Trees Hate You Characters: Demo Customization Options
Learn how trees hate you characters customization works in the Trees Hate You demo, covering eyes, mouths, hair, clothes, skin, styles, and default options

The Trees Hate You demo lets you customize your starting character with a creator that covers eyes, mouths, hair, clothes, skin, and more. Tykenn’s January 21, 2026 post, “Now It’s Personal: Introducing Character Customization,” describes Trees Hate You characters options as a way to make your own personalized victim before heading into the forest. You can also skip the creator and use the bespectacled man from the announce trailer as a quick default. This page covers the Demo version only; the full release will need a separate update after its planned November 16, 2026 date.
How the Demo Character Creator Works
The April 24, 2026 demo launch announcement says players can “Design a character (or not), and then escape this awful forest while trying to avoid a variety of traps.” As of October 11, 2026, the Steam store page for Trees Hate You lists Character Customization among its user-defined tags.
Tykenn introduced the system earlier, on January 21, 2026, in the news post Now It’s Personal: Introducing Character Customization. That post states the tool was originally built for a different project, but Tykenn kept adding styles and colors after starting Trees Hate You. The same post also says, “Yes, the UI is still kind of ugly. It’s a WIP,” so do not expect a polished menu in the demo.
The public descriptions do not say whether customization opens from a main menu or after a prompt. The April 2026 demo wording only confirms that designing a character is part of the demo flow, then the player heads into the forest.
The same Steam store page lists Trees Hate You as developed and published by Tykenn, single-player, with Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, and Family Sharing. As of October 11, 2026, the store page also includes a link to download the Trees Hate You Demo. Those store details do not change the character creator itself, but they help players find the demo before the planned full release.
Trees Hate You Characters: Eye, Mouth, Hair, Clothing, and Skin Options
| Option category | Official wording from January 21, 2026 | What is shown |
|---|---|---|
| Eyes | Listed as a character creator option | Category confirmed; exact eye styles or colors not named |
| Mouths | Listed | Category confirmed; exact mouth styles not named |
| Hair | Listed | Category confirmed; exact hair styles not named |
| Clothes | Listed | Category confirmed; exact clothing sets not named |
| Skin | Listed | Category confirmed; exact skin tones not named |
| More | Tykenn wrote “and more” | Not broken into specific extra parts |
The announcement is intentionally broad. Tykenn’s exact sentence is, “There are options for eyes, mouths, hair, clothes, skin, and more.” The follow-up explains that Tykenn “continued to add more options for both styles and colors.” Based on that, the demo creator should feel category-driven rather than a single fixed face, but the official post does not publish a full list of every available eye, mouth, hair, clothing, or skin selection.
Because the developer said the system already had a lot built for another project, the demo creator may feel like a broader set of style buttons or color choices rather than just a few presets. However, the official update does not describe whether eyes and mouths are chosen separately, whether clothing is one full outfit or several parts, or whether skin selection uses swatches or a palette. Those mechanical details are not confirmed in the available pre-release sources.
The June 19, 2026 demo update later said “A few more character creator options” were added. That means the playable demo may offer a slightly larger set than the January customization reveal, even though the exact new items were not listed.
Default Victim vs Custom Appearance
| Situation | Default victim | Custom appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Bespectacled man from the announce trailer | Character creator introduced in the January 21, 2026 post |
| Time cost | Quick start | Tykenn said it takes “a couple minutes” |
| Based on a real person? | Tykenn wrote, “No, he’s not based on anyone in particular” | Not applicable |
| Available in demo? | Yes, as the quick default option | Yes, optional |
The default is not part of a hidden biography or forum joke. Tykenn addressed the trailer character directly and wrote that he is not based on anyone in particular. He added that the default remains “for those who just want to get straight to the game.”
If you keep the default glasses, the June 19, 2026 demo update adds a small visual consequence: glasses of any kind now fly off your face as you perish. That does not change customization menus, but it does affect how the default look behaves during a run.
What the Demo Updates Added to Customization
| Date | Update | What it says about customization |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 2026 | Character customization news post | Revealed eyes, mouths, hair, clothes, skin, and more; styles and colors; default option |
| Apr 24, 2026 | Demo Out Now | “Design a character (or not)” |
| Jun 19, 2026 | Demo Updates & Next Fest | “A few more character creator options” added; described as likely the last major demo update |
| Aug 29, 2026 | Release date announcement | Full release planned for November 16, 2026 |
The June 19, 2026 update is the reason this guide sticks to the Demo. Tykenn called that update “likely the last major demo update,” meaning the demo character creator may be mostly settled before the full release. The full game could still change afterward, but the official sources available on October 11, 2026 do not describe any post-demo customization changes.
The August 29, 2026 announcement focused on the release date, new key art, and late-game content rather than additional character creator details. That does not mean the full game will keep the demo creator exactly as it is; it means the public source material stops short of confirming any additional full-release customization.
The April 24, 2026 demo launch also introduced Challenge Mode. In that mode, every trap is out from the start, certain randomized events are seeded, and extra traps are sprinkled throughout the levels. Challenge Mode affects difficulty rather than character appearance, so it does not expand the customization categories.
The May 23, 2026 localization update added German, Russian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Polish, Ukrainian, Turkish, Czech, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish to the demo. The Steam page describes the game as “a rage game focused on traps and gags,” lists the genre as Adventure and Indie, and shows minimum system requirements of Windows 10 or Higher and 1 GB available space as of October 11, 2026.
What the Demo Still Does Not Confirm
- The official posts do not give the exact number of eye, mouth, hair, clothing, or skin options in the demo.
- The source material does not say whether custom clothes or skin affect how traps treat you.
- The January post mentions hats found in the forest, but those are collectible hats, not necessarily part of the starting creator.
- The official text does not confirm whether demo creator presets will carry over to the planned November 16, 2026 full release.
Because the original announcement says Tykenn will keep adding options, the full version could include more customization choices later. For now, the safest reading is that the demo creator is a partial, pre-release version, and the exact list of future additions has not been published.
FAQ
Does the Trees Hate You demo require me to customize my character?
No. The April 24, 2026 demo launch announcement says “Design a character (or not).” The bespectacled default exists for players who want to start quickly.
What exact appearance categories can I change?
Tykenn’s January 21, 2026 announcement names eyes, mouths, hair, clothes, skin, and more. The same post says styles and colors have continued to grow, and the June 19, 2026 demo update added a few more character creator options.
Is the default bespectacled man based on a real person or developer?
No. Tykenn wrote that the trailer featured a bespectacled man and, in the announcement, added: “No, he’s not based on anyone in particular.”
Can I customize my character in the full version?
The full version is planned for November 16, 2026, as announced on August 29, 2026. The official pre-release sources do not yet list separate full-release customization features beyond what the demo shows.
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