Character: Abdullah
Recruitment: Muscat trade center after beating the game as him.
Specialties:
Skilled Fighter - Increased exp gain from battles
Ship Seizing Tactics - Ability to recruit ships that have surrendered
Loot - Increases supply gained when plundering ships
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Stone Falcon Statue - +2 leadership +2 observation
Languages - Arabic


Character: Aji - Yun Mu Main Quest
Recruitment: Rose banner questline. Starts in Pattani, go to the shipwreck and then find the rose banner along the coast near Pattani. For specific character details, see the dedicated sections below.
Specialties:
Southeast Asian Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the central south peninsula cultural sphere
Together as One - Increases sailor max morale
Hand-to-Hand Tactics - Inflicts enemy ships with water leakage after hand-to-hand combat
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Horn - +1 brawling +1 music
Languages: Khmer / Siamese


Character: Garaba Yoshitaka Main Quest
Recruitment: Picked up in a stowaway event somewhere in Southeast Asia or East Asia, first event seems to be about a week at sea and second one seems to require more than 10 days (possibly simply low supply). If you really want to trigger it just sail around and wait.
Specialties:
Java Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in Southeast Asian cultural sphere
Pick the Lock - Chests can be opened immediately
Hidden Cargos - Ship cabins can hold +10 items
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Peacock Purse - +1 calculating +2 organization
Languages: Indonesia / Khmer / Chinese


Character: Hiyar O'Worley Abdullah Main Quest
Recruitment: Pick up in (random?) plagued port, seemingly concentrated around the Indian Ocean and nearby.
Specialties:
Arabic Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Arabic and East African cultural spheres
Doctor's Kindness - Restores sailor morale after battle
Desert Traveler - Reduces supply consumption on Gobi terrain
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Glass Reagent Case - Medicine +1; Organization +1
Languages: Arabic


Character: Katelyn
Recruitment: Requires Sassi Palmis. Look for an npc fleet called the Pirate Queen's Fleet in the Red Sea and defeat it. After finding the five treasures, find her just north of Toamasina.
Specialties:
Pirate Star - Reduces exp required for upgrades
Rapid-Fire Cannon Expertise - Increased damage, accuracy, and penetration of Rapid-Fire Cannons
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Tricorne - +1 steering +1 leadership +1 firearms
Languages: Spanish


Character: Lu Liyuan Yun Mu Main Quest
Recruitment - Must find event on entering an Indian port (seen both Diu and Calicut) Then, travel to Istanbul to see another event, and lastly find him in the Western Turkey expedition.
Specialties:
Ming Empire Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Ming Empire and Korean cultural spheres
Mountain Traveler - Reduce supply consumption on hills or swamp
Stone Identification - Increases trade profit of gemstones
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Jigui - +1 geography +1 treasure
Languages - Chinese


Character: Nasser Abdullah Main Quest
Recruitment: Starts in Pattani, go to the shipwreck and then find the rose banner along the coast near Pattani. For specific character details, see the dedicated sections below.
Specialties:
Knowledgeable - Increase sailor max morale
Confusion Tactics - Inflicts confusion after hand-to-hand combat
Business Adept - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Persian cultural sphere
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Dice - +1 negotiation +2 firearm
Languages: Arabic


Character: Sassi Palmis
Recruitment: Complete the Holi questline in Calicut and attend the festival after completing Kanam's questline. The Holi questline is a bit different for each main character but generally starts by entering Calicut around February or March.
Specialties:
Indian Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in Indian cultural sphere
Dancing Grace - Increases sailor morale cap
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Buddha Amulet - +1 music +1 humanities
Languages: Hindustani / Sanskrit


Character: Shen Shi Yun Mu Main Quest
Recruitment: After seeing event at the Haizhou Buddhist temple, pick up from the oceans around China in a random event
Specialties:
Scout - Reduce stamina loss during expeditions
Bandit Slayer - Increases artillery damage when fighting pirates.
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Farewell Goblet Sword - +30 hp +2 brawling
Languages: Chinese


Character: Takigawa Amagai Yoshitaka Main Quest
Recruitment: Meet in Nagasaki tavern and then learn about Moro-haku sake by translating the book The Trivia in Edo. Head back to Nagasaki and enter the trade center. Rescue from pirates.
Specialties:
Japanese Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Japanese cultural sphere
Ronin - When hp reaches 0 in duel, restore 1 hp and unleash an ultimate
Provocation - If both sides have morale after hand-to-hand combat, challenge the enemy to a duel
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Delicate Katana - +2 brawling
Languages: Japanese


Character: Yoshitaka Shizuma
Recruitment: Nagasaki after beating the game as them
Specialties:
Prestigious Shipbuilder - Grant exp when shipbuilding
Cats at Hand - protects fleet from rats
Craftsmanship Knowledge - Increase trade profit of industrial goods
Nature Surpassing - Can freely modify ship cabins (bypasses cabin modification technique)
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Shipwright's Saw - +1 leadership +1 shipbuilding
Languages: Japanese


Character: Yun Mu
Recruitment: Zhangzhou after beating the game as her. Purchase Moon Port Book of Facts to make her appear.
Specialties:
Scholar - increased EXP gain from discoveries
Analogist - Decreases requirements for interpreting books (When using Yun Mu in translation, skill requires for her are reduced by one. There isn't an obvious visual indication of this but you can confirm that her skill level should be insufficient and still works.
Picky Shopping - Increases profits of goods based on amount of knowledge accumulated for them
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Compass (The treasure from Hangzhou): +1 leadership +1 geography
Languages: Portuguese / Chinese

Character: Beluget
Recruit: Learn about the Minos fleet from a teahouse somewhere in West Africa, then trigger an event in St. George involving a young boy fleeing from the Minos fleet after entering chapter 4 of your main quest. Then, find the Minos fleet along the coast of West Africa and defeat them. Hear about Beluget being in Cape Verde at Sao Tome, and go there to pick him up.
Specialties:
Has one specialty that does nothing, has unique flavor to each main character.
After completing Beluget's Quests and completing the Greek Fire bounty:
African Villain - Increases trade profit and contribution in West African cultural sphere
Forced Breakthroughs - Increases rowing speed and the speed at which sailor morale decreases
Special Tactics - increases the damage of auxiliary guns
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Eyeglass - +2 Selection
Languages: Swahili / Spanish


Character: Kornelly
Recruitment: Event and expedition in Toamasina, afterwards recruited in the Toamasina tavern.
Specialties:
Wilderness Resident - Reduce supply consumption in forest
Way of Preservation - Increase fish gained from fishing and trade profit on fish
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Tribal Necklace - +1 organization +1 firearms
Languages: Hausa

Character: Anastasia
Recruitment: Complete an event in the Western Turkey expedition landing and then recruit along with Mustafa Amir in Beirut. In Beirut, go to the trade center to see an event with the two and then recruit them at the Beirut pier.
Specialties:
Eastern European Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Balkan cultural sphere
Spinner - Increases profits of textile goods
Neat Cargos - Ship cabins can hold +10 items
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Ring Broach - +1 selection +1 organization
Languages: Slavic


Character: Andrea
Recruitment: Bring black pepper to Calais and recruit in the tavern
Specialties:
French Climate: Increases trade profits and contribution in French cultural sphere
Spice Expert - Increased profit from food and spice goods
Cookery - Food can be used as a substitute for supplies when out of supplies
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Calabash - +2 culinary
Languages: French


Character: Andreas Heinrich
Recruitment: See event in Pisa and then find event in Naples expedition. Pick up in the Naples tavern afterwards.
Specialties:
Nordic Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Northern European cultural sphere
March - Reduces supply consumption
Strong Willed - Protects fleet from hallucination
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Knight's Longsword - +50hp +1 brawling
Languages: German


Character: Andrew
Recruitment: After beating the game as Andrew, recruit at the Lisbon pier.
Specialties:
Adventurous Spirit - Increases EXP gained from sailing
Innate Leader - Reduces EXP required to level up character who are below Andrew's level
Route Pathfinder - Discovering new ports grants +100 local contribution
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Compass - +2 leadership +1 geography
Languages: Portuguese


Character: Beatrice
Recruitment: Tulip quest line in Amsterdam, start by going to Amsterdam in November.
Specialties:
Craftmanship - Increases trade profit of artware
Lowland Climate - Increases trade profit and contribution in Dutch cultural sphere
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Tulip brooch - +3 organization
Languages: Dutch


Character: Carlos Cortez
Recruitment: In Seville after finishing the Flota de Indias part of the main quest, or Jaca's questline for Yun Mu, and recruiting Costello.
Specialties:
Spanish Nobility - Increases trade profit and contribution in Iberian cultural sphere
Cannon Expertise - Increases damage, accuracy, and penetration of cannons
Synergistic Tactics - Allied attacks are more likely to occur in naval battles
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Rapier - +2 leadership
Languages: Spanish


Character: Costello Hermann
Recruitment: Monica (Seville Barmaid) questline
Specialties:
Seasoned Pirate - Increased chance of inflicting abnormal status with cannons
Troublemaker - Inflicts enemy ship with burning after hand-to-hand combat
Master of Love - Unlocks sweet talk interaction with barmaids. Random chance for either +50 or -20 favorability.
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Velvet Coat - +1 negotiation +1 treasure
Languages: Spanish


Character: Daniel Crete
Recruitment: See event in Ragusa then travel a few times between Trieste and Venice. Eventually rescue from pirates.
Specialties:
Surgery - Recovers a portion of dead sailors after battle
Plague Doctor - Protects from plague while sailing
Pharmacological Mastery - increases profits from trading medicine
Extra Equipment Bonus -
Plague Doctor Mask - +1 brawling +1 medicine
Languages: Italian


Character: Dietlind
Recruitment: Starts with the quest in Benghazi from the merchant. Travel to Hamburg and drink in the tavern and you will see an event that gives you a lost ship deed. After that, take the ship deed to the Lübeck shipyard and order a ship. After a pirate encounter outside the port, she joins.
Specialties:
German Climate: Increases trade profit and contribution in German cultural sphere
Sniper - Increased damage in boarding attacks
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Daybreak - +30 hp +1 firearm
Languages: German / Slavic


Character: Esmeralda
Recruitment: Find in Marseilles and then Palma after recruiting Daniel and hearing rumors of a witch in the Calais tavern.
Specialties:
Thought Reader - Interpret news topic that barmaids are interested in
Caravan - Increases expedition load (seems to double)
Romani Traditions - Increases profit of trading hobby goods
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Tarot Cards - +1 negotiation +1 selection
Languages: French / Slavic / Greek

Character: Henry
Recruitment - Recruit in London after finishing Flota de Indias part of the main quest or recruiting Jaca as Yun Mu.
Specialties:
Remote Combat - Increases damage, accuracy, and penetration of long-barreled cannons
Briber - Increases max sailor morale
Extra Bonus Equipment:
Pottery Pipe - +2 leadership
Languages: English


Character: Joyce de Fritz Andrew Main Quest
Recruitment: Recruit in Amsterdam
Specialties:
Precise Routing - Increase Fleet auto-sail speed
Mathematics - Increase fleet artillery accuracy
Orange Addict - Protects the fleet from scurvy
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Sextant - +1 mapping +1 geography
Languages: Dutch / Portuguese / German


Character: Loris Falaise
Recruitment: Purchase his songbook in the London item shop and then recruit in the London tavern
Specialties:
Italian Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in Italian cultural sphere
Oenology - Increases alcohol trade profits
Bard - Increases contribution gain
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Gone with the Wind - +1 music +1 treasure
Languages: Italian


Character: Maltim Almeida Blanca Andrew Main Quest
Recruitment: Travel to Genoa.
Specialties:
Seasoned Officer - Increases negotiation success rate with NPCs
Climate Conqueror - Drastically reduces hull damage in storms
Supply Utilization - Reduces consumption of supplies while sailing
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Advanced Telescope - +1 observation +2 selection
Languages: Portuguese


Character: Mustafa Amir
Recruitment: Complete an event in the Western Turkey expedition landing and then recruit along with Anastasia in Beirut.
Specialties:
Turkish Nobility - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Turkish and North African cultural spheres
Treasure Appraisal - Adds a chance to obtain precious items when trading
Fire Cannon Expertise - Increases damage, accuracy, and penetration ability of fire cannons
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Saladin's Scimitar - +2 negotiation
Languages: Turkish


Character: William Ansel Andrew Main Quest
Recruitment: Pick up in London and take him to Ceuta to recruit (requires 100 contribution in London).
Specialties:
British Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in British cultural sphere
Sketch - Increases rewards and contribution from reporting discoveries
Journey of Odysseus - No longer become out of control in storms
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Scholar Flat Cap - +1 geography +1 humanities +1 biology
Languages: English / Latin / Greek / Portuguese / Spanish


Character: Yuskin
Recruitment: Tulip quest line in Amsterdam (go to Amsterdam in November to start). After recruiting Beatrice, go to Venice.
Specialties:
Penny Pinching - Reduce fleet supply and sailor wage costs
Merchant of Venice - increased experience and profits from trading specialties
Business Craft - increased rewards from completing business contracts
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Tiny Golden Scale - +1 calculating +1 selection
Languages: Italian / Dutch

Character: Blackbeard
Recruitment: Finish the Flota des Indias part of the main quest, or Jaca's questline for Yun Mu, and then recruit in San Diego.
Specialties:
Coercion - Adds chance to cause confusion when battles take place
Reign of Terror - Provides protection from confusion
Tyrannical - Can recruit surrendered small and medium ships
Naval Mine Tactics - Increases range of naval mine explosions, which can also trigger chain explosions
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Carved Musket - +1 leadership +2 firearms +1 treasure
Languages: English


Character: Jaca
Recruitment: Nassau tavern after recruiting Caribbean character from Flota des Indias part of the main quest. Recruited in Yun Mu's abandoned gold mine quest, usually picked up while doing her main quest in the Caribbean.
Specialties:
Caribbean Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Caribbean cultural sphere
Boarding Tactics - Allows hand-to-hand combat immediately when a ram collides with an enemy ship
Fearless Charge - Increases ram damage
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Eagle Warrior Armor - +1 leadership +1 brawling
Languages: Indian / Spanish


Character: Marma Cora Abdullah Main Quest
Recruitment: Wolf child clue in Veracruz
Specialties:
Inca Climate - Increases trade profits and contribution in the Central and South American and West Coast American cultural spheres
Instincts - Increase Field of View in expeditions
Extra Equipment Bonus:
Deer Whistle - +1 biology +1 brawling
Languages: Indian

For Andrew, start doing the shipwreck in Gia Dinh and going back to Pattani and grabbing the Rose Banner. If you have not already, you will need to recruit Garaba. While I have not directly confirmed, recruiting them most likely also requires you to be in at least chapter 3 to trigger Garaba's debt collection event. Find and defeat the Rasmus fleet on the seas just east of Malacca to unlock a commerce guild contract in Malacca. You will need to then complete the commerce guild contract for Nasser in Malacca, which will allow Garaba’s debt collection event to trigger. Following the debt collection event, you will receive a questline from the governor. Steps from here will be broken up into separate spoiler blocks.

1. It will tell you to first travel to Palembang where you need to translate a book in the library.
2. After talking to the librarian about the book, you will be sent to Makassar to meet the author.
3. The author will send you back to Gia Dinh to search for the Rose Garden in the post.
4. Recruiting Aji requires you to have picked up the key along the bank of the Mekong river. Take it to the Rose Garden. Here you will recruit Nasser and pick up Aji’s portrait from the chest.
5. Find Aji again in Lopburi

If you get stuck at any point I would suggest finding the Rasmus fleet on the sea near Malacca and defeating it. I haven’t confirmed if this is strictly required for Andrew but if anything might progress something it would be that or main story progression.

For Yoshitaka, trigger Garaba’s debt collection event in Malacca after entering chapter 3. After this you get a pretty straightforward questline about resolving Garaba’s debt. Just make sure to pick up the key along the Mekong river and the stuff from the shipwreck and outskirts of Pattani, the questline will lead you through recruiting Nasser and Aji.

For Abdullah, start with the Gia Dinh shipwreck and the Rose Banner outside Pattani. Following this, find and defeat the Rasmus fleet near Malacca. After entering chapter 3 and recruiting Garaba, you can trigger his debt collection event in Malacca.

1. Translate the book in the Palembang library. This will require someone who speaks Portuguese so you may be in for a journey.
2. Speak to Thom Cruz in Makassar to be pointer to the Rose Garden
3. Make sure you’ve picked up the key along the bank of the Mekong river, then travel to the Rose Garden through the Gia Dinh Post.
4. Find and defeat the Rasmus fleet one last time to recruit Aji

Both Aji and Nasser are recruited as a part of Yun Mu's chapter 2 main quest. This quest is straightforward up until the first time you fight Aji outside Malacca. At that point you may need to go back to get Garaba to advance the quest, as like all other characters you must see Garaba's debt collection event in order to recruit Aji. Garaba is thus necessary to even advance the main quest as Yun Mu. After seeing this event, a side quest, Seashore Problem, will open up.

After travelling to Lopburi and speaking to Nasser:
1. Search the Gia Dinh shipwreck and find the treasure chest just north of Pattani.
2. After informing Nasser, defeat Aji one more time.
3. Travel to the Rose Garden in the Gia Dinh post, to the west of the starting area marked by a white exclamation mark.
4. Sail a little up the Mekong, the river directly to the west of Gia Dinh, to finish the quest and recruit Aji and Nasser

[Credit to Coal Lobster]
Recruitment begins with the Gia Dinh shipwreck and the Rose Banner from the Pattani coastal treasure as usual. As with most main characters, you will need to have recruited Garaba. Following those,
1. Find and defeat the Rasmus fleet on the seas near Gia Dinh down to the strait of Malacca.
2. Complete a commerce guild contract from Nasser in Malacca.
3. See Garaba's debt event in Malacca after speaking with Nasser in Lopburi.
4. Return to Lopburi, and then to Gia Dinh to fight Aji again.
5. Travel to the Rose Garden (Gia Dinh expedition post) and retrieve the portrait (if you haven't already, retrieve the key found along the banks of the Mekong river before doing this.)
6. Travel one last time to Lopburi, and then towards the mouth of the Mekong near Gia Dinh to recruit Aji.

Belegut is one of the trickier characters to recruit and his questline contains a softlock so be careful.

First Recruitment
1. You must be in chapter 4 of the main quest to recruit Belegut
2. You must have the Minos hint. This is obtained by hearing about the Minos fleet in a teahouse somewhere in West Africa, and then seeing an event related to them in St. George.
3. If you've done the previous two steps, find and defeat the Minos fleet. They can usually be found along the coast of West Africa around Abidjan, but unless you get lucky this will probably take some patience. They are a random npc fleet that you must attack, there will be no event trigger starting combat.
4. After defeating the Minos fleet, travel to Sao Tome to hear about the whereabouts of Belegut. Travel to that port to recruit him.

Belegut's Family Quest
1. Level up Belegut to trigger an event at sea where you learn about his ties to Maracaibo. I am not sure of an exact level requirement, but I know that getting his first skill point is sufficient.
2. Travel to Maracaibo and visit the mansion Belegut used to live in through the post. I am unsure if you need to bring Belegut on the expedition but you might as well. You need to enter the mansion twice to finish up here, this can be done in the same expedition.

Barbary Pirates
1. After learning about Belegut's family, travel to ports around Marseilles or Genoa to learn about Barbary Pirates around Palma.
2. Sail near Palma to trigger the Barbary Pirates questline
3. Escort the priest to Pisa and then travel to Algiers. You must now wait until Belegut sends a messenger instructing you to ambush the Barbary Pirates near Syracuse.
4. After defeating the Pirates, return to Algiers.

Greek Fire (SOFTLOCK WARNING)
1. After finishing the Barbary Pirates and seeing the event of a burning ship sailing into port in the Mediterranean, travel to Istanbul
2. You should trigger a questline that leads to you investigating an aqueduct. If you do not see this questline, something is wrong. Do not do the Greek Fire bounty until you have seen this questline or you will softlock out of recruiting Belegut.
3. Travel a bit north from Istanbul along the European side to reach the aqueduct.
4. Complete the Greek Fire bounty to really recruit Belegut and also unlock the Greek Fire blueprint