How to Unlock All Characters, Vehicles, and Cups in Mario Kart Wii

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The ultimate guide to Mario Kart Wii unlockables & how to get them

Co-authored by Glenn Carreau

Last Updated: November 28, 2025 Fact Checked

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Unlockable Characters

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Vehicles

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Courses & Cups

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Other Unlockables

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Video

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Q&A

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Tips

Mario Kart Wii starts you off with a fun cast of characters—but there are more to discover as you play! Playable characters are divided into light, medium, and heavy, and this determines which type of kart or bike that character can use. In this player guide, we’ll show you how to unlock every character in Mario Kart Wii—and, if you’re curious about other unlockables, we’ll also reveal the prerequisites needed to get every race course, cup, and kart (or bike) in the game, too.

Full List of Unlockable Characters in Mario Kart Wii

Baby Daisy, Baby Luigi, Birdo, Bowser Jr., Daisy, Diddy Kong, Dry Bones, Dry Bowser, Funky Kong, Mii (Outfit A), Mii (Outfit B), Rosalina, and Toadette.

Section 1 of 4:

Unlockable Characters in Mario Kart Wii

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Baby DaisyGet at least a 1-star rank for all 50cc Wii Grand Prix Cups or play 1,950 races in total. This will unlock Baby Daisy.^{[1]
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Baby LuigiUnlock at least 8 expert Staff Ghosts in Time Trials, take part in 3,150 races, or win 100 Wi-Fi Connection Ghost races to get Baby Luigi as a playable character.^{[2]
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BirdoPlay Time Trials on 16 different courses, win 250 Wi-Fi races, or play 1,350 races in total to unlock Birdo as a playable character.
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Bowser Jr.Earn a 1-star rank (or higher) for all 100cc Retro Grand Prix Cups or play 3,450 races in total. This will unlock Bowser Jr. as a playable character.
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DaisyWin the 150cc Special Cup or take part in 2,850 races in total (across the game). This will unlock Daisy.^{[3]
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Diddy KongWin the 50cc Lightning Cup or play 450 races in total to unlock Diddy Kong as a playable character.
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Dry BonesWin the 100cc Leaf Cup or take part in 1,050 races in total. This will unlock Dry Bones as a playable character.^{[4]
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Dry BowserGet at least a 1-star rank in all 150cc Wii Grand Prix cups or take part in 4,350 races. This will unlock Dry Bowser as a playable character.
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Funky KongUnlock 4 expert Staff Ghosts in Time Trials, win 25 Wi-Fi races, or take part in 2,250 races. This will unlock Funky Kong as a playable character.^{[5]
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King BooWin the 50cc Star Cup or take part in 750 races. This will unlock King Boo.
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Mii (Outfit A)Win the 100cc Special Cup or play 1,650 races to unlock the Mii character (Outfit A version).^{[6]
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Mii (Outfit B)Unlock all (32) expert Staff Ghosts in Time Trials, win 5,000 Wi-Fi Connection Ghost races, or play 5,100 races and battles in total. This will unlock Mii (Outfit B).
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RosalinaWith Super Mario Galaxy game data saved to your Wii, play in 50 races to get Rosalina as a playable character. Without Super Mario Galaxy, you can unlock Rosalina by getting at least a 1-star rank for all 150cc Wii Grand Prix Cups or by playing in 4,950 races.^{[7]
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ToadettePlay Time Trials on all thirty-two different courses, win 1,000 Wi-Fi races, or take part 2,550 races. This will unlock Toadette.^{[8]
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Section 2 of 4:

Unlockable Vehicles in Mario Kart Wii

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Unlockable kartsNow, let’s take a look at the different karts (cars) you can unlock in Mario Kart Wii. If you’re looking for bikes, you’ll find those in the step below! Here’s how to unlock every kart in the game:
- B Dasher Mk 2/Sprinter (medium kart) - Unlock 24 Fast Staff Ghosts in Time Trials
- Blue Falcon (small kart) - Win the Mirror Lightning Cup
- Cheep Charger (small kart) - Get at least a 1-star rank in all 50cc Retro Cups
- Daytripper (medium kart) - Win the 150cc Leaf Cup
- Honeycoupe (large kart) - Win the 150cc Lightning Cup
- Jetsetter - Get at least a 1-star rank in all 150cc Retro Cups
- Piranha Prowler (large kart) - Win the 50cc Star Cup
- Super Blooper (medium kart) - Win the 50cc Leaf Cup
- Tiny Titan (small kart) - Unlock one Fast Staff Ghost in Time Trials
- Also, to drive karts in 100cc Cups, you’ll need to win trophies in all 100cc Cups first.
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Unlockable bikesThere are also nine different bikes to unlock in Mario Kart Wii, classified from small to large. They are:
- Dolphin Dasher (medium bike) - Win the Mirror Star Cup
- Jet Bubble (small bike) - Win the Mirror Leaf Cup
- Magikruiser (small bike) - Play in 8 different courses in the Time Trials
- Phantom (large bike) - Win the Mirror Special Cup
- Quacker (small bike) - Win the 150cc Star Cup
- Shooting Star (large bike) - Win the 100cc Star Cup
- Sneakster (medium bike) - Get a 1-star rank in all 100cc Wii Cups
- Spear (large bike) - Unlock 12 Fast Staff Ghosts in the Time Trials
- Zip Zip (medium bike) - Win the 100cc Lightning Cup
- Also, to drive bikes in 50cc Cups, you’ll need to earn trophies in all 50cc Cups first.

Section 3 of 4:

Unlockable Courses & Cups in Mario Kart Wii

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Certain Cups can only be played once you’ve earned trophies in others (which are available from the start of the game). The prerequisites to unlock them are:
- Leaf Cup - Win trophies in the Shell Cup and Banana Cup (CC doesn’t matter)
- Lightning Cup - Win a trophy in the Leaf Cup (CC doesn’t matter)
- Mirror Class - Win all 150cc Cups
- Special Cup - Win a trophy in the Star Cup (CC doesn’t matter)
- Star Cup - Win trophies in the Mushroom Cup and Flower Cup (CC doesn’t matter)

Section 4 of 4:

Other Unlockables in Mario Kart Wii

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To unlock the alternate title screen in Mario Kart Wii, you’ll need to win every single cup in 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. After that monumental achievement, you’ll see a new title screen appear when you boot up the game!
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Victory photosThere are two different victory photos you can unlock in Mario Kart Wii, each for reaching a major milestone in the game. The first victory photo features your Mii on the racetrack with Mario and Peach; the second features your Mii with all 24 playable characters in the game. Here’s how to unlock them:
- Victory photo 1: Earn a trophy in every cup for any single class.
- Victory photo 2: Win every Grand Prix Cup in the game.
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Expert staff ghostsIn the game’s Time Trial mode, you can unlock Normal Staff Ghosts and Expert Staff Ghosts by beating their racing times. Here are the times you need to beat (arranged by circuit) for both types of Staff Ghost:^{[9]
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- Bowser’s Castle - 03:04.836 (normal), 02:42.098 (expert)
- Coconut Mall - 02:30.764 (normal), 02:13.333 (expert)
- Daisy Circuit - 01:56.822 (normal), 01:41.362 (expert)
- DK Summit - 02:34.693 (normal), 02:17.546 (expert)
- Dry Dry Ruins - 02:30.949 (normal), 02:14.286 (expert)
- DS Delfino Square - 02:41.807 (normal), 02:24.169 (expert)
- DS Desert Hills - 02:10.233 (normal), 01:52.686 (expert)
- DS Peach Gardens - 02:34.894 (normal), 02:16.777 (expert)
- DS Yoshi Falls - 01:16.461 (normal), 01:09.175 (expert)
- GBA Bowser Castle 3 - 02:58.304 (normal), 02:39.391 (expert)
- GBA Shy Guy Beach - 01:45.568 (normal), 01:32.867 (expert)
- GCN DK Mountain - 2:57.744 (normal), 02:23.130 (expert)
- GCN Mario Circuit - 01:59.771 (normal), 01:49.939 (expert)
- GCN Peach Beach - 01:34.233 (normal), 01:23.140 (expert)
- GCN Waluigi Stadium - 02:32.882 (normal), 02:12.367 (expert)
- Grumble Volcano - 02:28.237 (normal), 02:11.852 (expert)
- Koopa Cape - 03:03.022 (normal), 02:41.370 (expert)
- Luigi Circuit - 01:29.670 (normal), 01:19.419 (expert)
- Maple Treeway - 02:58.633 (normal), 02:37.812 (expert)
- Mario Circuit - 01:44.777 (normal), 01:32.702 (expert)
- Moo Moo Meadows - 01:37.856 (normal), 01:25.909 (expert)
- Moonview Highway - 02:16.802 (normal), 02:04.163 (expert)
- Mushroom Gorge - 02:16.110 (normal), 02:01.011 (expert)
- N64 Bowser’s Castle - 03:19.323 (normal), 02:55.933 (expert)
- N64 DK’s Jungle Parkway - 02:58.264 (normal), 02:37.782 (expert)
- N64 Mario Raceway - 02:14.799 (normal), 01:59.053 (expert)
- N64 Sherbet Land - 02:48.651 (normal), 02:28.356 (expert)
- Rainbow Road - 03:05.895 (normal), 02:44.734 (expert)
- SNES Ghost Valley 2 - 01:06.595 (normal), 00:58.907 (expert)
- SNES Mario Circuit 3 - 01:38.880 (normal), 01:26.659 (expert)
- Toad’s Factory - 02:22.480 (normal), 02:05.593 (expert)
- Wario’s Gold Mine - 02:19.585 (normal), 02:04.800 (expert)

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What are the "retro stages" for Bowser Jr.?

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The bottom four cups like the Shell Cup, Lightning Cup, Banana Cup, and Leaf Cup.

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How do you avoid the pow block?

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You shake the wifi remote as the pow goes off. If it doesn't work the first time, keep trying, because it does work.

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How do I check how many races I've been in?

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Go to you Mii profile. It will say how many races, battles, hits delivered, etc.

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Right when the POW block gets the 3rd hit, do a wheelie (or shake your Wii remote frantically) then keep going.

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If you have a mushroom in first place and a blue spiny shell is coming for you, you can try to time your mushroom boost to narrowly dodge the blue shell's explosion (this also works with a golden mushroom).

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Use banana peels to block red shells from behind.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

For better chances, before you try to unlock a character, go to time trials and see which character works best for the cup you want to complete. For example, you might see that Luigi works best for Mushroom Cup.
If you raced every time trial and can't seem to unlock Toadette, restart the game and then go back into your license. It won't inform you otherwise.
Practice the manual driving if you haven't already. It will really improve how you race against other people.

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