The legendary Shonen Jump is 50 years old, and they’re doing some seriously special things to celebrate. The world’s best-selling manga magazine is producing an all-star fighting game featuring some of its greatest ever characters. Here’s the Jump Force roster, including every confirmed character as well as their transformations and ultimate moves.

How to unlock characters in Jump Force

For Free Missions and 2-player couch co-op, you don't need to unlock any of the characters.

For the Key Missions in Jump Force's story, you'll have to pick your teams from a smaller selection to start with, but unlock more as you progress. This is how you gain access to more abilities for your Avatar, which become available as the characters join the Jump Force.

How to switch characters in Jump Force

In Jump Force, the basic premise is that you pick a team of three characters from Shonen Jump history and square off against another squad of three. Characters have special abilities and ultimate Awakening moves to throw down, the latter of which are powerful enough to turn the tide of battle.

To switch between them in battle you need to press the left-trigger on your controller (L2 on PS4) to switch between characters. If you hold the button it will trigger a "Support Attack" without switching characters.

How to unlock outfits in Jump Force for your Avatar

If you want extra outfits for your avatar though, you'll have to buy them with gold from the in-game store. More outfits unlock as you complete the game's Key Missions, as well as some Free Missions. Different stores around Umbras Base sell different things, so be sure to check around to see what you can get.

Jump Force Roster

If you include your player created Avatar, there are 41 fighters on the Jump Force roster.

• Naruto Uzumaki

A worldwide manga superstar, Naruto was always going to one of the headline inclusions in the Jump Force roster. In the E3 trailer, we saw an adult Naruto using Sage and Kyuubi powers, and since different versions of characters - such as Sage Naruto - aren't be individually playable, Naruto uses special moves that call on all of the different fighting styles that he uses in the manga.

• Sasuke Uchiha

Naruto’s long-time friend and nemesis joins the fray. He didn’t show up in the E3 trailer, but was available to play in the show floor demo that we saw just after. As with Naruto, only the Shippuden version of Sasuke has been confirmed.

• Ichigo Kurosaki

Bleach series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki joins the battle. Bleach characters' melee and magic-based fighting styles seem like they'd make a great fit for Jump Force, so it makes sense to see them here.

• Rukia Kuchiki

Ichigo's fellow Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki is also on the Jump Force roster. While her katana is her primary weapon, she can also use ice magic attacks against her enemies.

• Sosuke Aizen

The final Bleach character joining Jump Force so far is big baddie Sosuke Aizen. Originally a high-ranking captain in the Soul Society, Aizen's moveset will be similar to that of Ichigo and Rukia.

It just wouldn’t be a Jump game without Goku, right? The lovable spikey-headed Saiyan featured heavily in the game’s E3 trailer and is sure to take a lead role in Jump Force despite the recent release of Dragon Ball FighterZ. We've since seen that a Super Saiyan Blue version of Goku will appear in Jump Force, although - like Naruto - not as an individual character.

Everyone’s favourite grumpy pants had to show up. If Jump Force is supposed to be a celebration of Jump’s rich history, it’d be a travesty to leave out such a well-loved character.

To go with the glut of good guys, Frieza is one of Shonen Jump history’s most recognisable villains.

• Monkey D. Luffy

The wannabe King of the Pirates, Luffy from One Piece, is another cornerstone of the Shonen Jump roster.

Straw Hat Pirates stalwart Roronoa Zoro first made an appearance as a playable character in the E3 show floor demo of Jump Force. His multi-sword-based style of fighting should make him a fun departure from the rest of the roster.

The cigarette-smokin' cook Sanji is the third of the Star Hat Pirates that'll appear on the Jump Force roster. Revealed during Gamescom, Sanji's known for a fighting style that's heavily reliant on kicks, and that's to be the case here too.

Also from One Piece, the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command Sabo joins the fight as well. His fiery Flare-Flare Fruit powers and cane form the basis of his close-range moveset.

• Blackbeard

As for One Piece villains, Blackbeard - or Marshall D. Teach to give him his full name - appeared in the Gamescom trailer as well. Blackbeard is the only character in One Piece to use two Devil Fruit powers at the same time, but his Jump Force specials focus mostly on his use of darkness.

Well, it's technically the spirit of The Pharaoh that possesses Yugi to help him win at a children's card game that you play as. Yugi's addition to the Jump Force roster is an awesome one because of his unique fighting style. Which Duel Monsters will fight alongside him? The Dark Magician of course, as well as Dark Magician Girl and Slifer the Sky Dragon. His Draw special calls upon some of his classic spell and trap cards - like Lightforce Sword and Swords of Revealing Light - too.

From Hunter X Hunter, Gon's speed and hand-to-hand based fighting-style make him a good fit for Jump Force. Shown off during the Gamescom trailer, Gon's Limitation Transformation also makes an appearance in the game as well as his other Nen powers.

A main bad guy for a lot of early Hunter X Hunter, Hisoka Morow is known as a strong fighter within the manga's world and is a great fit for Jump Force. He was announced in the same Gamescom demo as Blackbeard.

• Killua and Kurapika

Gon's bestie Killua and Blacklist Hunter Kurapika were revealed together in the pages of Shonen Jump magazine itself. They make use of their lightning and conjuration style Nen abilities respectively.

The following characters are also available at launch:

• Asta (Black Clover)
• Renji (Bleach)
• Ryo (City Hunter)
• Trunks (Dragon Ball Z)
• Piccolo (Dragon Ball Z)
• Cell (Dragon Ball Z)
• Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star)
• Boa Hancock (One Piece)
• Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)
• Shishio Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin)
• Dragon Shiryu (Saint Seiya)
• Pegasus Seiya (Saint Seiya)
• Toguro (Yu Yu Hakusho)
• Yuske Urameshi (Yu Yu Hakusho)
• Kaguya Otsutsuki (Naruto Shippuden)
• Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)
• Gaara (Naruto)
• Bortuo (Boruto)
• Jotaro Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
• Dio (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
• Dai (Dragon Quest)
• Izuki Midoriya (My Hero Academia)

Jump Force unconfirmed DLC characters

The following characters have recently been datamined so could appear in the DLC. We'll keep updating this page once we know more.

• Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
• Hitsugaya Toshiro (Bleach)
• Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez (Bleach)
• All Might (My Hero Academia)
• Katsugi Bakugo (My Hero Academia)
• Biscuit Krueger (Hunter X Hunter)
• Buu (Dragon Ball Z)
• Madara Uchiha (Naruto)
• Trafalgar D. Water Law (One Piece)

Story characters that aren't playable:

• Light Yamagi and Ryuk

At the end of the E3 trailer, we saw Light Yamagi and Ryuk watching over the battle between the heroes and Frieza below. It's now confirmed that the Death Note characters will contribute to the story of Jump Force, but won't be playable themselves.

Jump Force ultimates and character transformations

Manga are known for their massive set piece battles, and it just wouldn't be a celebration of Shonen Jump past and present without some of the most famous ultimate techniques from each character.

The video from our friend Arekkz below gives you a sneak peak at every character on the Jump Force roster's ultimate, as well as the variety of transformations and alternate forms they can achieve through awakening:

For more on Jump Force, check out our full review!