Recruit

(From now on, the enemies we SPARE...)
(Will be RECRUITED to our town.)
(So let's keep SPARING enemies, okay?)

Ralsei, Chapter 2

Recruits (JP: なかま nakama) is a game mechanic introduced near the beginning of Chapter 2 after Castle Town is transformed. If the party can SPARE enough Darkners of the same type, they are RECRUITed into Castle Town. This also causes new activities to be available in Castle Town.^[1] RECRUITed Darkners can transfer to the next Chapter via Completion FILE.

Recruitment

RECRUITing only works on standard enemies, not bosses. Each Darkner has their own unique recruitment tally, which must be fulfilled for that type of Darkner to be RECRUITed. At the end of a Chapter, there is a way to verify if all Darkners were RECRUITed:^[2]

Chapter 2: Trashy appears at the last staircase at Queen's Mansion's highest floor. If all were RECRUITed, he is absent.
Chapter 3: The employee list on Green Room's right side, before the door leading to Cold Place.
Chapter 4: The blue judgment bell in the 3rd Sanctuary, located at the Stairs, past the pink piano chase sequence.
Chapter 5: The 'RSVP' menu at Green's Shop located at Top of Castle.

Additionally, certain Darkners may also be RECRUITed outside of encounters via other methods, though they do not appear on the RECRUIT list.

If the party defeats an enemy via FIGHTing, that enemy becomes LOST, even if they had already been RECRUITed. A LOST enemy cannot be RECRUITed. Battles in the Party Dojo do not affect recruitment, so enemies can be defeated violently without becoming LOST.

Defeating enemies violently also increases some of the party's stats (HP, Attack, and Magic) for the rest of the Chapter.^[3]

At the start of Chapter 2, all Chapter 1 enemies are RECRUITed by default, as Chapter 1 does not have the RECRUITing mechanic. Lancer mentions that he used his authority to pardon the party's crimes if the party defeated enemies via FIGHTing.^[4]^{[note 1]}

Effects

RECRUITed enemies appear around Castle Town. Some characters in Castle Town comment on the absence of particular enemies; for example, Swatch comments on the absence of the Swatchlings.

Recruitment progress can be viewed at Dark World SAVE points. The RECRUITs menu displays the number of RECRUITed enemies and how many more enemies should be spared for that enemy type to be RECRUITed, for all enemies for which at least one individual has been RECRUITed. Additionally, the recruitment counter is also displayed upon sparing enemies when that type of enemy has not been fully RECRUITed yet. This menu is not available if the party is in Cyber World and has no full or partial Chapter 2 recruits. It is available everywhere else regardless of recruits, including Castle Town at the beginning and end of Chapter 2 and in all future Chapters.^{[note 2]}^[5]

The RECRUIT menu displays profiles of each RECRUITed enemy: their name, a brief description, their level, Attack, Defense, Element, Likes, and Dislikes. Chapter 5 adds a Wish category below Dislikes. There is a slot below Wish left empty, presumably to be used in future Chapters.

In the Cafe, a RECRUIT can be placed at tables, where the party can talk with them about the drinks they like. There are three tables around which RECRUITs can be given a seat, and the pair around the southern table are implied to be sharing it. Tasque Manager is the only recruit who cannot be placed at a table, as she is a unique miniboss and is already present elsewhere in Castle Town.

Chapter 2

Cyber World has different outcomes depending on the enemy RECRUIT status:

If the party has any missing Cyber World RECRUITs other than Werewerewire, but also has not violently defeated any Chapter 1 Darkners excluding bosses, minibosses, Dummy, and C. Round, or any Chapter 2 enemies including bosses and battle challenges, Trashy appears near the end of Queen's Mansion. Trashy reminds the party that they are near the end, and should check to make sure they have RECRUITed all possible enemies.
When assembling the Thrash Machine mecha before the GIGA Queen battle, only RECRUITed enemies contribute to its formation. Mauswheel, Werewire, and Werewerewire do not appear (although Maus and Plugboy do), but still contribute towards the Thrash Machine's HP. Each RECRUITed enemy contributes 5 HP to the total HP of the Thrash Machine (from a base of 200), up to a maximum of 250. (The Hacker and Starwalker also contribute 5 HP each to the Thrash Machine's maximum HP if their respective recruitment requirements have been met, so it is not necessary to recruit all 10 Cyber World enemies in order to achieve its maximum HP.)

Castle Town experiences serveral changes under certain conditions:

If the party does not recruit all of the possible enemies in the Cyber World, Nubert does not come to Castle Town, which Queen notices in her dialogue upon arrival. Additionally, King berates the party for the people they left behind, and the scene in Castle Town's basement with King and Queen does not occur. (However, due to a bug, Mauswheel is not required for the party to be considered to have RECRUITed all possible enemies.^[6]^[7]) If the party has RECRUITed no enemies, Queen sadly remarks that the town is very empty, and no longer speaks in the nonchalant tone she usually does.
If all enemies (except Mauswheel) have been RECRUITed, Sweet Cap'n Cakes's Music Room is open.
If all enemies (including Mauswheel) have been RECRUITed, the Party Dojo's "Ch2 All Stars" is available.^[8]
If at least 9 enemies have been RECRUITed, Seam sells CD Bagels instead of Dark Candy. However, due to Dark Candies being replaced with Darker Candies in Chapter 4, this also means that Seam begins to sell the more powerful Darker Candy in Chapter 4 only if fewer than 9 enemies have been RECRUITed in Chapter 2.
If Tasque Manager is not RECRUITed, but there are still Chapter 2 RECRUITs, the animals in town become 'feral' and begin to circle the alley near the Great Door. The Bloxer in this alley has unique dialogue commenting on this.

Chapter 3

If Zapper is lost, the spotlight between TV World and the Green Room is removed,^[9] consequently preventing one from obtaining the Chapter's Egg unless TripTicket was acquired beforehand.

In the Green Room at the end of the Chapter, there is a staff list that mentions if all enemies in TV World have been RECRUITed or not, or if anyone is hurt, meaning they have been LOST.

Chapter 4

If Shadowguy and Pippins are RECRUITed and no other enemies are LOST, they help fix Tenna between Chapters and he appears in Castle Town until given away. If not, he stays as a broken TV in the Light World, being thrown away by Toriel.

Castle Town experiences changes depending on the RECRUIT status in Chapter 3:

If Tenna was fixed, TV Studio becomes available. A Maus (or two on the Nintendo Switch 2 version) is present there even if it was LOST in Chapter 2.
If no Darkners are recruited, Queen can be seen in her room with Trashy, asking Kris if they have any Darkners on their phone and to say hi to Noelle for her. Trashy mentions how they are now roommates.
If all enemies before Chapter 4 are RECRUITed, Castle Funk plays in Castle Town, Sweet Cap'n Cakes and Nubert can be found in town, and there are other small dialogue changes.
If all Chapter 3 enemies were RECRUITed, the Rock Video minigame becomes available at TV Studio.

In Dark Sanctuary, if the OldMan ACT is used twice in a fight against two Guei enemies, the Old Man RECRUITs them to his side, with a unique message in green text saying "RECRUITED BY OLDMAN". Neither Guei counts towards the party's RECRUITs, and instead appear as NPCs in the Old Man's Study.

Midway through the 3rd Sanctuary, there is a judgment bell. Ringing this bell tells the party if they have been nice (nobody is LOST) but have not RECRUITed everyone possible, or if they got everyone.

In the cutscene where Jackenstein helps the party climb to reach the Knight, if no enemies from the Dark Sanctuaries have been LOST,^{[note 3]} the RECRUITs (and Cuptains) build a tower saving Jackenstein from falling after the Knight's attack. Backtracking to the base of the tower later shows the stack of RECRUITs. If at least one RECRUIT is LOST, Jackenstein instead falls during the same cutscene, presumably to his death. He subsequently does not appear in Castle Town in Chapter 5, and Alvin mentions that his Light World form had been smashed.

Chapter 5

The "Wish" descriptor is added next to "Like" and "Dislike".

Castle Town sees several changes:

If all enemies had been RECRUITed by this point, the Trashy Trio appears as a fight in the bakery. If at least one RECRUIT is LOST, Nubert appears at the Dojo to explain he would only spar with the party if everyone had been spared.
If all RECRUITs were LOST, Queen can be seen in her room touching a hoop with a stick, questioning her relationship with King and Lancer.
If Balthizard, Mizzle, and Shadowguy are RECRUITed, a climbing minigame in Castle Town's church becomes accessible^[10]. 2 Gueis still appear upon choosing the "Raise dead" option from a Wafer, even if it was LOST.

Enemies that are RECRUITed in Flower Kingdom appear in Flower Castle's cafe as interactable NPCs. Specific RECRUITs also affect which of the 7 Colored Flowers are available for hangouts, excluding Aqua, who is always available.

In Green's shop at Top of Castle, the shop presents a "RSVP" list, which lets the player know whether they have recruited everyone.

During Flowery's fight, some of the enemies that are RECRUITed appear in some of the ACTs:

Shi and/or Shinobeetle appear during the PoseyX ACT.
Floradinn and/or Leafling appear during the BlowAwayX ACT.
Kawkaw appears on both previously mentioned ACTs.

List of recruits

In the following tables, "Number" refers to the number of a particular enemy that must be spared in order to recruit them.

Chapter 1

All Chapter 1 recruits are automatically recruited, regardless of the party's behavior in Chapter 1 or whether a SAVE file continued from Chapter 1. The only one of these recruits that can be lost is Rabbick in Chapter 3.

Recruit	Number	Description	Like	Dislike	Wish	Level	Attack	Defense	Element
Rudinn	N/A	Said to be someone's best friend, but maybe not. Shine on, you lazy diamond!	Shiny Things	Effort	Prefers gold	2	4	5	Jewel
Hathy	N/A	A heart with a big heart. Always supporting others with her bullets.	Lip Gloss	Drama	Wants to try wig	2	4	5	Heart
Ponman	N/A	A simple organism that takes life one square at a time.	Sleeping	Moving Backwards	Loam > Soil	3	4	5	Order
Rabbick	N/A	A real dust bunny. Known to play dirty, but loves to play clean.	Dusty Places	Vacuum	Likes being bigger	4	4	5	Rabbit:Dust
Bloxer	N/A	A shape changing fighter. Ironically, blocking is not its forte.	Cross-Trainers	Formal Shoewear	Other new parts	4	4	5	Fight
Jigsawry	N/A	It cries tears of joy that you are its boss.	Fitting In	Susie's Ax	Being corner	1	4	5	Mouse:Puzz
Rudinn Ranger	N/A	Obsessed with ranger shows, it lets everyone know it's better than Rudinn.	Sucking Up	Show Getting Taped Over	Told "good job"	5	4	5	Jewel:Blade
Head Hathy	N/A	Although stronger than Hathy, seems to have fewer friends.	Peace And Quiet	Being Alone	Find someone	5	5	5	Heart:Ice