Unlocking Super Meat Boy & Super Bandage Girl

Note: Any strategy referring to Cube of Meat also works for Ball of Bandages and the other way around, unless otherwise specified.

With Afterbirth †

Afterbirth † introduced the Potato Peeler item. Each time this item is used, a Cube of Meat is created (at the cost of one red heart container), meaning that if this item is used 4 times you can get the achievement. This does not apply to the Ball of Bandages.

With Afterbirth

The achievement for creating a Super Meat Boy is much easier with Afterbirth, thanks to the Box of Friends, which Lilith conveniently starts with.

General Strategy

Start as Lilith and do not discard the Box of Friends. Play until you find a Cube of Meat or Ball of Bandages.

Then, find a way to use the Box 3 times without leaving the room. There are multiple ways to accomplish this:

• Find a room with two Batteries or use a 48 hour energy pill.
• Find a Jera rune. Then, find a Battery and use the rune to create a second battery. With a fully charged Box, a single use of the Rune is all you need.
• Do the Boss Rush. Each wave will give a charge, easily nabbing you the achievement.
• Use the Habit and/or the Sharp Plug to fully charge the box two more times.
• Get The Battery and double-charge the box. Then find a way to charge the box one more time (a battery, Habit, Sharp Plug, etc.).
• Get the Car Battery then either find a Battery, charge the Box with the Habit or Sharp Plug, or get a double-charge with The Battery.
• Get Restock then buy 2 Batteries from the Shop.
• Find a shop with a Restock Box, then bomb the box to re-roll all items while picking up and using all batteries.

Greed Mode is another easy way to accomplish this, since every wave generates a charge, and a Cube of Meat can be found for sale in the rerollable shops. A Ball of Bandages, however, is unlikely to be found in Greed Mode as it does not appear in any Greed Mode Item Pools.

Without Afterbirth

Without Afterbirth, the achievement for creating a Super Meat Boy and Super Bandage Girl is significantly more difficult to obtain without performing a specific strategy.

The Book of Revelations Strategy

The most straightforward method to unlock the Meat Boy is restarting the game until obtaining the Book of Revelations on the first level, which can be found in either a Treasure Room or Library. Using it on the current level will increase the chance of one Horseman to appear, based on the current chapter:

1. Famine in first or second level of chapter 1.
2. Pestilence in first or second level of chapter 2.
3. War in first level of chapter 3. (Second level boss is always Mom).
4. Death in first level of chapter 4. (Second level boss is always Mom's Heart or It Lives if unlocked).

Notes

• The harbingers mentioned above can be replaced by The Headless Horseman on any chapter. Additionally, Conquest may appear on Womb I / Utero I. These bosses are guaranteed to drop A Pony and the White Pony respectively. If you encounter either of these bosses, it means you will not obtain a Cube of Meat (or Ball of Bandages) for whatever chapter you are on, and you will not be able to obtain the achievement in your run.
• Harbingers cannot spawn in a Double Trouble boss room. If the current floor's boss room is a large room, the Book of Revelations cannot increase the chance of a Harbinger to spawn there. This also applies to the Mr. Fred fight in Womb I / Utero I
• It is recommended to start this run either as Isaac, to reroll the Library in case the Book of Revelations isn't found. Or as Cain, because he starts with a key so you can hold R and keep restarting the run until you see a locked door adjacent to your spawn and it is a Library.

The Blank Card Strategy

This method involves using the Blank Card item to create lots of batteries.

1. Start as Azazel for ease of fighting to later floors and collecting enough money to buy Blank Card, or Isaac with The D6 unlocked
2. Get the Blank Card and the Jera rune.
3. Optionally also get the Starter Deck and the Perthro rune
4. Find a battery pickup on the ground.
5. Copy the battery using Blank Card until there are three, at which point Blank Card can produce any number of batteries.You can theoretically do this with 2 batteries, if you use Blank Card while picking up the battery, as it has a chance to be doubled.
6. Find a golden chest with an item inside it,since any copy of a chest containing an item will also contains an item;However you can not open it since it can't be copied by Jera after opened, therefore the best strategy is to use batteries with the Judgement tarot card to produce a large number of chests.
7. Get the Monster Manual using the D20 and/or the The D6, or simply by using Blank Card to copy golden chests again and again
8. Optionally Get the Monster Manual using the Perthro rune.
9. Use the Monster Manual over and over with the batteries created by the Blank Card.

The Sharp Plug / Pyromaniac Strategy

This method can take up to an hour of in-game time, but compared to the Book of Revelations method, should take significantly fewer runs and thus save a lot of time overall. This method can unlock both Super Meat Boy and Super Bandage Girl in the same run.

1. Start as Isaac with The D6 unlocked.
2. Get a Pyromaniac.
   1. Hold R to reset the floor until a Treasure Room is adjacent to the starting room. (Or, if it isn't, pick a door and enter the next room. Continue until you see enemies or find the Treasure Room. If you find enemies, reset.)
   2. If the item inside the Treasure Room is not Pyromaniac, re-roll it. If it still isn't Pyromaniac, reset.
3. Get a Sharp Plug or a Habit from a shop.
   1. Make sure that you save enough keys so that you can get into every shop.
   2. Use all re-rolls on the shop.
   3. If you get Sharp Plug, do not get 9 Volt since it’ll render Sharp Plug useless.
4. Get any bomb producing item/synergy. This includes Dr. Fetus, Epic Fetus, Kamikaze!, Anarchist Cookbook, IV Bag + Bogo Bombs + Burnt Penny trinket, etc.
   • Use all re-rolls on the treasure room.
   • If you have a Habit, make sure to leave at least one fire alive on the floor so that you can damage yourself.
   • If you find a room with green Ipecac-shooting enemies, you can use it to obtain any number of re-rolls. Enter the room, allow the explosions to heal you and charge the D6 to full, then allow the explosions to open the exit.
   • Note that Kamikaze! will not work with Sharp Plug unless you also have The Wafer, because Kamikaze! only heals for 1 heart, and Sharp Plug without the Wafer would take 2 hearts to charge an item. With the Wafer, however, Kamikaze! can heal you back up to full health.
   • After this step is complete you will have infinite re-rolls.
5. Get a Sharp Plug from a shop if you got a Habit in step 2. (The plug is much faster at recharging the manual in the next step.)
6. Get a Monster Manual from a treasure room or library.
   • If you can spare an item pedestal, and you have the Sharp Plug, it is highly recommended to obtain The Wafer, which will allow you to charge the D6 once per 1/2 heart instead of once per 2 hearts, effectively quadrupling your efficiency.
   • Another way to speed up the progress is to add more item pedestals. If you find a Judgement tarot card, save it until you're ready to reroll for the Monster Manual, and then use it in the treasure room. If you can make it pay out with an item, you'll be able to reroll two items per charge.
7. Use the manual over and over until you get a Super Meat Boy and/or Super Bandage Girl.

Note that if you find a Monster Manual before finishing the combo, you will have to finish the combo on that floor or reset the game. This is because finding the manual will take it out of the item pool for the remainder of the run. If you find it, you should try to find another activated item in a different room so you can put the Manual down in a safe place and continue rolling with that activated item inside the treasure room.

Sharp Plug / Wafer Strategy

1. Start as Isaac with The D6 unlocked.
2. Get The Wafer.
   1. Hold R to reset the floor until a Treasure Room is adjacent to the starting room.
   2. If the item inside the Treasure Room is not The Wafer, re-roll it. If it still isn't The Wafer, reset.
   3. Cancer also works as it provides The Wafer's effects after the first instance of damage during a room.
3. Get a Sharp Plug from a shop.
   1. Make sure that you save enough keys so that you can get into every shop.
   2. Use all re-rolls on the shop.
   3. Other useful items here are Scapular, Habit.
   4. Do not get 9 Volt or Isaac's Heart, as they will ruin the sharp plug's ability.
4. Complete the game with the Polaroid to go to the chest.
5. In the chest, obtain everything else you need.
   1. Clear the chest and look for another pedestal on which you can place your health pickup.
   2. Roll the first room to get a health pickup like Yum Heart, Book of Revelations, or Satanic Bible
   3. Re-roll the pedestal(s) away from your health pickup for the Monster Manual
6. Use the manual over and over until you get a Super Meat Boy and/or Super Bandage Girl.

D20 strategy

1. Get The D20.
   1. Hold R to reset the floor until a Treasure Room is adjacent to the starting room.
2. Continue playing until you find a 48 Hour Energy or Sharp Plug
3. Obtain the Blank Card
   1. Leave 48 Hour Energy outside of the shop
   2. Bomb the donation machine 10+ times to get 35+ coins on the ground.
   3. Reroll coins with the D20
   4. Open any chests
   5. Take any 48 Hour Energy pills, Jera, and Perthro runes outside the shop
   6. Continue until you have a Blank Card
4. Obtain the Monster Manual
   1. Use the Blank Card, Jera runes, Energy pills, and/or Sharp Plug with heart pickups to fill a Treasure Room or Library with items
   2. Use the Blank Card with the Perthro rune and other stuff to get the Monster Manual
5. Use the manual over and over until you get a Super Meat Boy and/or Super Bandage Girl.

Maggy's Bow strategy

1. Get Maggy's Bow.
   1. Hold R to reset the floor until a Treasure Room is adjacent to the starting room.
2. Visit the shops for The Jar and the Sharp Plug.
   1. Avoid the 9 Volt and Isaac's Heart as they would ruin the Sharp Plug's effect.
   2. Bomb donation machines if you need money, or if you have The Jar, use a Blood Donation Machine or go to a Sacrifice Room
3. Play until you find the Monster Manual.
4. Use The Jar to fill the room with hearts
5. Swap to the Monster Manual and with the Sharp Plug, keep using until you get a Super Meat Boy and/or Super Bandage Girl.
   • Use the hearts around to regain the lost health from Sharp Plug.