Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Characters / TheStand

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
4%%
5%%
6[[foldercontrol]]
7
8!!Boulder
9
10[[folder:Abagail Freemantle]]
11!! '''Abagail Freemantle'''
12!!! Played by: Creator/RubyDee ([[Series/TheStand1994 1994]]), Creator/WhoopiGoldberg ([[Series/TheStand2020 2020]])
13Abagail is God's prophet on Earth and the guide to the main characters. She is a 108-year-old black woman who lives in Nebraska. Almost every main character dreams of her sitting on her porch, playing her guitar, usually directly after they have a disturbing dream about the BigBad.
14----
15* BigGood: She's considered to be the symbolic leader of the Boulder Free Zone due to her appearing in dreams and being something of the spiritual leader of the area.
16* CoolOldLady: Over a hundred years and still ticking. She remains one of the most interpersonal individuals within the Boulder group, partly because of her faith.
17* DreamWeaver: In the aftermath of the Captain Trips plague, she and Flagg start appearing in the dreams of most of the survivors.
18* FinalSpeech: Shortly before wasting away.
19* ISenseADisturbanceInTheForce: Ruby Dee (in the miniseries) even ''looks'' like Yoda, and [[AWizardDidIt she's a prophet]] so it's justified.
20* MagicalGuide: Briefly, at the end of the series. During the final confrontation in Vegas, when the Hand of God appears, Abagail's voice is heard telling [[spoiler:Larry and Ralph]] that they fulfilled their roles and telling them to "come on home," [[spoiler:just before the nuke detonates]].
21* MagicalNegro:
22** Played with. Abagail most certainly has supernatural insight and ends up being the emotional and moral center of the BFZ, so much so that the Boulder Free Zone committee -- which is all-white -- make sure to give her absolute veto power over any of their decisions, lest it look like they were trying to wrest power from her.
23** [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted by the very hero-worship outlined above. Her duty's just getting everyone together and pointing the way, but she enjoys the attention so much that she inadvertently indulges in Pride and leads the committee astray from their real duty of dealing with Flagg]].
24* MeaningfulName: Abagail ''Freemantle''.
25* OutlivingOnesOffspring: All of her children had died ''before'' ThePlague, and while she had many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, she reflects that most if not all of them probably died of the flu, and none are mentioned as having showed up at Boulder later on.
26* SacrificialLion: She realizes [[spoiler:she's been putting too much stock into herself rather than God and disappears into the wilderness for a while]]. When she returns, [[spoiler:the group rushing to announce her return saves most of the Boulder committee from a bomb planted by Harold. Abagail dies of starvation soon after]].
27* WaifProphet: Mother Abagail is so old she verges on a BlindSeer.
28* WastelandElder: She started put as an old woman living in a field in Nebraska. Afterwards, she became a de facto leader for a faction of naturally-immune super-plague survivors that were unambiguously the "good guys."
29[[/folder]]
30
31[[folder:Stu Redman]]
32!! '''Stuart “Stu” Redman'''
33!!! Played by: Creator/GarySinise (1994), Creator/JamesMarsden (2020)
34Stu Redman grew up in Arnette, Texas, and was stuck working in a calculator factory to support his brother when his parents died. When the Superflu's Patient Zero crashes into the gas station in his town, Stu was transplanted to a plague control center in Vermont. A redneck with a heart of gold, Stu quickly becomes a leader among survivors.
35----
36* ActionSurvivor: Stu is a regular dude from a lonely part of the country who finds himself wrapped up in, in order: a government cover-up, post-apocalyptic survival, rebuilding society, and a climactic battle between good and evil.
37* {{Cincinnatus}}: Stu is [[DoesNotLikeGuns reluctant to be]] Marshal of the Free Zone, and ultimately [[spoiler:leaves for New England]]. His successor actively ''campaigned'' for the part.
38* TheEveryman: When it comes down to it, Stu is just a guy from East Texas with very little to set him apart, aside from the WeirdnessCensor that kept him from getting killed during the Superflu outbreak.
39* FalseReassurance: He tells the dying Campion that the latter's wife and child are "going to be okay" in the series, even though he knows from his co-worker's face that both have already died.
40* FistOfRage: When he's talking to Frannie after the explosion, and showing his anger toward Harold.
41* TheFriendlyTexan: an Everyman who is one of the friendliest people in story. He hails from East Texas, and is there when Campion crashes his car. He comforts a dying Campion, telling him his wife and daughter will be okay, even though he's already been made aware that they're already dead.
42* GoodOlBoy: Naturally, as an Eastern Texan in the '70s (or '80s, depending on the book edition).
43* TheGunslinger: First Marshal of Boulder.
44* HatesReading: Stu generally hated reading until he bought a copy of ''Literature/WatershipDown'' for his nephew, and then read it because the one thing he hated more than reading was wrapping presents; much to his surprise, he found himself enjoying the book. By the end of the novel, he's come to love reading.
45* TheHero: Stu is nominally the hero, as nobody else really falls into the role.
46%%* HiddenDepths
47* InnocentBigot: Stu's a good guy, but a little old-fashioned in his views. He's completely flummoxed when he finds out Dayna Jurgens is into women, at first assuming she's a [[DoesNotLikeMen man hater]] until Sue Stern outlines the concept of bisexuality to him.
48* InUniverseFactoidFailure: Stu tells a story to Fran about meeting a man who looked very much like a NotQuiteDead [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]] back during his days pumping gas, saying that the man's car radio was playing "Movin' On" by Music/HankWilliams. Only problem is, Hank Williams never recorded a song by that name; however, his contemporary Hank Snow had a big hit with "I'm Movin' On" around the same time, and Williams ''did'' write & record a song called "Move It On Over".
49* ISenseADisturbanceInTheForce: Stu (rather unjustifiably) does this in the miniseries.
50* JerkJock: Stu is ''not'' this, but Harold believes him to be, partly out of jealousy when Stu "steals" Frannie, and partly because Harold believes ''all'' "jocks" to be this.
51* MeaningfulName: Stu [[NobleSavage Redman]].
52* OptOut: Stu Redman is forced to do this near the end of the novel due to injury. [[spoiler:It ends up saving his life, and it's more than hinted at that ''God'' did this intentionally so the resolution is left unambiguous for the Boulder survivors]].
53* PermaStubble: What with spending all his time imprisoned in a hospital or on the road, he rarely gets a chance to shave and he notes that he "haired up fast."
54* TheQuietOne: Rarely talks unless it's important. Even {{lampshaded}} when he has to give a speech when Boulder is resettled.
55* SoleSurvivor: He was the only person exposed to [[PatientZero Charles Campion]] who never developed symptoms, and therefore almost certainly the only one to survive. [[spoiler:He's also the only one to return from the quest to defeat Flagg]].
56* SupportingLeader: In addition to being appointed [[TheGunslinger First Marshal]] of Boulder, he leads the final mission to overthrow the Dark Man. [[spoiler:It turns out he was only sent in order to BringNewsBack about the others' subsequent sacrifice and destruction of Flagg's kingdom]]. See PassingTheTorch on the main page.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Frannie Goldsmith]]
60!! '''Frances "Frannie" Goldsmith'''
61!!! Played by: Creator/MollyRingwald (1994), Creator/OdessaYoung (2020)
62A college girl, Frannie discovered at the beginning of the book that she had become pregnant by her boyfriend, Jesse. She had traveled home to Ogonquit, Maine, to tell her parents when the Superflu hit. Frannie cares most about keeping those she loves, especially her unborn child, safe.
63----
64%%* AudienceSurrogate
65* DaddysGirl: The person she's closest to is her father, and this causes her no small amount of anguish when it finally hits that she's eventually going to have to bury him after he dies from Captain Trips.
66* TheDitz: Miniseries only. She's merely hormonal in the book.
67* GirlNextDoor: A regular girl from the Eastern U.S.
68* GirlyGirl: The ''only'' feminine member of the team that rebuilds and leads Boulder.
69* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: She has an unwanted pregnancy, but decides against abortion.
70* HeroicBSOD: She suffers one after her father dies. It's only her realization that she needs to bury him before the summer heat gets to his body that snaps her out of it.
71* MommyIssues: From her neurotic mother, who could be more than a little abusive during certain circumstances.
72* ProneToTears: Fran is by far the most tearful of the main characters, though to be fair, [[JustifiedTrope she is pregnant and under a great deal of stress]].
73* TeamMom: She's the one who tries to diffuse tension from [[FiveManBand the group]], [[spoiler:even if it's at the emotional expense of others, like Harold. This is a plot point]]. Also, ''literally'' as she spends most of the book pregnant with her old boyfriend's child.
74* TheUnfavorite: Her mother loved Frannie's brother much more than she did Frannie, and after he died (before the start of the novel) their relationship was pretty much calcified.
75* WomenPreferStrongMen: A big part of the reason she falls in love with Stu is because she feels very vulnerable as a pregnant woman in a world where law and order no longer exist, and she wants a man who can protect her. In addition to Stu's physical strength, she loves the fact that he is willing and able to take action when others are too afraid to try. She also fell out of love with Jesse, her baby's biological father, because (among other serious incompatibilities), she found him to be "weak", and didn't believe she could count on him. Unfortunately, Harold senses this immediately, and while it is neither the only reason that Frannie chose Stu over him nor the only reason he couldn't get a date in high school, he has come out on the wrong end of this trope his whole life, and Frannie [[BerserkButton couldn't have chosen a more effective way to make him hate them both if that had been her goal]].
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Nick Andros]]
79!! '''Nicholas "Nick" Andros'''
80!!! Played by: Creator/RobLowe (1994), Creator/HenryZaga (2020)
81Nicholas Andros was born deaf-mute. To communicate, he reads lips and writes on a pad of paper. Orphaned at a young age, Nick grew up in an orphanage. He left at age 16 and hitchhiked from town to town, taking odd jobs. Nick is in Shoyo, Arkansas, when the Superflu hits. He cannot understand why people look to him as a leader.
82----
83* AdaptationalBadass: In the miniseries, he's... ''fast.''
84* AndIMustScream: Touched on. Nick, who is already deaf-mute, has one eye gouged by the last surviving human plague victim within a 50-mile radius. Afterwards, he briefly contemplates the horror that would have been living with ''both'' eyes lost (on top of being deaf-mute), concluding that he would have offed himself in that case.
85* DecoyProtagonist: Possibly the most protagonistic of the series, [[spoiler:until it's subverted due to his death three-quarters of the way through the novel. Then again, he does act as a SpiritAdvisor for Tom, so maybe not so subverted]]...
86* DreamWeaver: [[spoiler:Appears in Tom's dreams after his death to give Tom vital advice on how to evade capture by Flagg's searchers and, later, save Stu's life]].
87* TheDrifter: He drifted from the age of 16, doing odd jobs to keep himself fed over the years.
88* EyeScream: The thug who mugs him at his introduction nearly gouges an eye when he pops back up. Nick eventually heals, though his eye does cause him some discomfort afterwords.
89%%* TheFettered
90* FieldPromotion: Gets deputized when Sheriff Baker becomes too sick to look after Nick's jailed attackers, a responsibility Nick takes very seriously.
91* FlatEarthAtheist: Remains an atheist even after discovering that the selfsame Mother Abagail from his dreams is real.
92* HandicappedBadass: A deaf-mute who pulls off multiple actions of self-defense and heroism in spite of his handicap.
93* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Attempts to defuse a bomb to save the others]].
94* IdealHero: Especially after [[spoiler:his death]].
95* ImAManICantHelpIt: Uncharacteristically falls victim to this when he succumbs to Julie Lawry's advances, even though he knows she's bad news.
96* ISenseADisturbanceInTheForce: Nick uses this to sense [[spoiler:the bomb]] in the book.
97* MayorOfAGhostTown: Of Shoyo after Captain Trips runs its course.
98* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Nick receives one of these in his first scene in the book.
99* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:The bombing, in which he makes his HeroicSacrifice, is part of what forces the Committee out of their complacency, setting up the final showdown with Flagg]].
100* TheSmartGuy: Other characters are consistently impressed with his ability to communicate, and look to him for advice and thoughts. He was even close to earning a GED despite being a drifter when the book opens.
101* TheSpeechless: As a deaf-mute, Nick has to communicate via lip-reading and writing down what he wants to communicate (since he hasn't learned sign language, and most characters couldn't understand it even if he had).
102* StayWithMeUntilIDie: He takes care of the sheriff and his wife for as long as he can while they have the flu.
103* TheStoic: Probably mostly due to his inability to really express himself.
104* TechnicalPacifist: You wouldn't like Nick [[HandicappedBadass when he's angry]].
105* WhatYouAreInTheDark: After first meeting Tom, Nick considers leaving him behind, as it's difficult enough just to survive himself with his disabilities, and due to Tom's illiteracy, even communicating with him is an ordeal. Then he sees Tom playing with a few toy cars by the side of the road like an overgrown kid, and Nick accepts he can't leave him to fend for himself, it'd be the same as killing him. [[spoiler:This ends up saving his life, as Tom spots the signs of an incoming tornado which Nick would have ridden straight into otherwise]].
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Larry Underwood]]
109!! '''Lawson "Larry" Underwood'''
110!!! Played by: Creator/AdamStorke (1994), Creator/JovanAdepo (2020)
111Larry started off a career as a singer/songwriter but was unsuccessful until his single "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" hit it big. He was taken in by people taking advantage of his fame and fortune, and traveled to his childhood home in New York City for refuge. Larry is haunted by the words of a woman he slept with, "You ain't no nice guy!" and of his mother, "You're a taker, Larry." He is determined to prove them wrong and terrified that they are right.
112----
113* AllTakeAndNoGive: His mom calls him a "taker," which comes back to haunt him many times. To put it in the words of his friend Wayne Stukey, there's "something in [Larry] that's like biting on tinfoil."
114* TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople: Larry wasn't a bad guy before the plague but he certainly wasn't pleasant either: a selfish asshole to his friends, a drain on his mother and a short-sighted hedonist when he has his first taste of success. But his long-buried noble qualities rise to the surface after the plague, and he becomes one of the pillars of the survivor community.
115* BettyAndVeronica: With Lucy and Nadine. An inversion for Nadine, when he serves as the cosmic Betty to Flagg as Veronica.
116* CelebritySurvivor: Sort of; his first single had become a hit right before the plague wiped out everyone, and soon after everyone has forgotten that he was kind of famous. It's lampshaded late in the book, when Fran is talking to Larry trying to remember who sang "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" and says the name's on the tip of her tongue. [[OldShame Larry lies that he can't remember either]].
117* ChildhoodFriends: One of Larry's bigger regrets is how his selfish attitude ruined his relationship with a childhood friend, Rudy Schwartz. He goes into some detail not only about how trivial the argument was, but what a good friend he had had -- and now he can never make it right, because in all likelihood Rudy died in the pandemic.
118* EntertaininglyWrong: When he, Nadine and Joe pass through Oqonquit and find the directions Harold painted on the barn before he and Francine left, Larry begins imagining what Harold is like in person, especially after seeing other hints of his presence in the town, such as the Payday bar wrappers, and the jury-rigged siphon for the gasoline tank. Larry manages to piece together a mental image that is almost exactly the opposite of what the real Harold is like; practical, mid-30s, slightly BookDumb, tanned, etc...
119* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Dies in the nuclear blast at the climax.]]
120* HeroicBSOD: Undergoes one after Rita dies, to the point where he essentially walks in a sleepless daze for hundreds of miles, loses a bunch of weight due to a total loss of appetite, before collapsing of exhaustion, hunger and overheating somewhere in Maine.
121%%* IgnorantOfTheCall
122* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[PhraseCatcher He ain't no Nice Guy]].
123* TheLancer: During the initial part of the final mission to Las Vegas. More generally, people look to him for leadership, but he's uncomfortable being ''the'' leader and prefers to play second-fiddle in Boulder.
124* MrViceGuy: Fully indulged in the SexDrugsAndRockNRoll lifestyle prior to the plague.
125* MyGreatestFailure: Pre-plague, it was his falling out with his childhood friend Rudy, and post-plague, Rita's death.
126* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: WordOfGod says Larry Underwood is an expy for Music/BruceSpringsteen, and he looks the part in the {{miniseries}}. King even said many fans wanted Springsteen to play Larry in any movie adaptation.
127%%* PassingTheTorch
128* RunningGag: People are surprised that Larry is white because apparently he "sounds black" on the song "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?".
129* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Before the superflu, Larry was about to become a big star, and wasted the advance from his record deal on drugs and partying.
130* TookALevelInBadass: He goes from a somewhat lazy one-hit wonder to a man who treks across the country, fighting looters to become one of the leaders of the Boulder Free Zone.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Ralph Brentner]]
134!! '''Ralph Brentner'''
135!!! Played by: Creator/PeterVanNorden (1994), Creator/IreneBedard (2020)
136A middle-aged farmer from Oklahoma, Ralph is the first person Nick and Tom meet on the way to Hemingford Home after the unfortunate incident with Julie Lawry. He becomes one of the Free Zone Committee members.
137----
138* FlatCharacter: Definitely one of the lesser main characters. As such, the book doesn't go into a whole lot of depth about him and shares only a handful of details about his life before the plague.
139* GoodOlBoy[=/=]FarmBoy: In the book, Ralph is described as a former hobby farmer who could never quite make ends meet.
140* HeroicSacrifice: One of the four who are sent on a quest to meet Flagg, Ralph dies when the nuke goes off in Vegas.
141* OlderSidekick: He's well into middle age and older than all but a few of the main cast, and is one of the first founders of the Free Zone. Despite all that, he's always more of a steadying presence than a top authority figure, particularly on the mission to Vegas.
142* PrayerIsALastResort: In the mini-series, Ralph and Larry join hands after [[spoiler:Glen dies]], and pray. They do this as well at the climax.
143%%* SixthRanger
144* UndyingLoyalty: His commitment to the Free Zone, and his friends is absolute, and he never hesitates to take on extra risks or responsibilities for them, even while a prisoner of Flagg.
145[[/folder]]
146
147[[folder:Glen Bateman]]
148!! '''Glendon Pequod “Glen” Bateman'''
149!!! Played by: Creator/RayWalston (1994), Creator/GregKinnear (2020)
150Glen was a sociologist and novice painter before the Superflu. When he meets Stu, he is living on his own with an adopted dog, Kojak. He loves to speculate on the post-flu future, and gives Stu and others good advice about the new Boulder government.
151----
152%%* AuthorOnBoard
153%%* BigBrotherMentor: To Stu.
154* BadassPacifist: He isn't a fighter, but he's fearless and determined even when he knows he's probably doomed.
155* CoolOldGuy: One of few characters over fifty in Boulder, along with Mother Abagail and Judge Ferris.
156* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:When he's captured, he laughs and mocks Flagg's KneelBeforeZod demand until Flagg orders Lloyd to shoot him]].
157* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: When he finally meets Randall Flagg, Glen proceeds to taunt and mock him. Flagg becomes so outraged at Glen that he orders Lloyd to execute him.
158* EccentricMentor: In the novel, he mentions a habit of opening savings accounts, only to close them out three days later. He's a terrible hobby painter, and so bad with money that he lives on peanut butter sandwiches for days before payday.
159* LuddWasRight: Believes this of the new, post-plague world.
160* MondegreenGag: In the miniseries, when we first meet him, Glen mondegreens "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?".
161--> He's got a righteous gland.
162* NonActionGuy: Glen's strength is his mind; he's completely useless in a firefight.
163%%* OnlySaneMan
164* ThePhilosopher: Spends a lot of his page time talking about the nature of good and evil and the remaining survivors' place in the world.
165* TheProfessor: "Not anymore, Larry. In case you haven't noticed, school is out."
166* ShutUpHannibal: To [[spoiler:Flagg]]. He ''laughs'' him [[DefiantToTheEnd out of the room]]!
167-->You’re ''nothing!'' Oh pardon me ... it's just that we were all so frightened... we made such a ''business'' of you!
168* TheStrategist: Pretty much single-handedly comes up with the plan to organize a government for the Boulder Free Zone and turn it from an aggregate of aimless survivors into an orderly, well-run community. And it all works out (mostly) as planned.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Kojak]]
172!! '''Kojak'''
173Formerly known as Big Steve, Kojak is one of the few dogs to survive the Superflu. He is very smart and fiercely loyal to his new owners, to the point of fighting wolves and running across half the country to be with them.
174----
175* CanineCompanion: Glen's, initially.
176* ADayInTheLimelight: Kojak's [[spoiler:journey across the United States to Boulder]], told from the dog's perspective.
177* {{Determinator}}: Due to UndyingLoyalty.
178* HeroicDog: When Stu [[spoiler:breaks his leg on the way to Vegas and has to stay behind, Kojak saves his life by bringing him food and firewood]].
179* UndyingLoyalty: Traveled halfway across the country and fought demonic wolves to be with his new owners.
180[[/folder]]
181
182[[folder:Tom Cullen]]
183!! '''Tom Cullen'''
184!!! Played by: Creator/BillFagerbakke (1994), Creator/BradWilliamHenke (2020)
185Tom was born lightly mentally retarded, only able to make certain connections normal people find easy by putting himself in a state of near-hypnosis. He never had any friends until Nick found him lying in the road in his deserted hometown of May, Oklahoma. Despite acting like a child, Tom is braver and smarter than people think.
186----
187* ActualPacifist: Is terrified at the first sign of violence, and even under hypnosis visibly starts at the suggestion he hurt someone else. [[spoiler:It never becomes an issue.]]
188* ChekhovsGunman: Generally serves as little more than comic relief and an obstacle for Nick Andros (albeit an amusing and endearing one) during his journey to Boulder. He's virtually forgotten by the third act, until [[spoiler:he comes out of nowhere to save Stu's life, making it possible for the other members of the Free Zone to learn of what transpired in Las Vegas]].
189* DisabilityImmunity: As is the case in many Stephen King works, Tom's mental retardation makes him immune to the effects of other people's psychic powers. Because of this, Flagg is unable to detect him.
190* DisabilitySuperpower: Tom is especially susceptible to suggestion and is able to hypnotize himself to solve problems.
191* DumbIsGood: One of the dumbest characters in the book, and also one of the most kindhearted.
192* TheFool: [[spoiler:Also one of the few more-important characters who survives to the very end, either out of luck or supernatural intervention (assuming there's any difference)]].
193* GentleGiant: Tom is described as being both big and strong, but he wouldn't hurt a fly. (Though it is remarked in the book that once, and only once, a group of foolhardy young men from his hometown set upon him, perhaps just to harass the village idiot for a few laughs, with no real intentions of serious harm. Suffice to say the experiment did not fare well for the good ol' boys and was never repeated.)
194* HiddenDepths: He manages to creep the others out with them, under hypnosis.
195-->'''Tom:''' I am God's Tom.
196** He also has a lovely singing voice, in the book.
197* KindheartedSimpleton: Tom is on a mental level of a child, and he's very kind and nice to everyone.
198* MadLibsCatchphrase: "M‑O‑O‑N, that spells [any word]," including illegal, ruptures, [=DeeDee=] Packalotte, tired, Stu Redman, sore feet, moon, Tom Cullen, trouble, and deaf-mute. He also theorizes that C-I-T-Y-L-I-M-I-T-S spells Boulder. Laws yes.
199* {{Manchild}}: Tom is middle-aged but still enjoys playing with toys.
200* MayorOfAGhostTown: He is the only surviving person in his hometown of May, Oklahoma, where Nick finds him.
201* NeverLearnedToRead: Can't read and only knows how to spell one word.
202* OlderThanTheyLook: He is said to look no more than twenty-three; actually he's at least forty-five. It probably doesn't help that he acts like a kid.
203* ThirdPersonPerson: He often refers to himself as "Tom Cullen."
204* VerbalTic: Laws, yes.
205[[/folder]]
206
207[[folder:Harold Lauder]]
208!! '''Harold Emery Lauder'''
209!!! Played by: Creator/CorinNemec (1994), Creator/OwenTeague (2020)
210Harold Lauder grew up in Ogunquit, Maine, as the fat kid whom nobody liked. He always had a crush on Frannie Goldsmith but never told her. Harold is extremely bitter and sees his new situation as a chance to get Frannie once and for all.
211----
212* AbhorrentAdmirer: Is this to Frannie in the miniseries, where Frannie's father says that Harold's had a crush on her since Frannie was nine years old. In the novel his big sister was Frannie's best friend, but they only really got to know each other after the Superflu had ravaged Ogunquit.
213* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the book, Harold is described as being a fat dweeb with bad acne. In the 1994 miniseries he is played by the slender and handsome Corin Nemec, and in the 2020 series by the slender and handsome Owen Teague.
214* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:His last moments are very pitiful]].
215* AntiquatedLinguistics: Harold affects a bit of this early on. It is specifically noted as being kinda pretentious, and something he's doing because he's scared.
216* AteHisGun: [[spoiler:After breaking his leg and being left behind by Flagg, he chooses to write a suicide note and shoot himself through the mouth]].
217* AuthorAvatar: Harold is an unpopular, bespectacled teen from southern Maine who is a literary geek, lusts after the girl next door, and wants to write the next great American novel. Wouldn't be the first time King turned his own expy [[spoiler:into the villain]]...
218* BerserkButton: Harold has a lot of resentments left over from the old world despite everyone who ever wronged him being dead, and when Frannie - who he feels [[EntitledToHaveYou Entitled To Have]] - chooses Stu over him, he sees it as yet another example of him losing out to a JerkJock because WomenPreferStrongMen, and it drives him quietly mad.
219* BestServedCold: [[spoiler:Plants a bomb in Boulder to get back at the world for mistreating him]].
220* BigBadWannabe: He causes a lot of trouble for the heroes [[spoiler:when he bombs them and kills Nick]], but he's ultimately just another pawn of Flagg.
221* CovertPervert: Has sexual fantasies about Frannie while traveling with her.
222* CrazyJealousGuy: At one point he tells Frannie he loves her, but she rejects him. When Frannie and Stu become a couple, Harold's jealousy causes him to slide further towards the dark side.
223* EmbarrassingNickname: Harold "Whack-Off" Lauder.
224* EntitledToHaveYou: Feels that Frannie owed him a relationship because they were literally the last two people left alive in Ogunquit and he was helpful in some ways. Which means that Stu "stole" her from him, which he sees as just one more injustice at the hands of long line of [[JerkJock Jerk Jocks]].
225* EvenEvilHasStandards: His IgnoredEpiphany begins with him comparing himself negatively to American internment camps during World War II, dismissing them as founded from baseless paranoia and racism -- and wondering if he's going down the same path.
226* EvilFeelsGood: [[spoiler:After Harold's heel turn]], everyone comments on his newfound charisma and self-esteem.
227* EvilNerd: He starts out as unhygienic, lustful, unpopular and full of resentment and contempt for all the people around him that he thinks despise him for his intelligence, and he ends up [[spoiler:joining the BigBad. In between the two, he actually flirts with subverting the trope as life after the apocalypse makes him more appealing and more appreciated for his intelligence -- but in the end, his baggage gets the better of him and he ends up playing the trope straight.]]
228* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:After being manipulated and driven by envy, he sets a bomb up to kill the Boulder community and goes to Las Vegas]].
229* FormerlyFat: Loses a lot of weight over the progress of the story, what with no fast food restaurants being open during the apocalypse.
230* FourEyesZeroSoul: When he loses his sanity and becomes an antagonist.
231** HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler:He realizes that he could have gone on and become a valued member of the Boulder community if he'd let go of his petty grudges, but by that point he is alone in the middle of the desert and left for dead, with no food or water and a broken leg]].
232* {{Geek}}: Possibly inspired by King's own awkward youth.
233* GeekPhysique: At the beginning of the story, he's pretty fat, due to being addicted to chocolate and spending all his time at a desk.
234* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:His bomb ends up killing Nick.]]
235* IgnoredEpiphany: Harold has a moment when the camaraderie he shares with his coworkers makes him see that all the {{Wangst}}y bullshit he's been carrying around since high school is just that: bullshit. He resolves to give up his plan [[spoiler:to betray the Free Zone]] and settle down. [[spoiler:Then Nadine seduces him on orders from Flagg, and things go downhill from there]]...
236* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: His InsufferableGenius tendencies serve to compensate for the fact that he has been mocked and outcast his whole life. Flagg preys on this to make him turn against his friends.
237* InSeriesNickname: He receives the nickname "Hawk" in Boulder. He first thinks it's a bad joke, the he realizes it's serious and people actually respect him. [[spoiler:He signs his suicide note as Hawk]].
238* InsufferableGenius: It is mentioned that he starts talking like a politician as he gains confidence, something that annoys other characters.
239* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: "My name is Harold Emery Lauder. I do this of my own free will."
240* ManChild: Harold is very intelligent, but quite immature for his age (and considering he's only a teenager, that's saying something).
241* MaskOfSanity: Harold wears it in Boulder. It gives him a reputation as a back-slapper but rings alarm bells for the more perceptive Boulder residents.
242* MeaningfulName: [[FunWithAcronyms Harold E. Lauder]].
243* TheMole: For Flagg, eventually.
244* MostWritersAreWriters: He's an amateur fantasy writer.
245* NietzscheWannabe: Begins to take on these beliefs.
246* NotGoodWithRejection: Harold, once Frannie picks Stu, despite the fact he'd been deluding himself into believing he had a chance with her.
247* ThePigPen: Suffers from rather poor hygiene, which just makes his acne problem worse, and according to his sister, apparently liked to jerk off in his underwear and not bother changing them, though that might just have been a malicious rumor.
248* ThePowerOfHate: Shortly after arriving in Boulder, there is a scene where Harold sits alone in his house in the middle of the night, seething with hate and resentment while going over every moment of pain and rejection he's ever suffered in life, everything having brought to the forefront after Frannie chose Stu over him.
249* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: [[spoiler:See AlasPoorVillain and {{Wangst}}]].
250* RedemptionRejection: [[spoiler:Harold, who realizes he ''can'' make a new and better life for himself in Boulder, chooses to settle all of his childish grudges instead]].
251* TheResenter: Toward Stu, after Stu and Frannie become a couple.
252* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler:His refusal to let go of whatever injustices he's suffered in the past, despite every person who's ever actually wronged him being, you know, dead, leads to him betraying the Free Zone and joining Flagg's side. He doesn't even have anyone specific to revenge himself on, aside from Stu and Frannie, and just seems to want to lash out against the world in general.]]
253* SayMyName: "My name is Harold Emery Lauder."
254* TheSmartGuy: For the survivors in Boulder.
255* TheSmartOneTurnsTraitor: [[spoiler:He comprises a large part of the brains of his party and would be an excellent administrator in Boulder, but he's so obsessed with his resentments that he can't ''let'' himself fit in there, leading to his defection]].
256* SmugSnake: Not as clever as he thinks he is.
257* StalkerWithACrush: To Frannie.
258* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler:Harold becomes one when he reads Frannie's diary]]. When he starts up the practice, many characters start to comment on how cheery he's become. It doesn't fool everybody, however; Nick refuses to give him a place on the committee in Boulder because he thinks there's something unsettling and fake in his constant grinning and glad-handing. Mother Abagail doesn't like him, either.
259* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Payday chocolate bars.
260* TheUnfavourite: His mother ignored him and doted on his pretty, more sociable sister, while his burly working-man father was outright repulsed.
261* TheUnSmile: It's subtle enough that not everyone notices, but Nick discerns a "'smiletight' compartment between his mouth and his eyes."
262* {{Wangst}}: Harold's bitterness over being picked on throughout his school years and his inability to just get over it ends up with [[spoiler:him falling to TheDarkSide]]. After realizing how accepted he's become in Boulder, he realizes that holding on to his old grudges is stupid and pathetic and resolves to change... but then [[spoiler:along comes Nadine]]. [[invoked]]%% In-work reference (note above). The miniseries bit is YMMV.
263* WildCard: Harold refers to himself as this, and seems to embody the trope. [[spoiler:This proves bad for the people of Boulder]] and is also hinted [[spoiler:to be the reason why Flagg takes him down after he does his job]].
264* {{Yandere}}: At the beginning, to Frannie.
265* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Once he's done his job in Boulder and then escorted Nadine through the mountains, Flagg leaves a convenient oilslick in the road for him]].
266[[/folder]]
267
268[[folder:Nadine Cross]]
269!! '''Nadine Cross'''
270!!! Played by: Creator/LauraSanGiacomo (1994), Creator/AmberHeard (2020)
271Nadine has had dreams of the BigBad, Randall Flagg, since college. She is his promised wife and mother of his child. By the time Larry finds Nadine, she is desperate to find someone to tear her away from Flagg's spell over her, whether it is Larry or Joe.
272----
273* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She literally can't help it, for she is prophesied to carry Flagg's child.
274* BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica.
275* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Deliberately invokes this apropos of nothing in the presence of Flagg and Lloyd. Implied to be part of her SanitySlippage after Flagg rapes her.
276* CompositeCharacter: Rita Blakemoor is rolled into Nadine's character in the 1994 miniseries.
277* DisneyVillainDeath[=/=]DrivenToSuicide[=/=]DyingMomentOfAwesome: She doesn't save anyone, and she doesn't take anyone with her (well, [[FetusTerrible one person]]), but she still does something profound; ''she rattles Randall Flagg''.
278* FaceHeelTurn: Goes over to Flagg, along with Harold.
279* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Nadine Cross spent her life believing she had to save her virginity for DreamWeaver Flagg, who is revealed to be TheAntichrist. When she falls in love with [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Larry]] instead, she initially rebuffs his advances, then desperately asks him to sleep with her (after he has fallen in love with someone else) to break her commitment to Flagg. When [[FriendOrIdolDecision Larry refuses]], Nadine falls in with Flagg.
280* HoneyTrap: She lures Harold to Flagg's side with sex, at Flagg's command.
281* IgnoredEpiphany: She finds some of the things she does with Harold as part of her HoneyTrap to be degrading, and wonders what it says about Flagg that he orders her to do such things, but still insists on vaginal virginity. In the end she ignores her misgivings and continues with the plan.
282* KirkSummation: Deliberately done to anger Flagg. [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath]].
283* LockedIntoStrangeness: Her longterm psychic contacts with Flagg have been [[MysticalWhiteHair slowly turning her hair white]] for years when the story begins. After a particularly harrowing experience, the rest of it goes white all at once.
284* MeaningfulName: Nadine [[RuleOfSymbolism Cross]].
285* TheMole: For Flagg. She turns Harold into one as well.
286* ParentalSubstitute: To Leo/Joe.
287* RapeAsDrama: Flagg rapes her to conceive his son.
288* SanitySlippage: Alternates between bouts of cataonia and unhinged behavior after being raped and impregnated by Flagg.
289* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:She goads Flagg into throwing her and their [[EnfantTerrible newly-conceived spawn]] off a balcony]].
290* TechnicalVirgin: She needs to be a virgin for Flagg to accept her as his bride, but "virgin" specifically means she can't have had penis-in-vagina intercourse. She is free to do literally anything else, and indeed, gets pretty kinky with Harold as part of her HoneyTrap.
291* VirginSacrifice: She's convinced that Flagg won't accept her as his bride unless she's a virgin. She's remained chaste her whole life for that reason, and near the end, uses the same reasoning to try to sleep with Larry.
292[[/folder]]
293
294[[folder:Joe/Leo Rockway]]
295!! '''Joe/Leo Rockway'''
296!!! Played by: Creator/BillyLSullivan (1994), Creator/GordonCormier (2020)
297Leo was still a kid when the Superflu hit. When Nadine found him, he was sick from an infected rat bite. When she nursed him back to health, he was unable to speak, dressed only in his underpants and carried around a knife the way most kids carry around teddy bears. She named him Joe for lack of a better name.
298----
299* ChildProdigy: He's able to play the guitar after observing Larry ''once''.
300* CreepyChild: He has some psychic powers which allow him to "know things."
301* MoralityChain: For Nadine.
302* OrphansOrdeal: After his family's death he nearly died of infection, and was so traumatized he stopped talking and carried a knife all the time. Nadine becames his ParentalSubstitute [[spoiler:but it doesn't end well]]. In the end, he's adopted by Larry and Lucy.
303* PsychicPowers: He seems to have a little telepathy, and he instantly knows [[spoiler:there's something wrong with Harold]].
304* TraumaInducedAmnesia: Can remember nothing of his former life due to the horror he went through surviving the plague on his own.
305* TroubledChild: Naturally, because he lost his whole family in the plague and had to survive by himself.
306* TheVoiceless: When we first meet him, he's reduced to growling and screaming. He slowly regains the ability to speak, finally becoming fully articulate when he meets Mother Abagail.
307* WildChild: In the "feral child" sense.
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder:Dayna Jurgens]]
311!! '''Dayna Jurgens'''
312!!! Played by: Creator/KellieOverby (1994), Creator/NatalieMartinez (2020)
313Dayna was traveling with other survivors when they were attacked by a gang of rapists. Her friends were killed and she was one of the gang's playthings until the day she and the other girls, along with Stu and Frannie's group, are able to overthrow them. Dayna is fiercely loyal and independent.
314----
315* ActionGirl: One of the more active female characters.
316* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:Dayna kills herself after failing to kill Flagg with a hidden blade and to prevent Flagg from torturing her for information. That he could not stop or predict this ''really'' rattles him]].
317* ButNotTooBi: Sue Stern mentions to Stu that Dayna is "happy with either sex," but it never becomes a factor in the story, and the only time we see her act attracted to anyone is when she flirts with Stu.
318* HoneyTrap: She becomes one for the people of Boulder against Lloyd, sleeping with him as his lover while feeding information about Flagg back to her people.
319* TheDogBitesBack: When Stu's group encounters the rapists, she leads the women in a revolt against them. She later reveals they were waiting for a group, preferably one with ''guns'', to find them before they moved.
320* TheInfiltration: One of the spies sent to Las Vegas.
321* RapeAsBackstory: Before joining up with Stu, she was part of a "woman zoo" kept by a group of survivors as sex slaves.
322* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:She's found out as a spy and kills herself to avoid torture]].
323[[/folder]]
324
325[[folder:Lucy Swann]]
326!! '''Lucy Swann'''
327!!! Played by: Creator/BridgitRyan (1994)
328Lucy meets Larry's group in her hometown of Enfield, New Hampshire. She and Larry fall in love offscreen. She sees the best in him and tries to help him do the same.
329----
330* BettyAndVeronica: The Betty.
331* EthicalSlut: She's a total sweetheart, but she mentions being disrespected for being very sexually active. In her words, it's more akin to being a CuddleBug than anything.
332* FirstGirlWins: Averted. She's the third love interest Larry has over the course of the novel, but the only one he settles down with.
333%%* GirlNextDoor
334* ParentalSubstitute: Becomes a substitute mother for Leo along with Nadine; he refers to them as "Lucy-mom" and "Nadine-mom".
335* ReallyGetsAround: Somewhat of an InformedAbility as we don't actually see any evidence of this, we just hear her confession to Larry implying she'd been very promiscuous in her past:
336--->'''Lucy''': Men have names for girls like me; they write them on bathroom stalls, I've heard. But all it is, is needing someone warm, needing to be warm. Needing to love. Is that so bad?
337* SomeoneToRememberHimBy [[spoiler:She gives birth to Larry's twins months after he dies.]]
338[[/folder]]
339
340[[folder:Rita Blakemoor]]
341!! '''Rita Blakemoor'''
342!!! Played by: Creator/HeatherGraham (2020)
343Rita was the wife of a rich man and never had to do anything herself until the Superflu hit. She meets Larry in New York City and latches onto him. She can't deal with the horrors around her and depends on Larry heavily for support.
344----
345* AdaptedOut: Does not appear in the 1994 miniseries.
346* BrokenBird: She seems confident at first, but breaks down fast, starting when she sees the monster-shouter's murdered body. She breaks down further, clinging to the much younger Larry for comfort as she gets exposed to more of the new world's horrors until the stress makes her snap entirely.
347* CollegeWidow: Her husband died two years before the story begins, thus she's the first eligible woman Larry meets.
348* DrivenToSuicide: The trauma of living through the plague eventually causes her to [[SuicideByPills swallow an entire bottle of pills]]. Larry describes it as "seventy percent accident and thirty percent suicide." Larry blames himself because he didn't have the patience or composure to deal with her slow breakdown.
349* EscortMission: The [[spoiler:[[BeneathTheEarth Lincoln Tunnel]]]].
350* FunctionalAddict: Pops pills constantly to deal with stress. In the miniseries this is given to [[CompositeCharacter Nadine]].
351* TheLostLenore: She's not at particularly important character herself. She's mostly there to be someone that Larry was briefly sleeping with (not entirely willingly on his part) but fails to take care of properly due to his own issues.
352* MayDecemberRomance: Larry is young enough to be her son.
353
354%%* OldMaid
355
356[[/folder]]
357
358[[folder:Richard Farris]]
359!! '''Richard Theodore Farris'''
360!!! Played by: Creator/OssieDavis (1994), Creator/GabrielleRose (2020)
361Also known as Judge Farris. He is a wise old man with a thirst for adventure.
362----
363* AsTheGoodBookSays: He's quite familiar with the Bible and fond of quoting it; one of his first lines in the book is Job 7:1-4.
364* EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep: He's usually called "Judge."
365* TheInfiltration: The first Boulder spy sent to Vegas.
366* JumpedAtTheCall: Accepts Larry's request (to act as a spy against Flagg) even before Larry can ask him, and shoots down Larry's attempts to talk him out of it. He knows full well what the risks and potential consequences are, but dammit, he's doing what he feels is right.
367* RaceLift: Is played by Ossie Davis in the miniseries. In the novel, the Judge mentions growing up as part of a wealthy family in the 1930s, almost certainly placing him as white.
368%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
369* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:He's killed mainly to demonstrate what thin ice the Free Zone spies are on when their enemy has psychic powers]].
370[[/folder]]
371
372[[folder:Susan Stern]]
373!! '''Susan Stern'''
374!!! Played by: Creator/CynthiaGarris (1994)
375Susan is with Dayna in the group of girls gathered by rapists as playthings. She's later part of the Free Zone committee.
376----
377* TheArtifact: Susan seems to belong to the Boulder Free Zone committee [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only so that Fran Goldsmith isn't the only female member]]. Her only roles in the story include sharing dialogue and scenes with Dayna Jurgens to display their friendship and finding a bitch for Kojak to mate with. She was one of the characters King struggled with during the hiatus whilst he was writing the book which led to...
378* DamselOutOfDistress/ TheDogBitesBack: She was one of the people faking being sedated for the rapists, and plays a role in warning Stu's group, and overpowering and killing her former captors.
379* DroppedABridgeOnHer: Gets abruptly blown up along with several others of the committee to get the plot moving again.
380* MauveShirt: She has a name and some dialogue, but not much else. Then she dies.
381* RapeAndRevenge: She manages to bash one of her rapists' heads in with a shotgun.
382[[/folder]]
383
384!!Las Vegas
385
386[[folder:Randall Flagg]]
387!! '''Randall Flagg'''
388!!! Played by: Creator/JameySheridan (1994), [[Creator/AlexanderSkarsgard Alexander Skarsgård]] (2020)
389[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/completemonster24.jpg]]
390
391Randall Flagg, called The Dark Man, Legion, and The Walkin' Dude, is the ultimate evil. He is the servant of the Devil himself. He haunts Superflu survivors' dreams and gathers an army of insane or frightened people to him. His smile can drive a man insane and he crucifies those who oppose or fail him.
392----
393* AGodAmI: The people of Las Vegas almost literally worship him, and he was inspired by several different cult leaders King had read about.
394* AmbiguouslyBrown: Successfully joined the KKK and an anti-white black liberation group, apparently without anybody questioning this. Being a VoluntaryShapeshifter probably helped.
395* TheAntichrist: Or an archetype thereof.
396* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: Flagg thrives on conflict and hatred, and has spent decades working alongside every terrorist group and militia you could name, having been a Klansman, a Black Power nationalist, an eco-terrorist, and even a member of the Symbionese Liberation army, helping them kidnap and brainwash Patty Hearst. According to WordOfGod, there may actually be ''rival Flaggs'', not direct copies but similar individuals, arising among other survivor communities across the world, though this never happens in-story since only the U.S. is featured. [[spoiler:Sure enough, even after the destruction of Vegas, Flagg is revealed to still be alive, awakening on a small tropical island where he begins to enslave the natives.]]
397* BadBoss: He keeps his citizens motivated and behaved by public ''crucifixions'' for people that give him any trouble or commit crimes as tame as recreational drug use.
398* BadassBookworm: Subverted and parodied. He's an incredibly dangerous man who likes reading, but in keeping with his general TheDevilIsALoser vibe, it's used to make him look ''less'' cool and sophisticated:
399-->''He would read as his supper cooked over a small, smokeless campfire, it didn't matter what: words from some battered and coverless paperback porno novel, or maybe ''Mein Kampf'', or an R. Crumb comic book, or one of the baying reactionary position papers from the America Firsters or the Sons of the Patriots. When it came to the printed word, Flagg was an equal opportunity reader.''
400* BigBad: When he takes over Las Vegas and plots to conquer the rest of the nation. ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' even states that he ''started'' the plague for fun.
401* TheBlank: At least how people see him in dreams, and expect him to look in person. Thus, one of his nicknames is The Man with No Face. He doesn't ''seem'' to literally be one, but considering he's a HumanoidAbomination, who knows?
402* BlatantLies: Flagg has a very pleasant conversation with Dayna, explaining that he and his people have no hostility towards the Boulder Free Zone and mean Boulder no harm. He then tells Dayna she's free to go and asks Lloyd to bring her motorcycle around. She realizes he's lying once he does the "one more thing" trick and tries to get the identity of the third spy from her. He later tries much the same tack with Glen Bateman, but Glen calls him out on it immediately.
403* CanonImmigrant: Into and out of [[CanonWelding various works]].
404* TheCorrupter: He drives men to commit the most horrific atrocities, all with a friendly smile on his face.
405* CreepyCrows: A crow is Flagg's preferred shapeshifted form.
406* DarkMessiah: He seems to be this when he gets society back on its feet, though the Messiah part [[SubvertedTrope falls through]] when it's implied that, should his side win, everything will just... end.
407* DealWithTheDevil: Flagg does this as a matter of course to gain acolytes and tempt his enemies into giving up their struggle to stay on the path of goodness. He appears to the lonely and shunned and desperate people, offering them love and acceptance and a high purpose, only asking for their undying loyalty (in essence, their souls) in return. He tries the same with Mother Abigail's flock, offering them a release from the pain or salvation when they're in peril - he even tries it on Abigail herself in the 2020 miniseries. The interesting aspect of his deals are that none of them are truly binding: he has no power over people who cease to fear or believe in him, save for the physical power to bludgeon them to death with his bare hands. His greatest trick is convincing people who say yes to him that he owns their souls, when in reality they can spurn him at any time.
408* TheDevilIsALoser: On the high end of the danger level for this trope, but he's generally depicted as almost as pathetic and contemptible as he is scary -- being the embodiment of evil has turned him into an incomplete, blinkered parody of a man who's crippled by the fact that he doesn't even have all that many VillainousVirtues.
409-->'''Glen Bateman''': ''"We made such a business of you, and it turns out you're just another roach, running little roach errands!"''
410* TheDragon: Ultimately one for the [[Franchise/TheDarkTower Crimson King]].
411* DreamWeaver: He's the opposite number to Mother Abagail, causing nightmares for those who would side with her and comforting dreams for those that would fall under his camp.
412* TheDrifter: They don't call him "The Walkin' Dude" for nothing.
413* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Things like love and kindness are foreign concepts to him. He can only genuinely feel hatred, rage, and fear. He understands the usefulness of loyalty and uses it to manipulate and maintain control over his lieutenants, although he expresses none of it towards them and will abandon them as soon as they become inconvenient to his plans. His only feelings of pleasure arise from enjoying the suffering of others.
414* EvilCounterpart: To Mother Abagail.
415* EvilOverlord: Of [[{{Mordor}} Las Vegas]]. He missed a couple items in the [[EvilOverlordList checklist]].
416* EvilSorcerer: The only character to be skilled in magic.
417* EvilWillFail: Flagg's ultimate downfall comes from his overestimation of himself and his underestimation of humanity, moreso than anything done by Stu Redman and the rest of Mother Abagail's flock. Nadine even taunts him about this when she mocks his inability to discover the second spy from Boulder in his midst and tells Flagg that his own people are starting to laugh at him behind his back and abandon him. An overarching theme of the story is that people who commit themselves to evil will eventually crumble and fall as they are harmed by their own toxic nature, and this is directly shown by Flagg slowly losing his ability to levitate as his plans unravel and his confidence falters.
418* {{Expy}}: Of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]]. Evil overlord who lives in a tower, sees from afar with his magic eye, gives his closest followers magical tokens, is associated with extreme heat and cold... and of course King himself has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand#Background made the connection clear]].
419* FauxAffablyEvil: He's extremely charming, but it's all a façade. Flagg is evil incarnate and bears nothing but hatred for everyone and everything.
420* FlyingDutchman: Constantly drifts from place to place, bringing chaos and mayhem wherever he goes.
421* ForTheEvulz: The only reason he does anything.
422* TheGadfly: His pre-Superflu days were spent drifting around, becoming part of various underground extremist groups, and then driving them to commit horrible acts. It's implied that he has no close ties to any group's rhetoric -- he's been a member of the KKK and a member of an anti-white Black Power group -- he just does it [[ForTheEvulz for fun]].
423* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:The ball of electricity]].
424* HotAsHell: ''{{Subverted}}'', as everyone who meets him is more frightened of him than attracted to him. Though Flagg seems to have developed a dark magnetism over the course of the story.
425* HumanoidAbomination: Almost literally Satan (Mother Abagail is rather clear with the fact that he isn't Satan himself, but essentially the next closest thing). His mere presence can bring calamities to those around him and he radiates an aura of fear.
426* IconicItem: His cowboy boots. The clocking of cowboy boots against asphalt is a sign that you should run.
427* IHaveManyNames: And many of them begin with the initials R.F.
428** As Glen Bateman says to Flagg's men:
429-->''"Are you so afraid of him you don’t dare speak his ''name''? Very well, I'll say it for you. His name is Randall Flagg, also known as the dark man, also known as the tall man, also known as the Walkin Dude. Don't some of you call him that? ... Call him [[{{Satan}} Beelzebub]], because that’s his name, too. Call him [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Nyarlathotep]] and [[Literature/TheBible Ahaz and Astaroth]]. Call him R'yelah and [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Seti and Anubis]]. His name is legion and he’s an apostate of hell and you men kiss his ass."''
430* KneelBeforeZod: Flagg is particularly prone to doing this.
431-->"For a favor of this magnitude, I really think you ought to get down on your knees."
432* KnightOfCerebus: Randall Flagg is a demonic, quasi-immortal being who frequently appears throughout King's works as an embodiment of evil. Appearing in different forms in different worlds, the one constant about Flagg is that he is always working to sow the seeds of chaos and despair wherever he goes. He's one of the darkest villains ever created by Stephen King (who in turn is one of the darkest writers ever), with only [[Characters/{{It}} Pennywise]] exceeding Flagg in terms of immediate dangerousness. Flagg is arguably the worse evil: where Pennywise will terrorize and destroy people until his hunger is satisfied, Flagg's power is in getting people to terrorize and destroy each other, and his hunger for it is endless.
433* LargeHam: During his speeches to his followers.
434* ManipulativeBastard: To all of his followers.
435* MysteriousPast: Flagg remembers little about his own past before the 1960s, and might not even have one at all considering his inhuman origin, though one of the few memories he does have is being a high school classmate of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Starkweather Charles Starkweather]]. He also vaguely remembers having been "reborn" once before.
436* NoodleIncident: He shares one of his many R.F. names with Mother Abagail's brother Richard; nothing is ever made of it.
437* ObviouslyEvil: It's interesting that half of the remaining population would want to live with Flagg. It helped that he [[FauxAffablyEvil could pass for an affable figure]] before he starts to decompose. According to Mother Abagail, it's because he's an expert at tempting the lost and the desperate, and knows to strike at exactly the right moment, making his followers ignore everything else.
438* OffscreenTeleportation: The Walkin' Dude seems to be able to be wherever he feels like. In one extreme example, Larry hears his footsteps in a town in Vermont when the story's established him as being on the other side of the country.
439* PayEvilUntoEvil: While he's easily the most vile and monstrous character in the book, seeing his (probably) engineered rescue of Trashcan Man from the Kid, an AxCrazy nut who raped Trashcan with his pistol, and leaving him to die a slow death is still very satisfying.
440* PerpetualSmiler: He has a wide grin on his face all the time, [[SlasherSmile and it scares the hell out of everyone]].
441* PetTheDog: The closest he ever comes to a decent moment is ordering that the Trashcan Man be put to death as quickly and painlessly as possible, even after the latter has explosively destroyed his fledgling air force. After all, Trashcan Man is the only follower who truly loves Flagg unconditionally, asking for nothing in return beyond the chance to serve.
442* PowerFloats: His introductory scene shows him discovering that he suddenly can do magic, and he floats above the road for a few minutes.
443* SatanicArchetype: An arrogant deceiver who walks in many shapes under many names, bringing ruin to everything and everyone.
444* {{Shapeshifter}}: Assumes different forms to carry out his plans.
445* ShutUpKirk: To Whitney Horgan. It comes [[HoistByHisOwnPetard back to bite him]], though.
446* SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: It's implied more than once that very unlike all the other characters in the novel, he has no real control over his actions or destiny. Not that it bothers him much beyond the occasional moment of puzzlement.
447* SmugSnake: Flagg spends a lot of time smirking and doesn't do much to prevent setbacks in his "plans."
448* StraightEdgeEvil: Drug use is punished by ''crucifixion'' under his rule. This has nothing to do with any sort of moral or medical stand against drug use on Flagg's part, he's perfectly fine with his subjects drinking themselves into a stupor as long as it's just alcohol, but because drug addicts tend to become erratic and undisciplined, which he will not tolerate in his society.
449* TheSociopath: Flagg is a perfect example of sociopathy. He [[LackOfEmpathy has no concern for the wellbeing of others]], [[ItsAllAboutMe cares only about amassing more power for himself]], [[FauxAffablyEvil is able to feign politeness towards others]], [[ConsummateLiar sounds completely sincere when he's lying through his teeth]], and [[ManipulativeBastard effortlessly manipulates others into doing his bidding]].
450* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Subverted. When Dayna is sent to meet him, he looks like a pleasant looking man about her age. Then she notices [[RedRightHand his hands have no wrinkles or ridges]].
451* UncannyValley: Anyone who isn't under his thrall and spends more than a few seconds looking at him can tell that there is something very wrong with Flagg, and not just his overwhelming evil presence. Among other things, as mentioned above, his hands don't have any wrinkles or ridges, like a mannequin or a wax statue.
452* UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:Wakes up on an unknown island after taking a nuke to the face, and begins presenting himself as a god to the locals]].
453* VillainousBreakdown
454** A few different times, including after he learns Trash has blown up his air force, Dayna kills herself, he realizes Tom has escaped, and when Trash shows up with the nuke at the end. The irony here is that, until the nuclear warhead goes off, Flagg's position is actually not significantly affected by any of these events. Losing the jets at Indian Springs is a pain in the ass, but he can go rolling into Boulder with an armored column in the spring, Dayna only knows that Tom is the other spy and Tom doesn't actually ''know'' anything. Flagg even realizes this. But he ''wants'' to destroy Boulder as soon as possible, and he's frustrated by any reminder that he isn't all-powerful. The people of Vegas start slipping as things go wrong, because Flagg's entire appeal is his omniscience and omnipotence.
455** He takes it very badly when Glen Bateman doesn't fear him and outright goads him into striking him down with magic. Flagg apparently ''can't'' and is enraged.
456* VillainousDemotivator: Las Vegas is decorated with the crucified bodies of those who have incurred his wrath.
457* WastelandWarlord: As the overlord ruling post-apocalyptic Vegas with an iron fist.
458* YouHaveFailedMe:
459** Poor, poor Bobby Terry.
460** As well as Hector Drogan, crucified (literally) for [[DisproportionateRetribution drug use]].
461[[/folder]]
462
463[[folder:Lloyd Henreid]]
464!! '''Lloyd Henreid'''
465!!! Played by: Creator/MiguelFerrer (1994), Creator/NatWolff (2020)
466Lloyd was a small-time criminal until he met a fellow jailbird, [[AxCrazy Andrew]] "[[TriggerHappy Poke]]" Freeman. Together they went on a killing spree until they're eventually caught and Poke is killed. Lloyd is trapped in jail when the Superflu hits and becomes Flagg's right hand man when he is rescued.
467----
468* AntiVillain: At the start of the story he's a small time criminal roped into a killing spree with the much crazier "Poke" Freeman. He displays very little understanding of how serious his crimes were since he was mostly just getting dragged along, implying low level mental handicaps. Even his choice to make a DealWithTheDevil with Flagg is rather understandable: His choice was to either starve to death inside a prison cell or become the right hand to someone who was ''definitely'' not a great guy.
469* BeleagueredAssistant: To Flagg.
470%%* BookDumb
471* BoxedCrook: Before Flagg frees him.
472* DealWithTheDevil: Flagg is close enough, anyway.
473* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: When Lloyd tells Flagg that Tom Cullen escaped, Flagg becomes enraged and attacks Lloyd for not telling him sooner. Lloyd then becomes angry himself and yells that he ''did'' try to tell Flagg, but Flagg wouldn't listen. Surprisingly, Flagg calms down and ''doesn't'' kill Lloyd for his insolence.
474* TheDragon: To Flagg.
475* DumbassNoMore: When placed in a position of high importance in Las Vegas, his ability to think and make rational judgments slowly improves.
476* GutFeeling: When Lloyd first heard Flagg in the prison, his immediate reaction was to hide in his cell hoping that Flagg would go away. However, Lloyd's fear of starving to death eventually overcomes his fear of Flagg.
477* ImAHumanitarian: Lloyd is in prison during the Superflu, and when he doesn't get food any more because all of the guards have died or run away, he resorts to eating from the leg of one of his fellow prisoners.
478* IOweYouMyLife: He realizes that Flagg is evil but follows him anyway because he saved Lloyd from starving to death in jail.
479* MyMasterRightOrWrong: He would do anything for Flagg after Flagg busts him out of jail.
480* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: When society collapsed he was still locked inside a prison cell and the surviving guards wouldn't let him out. The only thing to eat was a rat. But, yknow, just in case maaaaybe he'll drag over the corpse of the man in the cell next to his. By the time "rescue" finally arrives, Flagg says that his cellmate's ankles are looking a little thinner.
481* PetTheDog: Lloyd's affection for Dinny, a four-year-old boy in the Las Vegas camp.
482* ReducedToRatburgers: Lloyd kills a rat in the prison, and hoards it in "just in case." He eventually eats it, leaving nothing but the bones and the tail (he tries to eat the latter, but it's too tough).
483* SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere: When he's locked away in a jail full of dead people.
484* SmokingHotSex: Well, there's smoking before the sex with Dayna.
485* TooDumbToLive: At first. He [[DumbassNoMore gets over it]], for the most part.
486* UndyingLoyalty: To Flagg for saving him from death in prison and treating him with decency.
487[[/folder]]
488
489[[folder:Trashcan Man]]
490!! '''Trashcan Man'''
491!!! Played by: Creator/MattFrewer (1994), Creator/EzraMiller (2020)
492Donald Merwin Elbert, nicknamed Trashcan Man because of his childhood habit of setting fires in trashcans, is a pyromaniac of the first order. All he wants is a place where he can blow things up unmolested. He fits right in with Flagg's crowd and becomes undyingly loyal to Flagg.
493----
494* BerserkButton: "Hey Trash, what' did old lady Semple say when you burned her pension check?"
495* BlessedWithSuck: His pyromania and hallucinations made him an outcast in pre-Virus society, but it also gave him a sixth sense for finding weaponry post-Virus.
496* {{Determinator}}: "You could say that he had never [[spoiler:[[IncrediblyLamePun flagged]]]] in his determination.''
497* EmbarrassingNickname: Originally, though the erstwhile Donald Merwin Elbert eventually comes to accept and even embrace that name as his true identity.
498* EverythingIsBetterWithExplosions: Blows up half of Gary, Indiana, after the plague hits, just for fun.
499* EvilCounterpart: To Tom Cullen.
500* FreudianExcuse: Bullied relentlessly for his pyromania.
501* GogglesDoNothing: They don't help with radiation-induced blindness and hair loss.
502* GollumMadeMeDoIt: He has several moments where he struggles to do the sane thing out of self-preservation, but his madness is just too powerful.
503* IdiotSavant: Mentally challenged, but he's a decent engineer.
504* IOweYouMyLife: ''"My life for you!"''
505* MadBomber: He really likes to blow shit up.
506* MadnessMantra:
507** "Ciiiii-a-bola, bumpty-bumpty-BUMP!"
508** "MY LIFE FOR YOU!" in the miniseries.
509* ManChild: He's technically an adult, but his mental problems, particularly his lack of self-control, make him come off as a child.
510* MinorInsultMeltdown: Even the slightest ribbing is enough to send him into a tailspin of traumatic flashbacks and cause him to lash out.
511* MrFixit: Too bad he's working for Flagg.
512* PyroManiac: Has a compulsive need to burn things.
513* RapeAsDrama: Involving a revolver, no less. He also mentions that other inmates in prison have "slipped it to him" in this same scene.
514* SpannerInTheWorks: His plan to redeem himself by seeking the [[spoiler:[[DeusExNukina Big Fire]]]] to destroy the people of Boulder.
515* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: He sets fire to huge oil storage tanks in both his hometown and the city of Gary, Indiana, and manages to destroy the latter. Along the way, he breaks one wrist and suffers severe burns to the other arm.
516* UndyingLoyalty: To Flagg.
517* VerbalTic: He has a tendency to chant his [[MadnessMantra madness mantra]] whenever he's experiencing positive emotions in a powerful way.
518* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Proves to be the ultimate instrument of destruction after he [[GollumMadeMeDoIt finally snaps and brings a nuclear warhead into Vegas]]. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Flagg feels sorry for him]] and wants him painlessly executed...[[invoked]] %% In-work reference, this trope is only marginally YMMV
519[[/folder]]
520
521[[folder:The Kid]]
522!! '''The Kid'''
523An all-American maniac from Shreveport, Louisiana, who picks up Trashcan Man on the road to Vegas.
524----
525* AdaptedOut: Actually happened to The Kid ''twice''. He appeared in King's original manuscript, and was one of the major things taken out when Doubleday "requested" that King make cuts (although he ''does'' appear in a limited fashion; the book mentions that while walking to Vegas, Stu, Larry, Glen and Ralph find the corpse of a man strangling a wolf). He was back for the "Complete and Uncut" edition, and was nowhere to be seen in the miniseries.
526* TheAlcoholic: He drinks constantly, and always has at least a case of Coors with him.
527* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents: He has a Louisianan accent.
528* AssholeVictim: It's hard not to find at least some catharsis when Flagg leaves him to die a horrible, lingering death, given his horrific abuse of Trashcan.
529* AxCrazy: Kills, rapes, and tortures just for fun.
530* BadassDriver: He slaloms around wrecks at 95mph, squeezes between a pileup and the edge of a cliff with ''no'' room to spare, and does it all with a little blood in his alcohol stream.
531* CatchPhrase: "You believe that happy crappy?" and "Don't tell me, I'll tell you."
532* CoolCar: Drives a ridiculously tricked-out deuce coupe and '''will not''' abandon it, even when trapped in the Rocky Mountains.
533* DepravedBisexual: Complains about the plague-induced demise of the Playboy Channel, and later molests the Trashcan Man.
534* DomesticAbuse: To the Trashcan Man during Trashy's brief stint with him on the road.
535* FanOfThePast: Of the '50s to be specific.
536* FauxAffablyEvil: Seems cool and even likeable for all of one scene, but quickly proves to be a twisted sadist with a horrible temper.
537* ForTheEvulz: His motivation in a nutshell is that everything he does is for the hell of it.
538* {{Greaser Delinquents|}}: He's straight out of the '50s, and it helps that [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed he really is straight out of the '50s]].
539* HairTriggerTemper: Repeatedly threatens to kill Trash for stupid reasons like spilling a beer or [[ShootTheMessenger telling him that the road ahead is blocked]].
540* KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: Though he might be Charles Starkweather.
541* LastStand: [[spoiler:The discovery of his body reveals that he not only shot several of the wolves surrounding him, but managed to strangle the one that killed him]].
542* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: WordOfGod is that he's Charles Starkweather.
543* PsychoForHire: He reveals that before Captain Tripps, he was a wheelman who included smuggling in his repertoire. His personality is what completes the trope.
544* RevolversAreJustBetter: His pair of .45's loaded up with dum-dums.
545* SmugSnake: He's a psychopath with bags of style, but he's still just a normal human who thinks he can pull a coup d'etat on the Dark Man.
546* TheStarscream: He intends to get to Las Vegas, scope out the situation, kill Flagg, and take over for himself. [[spoiler:Too bad he never got there]].
547* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He is obsessed with Coors beer, and says multiple times "I'd ''piss'' Coors if I could." It's even plot-relevant, as he chooses to drive through Colorado just to pass the Coors brewery in Golden. Later on, he switches to Rebel Yell chased with Pepsi.
548* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Almost does this to Trash a few times. [[spoiler:Implied that Flagg brought him into the picture so that he could rescue the much more faithful and useful Trashcan Man from the Kid]], bringing this trope in [[InvokedTrope as the logical conclusion]].
549[[/folder]]
550
551[[folder:The Rat Man]]
552!! '''The Rat-Man'''
553!!! Played by: Creator/RickAviles (1994)
554One of Flagg's quirkier henchmen, he's seen carrying out prisoner escort in Las Vegas.
555----
556* AdaptationExpansion: Was given a little more to do in the miniseries, even appearing for a cameo before the plague hit, when Larry bumps into him in an arcade in New York City.
557* CasanovaWannabe: Hits on Julie Lawry twice during their brief conversation.
558* EarlyBirdCameo: He is seen playing a game in a local arcade in New York in the first part of the series, and has a tense encounter with Larry after the latter bumps into him on his way out. He doesn't show up again until the third part of the series, "The Betrayal," where he has joined Flagg and his followers.
559* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Someone nicknamed "Rat-Man" is not bound to be a very nice person.
560* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: He's a pirate gangster.
561* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Unlike the Trashcan Man, his real name is never revealed at any point.
562* QuirkyMinibossSquad: In the miniseries, he's part of Lloyd's gang who apprehend Dayna.
563* APirate400YearsTooLate: He looks "like an Ethiopian pirate" in silk slops, a sash and a coin necklace, and carries a sword around.
564* ScaryBlackMan: Extremely weird black man who tries to spook people and threatens them with his sword.
565* ThirdPersonPerson: Part of his odd and somewhat pretentious way of speaking.
566[[/folder]]
567
568[[folder:Julie Lawry]]
569!! '''Julie Lawry'''
570!!! Played by: Creator/ShawneeSmith (1994), Creator/KatherineMcNamara (2020)
571A girl whom Nick and Tom briefly run into on their way to Nebraska.
572----
573* BitchInSheepsClothing: Doesn't take long for the sheep's clothing (or literal clothing, for that matter) to be tossed aside.
574* ChekhovsGunman: Nick justifiably tells her to get lost almost as soon as he meets her. She shows up again 500 pages later [[spoiler:in Vegas, and nearly gets Tom killed by identifying him as the last spy from Boulder]].
575* [[EveryoneHasStandards Even Sluts Have Standards]]: Despite the the fact that she ReallyGetsAround, Julie considers the Rat-Man too creepy even for her to sleep with "except maybe in a pinch."
576* [[PsychopathicManchild Psychopathic Woman-Child]]: If she ''is'' older than a youngish teen, she's incredibly immature. And homicidal.
577* QuirkyMinibossSquad: With Lloyd and the Rat-Man in the miniseries.
578* ReallyGetsAround: Literally moments after meeting Nick, she suggests they have sex, which Nick finds himself too weak to resist. However, when he resists a second round, she immediately turns spiteful. In Vegas, she annoys everyone by constantly talking about sex.
579* SexySweaterGirl: Wears a pink sweater with no bra.
580* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: She says she's seventeen, but Nick thinks she's aging herself up and is more like fourteen or fifteen. She carries herself like an experienced bar-slut but Nick realizes that her brazen sexuality is just a symptom of her real problem: bug-nuts insanity.
581* VagueAge: After listening to her ramble a while, Nick comes to suspect that she makes up whatever age she thinks sounds best depending on whom she's talking to. For practical purposes, her actual age is unknowable (For what it's worth, both Shawnee Smith and Kat [=McNamara=] were in their early/mid twenties when they played the role).
582* WomanScorned: Her mood switches from flirtatious to bitchy toward Nick for the crime of not having sex with her ''a second time'' after meeting her less than two hours ago. Then, in retribution, she convinces Tom Cullen that his medicine is really poison, and when Nick tells her that she can't come with them, she [[spoiler:starts shooting at him and Tom]].
583[[/folder]]
584
585[[folder:Barry Dorgan]]
586!! '''Barry Dorgan'''
587!!! Played by: Creator/ChuckAdamson (1994)
588Formerly a Santa Monica police detective, he becomes Flagg's police chief after the plague.
589----
590* KnightTemplar: He hates crime as a thing, and joins Flagg simply because the Dark Man wants the law enforced.
591%%* NobleBigotWithABadge
592%%* QuirkyMinibossSquad
593* PunchClockVillain: Isn't particularly villainous and attempts to capture Larry, Glen, and Ralph without further bloodshed.
594* YankTheDogsChain: He does this to Trash.
595[[/folder]]
596
597[[folder:Whitney Horgan]]
598!! '''Whitney “Whitey” Horgan'''
599!!! Played by: Creator/SamAnderson (1994)
600The cook at the MGM Grand Hotel after Flagg takes over.
601----
602* HeelFaceDoorSlam[=/=]RedemptionEqualsDeath: Turns on Flagg at the last minute. [[spoiler:Flagg fries his face with lightning and he collapses; the ball of lightning is what sets off the nuke]].
603* OnlySaneMan: He sees what a monster Flagg is, and rather than running away, tries to turn his other followers against him.
604* PunchClockVillain: He works for Flagg, but he's still got a functioning moral compass.
605* SedgwickSpeech: [[spoiler:Just before Larry and Ralph are to be executed, Whitey publicly calls Flagg out as a "murderin freak." He's immediately, and horribly, put down]].
606* TeamChef: For Flagg's side. According to Lloyd and others, he's very good at it.
607[[/folder]]
608
609!!Project Blue
610
611[[folder:Charles Campion]]
612!! '''Specialist Charles D. Campion'''
613!!! Played by: Creator/RayMcKinnon (1994), Creator/CurtissCookJr (2020)
614A gate guard at Project Blue. Campion is PatientZero for the virus and unwittingly spreads it to the rest of the world.
615----
616* {{Determinator}}: He manages to drive across four states after leaving his post. Considering he was infected with a supercharged variant of the flu, ''this is a very bad thing.''
617* PatientZero: Technically he isn't the first person infected, but he is the one who spreads it to the outside world.
618* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: As soon as he realizes there's been a containment breach, he flees the base with his wife and child. Even though he's getting hazard pay, it's not enough of an incentive for him to stick around. Unfortunately for both him and the rest of the world, he brings a special passenger along with him.
619* TyphoidMary: Campion barely manages to escape his guard tower before it locks down, gathers up his wife and daughter... and proceeds on a trip through four states, getting sicker and sicker on the way. Once he reaches Arnette, he crashes into the pumps at a gas station and infects the owner and customers before dying.
620* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: As mentioned above, he's the one who spreads the flu to the outside world when he stops at a Texas gas station seeking help.
621[[/folder]]
622
623[[folder:William Starkey]]
624!! '''General William “Billy” Starkey'''
625!!! Played by: Creator/EdHarris (1994), Creator/JKSimmons (2020)
626The commanding officer of Project Blue and the man initially in charge of the military coverup.
627----
628* AdaptationalHeroism: In the miniseries, where he doesn't give the order to infect America's enemies and rivals with the superflu, unlike his novel counterpart.
629* AntiVillain: He oversaw the development of the Superflu and resorts to horrifying measures to cover it up, but he never seems to actually be malicious, instead doing everything out of a sense of loyalty and necessity.
630* BaldOfEvil: In the 1994 miniseries, where he is played by Creator/EdHarris.
631* BlatantLies: In the 1994 miniseries he is shown holding a press conference where he categorically denies the existence of the superflu. This is in contrast to the novel, where there is no indication that he ever leaves his command post during the crisis.
632* DrivenToSuicide: Kills himself after it becomes clear the virus is out of control. In the novel he goes to Project Blue and shoots himself after the President fires him, while in the miniseries he shoots himself at his command post.
633* IDidWhatIHadToDo: He justifies his brutal enforcement of martial law as necessary to keep America from collapsing.
634* WarriorPoet: He studied William Butler Yeats in college and quotes ''Literature/TheSecondComing'' as things go from bad to terrible.
635[[/folder]]
636
637[[folder:Len Creighton]]
638!! '''Major Len Creighton'''
639Starkey's right hand man and friend and successor at Project Blue.
640----
641* AdaptedOut: Does not appear in the 2020 miniseries.
642* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the book, he's last "seen" on-page talking over the radio to one of his officers in L.A. during the last days of the plague, though he may have also been the one who ordered Elder to terminate Stu, which occurred the following evening. It is very possible he died of the superflu, but notably he gives no indications of being sick even at this very late stage, leaving his fate a mystery (the miniseries implies he will contract the flu).
643[[/folder]]
644

Top