The following is a list of all the playable characters to appear in the Guitar Hero series. Each Character, except for unlockable characters, represent a genre of Rock, like Johnny Napalm represents Punk Rock.
Main series
| Character Name | Genre of Rock | GH | GH:2 | GH3 | GH:WT | GH5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axel Steel | Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), Power Metal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Judy Nails | Alternative Rock, Gothic Rock, Alternative Metal, Nu Metal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Johnny Napalm | Punk Rock, Pop Punk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Casey Lynch | Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Grunge, Punk Rock | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pandora | Gothic Rock, Nu Metal, Horror Punk (GH1), New Wave (GH80s), Glam Metal, Glam Punk (GH2), Gothic Glam, NWOBHM, Speed Metal | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Izzy Sparks | Glam Rock, Glam Metal, Hair Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Arena Rock | Yes (1) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lars Ümlaüt | Extreme Metal, Viking Metal, Doom Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Heavy Metal | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Eddie Knox | Rock N' Roll, Rockabilly, Psychobilly | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Clive Winston | Classic Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Folk Rock, Southern Rock, Progressive Rock Heavy Classic Rock | Yes | Yes (1) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Midori | J-Rock, Pop Rock, Pop Punk | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Grim Ripper | Heavy Metal, Death Metal | Yes (1) | Yes (1) | Yes (1,2) | No | No |
| Xavier Stone | Funk Rock, Funk Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Acid Rock, Blues Rock | Yes | Yes (1) | Yes | No | No |
| God of Rock | Power Metal | No | No | Yes (1,2) | No | No |
| Elroy Budvis | Rock N' Roll | No | No | Yes (1,3) | Yes | No |
| Metalhead | Industrial Rock, Heavy Metal, Alternative Metal, Industrial Metal | No | No | Yes (1,3) | Yes | Yes |
| Bret Michaels | Glam Metal, Hair Metal, Hard Rock | No | No | Yes (2,5) | No | No |
| Tom Morello | Alternative Metal, Hard Rock, Funk Rock, Funk Metal | No | No | Yes (4) | No | No |
| Slash | Hard Rock | No | No | Yes (4) | No | No |
| Lou | Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (4) | No | No |
| Matty Cannz | Heavy Metal | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Shirley Crowley | Alternative Metal | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Marcus Fretshredder | Power Metal, Scandinavian Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Riki Lee | Classic Rock | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Ozzy Osbourne | Heavy Metal | No | No | No | Yes (8) | No |
| Ted Nugent | Hard Rock | No | No | No | Yes (4) | No |
| Sting | Rock, New Wave, Post-Punk | No | No | No | Yes (10) | No |
| Hayley Williams | Pop Punk, Power Pop, Alternative Rock | No | No | No | Yes (8) | No |
| Jimi Hendrix | Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Blues-Rock, Psychedelic Rock | No | No | No | Yes (13) | No |
| Zakk Wylde | Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal | No | No | No | Yes (4) | No |
| Billy Corgan | Alternative Rock | No | No | No | Yes (11) | No |
| Travis Barker | Alternative Rock, Pop Punk, Punk Rock | No | No | No | Yes (9) | No |
| Skeleton | Heavy Metal, Death Metal | No | No | No | Yes (12) | Yes (25) |
| Rockubot | No | No | No | Yes (13) | No | |
| Aaron Steele | Metal | No | No | No | Yes (14) | No |
| Johnny Viper | Metal | No | No | No | Yes (14,19) | No |
| Rina | Metal | No | No | No | Yes (14) | No |
| Nick | Metal | No | No | No | Yes (14) | No |
| Johnny Cash | Country | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) |
| Carlos Santana | Rock, Blues Rock, Psychadelic Rock, Latin Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) |
| Shirley Manson | Rock, Alternative Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) |
| Matt Bellamy | Alternative Rock, Progressive Rock, New Prog, Symphonic Rock, Space Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) |
| Kurt Cobain | Grunge, Alternative Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) |
| Golden God | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) | |
| Frankenrocker | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) | |
| Shadow | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) | |
| Gerald Contest Winner | Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Emo Pop | No | No | No | No | Yes (27) |
Expansion series
| Character Name | Genre of Rock | GH:80s | GH:A | GH:M | GH:SH | GH:VH | BH | DJH | GH:AR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axel Steel | Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Judy Nails | Alternative Rock, Gothic Rock, Alternative Metal, Nu Metal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Johnny Napalm | Punk Rock, Pop Punk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Casey Lynch | Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Grunge, Punk Rock | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Pandora | Gothic Rock, Nu Metal, Horror Punk (GH1), New Wave (GH80s), Glam Metal, Glam Punk (GH2), Gothic Glam, NWOBHM | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Izzy Sparks | Glam Rock, Glam Metal, Hair Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Lars Ümlaüt | Extreme Metal, Viking Metal, Doom Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Heavy Metal | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Eddie Knox | Rock N' Roll, Rockabilly, Psychobilly | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Clive Winston | Classic Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Folk Rock, Southern Rock, Progressive Rock | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Midori | J-Rock, Pop Rock, Pop Punk | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Grim Ripper | Heavy Metal, Death Metal | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Xavier Stone | Funk Rock, Funk Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Acid Rock, Blues Rock | No | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | No | Yes |
| Elroy Budvis | Rock N' Roll | No | Yes(1,3) | Yes(1,3) | No | ? | ? | ? | |
| Metalhead | Industrial Rock, Heavy Metal, Alternative Metal, Industrial Metal | No | Yes(1,3) | Yes(1,3) | No | ? | ? | No | |
| God of Rock | Power Metal | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | No | yes |
| Lou | Heavy Metal | No | Yes(1) | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | |
| Joe Perry | Hard Rock, Blues Rock | No | Yes(4) | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Tom Hamilton | Hard Rock, Blues Rock | No | Yes(1) | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Brad Whitford | Hard Rock, Blues Rock | No | Yes(1) | No | No | No | No | No | |
| DMC | Rap | No | Yes(6) | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Matty Cannz | Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (1,24) | Yes | ? | ? | ? | |
| Shirley Crowley | Alternative Metal | No | No | Yes (1,23) | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| Marcus Fretshredder | Power Metal, Scandinavian Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal | No | No | Yes (1,22) | Yes | ? | ? | ? | |
| Riki Lee | Classic Rock | No | No | Yes (1,25) | Yes | ? | ? | ? | |
| Kirk Hammett | Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (17) | No | No | No | No | |
| Robert Trujillo | Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (18) | No | No | No | No | |
| Lars Ulrich | Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (19) | No | No | No | No | |
| James Hetfield | Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (20) | No | No | No | No | |
| Zach Harmon | Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Heavy Metal | No | No | Yes (21) | No | No | No | No | |
| Lemmy | Heavy Metal, NWOBH | No | No | Yes(26) | No | No | No | No | |
| King Diamond | Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Black Metal | No | No | Yes(26) | No | No | No | No | |
| Fembot | Industrial Metal | No | No | Yes(26) | No | ? | ? | No | |
| Mario Greendale | No | NO | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Eddie Van Halen | Hard Rock, Arena Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| Alex Van Halen | Hard Rock, Arena Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| Wolfgang Van Halen | Hard Rock, Arena Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| David Lee Roth | Hard Rock, Arena Rock | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| Quincy Styles | Rap, Hip Hop | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (28) | No | |
| Taylor Swift | Country Pop | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| Adam Levine | Pop Rock | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| Members of No Doubt | NO | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| DJ Jazzy Jeff | No | no | No | no | No | No | Yes | ||
| Grand Master Flash | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| DJ AM | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Z-Trip | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Mobile series and DS series
| Character Name | Genre of Rock | GH:OT | GHOT:D | GHOT:MH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judy Nails | Alternative Rock, Gothic Rock, Alternative Metal, Nu Metal | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Johnny Napalm | Punk Rock | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Axel Steel | Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), Power Metal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pandora | Gothic Rock, Nu Metal, Horror Punk (GH1), New Wave (GH80s), Glam Metal, Glam Punk (GH2), Gothic Glam, NWOBHM | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clive Winston | Classic Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Folk Rock, Southern Rock, Progressive Rock | No | Yes | Yes |
| Midori | J-Rock, Pop Rock, Pop Punk | No | Yes | Yes |
| Gunner Jaxon | Grunge | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Memphis Rose | Southern Rock, Sludge Metal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Simon Grimmsy | Indie Rock | No | No | Yes |
| Calista Valenz | Rock, Hard Rock | No | No | Yes |
Key
- (1): Must be purchased from the Store.
- (2): Unique to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions.
- (3): Unique to the PS2 and Wii versions.
- (4): Must be defeated in the corresponding battle before becoming available for purchase at the Store.
- (5): This character is only available for their songs as a non playable, but it can also be use to sing on other songs by entering a cheat code.
- (6): This character is non playable for their songs.
- (7): Must play their song in Guitar career before being available for purchase.
- (8): Must play their song in Vocals career before being available for purchase
- (9): Must play their song in Drums career before being available for purchase.
- (10): Must play their song in Bass career before being available for purchase.
- (11): Must play their song in Band career before being available for purchase.
- (12): Must complete Vocals career.
- (13): Must complete Drums career.
- (14): Is only playable for their songs.
- (15): Must unlock the character with a cheat code.
- (16): This character was chosen by Motorhead's Lemmy and Nevesoft's Joel as the Winner of the 2008 Rock Icon Contest.
- (17): Must earn 100 stars in Guitar career before being available for purchase.
- (18): Must earn 100 stars in Bass career before being available for purchase.
- (19): Must earn 100 stars in Drums career before being available for purchase..
- (20): Must earn 100 stars in Vocals career before being available for purchase.
- (21): Must earn 150 stars in Band career before being available for purchase.
- (22): Must earn 55 stars in Guitar career before being available for purchase.
- (23): Must earn 55 stars in Bass career before being available for purchase.
- (24): Must earn 55 stars in Drums career before being available for purchase.
- (25): Must earn 55 stars in Vocals career before being available for purchase.
- (26): Must play thier song in Career mode with any instrument before being available for purchase.
- (27): Must complete the indicated task in Career mode to unlock the corresponding character.
- (28): This character was named through the Name A Character Contest on the Band Hero website.