Just thought I'd post some Castle Crashers information! Thought I'd save people the hassle of hunting through various threads for information. Spoilers in this post!

A good portion of this is from gamefaqs and other gaming sites. So a big thanks to those that found this information out. I've yet to test all of it out, as I put it all into a notepad file for my own use. Just thought I'd share with the rest of Destructoid.

I must say this is fast becoming one of my favorite games. So much awesome for fifteen dollars! Will update when I find more information, again found on various forums and from talking to people in the online mode. If you want to play with me, my gamer tag: randombullseye

Basics:

Air Attack Combo: Jump and attack enemies for a nearly infinite combo.

Basic attributes and what they do:

Strength: Increases melee attacks.

Magic: Increases magic attacks. Every time you hit a purple area on the level up bar you gain a new magical attack. A B button projectile at level 1. An aerial Y button attack at level
2. And a magic jump attack at the third.

Defense: Increases health.

Agility: Increases attack speed, arrow range, and damage by arrows.

Item Locations:

Shovel - Found in the first dessert level near the start. You shouldn't miss it.

Wheel: At the end of the lava level.

Spyglass: At the end of the Industrial Castle.

Horn: Defeat the corn cob boss and receive it.

Item Locations with Cardinal.

Boomerang: Thief Forrest close to the begging. The bird flies over and grabs it.

Key Sword: Its in the ice level near the ladder. This unlocks the door in the stable.

Industrial Castle- Lance: Inside the door the boss escapes from.

Fishing Rod: in the Marsh level. After the necromancer makes the bigger skeletons.

Unlockable Characters:

Orange Knight - Fire Demon Knight (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Blue Knight - Industrial Iron Knight (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Green Knight - Chain Mail face Knight (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Red Knight - Skeleton Knight (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Grey/Gray Knight - Stove Face (Black Knight) (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Barbarian - Killer Beekeeper (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Skeleton - White Bear (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Fire Demon - Ninjer (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Royal Guard (Chainmail Face) - Saracen (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Industrial Iron Knight - Fencing Knight (Unlocked when finishing the game)
Thief - Forest Knight (Green knight with the glowing mace) (Unlocked when finishing the game)

Animal Name :: Animal Power :: Area :: Description

1. Chicken :: Increase to defense, strength and agility :: Flooded Temple :: First dry land section, there's an X right in front of two giant fish statues in the background. Dig there.

2. Cardinal :: Helps you find secret items :: Industrial Castle :: Top floor of castle, kill the brute and get the Cardinal.

3. Owlet :: Retrieves hidden fruit from trees :: Forest Entrance :: Right before you exit the deadlands go behind the overgrown area and swing your weapon.

4. Mr Buddy :: Helps you dig faster :: Home Castle :: Go back into the first room where all the tutorial people are. At the back far wall, near the veterinary lady, there's an X on a pile of straw. Dig it up.

5. Giraffey :: Helps you level up faster :: Desert :: Look for the X shapes on the sand (or have Pazzo as your animal :: he'll show you where to dig), the giraffe is one of the last ones before the end of the level.

6. Snoot :: Increases your strength :: Cyclops' Fortress :: Bomb the cracked wall in the very first room.

7. Piggy :: Makes food give you more health :: Swamp Village Store :: Purchased for 585 gold.

8. Zebra :: Helps you find food in grass :: Desert Chase :: Taken from the guy on the camel, when you see him run off, follow as fast as you can (on the back of another camel, obviously). You'll need to dodge the quicksand, and then use an arrow to knock him off his camel before he reaches safety.

9. Rammy :: Knocks down enemies :: Tall Grass Field :: Taken from the large bear with the banner.

10. Spinny :: Increases your defense :: Volcano Store :: Purchased for 680 gold.

11. Bitey Bat :: Chomps enemy's heads :: Pipistrello's Cave :: Found after the boss bat.

12. Troll :: Slowly regenerates your health :: Thieves Forest :: Behind a wall, use 3 bombs to set him free.

13. Frogglet :: Can pick up items with his tongue :: Marsh :: Halfway through the first graveyard, the X is directly in front of an open crypt, just before the wall goes back and the area widens.

14. Seahorse :: Allows you to move quickly through water :: Thieves Forest :: Right after the dear leaves a poo streak and before the stream in the forest.

15. Snailburt :: Increases your defense but decreases your agility :: Marsh :: Towards the end, he is right out in the open so you cant miss him.

16. Scratchpaw :: Increases your strength and agility :: Sandcastle Interior :: There are two barred windows at the back of the room, the tiger is behind the second one. Use bombs on the cracked wall to get to him.

17. Yeti :: Protects you from being frozen :: Snow World :: As you go down the ramp and check behind the huts.

18. Monkeyface :: Increases your luck finding items :: Church Store :: Purchased for 750 gold.

19. Pazzo :: Helps you find buried treasures :: Snow Store :: Purchased for 750 gold.

20. Sherbert :: Helps you jump higher :: Animal Art :: Hiding near the ceiling at the back of the animal ark. Stand underneath him, hold RT and press A. You'll do a magic-boosted jump and reach him straight away.

21. Meowburt :: Increases your agility :: Parade :: This can be found by backtracking from cyclops fortress to the area at the end of parade, when you get hit by the tunnel you'll land on the ground and if you see a bush in the middle go behind the bush and Meowburt should appear.

22. Hawkster :: Attacks fallen enemies :: Tall Grass Field :: Blow the horn outside the huts just before you get Rammy.

23. Burly Bear :: :: Tall Grass Field :: With a sandwich and a couple of bombs. Go to where you climb up the grass section of the cliff but don't go up, instead head to the left side of the cliff, eat the sandwich and you'll find you can move the rock on the side. Inside there are two chests and a crack in the wall, the bear is in the crack.

24. BiPolar :: Mauls Enemies (and Friends) who are near death :: Snow World :: As you walk up the ramp, use the horn by the sign post signaling it. He pops out of the tunnel.

25. Beholder :: Gives you a magical boost :: Full Moon :: Play through the level with Cardinal as your animal. At the second hut up the mountain path, it'll bring you a golden key "weapon". This unlocks the padlocked door in the ark, and inside is the Beholder.

26. Install Ball :: Shoots enemies with his photons :: Alien Ship :: Play through until the countdown begins. Shoot the mechanism that destroys the first green laser gate (after the toilet) and head straight up. There's a door there (hard to see what with it being dark etc). Go left slightly. It's still possible to exit the ship before the countdown ends - not that it actually matters.

Boss Strategies:

Cat Fish: Hit the hairballs he coughs up and stay in front of the ship. The boat will fire a cannonball, stunning him. You can also get him to hit into the boat once he's below half his health.

Giant Bat: Go to the top left corner. Almost all of his attacks are dodgeable there.

Known Glitches:

Use the boomerang on the Catfish boss to get lots of experience.

Same trick works on the wedding boss and the bat boss.

Easter Eggs:

Mr. Destructoid appears in the background of the ship level. He gets attacked by a squid.