How to unlock MissingNo in Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors missingno
(Image credit: Poncle)

Up until recently, it was impossible to unlock Vampire Survivors MissingNo secret playable character in-game. Instead you had to edit the game's code directly. Of course, this wasn't intended by the developers, who had removed the character in one of the early updates, but now you can unlock MissingNo by playing.

MissingNo is very similar to the Red Death character that replaced them, except that they start every level with random stats. So if you're ready to jump in and cause chaos—whether that's for the first time, or just the legitimate way—here's how to unlock MissingNo in Vampire Survivors.

Vampire Survivors MissingNo: How to unlock this playable character 

To access MissingNo as a playable character, you'll first need to unlock the Yellow Sign. This is a hidden relic that you can get from the secret stage, Holy Forbidden. To access this stage, you need to survive for 14 minutes in Moongolow with a standard character and defeat the boss there. 

Just be aware that when you enter Holy Forbidden, you'll lose all your armor and power-ups and will only be left with your starting weapon. It's useful to have a fast character here so you can get through the stage quickly and pick up the secret relic.

Once you've unlocked the Yellow Sign, you should make sure you have access to the Green Acres challenge stage. This is done by unlocking Hyper Mode for two stages. Once you have access to this, enter Green Acres with both Hurry Mode and Hyper Mode enabled.

Now you need to head southwest and you should soon see things start to change around you, like the game is glitching out. Large winged enemies will begin to appear and you need to kill at least 128 of them. Once you've made short work of them, head to the character selection screen and you should be able to buy MissingNo from there. Good job!

Interestingly, MissingNo seems to be a reference to a famous old glitch found in Pokemon Red and Blue, where the player could battle and catch a mysterious, deleted Pokemon by the same name. It would also cause weird abnormalities like increasing the number of items in a player's inventory by 128. The prerequisites for unlocking MissingNo suddenly seem far less random, huh?

Sarah James
Senior Guides Writer

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.

Read more
An elderly bearded man in medieval garb making a face after eating garlic
'Please remember the game has no plot': Vampire Survivors dev points out one of the many challenges in turning its roguelike into a live-action film
character creation in Monster Hunter Wilds
Best character codes for Monster Hunter Wilds
Astarion
Players are still finding edge-case Baldur's Gate 3 scenes, like one where you play as a kidnapped Astarion even if you made your own player-character
no more room in hell 2
No More Room in Hell 2's 'biggest update yet' introduces weapon attachments, new level scenarios, and ensures players no longer spawn 'without a body'
Ghoul in sunglasses
Fallout 76's quest to becoming a ghoul couldn't be easier—unless you want to make friends along the way
A female hunter with long black hair smiles slightly while looking towards camera.
There's already a Monster Hunter Wilds mod to change your appearance without a DLC voucher
Latest in Roguelike
A busy marketplace in The Bazaar.
The Bazaar could be the future of autobattlers, if it stops strangling itself to death with its own microtransactions
A vampire with a dark castle and swarms of bats in the background.
We need to decide on a genre name for Vampire Survivors-like games before a really terrible one sticks
Three heroes stand against a tide of skeletons
The Hand of Fate devs are back with a bullet heaven called Hordes of Fate
An angry dwarf and a sword-wielding elf with various villains in the background in Absolum.
This mash-up of side-scrolling beat-'em-up and fantasy roguelike feels like it could be the future of a classic genre
Three adventurers readying for battle in Knights in Tight Spaces.
Knights in Tight Spaces review
Facing an enemy in No-Skin
No-Skin is an incredibly simple horror roguelike about the worst party ever, full of strong booze, bad conversation and eldritch violence
Latest in Features
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Manhunt 2
I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually
A busy marketplace in The Bazaar.
The Bazaar could be the future of autobattlers, if it stops strangling itself to death with its own microtransactions
Marvel Rivals characters - Hulk with his hands out as if he's grabbing the camera.
Marvel Rivals' growing roster of heroes scares me, but the game's director seems sure that all is under control: 'Everything is progressing smoothly'
Rainbow Six Siege year 9 season 2 key art - two Rainbow Six Siege operators facing each other
'Siege 2 was never on the table': Rainbow Six Siege X director explains why the 10-year-old FPS doesn't need a sequel
Gallica and the protagonist from Metaphor: ReFantazio.
The best deals in the 2025 Steam Spring Sale