History Characters / AChristmasCarol

* AdaptedOut: They don't appear in most adaptations of A Christmas Carol.
* AndIMustScream: The few circumstances they do appear it is quite haunting and sad to see them floating around the town trying to do what they did not in life.
* ChainedByFashion: They like Marley were chained like he was.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: They try to interfere for good in human affairs and have lost their power to do so forever.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Happens on occasion, due to it being the most menacing of the spirits. Both of the Disney versions are probably the best examples, wherein the spirit straight up tosses Ebeneezer into ''Hell'' and in one version [[EvilLaugh laughs mockingly at him]] as he desperately tries to scramble back up. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed,]] though, as his core intention has always remained to [[ScareEmStraight scare Scrooge into changing for the better.]]

* LiteralGenie: In a way. Christmas Yet To Come is the only ghost who actually does anything Scrooge asks, but - both because it wouldn't do his redemption any good to give him what he wants, and because there legitimately ''isn't'' any of what he wants (tenderness and goodness in the BadFuture) to give - the spirit only gives him the letter of what he asks for. When he asks for joy at his passing, Scrooge is taken to someone happily selling away his stolen, discarded possessions. When he asks for tenderness, he is taken to the Cratchits mourning Tiny Tim. When he asks to go home, he is taken to his future grave.

* GhastlyGhost: Marley's jaw is bound with a kerchief tied around his head, and, when removed, hangs down to the point that it dangles against the ghost's breastbone. (The handkerchief 'round the head was a widespread funereal practice to prevent rigor mortis from stiffening corpses' mouths in a permanent open position. Embalming was available, but expensive enough that a miser like Marley wouldn't put up for.) In some adaptations of the story, Marley's ghost ''unhinges his jaw'' to scream.

* GoodIsNotSoft: He wasn't good in life, of course, but his one action in the present-day is an unambiguously selfless attempt to save his only friend from damnation. He does this my scaring him shitless and, when asked for comfort, says he has none to give.

* LightEmUp: Light is a major theme with this ghost, who actually has a vibrant beam of light emitting from its head.

* WasItReallyWorthIt: Unspoken: it show Scrooge his past with Belle and then her happy life with her new love interest. The life Scrooge could've had had he loved Belle more than money. Some adaptations make it spoken.

* MirrorCharacter: Jacob Marley and Ebeneezer Scrooge, who were both fairly abusive bosses with similar faults. Scrooge learns from Marley's mistakes to avoid falling into the same fate.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: He's based heavily on 18th century MP John Elwes who inherited a vast fortune and eventually had eight-hundred thousand pounds (equivalent to over one-hundred and seventy million in the 2020's) yet insisted on living in squalor, refusing to even purchase candles, a fireplace or fix his roof despite the brutal English winters and regular rainfall, wearing old clothes and only buying new ones second hand and even eating old food and refusing to see doctors. Unlike Scrooge however, he was known to be exceptionally generous with his fortune, often giving money freely to friends and family and never asking for it back or caring much about uncollected debts.

* PragmaticVillainy: Before he even starts toward redemption, he begrudgingly gives Cratchit the day off. Not out of any kindness for him, but because it's the path of least resistance to still getting work out of his clerk.

* SourOutsideSadInside: On the surface, Scrooge was shown to be a cynical and grouchy old man. But on the inside, he's just a sad person who went through several misfortunes in life.

* FutureLoser: Scrooge's counterpart in the BadFuture isn't looked at fondly by anyone: his servants are robbing his home, his debtors are celebrating his death, and his fellow businessmen are cracking wise at his expense.

** The Ghost of Christmas Past exposes Scrooge's unhappy childhood, and his insecurities over his breakup with Belle - a breakup caused by his own greed. It also exposes exactly how miserable Scrooge truly is in his old age by juxtaposing it against his much-happier past, and does not shy away from pointing out that this is ''totally'' his own fault, an assessment Scrooge doesn't deny.

** The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the hammer striking at the cracks his preceding brothers have sewn. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge [[DyingAlone what his path in life will lead to]], and also what kind of human suffering his callous indifference and ruthless greed will ''continue'' to cause by showing him Tiny Tim's funeral. This is ultimately what breaks Scrooge's resistance, even in adaptations that ''don't'' have the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come throwing him into Hell afterwards.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Common in many versions of the play is that Scrooge's HeelFaceTurn doesn't happen until the end of the third vision; in the book, however, merely being shown the Christmas present- the joy his nephew has and the prospect of Tiny Tim's death- is enough for him to start regretting his earlier greed. This change has the unintended affect of making it look like Scrooge was only motivated out of self-interest, rather than genuine compassion.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Part of the reason he hates Christmas so much is that he had it rough growing up; his absentee father abandoned him at a boarding school, his beloved sister died young, and his fiancé left him because he was too concerned about his money to return her love (and the only reason he started obsessing over money in the first place is that he was worried he wouldn't be able to support a family).

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Took his nephew's jokes about him at his Christmas party surprisingly well.

* BadBoss: He's a horrid boss towards all of his employees, especially Cratchit. [[BenevolentBoss Until the end, of course]].

** The Ghost of Christmas Past exposes Scrooge's unhappy childhood, and his insecurities over his breakup with Belle - a breakup caused by his own greed. It also exposes exactly how miserable Scrooge truly is in his old age by juxtaposing it against his much-happier past, and does not shy away from pointing out that this is ''totally'' his own fault.

* HonestCorporateExecutive: For all his myriad faults, Scrooge is as good as his word when it comes to his business practices. Unfortunately, his insistence on following contracts to the letter cuts both ways; while he won't cheat people out of money, he also won't give them extensions.

* CoolBigSis: Scrooge's kind sister. Her death very badly affected him. Inverted, as she's much younger than Scrooge.

* SadClown: Was easily the most jovial and personable of the spirits, but he's seen some dark stuff.

* AlienGeometries: Its ''body'' is comprised of this trope, leading it to arguably become the most vulnerable of the three ghosts to [[AdaptationalSpeciesChange AdaptationalSpeciesChanges]] in adaptations.

* AlienGeometries: Its ''body'' is comprised of this trope, leading it to arguably become the most vulnerable of the three ghosts to AdaptationalSpeciesChanges in adaptations.

* AlienGeometries: Its ''body'' is comprised of this trope.

* AndIMustScream: Marley is forced to carry the burden of his greed for all of eternity, ForcedToWatch both the suffering that he benefited from in life, and all the surplus sorrow that he can never help now.

* NoCelebritesWereHarmed: He's based heavily on 18th century MP John Elwes who inherited a vast fortune and eventually had eight-hundred thousand pounds (equivalent to over one-hundred and seventy million in the 2020's) yet insisted on living in squalor, refusing to even purchase candles, a fireplace or fix his roof despite the brutal English winters and regular rainfall, wearing old clothes and only buying new ones second hand and even eating old food and refusing to see doctors. Unlike Scrooge however, he was known to be exceptionally generous with his fortune, often giving money freely to friends and family and never asking for it back or caring much about uncollected debts.

* NothingIsScarier: Its very existence is a rather ingenious allegory for how frightening and unknown the future truly is--it has no visible face, never speaks, is shrouded in darkness wherever it goes and most terrifyingly never seems to do ''anything'' besides lead Scrooge along and point passively at what he's meant to see. And the icing on the cake? Its resemblance to the Grim Reaper provides a haunting reminder of the future's sole constant: ''death.''

* AdaptedOut: They don't appear in all adaptations of a Christmas Carol.

* BodyHorror: Marley's jaw is bound with a kerchief tied around his head, and, when removed, hangs down to the point that it dangles against the ghost's breastbone.[[note]]With historical context, this might be further evidence of what a miser Marley was in life; the handkerchief 'round the head was a widespread funereal practice to prevent rigor mortis from stiffening corpses' mouths in a permanent open position. Embalming as an alternative option was uncommon and expensive, but available, and yet neither Marley or his partner Scrooge set aside the money to have it done.[[/note]] In some adaptations of the story, Marley's ghost ''unhinges his jaw'' to scream.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Some adaptations change his fate in the future from being dead to becoming a permanent paraplegic or even an old miser like Scrooge in an attempt to make it more family-friendly.

* AbusiveParents: Well, abusive ''uncle'' to his nephew Fred. In his BadFuture, it's implied that Fred didn't mourn him when he died[[note]]although all we hear about Fred is that he manfully consoled Bob and offered to help, rather than talk about his own grief[[/note]]. Sadly, it is implied that he [[TheChainOfHarm became exactly like his neglectful and cruel father]] who sent him to a boarding school to get rid of him even when everyone else was on vacation.

* CantBelieveISaidThat: A non-comedic version. Early on, he says that the poor should just die off. When the Ghost of Christmas Present throws that statement back in his face after showing Scrooge how the Cratchits are spending the holiday, he's utterly mortified.

* PragmaticVillain: Before he even starts toward redemption, he begrudgingly gives Cratchit the day off. Not out of any kindness for him, but because it's the path of least resistance to still getting work out of his clerk.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: PlayedForLaughs. The morning after the ghosts' visit, a reformed Scrooge briefly assumes his old [[Jerkass]] persona to mess with Bob Cratchit, and once he drops it, Bob is so confused and taken aback that he briefly considers ''attacking Scrooge and having him consigned to a straitjacket.''