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Students
Tree Gelbman
Teresa "Tree" Gelbman
Portrayed By: Jessica Rothe
The protagonist of both films.
- Action Girl: Tree slowly evolves into this after the constant loops.
- Action Survivor: After dealing with time loops, constantly dying and being killed, and having to become increasingly resourceful over the course of both films. This is best exemplified by her knocking out the other Ryan trying to kill the first Ryan towards the beginning of the 2nd movie.
- Alpha Bitch: Starts the movie with shades of this. It's really a front to mask the bitterness and gloom she normally feels after her mother passed away.
- Broken Bird: Has become bitter and gloomy since her mother passed away.
- Combat Pragmatist: Uses whatever she can to fight back against the killer from even her first death.
- Damsel in Distress: But with no one to rescue her.
- Damsel out of Distress: In later time loops, she manages to hold her own against the killer(s).
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She starts the movie like the typical bitch that gets killed in Slasher Movies.
- Dented Iron: However the time loop works, it doesn't erase everything - the massive amount of injuries Tree built up still linger on her.
- Died on Their Birthday: Tree gets killed over and over again on her birthday.
- Face Death with Dignity: In the third to last loop, Tree willingly hangs herself in order to reset the loop and save Carter's life. Her last words to Tombs are spoken with defiance:Tree: See you soon, asshole.
- Genius Bruiser: Over the course of the series, Tree learns to fight with weapons and guns, becoming slightly harder to kill with each cycle. In the sequel, she managed to learn quantum physics from having to become a living record for her new friends to eliminate various failed algorithms over the course of multiple time loops.
- Girls Love Chocolate: Averted. She's a health nut because of her sorority's hostility towards fattening foods. She refuses a cupcake on her own birthday because "too many carbs".
- Green-Eyed Monster: In the sequel's alternate timeline, she becomes very jealous upon discovering that Carter is in a relationship with Danielle, so much that she wastes a loop by jumping to her death in order to traumatise them.
- Heel Realization: The repeated deaths make Tree notice she has become a bad person, the Kappa House's culture is near-toxic, and the professor she's sleeping with is a real jerk-off.
- Heroic BSoD: Has an understandable one that causes her to go back to her Broken Bird bitchiness when she realizes she's stuck in another time loop, though she recovers pretty quickly.
- Heroic RRoD: In both films, injuries from her time loop deaths start to catch up to her to the point that she passes out and has to be hospitalized.
- Heroic Suicide: In two separate loops, she kills herself to reset the day and bring Carter Back from the Dead, returning the favor since he willingly risked his life to save her (and Lori, in the second timeline).
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- To Tim, on the first day. Going on one date does not mean you are obligated to have continued contact with someone. And Subway IS a terrible place for a first date.
- Also to Ryan: Someone who refers to a woman as "a fine vagina" is unlikely to be getting a date (or getting laid) anytime soon.
- The Lad-ette: Shows some signs of this. In addition to drinking a lot, Tree also takes the opportunity while eating with Carter to burp and fart loudly.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Post-Character Development, Tree uses her confidence and attractiveness for good instead of evil.
- Makeup Is Evil: As Tree becomes a better person she begins wearing noticeably less makeup.
- Meaningful Name: Or nickname, in this case. As explained
by the director, reducing Teresa to "Tree" reflects how "Trees need to grow and you see this character go from one person to another, so there's some symbolism and parallels there." - Ms. Fanservice: She changes clothes without caring if Carter or Ryan sees her in a bra or without pants. In one loop Tree goes streaking in public though we only see her Top Less From The Back. In the sequel, she skydives in a bikini.
- Nerves of Steel: After a couple loops, Tree becomes utterly unafraid of death even when faced with having to kill herself to save Carter or faced with no way to escape from the unmasked killer.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the sequel, her parents have no idea what's going on, but take her at her word when she says she absolutely must leave campus and get as far away as possible, and she can't currently tell them why. They don't ask any follow-up questions until they've driven quite a ways out and stopped at a hotel, and when Tree still won't provide an explanation, they seem willing to leave it until she's ready. Her behavior and the request is so strange, and her demeanor is so serious, that they realize it must be really, really important and just go with it.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: In great cases of irony, Tree's never heard of Groundhog Day even if she got trapped in a similar loop, or Back to the Future in spite of facing an alternate timeline like the one from Part II.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after changing her ways, Tree is still plenty crass and snarky. She's just learned to restrict her abuse to people who deserve it.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Over the course of the film, she starts developing feelings for Carter, particularly after he sacrifices himself to save her in one of her many time loops. It may have started when he revealed that he didn't actually have sex with her while she was drunk as he considered it wrong; he brought her to his dorm so she wouldn't put herself in danger while drunk or let the other guys take advantage of her. After putting her in his bed, he slept in his roommate's bed. She's very clearly touched at the kind gesture.
- Spell My Name With An S: Director/writer Chris Landon says her given name is Theresa. But most promotional material, including the novelizations, go with the simpler Teresa instead.
- Taught by Experience: Each failed death/time loop forces Tree to learn how to defend herself, overcome her fear of death, and sharpen her deductive skills to find her killer over the course of the first movie. In the sequel, she learns quantum physics by becoming a living record for her friends going through various failed algorithms over the course of multiple failed time loops.
- Technically a Smile: She is quite fond of giving these.
- Took a Level in Badass: She is killed rather easily at first, but holds herself in a fight by the end.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Getting repeatedly killed makes her go from the bitch that gets killed first to the Final Girl. In the sequel, she temporarily reverts back to her selfish, sullen self out of despair over being supposedly being thrown back into the loop, but she recovers after seeing that this is a different loop in which her mother is alive.
- What You Are in the Dark: In the climax of the second film, she has nothing to gain personally from confronting the killer, but does so anyway to save Lori.
Lori Spengler
Lori Spengler
Portrayed By: Ruby Modine
A nursing student who is Tree's roommate.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Tree is abrasive, but recognizes Lori's kindness, and even keeps her out of the suspects list.
- Damsel in Distress: In the second movie, she turns out to be the killer's true target, and Tree's objective is to save her.
- Good Counterpart: Is not the killer in the other dimension as seen in the sequel. The version of her in that dimension ultimately turns out to be a friend to Tree and the two end up saving each other in a few loops.
- Red Herring: In the second movie, Lori is the first major suspect due to her counterpart being the killer in Tree's universe, but she is eliminated after Tree encounters her and Babyface at the same time.
- Token Good Teammate: The only one in the sorority with a featured role who isn't a total bitch, at least before Tree's Character Development.
- Troll: Puts an Embarrassing Ringtone for Tree's birthday.
Carter Davis
Carter Davis
Portrayed By: Israel Broussard
A university student who brought Tree to his room after she blacked out from partying hard. Not the type of guy whose bedroom Tree would normally wake up in.
- Above the Influence: Despite her initial assumption that they slept together, Carter actually took Tree home because she was blackout drunk and he was worried she'd hurt herself. He let her take his bed for the night, while he slept in Ryan's. He's appalled when he realizes Tree assumed he'd have sex with her while she was too drunk to remember anything.
- Geek: Judging by the decor in his and Ryan's room, he's a big fan of classic sci-fi/horror movies, and he compares Tree's situation to Groundhog Day (first movie) and Back to the Future (second movie). He's also mildly indignant over Tree never having watched Ghostbusters (1984).
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- In one loop, he saves Tree from getting shot by Tombs, at the cost of his own life. His selfless sacrifice makes her fall for him.
- In the second movie, he does it again for Lori, who has become the killer's target. In the final loop, he comes to the hospital to back up Tree even when she pleaded with him not to leave the physics lab. Given her words on waking up in that loop were "That is the last time I'm dying for you", Carter's smart enough to realize why. He does survive, although he gets shot at providing a distraction at a vital moment.
- The Klutz: Got chocolate milkshake all over Tree's hair.
- Nice Guy: To the point he didn't think to take advantage of a drunk Tree whatsoever and is even offended she thought he would. There's also the part where he brought Tree back to his room in the first place simply because he was worried about her hurting herself while drunk or someone else taking advantage of her state and knew she'd only be safe if someone kept an eye on her overnight. Not to mention his recurring character trait of putting his life on the line (and dying) to save the life of someone he's known (by his memory) for less than a day.
- Relationship Upgrade: By the time the second movie opens, Tree's gone from saying 'No!' when someone asks if she knows Carter, to saying 'Yes!... well, kind of?' when Ryan asks if she's Carter's girlfriend. From the look on Carter's face, he's definitely in favor of that.
- Rescue Romance: While Tree already seemed to be growing fond of him, his willingness to die in order to save her catapults her feelings for him into full gear, even if he doesn't remember doing so due to the time loops.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Accepts Tree's story and tries to help. And even gets a Relationship Upgrade later.
- When He Smiles: Carter's rather good-looking, but he's not the Pretty Boy type that's usually the lead in this type of movie. But he's a genuine Nice Guy and has a fantastic smile, and it comes out a lot around Tree.
Ryan Phan
Ryan Phan
Portrayed By: Phi Vu
Carter's Vietnamese-American roommate.
- Ascended Extra: In the first film he was an obnoxious roommate whose only purpose was to say his "fine vagina" line at the beginning of every day. He plays a significantly larger role in the second movie.
- Asian Airhead: He could be Asian and Nerdy, given he's a computer wiz studying difficult physics subjects, but by God does he screw up often.
- Decoy Protagonist: The first few minutes of 2U focus on him. Then he accidentally throws Tree into a new loop, and the focus shifts to her for the rest of the movie.
- Dumb Blonde: Almost everything he does is a mistake.
- Evil Twin: In one time loop, he's getting stalked and killed by... himself!
- Flat Character: In the first film, his only purpose was to deliver his "fine vagina" line at the beginning of every day. Subverted in the second film as he has a much larger role and has a lot more character.
- Genius Ditz: Ironically, he's very gifted in computer science (in either C++ or Node.js) and physics, even inadvertently inventing an operational time machine.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The sequel explains Ryan's the reason Tree got thrown into a time loop in both movies.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Tree is quite annoyed that Ryan addresses her as a "fine vagine" and calls him out on it in more than one loop.
- The Smart Guy: In the second movie, Tree relies on him and his friends to fix their time machine so she can go home.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He's significantly a nicer person in the sequel, especially because he drops the inappropriate "fine vagine" line.
Danielle Bouseman
Danielle Bouseman
Portrayed By: Rachel Matthews
The leader of Kappa Pi Alpha.
- Alpha Bitch: While all the Kappas are this, being the sorority leader makes her the meanest.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: When pretending to be a blind French student to distract Dean Bronson, she says "gracias".
- Brainless Beauty: Hinted at in the first movie (when Tree asks about deja vu, Danielle replies "Oh yeah, it means someone's thinking about you while they're masturbating. I get it five times a day.") and downright proven in the sequel, where she manages to confuse Helen Keller with Anne Frank, believes 'gracias' is French and is implied to only be passing her courses at all because her boyfriend is doing her coursework for her.
- Good Counterpart: In the second film, her counterpart is a kind woman who donates to charity and is best friends with Tree. It's zigzagged when she turns out to be cheating on Carter (and is dating him so he'll do her schoolwork for her), but she still agrees to distract the dean for Tree without a moment's hesitation.
- Irony: In the first movie, she is angry at Tree for wanting to hook up with Nick despite her feelings for them. In the alternate universe in the sequel, she's cheating on Carter for Nick.
- Jerkass: She's incredibly catty and mean.
- Jerkass Has a Point: For all of her bitchy nature, she was actually right about Lori trying to poison Tree with a cupcake being a stupid idea. The Kappas are apparently all about eating right. It's literally how Tree averted death in the first loop.Tree: [in a condescending singsongy voice] Sorry, too many carbs.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: According to her actress, Danielle is mean because she wants the best for her sorority sisters.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her introduction in both movies show off her physique, wearing a sports bra in the first, and in the sequel, with a tailored shirt whose Impossibly-Low Neckline impresses Samar very much ("Hey, Samosa! My head's the middle one!"
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Well, not really a villain so much as just a Jerkass bitch but she does help Tree kill off Lori by distracting the latter.
- Valley Girl: Best demonstrated when she's interviewed following Lori's death.
Becky Shepard
Becky Shepard
Portrayed By: Cariella Smith
"I missed breakfast."
A black member of Tree's sorority who dumps chocolate milk on Tree.
- Big Eater: A little overweight and eats fairly unhealthy.
- Black Sheep: She's African-American and gets dissed by her fellow sisters, including Tree, for eating junk. Tree calls her preferred foods a "cat lady buffet".
- Butt-Monkey: Not only is she singled out by Danielle for eating junk food, but one loop has Tree accidentally knocking her out with a bat when she mistakes her for Babyface Killer.
- Girls Love Chocolate: She likes chocolate milk.
- Nice Girl: She's seen in the background comforting Emily while Danielle is giving her interview after Lori is killed.
Emily
Emily
Portrayed By: Tran Tran
An Asian member of Tree's sorority. She wants Tree to acknowledge her.
- All There in the Script: Her name isn't spoken of, and only her first name was revealed in the credits.
- Ignored Enamoured Underling: Not as popular or outgoing as Tree, she always gives a shy, slightly flirtatious wave whenever Tree passes her, only to be completely ignored.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: She wants to be friends with Tree, but Tree doesn't like her, possibly even hates her. In the sequel, Tree still doesn't want anything to do with Emily.
- The Voiceless: Doesn't talk other than her scream at the end. All she does is smile and wave to Tree but get the cold shoulder.
Samar Ghosh and Dre Morgan
Samar Ghosh and Andrea "Dre" Morgan
Portrayed By: Suraj Sharma and Sarah Yarkin
Ryan's fellow physics students.
- Achievements in Ignorance: They and Ryan built a time machine without meaning to, and then get stuck trying to clear it all up.
- Asian and Nerdy: Samar is an Asian inventor.
- Boyish Short Hair: Dre's hair is barely any longer than Carter's.
- Foreign Cuss Word: Samar, when Ryan briefly strikes out, mistaking him for an attacker.
- Hold the Line: They try to block the door when the Dean is barging in during the final experiment.
- The Internet Is for Porn: Samar got their machine damaged by downloading spam porn.
- Lovable Coward: They bail on Ryan in the face of the Dean being mad about their experiments and are reluctant to help steal back the machine but ultimately do.
- Those Two Guys: A rare male female example. They are almost always seen together and have some rapport.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Samar is often seen eating churros.
Faculty
Dr. Gregory Butler
Dr. Gregory Butler
Portrayed By: Charles Aitken
A medical doctor and university professor who cheats on his wife.
- Jerkass: Cheats on his wife, and threatens Tree's grade for refusing to continue their affair.
- Renaissance Man: Along with being a doctor in the university hospital Lori is working in, he also teaches a more applied subject (Advanced Biochemistry) in the class Tree goes to.
- Teacher/Student Romance: He's cheating on his wife with Tree (in the first movie) or Lori (in the second).
- What Does She See in Him?: He's conventionally handsome, but it's hard to understand why so many women seem to think he's worth committing murder for.
Others
Stephanie Butler
Stephanie Butler
Portrayed By: Laura Clifton
Gregory's wife, who is oblivious to the fact that her husband is cheating on her.
- Ascended Extra: She has a slightly bigger role in the sequel and turns out to be working with the killer, though said killer shoots her after she has outlived her usefulness.
- Asshole Victim: Is shot by her own husband in the second movie, but she had masterminded Lori's murder along with him and egged him on to kill Tree, so she won't be missed.
- Demoted to Extra: She was originally written as the true Babyface Killer (or one of two along with the one in the folder above), but test audiences scorned the ending as uninspired and lacking irony (not to mention cruel after Tree's development). Therefore, her role in the final version of the first film is very minor.
- The Dragon: To Gregory in 2U.
- Evil Counterpart: Stephanie in the first film was a pretty normal person who loved her husband. Her counterpart in the second film is an accomplice to her husband's own counterpart in the second film, who's the killer of that dimension.
- Uncertain Doom: The last time the second universe version is seen, she's on a gurney being wheeled away and receiving medical attention; leaving the possibility of her surviving. Either way, things don't look good for her since she could either die of her injuries or survive and face imprisonment for her role in the murder plot.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Gregory shoots the second universe version of her in the chest as he doesn't want to stay trapped in the marriage to her any longer and she completed her part in the plot to kill Lori.
Officer Santora
Officer Santora
Portrayed By: Dane Rhodes
A freeway/highway cop who pulls over then arrests Tree for speeding plus other charges Tree lied to him about such as driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
- Car Fu: How he dies.
- Fat Idiot: He's rather overweight and rather useless.
- Police Are Useless: The killer runs him over before he can cart Tree off to jail where she'd be safe from the killer.
Antagonists
Babyface Killer I (UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST FILM)
Lori Spengler
Portrayed By: Ruby Modine
The first film's main antagonist, Lori turns out to be plotting Tree's murder out of jealousy of her affair with Dr. Butler and spite towards her Alpha Bitch tendencies.
- Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch: A literal case, although Tree gets better.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She seems like the only good person, and is the killer.
- Big Bad: Of the first film.
- Evil Is Petty: Why is Tree being killed? Because she's dating a guy Lori is into, and also for being "a dumb bitch".
- Hate Sink: She is Tree Gelbman's roommate and is the one wearing the Bayview Baby mask killing her in every loop of Tree's regular timeline. Lori constantly kills anyone in the loops too who happens to be in her way and gets others killed by releasing serial killer John Toombs as a cover as well. Her motivation is nothing but petty and harsh as she is jealous of Tree's affair with Dr. Gregory Butler (who at one point is another of Lori's victims too).
- Malevolent Masked Men: Wears a baby mask (it's the school mascot).
- Murder the Hypotenuse: She's tired of being the hypotenuse to the relationship between Tree and Gregory, and she wanted Gregory for herself.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In an early loop, Tree decides to try barricading herself in her room and waiting it out. It's the first time she decides to eat the cupcake, but Lori gets impatient and stabs her anyway. If Tree had eaten the cupcake, she might have figured out that Lori was the killer earlier, but this is also the first loop where the news report about serial killer John Tombs appears. If Tree had figured out so early that Lori was the killer, not only would Tree not have fallen in love with Carter, but she would have solved the crime without realizing Tombs was loose, and how many people would have died in his escape?
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Calls Tree a "dumb bitch" and "cheap slut" during her Motive Rant.
- Samus Is a Girl: The masked villain turns out to be the female Lori.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: The first intended murder weapon was a cupcake.
- Unintentional Backup Plan: Inverted in the second-to-last timeline. Her plot to have John Tombs murder Tree fails, only for the poisoned cupcake Lori originally planned to use to finally do her in.
- Woman Scorned: Seeing Tree dating her boss is enough to make Lori want to kill her roommate.
- Yandere: Is willing to kill Tree and anyone who gets in their way just because the teacher she's crushing on is having an affair with Tree.
Babyface Killer II (UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR THE SECOND FILM)
Dr. Gregory Butler
Portrayed By: Charles Aitken
The second film's main antagonist, Dr. Butler turns out to be plotting to kill Lori and his wife after his affair with Lori comes out.
- Big Bad: Is revealed to be the killer in the sequel's alternate dimension. Downplayed as his plans and killings are not what drives the plot so much as Tree trying to get back home.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Motive wise. In the first movie Lori was after Tree because she was jealous of an affair Tree was having with him. In the second, he's out to kill Lori to cover up an affair he's having with her.
- Evil Brit: If his accent is anything to judge by.
- Evil Counterpart: The first dimension version of him was just a prick having affairs with his students and cheating on his wife. Here, he has no problem killing people.
- Eviler than Thou: In comparison to Lori, he is not motivated by a crush or yandere affection, but instead spite. He also tries to murder his own wife for no discernible reason apart from "wanting a divorce".
- Hate Sink: While Danielle is portrayed as a Laughably Evil Alpha Bitch, Dean Bronson is an equally Laughably Evil Dean Bitterman and Lori is at least shown to be an actual good person in the alternate universe, Gregory is shown to be an all around unlovable prick who at best is a cheating asshole who seduces his students and then threatens to fail Tree when she breaks off their affair and at worst, a smug sociopath who is willing to kill his mistress to cover up his affair and shoot his own wife to get out of an unhappy marriage. Even then, he makes the previous version of himself look harmless by comparison.
- In Spite of a Nail: He has the same game plan as the first movie's killer: release John Tombs from captivity in order to use him as a fall guy so they can murder their real target.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Like the first film's killer, he commits his murders while wearing a Babyface mask.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: At least in this dimension.
- The Sociopath: He has no compunctions about murder in order to cover up his affair.
- Too Dumb to Live: Twice in the final loop.
- The first time, he's approaching Tree wielding a knife while Tree not only has a gun, but is capable of using it. Which she demonstrates by firing a warning shot when he doesn't back off. The only reason she doesn't kill him right then is because the police were minutes away and she wanted him to "rot in prison".
- The second time he doesn't seem to realize that he's standing in a room with an MRI machine behind him, a large magnetic object in front of him, Tree holding an equally lethal magnetic object in her hand and her other hand near the MRI's "on" button. Not that it would've made any difference, but when he's pinned to the MRI machine, he calls her a "bitch" when he demands she shut the machine down. Not a smart thing to say to someone whom you just tried to kill and has a screwdriver pointed at your heart.
- Villain Ball: In the final loop, he has Tree dead to rights twice and doesn't kill her when he has the chance to. The first time, he shoots his wife first and then gets distracted by Carter. The second time, he lets Tree have a last word. See Too Dumb to Live above.
John Tombs
John Tombs
Portrayed By: Rob Mello
A serial killer who escaped from the hospital the same night Tree was killed.
- Asshole Victim: Tree manages to kill him in more than one loop. He's also used as a scapegoat by another murderer and either doesn't realize it or doesn't care. No one sheds a tear for him.
- Ax-Crazy: His character begins and ends with the fact he's a rampantly homicidal maniac.
- Cop Killer: Killed at least one cop before being taken in, and kills a security guard in another timeline.
- Demoted to Extra: While he's the secondary antagonist of the first movie, he barely appears in the sequel and is easily dispatched the two times he does.
- Faux Affably Evil: His conversations with Tree have an almost charming air to them. Almost.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Both movies have him as the wrong killer who's being set up by the real ones.
- Has a Type: His preferred victims are mid-20s blonde women, similar to Tree. Not that he's above killing those outside his usual M.O.
- In Spite of a Nail: The alternate universe Tombs is just as violent as the one in the main universe, and he has the same role in the killer's plan.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: John Tombs just screams Serial Killer.
- Sadist: His defining character trait is that he enjoys toying with his victims when he can, as seen with both his attempts on Tree.
- The Scapegoat: To the Babyface killer in both movies. They break him out of custody to take the fall for their own murders.
- Serial Killer: By the start of the movie, he's killed six women, claiming to have killed over a dozen more.
- The Sociopath: He's a textbook low-functioning sociopath with no impulse control, empathy, or remorse.
- Villain Decay: In the second film he goes from a dangerous serial killer to a minor threat that is dispatched easily thanks to Tree's experience dealing with him.
- Villain of Another Story: He is not the Big Bad villain of the attempts on Tree's life, but is still a rampaging murderer, whose story Tree walks into.
