Hat Kid, the main protagonist of A Hat in Time, is a human-like alien attempting to collect the scattered Time Pieces, the fuel for her spaceship, so she can return home.
Her real name is unknown, as it's never mentioned in-game, and in the instruction manual she is listed as "Me," due to it being written entirely in first person.
In all respects, Hat Kid looks like a small human child. The only possible difference between her alien species and normal humans is the presence of bones in her ponytail when the C.A.W Agents take an X-ray photograph of her. She dresses in a big, purple shirt with a bright yellow cape sporting a large zipper, as well as white pants and brown boots. She also wears a variety of hats, her favorite of which is a big, purple top hat with a yellow stripe, also known as the "Kid's Hat".
Hat Kid is shown to have an energetic and childlike personality. This is mainly shown through the innocent nature of her voice lines and idle animations. She is also shown to be rather mischievous, especially with the Mafia, such as when she knocks Mafia Goons off of ledges in Mafia Town, or when she stole the umbrella from the Mafia in Welcome to Mafia Town, or when she burned paintings containing the souls of trapped individuals in a fire in order to help a group of Fire Spirits commit suicide in Subcon Forest. Despite this, she is also rather friendly, as shown during Your Contract has Expired in Subcon Forest, when Hat Kid attempts to befriend The Snatcher. She can be shy at times, such as when Mustache Girl asks for her name, or during her idle animation where she stops playing with dolls because she thinks someone might be watching. In contrast, she is very frank and emotive in her diary entries, calling out many people and situations on her adventure as weird or unpleasant.
Alignment:Chaotic Neutral (Despite her appearance, Hat Kid is not a necessarily "good" character, she is willing to do whatever, good or bad, to get her Time Pieces back. She has no remorse for killing people if they get in her way, and happily comments when she burned paintings containing the souls of trapped individuals in a fire in order to help a group of Fire Spirits commit suicide in Subcon Forest. Hat Kid has shown to be nice to people and trying to be their friends, though this is likely to get through issues or her own stubbornness)
*Umbrella: After the first act, Hat Kid will always have her trusty umbrella, which she can whack baddies with. It doesn't do much else, but with certain badges equipped, it becomes a very handy tool. Hat Kid's trusty Umbrella, acting as a multipurpose item. Can be used as a weapon to fight the Mafia as she herself can't physically punch them. Can also be used to save herself from lethal falls, and she can equip a hookshot onto it.
Key: Functions a lot like the Umbrella, and can unlock doors.
Baseball Bat: Functions a lot like the Umbrella.
Time Pieces: Pieces that can stop, rewind, and rewrite the timeline.
Kid Hat: Her original hat, points her to the location of where he time pieces are or the location to go.
Ice Hat: Turns Hat Kid into an ice statue allowing her to fling off of certain areas and makes her invulnerable to attacks.
Brewing Hat: Has Hat Kid brew explosive flasks to throw.
Sprint Hat: Allows Hat Kid's speed to be augmented having her run far faster.
Dweller Mask: Makes intangible things tangible and vice-versa. Can affect enemies in another dimension.
Time Stop Hat: Slows down time to the point where even teleportation seems slow.
Projectile Badge:
“
Hold and release your attack button for a beam attack!
„
Hat Kid's melee attack now also has a beam attack that can be charged to three levels by holding down the attack button.
Camera Badge:
“
Press [KEY] to take pictures of your journey!
„
Takes pictures with a camera.
Fast Hatter Badge:
“
Significantly reduce the cooldown when using hats!
„
Hat Kid doesn't wait as long to re-use a hat's ability.
Hookshot Badge:
“
Press and hold attack to swing from hooks!
„
Hat Kid can hook to and swing from certain points.
Hover Badge:
“
Automatically pull out your umbrella before deadly impact!
„
If Hat Kid falls from a height that would damage her, umbrella pops out at the last moment to instantly slow down her falling speed and allow her to not take fall damage.
Item Magnet Badge:
“
Automatically attract nearby collectibles!
„
Items such as Pons and Heart Gems will be drawn to Hat Kid.
Mumble Badge:
“
Plugs your ears, now you only hear vague mumbling!
„
Changes all character speech to mumbles. (Note: Despite what the description says via it being a badge and all badges giving Hat Kid an ability this is assumed to just be a joke)
No Bonk Badge:
“
No more bonking against walls when diving!
„
Hat Kid no longer rebounds when hitting a surface after diving, and instead begins a wall run.
Compass Badge:
“
Shows a map towards nearby relics!
„
A small red arrow appears when Hat Kid is near a relic.
Scooter Badge:
“
Upgrades your Sprint Hat to a scooter!
„
Changes the effect of the Sprint Hat, giving Hat Kid a scooter to ride around in. The scooter has excellent acceleration, turning, and can jump.
1-Hit Hero Badge:
“
You die in one hit. Only for the brave!
„
Hat Kid's healthbar is always at one, meaning she'll die in one hit.
Mirror Badge:
“
Dnuora Gnihtyreve spilf
„
Flips the screen resembling looking at a mirror.
Nostalgia Badge:
“
Everything is better when its worse!
„
Reduces the graphical settings so low to make everything resemble a game on the N64.
'Peaceful Badge:
“
Experience Peace and Tranquility whenever you dance!
„
Adds the same filter used on the Peace and Tranquility screen of Death Wish when using the dance action.
Retro Badge:
“
Glorious 2-bit action!
„
Adds a filter to the game that makes everything look like a game on the original GameBoy.
REDtro VR Badge:
“
"My eyes hurt."
„
Adds a red filter that makes everything look like a game on the Virtual Boy.
Customization
During each act, Hat Kid can collect Rift Tokens. These are used to unlock either new aesthetic designs for her hats, new color pallets for her clothing and certain hats, and new remixes of songs for the different acts. Rift Tokens can be spent at the end of each act that you collect them in, or at the Token Machine in Hat Kid's Spaceship.
This dropdown contains the several different hat flairs and cutomizations Hat Kid can obtain.
The Moon: Jazz Remix Train Rush: Electro Swing Remix
Subcon Forest (2)
Time Rifts (1)
Subcon Village: Sci-Fi Remix Your Contract Has Expired: Orchestral Remix
Water Time Rift: Orchestral Remix
Hat Flairs
Normal Hat Flairs
Not all hats change with Hat Kid's palette. The ones that do will be mentioned below.
Image
Hat
Rarity
Color change
Description
Kid's Hat
☆
Yes
Gives Hat Kid's favorite hat a bow.
Kid's Hat
☆☆
Yes
Gives Hat Kid's favorite hat a bow and vertical stripes.
Kid's Hat
☆☆☆
Yes
Gives Hat Kid's favorite hat a bow, a rose and vertical stripes.
Sprint Hat
☆
Yes
Replaces the Sprint Hat to a ladybug headband. The red of the band changes to the color of Hat Kid's color palette if equipped.
Sprint Hat
☆☆
Yes
Replaces the Sprint Hat with a dinosaur hoodie.
Sprint Hat
☆☆☆
No
Replaces the Sprint Hat with a News Boy's Cap. The cap also includes several technological enhancements, like a microphone and enhancing eyepieces on the goggles, though these are purely cosmetic.
Brewing Hat
☆
No
Gives the Brewing Hat pink and white stripes, making it look like the hat of Vivian in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Ice Hat
☆
Yes
Changes the Ice Hat into a festive Santa hat.
Ice Hat
☆☆
Yes
Changes the Ice Hat into a night cap with cat's ears on the top. The base hat alongside the rim and the end of the cap change color alongside any palette changes equipped, defaulting to purple and yellow. This could possibly foreshadow the Nyakuza Metro DLC due to the cat ears on top and its color scheme.
Ice Hat
☆☆☆
No
Changes the Ice Hat into a yak hat with a pony tail.
Dweller's Mask
☆
No
Alternates from the Fox mask to the pink kitsune Dweller Mask. Badges adhere to the top of the forehead and ends of the ears.
Dweller's Mask
☆☆
No
Alternates from the Fox mask to the green bull Dweller Mask. Badges adhere to the top of the forehead and ends of the antlers.
Dweller's Mask
☆☆☆
No
Alternates from the Fox mask to the white tattooed Dweller Mask. Badges adhere to the top of the forehead and ends of the antlers.
Kid's Hat
-
Yes
Also known as the "Completionist Kid's Hat." Changes Kid's Hat to have a tartan pattern and the ribbon to have polka dots. Given to the player after obtaining all Time Pieces.
Death Wish Flairs
These are the Hat Flairs that can be found be clearing challenges in Death Wish Mode
These hats are added with the Nyakuza Metro DLC and can be bought from the Gang Sellers around the area.
Image
Hat
Price
Color change
Description
Kid's Hat
150
No
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station
Changes Kid's Hat to a flower crown.
Sprint Hat
150
Yes
Changes Sprint Hat to an indigo cap.
Brewing Hat
150
No
Bought from one of the three alley cats near the jewel store.
Changes Brewing Hat to a headband with cat ears, and a mask with a cat's nose and mouth on it. This flair also changes the explosions of the potions into dollar explosions
Brewing Hat
150
No
Bought from a cat near the manhole in Green Clean Station.
Changes Brewing Hat to a burger-themed cap.
Dweller's Mask
150
Yes
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station
Changes Dweller's Mask to a yellow beret, with glasses.
Time Stop Hat
150
Yes
Bought from a cat near the bluefin ticket seller in Bluefin Tunnel
Changes Time Stop Hat to a helmet with an ear piece, inside a translucent orb.
Time Stop Hat
150
Yes
Bought from a cat above the pink paw ticket seller in Pink Paw Station
Changes Time Stop Hat to a pair of headphones.
Event Hat Flairs
These hats were given out at specific events such as being a backer and being in a Speedrun event.
Gives Hat Kid's favorite hat a bow, and a green rose.
Color Palettes
Normal Dyes
Name
Image
Appearance
Rarity
Description
Blueberry Pie
-
Changes Hat Kid's shirt and hat dark blue, her cape and ribbon yellow, her pants off white, her boots tan, and dyes her hair blonde. This dye may be inspired by the DC Superhero Booster Gold from the DC Comics Universe.
Forest Critter
-
Change's Hat Kid's shirt and hat forest green, her cape and ribbon strong yellow green, her pants white, her boots brown, her clasp orange and dyes her hair blonde.
This makes her look like Link from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Minty Fresh
-
Turns Hat Kid's shirt and hat olive green, her cape and ribbon moss green, her clasp honey yellow and dyes her hair ash blonde.
Margin of Night
☆
Changes Hat Kid's shirt scarlet, her hat and pants wine red, her cape purple, her boots brown, her clasp rose, her ribbon crimson and dyes her hair lapis.
These colors are the same as Niko from the indie game OneShot. This is made obvious by the fact that Nightmargin is the online name of the main artist, character designer, musician, and co-writer of OneShot.
The Freedom
☆
Changes Hat Kid's shirt and hat white, her cape red, her pants and boots blue, her cape red, and her ribbon lilac while dying her hair the same color.
This color is based off of Lilac from the game series Freedom Planet.
Captain of the Sea
☆☆
Changes Hat Kid's shirt and ribbon navy, her hat, cape and shoes white, her pants space blue and her clasp and zipper yellow. The color scheme might be based on the Seal The Deal DLC, as well as being a reference to Weiss Schnee from RWBY (probably due to the white coloring of her clothes.)
Cookie Dough
☆☆
Changes Hat Kid's shirt, hat and boots lemon, her cape and ribbon pink, and her pants and clasp purple.
The Blood Moon
☆☆
Changes Hat Kid's shirt and hat dark red, her cape, ribbon and pants black, and her claps, zipper, boots and hair white.
The red and black color pallette and white hair are likely a reference to the character Ragna from the Blazblue series and Dante from the Devil May Cry series.
Cute ‘n Dangerous
☆☆☆
Turns Hat Kid's shirt, hat and boots pink, her cape and ribbon fucsia, her clasp blue, her zipper gold and dyes her hair blonde.
This is the same color palette as Princess Peach from the Mario series.
The Big Appetite
☆☆☆
Changes Hat Kid's shirt and hat purple, her cape and ribbon yellow, her pants violet, her boots green, her clasp a light pink and dyes her hair black.
This palette is the same as Wario, one of the antagonists of the Mario series. It also looks similar to Hat Kid's regular clothing.
The Widow
☆☆☆
Turns Hat Kid's shirt and hat crow black, her cape, ribbon and pants ink black, her clasp turquoise, her zipper tawny brown and dyes her hair black. This may be a reference to Blake Belladonna from RWBY.
DLC Dyes
These color palettes are added with DLC. Cardboard is added with Seal the Deal and the rest with Nyakuza Metro. None of these dyes are found in the Roulette, and instead are bought from NPCs or rewards for completing certain challenges.
Bought from a cat near the Empress's Jewelry Store for 25 pons.
Makes Hat Kid's shirt and top hat band a dark blue, and her hat and cape a light green.
Dignified
Bought from a cat near the Empress's Jewelry Store for 75 pons
Gives Hat Kid a dark red diamond pattern on her shirt, and a gray cape.
Obnoxious
Bought from a cat near the Empress's Jewelry Store for 75 pons
Gives a square pattern to her cape, having extremely saturated shades of sky blue and yellow, her shirt a saturated blue, pants a bright pink, and shoes yellow.
Mixed Berries
Bought from a cat in Main Station for 25 pons
Changes Hat Kid's shirt to blue, her cape to red, and her pants white.
Citrus
Bought from a cat in Main Station next to the yellow ticket gate for 75 pons
Gives Hat Kid a lemon-lime color scheme.
Fortress
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station next to the blue ticket gate for 25 pons
This Dye, alongside the Battlements dye, is based off of Team Fortress 2, and its own paint system for its various cosmetics. The reds and oranges are likely in reference to that game's RED team.
Battlements
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station next to the blue ticket gate for 75 pons
This Dye, alongside the Fortress dye, is based off of Team Fortress 2, and its own paint system for its various cosmetics. The blues and yellows are likely in reference to that game's BLU team.
The Justice
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station next to the blue ticket gate for 75 pons
This dye gives hat kid that same palette as Mustache Girl, sporting a waistband unique to this dye.
Cherry Soda
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station right after one of the yellow ticket gate for 25 pons
Changes Hat Kid's shirt a bright red, her cape white, and pants black.
Busy Bee
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station right after one of the yellow ticket gate for 25 pons
Gives Hat Kid the color scheme of a bumblebee, and possibly the main color scheme of Yang Xiao Long from RWBY.
Coffee with Cream
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station right after one of the yellow ticket gate for 75 pons
Changes Hat Kid's shirt to a brown to white gradient, her cape white, and pants a dark brown.
Pizza Time
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station right after one of the yellow ticket gate for 75 pons
The name references an iconic line from the 2004 movie Spider-Man 2.
Bleeding Edge
Bought from a cat near the bluefin ticket seller in Bluefin Tunnel for 25 pons
This skin seems to reference Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, as well as referencing Akame and Kurome from the anime Akame Ga Kill!, Ruby Rose from the animated webseries RWBY as well as Lucia from Punishing Gray Raven.
Milky Way
Bought from a cat near the bluefin ticket seller in Bluefin Tunnel for 75 pons
Gives Hat Kid's shirt and shoes a light blue color, her cape magenta, along with a star pattern, her pants white, and blonde hair.
Ribbit
Bought from a cat near the pink ticket seller for 25 pons
Gives Hat Kid a frog-like color scheme.
Some think this could represent Yoshi from the Yoshi’s Island and Mario series or Tamagon in Devil World.
Anarchy
Bought from a cat near the pink ticket seller for 75 pons
Makes Hat Kid's cape indigo, her hair and pants a light blue, and her shirt have a black and purple striped pattern.
Too Hot to Handle
Bought from a cat seller for 75 pons
Makes Hat Kid's hair orange, and puts a fire pattern on her cape and shirt.
Remixes
Changes the music played in certain levels and areas. They can be adjusted by the Wowl Band, whom are found on the Spaceship once the player has collected their first remix.
Image
Track
Mafia Town (Electronic Remix)
Mafia Boss (Orchestral Remix)
The Moon (Jazz Remix)
Subcon Village (Sci-Fi Remix)
Water Time Rift (Orchestral Remix)
Train Rush (Electronic Remix)
Your Contract Has Expired (Orchestral Remix)
Costumes
The Seal the Deal DLC also adds costumes for Hat Kid to wear. To unlock these costumes, however, she must complete several of the Snatcher's challenges. Nyakuza Metro also adds some more costumes that can be bought from the cats found around the metro.
This costume makes Hat Kid look similar to The Snatcher himself.
Nyakuza Varsity Jacket
Bought from one of the three alley cats near the jewel store for 225 pons
A purple hoodie with yellow sleeves, cat-shaped pockets, a gold zipper, and a cat tail hanging from the back.
Comfy Sweater
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station next to the blue ticket gate for 200 pons
A purple sweater, with an image of a hot mug on it.
Wireframe
Bought from a cat in Yellow Overpass Station right after a yellow ticket gate for 200 pons
This outfit also augments Hat Kid's hats to show up as a wireframe too, superseding any flairs equipped to show the base hat's wireframe.
Notable Techniques
Abilities: Hat Kid has dozens of abilities at her disposal due to her many different hats, natural athlethic capatilibities, and badges.
Jumping: Explained in verse as it being due to Hat Kid's small stature, Hat Kid is not only capable of doing a superhuman jump, far higher then regular humans can, but she can jump again while in the air to do a double jump, allowing her to manuver around areas.
Dive: This technique allows Hat Kid to do a dive while either jumping, or when she has enough momentum on the ground, allowing for far faster travel. Diving in the air will briefly slow Hat Kid's vertical speed and lunge her forward, giving her more horizontal movement. She can also cancel her dives in mid-air through jumping, allowing for more precise platforming. Additionally, if she dives on the ground, she will briefly slide, which she can then captalize on by jumping, allowing her to bounce back up and lunge forward into a front flip, increasing her speed further until she touches the ground. Doing this in rapid succession can outpace even the Sprint Hat.
Wall Jump: By jumping towards a wall, Hat Kid will start to run up it, gaining some vertical distance. She can then jump off of it onto a platform or another wall, where she can gain some more height and jump again. If the walls are parallel, this can be repeated to gain as much height as possible. Hat Kid cannot run or jump off the same wall twice in a row. She must jump off of another wall or touch the ground to jump off of that wall again. If Hat Kid performs a dive and hits a wall, she will bonk her head and fall to the ground. However, if the player has the "No Bonk" badge equipped or cancels the dive before hitting the wall, she will start a wall run instead.
Melee
Punch: At the start of the game, Hat Kid will be unarmed, and hitting anything will cause her to hurt her hand and flinch in pain. This also does no damage.
Umbrella: Hat Kid's primary weapon, the umbrella. Hat Kid can string together a maximum of 3 swings with the umbrella at once, dealing enough damage to usually kill her foe.
Homing Attack: When airborne above enemies, a button prompt will appear over their heads to let the player know that Hat Kid can perform a homing attack. This allows her to quickly launch herself at the enemy to deal damage and bounce off of them. This is useful for both combat and platforming sections.
Hats: The default hat Hat Kid wears can guide her to the nearest timepiece or goal (although it is not always accurate). Throughout the course of her adventure, Hat Kid stitches together other hats which give her several abilities:
Sprint Hat: Allows running quickly.
Time Stop Hat: Slows time down for a limited time.
Brewing Hat: Involves throwing explosive potions.
Ice Hat: Turns her into an icy statue to bounce off ice platforms and stuns enemies.
Dweller Mask: Makes green see-through platforms tangible, purple patterned surfaces, and enemies/objects from another dimension tangible.
Badges: Hat Kid can find several badges on her quest that give her unique secondary abilities, such as saving herself from a great fall or lowering the recharge time on hat abilities. Most badges can be bought from the aptly named Badge Seller, but there are some special badges that must be found in the various worlds. Which do the following:
Projectile Badge:
“
Hold and release your attack button for a beam attack!
„
Hat Kid's melee attack now also has a beam attack that can be charged to three levels by holding down the attack button.
Camera Badge:
“
Press [KEY] to take pictures of your journey!
„
Takes pictures with a camera.
Fast Hatter Badge:
“
Significantly reduce the cooldown when using hats!
„
Hat Kid doesn't wait as long to re-use a hat's ability.
Hookshot Badge:
“
Press and hold attack to swing from hooks!
„
Hat Kid can hook to and swing from certain points.
Hover Badge:
“
Automatically pull out your umbrella before deadly impact!
„
If Hat Kid falls from a height that would damage her, umbrella pops out at the last moment to instantly slow down her falling speed and allow her to not take fall damage.
Item Magnet Badge:
“
Automatically attract nearby collectibles!
„
Items such as Pons and Heart Gems will be drawn to Hat Kid.
Mumble Badge:
“
Plugs your ears, now you only hear vague mumbling!
„
Changes all character speech to mumbles. (Note: Despite what the description says via it being a badge and all badges giving Hat Kid an ability this is assumed to just be a joke)
No Bonk Badge:
“
No more bonking against walls when diving!
„
Hat Kid no longer rebounds when hitting a surface after diving, and instead begins a wall run.
Compass Badge:
“
Shows a map towards nearby relics!
„
A small red arrow appears when Hat Kid is near a relic.
Scooter Badge:
“
Upgrades your Sprint Hat to a scooter!
„
Changes the effect of the Sprint Hat, giving Hat Kid a scooter to ride around in. The scooter has excellent acceleration, turning, and can jump.
1-Hit Hero Badge:
“
You die in one hit. Only for the brave!
„
Hat Kid's healthbar is always at one, meaning she'll die in one hit.
Mirror Badge:
“
Dnuora Gnihtyreve spilf
„
Flips the screen resembling looking at a mirror.
Nostalgia Badge:
“
Everything is better when its worse!
„
Reduces the graphical settings so low to make everything resemble a game on the N64.
Peaceful Badge:
“
Experience Peace and Tranquility whenever you dance!
„
Adds the same filter used on the Peace and Tranquility screen of Death Wish when using the dance action.
Retro Badge:
“
Glorious 2-bit action!
„
Adds a filter to the game that makes everything look like a game on the original GameBoy.
REDtro VR Badge:
“
"My eyes hurt."
„
Adds a red filter that makes everything look like a game on the Virtual Boy.
Weaknesses: Has none of her hat abilities if her hats are removed. Though she's shown to fight through this. Snatcher's protection is only active when she's on a contract, so if she fulfills her contractual obligations he'll no longer revive her. Her current contractual obligation though is being "BFFs" with Snatcher so it's unlikely it'll be fulfilled anytime soon. Excluding the Sprint Hat, all of her hat abilities will need time to recharge after being used.
Note: While there is a scene where she's initially affected by the time piece breaking it should be noted this is a one-off case asides from every other moment. It could be equally argued that this is just a trait of Reactive Adaptation or Hat Kid being caught off guard.
Keys: Hat Kid was given her Low 2-B preparation (Adeline & Ribbon used to be Low 2-B but were downgraded, though their AP difference is still massive enough to where this match remains the same).