he's not guaranteed to spawn in a game.
Cost: 5k OR 10k, depending on which conversation options are chosen.


Crumblejon
The new king of the ring. A tall, emaciated, elderly man who claims to have got his nickname because his bones are crumbling. He's a filthy liar, and one of the best combatants in the game (with starting stats equal to or better than most city guards, and strength and athletics far beyond them).

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Mongrel (it's possible that he spawns elsewhere, but I don't know for sure).
Cost: Free. Ask him questions until he screams at you, then ask him to join your squad. He'll do it.

Griffin
A former Holy Sentinel who claims to have been given a vision by Okran that a wealthy wanderer would lead him to the truth behind the Great Extinction, in an attempt to halt the aggressive paranoia plaguing his people.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Holy Nation territory (most people have said Blister Hills, but I found him in Stack)
Cost: 6k
Starting Stats: Combat Skills: 20, Field Medic: 10 (ish, I'm estimating since he was required to heal my squad almost immediately after recruitment), Athletics: 20 (presumably)
Starting Equipment: Katana [Industrial #5, Metal Purity], Drifter's Boots/Pants, Dark Leather Shirt, Wool Hat, Standard First Aid Kit.


Silvershade
A Hive Prince who somehow escaped the influence of his Hive and became a ronin. Claims to have worked up sizable gambling debts, and is looking for work in an attempt to pay them off so he doesn't get his legs broken. Also has dialogue for if you encounter him while you are both enslaved, although I don't know how likely it would be for that to be relevant. Has balanced stats.

Sex: Male
Race: Hive Prince
Location(s): Waystation, Shark.
Cost: 3k
Starting Equipment: Halfpants (Ragged), Katana, Standard First Aid Kit (2).


Burn
A Skeleton who is living out his last days in a tower in the northern Floodlands, reasoning that the Spiders will keep him from getting hastled by bandits and such. Offers to teach you about humanity's evolution since their fall, but since you don't have a few spare months to hang around and listen you can offer to let him join you on one last adventure. Has mediocre stats.

Sex: N/A
Location(s): Burn's Tower, Northern Floodlands
Cost: Free
Starting Equipment: Rag Shirt, Armoured Rag Skirt, Long Cleaver, Robotics Repair Kit


Bard
A bard who offers to sing for you if you hire him. Formerly had a random name, but now just goes by the set moniker of "Bard". Somewhat poor stats, but dirt cheap.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Mongrel, Waystation, Blister Hill
Cost: 700


Random Named Monster Hunter
Tells you of a monster in the forest (two known variants on the story), and express a wish to find it some day before they die. Also that he's dying of some illness. Despite the fact that there are two confirmed story variants, the FCS apparently claims that he is in fact a unique character.

Sex: Male
Race: Random
Location(s): Hub only.
Cost: Free. Just tell him that you'll help find the beast.
Confirmed Stats:
Toughness -1 (presumably due to being sickly)


Zan (possibly random, need confirmation)
Offers to teach you how to become a grandmaster and become your sensei, despite only having mediocre combat stats themself.

Sex: Female
Race: Unspecified
Location(s): Stack, Waystation.
Cost: 700


Horse
If you agree to recruit him he tells you that a guy at the bar told him about a pillar of sand guarded by a monster, and laden with Old Empire tech somewhere north of the Cannibals. Moderate combat stats.

Sex: Male
Race: Unspecified
Location(s): Deadcat Fishing Village
Cost: 1750


Green Finger
Talks about farmers being killed by cannibals. Good farmer/laborer, high strength.

Sex: Random
Race: Scorchlander
Location(s): Deadcat Fishing Village
Cost: 2k


Soman
Tells you about wanting to leave the fishing trade. Good engineer/laborer, decent strength.

Sex: Female
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Deadcat Fishing Village
Cost: 1500


Ruka
Mediocre combat stats. Details unknown.

Sex: Female
Race: Shek
Location(s): Squin, Admag
Cost: Free, if you go through the right dialogue options
Starting Equipment: Plank, Dark Leather Shirt, Drifter's Pants, Plated Longboots, Basic Kist Aid Kit.


Rana the Giant
Claims to have been kicked out of the Hundred Guardians. Mediocre combat stats.

Sex: Female
Race: Shek
Location(s): Squin, Admag
Cost: 5000
Starting Equipment: Flat Topper, Sleeveless Longcoat, Samurai Clothpants, Samurai Boots, Standard First Aid Kit


Kang
Calls you a fragile flatskin (lines differ if you talk to him with a Shek character). Mediocre combat stats.

Sex: Male
Race: Shek
Location(s): Squin, Admag
Cost: 2500
Starting Equipment: Horse Chopper, Drifter's Pants, Drifter's Boots, Standard First Aid Kit.


Stubs Momuso
When spoken to he will ask if you are eyeballing him. If you respond rudely then he will attack you, but if you accuse him of eyeballing you back he will branch into some humorous dialogue. Decent combat stats, but 0 in everything else.

Sex: Male
Race: Ashlander
Location(s): Hub (so far)
Cost: 5000 (if you offer less he will insult you and end dialogue)
Starting Equipment: Guardless Katana, Longcoat, Goggles.


Random Named Brewer
Asks if you like rum, and then tells you about an amazing rum that he brewed that caused people to do crazy things until he was caught by the guards for brewing illegally. Promises that if you hire him you will never have to face a gutter, bandit, or crazy priest sober again. Great Cooking stat, decent athletics stat, crap everything else.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander (possibly random)
Location(s): Hub (so far)
Cost: 6000
Starting Equipment: Typical "Medic" recruit gear.


Random Named Gunner
Asks if you're looking for a gunner. Might actually just be a flavored recruit. Has a great Turrets stat, but crap everything else.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander (possibly random)
Location(s): Hub (so far)
Cost: 6000
Starting Equipment: Armored Rags, Straw Hat.


Miu
A drunken individual claiming to be an ex-slave and an ex-farmer before that. Says she and a friend escaped a Holy Nation slave mine, only to watch said friend's guts get sucked out before her very eyes by a spider just before reaching the city. If you speak to her with a Skeleton she remarks about how she likes their eyes (may apply to any race, not just Skeletons). Good Labouring and great Farming stats, but terrible everything else.

Sex: Female.
Race: Greenlander (possibly random, probably not)
Location(s): Shark
Cost: Free

Unique Recruits, part 2

Hamut
When spoken to, he asks how you feel about slavers. If you tell him you are indifferent or like them he'll ask if you'd feel the same after working in one of their mines and then end the conversation. If you tell him that you hate or dislike them he'll say that he feels the same and that he lost someone dear to him, and then offers a number of dialogue options. Ultimately he'll offer to join you if you want to fight slavers with him. Good combat stats, decent Field Medic stat.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Drifter's Last
Cost: Free
Starting Equipment: Leather Vest, Longcoat, Straw Hat, Hessian Pants, Katana.


Aramid (probably random named)
An obviously drunken man who informs you that if you buy him another drink he'll tell you everything about himself, and then proceeds to drive the point home by starting to take off his pants to show you a rash he's developed. Fortunately you stop him. Terrible stats.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Unspecified
Cost: 3000


Unnamed Swindler (maybe flavored instead of unique?)
If you ask about his story he'll ask if you've heard of the legend of the "half man, half pooch" living in the desert that robs people blind, that a legend is a legend until you decide to be one, and that the money he was making while wearing a stinking hide was worth it but now he's looking for more reputable work. Functionally identical to a standard swordsman recruit.

Sex: Male (random?)
Race: Unspecified, almost certainly Greenlander
Location(s): Unspecified
Cost: Unspecified. However much swordsmen cost.


Green (almost certainly randomly named)
Bets you that he can shoot a greenfruit from his drunk friend's head from a half a mile away, and that if he succeeds you have to pay his bar tab. You can ask him to join you, but it will take several attempts to convince him and you will need to pay his tab anyway to do it. Decent Athletics, Fantastic Turret skill, terrible everything else. Starts without a weapon of any kind.

Sex: Male (maybe N/A? I don't remember)
Race: Hiver (Worker)
Location(s): Shark
Cost: 2300


Doctor Chung
At first he acts like a standard plastic surgeon, and makes a few remarks about the kind of changes he could make, but then mentions that some thugs broke his "chin chisel". If you ask him about it he'll tell you that a group called the Twinblades have been smashing his place because he hasn't been providing them with enough organs, and that he's interested in retaliating against them since he's not too well liked in other towns so he can't just move away. If you take him up on his offer he'll join you for free, pleased that that will mean that the Twinblades lose their best organ harvester. Has unique lines when healing squadmates. Mediocre combat stats, decent Medic skill, okay Science skill.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Shark, small town north of Shark (no settlement name given)
Cost: Free
Starting Equipment: Standard Clothing (presumably tanktop + cargo pants, but not specified), Samurai Boots, Flesh Cleaver, Basic Medkit, Splint Kit


Headshot
Earned her name because of how many slaves she's shot in the head with harpoons, and remarks about how long it's been since she last heard the "satisfying sound of a harpoon splicing a slave skull as it hits her mark". Great Turrets stat, terrible everything else.

Sex: Female
Race: Shek
Location(s): Slave Markets
Cost: 7500
Starting Equipment: Armoured Rags, Spiked Club

Tuner (randomly named?)
Obsessed with walls. When spoken to he talks all about walls, then more about walls, then makes a pun about walls. Great Engineer skill, good Labouring skill, decent athletics, terrible everything else.

Sex: Male
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Shark
Cost: 5000
Starting Equipment: Default Engineer outfit (whatever that entails), Cap


Ray
A man called "bar fly" will complain about his useless slave, and how said slave was a lazy smart-ass until the previous owner cut his tongue out, and now he's just lazy. You can purchase the slave from him, but it will reduce your rep with the Slave Traders because you're now a "filthy slave lover". Decent combat stats.

Sex: N/A (I think)
Race: Hiver (Soldier)
Location(s): Slave Markets
Cost: 1000
Starting Equipment: Typical slave gear (whatever that entails), Unlocked Shackles


Beep
A Hiver that beeps at you as you approach, and follows you for a while while beeping. If you talk to him he beeps again, and if you ask him why he's beeping he'll apologize and explain that he beeps when he's nervous and that he was kicked out of his Hive for being defective (likely because of the beeping). He expresses that everything outside the Hive keeps trying to kill him, that he's sick of it and is ready to start stabbing the things that try to kill him, and that as time passes he can feel his mind expanding as the Hive's influence fades away. You can reject him, telling him to come back to you when he's stronger, or can (rather exasperatatedly) ask him how much money he's going to ask to let him sign up. He replies that he has no idea what that word ("money") means, and you can again either tell him to come back when he's stronger or excitedly bring him aboard. Absolutely rock bottom stats across the board.

Sex: N/A
Race: Hiver (Worker)
Location(s): Mongrel
Cost: Free
Starting Equipment: Rag Loincloth, Basic First Aid Kit


Shryke
Tells a long tale about needing to get out of the Foglands, even if they need to be dragged out.

Sex: Random
Race: Possibly Random (so far Scorchlander and Shek have been seen)
Location(s): Mongrel
Cost: Free
Starting Equipment: Storm Goggles

Cat (possibly random named)
A prisoner who talks about "wearing a nice dress for a date" and then being kidnapped. Speak to them before freeing them, or else you won't be able to recruit them.

Sex: Male
Race: Scorchlander
Location(s): Dust King's Tower
Cost: Free

Flavored Recruits

Flavored Recruits(not as tasty as it sounds)
Characters who are randomly generated, but have a selection of assigned backstories and stats as well as likely being limited to select locations.


Criminal
Comes in three varieties:
Bandit Servant - Claims to have spent some time serving a bandit clan as a maid, begging them to teach him/her how to fight. Eventually they apparently got fed up with the repeated requests and tried to kill him/her, but it turned out they didn't need teaching after all.

Bandit Outcast - Claims to have been betrayed by a Bandit Lord, and while he was killed for his treachery they are now on the run.

Wanted Outlaw - Hits you up for money to pay off their bounty, and says if you accept they'll be loyal forever.

As far as I'm aware none of the variants are statistically different, and only serve to add diversity. Overall Criminals have mediocre stats, but are fairly affordable.

Sex: Random
Race: Random
Location(s): Mongrel, presumably Hub (I haven't spent enough time in Holy lands to know if they spawn there or not)
Cost: 2k


"Strong Woman"(I have no idea what to call her/them, I'm open to name suggestions)
Expresses a desire to leave the sexist city she's staying at, and asks if you're willing to take on another member for your party. Fairly poor stats, but surprisingly starts with a tiny boost to a few non-combat skills like medic and stealth.

Sex: Female
Race: Greenlander (since I imagine she/they only show up in Holy Nation lands)
Location(s): Holy Nation territory
Cost: 1k


Persecuted Woman
Seems to replace the basic female recruits in Holy Nation bars. Rock bottom stats, identical to the "nobody" recruits, but are set apart by telling you tales of the woes befallen them at the hands of the Holy Nation. I've seen two varities so far:
Adventurer (for lack of a better name) - Basically identical to the "Strong Woman" recruit(s), but with worse stats and slightly different dialogue which gives you an option to yell at them for daring to speak out of turn.

Tainted Woman - Tells you that her younger sister was burned alive by the Paladins under suspicion of being "tainted", and says that now the suspicion has shifted to her. Pretty much begs you to hire her and take her away before she gets burned too, although you have the option to tell her that you're not willing to work with a tainted woman.

Sex: Female
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Holy Nation territory
Cost: 700


Former Slave
A recruit claiming to be a former slave, with unique dialogue to yell at them, call them property, and essentially press-gang them into your squad for next to nothing. Trash stats (presumably).

Sex: Female (so far, but probably random)
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Hub
Cost: 3000


Ex-Farmer
A recruit who gives you a sob-story about having lost their farm. Probably crap stats, but a very high farming skill.

Sex: Female (probably random)
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Hub
Cost: 6000


Desperate Beggar
Begs you to recruit her because she is desperate for money. If you recruit her she promises to pay you back somehow. Poor skills. One of the few/only recruits to be brought on hungry.

Sex: Female (probably random)
Race: Greenlander
Location(s): Waystation
Cost: 3000


Starving Civilian (possibly a variant on Desperate Beggar?)
Asks if you are hiring, and when you inquire about her skillset she tells you that she is nothing but that yesterday she was so hungry that she ate a mouldy riceball off the floor because when you're starving even a mouldy riceball sounds good. Terrible skills.

Sex: Female (probably random)
Race: Greenlander (possibly random?)
Location(s): Shark
Cost: 3000


Random Named Skeleton
Remarks how most people in the swamp are refugees from cruelty in one form or another, but that the majority of them use their newfound freedom to victimise other victims. Decent skills.

Sex: N/A
Race: Skeleton
Location(s): Shark
Cost: 6000

NPCs

The world is large, but certainly not empty. It is populated by many diverse peoples and nations, of varying ideals and backgrounds. Some members of these groups are particularly noteworthy, although not always for the right reasons...


Trapped Ex-Convict
A person in a black gi or trenchcoat with a face helmet, who laments over being unable to leave the town of Mongrel. They state that they fled to there after they escaped a prison, but claims that the Fogman Deathyards are uncrossable and that Mongrel is just another kind of prison. Their dialogue suggests that they are recruitable, but no matter what you choose they will just insist that "nobody leaves Mongrel, stranger" and return to their drink.

Sex: Random
Race: Greenlander (maybe Scorchlander as welll?)
Location(s): Mongrel

Unknown

What would a world be without a little mystery? Some individuals clearly stand out from the rest, but apparently serve no purpose. Characters in this section are suspected to play a more important part in future updates, and are currently just placeholders.


Cat
A bounty hunter who can buy you a few rounds of drinks. Your character claims the drinks are drugged, but nothing actually happens. Currently suspected to be a placeholder for some unimplemented event or unique recruit. Spawns with high quality armor.


Absurdly High-Statted Skeletons
Members of the Skeleton race with astronomically high stats who populate bars as if they were recruits, mercenaries, or thieves, but are entirely uninteractible. There's not a ton of speculation as to what they might be for, but since they can probably solo entire towns they definitely stand out. Spawns with high quality armor.

Credits

A list of all the notable characters who have contributed to this guide by providing me information, and who/what they provided on.

lamuerte71: Monster Hunter, Trapped Ex-Convict

KarmaPolice: Monster Hunter, Absurdly High Statted Skeletons

Tommygun: Monster Hunter

Bludy St00l: Bard

Leah: Griffin

IRONIC WAR CRIMINAL: Griffin

ComradeWin: Cat

Lolwut: Silvershade

Defektive: Random Named Teacher

Dazed: Random Named Teacher

Zectarash: Horse, Green Finger, Soman

Blitzkrieg-Kjeld: Half the bloody guide at this point. I'll update with the specific entries later.

[Southern Duck]

Zan is not unique, it is actually just the Traitorous personality upon being offered to recruit (they oversell themselves.)

[Lawfixer]

Yeah, I was gonna say, this guide is probably pretty old haha. Some of the stuff no longer applies and there are obviously new recruits. But it works for locations for the most part.

[Dragon]

green is not randomly named

[Smackems]

the wall guy for me ended up being a hive named weke, horse was just an engineer, never hired them but headshot was always a male shek

[Reverend Belial]

Because this guide was abandoned a very long time ago and is no longer being maintained.

[Nurse Doctor R.N.]

Why isn't SadNeil on the list? (Skeleton, free, Black Desert City bar, minimum stats +/-3)

[Swag Messiah]

What happens if you knowck out the ex convict and carry him out of the foglands?

[keeperd367]

how bout the great hiver BEEP!

[Barudar]

'Green' is not a random name btw :) While 'Aramid' is

[wacy]

Miu's eye comment is also to Shek ^^