At the turn of the 21st century, there were few cooler things than skateboarding. Getting together with friends and boarding around town, or hitting the ramps and pipes at the local skatepark was the epitome of a good time for teenagers. The gaming world took notice of this pasttime in short order, resulting in the creation of the widely-beloved and highly-acclaimed Tony Hawk’s video game series.
Launched in 1999 with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, the franchise gives gamers all the fun of skating without scraped knees and cracked bones. With a range of professional skaters to choose from, including the legendary Tony Hawk himself, and customization options to make your own, you’re able to skate in a host of environments, try out all kinds of moves, and, naturally, pick up some fun in-game collectables along the way.
In addition to new areas to skate and cosmetic options, the Tony Hawk’s games allow players to unlock new skaters during their playthrough. Most tend to be real-world skaters or celebrities with skating backgrounds, but some are in another category entirely. From pop culture icons to downright weird entities, the Tony Hawk’s games are full of bonkers and otherwise unexpected guest skaters.
Of them all, here are the 10 strangest, funniest, and coolest guest skaters to roll through the Tony Hawk’s series.
10. Neversoft Eyeball
Throughout its time as an active developer, Neversoft Entertainment was responsible for some strong titles. Alongside the likes of Gun and the Guitar Hero franchise is the Tony Hawk’s series as its most notable product. Thus, it only makes sense that one of the developer’s key pieces of iconography, a severed eyeball, made its way into a Tony Hawk’s game. The execution of this, however, was a bit strange.
A version of the Neversoft eyeball seen in the game’s opening, complete with a largely nude, stitched-together human body, is a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. It’s weird, yet its absurdity fits the game’s vibe perfectly. To skate as the grotesque eyeball-headed creature, you have a laundry list of things to do first. Complete career Mode all 21 times and get 54 Goals and three Gold Medals with all skaters and it is all yours.
9. Spider-Man
In the modern day, a good portion of the Marvel Comics roster has broken through to the mainstream, but in the 1990s into the 2000s, that amount was much smaller. Leading the pack was none other than Spider-Man, who was popular already but became a phenomenon with the release of his first live-action movie. Two years before the film hit theaters, though, the webhead took to the halfpipes.
Spider-Man is playable in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 and he returned for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X. Peter Parker has four different costumes as well, those being his classic red and blue suit, the black and white symbiote suit, the comic Iron Spider armor, and his Captain Universe look. Achieve 100% in Career Mode with a created skater and the web-slinger will be unlocked.
8. Eddie the Head
One of the most beloved parts of the Tony Hawk’s games is their soundtracks. Each game brings in a blend of rock, metal, rap, and pop for gamers to enjoy while they play. On a handful of occasions, the music selection of certain games has bled over to the gameplay. Case in point, the inclusion of “The Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4.
Alongside the classic track, the band’s iconic mascot since 1980, Eddie the Head, is accessible as a skater. Additionally, there are a few Iron Maiden-themed decks one can use. Thankfully, the process to unlock the zombie-like Eddie isn’t too convoluted, but it might take a bit of time. He’s purchasable as “Metal Head” in the Spend Cash section and costs $9,000, so you’ll have to get some play time in before taking him for a spin.
7. Doom Guy
Seeing characters rooted in video game franchises jump from their home universe to another is nothing new. After all, the Super Smash Bros. series has built an entire gaming saga on the idea. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s not fun or surprising when it happens. This is especially true of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, where an icon of the first-person shooter genre makes a guest appearance.
Believe it or not, Doom Guy of the Doom series fame is playable in the aforementioned Tony Hawk’s title. If you never knew he appeared in the title, that’s probably because you didn’t own the PC version. The demon-slaying space Marine is only accessible in that specific version of the game and only unlocks if you enter a cheat code. Type “idkfa” in the Cheat Code menu and you’re ready to rip, tear, and shred.
6. Iron Man
As mentioned, before the Marvel Cinematic Universe came along, only a few Marvel heroes were super well-known. The popularity level of most members of the Avengers paled in comparison to the likes of Spider-Man, Hulk, and Wolverine. Be that as it may, one of those overlooked do-gooders who has since become one of the most beloved in the world managed to score a spot in a Tony Hawk’s game.
Genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist Tony Stark, better known as the Armored Avenger, Iron Man, is a playable skater in Tony Hawk’s Underground. To play as the hero the entire MCU was built on, completing the game’s story mode on normal difficulty is all that’s asked of you. With that, you can pull him away from his world-saving duties and Stark Industries responsibilities to skate around whenever you want.
5. X-Ray
As any skater would tell you, skateboarding is not for the faint of heart. Even the most experienced and skilled skaters can get seriously hurt, be it hitting their head on pavement, taking a bad fall down some stairs, or any other number of horrific situations. Broken bones are far from uncommon in the sport, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 goes out of its way to drive that point home.
In the Xbox version of the aforementioned Tony Hawk’s game, a character called X-Ray, who’s a literal skeleton, is an unlockable skater. Yes, humble gamer, you can see in real time what kind of impact skating mishaps can have on the human skeletal system, albeit within the game’s mechanical limitations. To take X-Ray for a ride, simply complete all objectives and get three gold medals with two skaters.
4. Jango Fett
The Tony Hawk’s game series hit its stride in the early 2000s. From the gameplay to the soundtracks to the fact that skateboarding culture was on fire at the time, there was no better point for the series to unfold. Simultaneously, Star Wars was back at the forefront of pop culture thanks to the prequel trilogy. So, it’s no surprise that collaborations between the two entertainment juggernauts came to pass.
Darth Maul’s inclusion in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 is well-known, somewhat overshadowing Jango Fett’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 presence. He’s a fun skater to play as, and, much like Iron Maiden’s Eddie, unlocking him isn’t difficult, just a bit time consuming. Purchasing “Star Warrior” from the Spend Cash section for $9,000 unlocks him and his unique board designs.
3. Wolverine
While the Spider-Man films can take much of the credit for the superhero movie boom of the 2000s, they didn’t make it a spandex and cape-wearing reality alone. 20th Century Fox’s X-Men movies were also hugely responsible, bringing the mutants to the big screen in adventures die-hard Marvel fans and casual moviegoers could enjoy. As this saga got underway, fans could express their love for the X-Men through a Tony Hawk’s title.
Though one would expect a younger, more hip X-Men member like Iceman or Jubilee to do so, it’s actually Wolverine who features in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. How you unlock the adamantium-clawed Canucklehead varies between consoles. For the Xbox, Playstation 2, GameCube, and PC versions, completing all career goals and achieving gold in all three competitions with two characters unlocks him. As for the Nintendo 64 and the PSX, you must complete all gaps.
2. Shrek
Just as Marvel was beginning to finally get some traction at the movies at the start of the 2000s, so was DreamWorks Animation. The studio was formed in the mid-’90s, but only started to achieve Hollywood prominence at the start of the new millennium. This is largely thanks to 2001’s Shrek and the popularity of its big, green, Mike Myers-voiced title character, who became a cultural icon practically overnight.
In response to enduring ogremania, Shrek 2 released in 2004 to much fanfare, the same year Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 hit store shelves. Shrek himself features as an unlockable skater in the game, and it’s not much of a challenge to make him playable. Complete the story on easy difficulty and the face of DreamWorks is yours for the skating.
1. The Hand
Evidently, the Tony Hawk’s franchise is full of wacky skaters. Some are superheroes, others mascots. There’s a little something for everyone in regards to characters not rooted in the real-world skate scene. What they at least all have in common is their human form. Each of them have a head, torso, arms, and legs. In this way, one guest skater very much goes against the grain.
What’s likely the most bizarre Tony Hawk’s secret skater is the Hand. As the name implies, this is a giant, sentient hand with a love for skateboarding, apparently. To unlock this oddball skater in Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, all you have to do is complete Story Mode on normal difficulty. With that, you can fingerboard to your heart’s content.
