Strawman

Strawman is an unlockable passive item added in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance.

Effects[]

Spawns Keeper as an extra character alongside Isaac, who is controlled exactly like Esau.
- Keeper will have his base stats, except speed, and use coins as health.
- He will not receive any of his starting items, such as Wooden Nickel or Store Key.
When Keeper dies, he spawns 5 blue spiders and Strawman is removed from Isaac's inventory.
Grants 1 Bomb upon pickup.

Notes[]

Keeper's health is displayed at all times above his head.
- If Curse of the Unknown is in effect, his health bar will be hidden the same way as Isaac's.
- Keeper will start with 2 coin hearts or 3 if the Keeper now holds... A Penny! achievement is unlocked.
Keeper is able to pick up items independently from Isaac. He has his own inventory.
- This inventory is not displayed on the HUD.
- When Keeper dies, the items he obtained are permanently removed.
  - This includes quest items like The Polaroid, potentially leaving you unable to progress.
Keeper is not able to pick up any active items, trinkets, or consumables.
Keeper cannot pick up any type of hearts, except for Gold Hearts.
- Eternal Hearts can also be picked up, but to no effect, effectively wasting them.
Keeper's speed syncs with Isaac's, as with Jacob and Esau.
Devil Room items will cost money instead of health as long as Keeper is alive.
When placing a bomb, Keeper will place another at no cost.
Keeper can be used to play Sacrifice Rooms at the cost of coins instead of hearts.
Boss Challenge Rooms will be closed unless Keeper is also at 1 coin heart.
Keeper is not able to walk through doors or into Crawl Space, although he is able to enter the beam of light that takes Isaac to the next floor after the Mom's Heart / It Lives fight, the one spawned by Genesis, as well as entering the big chest after defeating bosses in later stages.
Respawn items work as normal for Keeper. (see Interactions)
If Keeper plays a Blood Donation Machine, it will pay out with 0-1 coins.
Keeper unlocks cannot be earned using Strawman.
Similar to Jacob and Esau, it is possible to take both items between item choice pedestals with careful positioning.
Even though Keeper is considered a second character, the run ends if Isaac dies.
Technically, Strawman is marked as a familiar item in the game's files, although most familiar-modifying items, such as BFFS! don't have any effect on Keeper.
Unlike Jacob and Esau, invincibility frames are not shared between Keeper and Isaac.
If collected in a challenge where Isaac is blindfolded, Keeper will be blindfolded too.
Re-emerging from the part of Mines II where Knife Piece 2 is hidden will cause Strawman to be regenerated from scratch. This permanently remove all items the summoned Keeper had collected up until that point.
If Strawman is picked up during the second lap of a Victory Lap, he will become The Lost alongside Isaac on every subsequent lap.

Synergies[]

Birthright: If Keeper is the one picking it up, it will grant him a heart container.
Crooked Penny / Diplopia: Picking up multiple copies of the item will spawn additional Keepers that each have their own inventory.
Extension Cord: Beams of electricity flow between Keeper and Isaac.
Greed's Gullet: Keeper gains extra coin hearts at every 25 coin interval.
More Options / There's Options: With careful positioning, both item choice pedestals can be taken.
The Polaroid / The Negative: Keeper can take the other photo not chosen by Isaac. Keeper will not directly benefit from holding the Polaroid, but the Negative will give him a damage up. Keeper can use his photo to open A Strange Door, allowing Isaac to keep his. If intending to go to Chest or Dark Room, note that the photo held by Keeper will be lost if he dies.
Sanguine Bond: A very beneficial item for both Isaac and Keeper, as it is fairly easy to snowball into infinitely playing the spikes.
Yum Heart: Because of how Yum Heart works in co-op, when Isaac uses Yum Heart, it will also restore one coin heart for Keeper.

Interactions[]

4.5 Volt / 9 Volt / The Battery / Battery Pack / Car Battery / Habit / Jumper Cables / Sharp Plug: Useless on Keeper, unless Book of Virtues is held.
Ankh / Judas' Shadow / Lazarus' Rags: Keeper will respawn as the respective character.
- Ankh + Birthright: Strawman ??? will get twice as much HP from health upgrades.
- Judas' Shadow + Birthright: Due to Keeper not being able to use active items, having Birthright on Strawman Dark Judas does nothing, unless Book of Virtues has been picked up.
- Lazarus' Rags + Birthright: If Birthright was obtained prior to respawn, does nothing. If picked up after, grants its temporary damage.
  - Keeper: While playing as Keeper, if Strawman respawns via any of the aforementioned items, health no longer converts to flies.
Baby-Bender / BFFS! / Box of Friends: Strawman does not count as a familiar for the purpose of these items.
Big Fan / Guardian Angel: If Keeper is the one who picked it up, it will only buff orbital speed for him.
BFFS! / Hive Mind: If Keeper is the one who picked it up, it will only buff his familiars/flies and spiders and none of Isaac's.
Blood Bombs: Keeper can keep placing bombs for health after Isaac has run out.
Book of Virtues: The book can be picked up by Keeper and used as normal, making it the only active item he can use.
- + Missing No.: The book does not get rerolled.
Esau Jr.: Switching once and back will clear any items Keeper may have had.
False PHD / PHD: Identifies pills, but doesn't convert them.
Genesis: Will not grant item choices for any of Keeper's collected items.
Lachryphagy: Isaac's tears can feed Keeper's for great damage. If Isaac, however, has Lachryphagy, Keeper's tears still interact with them, although sometimes it feeds them, other times it absorbs them, without the splitting effect.
The Ladder: A ladder will spawn across gaps for the Keeper, however he cannot use it, only Isaac.
Spirit Shackles: The effect will only happen once, as Keeper cannot recharge them.
Tainted Cain: Items will not turn into pickups if Keeper takes them.

In-game footage[]

Trivia[]

A "straw man" (sometimes written as strawman) is a form of argument and an informal fallacy of having the impression of refuting an argument, whereas the real subject of the argument was not addressed or refuted, but instead replaced with a false one. One who engages in this fallacy is said to be "attacking a straw man".
Strawman, alongside Mom's Ring, is one of two items which cannot be rerolled into by Spindown Dice; in Strawman's case, this is because the next item by ID number is Dad's Note, which cannot be rerolled by any means.

Bugs[]

Bug!	Box of Friends will not spawn a Demon Baby if Isaac has no familiars while Keeper is alive.

Bug!	If Keeper picks up Missing No., Strawman will not be removed from Isaac's inventory when Keeper dies and Keeper will not spawn spiders. Keeper will then respawn with no items upon picking up any familiar.