Punch Upon a Time Characters Roster

The Punch Upon a Time roster launches with twelve playable characters and an alternate frog skin. Every fighter is built from a famous fairy-tale or fable legend, and each one has a unique kit — movement speed, attack range, signature special, and a screen-clearing ultimate. This hub connects to every character profile, the Best Starters page for fresh pilots, and the Tier List for current-meta rankings.

Roles in the roster

Characters fall into four broad roles that match how they function inside a Squad Saga round:

• Ranged specialists (Merlin, Pinocchio, Red Riding Hood) control space and dominate Basketball and Sumo rounds.
• Grapplers (Little Red, Frog Prince, Pinocchio) excel at close-range 1v1 duels and clutch objective steals.
• Tanks (Three Little Pigs, Sleeping Beauty, Goldilocks) hold zones, protect teammates, and absorb sky-galleon damage.
• Supports (Goldilocks, Sleeping Beauty, Three Little Pigs) generate healing, shields, or team-wide buffs.

Most characters blur two roles. Goldilocks, for example, is both a tank and a support. Pair roles thoughtfully in your squad of three — the Squad Strategy page covers the strongest compositions.

How to read each profile

Every character page in this wiki follows the same template:

1. Role and difficulty — how the character plays in solo queue.
2. Signature moves — the three moves that define the character’s kit.
3. Ultimate ability — what it does, when to fire it, and how to combo into it.
4. Best Pocket Items — the items that synergise with the character’s kit.
5. Matchups — which characters this fighter beats and loses to.
6. Sample combos — the bread-and-butter strings for new pilots.

Profiles update each patch; check the Patch Notes for the latest balance changes.

Pick your first main

If you have never played a platform fighter before, the Best Starters page ranks the most forgiving characters at launch. Merlin, Little Red, and Goldilocks are the canonical beginner picks because their kits are simple, their ultimates are obvious to read, and their mobility is average — meaning you can focus on learning the dodge window and the input buffer instead of execution.

If you are coming from Super Smash Bros., Melee, or Project+, the Tier List ranks the launch roster against your existing muscle memory. Most Smash veterans find Merlin, Sleeping Beauty, and Pinocchio the most natural to convert.

Customize with the frog

Every character has an unlockable alternate skin, and the adorable little frog is the signature joke skin for the launch roster. The frog plays identically to the host character but swaps voice lines, animations, and victory poses. Unlocking the frog for every character is one of the launch-era achievements tracked on this wiki.