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Clue (Cluedo outside of the United States and Canada) is a popular board game in which the players adopt the guise of one of six suspects moving around the board to find out who killed Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in some versions), where and with which weapon. The six main characters are iconic and have been further characterised in various television series, computer games, novels, and films.


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Game version

    All Characters 
  • Black-and-Grey Morality: Many versions of the characters' backstories imply they're all involved in some sort of dirty dealings, even Mr. Boddy/Dr. Black.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Every character in the series has had a punny last name based on a color. Originally a holdover from when the game pieces were just differently colored chess pawns, the color theme has become iconic of the game itself. In addition to the core six (red, yellow, white, green, blue, and purple), later editions of the game have added Miss Peach (orange, but sometimes erroneously colored pink), Madame Rose (pink), Monsieur Brunette (brown), any number of Greys (Lord, Sgt., etc.), Prince Azure, Lady Lavender, Mrs. Meadow-Brooke (blue-green), and the gardener Rusty Naylor (orange). The 2016 version replaced Mrs. White with Doctor Orchid (orchid pink).

     Miss Scarlet 
Characterized as a Femme Fatale, Miss Scarlet is often considered the leading lady of Cluedo lore. She sometimes has an extra "t" in her name.
  • Alliterative Name: She's named Samantha Scarlet in the Clue Junior books.
  • Bad "Bad Acting": Her backstory in one of the more recent versions of the game states that she tried to become an actress, but she had a lot more looks than talent.
  • Dragon Lady: In the earlier editions, when she's depicted as Asian.
  • High Hopes, Zero Talent: In her backstory in one of the more recent versions of the game, she tried to make it as an actress, but she just didn't have the talent for it.
  • Intrepid Reporter: In the 2023 version, she moonlights as investigative reporter Cyan.
  • Love Dodecahedron: In the Game Show, Miss Scarlett is... a scarlet woman, as the Greeks might say. Col. Mustard and occasionally Professor Plum are after her when they're not after Mrs. Peacock, and she's usually sleeping with the victim too.
  • Race Lift: She's Caucasian in some versions and Asian in some of the VCR games, and some versions of the game during the 80s and 90s. The cover artwork for the book also depicts her as Asian, at least those from certain printings. The 2023 edition depicts her as African-American.
  • Related in the Adaptation:
    • The 2002 version and the Clue Mysteries spinoffs (game and two books) reimagine her as Mrs. Peacock's daughter. They do not have a good relationship. This is even referenced in the licensed Simpsons version of the game, where Lisa is Miss Scarlet and Marge is Mrs. Peacock.
    • She's also Mrs. Peacock's stepdaughter in the Game Show. They don't always have a good relationship.
  • Rhyming Names: Her name in the 1992-1997 book series is Charlotte Scarlet.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: According to the 1992-1997 book series, she buys two tickets whenever she flies - one for her, one for her ego.

     Colonel Mustard 
A big-game hunter and military hero.
  • Adventurer Outfit: He's usually portrayed as wearing a stereotypical safari explorer's outfit.
  • Alliterative Name: Martin Mustard in the 1992-1997 book series; Mortimer Mustard in the Clue Junior books; Michael Mustard in the 2002 edition of the game, the Clue Mysteries spinoff game, and the Clue Mysteries book series.
  • Blood Knight: In the 1992-1997 book series, he would challenge anyone who offended him to a duel.
  • Great White Hunter: His primary hobby is big game hunting.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: In the 1992-1997 book series, he's known for challenging someone to a duel at the drop of a hat.
  • High-Class Glass: He's often depicted wearing a monocle.
  • Hotter and Sexier: The 2000 UK version has him looking younger, and in "Discover the Secrets" he's a former athlete named Jack Mustard. One Clue Junior game set at a circus also depicts him as "Mustard the Stuntman" with a full head of red hair.
  • Large and in Charge: His mini-figure towers over the other players in the 2002 version of the game.
  • Phony Veteran: In the 2023 version, he owns an award for a battle in which he didn't actually fight.

     Mrs. White 
Dr. Black's cook/maid/housekeeper/nanny. Mrs. White is the one character who is a domestic, not a guest, thus providing a chance for a The Butler Did It ending.
  • Amoral Attorney: In one version of the game, she's a lawyer who "must see justice served, even if that means turning vigilante".
  • Alliterative Name: Wilhelmina White in the 1992-1997 book series; Wendy White in the Clue Junior books.
  • Cross Dresser:
    • The Simpsons version of the game has Smithers in the role of Mrs. White, dressing him in a maid's outfit.
    • In The Musical that nobody admits to seeing, Mrs. White is a drag role.
  • Darker and Edgier: She returns in "The Internationals" DLC of the Clue: Classic Edition mobile game, where Dr. Black is her brother, and she's estranged from her ex-husband, Mr. White. (Her ex had been a male Gold Digger, and ran out on her when her money had run out.) She must then beg her brother for forgiveness, especially if she wants to access the family trust fund.
  • Demoted to Extra: The 2016 edition replaces her as a player/suspect with Dr. Orchid. She's still mentioned in the backstory as working at Mr. Black's mansion though, and added being Orchid's nanny to her list of duties. In 2023 she took back Orchid's place in the game.
  • The Dog Bites Back: If she's the murderer in the Super Nintendo/Genesis version of the game, the narration mentions that "she couldn't take it anymore", perhaps implying that she was fed up with Mr. Boddy's abuse of her. This may also be her motive in the 2008 Classic computer game, where her bio mentions that she's in her early 60s with little to show for it, despite having been Mr. Boddy's nanny when he was a child. If she's used in the Clue: Classic Edition mobile game, it's mentioned about the family trust fund: "Dr. Black held the purse-strings tightly—perhaps she wanted her birthright?" Which could be her motive for murder.
  • Lethal Chef: In Season 4 of the Game show. "Well I thought if I put a lot of cheese on the rat poison nobody would notice." Her Clue Mysteries (book) counterpart is something of this as well, as she fails to notice smoke billowing from the oven.
  • Repetitive Name: Her first name in the 2008 Classic computer game is "Blanche", which is the feminine version of the French word for "white" (making her "White White"), albeit pronounced differently than in English.
  • The Snark Knight: Most versions depict her as extremely bitter at serving a rotten master like Black/Boddy, and even more angry that she has to serve the murderous scum he invites to house parties.
  • Stealing from the Till: In the 2023 version, Chef White steals money from Mr. Black to fund her own restaurant.
  • Supreme Chef: In the 1992-1997 book series. She was actually Dr. Black's chef in various versions of the game, including perhaps the most recent one (before she started her own restaurant.)
  • Ultimate Job Security: Mrs. White continually steals from and tries to kill Mr. Boddy in the 1992-1997 book series, but she somehow manages to keep her job. It's justified in the introduction to one of the books, when Mr. Boddy says that friends have suggested he get rid of Mrs. White. He says that he would, except that he's afraid she would get rid of him first.

     Rev. Green/Mr. Green 
A Stock type Snake Oil salesman Vicar. He was changed to Mr. Green for the US version and made into a corrupt businessman of dubious legality; players of certain editions can spot the Rev. Green label on the game-piece though.
  • Adaptational Backstory Change: In the 2023 board game, Mr. Black blackmails Mayor Green by threatening to reveal that a crime family funded the mayor's campaign. In the corresponding Marmalade game, Mr. Black threatens to fund the mayor's opponent in the next election.
  • Alliterative Name: Gerald Green in the 1992-1997 book series; Georgie Green (and later Greta Green) in the Clue Junior books.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: The SNES and VCR games depict him as a businessman, as does the 1992-97 book series. He's heavily implied to be crooked in the SNES version, and the book version of him does things like embezzle money from Mr. Boddy while helping him with his taxes.
  • The Don: Some versions imply that in addition to his substantial business dealings, he runs several mob-like organizations on the side.
  • Hotter and Sexier: He's depicted as younger in the 2000 UK version, as well as since "Discover the Secrets" when he was a young African-American. Later depictions have him as younger than his pre-2000/2003 versions.
  • Large Ham: His Motive Rant in season 4 of the UK Cluedo Game Show.
  • Race Lift: More recent editions depict him as black (Discover the Secrets) or Asian (2023).
  • Sinister Minister: In the UK version, he's a vicar who is also a potential murderer.
  • The Stool Pigeon: In the VCR game, he's a mobster who sold out his boss Big Louie to the police. In return, Big Louie put a million-dollar price on Green's head.
  • Universally Beloved Leader: In the 2023 version, Mayor Green is the widely-adored mayor of Hue County.

     Mrs. Peacock 
Originally characterised as the stock type Grande Dame. Mrs Peacock has also been shown as the Lady of the Manor in the game show, serving as the central link between all the characters.
  • Alliterative Name: Polly Peacock in the Clue Junior books; Patricia Peacock in the 2002 edition of the game, the Clue Mysteries spinoff game, and the Clue Mysteries book series.
  • Amoral Attorney: In the 2023 version, Solicitor Peacock tampers with witnesses to win her cases, and is also Mr. Black's murderer in certain endings.
  • Animal Motifs: Guess. Reinforced in the 1996 edition, wherein her headdress is adorned with peacock feathers.
  • Berserk Button: Anything she perceives as rudeness in the book series.
  • Black Widow: "Mrs. Peacock, twice widowed" ("dating a French count", but definitely not for long) in the Game Show, 13 mysteriously deceased husbands in the VCR games. The Clue: Classic Edition Mobile game had said she had 3 deceased husbands with Sir Hugh's death meaning he missed being #4.
  • Hotterand Sexier: Her 2012-2013 incarnation puts her in a slinky dress to rival Miss Scarlet's, as well as make her a brunette looking younger (and YMMV if she could rival Miss Scarlet there too) than her portrayal in previous versions.
  • Large Ham: Joanna Lumley plays her in season 4 of the game show.
  • Little Old Lady Investigates: Some versions of the game depict her as being middle-aged or somewhat elderly. She becomes this if someone decides to play as her.
  • Ms. Red Ink: Her backstory in one of the more recent versions of the game says that she inherited a substantial amount of money from her late husbands, but her extravagant spending means she's almost broke.
  • My Beloved Smother: In one release of the game, she acts as both this and a Stage Mom to Ms. Scarlet.
  • No Name Given: No first name given for her in the 1992-1997 book series, notable as she's the only one (Mr. Boddy being 'Reginald' and Miss Scarlet being 'Charlotte').
  • Proper Lady: She behaves like this in the books, to the point where the slightest display of rudeness greatly offends her.
  • Related in the Adaptation:
    • In the 2002 edition of the game, the "Clue Mysteries" spinoff game and the two "Clue Mysteries" books, she's Ms. Scarlet's mother. They don't get along. This is even referenced in the licensed Simpsons version of the game, where Marge is Mrs. Peacock and Lisa is Miss Scarlett.
    • Mrs. Peacock is also Miss Scarlet's step-mother in the Game Show.
  • True Blue Femininity: Associated with the color blue, and in the books she places a very high value on a proper, ladylike demeanor.

     Prof. Plum 
The Absent-Minded Professor stock type.
  • Absent-Minded Professor: Oh so much. He's been known to forget his own name, birthday and hometown; in one book introduction, Boddy remarks that "He once forgot he was talking to me in the middle of a sentence."
  • Adaptational Backstory Change: In the 2023 board game, Mr. Black blackmails him by threatening to expose his Phony Degree. In the corresponding Marmalade game, Mr. Black threatens to reveal that the Professor sells counterfeit antiques.
  • Alliterative Name: Paul Plum in the 1992-1997 book series; Peter Plum in the Clue Junior books, the 2002 edition of the game, the Clue Mysteries spinoff game, and the Clue Mysteries book series.
  • For Science!: In the VCR version, he ran out of white rats to test his experimental poison on...so he tested the poison on his wife. It worked.
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul: If he turns out to be the murderer.
  • Hotterand Sexier: Since the 2000 UK version, he's shown as younger with a full head of darker hair than his previous versions.
  • Mad Scientist: He shows signs of this in the 1992-1997 book series. One in particular has him invent a poison (or so he claims; it was actually a sleeping potion, and he forgot) that evaporates as soon as it's drunk, leaving no traces behind (this backfires spectacularly, as he has to sip it himself to remember what it is). Another story has him put a truth serum in the breakfast orange juice for no reason.
  • Make It Look Like an Accident: His profile in the 2008 Classic video game mentions that he was fired from the British Museum for having plagiarized a lot of his work from a colleague who died in a freak accident. It's implied that Plum caused the "accident" himself to steal his colleague's work.
  • Master Forger: In the 2023 version, he both studies and produces counterfeits and forgeries.
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist: In exactly which field he has his degree changes with every game. The book series depicts him as skilled at everything from engineering to chemistry, and his inventions drive several plots.
  • Plagiarism in Fiction: In some versions of the game, his backstory heavily implies he's done this.

     Dr. Orchid 
The 2016 edition's replacement for Mrs. White. Dr. Orchid is Mr. Black's adopted daughter, an expert on rare plants and their... "medicinal" properties.
  • Asian and Nerdy: She has a Ph.D. in botany.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Absent from the 2023 editions of the game, which brought back Mrs. White as Chef White and race lifted Mr. Green into the only East Asian suspect.
  • Pink Means Feminine: She has a pink pawn, a pink-lined outfit, a pink(ish) name...
  • Self-Made Orphan: Well, Self-Remade Orphan, if she's the murderer.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She has more than one similarity to Lady Lavender, originally introduced in 2003's Cluedo FX: they're both Asian women who are represented by a pinkish-purple colour shade, their professions both involve plants (Lavender is a herbalist, Orchid is a plant toxicologist), and may have used said plants to develop poisons for murderous purposes.
  • Token Minority: Most of the press reaction to her announcement boiled down to this, although she's not actually the first Asian character in the franchise - Ms. Scarlet has occasionally been Asian in the past, and the occasionally-appearing-in-the-spinoffs Lady Lavender is from the same part of the world.

     Dr. Black / Mr. Boddy 
The poor sap stuck with the worst role to play in this particular murder mystery.
  • Alliterative Name: Boden "Boddy" Black for his 2023 incarnation.
  • Asshole Victim: In some incarnations, Dr. Black/Mr. Boddy arguably had it coming. In The Movie, he was blackmailing the other characters (a trait carried over into the 2023 board and Marmalade games) and sexually harassing his maid, while in the SNES video game it's implied that he had some rather dirty dealings with whoever killed him.
  • Buried Alive: In at least one of his not-deaths in the books, he was shut in a tomb/pyramid he bought because it would look nice in the garden.
  • The Chessmaster: In the puzzle mysteries, where he's out for revenge when his wife, Rose, is killed at Christmas exactly one year prior.
  • Designated Victim: Black/Boddy is the official victim in the board game, and is murdered as part of the game's premise.
  • Eccentric Millionaire: In the books, he inherited a large fortune and so spends most of his time entertaining the same five guests (and one maid) with various distractions, such as random sports (Badminton, croquet, tennis and the like) or game (Parcheesi, tiddly-winks, Monopoly, etc.) competitions, showing off various expensive possessions (which inevitably get stolen) or just relaxing, rather than doing actual work.
  • He's Just Hiding: Invoked in the book series. The books always end with Mr. Boddy's murder, and then the next one always begins with Mr. Boddy explaining how he survived.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: The book series characters are (usually) not too malicious, but they've still (nearly) killed Mr. Boddy about a dozen times, and — as Boddy himself lampshades- he still hangs out with these people. He does make note though that after everything they've done, he doesn't entirely trust them, and always asks the reader to keep an eye (and sometimes an ear and a nose) on them.
  • Idle Rich: He spends most of his time just enjoying his time with his friends (even when they're all plotting his or one another's grisly deaths or robbing him or one another blind). The 1992-1997 book series does occasionally show him managing his funds though.
  • They Killed Kenny Again: In the books, he's always dead by the final act, but explains in the first chapter of the next that he managed to survive by a ridiculous stroke of luck.
  • Punny Name:
    • Mr. Boddy.
    • Mr. Black's surname also has a pun related to blackmail.

     Miss Peach 
One of the few Expanded Universe characters with any staying power, Miss Peach is a Southern Belle who was introduced in the Clue VCR Game as an uninvited guest to the Boddy Manor, and subsequently made it into the main series with Super Cluedo Challenge (UK, 1986) and Clue Master Detective (US, 1988). She's appeared more times than any other character who isn't one of the main six, most of whom rarely last more than two games before... disappearing.
  • Blatant Lies: A pathological liar, she's claimed to be everything from Mr. Boddy's long-lost daughter, to his long-lost great-step-niece, to an innocent motorist who just "happened" to arrive on Boddy's doorstep.
  • Con Artist: Sometimes working with M. Brunette.
  • Drop-In Character: In the Clue VCR game she was a motorist whose car broke down (intentionally or not) just outside Mr. Boddy's manor.
  • Edible Theme Naming: In the VCR game her name is Melba Peach, an inversion of the dessert, Peach Melba.
  • Fille Fatale: Usually the youngest of the cast; rarely portrayed as older than her mid-twenties.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Turned good long enough to act as a detective character in 2003's Clue FX, trying to solve the mystery of Mr. Meadow-Brook's murder. By the time Clue Mysteries came out two years later, she was back to being a villain.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Supposedly, at least, in Master Detective, where she claims to be Boddy's long-lost great-step-niece.
  • Punny Name: Her full name was once "Miss Georgia Peach".
  • Southern Belle: Her main characterization. She pretends to be a Bonne Belle, but in truth she's a particularly devious Mauvaise Belle.

Movie version

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

     Wadsworth 

Wadsworth

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bodg3ntq5mjq4ov5bml5banbnxkftztgwntmxnda4mte_v1.jpg

Portrayed by: Tim Curry

The butler of the house, serving as Mr. Exposition.


  • Actually, I Am Him: In ending 3 he does this in a roundabout way by pointing out nobody else in the cast had ever met Mr. Boddy until that night and asking how they could be sure that Mr. Boddy was the one killed. Mr. Green puts it together quickly that Wadsworth is Mr. Boddy.
  • Battle Butler: In endings 1 and 2, he's an undercover FBI agent sent to entrap a particular suspect.
  • Big Bad: Of the third ending.
  • The Butler Did It: Subverted in the third ending, where he's the blackmailer and a murderer — but also the real Mr. Boddy rather than a butler. In the novelization, he murdered all of the victims out of pure insanity after failing to be the perfect butler and husband.
  • Canon Character All Along: The third ending reveals that he's the film incarnation of Mr. Boddy.
  • Canon Foreigner: Wadsworth has no board game equivalent. Except in the third ending, where he's the actual Mr. Boddy.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Along with the snark that is shared along with the rest of the cast he tells the sins of the house guests with a certain snarky disdain.
  • Driven to Madness: His motivations for killing everyone in the deleted Ending D.
  • Evil Is Petty:
    • In the third ending, it's revealed that he had all of his former staff killed so that he could have no loose ends about his blackmailing schemes, having invited the people he had been blackmailing so that they could do the dirty work. He then admits that he intends to keep blackmailing them further.
    • The same applies to his motivations in the deleted Ending D.
  • Freudian Excuse: He explains why he performed all the murders in the deleted Ending D:
    "And you'd be quite right. No— all my life has been spent in a struggle for perfection. I tried to be the perfect husband, but my wife killed herself. I strove to be the perfect butler, but I was driven to killing my employer. So I resolved that, in doing so, I would commit the perfect murder. But there is no pleasure in my triumph without an audience to admire it— and, as none of you had the brains to expose me, I decided I must expose myself."
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: He set up everything in hopes of putting Mr. Boddy behind bars, but things turn sour once Mr. Boddy gives the blackmail victims their weapons. In the third ending, however, everything does go according to plan, as he's actually Mr. Boddy, although Mr. Green turns out to be a Spanner in the Works by being an undercover FBI agent who shoots the real Mr. Boddy in the Hall.
  • Guilt by Association: He and his wife were forced to serve Mr. Boddy like slaves when she refused to rat out on her socialist friends. This is actually untrue in all the endings that wound up in the finished film. When it's revealed in the first two endings that he is working for the FBI, one can assume this story to be completely fictitious (unless the suicide of his wife drove him to work with the FBI in the first ending), while in the third ending, when he's revealed to have been Mr. Boddy all along, it's implied that he is the one blackmailing his butler over the above-mentioned "crime". Only in the deleted fourth ending this can definitely be true.
  • Large Ham: Tim Curry is clearly having a blast in the role.
  • Motor Mouth: When summarizing the evening's events at the end of the film, he rattles through his summary at a breakneck pace.
  • Mr. Exposition: He explains the reason the house guests are assembled and reads out all of their transgressions.
  • Slasher Smile: He gets off a nasty one when revealing he's Mr. Boddy.
  • Suddenly Shouting: In one of the movie's most famous scenes.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the third ending, he had his entire staff systematically murdered — having invited all of the guests because they each had personal stakes to have them dead as well — so that he could have his various informants killed, ensuring that there could be no loose ends.

     Mrs. Peacock 

Mrs. Peacock

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mrs_peacock_1985.jpg

Portrayed by: Eileen Brennan

Mrs. Peacock was a handsome matron with more than her share of jewels and bosom. She wore one of those dresses that is expensive and tasteful without being in the least fashionable or flattering, and over it a fox stole with several of the creatures’ heads resting on her bosom, and their claws digging at her ample waist.
—Michael McDowell's description of Mrs. Peacock

Wife to a corrupt U.S Senator, accused of accepting bribes to deliver her husband's vote.


  • Cloudcuckoolander: Everyone has their moments, but she's probably the worst offender out of them all. She spends a lot of time babbling about irrelevant things, especially when the atmosphere gets a bit too quiet for her tastes.
  • Karma Houdini: In the ending where she isn't one of the killers, it's implied she gets away with bribery.
  • Lady Drunk: Strongly implied. She has an unsteady walk and slightly slurs her words. Tellingly, she "sobers up" in the second ending, wherein she committed all the murders — implying that she was employing Obfuscating Stupidity — but remains relatively addle-brained in the third, wherein she (and all the others) only killed one person.
  • Large Ham:
    • She has her moments when she's particularly agitated:
      ''Oh, [the motorist] doesn't even matter! LET HIM STAY locked up for another half-an-hour! THE POLICE WILL BE HERE BY THEN, AND THERE ARE TWO DEAD BODIES IN THE STUDYYYYY!"
    • In the second ending, she screams "TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF ME! I'M A SENATOR'S WIFE!" when being arrested by the FBI.
  • Motor Mouth: Especially in the beginning, where she tries to "break the ice" by talking non-stop. Plum theorizes that she has a fear of silence.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: In the second ending, her foolish and panicked person is a ruse meant to disguise the fact that she's a cold-blooded killer who's methodically assassinated several people over the night.
  • Pretty in Mink: She's introduced wearing a fur wrap. While she only wears it for a few minutes in the film, she's often seen with it in promotional shots.
  • Screaming Woman: When it's suggested that the brandy she was drinking might be poisoned. In the fourth ending, it was poisoned.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: A post-production example. Mrs. Peacock was shot by the evangelist in the original cut of Ending B. This explains why she is arrested offscreen.

     Miss Scarlet 

Miss Scarlet

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miss_scarlet_1985.jpg

Portrayed by: Lesley Ann Warren

A ravishingly beautiful woman dressed in emerald-green.
—Michael McDowell's description of Miss Scarlet

The Femme Fatale owner of a DC brothel.


  • At Least I Admit It: Unlike the other guests (though Mr. Green later decides to reveal the truth as well), Miss Scarlet makes no attempt to deny that she's guilty of what she's being blackmailed for, running a brothel (although in the first ending, that’s not the only secret she has to hide). As such, she freely mocks the other guests when Wadsworth reveals what they're hiding.
  • Depraved Bisexual: She's subtly portrayed as being interested in Yvette. How depraved she is (and whether she winds up killing the object of her affection) depends on the specific ending.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She is always quick with a quip or sarcastic response to the insanity and inane comments around around.
    Col. Mustard: How can you make jokes at a time like this?
    Miss Scarlet: It's my defense mechanism!
  • Femme Fatale Spy: In the first ending, this is played out as she reveals her true trade is not just running a brothel, but also in discovering government secrets she can sell to the highest bidder.
  • Genki Girl: More subdued than most, but other than Wadsworth she's the most animated member of the cast. During the climax, she clearly gets more excited the deeper they go into the summation, even leaping in and stepping on Wadsworth's lines at one point. In the first ending, it practically comes down to Ham-to-Ham Combat vs Wadsworth when he exposes her. In the third ending, she's so exhilarated about the complicated plot that when Wadsworth finally fingers her for the cop's murder she cheerfully confesses, congratulates him on his sleuthing and only stops listening avidly when Wadsworth reveals himself to be Mr. Boddy.
    Scarlet: (brightly) True! Who are you, Perry Mason?
  • Hitchhiker's Leg: At the beginning of the film she does a Foot Popping version of this to get Professor Plum to stop for her when her car's broken down.
  • Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her dress stops a while below her armpits, and it's hard to see what's keeping it up sometimes.
  • Karma Houdini: In the ending where she isn't one of the killers, it's implied she gets away with bribery.
  • Miss Kitty: She runs an illegal brothel in Washington, D.C. (in her words, a "specialized hotel and telephone service").
  • Ms. Fanservice: Not as much as Yvette, but she's still quite a looker.
  • Really Gets Around: Implied. Her being a brothel madam compounds the issue, as someone in that line of work probably needs to maintain some degree of division between their personal and professional lives. This is used to justify her making out with Professor Plum when trying to hide the bodies of the murdered informants from The Cop. This leads to a gem of a line in the Novelization: in the scene where Mrs. White reveals her Black Widow nature, her recitation of how men are like Kleenex is corrected by Miss Scarlet thusly: "Their slogan is Soft, Strong, and Pops Up, Too."

     Mr. Green 

Mr. Green

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/904fe31068b5d4bec49efdd4f07c701f.jpg

Portrayed by: Michael McKean

A young man, tall, dapper, slim and splendidly turned out stood nervously at the entranceway of Hill House.
—Michael McDowell's description of Mr. Green

A closeted State Department employee.


  • Agent Peacock: Depending on the ending in question, he's actually an FBI agent who spent the whole movie (plus whatever setup time the sting required) pretending to be gay to get into Mr. Boddy's blackmail ring. He is the one who finally killed Mr. Boddy. In the hallway. With the revolver.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: In the third ending, where he kills the real Mr. Boddy.
  • Catchphrase: He tends to yell "I didn't do it!" whenever he ends up in a compromising position with a body.
  • Character Tic: Mr. Green pushes his glasses up his nose frequently as one of his nervous tics.
  • Faux Yay: In the third ending, he's an FBI agent pretending to be homosexual in order to trick Boddy into blackmailing him and thus give him an in into his illegal activites.
  • Glasses Pull: One of his nervous tics. In the third ending, this is more significant, as pulling off his glasses signifies ending the FBI agent's charade as a gay State Department employee. With this in mind, he is possibly pulling off the glasses because wearing the wrong prescription — or any prescription when your eyesight doesn't need correction — can result in severe eyestrain and a massive headache.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: His last line in the third ending has him making a point of mentioning he's looking forward to having sex with his wife.
  • Hidden Depths: For all his cowardice Mr. Green is still usually the first one to rush in to help such as prying Mr. Boddy off of Mrs. Peacock when he thought he was attacking her or running past a gun welding Miss Scarlet to let the FBI into the house. This foreshadows his personality being an act in the third ending.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: In the third ending, he turns out to be a good shot with a service revolver.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: He's nervous, accident prone and always the most innocent-looking and sounding of the crew.
  • Straight Gay: Except in the third ending, where he's a plant ("A plant? I thought men like you were usually called a fruit.") from the FBI pretending to be gay so that he would be blackmailed, and is in fact "going home to sleep with [his] wife".
  • Token Good Teammate: He's the only one who hasn't done anything illegal he's being blackmailed on. The only thing he's "guilty" of is being gay. He's not the murderer in any of the endings. In the third ending, not only was he the only one who didn't murder anyone (until he shoots Mr. Boddy when he threatens to escape), but he's revealed to be an FBI agent assigned to stop Mr. Boddy. And he's NOT gay after all. Maybe.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He isn't afraid to slap Mrs. Peacock when she freaks out over the brandy being potentially poisoned.

     Mrs. White 

Mrs. White

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madeline_kahn_movies_ranked_clue1.jpg

Portrayed by: Madeline Kahn

She was beautiful as Desdemona on the night that lady was murdered, pale as Isabella the day she learned her lover was dead, and her hair was as black as Judith the morning she struck off the head of Holofernes. Her eyes were lustrous, her lips as red as if they had been pricked and bled. She was dressed head to heel in black. She held a shiny black pocketbook before her and a tiny corner of stiff, white paper peeked through the top.
— Michael McDowell's description of Mrs. White

An alleged "black widow", who has had five husbands, the latest of whom were an illusionist (disappeared) and a nuclear physicist (who died under mysterious circumstances).


  • Angrish: She lapses into this as part of her Villainous Breakdown.
  • Black Widow: She's had five husbands, and all of them either died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Mr. Boddy blackmails her on suspicion of murdering them. She denies killing any of them, but didn't want those rumors to be known to the public. She and one of them (the one talked about the most) had a humiliating public confrontation, which added further suspicion. In the third ending, she indeed murdered at least that particular husband because he had an affair with Yvette, which apparently was the last straw.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Her pale skin contrasts well with her dark hair and black outfit to give her something describing her alias.
  • Ironic Nickname: A black widow, fully dressed in black, whose alias is Mrs. White. Although the inside of her black coat is white.
  • Karma Houdini: In the endings where she isn't one of the killers, it's implied she gets away with murdering her husbands (assuming she actually did).
  • Pet the Dog: Surprisingly given her own backstory, of all the guests she is the most sympathetic to Wadsworth story about his wife's suicide, handing him a tissue and actually looking near tears herself.
  • Really Gets Around:
    Col. Mustard: How many husbands have you had?
    Mrs. White: Mine, or other women's?
  • The Stoic: She doesn't speak much normally and is quite terse with her snark, however her breakdown is hilarious.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Downplayed in the third ending, since it's more like mindlessly stammering instead of throwing a tantrum. When describing her hangups with her husband's infidelity and her murder of Yvette, she's so angry at the very mention of Yvette, she can barely get the words out on how much she hated her. Fl-Flames... on the side of my face..."

     Professor Plum 

Professor Plum

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmta5mzi0ndu0mjzeqtjeqwpwz15bbwu3mdq1nti4mtq_v1.jpg

Portrayed by: Christopher Lloyd

A man was driving, hunched over the steering wheel, peering out into the blackness.
—Michael McDowell's description of Professor Plum

A former professor of psychiatry and current member of the World Health Organization, whose medical license was revoked because he had an affair with one of his female patients.


  • Kavorka Man: Somehow Miss Scarlet is interested in him, and he scored with the singing telegram girl who can't be past her twenties.
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: He shamelessly hits on all of the female characters and usually isn't a killer.
  • Not That Kind of Doctor:
    • When Mr. Green demands that Plum explain how Boddy died, Plum angrily retorts that he's a psychiatrist, not a medical specialist.
      Mr. Green: How did he die?
      Professor Plum: I! DON'T! KNOW! I'm NOT a forensic expert!
    • Later subverted, though, in the third ending, when Plum is only pretending he didn't know what happened. As pointed out by Wadsworth, "even a psychiatrist can tell the difference between patients who are alive or dead!"

     Colonel Mustard 

Colonel Mustard

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mustard_x.jpg

Portrayed by: Martin Mull

The man at the door was 45 years old, perhaps 50 if he had been taken care of himself and it looked as if he had been. He was smartly turned out in a suit of quietly expensive cut material and fit and out in the darkness behind him, the mustard-yellow 1954 Cadillac convertible he'd driven up in was new and rather more obviously expensive than his clothes. In his own element, he was probably hale and hardy and if he had a wife then the prone was probably trampled on psychologically speaking.
—Michael McDowell's description of Colonel Mustard

A military man who's used the services of Miss Scarlet's brothel.


  • Armchair Military: A rather unstated joke surrounding the character. A Running Gag has him constantly try to take supervising positions in various situations, but balk at actually doing anything — like sitting back while the others are struggling to move the cook, or when he leaves Ms. Scarlet to search a room alone. He gets more daring over time, but the only major exception is when they find the secret passage to the Lounge which he charges through without fear — but in one ending he already knew about it, as he used it to kill the Motorist.
  • Comically Missing the Point: "Good God, man, there are ladies present!" cries Colonel Mustard when Wadsworth tells the others he had "decided I must expose myself" in Endings C and D.
  • The Ditz: He has the tendency to take things literally and is confounded early on by the library's disguised door.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: The mini-arc where the characters split up to search the house is his idea. It's possibly callous ("Whoever's alone with the murderer might get killed!") and ultimately unsuccessful (three other people get killed during it), but Mustard does have a point; Hill House is four stories (including the cellar and attic) and it would be very easy for an unknown third party to conceal themselves in the house and sneak around to kill the cast.
  • Karma Houdini: In the endings where he isn't one of the killers, it's implied he gets away with war profiteering.
  • Moral Myopia: He may have sold stolen radio components to the black market, but he's no murderer.
  • Red Herring: The movie likes to imply that he's the murderer. He's indeed responsible for one of the murders in the third ending.
  • Suspicious Spending: He drives a very expensive car for someone who lives on a colonel's paycheck. His explanation is that he inherited the money during the war. He actually stole and sold airplane parts on the black market during the war.
  • War for Fun and Profit: The real reason he was being blackmailed. He stole essential Air Force radio components and sold them on the black market, which is how he became rich.

     Mr. Boddy 

Mr. Boddy

Portrayed by: Lee Ving

The blackmailer and the first victim of the night.


  • Asshole Victim: He's revealed early on to be blackmailing everyone — in addition to being shown shamelessly groping Yvette — and quickly earns everyone's murderous ire, ensuring that there's little chance of sympathy for his impending demise.
  • Body Double: The third ending reveals that he had switched places with his butler before the movie started, and since none of his blackmail victims had met him in person before...
  • Crazy-Prepared: He offers his blackmail victims their weapons, gift-wrapped, knowing full well that Wadsworth was planning to expose him. Except in the third ending, where he pretends to be Wadsworth and intended to have his victims murder his accomplices.
  • Eagleland: Flavor 2: America the Boorish. The stated reason why he blackmailed everyone is because he considers them "Un-American". Instead of reporting them, however, he decided to get money by blackmailing them. What could be more American than that?
  • Faking the Dead: He only pretends to be dead in the first murder scene, having been grazed by the bullet and deciding to play possum and sneak out when the others are distracted. Someone (varies with the ending) catches this and subsequently kills him off for real.
  • Hate Sink: Throughout his short screentime, he's shown to do some detestable things. Groping Yvette, blackmail, and trying to get someone to kill Wadsworth so he can keep blackmailing everybody. Subverted in the third ending when he turned out to be Mr. Boddy's butler.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: He gives his blackmail victims weapons with the intent of killing Wadsworth. However, his victims end up turning on him instead, murdering him with the same implements he provided.
  • Punny Name: Mr. "Boddy", which sounds like "body" as in "dead body".

     Yvette 

Yvette

Portrayed by: Colleen Camp

The maid of the house.


  • Canon Foreigner: She's not represented in the main board game but sort of takes the maid role from Mrs. White who is sometimes the maid of the estate.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: While most of the other victims receive relatively quick deaths they don’t see coming, Yvette is slowly strangled with the noose, her final moments filled with terror and agony.
  • Disposable Sex Worker: She was one of Miss Scarlet's employees at her brothel and is murdered for knowing secrets gained from sleeping with people or due to being The Mistress of Mrs. White's nuclear physicist husband. When the guests find her strangled, they simply leave her corpse lying on the billiard table without a word, though that might just be because they had Seen It All by then, as she was the fourth person murdered by that point.
  • The Dragon: She's Miss Scarlet's agent and original means of killing her victims in the first ending.
  • The Fake Cutie: She's first introduced charmingly bopping along to rock & roll while polishing glasses, and acts like a slightly bubbleheaded, but innocent and friendly Ms. Fanservice. In truth, she's actually one of Miss Scarlet's hookers who also doubles as a blackmailer and spy. Depending on the ending shown, she's one of the killers, too.
  • Fauxreigner: She speaks with an exaggerated French accent, although it seems to disappear shortly before dying, implying she was faking it.
  • French Maid: She wears a skimpy Hollywood French maid outfit complete with heels, stockings, short, frilly skirt and apron and a very low-cut top, That said, she isn't really French or a maid. But that's okay. This is currently the image for the trope.
  • High-Class Call Girl: She used to be one of Miss Scarlet's call girls.
  • Male Gaze: Nearly every shot where the male characters interact with her involves them staring at either her cleavage or rear.
  • The Mistress: She used to have an affair with (one of) Mrs. White's husbands. In the first two endings, the cuckolded party flinches when she first sees Yvette but otherwise doesn't seem to hate her. In the third ending, however, she hates Yvette so much that she murders her.
  • Ms. Fanservice: This is especially true in-universe with Prof. Plum, Col. Mustard and Wadsworth sneaking or overtly peeking at her cleavage. This is even justified, as she's actually one of Miss Scarlet's prostitutes.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Many early scenes show her as being airheaded but she shows herself to be a good shot with a revolver and is involved with two of the guests.
  • Really Gets Around: She's slept with Colonel Mustard, Mr. Boddy, one of Mrs. White's husbands, possibly the cop and numerous clients at Miss Scarlet's brothel, including perhaps Professor Plum or one of his contacts according to the first ending.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In the first ending, she's killed when Mrs. Scarlet no longer has any need of her.

Alternative Title(s): Cluedo

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