Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Wiki
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(in Repentance)

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

Effects[]

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

Notes[]

  • Keeper's health is displayed at all times above his head.
  • 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 Collectible The Polaroid iconThe 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 HeartGold Hearts.
    • Eternal Hearts can also be picked up, but to no effect, effectively wasting them.
  • Keeper's speed syncs with Isaac's, as with Character Jacob and Esau iconJacob and Esau.
  • Devil RoomDevil 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 RoomSacrifice Rooms at the cost of coins instead of hearts.
  • Boss Challenge RoomBoss Challenge Rooms will be closed unless Keeper is also at 1 coin heart.
  • Keeper is not able to walk through doors or into Crawl SpaceCrawl Space, although he is able to enter the beam of light that takes Isaac to the next floor after the Boss Mom's Heart ingameMom's Heart / Boss It Lives ingameIt Lives fight, the one spawned by Collectible Genesis iconGenesis, 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 MachineBlood Donation Machine, it will pay out with 0-1 coins.
  • Character Keeper iconKeeper unlocks cannot be earned using Strawman.
  • Similar to Character Jacob and Esau iconJacob 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 Collectible BFFS! iconBFFS! 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 MinesMines II where Collectible Knife Piece 2 iconKnife 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 Character The Lost iconThe Lost alongside Isaac on every subsequent lap.
  • If Keeper is hit, this will invalidate the conditions for spawning PerfectionPerfection, regardless of whether or not the main character has been hit.
  • This item boosts the exploration bonus in daily runs a lot.

Synergies[]

  • Collectible Birthright iconBirthright: If Keeper is the one picking it up, it will grant him a heart container.
  • Collectible Crooked Penny iconCrooked Penny / Collectible Diplopia iconDiplopia: Picking up multiple copies of the item will spawn additional Keepers that each have their own inventory.
  • Extension CordExtension Cord: Beams of electricity flow between Keeper and Isaac.
  • Collectible Greed's Gullet iconGreed's Gullet: Keeper gains extra coin hearts at every 25 coin interval.
  • Collectible More Options iconMore Options / Collectible There's Options iconThere's Options: With careful positioning, both item choice pedestals can be taken.
  • Collectible The Polaroid iconThe Polaroid / Collectible The Negative iconThe 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 ChestChest or Dark RoomDark Room, note that the photo held by Keeper will be lost if he dies.
  • Collectible Sanguine Bond iconSanguine Bond: A very beneficial item for both Isaac and Keeper, as it is fairly easy to snowball into infinitely playing the spikes.
  • Collectible Yum Heart iconYum Heart: Because of how Yum Heart works in co-op, when Isaac uses Yum Heart, it will also restore one coin heart for Keeper.
  • Character Tainted Isaac iconTainted Isaac : Items left out by Tainted Isaac can be picked up by Keeper.

Interactions[]

  • Collectible 4.5 Volt icon4.5 Volt / Collectible 9 Volt icon9 Volt / Collectible The Battery iconThe Battery / Collectible Battery Pack iconBattery Pack / Collectible Car Battery iconCar Battery / Collectible Habit iconHabit / Collectible Jumper Cables iconJumper Cables / Collectible Sharp Plug iconSharp Plug: Useless on Keeper, unless Collectible Book of Virtues iconBook of Virtues is held.
  • Collectible Ankh iconAnkh / Collectible Judas' Shadow iconJudas' Shadow / Collectible Lazarus' Rags iconLazarus' Rags: Keeper will respawn as the respective character.
    • Collectible Ankh iconAnkh + Collectible Birthright iconBirthright: Strawman ??? will get twice as much HP from health upgrades.
    • Collectible Judas' Shadow iconJudas' Shadow + Collectible Birthright iconBirthright: Strawman Dark Judas can use the Collectible The Book of Belial iconThe Book of Belial acquired via Birthright as normal and the item recharges as normal. Collectible Book of Virtues iconBook of Virtues stacks like usual.
    • Collectible Lazarus' Rags iconLazarus' Rags + Collectible Birthright iconBirthright: If Birthright was obtained prior to respawn, does nothing. If picked up after, grants its temporary damage.
      • Character Keeper iconKeeper: While playing as Keeper, if Strawman respawns via any of the aforementioned items, health no longer converts to flies.
  • Baby-BenderBaby-Bender / Collectible BFFS! iconBFFS! / Collectible Box of Friends iconBox of Friends: Strawman does not count as a familiar for the purpose of these items.
  • Collectible Big Fan iconBig Fan / Collectible Guardian Angel iconGuardian Angel: If Keeper is the one who picked it up, it will only buff orbital speed for him.
  • Collectible BFFS! iconBFFS! / Collectible Hive Mind iconHive Mind: If Keeper is the one who picked it up, it will only buff his familiars/flies and spiders and none of Isaac's.
  • Collectible Blood Bombs iconBlood Bombs: Keeper can keep placing bombs for health after Isaac has run out.
  • Collectible Book of Virtues iconBook of Virtues: The book can be picked up by Keeper and used as normal, making it the only active item he can use.
  • Collectible Dead Cat iconDead Cat: Keeper's health sets to 1 coin. Upon Keeper's death he revives with 1 coin in the same room.
  • Collectible Eden's Blessing iconEden's Blessing: If Keeper picks up Eden's Blessing, the extra item will be awarded to Isaac at the start of the next run whether Keeper survives or not.
  • Collectible Esau Jr. iconEsau Jr.: Switching once and back will clear any items Keeper may have had.
  • Collectible False PHD iconFalse PHD / Collectible PHD iconPHD: Identifies pills, but doesn't convert them.
  • Collectible Genesis iconGenesis: Will not grant item choices for any of Keeper's collected items.
  • Collectible Lachryphagy iconLachryphagy: 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.
  • Collectible The Ladder iconThe Ladder: A ladder will spawn across gaps for the Keeper, however he cannot use it, only Isaac.
  • Collectible Spirit Shackles iconSpirit Shackles: The effect will only happen once, as Keeper cannot recharge them.
  • Character Tainted Cain iconTainted Cain: Items will not turn into pickups if Keeper takes them.
  • Character Tainted Lazarus iconTainted Lazarus/ Character Dead Tainted Lazarus iconDead Tainted Lazarus: Upon flipping, Keeper gets regenerated from scratch, meaning his health gets restored to full and all items he picked up will be permanently removed.

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 theory" can also refer to the pseudolegal concept of every individual having two personas — the flesh-and-blood person themselves and their "legal person" — with debts, liabilities, taxes, legal responsibilities, restraining orders, etc. only being applicable to the latter, allowing the former to (supposedly) flout laws that happen to inconvenience them. The fact that the Strawman item spawns a Keeper to be controlled concurrently with your original character lends credence to this latter interpretation of the term.
  • Strawman, alongside Collectible Mom's Ring iconMom's Ring, is one of two items which cannot be rerolled into by Collectible Spindown Dice iconSpindown Dice; in Strawman's case, this is because the next item by ID number is Collectible Dad's Note iconDad's Note, which cannot be rerolled by any means (not even if rerolled into by Spindown Dice from Collectible Sausage iconSausage outside of its designated room).

Bugs[]

Bug Bug! Collectible Box of Friends iconBox of Friends will not spawn a Collectible Demon Baby iconDemon Baby if Isaac has no familiars while Keeper is alive.
Bug Bug! If Keeper picks up Collectible Missing No. iconMissing 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.
Bug Bug! Entering and exiting the Collectible Knife Piece 2 iconKnife Piece 2 sequence in MinesMines/AshpitAshpit II will remove any items from Strawman.


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