History Characters / NightOfTheLivingDead1968

* TooDumbToLive

* BigDamnHeroes: Saving Barbra from zombies near the beginning of the film.

* GoodIsNotSoft: As kind, heroic and friendly as he mostly is overall, he does not suffer Cooper's abrasiveness in the slightest, including beating the shit out of him for trying to leave him for dead, and later outright gunning him down for attempting to steal his rifle and once more leave him to die at the hands of the zombie horde.

* OnlySaneMan: He's noticeably more level-headed than the other survivors (especially in the 1968 original).

* TragicMistake: Ben -- and most of the other survivors -- believe that their best shot lies with barricading the house, and that to go into the cellar would be a death sentence. Harry Cooper, our unsympathetic antagonist, insists that they should flee to the basement and barricade the basement door. Ben wins the argument, but Cooper was right. After everyone else is killed he does, Ben does in fact flee to the basement, where he survives the zombies.

* AntiHero: Despite saving Barbra at the beginning, Ben's other actions show him to be not as heroic as his first impression gave. Though he is the closest character to being a hero by far.

* BigBad: The primary human antagonist, and responsible for everybody getting killed due to his obstructive tendencies.

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Twice. First he refuses to open the door for Ben when the horde of zombies is on his heels, almost getting him killed. Ben is forced to kick in the door and barricade it again, before righteously beating the hell out of Cooper for his attempted treachery. The second betrayal later proves fatal for Cooper, with his cowardly attempt to steal Ben's gun and betray him, leave him to die at the hands of the zombies, backfires once and for all with Ben gunning him down.

-->'''Ben:''' "I don't wanna hear any more from you, Mister! If you stay up here, you take orders from ME! And that includes leaving the girl alone!"''

* OneManArmy: A downplayed more realistic example. Using either melee weapons or a rifle, Ben tears through the zombies when he has to, at least until the entire horde swarms the house, forcing him to retreat.

-->''"I don't wanna hear any more from you, Mister! If you stay up here, you take orders from ME! And that includes leaving the girl alone!"''

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: His story about fighting off zombies when they started rising and ultimately running several down with a truck is worthy of an '80s action star. Too bad it was clearly far beyond the film's budget to actually show.

[[folder: Barbra / Barbara]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Though he only plays a prominent role in the first scene, his killing Johnny sends Barbra into a HeroicBSOD that lasts for the rest of the plot, and indirectly leads to her own death.

[[folder: Owen]]

-->'''Played by:''' Adam Chambers (2006)

* CanonForeigner: He only appeared in 3D version.
* {{Expy}}: Of Barbra from the original. He's helpless and lies on the couch for whole movie. Well he was bitten by zombies.
%%* TheLoad
%%* TheStoner

[[folder: Gerald Tovar Jr.]]

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/SidHaig (2006)

%%* AssholeVictim
* BigBad: In 3D version.
* CanonForeigner: Similar to Owen, he never exists in any previous ''Living Dead'' film until ''3D''.
* DoomedByCanon: If anyone watched the 3D prequel movie Re-Animation, they already know what's going happen to him in the 3D version.
%%* GenreBlindness

* ThoseTwoGuys:
** Tom and Judy are pretty separated from the other characters and the story at large. They hardly interact with anyone else but each other, and the only thing very memorable about them is [[spoiler:their fiery explosive death and the sloppy zombie clean-up crew]].
** In 3D version it becomes worse. They don't share a scene with any other cast members at all.

* ThoseTwoGuys:
** Tom and Judy are pretty separated from the other characters and the story at large. They hardly interact with anyone else but each other, and the only thing very memorable about them is [[spoiler:their fiery explosive death and the sloppy zombie clean-up crew]].
** In 3D version it becomes worse. They don't share scenes with any other cast members.

%%* AdaptationalBadass

* [[spoiler:AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The 1990 version has him succumb to his wounds and turn while holed up in the basement.]]

* [[spoiler:DeathByIrony: In the original film. He survives the night only to be killed by the sheriff's posse after they mistake him for a ghoul.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He actually cares for his wife and daughter.
* {{Jerkass}}: As he first seems to viewers.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Not only was his argument for barricading in the basement instead of trying to defend every entrance to the house sound, the ending proves that it would have worked.

* TookALevelInKindness: In the 3D version Cooper is more of a friendly good-hearted farmer.

* AssholeVictim
* BigBrotherBully

* NerdGlasses
* UncreditedRole: Russell Streiner was not credited for playing Johnny in the original film, although he was credited (along with Karl Hardman) as producer.

* TheLoad
* TheStoner

* [[spoiler: AssholeVictim]]

* GenreBlindness
* TheOtherDarrin: In Re-Animation, Sid Haig replaced by Creator/AndrewDivoff
[[/folder]]

* CanonForeigner: Similar to Owen, he never exists in any previously ''NightOf Living Dead'' film until 3D.

* [[spoiler:AndThenJohnWasAZombie: During the ghouls' climactic attack on the house, Barbra encounters her long-since-turned brother, who drags her outside to be devoured.]]

[[spoiler:* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The 1990 version has him succumb to his wounds and turn while holed up in the basement.]]

[[spoiler:* DeathByIrony: In the original film. He survives the night only to be killed by the sheriff's posse after they mistake him for a ghoul.]]

[[spoiler:* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: During the ghouls' climactic attack on the house, Barbra encounters her long-since-turned brother, who drags her outside to be devoured.]]

%%* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The 1990 version has him getting bitten and then turning while holed up in the basement.

%%* DeathByIrony: In the original film. He survives the night only to be killed by the sheriff's posse after they mistake him for a ghoul.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: During the ghouls' climactic attack on the house, Barbra encounters her long-since-turned brother, who drags her outside to be devoured.

-->'''Played by:''' Judith O'Dea (1968), Patricia Tallman (1990), Brianna Brown (2006)

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