Jacob & Esau

Jacob & Esau are a character pair added in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. They are unlocked by defeating Mother with any character.

Jacob & Esau are controlled as one, move at the same speed, and use the same coins, bombs, and keys. Otherwise, they are completely independent in terms of stats, items, and health. Both characters have collision and can be separated, though the "Drop" button can be held to keep Esau in place while Jacob is free to move around the room.

Due to the way Jacob and Esau work, active items and cards/pills have a different button scheme than other characters. Active items are used by pressing the normal active item button for Jacob and the card/pill button for Esau. To use cards and pills, the player holds the drop button and then presses the corresponding character's active item buttons.

If either Jacob or Esau die, they both die regardless of the other character's remaining health.

Item Interactions

 * : The character who picks up the item gains copies of three of the other character's passive items. Note that items that add pickups, such as A Quarter, will not add pickups again when copied.
 * : Items gained through Eden's Blessing at the start of the run will only be given to Jacob.
 * : Only the character that takes it will be reduced to one heart container, but if either of the characters die, both characters are resurrected with one heart container.
 * If Esau is the one who picks up Dead Cat, it will not be removed when the life counter is exhausted, granting unlimited extra lives.
 * : Tears from Jacob can interfere with aiming bombs fired by Esau and vice versa. Be cautious when taking this item.
 * : Only the character who picks up the item gets the benefits.
 * : Both character's tears will feed the shot, regardless of which character picked it up.
 * : The character who picked up the item will get a damage boost when an enemy is killed regardless of which character gets the kill.
 * All pills will be identified for both characters, but only the character who picked up the item will have the negative effects turned into the good ones
 * The speed changes apply for both characters, but only the character that is holding Taurus gains invincibility.
 * : Connects both character's tears with electricity, even if only one character has the item.
 * : If both characters are lined up and touch both item pedestals at the same time, they can both get an item.
 * This also works with

Trivia

 * Jacob & Esau are the twin sons of Isaac from the Book of Genesis. Esau is described as being "red all over" when he was born, hence why his skin is red in this game. The reason why Esau has a sorrowful grimace may be of a story in Genesis where Esau was dying of hunger after an unsuccessful hunt, in which he asked Jacob to make him something to eat, but in return, Jacob wanted the heirloom blessing of his father, which had been bestowed upon Esau. Esau accepted the offering and regretted his choice afterward.
 * Jacob & Esau stats reflect how they are described in the Book of Genesis, where Esau is stronger than his brother but more unfortunate than Jacob.
 * Esau resembles the Dople monster (In both coloration and the distinct face pattern visible on the cheeks on Esau.) who mimics Isaac's movements in a similar way to how Esau mimics Jacob's movements. On top of this, they both fire blood shots.
 * Only Jacob's items will be listed in the pause menu.