Characters / Scream: Ghostface

Main Character Index
Movies: Recurring Characters (Sidney Prescott | Gale Weathers | Dewey Riley | Sam Carpenter) | Ghostface (Scream 4 Mastermind) | Scream (1996) | Scream 2 | Scream 3 | Scream 4 | Scream (2022) | Scream VI
TV Series: MTV Series | Resurrection

WARNING: Given that the identity of each one of the killers is a Walking Spoiler, this is a Spoilers Off page. Everything below the general character description will openly spoil The Reveal from each movie. You Have Been Warned. With that in mind, please keep tropes for each killer before each reveal on the respective character pages so as to not spoil the twist on those pages.

Note that this page only covers the Ghostface killers from the films. The Ghostfaces from the MTV series, Resurrection and Dead by Daylight can be found here, here and here, respectively.

Ghostface

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

Voiced in English By: Roger L. Jackson^{Other Languages} Emmanuel Curtil (French), Kai Taschner (German), Jin Yamanoi (Japanese)

Played By: Dane Farwell (Scream, 2, 4), Lee Waddell (Scream, 2), Brian Avery (3), John Gilbert and Paul Burke (5), Max Leferriere (VI)^note Stuntmen mostly play Ghostface when the killer is wearing the costume. The actors playing the characters who don the Ghostface identity are listed below in their respective folders.

"You're a survivor, aren't you, Sidney? Your one and only skill: you survive. I've got one question for you. What good is it to be a survivor in this little drama, if everyone close to you is dead?"

Wearing a white ghost mask and long black robes, the Ghostface killer sneaks and stabs his way through suburban neighborhoods, hacking teenagers and college kids to pieces — but not before calling them up with horror trivia games. A word of advice: don't get the wrong answer.

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General

#-L

• Affirmative-Action Legacy: The first Ghostface duo consisted of white men, but almost half of the succeeding Ghostfaces are women.
  • Scream 2:
    • Nancy Loomis is a Ghostface metaphorically taking up Billy's knife. Randy acknowledges this trope when deducing that the killer is trying to break new ground.
    • Hallie was one of the killers in the original draft for Scream 2, which would have made her the first African-American Ghostface in the film series if not for the rewrites.
  • Scream 3: Roman had Angelina as a partner in an early script, but the final movie averts this by making Roman the sole killer.
  • Scream 4: Jill is a Ghostface.
  • Scream 5: Amber is paired with Richie. She also would've been the first definitive LGBTQ+ Ghostface if she was still Tara's lover in the final movie, as was intended in the original script.
  • Scream VI: Quinn is one of the Ghostfaces. Additionally, Jason is the first non-white Ghostface.
• The Alibi: In most of the movies, Ghostface is an identity shared by two people, which means that accounting for every character's location whenever Ghostface attacks isn't a good way of eliminating suspects.
• Ambiguous Situation: Because there are usually multiple killers operating under the Ghostface persona in each film (except for Scream 3), it is often a point of contention among fans on which one of the killers claimed which victims in their respective killing sprees. That being said, it's usually easier to narrow it down if one of the killers is present out-of-costume in a scene where Ghostface is attacking another character.
• Ancestral Weapon: An odd and nonlinear example with the multiple copies of the Buck 120 knife. The weapon is first used by Billy Loomis, and then his mother. Sidney's half-brother Roman then wields it, and is succeeded by their cousin Jill. This occurs again with Richie being the first in his family to wield the knife, before it's passed on to his younger siblings Ethan and Quinn, as well as his father Wayne. Note that it's extremely rare for a Ghostface to use the exact same knife as a previous Ghostface, just another copy of the same model, because the actual knife from a previous killing spree would be in police evidence (or Richie's collection).
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Every incarnation of Ghostface is an enemy of Sidney and always targets her, though in the fifth movie, Richie and Amber don't seem to actively seek her out but rather relish that she's involved. Billy, Mrs. Loomis, Roman, and Jill are particularly personal enemies for her.
  • As of the fifth movie, Ghostface is this for Sam Carpenter as well; the original Ghostface mastermind, Billy Loomis, is her biological father, and his shadow looms over her, while that film's two Ghostfaces are explicitly targeting her and her sister. This carries on in the sixth movie as well, with the vengeful Kirsch/Bailey family targeting Sam to avenge the death of Richie Kirsch, who was the Ghostface mastermind of the previous film.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The "Father Death" costume; on one hand, the costume is easily affordable, can be found most everywhere, blends in well in the night thanks to the black robe, hides the physical identity of its wearer to the point that you may not know if Ghostface is male or female, is intimidating to Ghostface's victims, and it looks badass on whoever wears it. Despite its many advantages, the costume was not made for sociopaths to go around chasing and killing people; the costume's skirt constricts the wearer's legs and the mask has darkened fabric lenses, making it difficult to see at night. Which is probably why Ghostface is so sluggish and clumsy when they attack people.
• Ax-Crazy: All the people who donned the identity are messed-up in the head.
• Bad Boss: With the exception of the third, fifth and sixth films, any mastermind of a film's killings is this to their henchman following The Reveal, from Billy's nearly lethal bullying of Stu to Mrs. Loomis's and Jill's fatal disposals of their Dragons once they're finished serving them.
• Big Bad: Merges this with Legacy Character. While every film has a new killer, the holder of the Ghostface identity is always the main threat.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With the exception of the third and sixth films, the identity is typically donned by two people. However, only the fifth film plays this straight, as all the other Ghostface pairs had one killer that was clearly dominant over the other.
• Big Bad Friend: Except Roman in 3, there's almost always at least one Ghostface who poses as a non-romantic friend to the main group of teens: Stu in 1, Mickey in 2, both Jill and Charlie in 4, Amber in 5, and both Ethan and Quinn in VI.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family:
  • Two of them are related to Sidney, and two more are mother and son (who were still motivated by the actions of Sidney's deceased mother and her Ghostface son). The secondary Ghostface killers in those movies are just pawns in the schemes of these four.
  • The sixth film introduces Detective Wayne Bailey and his children Quinn and Ethan, who themselves are the vengeful family of the previous lead Ghostface Richie Kirsch.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In each film, the people behind the Ghostface mask are presented as friendly and harmless before their facades drop.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: They all have a moment (or several moments):
  • Mrs Loomis in 2: She reveals her plan to Sidney, and lampshades how stupid it was with the following dialogue:
    "OK, so have I covered everything, are there any questions, any comments? You know what? Who gives a flying FUCK anyway!?"
  • Jill in 4 lets Gale have some final words before killing her. This naturally leads to Gale getting the upper hand on her and Sidney killing her.
• Brains and Brawn: So far, all of the Ghostface pairings follow this dynamic.
  • The main Ghostface is the brains of the operation that creates most of the plans. Likewise, most of the attacks and murders are carried out by their partner, so the main Ghostface usually plays a more subtle role by distracting the victims with harassing phone calls or by pretending to be a victim to pull off a Wounded Gazelle Gambit.
  • The secondary Ghostface is The Brute that does most of the muscle work and likewise is physically bigger than the lead Ghostface^note although Amber in Scream 5 is an exception as she's smaller than Richie. Because of this, they act as The Heavy since they spend more time under the Father Death costume as Ghostface and consequently have more kills than their respective leaders do.
• The Bully: Monstrous mass-murdering psychos or not, they're just bullies who torment their victims for their own sick amusement, especially since most of the killers are around high school/college age. Their killings and severe attitude problems make them come across as a Barbaric Bully, with their grisly killings being an allegory for Bully Brutality. Also, whenever they're a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, they act like typical bullies, pretending to be friendly to a new classmate at school, before subjecting them to public humiliation in front of their peers (or in their case, just flat-out killing them after The Reveal). To anyone who dons the mask, serial killing is just as enjoyable as the typical bully shoving their defenseless victims in a locker, giving them wedgies, dunking their victims' heads into a toilet to give them a swirly, and pulling humiliating pranks (schemes where they try to come across as survivors of their own killings out of fame and glory and their persecution of each film's heroes are both cruel, childish pranks with staggering body counts). Finally, one bad habit actually shown in the films that Ghostfaces and usual bullies share is to cruelly prank call their victims. Sidney eventually has enough of running and hiding from their terrorizing, and grows a pair to become a Bully Hunter.
• Bulletproof Vest: Some of the Ghostfaces take the precaution of wearing bulletproof vests under the costume, as Sidney and the other heroes tend to be packing heat as the franchise progresses. Examples include Roman, Amber and Quinn.
• Bullying a Dragon: Honestly, after the first movie, where Sidney took out the first Ghostface and his accomplice in brutal fashion, it should be well known that Sidney can be pretty dangerous herself. In fact, since her first three encounters with Ghostface killers (all of which she survived) have been adapted in the Stab films, the copycat Ghostfaces should definitely know better than to go after her, yet they still do. With each movie, this trope becomes more pronounced.
  Sidney: You're forgetting one thing about Billy Loomis.
  Mickey: What's that?
  Sidney: I fucking killed him!
• Cain and Abel: The third and one of the fourth Ghostfaces are Sidney's older half-brother and younger cousin respectively, both from her mother's side.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He enjoys killing people. Sometimes too much.
• Cast as a Mask: Roger L. Jackson provides the voice for Ghostface whenever people are using the voice-changer to disguise their identity. Stuntmen Dane Farwell, Brian Avery, John Gilbert, and Paul Burke portray Ghostface in the costume onscreen.
• Catchphrase:
  • "What's your favorite scary movie?"
  • In the original film, the phrase was actually: "Do you like scary movies?"
  • Upon being unmasked, they'll usually say "Surprise, Sidney!" or some variation.
• Cheap Costume: The iconic "Father Death" costume is nothing more than a rubber mask and nylon cloak sold "at every five-and-dime in the state."
• Character Tics: Ghostface has a habit of tripping, holding his knife out horizontally before wiping the blade off with his free hand, and tilting his head like some other classic slasher movie villains. Some Ghostfaces have their own unique traits that distinguish them from their partner or predecessors.
• Collective Identity: In five out of six movies, more than one person is acting as Ghostface at any given time. While this was a plot twist for the first film, it's the norm for most of the sequels.
• Con Man: When the unmasked killers reveal their plans at the climax, they're often plotting to make themselves the heroes and survivors of their mass murders. However, they are Ax-Crazy examples of this trope.
• Connected All Along: Played with. Certain Ghostfaces were obviously friends with each other before getting the idea to start killing while others had more secretive links.
• Cop Killer: Since Police Are Useless for the most part, most Ghostfaces can take them down with ease. Collectively, Ghostface has killed 7 cops so far including Judy Hicks and Dewey. Inverted with Detective Wayne Bailey.
• Copycat Killer: Every subsequent Ghostface after Billy and Stu mostly copies the original film's modus operandi. For example, all of them wear the "Father Death" costume as a disguise, wield knives as their main weapon, and utilize voice changers when harassing victims on the phone. They also tend to switch from knives to using guns after they reveal themselves. That said, all of the later killers have their own twists on the Ghostface formula.
• Corrupted Character Copy: As the Scream series is highly serialised, it's common for Ghostfaces (at least in 4 and 5) to be evil versions of earlier characters.
• Dark Is Evil: Combined with Light Is Not Good, as the usual ensemble for Ghostface is a Black Cloak (though closer to the body than most versions) and a White Mask of Doom.
• Deadpan Snarker: When they taunt their would-be victims; every Ghostface makes sure to throw in a few mean-spirited jibes, especially during their trademark menacing phone calls.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype:
  • Ghostface is a deconstruction of the Stock Slasher, who is typically a masked Implacable Man with (borderline) supernatural abilities such as Nigh-Invulnerability and a Healing Factor. While Ghostface is a determined and athletic Stealth Expert, they are ultimately human, which means their victims have a better chance of holding them off or even killing them. Because of this, Ghostface usually avoids fair fights with characters wielding guns and is not above using guns themselves to gain an advantage. Like the slasher villains that inspired them, Ghostface also wears a mask but with the twist that the mask helps disguise their identity although this comes with the cost of good vision, resulting in Ghostface's occasional moment of clumsiness. Furthermore, while Michael, Leatherface, and Jason are outsiders to normal society and thus have no issues with becoming the target of law enforcement and going on the run, Ghostface is (mostly) a regular person and generally doesn't want their crimes tied to their person, which is why they have a Fall Guy to take the blame. Finally, Ghostface is also an "immortal" slasher villain that returns in every sequel but in the realistic sense that any psychopath can pick up the "Father Death" costume and become the next Ghostface copycat.
  • They also deconstruct the sociopathic chessmaster type of villain. While the plans each Ghostface incarnation makes for their kills are genuinely impressive, often remaining under the radar for the whole film, their plans are full of flaws that would have exposed them eventually if investigated by competent investigators. Even aside from their moments of Bond Villain Stupidity, their attempts to stage themselves as victims who narrowly survived the experience would not hold up to forensic scrutiny^note for one thing, Billy had already used fake blood earlier that night to fake an attack, and was still coated in it by the time he and Stu intentionally injure one-another while the patsies they try to pin the blame on for the attacks and frame would similarly be easily cleared of guilt^note both Sidney's father and Trevor would show obvious signs of having been kidnapped and held against his will, from the marks left on them from being Bound and Gagged to how they were incapacitated in the first place leaving obvious injuries that wouldn't match defensive wounds, and Sam's injuries wouldn't line up with those Ghostface would have occurred nevermind the fact she wasn't even in the same state when Tara was attacked and has alibis for the other attacks. Aside from that, they make a number of small mistakes that contribute to their undoing that allow for Sidney and later Sam to get the upper hand in the final act, from failing to account for some of the other characters involved to not ensuring their victims are actually dead. This all matches up with the reality of most real life killers (spree killers in general rarely escape justice, and most serial killers generally get by on police incompetence or indifference rather than their own skill, and in reality, serial killers tend to be individuals of below average intelligence and are often exposed by family if they aren't caught in the traditional sense), but also shows that while they certainly think of themselves as brilliant masterminds, they're grossly overestimating themselves and underestimating everyone around them.
• Determinator: Any Ghostface will never stop pursuing their victims until they get the kill, even if they fall, trip, and/or get hit with everything the victims have at hand (including doors).
• Didn't Think This Through: Their plans tend to have holes in them, which usually get called out by Sidney, or even each other.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The dominant Ghostface in the killer duos targets the heroes for reasons that are usually very petty and/or unjustifiable by any sane logic.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Each version of Ghostface prefers knives or improvised weapons for their attacks, most likely to play up the stereotypical slasher image like killers in in-universe horror films, who either don't or only rarely use guns as weapons, although several of them finally resort to using handguns in their final confrontation with the heroes of the film.
• Dramatic Unmask: Played with throughout the series. The only one to play it straight is Roman in the third film.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Given that most of the killers are in a friend group, and most of the victims are from said friend groups, this is inevitable. Examples include Billy betraying his girlfriend Sidney, Richie betraying his girlfriend Sam, and Amber betraying her best friend Tara.
• Evil All Along: They are all introduced as someone close to Sidney, or at least someone indifferent yet harmless to her, until The Reveal that they are anything but.
• Evil Gloating: Once the Ghostfaces reveal themselves, they always, always, proceed to gloat about their Evil Plan to the heroes, not being able to resist complimenting themselves about how clever they think they are, instead of just killing Sidney while they have a chance. Without fail, this leads to the heroes getting the upper hand and taking them down.
• Evil Is Bigger: Most Ghostfaces, minus the pair in the fourth film and one of the killers in the fifth, are taller than Sidney, with Matthew Lillard taking the cake at 6'3".
• Evil Is Hammy: Every single Ghostface has been depicted as having quite the Fun Personified flair for the dramatic. However, this only makes each of them obnoxious and despicable. Roman, Mickey and Jill take the cake in this regard.
• Evil Is Petty: A recurring trait with the Ghostfaces; while none of them can be described as stable or rational in any sense, their motives and actions tend to be anywhere from mildly to insanely petty.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Each has access to some voice-changing device that makes them sound similarly harsh and raspy, a voice usually portrayed by Roger L. Jackson.
• Fall Guy: In every film, Ghostface has at least one victim on which they plan to pin their crimes, and Ghostface usually murders said victim(s) in a Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit.
• The Family That Slays Together: As of the sixth film, 2/3 of all the Ghostfaces (and all of the masterminds) are related to one or more of the other Ghostfaces by blood.
  • Scream (1996) and Scream 2 feature Billy Loomis, and his mother Nancy Loomis, as the lead Ghostfaces of their respective films.
  • Scream 3 and Scream 4 introduce members of the maternal side of Sidney's family, the Roberts. Roman Bridger, Sidney's maternal half-brother, is the sole Ghostface of the third film, and Jill Roberts, Sidney's cousin, is the mastermind of the fourth film.
  • After Richie Kirsch was the mastermind of Scream (2022), the Kirsch family plays this the straightest in Scream VI, with Richie's father, Detective Wayne Bailey, and his siblings, Ethan and Quinn, comprising the Ghostface trio in the sixth film.
• Faux Affably Evil: All Ghostfaces tend to address their victims in a polite, almost friendly way before brutally killing them.
• Flowery Insults: Usually whenever someone is about to hang up, Ghostface will make an exceptionally violent threat ("Cut you like a fish," "Gut you like a pig," "Cut through your neck until I feel bone," etc.) to shock them into staying on the line.
• For the Evulz: While some have sympathetic backstories, all kill largely because they enjoy it.
• Fragile Speedster: Compared to other slasher movie villains, Ghostfaces are often knocked down or otherwise briefly incapacitated by mundane hazards, which is justified since they are just ordinary people with no supernatural enhancements whatsoever. However, they make up for it with sheer determination, and by being much faster than your average lumbering slasher.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Most Ghostfaces have a troubled past that drove them to become killers, although the films never validate them or treat them as remotely sympathetic due to the crimes they commit and emotional trauma they inflict on others. Sidney herself gets sick of the excuses after a couple of rodeos. In Scream 3, Sidney shouts Roman down with the facts that his crimes were his own choices and that he should have just taken responsibility for his life, and in Scream (2022), Sidney hangs up on a taunting Ghostface and says she's bored during the climax while she sweeps the house, having suffered enough trauma and petty betrayals to feel that any excuse for the killings would be insufficient and tiresome and that learning the motive isn't worth it.
• Genre Blind: Up until Richie and Amber averted this in the fifth film, every single time there were two killers, one tried to kill or harm the other (the only successful case was Jill killing Charlie), and yet they never see it coming.
• Glass Cannon: Justified, as they are overly dependent on their victims cowering in fear, and are thus almost laughingly unprepared for when someone fights back, especially Sidney. They also do not have the invulnerability or indifference to pain the likes of Michael Myers do and so react realistically to injuries.
• The Grim Reaper: The costume is largely a Black Cloak similar to Death, but with the unique twist of the Ghostface (called "Father Death" initially) mask.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: The killer often starts off nice enough in conversations, if maybe a little weird, but when you stop falling in line, the facade breaks. The Big Bad, following The Reveal in the movies, tends to be prone to losing their temper, fuelling their ax-craziness and making them mean-spirited and emotionally abusive. Since the first film, they consistently lose their composure hard whenever the heroes turn their sick game onto them.
• Harassing Phone Call: A trademark of the Ghostface killers. Part of their modus operandi is to call their victims and terrorize them by asking them horror trivia questions, threatening to kill them and/or someone else if they don't comply or get the wrong answer.
• Hate Sink: With exceptions of Richie and his father, the masterminds of each film— Billy, Nancy, Roman, and especially Jill— fall squarely into this, being utterly despicable and sadistic excuses for human beings that earn the ire of both Sidney and the audience.
• Humans Are Bastards: They don't have to have supernatural powers to commit monstrous and savage crimes and behave like common bullies with shockingly violent tendencies.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Though relying on a gimmick of being theme costumed while killing, anyone who dons the mask proves that mere mortals alone can be capable of destructive and monstrous sadism and slaughter without any need of the supernatural assistance that killers such as Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers have mostly relied on.
• Implacable Man: Subverted. The various Ghostface killers are ultimately perfectly ordinary people in spooky outfits, not supernatural beings like the '80s slashers they take inspiration from. Several times, the killer is successfully fended off using nothing but fists or various implements, or even knocked unconscious, and basic firearms will kill them. That said, every Ghostface is a Determinator, so you'd better make sure they're actually dead.
• It's All About Me: The killers are all insanely self-centered, and usually force their targets to play the roles that they choose for them in the "movie" that is their life.
• Jerkass: At best, they're Faux Affably Evil or get along with their accomplice. By and large, they're nasty, petty, vicious maniacs who enjoy taunting their victims almost as much as they enjoy killing them. The traditional Motive Rant in each film tends to feature a lot of Evil Gloating, mockery of their intended victims, and self-important excuses for their vile deeds.
• Joker Immunity: Zig-zagged. While Ghostface as a persona and threat always comes back, the person(s) under the mask is a new killer each time, with Ghostface being the guise of entirely mortal criminals who are killed at the end of each film.
• Karmic Death: One way or another, they all meet their well-deserved demise at the end of their respective killing sprees when the heroes turn the tables on them.
• Kick the Dog: They always make a point of taunting their victims as much as possible, often by bringing up past trauma. They are always unprepared for when The Dog Bites Back.
• Lack of Empathy: As is standard for any sadistic serial killer. They all show no mercy to their victims, and none of them ever express any remorse for their crimes when revealed.
• Lean and Mean: They all have a slender build and as you may have guessed, are not very nice. Mrs. Loomis even lost weight as part of the plan.
• Legacy Character: Since it's a generic Halloween costume in-universe, a grand total of thirteen ^note  technically fifteen, since Sidney and Sam themselves briefly donned it in the first and sixth films, respectively characters have donned the identity.
• Loony Fan: At least one or two of the killers are devoted horror fans. Richie and Amber are this especially, as it's their main motive for their killings. Billy and Stu started the trend, basing their killing spree on slasher movie tropes seemingly for their own sick amusement.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Several of them are in or previously had a relationship with one of their victims, to the point that Dewey states that "don't trust the love interest" is the first rule of surviving a Stab movie in Scream (2022).

M-Z

• Made of Iron: Every Ghostface is this to some extent, as at least one Ghostface in every movie pulls off a Not Quite Dead moment. Although in hindsight, whenever the costume is removed, the killer actually seems to be quite breakable. They also don't simply shrug off injuries and react accordingly to pain.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Though in some cases, the Ghostface killer can be a Malevolent Masked Woman.
• Mascot Villain: Easily the most recognizable "face" of the whole franchise, and they are the villain(s).
• Mask of Sanity: Prior to The Reveal, They Look Just Like Everyone Else!, but each one is actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
• Misplaced Retribution: Nearly all of the mastermind Ghostfaces target Sidney (and later Sam) for events that she was in no way responsible or guilty for, with most of the copycats in the sequels even going after Sidney as a consequence of her defending herself from the previous Ghostfaces that have attempted to kill her. Finally averted with Richie Kirsch and Amber Freeman in the fifth movie, who have no personal connection to or vendetta against Sidney herself.
• Moral Myopia: Almost a pre-requisite for the job. Even when a Ghostface's motive doesn't involve revenge, they'll still throw a hissy fit about perceived slights against them and act like the victim even as they're literally trying to murder people.
• More Deadly Than the Male: When there's a female Ghostface, they're usually more deadly than their male cohorts. Mrs. Loomis and Jill are the Big Bads of their respective films while Amber commits most of the killings in the fifth, even claiming the honor of killing Dewey. Meanwhile, Quinn nearly kills Gale in the sixth.
• Motive Decay: Played with as Ghostface isn't a single entity but played by multiple people each with distinct personalities and reasons to kill. The masterminds of the original trilogy were Driven to Villainy from personal tragedies they blamed on Sidney's mother, Maureen, or even Sidney herself. Then came Sidney's cousin, Jill, who was just a fame-hungry narcissist that orchestrated her massacre in order to succeed Sidney as the next "heroic survivor" of Ghostface's rampage. Afterwards came Richie, whose excuse for his bloodbath was possibly the most ridiculous yet: so that the Stab movies could return to form being Based on a True Story. The accomplices, on the other hand, always had selfish or petty reasons to partake in the murders: Stu was merely in it For the Evulz, Mickey was an O. J. Simpson wannabe, Charlie wanted to be the "Randy" to Jill's "Sidney", and Amber was a Loony Fan like Richie. The killers of the sixth film, however, make a downplayed invoked"Character Rerailment" as their motive is simple vengeance for Richie.
• Motive Rant: A good number of the dominant Ghostfaces do this after they reveal themselves to the heroes. Sidney gets sick of them quickly.
• Mundane Horror: They Look Just Like Everyone Else! with their generally ordinary physical appearances while unmasked, and don't possess any remarkable physical capabilities, but this doesn't make them anything than the Ax-Crazy Serial Killers they really are.
• Narcissist: Most of the killers fancy themselves quite a bit, and commit murders in order to be the stars, directors, or writers of their own real-life horror movies. Because of this, they see their targets as supporting characters, fulfilling the roles they chose for them.
• Never My Fault: With the exception of Mickey, who freely admits to just being a psychopath trying to get famous, pretty much all Ghostfaces will place the blame for their actions onto other people and act like the wronged party.
• Not Quite Dead: It's customary for at least one of the killers in each movie to pull this in a last-ditch effort to kill the heroes before promptly being gunned down. As Sidney herself says: "they always come back."
• Offscreen Teleportation: Like the more supernatural slashers, if Ghostface is off-camera for a moment, he is capable of appearing anywhere.
  • Most of the time, this is justified because there are usually two people in costume, allowing Ghostface to be in two places at once. In the first movie, Ghostface was able to move Steve into Casey's backyard and ring the doorbell at the front door without much issue since both Billy and Stu were at Casey's house.
  • Scream 3 had one killer, so it had an alternate explanation for Roman's disappearing act: Roman had knowledge of the secret passages in Milton's house, allowing him to waylay or trap his unaware victims.
  • On the other hand, it's sometimes played straight. For example, in Scream 2, Mickey was able to disappear from the police car before ambushing Hallie even though Sidney was surveilling said car in the same sequence.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: As the survivors of the original films/previous films get older and older, the Ghostfaces tend to be much younger than them most of the time since the fourth film, even with Ghostfaces who are adults (as in the case of Richie, Quinn, and Ethan).
  • In the fourth film, Jill was 17 and Charlie was around the same age, vs. 32-year-old Sidney, 47-year-old Gale, and 40-year-old Dewey.
  • In the fifth film, Amber was 17 and Richie was in his late 20s, vs. 42-year-old Sidney, 57-year-old Gale, and 50-year-old Dewey.
  • In the sixth film, 19-year-old Quinn and Ethan (who's probably 18) face off against 59-year-old Gale. In the scene where Ghostface attacks Gale, Quinn is behind the mask. Also, Kirby is now 30 and gets attacked by Quinn and Ethan as well. However, they are masterminded by their father Wayne, whose actor is 59, so it's not entirely this trope.
• Outlaw Couple: Occasionally, the Ghostface killers have a romantic relationship with each other. Notable subversions include:
  • Scream 2: An early draft had Derek dating Hallie behind Sidney's and Mickey's backs. Hallie even compares Derek and herself to the protagonists of Natural Born Killers. However, later edits to the story scrapped this plan since Mickey replaced both Hallie and Derek as Ghostface.
  • Scream 3: Likewise, Roman and Angelina were romantically involved in a prior script; however, the final movie averted this by making Angelina one of the victims instead.
  • It's implied that Richie and Amber, the killers of Scream 5, were romantically involved. Amber calls him "hon" after the Reveal and in Scream VI, Sam says that Richie made "his girlfriend" do all the killing, clearly refering to Amber. This is still rather ambiguous, and many choose to ignore the implication due to the age gap (Richie being a twenty-something and Amber being 17).
• Playing the Victim Card: Almost every Ghostface tries to present themselves as the real victim and their targets as the ones in the wrong, and genuinely seem to believe it regardless of how petty their motivations often are. The only exception is Mickey, who freely admits to just being an evil Serial Killer. This is also often part of their final plan: frame someone else as the killer or killers and claim to be a victim who narrowly survived.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: With few exceptions, the Ghostface killers are major movie buffs, constantly referencing or quizzing their would-be victims on horror movies; Billy outs himself as a killer by quoting Psycho, Mickey was a film student who made a number of movie references (including Top Gun, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and The Godfather Part II), Roman was a film director, Jill and Charlie were both big horror fans, and Richie and Amber were both motivated by wanting to inspire a better film in their favorite slasher series.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Many Ghostfaces fit the criteria quite well when their identities and motives are revealed, very quickly devolving from cool headed Smug Snakes into rampant screaming Tantrum Throwers the moment Sidney breaks their aura of control, or calls them out on their bullshit.
• Revenge Myopia: Most of the Ghostfaces with motives for their killings are attacking out of some loss or turmoil in their past, most often blaming Sidney for it in some indirect way. By the third instance, Sidney gets so sick of this bullshit that she delivers a furious "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the Ghostface in question, telling them it's their own fault they're a twisted psychopath, and they need to just learn to take some responsibility for their lives. Naturally, it falls on deaf ears, and the Ghostface in question throws a violent Never My Fault Villainous Breakdown.
• Sadist: Whatever sympathetic motives each may think they have, it's repeatedly shown that they take immense pleasure in their vicious crimes and try to drag out the experience for as long as possible.
• Samus Is a Girl: Mrs. Loomis in 2, Jill in 4, Amber in 5, and Quinn in VI.
• "The Scream" Parody: Their masks are all a variant on the painting.
• Serial Killer: Specifically, a serial killer in costume who hunts down all the friends and family of Sidney Prescott, and eventually moves on to anyone even remotely related to the events of the first movie at all. As the sequels go on, it becomes increasingly clear that anyone who survives a Ghostface killing spree will find themselves having to continually face copycats looking to claim their lives where previous killers have failed. Though if you want to be pedantic, they're more of a spree killer, killing mulitple people in mulitple locations with little or no cooldown period. Serial killers tend to have long cooldowns between kills (sometimes months or years), while mass murderers kill lots of people in one location in a single incident. Interestingly, Billy and Stu fit all three, having a year-long cooldown after killing Maureen Prescot, then starting their spree with Casey and Steve at the start of the first film, then moving into mass murder at the climax where they kill, or attempt to kill, multiple people at roughly the same time in the same place.
• Silent Antagonist: Zigzagged. Unlike most slasher villains, Ghostface is able to and frequently does talk. This usually happens when they are taunting their victims on the phone with a voice changer. However, whenever they appear on-screen, they tend to stay silent, since they can't activate their voice changers when they are in the middle of trying to kill someone, with a few exceptions:
  • Scream 2:
    • After Sidney challenges Ghostface to attack her, Ghostface responds with "my pleasure" before revealing that he is in the same room as Sidney.
    • Just when Sidney is about to untie Derek, Ghostface shows up to announce his presence before unmasking himself as Mickey.
  • In Scream 3, they talk on screen for a few moments before revealing themself as Roman.
  • In the fifth film, they activate their voice changer, now equipped to the costume, while in the hospital chasing Tara, and then pick up her phone so they can taunt Sam. They also make a very low growling noise after killing Judy Hicks.
• Slasher Smile: A good amount of the killers sport very psychotic unnerving smiles after their reveal.
• Smug Snake: All of them. They're twisted chessmasters when donning the guise of Ghostface, but almost always when the heroes pull the rug out from under them or call them out on their pathetic or hypocritical qualities, they essentially throw an Ax-Crazy tantrum. This tendency to lose composure very easily is almost always what leaves them open to their defeat.
• The Social Darwinist: Most of them believe themselves to be justified in their actions or behavior, but they really just have a sense of superiority over others, and believe Murder Is the Best Solution for anyone who disagrees with them.
• Stalker without a Crush: He's not targeting his victims out of love at all.
• Stealth Expert: Apparently capable of showing up behind you whenever you aren't looking.
• Swipe Your Blade Off: One of their Character Tics is to use the hand not holding the knife to wipe off the blade. Stunt performer Dane Farwell originally came up with this to avoid continuity errors related to how much blood is on the knife.
• Teens Are Monsters: Several of them are high school students who remorselessly and sadistically slaughter innocents, including those within their own friend groups.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: All of the people who have taken up the Ghostface mantle don't scream "obvious serial killer!" at first glance. In-universe, the costume is easily obtainable, so anyone could be Ghostface.
• Third Act Stupidity: Every single Ghostface ends up falling prey to this in the third act. For the most part, this happens because they want their victims to know exactly what their plan is, as a way of prolonging their suffering and terror... while also giving them time to figure out how to get the upper hand.
• Tiny Tyrannical Girl: All of the female Ghostfaces tend to be fairly small, and always skinny women. There is, nevertheless, no clear indication of who did the killing, so the female Ghostface is nearly always portrayed as equally brutal as her male counterparts, with no difficulty committing the same actions.
• Too Clever by Half: All the Ghostfaces show a degree of cunning and are skillful manipulators and good at intimidating their victims but they all tend to fatally overestimate their own skills, relying on plans to escape or frame others that would never hold up to scrutiny and being unprepared for their victims aren't intimidated or see through their manipulations.
• Too Dumb to Live: All of them to a degree, but the killers in 4, 5, and VI seem not to realize that their preceding Ghostfaces have a survival rate of 0%, and yet they still don the costume and try to hunt down either the Legacy Trio and/or the Core Four, despite the body count both parties have against Ghostfaces.
• Two Dun It: In all movies except 3 and VI, the Ghostface moniker is donned by two people.
• Two Girls to a Team: Played with. Four women have officially ^note Sidney herself briefly donned the costume in the first film, with Sam doing the same in the sixth donned the Ghostface identity, namely Nancy Loomis (in 2), Jill Roberts (in 4), Amber Freeman (in 5), and Quinn Bailey (in VI).
• Very Punchable Man: It's very easy to root for the heroes to put an end to each killer in the films, as all of them are nasty, despicable individuals.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: The Dragon for the Big Bad is usually Laughably Evil in the films, in contrast to their bosses being straight up sociopathic, except in the fifth film, where the two killers are equals. This is often even demonstrated in their portrayal of Ghostface, while the bosses are more vicious, angry and threatening-sounding in their performance, the lackeys are often more over the top and gleefully mock and cackle at their victims.
• Villain Decay: Ghostface has become less effective towards the survivors as the franchise has gone on. Sidney and Gale in particular are sick of their weak Freudian Excuses and predictability, approaching each murder spree with a "been there, done that" attitude and being ready to put down any new killer who crosses their path without a hint of fear.
• Villainous Breakdown: Not that any were exactly stable to start with, but almost all have moments after the reveal when they go completely mad, usually after Sidney calls bullshit on whatever sympathetic motive they think they have, or turns their own sick game back onto them.
• Villainous Valour: A thoroughly unsympathetic case. Psychotic killer or not, anyone behind the mask is not the kind to know when to give up when hunting down their victims (especially Final Girls Sidney and Sam), even if they have to endure a ridiculous amount of physical punishment. Rather than making them badasses, however, the intention is more to show them as snarling and bloodthirsty rabid dogs at heart, well beyond any possibility of redemption.
• Voice Changeling: Ghostface's trademark is a voice changer that masks their voice over the phone. Roman Bridger takes it a step further by mimicking others, including Maureen Prescott.
• Walking Spoiler: Naturally, every character who turns out to be a killer is this, as The Reveal puts all their past actions in a sinister new light, and they usually reveal a much more psychotic persona beneath their previously benign facade.
• White Mask of Doom: The white mask worn by Ghostface.
• With Friends Like These...: With very few exceptions, Ghostface turns out to be someone within the friend group. Sure, sometimes they are a case of False Friend, but half the time it's someone within the clique who just decides to kill all of their friends for 15 Minutes of Fame, as highly Disproportionate Retribution or simply For the Evulz. And to top it off, most of the time, there are two killers, and in most of those instances one betrays and kills the other.
• Would Hit a Girl: Most Ghostfaces are boys and men, and none of them have any problem brutally murdering girls and women.
• Your Size May Vary: Stunt actors usually play Ghostface when the killers put on the "Father Death" costume, which can lead to height disparities when the killers divulge their identities. This is enforced because Ghostface's gimmick is that he can be anyone. That said, Wes Craven tried to downplay the size discrepancies in Scream 4 by having Jill's actor Emma Roberts wear big shoes to look taller.

Scream (1996)

General

The Original Woodsboro Killers (1996)

"What's the matter, Sidney? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Sidney: You'll never get away with this.

Billy: Oh, no? Tell that to Cotton Weary. You wouldn't believe how easy he was to frame.

Stu: Watch a few movies, take a few notes. It was fun!

The ones who started it all. Billy and Stu murdered Maureen Prescott and claimed five more lives the following year in a murder spree that changed the small town of Woodsboro and those who would survive it forever.

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• Ambiguously Bi: Billy and Stu were both romantically and/or sexually involved with women, and allusions have been made to them also possibly being attracted to men. In-Universe, Sidney calls Billy "a pansy-assed mama's boy", and Randy refers to Billy as "homo-repressed" in the sequel; Kevin Williamson also based them on the real-life killers Leopold and Loeb, a pair of young men who actually were in a relationship. Out-of-universe, many fans have long interpreted (jokingly or otherwise) their relationship to be more than just friendly, with Stu being read as hotter for Billy than vice versa (one example is the almost-fawning way he hands a knife to Billy in the climax).
• Brains and Brawn: Billy is the mastermind and Stu is the muscle. However, they're a downplayed version of this trope compared the other Ghostface pairings in the series, since both are fully willing to get their hands dirty and Stu contributes a number of ideas, namely trying to frame Neil Prescott and presumably going after Casey.
• Card-Carrying Villain: In Stu's words, they prefer the term "psychotic."
• Dramatic Unmask: Casey manages to unmask Stu in the opening scene, although the audience, unlike Casey, doesn't get a good look at the killer's face. Later on, Billy and Stu both subvert this, as they reveal themselves in person without the Father Death costumes. Billy reveals himself after shooting Randy in cold blood, while Stu reveals himself by using Ghostface's voice changer in front of Sidney.
• Fall Guy: Billy and Stu planned to have Sidney's dad take the blame. As for the murder of Sidney's mother a year ago, they successfully framed Cotton with false evidence.
• Famed In-Story: Their killings are documented in Gale's book "The Woodsboro Murders", which in turn leads to the creation of the Stab movie franchise. The first Stab has Billy played by Luke Wilson and Stu by Vince Vaughn.
• Inspirational Martyr: Their killing spree in Woodsboro ends up inspiring future copycat killers.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Billy and Stu are Sidney and Tatum's boyfriends respectively. Stu had also previously dated Casey.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Billy and Stu's deaths only martyred them, spawning many copycat killers in the sequels.
• Predecessor Villain: Billy and Stu are long dead by the time the second film starts, but both of them are mentioned in every movie of the series, making it clear that none of the sequels would have happened if Billy and Stu didn't start the original Ghostface murder-spree.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Billy is the suave, calculating Blue Oni to Stu's loud, boisterous Red Oni. Downplayed after Sidney turns the tables and Billy launches into a full-on screaming meltdown.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: After escaping, Sidney taunts Billy and Stu through the phone with their own Ghostface voice changer. They don't take it very well.
  Sidney: We're going to play a little game. It's called "guess who just phoned the police and reported your sorry motherfucking ass!"
• Teens Are Monsters: A pair of high school students who commit a half-dozen murders and attempt to kill several others. Stu in particular is card-carryingly psychotic after The Reveal.
• Third Act Stupidity: Billy and Stu decide to stab themselves before Sidney or Neil. While Neil is tied up, Sidney is not and is able to use their severely weakened states against them.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Billy is a total bastard with a personal vendetta against Sidney. Stu is his Laughably Evil cohort just in for the kicks.
• Villainous Friendship: Billy and Stu are established to be best friends in their first scene together. Their friendship is ultimately revealed to be quite hollow as Stu cites peer pressure as his motive for helping Billy, and both of them have no issues with attacking each other out of spite. Nevertheless, neither of them actually try to kill each another unlike the Ghostface duos in Scream 2 and Scream 4.
• Villainous Legacy: As the first set of Ghostface killers, Billy and Stu inspired every Ghostface who came after them, with even their inspiration, Roman, taking on the identity when he embarked on a killing spree in the third film. As of the end of the sixth film, there have been no fewer than twelve Ghostfaces or would-be Ghostfaces since Billy and Stu.

Billy Loomis

William "Billy" Loomis

"Movies don't create psychos!
Movies make psychos more creative!"

Played By: Skeet Ulrich

"You hear that, Stu? I think she wants a motive. Well, I don't really believe in motives, Sid. I mean, did Norman Bates have a motive? Did they ever really decide why Hannibal Lecter liked to eat people? DON'T THINK SO. See, it's a lot scarier when there's no motive, Sid."

The mysterious boyfriend of Sidney Prescott, Billy blamed Sidney's mother for destroying his family, and one year prior, he and Stu Macher murdered her and framed Cotton Weary for it. Now, he is going after Sidney and her friends, intending to frame Sidney's father Neil.

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• The Alibi: After Billy gets arrested, Ghostface calls Sidney, saying she "fingered the wrong guy again", which means that Billy, who was thought to be Ghostface, wasn't the attacker. This is only half-true, since Billy is only one of two Ghostfaces; the Ghostface who called Sidney while Billy was in jail was in fact Stu.
• Ax-Crazy: After he's revealed to be Ghostface.
  Billy: We all go a little mad sometimes.
• Bad Boss: He's quite the bully to his partner Stu, stabbing him repeatedly in a rage after Stu stabs him too hard once and throwing the phone at him after Sidney reveals she reported him to the police. In addition, he callously bosses Stu around even as the latter’s losing blood at an alarming rate.
• Barbaric Bully: His savagery in regards to his kills coupled with his Hair-Trigger Temper, him and Stu trying to stab each other to make themselves believably authentic survivors of a massacre, him being a Bad Boss to Stu, and his joy at picking on Sidney make him qualify.
• Beauty Is Bad: Portrayed as Sidney's handsome boyfriend, until he reveals himself as the first film's Big Bad.
• Berserk Button: Insulting his mother is a big one.
• Big Bad: Of the first film. He's the one calling the shots between him and Stu, and concocted most of their plan. His motive also makes him the more personal and climactic of the two killers for Sidney in the finale.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Billy at first seems like a nice, friendly guy, if not a somewhat frustrated boyfriend to Sidney. The reveal that he is the killer completely shatters this image.
• Blatant Lies: Despite telling Sidney that he doesn't "believe in motives", Billy's subsequent ranting makes it clear that he was very much motivated by Maureen's affair with his father.
• Boom, Headshot!: How Sidney eventually kills him.
• The Bully: To Sidney and his own partner-in-crime, Stu.
• Bully Brutality: The way he pulls off his kills works as an analogy to this, and the way he treats Stu counts as this too.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He taunts Sidney for having sex with a psychopath, though he still places the blame for his monstrousness entirely on Maureen's affair with his father and his mother walking out on the family.
• Deadpan Snarker: As evidenced by his response to Casey asking "Who's there?"
  Billy: You might as well come out to investigate a strange noise or something.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Killing Maureen was already this, but at least you can kind of understand his logic (revenge for breaking up his family) if you squint really hard. Going on a murder spree to kill and frame her completely innocent family a year after he's already killed her and gotten away with it is a whole new level. Sidney had no idea of or any involvement in what her mother did, so this veers into Revenge by Proxy. Doubly hypocritical when the fifth movie reveals that Billy had actually knocked up a girl named Cristina some time in between Maureen's murder and the first movie, conceiving Sam and eventually causing Cristina's husband to leave their family once he found out about his wife's infidelity.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: The reason why he kills Sidney's mother: he blames her mother for her affair with Billy's father. Making fun of his mother is also his Berserk Button.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Very small considering he's a psychopath, but still there.
  • With the confirmation that he was responsible for Tatum's death, the fact that he flinched as she's crushed by the garage door shows even he thought it was a bit much.
  • While he fully blames Maureen and Sidney for his mother leaving him, he doesn't stoop to blaming violent media for his psychopathy.
    Billy: Now, Sid, don't you blame the movies! Movies don't create psychos! Movies make psychos more creative!
• Evil Is Petty:
  • Makes as many jabs at having killing Sidney's mother as possible after The Reveal. Ironically, given his own agenda, all Sidney has to do is mock his mother in any way to send him into a fit.
  • Billy had gotten away with murdering Maureen Prescott and framing Cotton Weary for the crime, but he insisted on carrying out a killing spree on the one-year anniversary of her death in order to frame her husband (who had nothing to do with Maureen's affair with Billy's father) and murder her daughter (likewise totally innocent), all as an extra bit of revenge on a woman he'd already murdered.
  • He'd also cheated on Sidney before the events of the first film, adding infidelity to his long list of crimes.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He's very good-looking, and a depraved killer.
• Faking the Dead: Presumably stabbed by Ghostface (Stu) in front of Sidney. He pops up toward the end, revealing himself to be Only Mostly Dead, and shoots Randy, setting up The Reveal.
• Faux Affably Evil: He's a serial killer who happens to have the charisma of a Fun Personified party animal, following The Reveal. He also makes the calls, except for when he was in jail.
• Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: The fifth film reveals that he cheated on Sidney just before the events of the first film, adding yet another layer to what a bastard he was. Bonus points for his motive being his anger at Maureen Prescott for having an affair with Billy's father and tearing his family apart and yet still having no issue engaging in infidelity himself.
• Greater-Scope Villain: While he was manipulated by Roman into killing Sidney's mother, the killing spree that he and Stu committed was his idea, and more importantly the idea of committing the killings in the Ghostface costume was likely his as well (or possibly Stu's), with even Roman adopting the costume when he embarks on his own rampage. Notably, Billy and Stu are the only Ghostfaces to be mentioned in all of the sequels past their own killing spree in 1996, cementing their status as the original Ghostface killers that started it all. Sidney even states as such in the fifth film and Amber refers to him as "the original mastermind."
  Sidney: Billy Loomis started this, and we're gonna end it. After tonight, no more books, no more movies, no more fucking Ghostface.
• Groin Attack: Tatum hits him with a beer bottle to the groin.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Even before The Reveal, he's obviously a bit off.
• He-Man Woman Hater: Billy killed Maureen for the sin of sleeping with his father and "destroying his family", despite the fact that his father was just as complicit. He gaslit Sidney into sleeping with him again despite her grief, and he and Stu murdered Casey just because she dumped Stu for Steve. It's a given that he has a very limited view of women, at best.
• Hero Killer: Billy murders Principal Himbry and Tatum. He almost kills Dewey as well.
• Hypocrite: It seems to be a Loomis family trait. He hates the Prescotts and blames them for destroying his family because his father had an affair with Maureen Prescott, which led to his mother leaving. And yet, Randy spots him flirting with some girls in the video store when he is already going out with Sidney. Furthermore, in the fifth film, it's revealed that he knocked up Sam's mother Cristina. Given the very tight time frames implied by the dialogue,^note Sam's mention that she was 13 and her sister Tara was 8 when she found out who her biological father was implies an age gap of five to six years, and it's mentioned that the events of the fifth film take place almost exactly twenty-five years after the first. If Tara is young enough to be in high school (18), that would make Sam no older than 24, the time between the films minus the nine months it would've taken for her to gestate. Billy would've had to have had sex with Cristina and conceived Sam very shortly before the events of the first film. this means that Billy cheated on Sidney with Cristina. For bonus points, the revelation of Cristina's infidelity caused her husband to leave her and their children, the very same situation that drove Billy to kill.
• Irony: Billy murdered Maureen Prescott because her affair with his father led to his parents divorcing. Billy himself is posthumously responsible for a nearly identical situation, with Sam's parents splitting up after her father learned that Billy was Sam's biological father, the result of Cristina cheating on him with Billy.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite initially acting obviously psychotic during the beginning of the first film, he later on seems to genuinely care for Sidney, but when he reveals himself to be one of the killers, it turns out to all have been just an act.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: He successfully frames Cotton Weary for his and Stu's murder of Maureen Prescott, but when he goes after her daughter a year later, Sidney ultimately avenges her mother's death by killing both of her murderers.
• Knight Templar: Subverted. He tries to present himself as avenging his family and clearly views himself as in the right, but he freely admits that he is a psychopath. He just blames Sidney and Maureen for it.
  Billy: Movies don't create psychos! Movies make psychos more creative!
• Known Only by Their Nickname: His real first name is William, but everyone calls him Billy.
• Lack of Empathy: Has a disturbing lack of regard for others, even Stu.
• Like Parent, Like Child:
  • Billy, his mother, and eventually his daughter all exhibit violent tendencies and one hell of a vindictive streak, as well as a collective disdain for people who attribute violent actions to scary movies.
  • Like his father, Billy proved to be an unfaithful partner; while dating Sidney, he slept with and impregnated Cristina Carpenter, resulting in Sam.
• Like Parent, Unlike Child: Billy's daughter Sam, despite having her demons, has all the empathy, kindness and genuine sense of righteousness that Billy lacked; where Billy murdered Maureen Prescott out of disproportionate rage and subsequently planned a killing spree to further destroy Maureen's family, Sam, though brutal when pushed too far, only ever kills people who are out to murder her and her loved ones, whom she genuinely values, unlike Billy's mistreatment of Stu. While Billy was the villain of the first film, Sam was the heroine of her story.
• Mama's Boy: Never really got over his mother leaving the family after it turned out Maureen Prescott slept with his father. Randy even refers to the trope by name in the sequel.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's the mastermind of the whole thing, and in Stu's own words, he peer-pressured him into the plan.
• Mask of Sanity: Played With; while all the Ghostface killers feign being sane and humane people before The Reveal, Billy is intentionally played as someone who is trying to hide how much of a psychopath he is. Skeet Ulrich had apparently been mistaken about the comedy-horror nature of the film when cast and so had done a large amount of research into teenaged serial killers in real life to model his performance as one. As a result, he rather accurately portrays a disturbed individual who is masking their monstrous nature around others, but its hard for him to truly fake affection or conceal his temper, resulting in him coming off as creepily intense and intimidating. Ironically, this ends up working in his favour as it makes him too obvious a suspect, making it easy to buy he's a red herring until the final act reveal.
• Meaningful Name: Given that Billy is a horror movie fan and one of the Ghostfaces, it's fitting that he's named after major characters from classic slasher movies.
  • His first name brings to mind the killer from Black Christmas. Like the Billy from Black Christmas, Loomis harasses the victims with threatening phone calls, before murdering them and is fairly adept at home invasion as well.
  • His surname is an allusion to Sam Loomis, Michael's psychiatrist from Halloween, and the other Sam Loomis from Psycho. Billy is clearly a fan of the aforementioned movies, and quotes Norman Bates in one moment. That said, he is a villain, unlike the two heroic Sam Loomis characters, making this a rather Ironic Name.
  • Taken together, Billy's full name is rather ambiguous about his true nature, which fits with how Sidney can't decide whether or not he is actually Ghostface before Billy's final reveal as one of the killers.
• Moral Myopia: Murdered Maureen for "destroying" his family by sleeping with his father, but Scream 5 reveals he apparently had no qualms sleeping with another woman despite already being in a relationship himself.
• Never My Fault: Double Subverted. He refuses to cast the blame for his murder spree on violent media, only to then try and place the blame on Sidney and Maureen for it.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • Billy and Stu had gotten away with murdering Maureen and framing Cotton; their plan to murder Sidney and her father to further spite Maureen ultimately only exposes the fact that they were guilty and gets them both killed.
  • In the climax, Gale tries to shoot him, but forgets to take the safety off in her haste, which he lampshades and mocks her for before knocking her out. Later, just when he's on the verge of killing Sidney, Gale stops him via gunshot, mockingly thanking him for that reminder.
    Gale: Guess I remembered the safety that time, bastard.
• Not Quite Dead: Just as Billy is about to kill Sidney, Gale shoots him from the doorway and seemingly kills him. Sidney, Gale, and Randy all stand in front of the unconscious Billy. Randy lampshades that this is when the killer gets up for "one last scare." Moments later, Billy briefly awakens, before Sidney kills him for real with a headshot.
  Randy: Careful. This is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life for one last scare.
  [Billy wakes up and lunges at the group, with Gale and Randy screaming as Sidney calmly shoots Billy in the head]
  Sidney: Not in my movie.
• Obviously Evil: Even prior to The Reveal, Billy was the prime suspect among the cast as even his friend circle found him intense and creepy. Randy outright lampshades he's obviously the killer (though he's largely just saying it out of jealousy), but even after he's officially ruled out Sidney still never completely trusts his innocence.
• Playing the Victim Card: He tries to cast himself as the real victim, putting the blame for his murders entirely on Maureen and Sidney. Sidney calls him out on how moronic it is, but Billy ignores her entirely.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Chides Stu for his insensitive talk about gutting people. Given that he and Stu were the killers, it was probably to shut Stu up before he gave up too much information.
• Pretty Boy: Arguably the most attractive of all the male characters in the film, possibly even the franchise as a whole.
• Psychopathic Manchild: A whiny, crazed, immature mama's boy, to say the least.
• Red Herring: He's practically the living incarnation of this. He's obviously messed up, acts incredibly suspicious, and is suspected to be the killer. All of this immediately draws the audience into believing he is innocent because the movie wants you to believe all that. He's actually just as bad as he appears.
• Sadist: As Ghostface, he taunts Sidney on the phone, gleefully informing her that he killed her mother. He also toys with Casey on the phone to make her think she and Steve have a chance of surviving, helps Stu hang Casey's corpse for her parents to see, and looks into Principal Himbry's eyes as he dies just to torment him further.
• Say My Name: During his Faking the Dead ruse, he says "Sid" before crumpling to the floor.
• Slut-Shaming: Billy calls Sidney's mother a whore for having an affair with his father that consequently broke up his family even though his own father was equally at fault for having the affair, and as we later learn he himself had cheated on Sidney with another girl and gotten her pregnant.
• Smug Snake: He ain't exactly subtle about how proud he is of his plan, and once things stop going according to plan, he loses any semblance of composure.
• The Sociopath: He refers to himself as such and ticks a lot of the boxes, being selfish, sadistic, short-tempered, and manipulative. It's downplayed in practice, however, as it's made clear that as awful he is, Billy truly does love his mother and noticeably doesn't blame her for leaving. Stu, on the other hand…
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Unlike the much more animated Stu, once Billy has been outed as a killer, he mostly keeps his voice down, even revealing his duplicity with an almost whispered "we all go a little mad sometimes". Once things start falling out of his control, however, Billy starts shouting angrily.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Between him and Stu, he is clearly the brains in the Ghostface scheme, and many of his interactions with Stu clearly hints at the fact is quite irritated with him, because Stu is frequently inches from Saying Too Much and giving away the game, resulting in a frustraded Billy either telling him to shut up or punching him on the arm to get the same meaning across.
• Thin-Skinned Bully: Less in the sense of being cowardly, but more that Billy loses control hard when Sidney turns the tables on him, only able to make petty threats and throw a screaming fit when she bests him at even that. He also, ironically, puts up less of a fight than Stu.
• Tom the Dark Lord: "Billy" is not a particularly intimidating name for the homicidal monster that he is.
• Toxic Friend Influence: He was able to talk Stu into being his accomplice.
• Unwitting Pawn: Roman convinced him to kill Maureen instead of doing it himself so that nothing could trace back to him.
• Villainous Breakdown: He starts losing it once he loses track of the gun, then Sidney and her father, reducing him to the animalistic, no-holds-barred rage of a man who truly is a snarling monster no matter what guise he takes.
• Villains Never Lie: Very much averted, as he admits, "You get it right? You die.", meaning Casey was never going to live. However, his motive rant screams this trope, because while Sidney is visibly unimpressed with his "slut-bag whore" motive, she doesn't question his actual motive at all. In that she takes his word that his mother left because of his father's affair with Maureen.
• White Shirt of Death: During the final night, he's wearing a white shirt.
• Would Hit a Girl: Kills Maureen and Tatum and almost kills Sidney and Gale.

Stu Macher

Stuart "Stu" Macher

"Surprise, Sidney!"

Played By: Matthew Lillard ^note Skeet Ulrich was wearing the costume in the scene where Ghostface menaces Randy before killing Kenny, which Word of God says was Stu.

"You see, Sid, everybody dies but us! Everybody dies but us! We get to carry on and plan the sequel, because let's face it, baby, these days, you gotta have a sequel!"

Tatum's boyfriend and a classmate of Sidney who is Billy's accomplice in the murder of Maureen Prescott. His motive for both her murder and the events of the first film amounts to little more than peer pressure and simply being crazy.

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• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: While his failures can be attributed to him not being very bright to begin with, it's not helped by the fact that he drinks a bit at his own party even though he has plans to orchestrate a series of murders, and frame a guy. This is something that is noticeably not repeated by his successors.
• The Alibi: Has one for the murders of Casey and Steve in the form of Tatum, who informs Randy that Stu was with her at the night of the murders. Randy counters that Stu could have killed Casey and Steve before or after visiting Tatum. It is implied that Randy was right, since Stu looks noticeably guilty afterwards, and Tatum resorts to interrogating Randy about his whereabouts on the night of the murders.
• Ax-Crazy: Eventually revealed to be one of the Ghostface killers. Overall, he's one of the biggest For the Evulz killers in the franchise.
• Barbaric Bully: His grotesque enthusiasm in engaging in the killings and him and Billy stabbing each other to makes themselves look like authentic victims qualify him as such.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He's probably the goofiest character in all the series. That said, he still efficiently carries out a number of murders, and does it all For the Evulz. Even Mickey isn't this goofy or dangerous.
• The Bully: Of the lackey variety, accompanying the main bully within their classic high school/college posse, even if he gets bullied himself amongst the two.
• Bully Brutality: Him taking part in most grisly kills, including the murder of his ex, is a reflection of this.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: His motive for murdering Casey and Steve is bitterness over Casey breaking up with him.
• Death by Irony: Stu, a Serial Killer who based his murders on horror movies, dies when Sidney crushes his head with a television playing the original Halloween.
• Dirty Coward: His pathetic Villainous Breakdown where he's reduced to bawling like a baby, in contrast to Billy's more aggressive one, confirms him to be this overall.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He brutally murders Casey and her boyfriend for her dumping him.
• The Dragon: Billy's accomplice, assisting him in multiple murders.
• Dumb Muscle: It's clear after The Reveal that Stu is just the brawns of the operation, following the more intelligent Billy's lead for the most part. He does come up with the idea to frame Neil Prescott as the culprit for their killing spree, though.
• Entitled to Have You: He kills Casey for the sin of dumping him, even though he was dating Tatum at the time of the murder.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: And papas too, possibly. While he'll gladly kill, he doesn't want his parents to know because he's afraid of how angry they'll be at him. Although his reaction's mostly because he doesn't want to get caught, he might also be scared of breaking their hearts.
  Stu: Did you really call the police?
  Sidney: You bet your sorry ass I did.
  Stu: (begins to cry) My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!
• Even Evil Has Standards: Heavily downplayed, considering he mostly killed For the Evulz, but even he was shocked to hear Billy's mother abandoned him after Sidney's mother had an affair with his father.
• Evil Is Bigger: Matthew Lillard is 6'3", the tallest of the main cast of the first film and still the tallest Ghostface so far.
• Evil Is Hammy: He seemingly goes crazy following The Reveal in a twisted Fun Personified way, but even before that, the ham is barely constrained.
• Evil Is Petty: Besides helping Billy being for his sick amusement, he murders his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend out of jealousy.
• Evil Laugh: He lets out a real one when he reveals himself as the killer.
• Faux Affably Evil: He acts like a Fun Personified party animal of a Plucky Comic Relief, but he's really one of the villains.
• For the Evulz: No motive except getting his kicks. Subverted in the case of Casey and Steve, though, since Casey dumped him for Steve.
  Stu: Watch a few movies, take a few notes. It was fun!
• Foreshadowing: Randy's line "I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife." Bonus points for the reason why he said it: it was in reply to Stu saying "I'll be right back!" in a mocking voice when he went to the kitchen to grab a beer. Stu said that because, as the killer, he knew he had nothing to fear.
• Frame-Up: While Billy came up with most of the plans, it was Stu's idea to pin their crimes on Neil Prescott.
• Hero Killer: Stu murders both Casey and Steve in the opening scene and kills Kenny while chasing Sidney. He also comes close to stabbing Randy in the back.
• High-Voltage Death: Electrocuted when Sidney drops a TV on his face.
• If I Can't Have You…: Implied to be his reason for killing Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve Orth.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: For most of the movie, Stu acts obnoxious and immature, but ultimately seems to be harmless. Once he and Billy are revealed to be the killers, Stu quickly goes from humorous to frightening.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Alongside Billy, Stu had gotten away with his participation as Billy's accomplice in Maureen's murder when they pinned it on Cotton Weary, but a year later, their killing spree in the first movie is brought to an end when Sidney kills them both in self-defense.
• Large Ham: Especially after The Reveal, Matthew Lillard devours scenery left and right.
• Laughably Evil: Thanks to Matthew Lillard's Large Ham performance.
• More Despicable Minion: While the murder spree was Billy's idea, Stu outdoes him in terms of evilness. It was his idea to murder Casey and Steve, which was probably their most horrific murder. Also, Billy at least has a somewhat tragic motive, while Stu is just in it For the Evulz.
• No Sense of Personal Space: He leans on Billy's neck to hang right over his shoulder when they're menacing Sidney in the kitchen. Given that he does the same to Randy in the video store and hangs all over Tatum after the principal lets school out early, it seems to serve as a both an intimidation tactic and possibly a gesture of affection.
• Not Quite Dead: Hinted at by Mindy in Scream VI when she and Kirby see the television he was electrocuted with. Kirby calls it the TV that killed him, Mindy quickly replies with "if you believe he's dead..."
• Overshadowed by Awesome: While Stu is one of the original Ghostfaces and came up with some of the plans^note Attacking Casey and Steve was his idea, and he chose Neil Prescott as the Fall Guy., Billy was the leader of the duo and is consequently the one most people remember as Ghostface.
  • Scream 2: When Mickey starts bragging about his plan, he compares himself to Billy.
  • Scream 3: Roman mostly talks about how he inspired Billy. In contrast, he regards Stu as the disposable accomplice Billy could blame if things went wrong.
  • Scream 4: Charlie was so focused on making Trevor the new Billy Loomis that he forgot that a true remake would need a new Stu Macher too, which is why he was unprepared for Jill's betrayal.
  • Scream 5:
    • When the new Ghostface quizzes Tara on the identity of the first Ghostface, Tara, who only saw Stab once many years ago, quickly recalls Billy but forgets that Stu was also Ghostface.
    • It's implied that Richie and Amber see Billy as the more important Ghostface. Notably, they went out of their way to trick Billy's daughter Sam into returning to Woodsboro so that they could frame her as the requel Ghostface when it would have been easier to frame Stu's nephew Vince, a local Woodsboro resident, as the requel Ghostface.
  • Finally averted in Scream VI where Quinn (who wears Stu's mask to commit her own murders) states that Stu was actually her favorite killer. Kirby also takes a moment to marvel at the TV that killed Stu, which she later uses to dispatch Ethan.
• Psycho Ex-Boyfriend: To Casey. They dated before the films started, and he murders her in the opening.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Really immature, and comes off as a crazy, sadistic kid. Notably, when he learns he's been exposed, his first thought is how angry his parents will be.
• Sadist: Billy at least had some kind of sympathetic motive for his crimes, however inexcusable they were. Stu seems to have killed for no other reason than sheer pleasure. At one point, he even salivates at the idea of getting to do a "sequel" to the Woodsboro murder spree.
• Saying Too Much: After Sidney rhetorically questions how someone can gut another person, Stu enthusiastically describes how to gut a human body. He probably would have given himself away as the killer if not for Billy's quick interference.
• Skewed Priorities: When Stu is bleeding out from his stab wounds and Sidney informs him that she's just called the police, the last thing that should've been on his mind would be how mad his parents were going to be when they found out.
• Slashed Throat: He slits Kenny's throat while trying to attack Sidney.
• Smug Snake: Like Billy, but he's the dumber and less efficient of the duo, so he comes across as even more smug.
• Stupid Evil: He has a tendency to talk too much and give away hints that he is one of the killers, much to Billy's annoyance. Likewise, his murders are much sloppier than Billy's and he even gets drunk on the night of the their master plan, leading to some particularly dumb choices that come back to bite him in the ass.
• Tap on the Head: Slams Sidney's head against the floor to stun her during the attack in her house.
• Toxic Friend Influence: He tries to invoke this as an excuse when he blames his crimes on "peer pressure" from Billy.
• Villainous Breakdown: He bawls like a baby when Sidney reveals to them that she has called the police on him and Billy.
  Stu: My mom and dad are going to be so mad at me...
• Villainous Crush: He claims to have always had a "thing" for Sidney. While in the middle of trying to choke her to death.
• Villainous Valour: Despite being severely weakened from blood loss, he charges at Sidney in a last-ditch effort to kill her.
• Worf Had the Flu: He quickly incapacitates Sidney when he attacks her the first time, meaning that he probably would have been able to do the same when he fights with her again during the climax. However, he's been stabbed multiple times by Billy and thus severely weakened from the blood loss. This means that Sidney is able to get the upper hand this time and smash a TV on his face, killing him for good.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Played with. Stu believes that he and Billy are the invincible slasher villains that can never die and therefore can return for the sequels. While Stu is correct in assuming that he is in a slasher movie, the slasher movie in question is a Deconstructive Parody, which means he and Billy definitely don't have the supernatural powers of, say, Freddy Kruger or Jason Voorhees to cheat death. As an added bonus, while Billy and Stu die by the end of the first movie, the Ghostface identity outlives them both and returns for the sequels in the form of copycat killers.

Scream 2

General

The Windsor College Killers (1997)

Sidney: So you two are in this together?

Mickey: Yeah, well. Had to have financing. Tuition's expensive. Deb, there — my backer. We met on the Internet. Psycho website. Classifieds.

Nancy: There's only an estimated 97 active serial killers in the country. So Mickey, here, was quite a find. Definitely one on the way up. All he needed was a little guidance and nurturing.

The Ghostface killers of 1997, who terrorize Windsor College in Ohio.

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• Brains and Brawn: Mickey does most of the legwork in the movie, killing everybody except Randy as part of his crazed scheme to create a real-life Woodsboro sequel. By contrast, Mrs. Loomis had a much more well thought-out plan and only ever attacks the Woodsboro survivors.
• Connected All Along: It turns out that Mickey was in cahoots with Mrs. Loomis despite never interacting with her onscreen before their reveals. Mrs. Loomis mentions finding Mickey on a serial killer website.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Billy and Stu were both high school students and a more or less solid team; Mrs. Loomis is a middle-aged adult and Mickey is a college student, and the latter was the former's Unwitting Pawn.
• Copycat Killer: Mickey plays it straight by murdering people who share names with the victims from the first Ghostface killing spree, and in a similar order as well. On the other hand, Mrs. Loomis seems relatively indifferent to the copycatting, and is mainly targeting Sidney and the other Woodsboro survivors. In fact, it is implied that Mrs. Loomis invoked this trope with Mickey so that she would have an easy fall guy after killing off Sidney.
• Dramatic Unmask: Mickey plays this straight by unmasking himself in front of Sidney and Derek. On the other hand, this is subverted in the case of Mrs. Loomis, who reveals herself by threatening Gale with a handgun.
• Fall Guy: Played with in that Mickey is willing to turn himself in to the police to take all the credit for the murders, but Mrs. Loomis shoots him to prevent him from potentially implicating her.
• Famed In-Story: Their murder spree inspires Stab 2.
• A Sinister Clue: Unlike the first movie's Ghostface, the Windsor College Ghostface favors their left hand when using the knife. It turns out that one of them, specifically Mickey, is an actual lefty whereas Nancy is only pretending to be left-handed so that the police believe Mickey is the sole killer.
• Superior Successor: They manage to top Billy and Stu in terms of body count, claiming eight victims. Nancy also succeeds in killing Woodsboro survivor Randy.
• Two Dun It: As with the first movie, two people don the Ghostface costume in Scream 2.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Mrs. Loomis is utterly ruthless while Mickey is her Laughably Evil minion.

Nancy Loomis

Nancy Loomis (alias: Debbie Salt)

"You don't know what it is to be a mother. To raise a child, to teach him and guide him!"

Played By: Laurie Metcalf

"No, I'm very sane. My motive isn't as 90s as Mickey's. Mine is just good, old-fashioned revenge. You killed my son, and now I kill you, and I can't think of anything more rational."

Seemingly a harmless reporter, Debbie Salt turns out to be Nancy Loomis, the mother of Billy Loomis. She hates Sidney and Gale for killing her son, and plans the murder spree as revenge, intending on framing her accomplice Mickey as the sole murderer and getting away scot-free.

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• All There in the Script: An early script for Scream 4 reveals that her full name is Nancy Loomis, likely a Shout-Out to actress Nancy Kyes (known professionally as "Nancy Loomis"), who played Annie in the original Halloween. The name is finally confirmed on-screen in Scream VI.
• Avenging the Villain: She is the mother of Billy, the Big Bad from the first film, seeking revenge.
• Ax-Crazy: Her post-revelation moments as a Ghostface even has both of her eyes being greatly wide open.
• Bad Boss: She shoots her own underling Mickey, something that was completely unnecessary as Mickey was happy to take the fall as the killer as he wanted Fame Through Infamy.
• Batman Gambit: She claims to be a student at Gale's seminar, counting on Gale's arrogance to dismiss her as some wannabe reporter when she's actually the lead Ghostface.
• Big Bad: Of the second film. She's out for revenge against Sidney for the death of Billy in the previous film, and is the dominant Ghostface in the climax.
• Berserk Button: Insulting her son Billy (thus implying she was a bad mother). Randy does this to the killer over the phone, not knowing the killer he was talking to specifically was Billy's mother, and she as Ghostface lets loose on him.
  Sidney: You're as crazy as your son was.
  Mrs. Loomis: What did you just say? Was that a negative, disparaging remark about my son? About my Billy?
  Sidney: No, Billy was a good boy. Billy was perfect. You did a bang-up job, Mrs. Loomis.
  Mrs. Loomis: It's not wise to patronize me with a gun, Sidney. Randy spoke poorly of Billy and I got a little knife happy.
  • She also really doesn't like the implication that she was in any way responsible for Billy's crimes or having her abandonment of him brought up.
• Boom, Headshot!: While she appears dead after Cotton shoots her, when Mickey rises up and yells (and gets gunned down), Sidney decides to put a bullet in her head, "just in case".
• Cast Herd: Nancy invokes this by avoiding the Woodsboro survivors, most of whom will recognize her upon first glance due to their familiarity with Billy and his parents. She only interacts with Gale because Nancy is pretending to be a news reporter, so avoiding Gale, an actual news reporter, will be incredibly difficult. Gale also wasn't as close to Billy as Dewey, Sidney, and Randy were, not to mention not actually from Woodsboro, so Nancy had a better chance of tricking her.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Whenever she smiles, it's always scary. Exaggerated considering her giant blue eyes that glow in the dark and her ability to disappear completely, fooling everyone except for Sidney and Cotton.
• Crime of Self-Defense: She truly does not care at all that Sidney only killed Billy in self-defense and acts as if her son wasn't a mass murderer who needed to be stopped before he killed anymore people.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Mrs. Loomis attempts to kill Sidney for killing her son, Billy, which is somewhat understandable, but she ignores the fact that she abandoned her child, motivating Billy's rampage in the first place, and that Sid only killed Billy because the guy took part in and assisted in the murders of six people, then attempted to murder Sidney herself and frame her father for said murders. Mrs. Loomis also murders Randy for insulting her son.
• Double Tap: On the receiving end of this from Sidney. After the first Ghostface killing spree ended with Billy springing up back to life before getting shot dead, and Mickey following suit at the end of his and Mrs. Loomis's killings, Sidney does the Genre Savvy thing and shoots the presumably deceased Mrs. Loomis in the head to ensure her death.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Give her this: she loves her son.
• Even Evil Has Standards: After shooting Mickey, she admits that even she finds his "Blame the Movies" idea to be too insane to work.
  Mrs. Loomis: Mickey was a good boy, but my God! That whole "blame the movies" motive? Did you buy that for one second? The poor boy was completely out of his mind.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She never considered for a moment that Cotton wouldn't want Sidney dead, and genuinely expected her suggestion of allowing Sidney's death to sway him.
• Expy: Can be considered one for Pamela Voorhees. Both are grieving mothers who seek revenge for their sons' deaths, and murder because of the insanity stemming from it. Many of the tropes seen here can even be found on Pamela's character page as well. However, Pamela's Freudian Excuse is stronger, and her character is ultimately more sympathetic and tragic, due to having suffered even before Jason was born, and having had to raise him during what should have been the best years of her life as a teenager, while Mrs. Loomis' abandonment of Billy makes it hard to sympathize with her, especially since it was a primary factor in how he went insane. There's also the fact that, at the time, Jason genuinely was an innocent boy whereas Billy had already become a serial killer.
• Females Are More Innocent: As much of a psychotic mastermind as she was in Scream 2, she did have a relatively more sympathetic motive for her crimes throughout the movie (with that being the matter of her son Billy being dead, whom she still loves despite the fact that she abandoned him out of her then-husband's infidelity), especially when compared to that of her accomplice Mickey's (who instead only wants to have a rather deranged legacy of being a serial killer).
• Formerly Fat: The last time Sidney saw her, Mrs. Loomis was about sixty pounds heavier. Her appearance in the film has her look quite fit. It's also why Gale doesn't recognize her.
  Gale: Jesus. It can't be, I've seen pictures of you.
  Sidney: Yeah, this is 60 pounds and a lot of work later.
  Nancy: It's called a makeover. You should try it. Look a little tired yourself there, Gale!
• Getaway Driver: Judging by the camera footage seen by Gale and Dewey in the auditorium, Mrs. Loomis waited outside the theater for Mickey, and once he left the theater, drove him away from the scene.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Will not have her son be called out or belittled in any way. When Randy does this, she gets a little "knife-happy" on him.
• Hates Small Talk: Out of all the killers, Mrs. Loomis has the least patience for horror movie chitchat, and goes right to threats.
• Hero Killer: Mrs. Loomis happily takes the credit for murdering Randy. Furthermore, she is the Ghostface who stabs Dewey multiple times In the Back though he manages to survive.
• Hypocrite: She blames Sidney for killing Billy, even though her abandoning him is what led to him attacking Sidney's family in the first place. She's also sick to death of people blaming the parents for the faults of their children but lays the blame for the entire affair on Sidney's mother in the same monologue without a hint of irony. When Cotton Weary tries to intervene in her murder of Sidney, Debbie tries to get him on her side by pointing out Sidney's testimony put him in prison for a year, even though it was Billy (the person Debbie is trying to avenge) who framed Cotton for Maureen's murder in the first place.
• Irony: Mrs. Loomis despises the implication that she was in any way responsible for Billy becoming a serial killer. However, her own subsequent killing spree could be used as an argument that her son becoming a serial killer was inevitable.
• It's All About Me: Has absolutely zero sympathy for anyone that was harmed by Billy's crimes and wants to kill the girl who killed him in self-defense, believing that she and her son deserve all of the sympathy while Sidney and her friends deserve none. It is heavily implied she was neglectful of Billy in his life anyway, and only really flip-flopped to being a caring and mournful parent after all the blame she received for raising a serial killer.
• It's Personal: All her attacks are on survivors of the Woodsboro massacre, likely because she blames them for the death of her son. Besides Sidney, she kills Randy and gives chase to Dewey and Gale, at the end of which she non-fatally stabs Dewey. Her murder of Randy happens when she was hiding in the back of Gale's van talking on the phone with Dewey, Gale, and Randy, meaning she was fully hoping to off at least one of the trio.
• The Killer Was Left-Handed: Invoked and subverted. Mrs. Loomis is right-handed as she writes down information with her right hand when pretending to be a news reporter and holds her gun in her right hand when taking Gale hostage. However, Mickey is left-handed, so Mrs. Loomis switches to her left hand when attacking someone to make sure the evidence is traceable back to only Mickey.
• Like Parent, Like Child: After seeing her in action, one can note that Billy was merely a chip off the old block; just like her son, Mrs. Loomis is a self-righteous, vengeful psychopath who can't accept fault and who blames Maureen and Sidney for the end of Mrs. Loomis' marriage. On a lighter note, both she and Billy reject the notion of blaming movies for inspiring violent behavior, with Mrs. Loomis writing Mickey off as insane for thinking that such a defense would actually work.
• Mama Bear: A rather dark portrayal, considering that she's trying to kill Sidney for killing Billy.
• Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: She acts like her son was an innocent victim, even though he murdered a woman, framed an innocent man for it, nearly resulting in his execution, and went on a killing spree, killing five people (six if you count Maureen Prescott), three of them by disembowelment.
• Meaningful Name: She's very salty about her son's death.
• Moral Myopia: Mrs. Loomis is out to avenge Billy's death at Sidney's hands, but not only does she not care in the least about the innocent people Billy murdered or that Sidney only killed him in self-defense, but she's willing to go through plenty of innocent lives herself as long as it means that Sidney dies in the end.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Her name is a Shout-Out to Nancy Loomis^note Now Nancy Kyes, known for her role as Annie Brackett in John Carpenter's Halloween.
• Never Mess with Granny: Laurie Metcalf was in her early 40s, but the fifth film's revelation of Billy having fathered a daughter before his death makes her an example of this.
• Never My Fault: The defining element of her motive; she'll blame and kill anyone related to Billy's crime spree and death before she blames her own neglectful parenting.
  Mrs. Loomis: Ha! I was a good mother. You know what makes me sick? I am sick to death of people saying that it's all the parents' fault and that it all starts with the family. Wanna blame someone? Why don't you blame YOUR MOTHER? She was the one who stole my husband and broke up my family. And then you took my son!
• No Full Name Given: After The Reveal, she's only referred to as "Mrs. Loomis." Her real first name is never revealed, but many people just use her first name in her alias and call her "Debbie Loomis." An early script for Scream 4 gives her name as Nancy, which is later confirmed in Scream VI.
• No Sympathy: Does not give a damn about the fact that Sidney's mother was murdered by Billy, or that he tried to kill her and her father and frame her father for murder posthumously. In regards to Maureen, Nancy probably felt that she had it coming after having an affair with her husband.
• Not Helping Your Case: When she reminds Cotton that he spent a year in prison because of Sidney, she forgets to realize Cotton was framed by her son for the murder Billy committed.
• Not Quite Dead: After Mickey proves to be such, a Genre Savvy Sidney shoots her in the forehead "just in case". Given that she twitches afterwards, she was probably correct.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: She puts up a show of being a Mama Bear trying to avenge her son, but it's obvious that she's just bitter about being blamed for Billy's killing spree and taking it out on Sidney rather than accept any culpability.
• Oh, Crap!: After Sidney caves in to an earlier bargain with Cotton, she quickly figures out she's screwed just before Cotton shoots her dead.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Her motivation is that her son was killed by Sidney at the previous film's climax.
• Parental Abandonment: Abandoned Billy before the first film after she learned that her husband had an affair with Sidney's mother.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Backstabbing and shooting her own accomplice, who genuinely believed Mrs. Loomis was on his side, was pretty low, but given that Mickey was a psychopathic killer whose only motive was to get famous for his crimes (something even Mrs. Loomis wrote off as crazy), he's hardly a sympathetic victim.
• Playing the Victim Card: She clearly believes that she's the wronged party and that she and Billy are innocent victims. It's very clear that her entire killing spree is motivated by a massive victim complex and an absolute refusal to accept the slightest hint of culpability for her or her son's actions.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Nancy has a good opportunity to kill Derek at the sorority house but settles for injuring his arm since she has no real grudge against him. Earlier, she locked Derek out of the house to prevent him from helping Sidney, Nancy's real target.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Prior to turning on Mickey. It's subverted when he's revealed to have survived, however (albeit not very long).
  Mrs. Loomis: Oh, Mickey... there's not gonna be a trial.
• Revenge Myopia: Arguably the most hypocritical of the lot. She wants to murder Sidney for killing her son, even though it was in self-defense, and her son murdered Sidney's mother and best friend, tried to kill her and her father, and wanted to frame her father as a spree killer/mass murderer. Her own abandonment of Billy played heavily into his psychosis in the first place. But no, she's sick of people using that old Blame Game on her. She even attempts to get Cotton in on this, noting that Sidney falsely accused him...for the crimes her son committed and intentionally framed him for.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Her reason for the murders.
• The Reveal: She is Billy's mother from the first film, seeking revenge on Sidney.
• Third Act Stupidity:
  • Mrs. Loomis is so adamant that she'll get away with her plan to the point where she continues to hold Sidney at gunpoint and deliver a Motive Rant rather than just shooting her dead. This leads to Sidney escaping Nancy's grasp by tricking her into thinking Mickey is alive before smashing a glass bottle against her neck.
  • She betrays Mickey before trying to kill Sidney, even though he would have been useful backup in case Sidney tried to fight back.
• Unseen No More: Billy mentions her in the first film, although she doesn't appear until the second film.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • As vile as she is, she is right that she shouldn't be blamed for Billy's crimes or be held as solely responsible for his killing spree. However, both her refusal to accept that her neglectful parenting could have motivated him and the way she chooses to deal with it make it very hard to feel sympathy for her.
  • Mrs. Loomis is hardly any more stable, but she's right that Mickey's whole "blame the movies" strategy was crazy and not at all likely to work.
• Woman Scorned: Not in the romantic sense, but in the sense of wanting to kill the person who killed her son.

Mickey Altieri

Mickey Altieri

"That's what Billy was good at. He knew it was all about... execution."

Played By: Timothy Olyphant

"I'm gonna blame the movies. It's pretty cool, huh? It hasn't been done before. You see, this is just the beginning, a prelude to the trial. That's where the real fun is, because these days, it's all about the trial. Could you see it? The effects of cinema violence on society. I'll get Dershowitz or Cochran to represent me, Bob Dole on the witness stand in my defense. Hell, the Christian Coalition will pay my legal fees!"

A Windsor College student and Nancy Loomis' accomplice, Mickey sought to become famous as a result of the killing spree, hoping for a sensationalized trial where he would claim that he, horror buff that he is, was driven to kill due to watching too many violent movies.

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• 15 Minutes of Fame: Became Ghostface and did the killings intending to be caught and subsequently gain fame and a trial, where he planned to blame horror films for his rampage.
• Allegorical Character: Mickey fits the idea of a movie sequel. He not only wants to cash in on the success of the first outing but also wants to outdo it as well through Sequel Escalation. This results in him performing bigger, riskier stunts such as killing Maureen and Phil in public, taking on two trained cops at once, surpassing the body count of Billy and Stu with Nancy's help, and purposefully surrendering to the police (or at least that was the plan).
• All for Nothing: Mickey went on a killing spree to be famous and get the trial; however, Mrs. Loomis betrayed him by shooting him. Mickey was hurt by the betrayal. He was gunned down by Sidney and Gale and thus finally killing him. Adding insult to injury, he was only remembered as a copy cat killer and he's rarely talked about it.
• Attention Whore: He killed simply so he could stand trial for it afterwards and bask in the limelight.
• Ax-Crazy: The only Ghostface who was already an active serial killer before ever getting involved in the Ghostface biz.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He acts nice and caring towards Sidney before The Reveal.
• Blown Across the Room: The result of his Multiple Gunshot Death when Sidney and Gale shoot the hell out of him after he tries for one more jumpscare attack (also counts as Laser-Guided Karma after he nearly shoots Gale in his initial death throes).
• Card-Carrying Villain: Mickey is noteworthy for being the only Ghostface to openly acknowledge and relish in their villainy. He makes no attempt to excuse, downplay, or ignore his violent behavior and gleefully looks forward to the fame he believes his trial will spark. While there have been other killers who've displayed giddy behavior after the reveal, Stu has the weak excuse of "peer pressure" and Ethan is implied to be an incel who acts just as much out of frustration as he does violent urges. Mickey lacks even the weakest of excuses, having already been a serial killer before becoming Ghostface.
  Sidney: You're psychotic!
  Mickey: Yeah, well, sshh. That'll be our little secret.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Billy. While Billy was a bit abrasive and short-tempered even before he was revealed as the killer, Mickey makes a point of seeming perfectly charming and harmless. Billy had a motive for his actions, if admittedly a fairly flimsy one, while Mickey is only interested in achieving fame. While Billy planned to get away with it by making himself and Stu look like victims, Mickey wants to get caught so he can achieve notoriety. Whereas Billy explicitly shot down the idea that movies made him go on a killing spree, Mickey fully intends on using this as his legal defense.
• Cop Killer: Murders Officers Andrews and Richards.
• Copycat Killer: Like most Ghostfaces, Mickey is a copycat of Billy and Stu, but his objective of getting the trial of the century is inspired by the contemporary O.J. Simpson trial. Mickey states that he will hire Dershowitz and Cochran, members of Simpson's Dream Team, to defend him.
• Didn't Think This Through: It never occurred to Mickey that his grand plan of becoming famous by standing trial for his crimes might not be to the liking of his accomplice, who doesn't want to be implicated for her role in the killings. His planned defense is likewise ill-conceived; even Mrs. Loomis, who is only marginally saner than Mickey, never believed it would work.
• The Dragon: To Debbie Salt, also known as Nancy Loomis. She paid for his college tuition and essentially nurtured him into being her accomplice, and he more or less follows her directions throughout the film. He's also the scapegoat she intends to blame the murders on after killing Sidney.
• Dragon Their Feet: Survives Mrs. Loomis by scant seconds, popping up for one last scare.
• Dramatic Unmask: He unmasks himself to Sidney and Derek, first by turning off the voice changer and speaking in his normal voice, ensuring that they realize who it is they're dealing with seconds before he actually removes his mask.
• Drives Like Crazy: As Ghostface, he takes Sidney, Hallie, and Officer Richards on a wild car ride, Richards clinging onto the hood for dear life. The ride ends when Ghostface crashes the car into a construction site, sending a pipe through Richards' head.
• Evil Counterpart: Mickey is one to Cotton Weary in Scream 2. Both of them are Attention Whores looking for their 15 Minutes of Fame and threaten Sidney to get those fifteen minutes. Mickey and Cotton are also suspects for Ghostface and end up killing at least one person: As Ghostface, Mickey murders plenty of innocent people while Cotton kills Nancy, the other Ghostface.
• Evil Is Petty: Mickey wants to get famous, and considers that worth any number of innocent lives.
• Fall Guy: Mrs. Loomis intends to have him take the fall for the murders. Granted, Mickey himself wants this, but Mrs. Loomis also plans to kill him to avoid him potentially implicating her.
• Fame Through Infamy: He wants to get caught so that he can have the trial of the century for his crimes, putting himself at the center of political debates about violence in the media.
• Faux Affably Evil: A very nice and charming student, until he unmasks himself as Ghostface to Sidney and Derek, yet acts like a thrill-seeking Fun Personified party animal in reaction to his kills. He originally was intended to be straight-up affable, not a killer at all.
• For the Evulz: Unlike every other Ghostface (apart from Jill), Mickey freely cops to the fact he's just murdering people because he likes it and the idea of being an infamous serial killer.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: During the final confrontation, Mickey has a large cut on his forehead from crashing the police car.
• Heroic Build: Exploited. Mickey's muscular build is similar to that of his victim Phil, which allows the masked Mickey to disguise as him after stealing Phil's jacket.
• Hero Killer: Murders everyone in the film except Randy.
• Irony : He wanted to be immortalized and being an infamous serial killer; however, because Mrs. Loomis was the real mastermind and he was only remembered as a copy cat killer and he's rarely talked about it.
• Kick the Dog: Murdering Derek in front of Sidney, after claiming that Derek was his partner, all just to make her feel even worse about his death.
• The Killer Was Left-Handed: Unlike Mrs. Loomis, Mickey is a true left-hander and grips the knife with his left hand when stabbing his victims. In one deleted scene, Derek pointed out that both Mickey and Ghostface were left-handed. This gives Mickey the dubious honor as the first left-handed Ghostface in the series.
• Large Ham: Much like Matthew Lillard in the previous movie, Timothy Olyphant wastes no time chewing the scenery after the big reveal.
• Laughably Evil: Like Stu above, he acts like The Joker as Ghostface.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Mickey has some playful flirtation with Hallie, who he later kills.
• Made of Iron: Somehow managed to survive Mrs. Loomis's gunshots and get up to his feet for one last scare. It takes a barrage of gunfire from Sidney and Gale to knock him down. He also survives crashing a car into a construction site.
• Manipulative Bastard: Mickey goes out of his way to plant doubts in Sidney's mind about Derek's trustworthiness, even flat-out claiming Derek to be his partner during the climax, all to psychologically torment Sidney and make her feel that much worse when Mickey kills Derek.
• More Despicable Minion: Self-centered as it is, Nancy Loomis at least has the motive of trying to avenge her son. Mickey killed simply because he enjoyed it and wanted to get famous.
• Multiple Gunshot Death: How he ultimately dies, courtesy of Sidney and Gale.
• Murder Simulators: Invoked with his plan, which was to get caught and, at the trial, blame violent horror movies for turning him into a psycho killer, earning him sympathetic media, legal attention, and quite possibly a light sentence.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Nancy confirms that she shot Mickey with the other cop's gun. Since Mickey is the one who killed both of the detectives guarding Sidney and stole their handguns, this means that he handed one of the guns to Mrs. Loomis out of goodwill when both Ghostfaces met up at the theater.
• Not Quite Dead: After Cotton saves Sidney by shooting Nancy dead, Mickey suddenly springs up back to life. He suffers a Multiple Gunshot Death from Sidney and Gale for his trouble.
• Sadist: Just look at the way he murders Maureen and Derek. He's clearly enjoying every second of it.
• Serial Killer: Notable in that he was already an active one before becoming Ghostface, which means that his total body count is much higher than what is seen on screen. Nancy Loomis recruited him for this reason.
• Significant Name Overlap: As part of his "blaming violent movies" motive, he murders people who share the same names as the Woodsboro victims from the original Ghostface killing spree in a similar order. However, this is dropped after Nancy kills Randy, presumably because Nancy, the leader of the two, had a plan to target Sidney later that night, so there would be no time for Mickey to find other similarly-named victims.
• Sword and Gun: He arms himself with both a pistol and Ghostface's signature knife in his final confrontation with Sidney.
• Troll: A particularly nasty example; Mickey pretends that Derek, currently bound and helpless, was his partner in the killings just to further mess with Sidney's head and make her feel even worse for suspecting the innocent Derek after Mickey murders him.
• Unwitting Pawn: Mrs. Loomis easily duped Mickey into believing that their killings would lead to him winning fame through an inevitable trial for his crimes. As soon as she had Sidney in her crosshairs, however, Mrs. Loomis gunned Mickey down, having never believed his "blame the movies" defense would work and only using him as muscle and as a useful scapegoat.
• Villain Respect: He gives props to Sidney for putting up a good fight, saying that she has a "Linda Hamilton thing going."
• Wrong Genre Savvy: invoked Mickey is under the impression that his and Mrs. Loomis's killing spree is the Even Better Sequel to Billy and Stu's rampage. In reality, most Stab fans consider Stab 2, the film based off he and Mrs. Loomis's killing spree, to be a Contested Sequel, a solid entry that is superior to every Stab movie made after Stab 3 but not necessarily superior to the original one.
  Mickey: Just wait until the trial. It is gonna rock!
  Mrs. Loomis: Oh Mickey, there's not going to be a trial.
• You're Insane!: Both Sidney (who calls Mickey "psychotic" to his face) and Mrs. Loomis express a (justifiably) low opinion of Mickey's sanity.

Scream 3

Roman Bridger

Roman Bridger

"I'm a director, Sid — I direct. "

Played By: Scott Foley

"I had no idea that they were going to make a film of their own. I mean, introducing: Sidney, the victim. Sidney, the survivor. Sidney, the star!"

The director of Stab 3 and Sidney Prescott's half-brother. Roman is revealed to be the retroactive Greater-Scope Villain of the first three films, being Maureen Prescott's first child from when she was sexually assaulted during her brief stint as a Hollywood actress. When Maureen rejected Roman, seeing him as a hated reminder of her old life in Horrible Hollywood, Roman inspired Billy and Stu to murder her, setting off the events of the series. He hates Sidney for living a happy life with Maureen and for becoming a celebrity after surviving the previous Ghostface killings, feeling that both of those things were owed to him. Roman is the only solo Ghostface in the six movies, not having a partner working alongside him.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: He can't help but chuckle when he sees that Sidney pulled off the same bulletproof vest trick as him.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Subverted. He holds hands with Sidney after she stabs him in the chest in an apparent attempt to genuinely connect with her, but then rises back up and lunges at her with his knife.
• Arc Welding: Revealed to be the person who put Billy and Stu up to murdering Maureen in the first place.
• Author Avatar: For Wes Craven. He's a horror director who orchestrated the events of the series, and admits to being tired of horror movies.
• Ax-Crazy: Downplayed. He's an egotistical maniac who enjoys killing, but he has a certain intelligence and cunning, seeing how he orchestrated Billy and Stu's crimes from the first movie. However, he throws out his sanity at the climax when Sidney pulls her Shut Up, Hannibal! on him. In addition, out of all the Ghostfaces, he has the most kills, at nine.
• Bait the Dog: When he's apparently fatally wounded, he holds onto Sidney's hand, as if they are having a brother/sister moment. It turns out he's trying to throw her off her guard in a last-ditch attempt to kill her.
• Barbaric Bully: After losing his composure, he tries to viciously fight Sidney.
• Bastard Bastard: Roman is Maureen's Child by Rape whom she gave up for adoption. When he confronted her years later, she rejected him, saying that her only child was Sidney. He resents Sidney for being the only one of them who got their mother's love, not to mention her getting the fame that he wanted. While Roman was dealt a bad hand, he decided to cope with it by orchestrating Maureen's murder, then, years later, go on a killing spree to frame and murder Sidney so he can get the fame he thinks he deserves.
• Big Bad: Of the third film. He's the mastermind behind the Stab 3 murders, and is revealed to be the one who inspired Billy and Stu to their massacre in the first film. Unlike his predecessors and successors, Roman is the only Ghostface to lack an accomplice.
• Big Brother Bully: Exaggerated, because not only does he bully Sidney, he ruins her life, psychologically torments her, and attempts to murder her, all out of jealousy.
• Blown Across the Room: He goes flying when Dewey finally puts a bullet in his head.
• Boom, Headshot!: How Roman met his end. After getting stabbed by his half-sister, Sidney, he gets up for one last scare to kill her. While Dewey shot him repeatedly, it didn't keep him down, because he was wearing a bulletproof vest. It isn't until Sidney tells Dewey to shoot him in the head, which he does, that his madness finally ends.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: He borrows Sidney's. They both scream "FUCK YOU!" at each other before their No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• The Bully: He's psychologically torments Sidney, harangues her, and delivers a Precision F-Strike against her.
  Roman: Oh, it's rough being friends with you, Sid. [mocking] When you're friends with Sid, you die.
• Bullying the Dragon: What it ultimately comes down to. Especially telling because, by this point, Sidney has had well and truly enough of the Ghostface crap, so that when the final showdown comes, rather than Sidney being on the defense as usual, she charges at him in an equally murderous rage after deciding to go full Bully Hunter.
• Cain and Abel: He's Sid's half-brother, born from Maureen's rape when she was living in L.A.
• Child by Rape: He's John Milton's son, conceived when he raped Maureen Prescott.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike every Ghostface before (and since), Roman operates without a partner.
• Copycat Killer: An interesting case. Roman reveals that he inspired Billy and Stu to become killers, and thus is responsible for inspiring some of Ghostface's tactics, most notably their reliance on a partner to facilitate their murder sprees, and usage of a fall guy to escape the consequences. Despite this, Roman doesn't quite follow his own advice, as he is the only Ghostface to work alone.
• The Corrupter: Roman was the one who set Billy down the path of a serial killer by revealing his father's affair with Maureen Prescott to him. Granted, he may have only accelerated the inevitable and simply exploited a darkness that was already inside Billy.
• Create Your Own Hero: He orchestrated the death of Sidney's mother through Billy and Stu, which makes him indirectly responsible for not only Billy and Stu's later killing spree, but also Mickey and Nancy's copycat murders. By the time Roman takes up the knife and confronts her in person, Sidney, now a full-blown Action Survivor and utterly sick of being a scapegoat for the previous Ghostfaces, furiously dresses him down verbally, fights him toe to toe with vicious hatred to match his, and ultimately kills him.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: He's a talented enough strategist to have successfully orchestrated a murder without anyone suspecting him. He's a talented enough director to have climbed up the Hollywood ladder in a few short years to get exactly where he wanted to, and probably could have obtained the fame he felt he was so entitled to if he had stayed on that path. He instead decides to apply his talents to murdering his cast and toying with Sidney in order to emulate her image as an Action Survivor.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: He deconstructs the archetypal "Serial Killer with a Freudian Excuse" villain seen in numerous horror movies. At the climax, he launches into a Motive Rant detailing his Freudian Excuse for wanting to kill Sidney. He grew up hating her and their mother Maureen because he felt that Maureen loved Sidney more and essentially abandoned him, viewing him as an unwelcome reminder of her old life, and believes that the fame Sidney got after the massacre should've been his. An infuriated Sidney responds to this rant with a blistering Shut Up, Hannibal! speech, calling the killer a selfish brat who can't take any personal responsibility and is only killing people for pleasure and trying to rationalize it after the fact. Tellingly, Sidney's speech causes a Villainous Breakdown in him, as he yells at an unfazed Sidney to stop talking before flying off the handle and attacking her.
• Didn't See That Coming: Roman only provoked Billy into murdering Maureen; he didn't foresee Billy setting out on a killing spree, and certainly never predicted that Sidney would survive it and get famous. Sidney's unexpected rise to fame rankled Roman so deeply that he eventually set out on his own spree of Ghostface killings to both ruin Sidney and get some of that fame for himself.
• Died on Their Birthday: The climax of the third film takes place at Roman's birthday party at John Milton's mansion. Played With. Firstly, after everyone at the party splits up to look for secret passageways, Roman uses this moment to fake his own death (Gale finds him in a trunk with a large knife sticking out of his stomach) before later revealing himself to be the Ghostface killer and explaining his motives to Sidney. Then, he and Sidney fight it out, and in the end, Sidney stabs Roman in the back, twice, with an icepick. Roman ultimately dies from these injuries but not before sharing a sibling moment with his half-sister, Sidney, who takes some sympathy on him.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He's a retroactive one for the franchise as a whole. After scheming behind the scenes, indirectly causing the plots of the first two movies, and becoming the main antagonist of the last section of the original trilogy, he's replaced by new villains for the next movies and the show, which were released years after Scream 3.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Roman is revealed to have manipulated Billy and Stu into killing Maureen for rejecting him as her child; the reason he goes after Sidney is because he's jealous of all the fame and attention Sid has received because of the killings, which she never even wanted in the first place.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Irate movie nerd Roman, who Sidney had never even met prior to the reveal and who had been seemingly killed off, is not only the killer but the Greater-Scope Villain of the entire franchise.
• Entitled Bastard: As far as Roman is concerned, he deserves to be famous, and he has every right to lay waste to Sidney's life, because he deserved everything she ever had as well.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • None of the Ghostface killers are above childish, petty taunting, but Roman goes the extra mile of using Maureen's voice and image to psychologically torture Sidney, throwing in sadistic taunts in Maureen's replicated voice.
  • He's also the only Ghostface to try to frame Sidney for the killing spree, simply because he was so Driven by Envy that she got famous instead of him.
• Evil Mentor: Not only did he give Billy the idea to murder Maureen, he also gave him a few helpful pointers, including finding someone to frame and having a partner to throw under the bus in case he got caught.
• Expy: Possibly of Freddie Krueger (another horror icon by Wes Craven) as they're both Serial Killers who were children by rape.
• Faking the Dead: Does this to throw everyone's attention off him as a suspect.
• Fall Guy: He plans to pin his murders on Sidney.
• Famed In-Story: His murder spree goes on to inspire Stab 3, which was ironically supposed to be directed by him and be a completely original story.
• Faux Affably Evil: Immediately after the unmasking, he is initially smugly polite and charming towards Sidney, transitions to being hyperactive, especially when killing John Milton, before completely dropping the affable facade when his mean-spirited Hair-Trigger Temper gets the best of him.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Prior to the reveal, he wears glasses.
• Freudian Excuse: Maureen refuses to accept him as her son, which coupled with being a Child by Rape, didn't do wonders for his mental health. However...
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Sidney shuts him up by pointing out that he killed solely For the Evulz, and thus, any justification he might have had was blown out the window the second he called upon Billy to murder Maureen.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of the first two films. The Scream franchise as we know it would never have existed if Roman hadn't revealed Maureen's infidelity to Billy Loomis. He also gave Billy pointers, like having an accomplice and potential fall guy in case things went south, giving birth to the first pair of Ghostface killers, and by extension, all of the copycats in the sequels. He steps down from this role to become the Big Bad for the third film. That being said, he may have only accelerated, especially as the second film implied Mickey, who had no prior connection to Sidney, was already a serial killer before being recruited by Nancy.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He can barely contain his rage during his Motive Rant, but when Sidney shoots his claims down, he completely snaps, and the two begin to violently beat each other, before Roman tries to strangle her to death.
• Hero Killer: Roman murders everyone in the film including Jennifer (who helped Dewey and Gale with their investigation) and Cotton (who killed the previous movie's Big Bad, Nancy Loomis).
• Hidden Depths:
  • Assuming that he was being serious, there is his claim that he wanted to direct something like a romantic comedy, instead of just another music video or horror film.
  • While not a full-fledged Stage Magician, Roman is able to hide his pulse, which is a real-life magic trick.
  • It is implied that Roman custom-built his own voice changer since he is able to imitate the voices of his victims, something future Ghostfaces never replicate. According to the DVD commentary, there originally was a scene that showed how he was able to build said device.
• Hypocrite: Roman claims credit for Billy taking on Stu as an accomplice and potential fall guy. When he sets out on his own killing spree, Roman ignores his own advice, acting alone for the entirety of Scream 3.
• Immune to Bullets: Invokes this by wearing a bulletproof vest under his costume. A bullet in the head, on the other hand...
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: As he lays out his motives to Sidney, Roman is full of smug confidence, but the instant Sidney starts calling him on it, Roman falls apart and flies into a psychotic rage.
• It's All About Me: His motives for instigating the Ghostface killings? His mother rejected him because he was a reminder of her rape and dark past. His motives for wanting to kill Sidney? She, Dewey and Gale survived the previous killing sprees and became famous for it, so Roman wants Sidney's fame, claiming he should have had her life.
• I Work Alone: Unlike other Ghostface killers, Roman has no partners in crime.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite being a sarcastic director, he does seem to be a friendly and harmless nerd, but after The Reveal, he's just The Bully. The one instance where he seems to bond with Sidney, he only did so to catch her off guard and make one last attempt on her life when she least expects it.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Roman gets away with his role in spurring Billy and Stu to murder Maureen, but it's when he decides to enact his own killing spree in the third movie that justice catches up to him in the end, courtesy of Dewey shooting him in the head at Sidney's behest.
• Kick the Dog: His voice changer carries the voices of several different characters from the series, including Maureen's. He uses her voice when talking to Sidney a few times, often while covered with a bloody bedsheet. His murder of Cotton also qualifies as one of the "pointers" he gave Billy when planning Maureen's murder was to frame someone for the crime, thereby ultimately making Roman responsible for Cotton's wrongful imprisonment and near execution.
  Roman: (offscreen, speaking with Maureen's voice) I lied, Sidney, I can't protect you at all! You don't deserve to be protected! You didn't protect me!
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Roman manipulated Billy and Stu into murdering Maureen Prescott, his own mother. He even kills his father (although he deserved it), and tries to kill his half-sister Sidney for good measure.
• Laser-Guided Karma: A relatively minor example. Assuming his disdain about having to direct Stab 3 instead of a romantic comedy was genuine, this applies as his orchestration of Maureen's murder led to the birth of the Ghostface persona, making him the reason why the Stab movies exist in the first place.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Roman had sex with Jennifer at least once, and later kills her.
• Mad Artist: He approvingly compares Billy's scheme to making a film, and considers his planning out murders a way of fulfilling his role as a filmmaker.
  Roman: I'm a director, Sid. I direct.
• Made of Iron: After being stabbed in the chest with an ice pick and seemingly dying, Roman springs back up and tries to attack Sidney again, the ice pick still in his chest until Dewey puts him down with a gunshot to the head.
• The Man Behind the Man: He was the one who incited Billy to kill Maureen one year before the first movie. He also told Billy to have an accomplice: Stu.
• Meaningful Name:
  • His first name is a reference to Roman Polański. Given his backstory and Polanski's real-life scandals, it's darkly appropriate, especially since both of them are film directors.
  • His surname Bridger fits the fact that he's the original trilogy's Greater-Scope Villain, who set the entire film series' chain of events in motion.
• Mommy Issues: He has this even more so than Billy did. Roman blames his mother for all the misfortune in his life, and he is so fixated on Maureen's rejection of him that, even years after her death (which he orchestrated), Roman wants to murder and frame Maureen's favored child Sidney to spite their dead mother (as well as Sidney herself).
• Never My Fault:
  • Claims to be a tragic victim lashing out at the world. Sidney's shattering of his self-delusion results in a Villainous Breakdown.
  • He claims he hates Sidney because she became famous for surviving the events of the original film, and thinks he deserves that kind of fame. At no point does it ever dawn on him that she only became famous because of events he orchestrated, so he is the reason why Sidney gained any notoriety.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Had he just stuck to directing and not taken up the Ghostface legacy, he probably would've attained the fame he wanted through legitimate means, and Sidney would have remained a scared shut-in. But instead he forced her out of hiding, forcing her to face her fears and Survivor's Guilt and overcome them. Not only does she thwart his plan and kill him, but she goes on to write a book and become even more famous. This ends up making Sidney a more badass and formidable opponent for future Ghostfaces, who runs into danger to save others and fights the killers with every intent to take them down.
• Not Good with Rejection: Boy howdy. The series only starts off because Maureen Prescott rejected him as her son.
• Not Quite Dead: Sidney walks away from Roman after stabbing him in the chest with an ice pick. Roman then proceeds to get back up in an attempt to kill Sidney, Dewey, and Gale. Dewey shoots Roman several times, though only through his bulletproof vest, before finally silencing him with a headshot when Sidney reminds him.
• One-Man Army: Unlike all of the other Ghostfaces, who work in pairs, he accomplishes his killing spree on his own, and consequently has the highest kill tally: 9. This is best shown when he manages to kill Angelina, Tyson, and Jennifer in the span of about five minutes. Kirby gives him props for his tenacity, 2 decades after his death, in VI.
  Kirby: Kudos to him for ambition.
• Out of Focus: Subsequent films don't really mention him much despite his role in Maureen's murder, opting instead to focus on Billy Loomis and the effects of his killing spree as one of the original Ghostfaces alongside Stu.
• Patricide: His own father is one of his many victims.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Kills his own father, John Milton, who raped his mother.
• Playing the Victim Card: Roman has a genuinely traumatic background, but he continuously tries to cast himself as a tragic victim even as he kills innocent people due to his Mommy Issues and petty jealousy. Sidney epically calls him out on it and bluntly tells him that he's not a Tragic Villain; he's just a pathetic Psychopathic Manchild who won't take responsibility for his own actions. Roman doesn't take it well.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: When Milton offers him control of the final cut of his movie.
  "I already have it."
• Psychopathic Manchild: Shown by his childish tantrum after Sidney's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and his overall approach to life. He orchestrated the death of his own mother because she didn't love him, refuses to take any responsibility for his actions, and enjoys himself like a child in a toy store.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: As Ghostface, he doesn't wear the glasses he had in public.
• Rape and Revenge: Invoked as part of his plan. Roman intended to frame Sidney for the killings, with the motive being that she found out that Milton was responsible for Maureen's rape and wanted to "make him pay."
• The Resenter: He hates Sidney for getting their mother's acceptance, believing that everything Sidney has ever received, especially fame (which Sidney has never wanted and tries to avoid), should have been his. Because of this, he happily subjects Sidney to psychological torture and intends to frame her for his own crimes.
• Self-Made Orphan: Excluding Maureen's murder, John Milton was his father, and he ends up being Roman's last victim.
• The Sociopath: Has a complete Lack of Empathy toward Maureen for having been raped, masterminding her murder simply because she didn't welcome him with open arms when they met again. This carries over to his half-sister Sidney, who he grows jealous of because she survived two killing sprees and became famous for it. He wants all the fame for himself, so he uses her survivorhood against her. He has a pretty high sense of self-worth, pretending to be the victim and refusing to take responsibility for his choices. Everyone else is gore fodder for him. When he and Sidney seemingly connect before his death, it's just a distraction.
• Stranger Behind the Mask: Played with; the audience and other characters had met Roman prior to his unmasking as Ghostface, but Sidney had never set eyes on him before in her life. Roman even has to introduce himself to Sidney after he's removed the mask.
• Superior Successor: He kills more people than any other Ghostface who came before him (or after, for that matter).
• Third Act Stupidity: Similar to the original Ghostface duo, Roman opts to murder John Milton first, who is bound and unable to escape, while Sidney is free and can fight back. Once again, Sidney survives because the Ghostface killer couldn't resist bragging about their plan.
• Tragic Villain: Subverted; Roman is crazy enough to see himself as this, being a Child by Rape rejected by his mother for being a reminder of her trauma, but he thoroughly proves that he's ultimately just a selfish, entitled, spiteful brat who kills because he enjoys it and because he wants to be famous, using his past as a flimsy excuse for his actions and throwing a tantrum when he's called on it.
  • In fairness, though, he still has a more sympathetic backstory than that of the main villain from the fourth movie (since his is somewhat comparable to that of the Penguin's from Batman Returns).
• Unknown Rival: Roman was the cause of some of the worst misfortunes of Sidney's life, and he always resented her for having their mother's love and the fame of surviving two Ghostface killing sprees. Sidney, by contrast, had no idea Roman even existed until he unmasked himself as Ghostface at the climax of the third film.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Downplayed. While he intentionally put Billy and Stu up to murdering Maureen, he had no idea that they would continue their killing spree a year later, which in turn led to the series of murder sprees in subsequent films.
• Villainous Breakdown: Sidney's "The Reason You Suck" Speech dismantling his selfish motives triggers one in him, causing him to essentially throw a violent, high-octane childish tantrum.
• Villainous Legacy: Less so than Billy and Stu, but being the Greater-Scope Villain for most of the original trilogy has allowed Roman to have the largest legacy in the franchise, as his actions birthed the Ghostface identity, which has survived long after Roman himself died.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: A deconstruction. His backstory is heartbreaking, being a child of rape and his own mother wanting nothing to do with him despite it not being his fault. His reaction, though, is to kill everyone who had nothing to do with his circumstances, until the last scene where he kills the person actually responsible, John Milton ^note  as tragic as Maureen's rejection of him is, it isn't worth killing her over . Since he chooses to embrace this identity, he sees himself as a Woobie, while others see him as a monster. Even when offered sympathy at the end, he is so far gone he doesn't accept it, and tries to kill Sidney again.

Scream 4

General

The Woodsboro Massacre Reboot Killers (2011)

Charlie: Have you figured it out yet, Sidney? In keeping with our remake theme, Trevor's this generation's Billy Loomis, and we're the innocent victims: Sidney and Randy.

Jill: See, with you, the world just heard about what happened, but with us, they're gonna see it. It's gonna be a worldwide sensation. I mean, people gotta see this shit. It's not like anyone reads anymore.

The Ghostface killers of 2011, and the second to have their murder spree take place in Woodsboro.

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• Brains and Brawn: Jill is the mastermind while Charlie does most of the legwork and commits most of the murders in the film.
• Camera Fiend: Jill and Charlie use cameras to record their murders and upload the footage to the Internet for public viewing, ensuring that their notoriety reaches a larger audience.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike Roman, who at least pretended to have a tragic motivation, Jill and Charlie (the former, especially) just want to get famous. Also, Jill and Charlie are high school students, whereas Roman was an adult with a career.
• Dramatic Unmask: Played straight with Jill and subverted with Charlie, who betrays his true nature by stabbing Kirby.
• Fall Guy: Played with. Charlie and Trevor are the two patsies, but while Trevor is innocent, Charlie is one of the two Ghostfaces, with Jill betraying Charlie shortly after The Reveal.
• Not His Sled: In-Universe example. Sidney initially sees Jill and Charlie as the next-generation Sidney and Randy respectively and thus believes Jill's ex Trevor is the new Billy Loomis (and the new Ghostface) because History Repeats. As a result, Sidney is somewhat surprised after Charlie reveals himself as Ghostface (especially since she last saw him tied up by Ghostface) and is visibly distraught when Jill reveals herself to be the second killer.
  Charlie: The unexpected is the new cliché.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Jill and Charlie are in their late teens in contrast to Sidney in her thirties and Dewey and Gale in their forties.
• Outlaw Couple: The first pair of Ghostfaces who are explicitly shown to be romantically involved. This is later subverted when Jill backstabs Charlie and reveals that he was one of the fall guys all along.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Jill is the hammy Prima Donna Red Oni to Charlie's mellow Soft-Spoken Sadist Blue Oni.
• Superior Successor: They kill more people than the original murder spree they wish to emulate, at nine.^note Ten, if you count Jill's betrayal of Charlie.
• Two Dun It: As with the first two movies, the Ghostface identity is donned by two people.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Jill is cold and ruthless and her henchman Charlie is a Laughably Evil nerd.

Jill Roberts

Jill Roberts

"I was so believable today, wasn't I? I mean, I told so many lies that I actually started to believe them."

Played By: Emma Roberts

"My friends? What world are you living in? I don't need friends. I need fans. Don't you get it? This has never been about killing you, it's about... becoming you. I mean, for fuck's sake, my own mother had to die, no great loss there, so I could stay true to the original. It's sick, right? Well, sick is the new sane. You had your 15 minutes, now I WANT MINE! I mean, what am I supposed to do? Go to college? Grad school? Work? Look around. We all live in public now, we're all on the Internet. How do you think people get famous anymore? You don't have to achieve anything, you just gotta have fucked-up shit happen to you. So you do have to die, Sid. Those are the rules. New movie, new franchise. There's only room for one lead, and let's face it, your ingenue days, they're over."

First introduced as the seemingly innocent victim of the latest Ghostface killings, she is eventually revealed to be far from the Final Girl she's presented as. In fact, Jill Roberts is the mastermind of the fourth film's murders. The younger cousin of Sidney, she's a fame-hungry sociopath who is envious of her cousin's fame. Jill planned on framing her ex-boyfriend Trevor Sheldon for the murders and emerging as the "final girl" in the eyes of the media, riding it to celebrity status as Sidney had done. Tricking Charlie Walker into helping her, she intends to kill and frame him as Trevor's accomplice when she no longer needs him. She also had her "survival" filmed so that she could upload it to social media.

For tropes about Jill, see here.

Charlie Walker

Charlie Walker

"This is making a move."

Played By: Rory Culkin

"You know, you learn a lot when you watch movies over and over. All the plots are about trying to kill you!"

Charlie was secretly dating Jill, and planned on becoming the Randy of the killings to Jill's Sidney, the geeky guy who makes it out alive.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: While he was a sadistic murderer, his death is almost pitiable. He is visibly devastated at Jill's betrayal and dies a slow, agonizing death as he bleeds out on the floor. Even Sidney seems horrified, calling Jill out afterwards on becoming so fame-hungry that even her only ally is disposable to her.
• All Abusers Are Male: More than half of confirmed victims he attacked as Ghostface are female, including both Gale and Kirby (who survived from being completely slayed by him).
  • Ironically, he was soon killed by his own accomplice Jill Roberts, who is proven to be far more twisted than he ever was.
• All for Nothing: His desire to become one half of a power couple with Jill ends up being for naught as she ruthlessly kills him to take the spotlight for herself. He spends his final moments realizing he killed his friends and threw his life away for absolutely nothing.
• Asshole Victim: A particularly unique example of this trope, since he's one of the killers!
• Ax-Crazy: Revels in brutal killings including his disembowlment of Olivia.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's really not nice. At all.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's not the nerdy timid guy he appears to be.
• Blaming the Victim: After stabbing Kirby (immediately after she desperately tried to save his life), he blames it on her for not reciprocating his crush sooner.
• Blank Stare: He gives one to Perkins when Perkins somehow survives a stab to the forehead and has enough strength to walk around for a bit.
• The Bully: He's not as mean-spirited as the other Ghostfaces, though. He even explains the rules of surviving this movie to his potential victims, though of course it doesn't help most of them in the end.
• Bully Brutality: He delivers some of the most vicious deaths in the series. He ends up crippling Jenny and stabbing Perkins deep in the forehead, and that's not even including his disembowelment of Olivia.
• The Comically Serious: He gives a Quizzical Tilt when Robbie claims to be gay to stop Charlie from killing him.
• Cop Killer: Charlie murders police officers Hoss and Perkins and takes one of their handguns. He then drives the police car two blocks away to hide their bodies.
• Corrupted Character Copy: As a huge movie buff who's also a little bit of a nerd and has sexual/romantic feelings for Sidney archetype Jill, he closely resembles Randy. But Randy wasn't actually the killer and could usually be counted on to help or save Sidney.
• Death by Irony: Kirby Reed was starting to have romantic feelings for him once she "saved" him, but his response to that was an attack on her with the Ghostface knife as a form of his revelation as a killer right in front of her, showing that he lost all of his feelings for her, just as he expects her to die from those wounds^*which she didn't, as briefly confirmed in the fifth movie. Later on, it's revealed that he and Jill Roberts were dating, indicating that he has feelings for her, but she soon backstabbed him by killing him with that same kind of knife, showchasing her lack of actual feelings for him as he was left to die.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: A movie fanboy Dogged Nice Guy like Randy... who, in fact, is not nice at all, and is every bit as self-absorbed and Entitled to Have You as you'd expect.
• Double Tap: Implied. On screen, Charlie seemingly kills Deputy Hoss and Deputy Perkins each with a single knife stab; however, when Judy and the other cops find the bodies, they report that both deputies were stabbed multiple times.
• The Dragon: He is Jill's accomplice.
• Entitled to Have You: His actual attitude towards Kirby, whom he feels should've noticed him in the four years they had classes together, instead of just as a killing spree committed by him had started. He tells her this as he is stabbing her.
• Et Tu, Brute?: He does seem to have loved Jill, judging by his visibly devastated reaction to her betrayal.
• Evil Counterpart: To Randy, the Meta Guy and horror film geek. Unlike Randy, who was just a harmless Plucky Comic Relief and a Dogged Nice Guy, Charlie is (to loosely quote Billy in the first film) a "movie freak whose mind lost its reality button" and who feels entitled to Kirby's affections.
• Evil Is Petty: As he stabs Kirby, Charlie takes a moment to criticize her for only taking an interest in him recently, as opposed to a few years earlier when he first developed a crush on her.
• Faux Affably Evil: Even more so than his accomplice Jill and the previous Ghostfaces. To the point where he can be considered the Only Sane Man amongst the killers, as he does seem to feel remorse for stabbing Kirby.
• Foreshadowing: His set-up Ghostface victimization during the climax, where Kirby was there to "save" him, has abruptly hinted his genuine one, where he got completely killed off by his accomplice Jill.
• Hero Killer: After the reveal, Charlie brags about murdering Jenny, Marnie, Olivia, and Robbie and takes credit for the murders of Officer Hoss and Officer Perkins by showing off the handgun he took from them. He also almost kills Gale and Kirby.
• Ironic Echo: His revelation as one of the Ghostfaces in Scream 4 right in front of Kirby has him not only stabbing her twice, but also telling to her face about his now former romantic feelings for her as she started to briefly reciprocate them (since he used to have a crush on her while they were younger). Later in the movie, it's also revealed that he and Jill are dating, but he then gets stabbed twice by her, as well, showcasing that Jill doesn't really love him (since she desires fame more than intimacy); as a result, he felt devastated about it as he slowly dies from his fatal wounds.
• Irony:
  • His attempted murder on Kirby has him stabbing her twice, leaving her to severely bleed out from those wounds. Later, he gets stabbed twice, as well, but it's instead done by his accomplice Jill, and is a lot more dire in comparison. What's even more ironic about this is that unlike Charlie, Kirby manages to survive from her potentially fatal injuries that were given to her by him.
  • Sidney notes that Charlie is similar to Stu in that both of them are the less intelligent lackeys following the plans of Jill and Billy respectively. However, as Jill stabs Charlie to death, she informs him that she intends to frame him as the "ideas man", which would make Charlie the next generation's Billy Loomis (and Trevor the new Stu) if Jill's frame job was successful.
• Karmic Death: He rejects Kirby's love for him and stabs her two times in the stomach before leaving her to die. Five minutes later, his actual girlfriend Jill kills him by stabbing him twice and reveals that she has always intended to betray him. Considering how he was also one of the most violent killers alongside Jill, having how he was taken advantage of rubbed in his face by both Sidney and Jill feels poetic.
• Laughably Evil: While not as much of a Large Ham as his predecessors Stu and Mickey, and more mellow than the other Ghostfaces, he's still much a quirky nerd, especially when he preps himself to get stabbed to appear as a victim by slapping himself in the face, before Jill double-crosses and kills him to take the sole spotlight.
• Love-Interest Traitor: He betrays Kirby, who did return his feelings, but "too late" according to him.
• Meta Guy: Of the Ghostfaces so far, he is the only one to explain the new slasher rules to his victims.
• The Napoleon: At 5'6", he's one of the shortest guys in the film. He's also a psychopathic killer.
• Oh, Crap!: The look on his face when he realizes that Jill's plan wasn't for him to join her in fame and fortune, but for him to be the new Stu Macher, says it all.
• Out of Focus: The official Ghostface with the least amount of screen time post-revelation (especially given that he's immediately killed by Jill just before the height of Scream 4's climax happened).
• Pet the Dog: His apparent genuine remorse at having stabbed Kirby to please Jill.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Betrays and kills his friends at the behest of Jill, who then betrays and kills him.
• Saying Too Much: Since Charlie is one of the two Randy Expies explaining the rules, he pretty much gives away his plan of recording the murders and publishing them online. That said, Charlie is able to avoid the usual consequences because Robbie, the other Randy expy, is a livestreaming vlogger with an apparently sizable following, making him the more suspicious one of the two.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Even after The Reveal, he doesn't really raise his voice, unlike previous killers and his partner Jill. He's perhaps the only Ghostface to be one until Jason Carvey in the sixth film.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He states that he's going to be the next Randy to Jill's Sidney during The Reveal. As Sidney notes, however, he is much like Stu (a weak-willed, easily manipulated follower), which leads to his death by Jill. This also makes him a substitute to Mickey, based on his film knowledge and getting offed by the Big Bad, except he doesn't survive for the last scare.
• Sycophantic Servant: Charlie is definitely a follower, as he is willing to kill his friends to serve his master Jill.
• Teens Are Monsters: A willing accomplice in Jill's murderous scheme.
• Unholy Matrimony: With Jill, until she disposes of him.
• Unwitting Pawn: Jill used Charlie as a willing accomplice, but never intended on sharing the spotlight with him; when the moment comes to "fake" their injuries, Jill fatally stabs him in the heart.
• With Friends Like These...: One of the more notable cases, as he seems pretty much inseparable from Robbie due to their shared interests. Not only does Charlie murder Robbie, he also records a video of it and brags about it to Jill. Jill in turn kills him and pretty much does the same.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: How he manages to trick Kirby into coming out of her house to "save" him. Then, he (non-fatally) stabs her.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Charlie clearly sees him and Jill akin to something like Natural Born Killers, as a pair of Outlaw Couple Villain Protagonists who end the movie getting away with their crimes. Jill proves him very, very wrong.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: As soon as they run out of targets and the final act arrives, Jill kills him so she can come out the other side as the sole survivor. He's the second Ghostface Dragon to get betrayed by their partner, after Mickey Altieri in Scream 2, but he stays dead, unlike Mickey.

Scream (2022)

General

The Woodsboro Requel Killers (2021)

"This time, the fans are gonna be the ones who win."

Sam: This isn't a fucking movie!

Richie: No. But it will be. That's the point, right, Amber?

Amber: Right, hon! Third act bloodbath, check. Killers revealed, check. Time for the big finale!

The Ghostface killers of 2021, and the third to bring their murder spree to Woodsboro.

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• Affectionate Nickname: This is how it is established to the audience that they are in a relationship, with the two referring to each other as "hon" and "baby" while explaining their plan to Sidney and Sam.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: They are the first Ghostface duo to not turn on each other in any way and are united through their shared goal of making their own Stab requel.
• Birds of a Feather: They realized they had similar ideas about the Stab franchise and what they needed to do to "fix" it.
• Brains and Brawn: Richie is the one who calls the shots between the two. Amber is the muscle who commits the majority of the attacks and murders in the film, including Dewey.
• Breaking Old Trends: In 2 and 4, the female Ghostface was the brains while the male Ghostface was the brawn, but here, Richie takes the mastermind role while Amber is the killer responsible for most of the deaths.
• Connected All Along: Richie and Amber pretend to meet each other for the first time when Sam finally reunites with Tara at the hospital. After the unmaskings, they both disclose that they met up online just like Mrs. Loomis and Mickey did.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • Unlike nearly every Ghostface killer before them, Richie and Amber have nothing at all against Sidney or her family; their motive, while incredibly petty, is totally impersonal. While Mickey and Charlie had no prior connection to Sidney before donning the mask, they were the partners of Ghostfaces who did have personal connections to her.
  • Billy and Stu seemed tight-knit, but were willing to hurt each other for the plan, and also had different reasons for doing what they did; while it was personal for Billy, Stu got roped in out of a mix of peer pressure and For the Evulz. Richie and Amber are less close, having a vaguely romantic relationship, but are more united by a shared motive, and don't hurt or betray each other.
  • Like Mickey and Mrs. Loomis, Richie and Amber first met online. Unlike that pair of Ghostfaces, they don't have conflicting agendas and are completely loyal to one another.
  • Like Jill and Charlie, they're in a secret relationship. Again, unlike those killers, their feelings for each other are apparently genuine.
• Copycat Killer: They target people with relations to the Woodsboro murder sprees, whether related to the victims or the original killers, and set up their murder scenarios similar to ones in the Stab films.
• Dirty Coward: They act big and tough when they're in control and terrorizing weak, helpless victims, but once the tables are turned, both are shown to be pathetic cowards. They often rely on sneak attacks to get the upper hand over their victims and don't fare nearly as well when faced with an opponent who's fully willing to fight back. Richie is reduced to squealing like a girl when Sam shows him the business end of his own knife, while Amber flip-flops between begging Sidney and Gale for mercy when the odds are against her to smugly gloating when she regains the upper hand.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Their main motivation behind their spree was that they felt that the last Stab movie was so bad that it ruined the franchise forever, and thought that a new killing spree would provide ample "source material" for a new film. They planned to frame Sam (Billy's daughter) as the killer to give the franchise a mascot for new fans to root for. Unlike the previous killers, who had some connection to Sidney and irrationally blamed her for their problems, these two kill people essentially because of a film they didn't like.
• Dramatic Unmask: Subverted. Amber reveals her villainy by randomly shooting Liv through the head while Richie reveals he's the other killer by non-fatally stabbing Sam. Amber also exploits this trope by putting on the Father Death costume to trick Sidney and Sam into believing that she is the second killer before Richie actually reveals himself.
• Evil Is Petty: As Stab fans, they both hated Stab 8, so they decided to create a new copycat murder spree in hopes that it will inspire a more faithful reboot to the Stab franchise.
• Fall Guy: This time, Sam is supposed to be Richie and Amber's fall guy, as she is the daughter of Billy Loomis, and the killers believe that a killing spree "committed" by the child of an infamous serial killer will revive their beloved Stab franchise.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Richie is One Head Taller than Amber (Jack Quaid is 6'2"/1.85m, and Mikey Madison is 5'3½"/1.61 m).
• Laser-Guided Karma: Scream VI reveals that Gale was unable to sell the movie rights to a movie based on their killings, meaning their goal of inspiring a new Stab sequel was all for naught.
• Laughably Evil: Richie and Amber are a riot due to their Large Ham tendencies after The Reveal. They're notably the first Ghostface duo to be this, as all others had followed the Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey dynamic instead.
• Loony Fan: Their entire motive for the killings. Their favorite movie franchise was ruined forever, so they decided to carry out a murder spree of their own to give the filmmakers some new source material to work with.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Richie had been dating Sam for six months. It turns out that he had only started their relationship as part of the plan. Amber and Tara were also ex-girlfriends in the original script.
• The Movie Buff: A dark version, in that anger over the movies is what drove them to kill.
• Nothing Personal: In a rarity for the franchise, Richie and Amber aren't acting out of hatred toward any of their victims (Sam being the only possible exception, but even then, they're more interested in who her father was than in Sam herself); they just want to inspire a decent Stab movie, which, although petty even by Ghostface standards, is a remarkably impersonal motive. They're also the first killers in the franchise to have no personal grudge against Sidney or her family. Richie is even a bit starstruck to be meeting her during the third act.
• Outlaw Couple: Richie and Amber are implied to be in a relationship, which is later confirmed in the sixth film when Sam refers to Amber as Richie's girlfriend.
• Sadist: They both accuse Liv of being the killer during a tense moment at Amber's house after Mindy gets attacked. Since they had planned their third act killer reveal at the party well in advance, this could only be just to enjoy Liv desperately pleading her innocence. Then, Amber shoots Liv dead only moments later.
• So Last Season: To the legacy survivors. Dewey pegs Richie as one of the killers immediately after meeting him, Sidney and Gale aren't fooled by Amber's attempts at playing a victim, and Sidney mocks their unoriginality to Richie over the phone, namely there being two killers again and even setting their final act in Stu's house like the original.
• Strong Girl, Smart Guy: Richie is ostensibly the mastermind of the duo; Amber is the heavy-hitter who slugs it out with the legacy characters and proves to be more of a physical threat when she goes toe-to-toe with Sidney and Gale in the climax.
• Sucksessor: Zigzagged. While Richie and Amber do rack up quite a body count (at six, equal to the original killers), they are the first ones to fail at the Cold Open kill with Tara surviving to the end^note Although this is intentional on Richie and Amber's part since they needed to lure Sam back to Woodsboro, whereas all their predecessors killed two people in their cold opens. The film also has the highest number of survivors up to this point (Sam, Sidney, Gale, Tara, and the twins). And while they do succeed in killing Dewey where so many have failed, it's also downplayed by Dewey being well past his prime and Amber having caught him off-guard rather than beating him in a fair fight.
• Take That!: To entitled fans whose behavior towards the fandoms they apparently love so much ultimately does more harm than good.
• There's No Kill like Overkill: Their deaths are among the most brutal in the entire series. Also among the most well-deserved.
• Third Act Stupidity: Amber and Richie commit to setting up an entire Scream Call-Back, leaving Tara alive and unharmed, which allows her to fight them.
• Two Dun It: Much like the original movie they wish to emulate.
• Unholy Matrimony: They're all but outright stated to be in a relationship together. Sam brings it up in the sixth film, referring to Amber as Richie's girlfriend on two occassions.
• Villainous Friendship: Unlike the previous Ghostface duos, neither Richie nor Amber ever attack each other out of spite or ulterior motives.

Richie Kirsch

Richie Kirsch

"Thank God you're okay. Because I really, really wanted to be the one to kill you."

Played By: Jack Quaid

"Because nobody takes the true fans seriously, not really. They just laugh at us, and why? Because we love something? We're just a fucking joke to them! How can fandom be toxic? It's about love! You don't fucking understand, these movies are important to people."

An obsessive fan of the Stab films, Richie was so outraged by the most recent film that, together with Amber Freeman, he concocted a plan to set the series back on track. Believing that the best Stab movies are Based on a True Story, he travels to Woodsboro to commit a new killing spree to provide source material for a new movie to wash away the stench of Stab 8. Richie is also the first Ghostface of the films whose motives aren't tied to Sidney in any way, even though he manages to get her involved.

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• Abhorrent Admirer:
  Richie: Sidney Prescott! Y'know, I'm a really big fan!
  Sidney: Go fuck yourself.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He tries to plead with Sam when she is about to kill him. It doesn't work.
• The Alibi:
  • At the hospital, he states he was watching Netflix in Tara's room while Ghostface attacked Sam. Since Amber was at the police station while Ghostface attacked Sam, Richie was indeed lying about his alibi.
  • In addition, he takes a leaf from Stu's book by later claiming that he was with his girlfriend during Ghostface's first attack. It's implied that this alibi isn't exactly airtight because in the opening, the Ghostface that slipped inside Tara's home stands silently behind Tara while she receives another threatening phone call from "Charlie", suggesting that "Charlie" is outside and isn't the Ghostface inside the house.
• Allegorical Character: Richie is one for the requel. A common criticism of requels is that they are so dedicated to Revisiting the Roots that they come across as unimaginative repeats of the original movies. Likewise, Richie suffers from Creative Sterility and goes out of his way to rip off the plot beats of the first Ghostface rampage, such as dating Sam to repeat the traitorous boyfriend twist and recruiting Amber so that he can reuse Stu's house for the finale. For further unoriginality, Jill already did Richie's Woodsboro idea a decade earlier.
  Sidney: [To Richie on the phone] You might actually be the most derivative one of all. I mean, Christ, the same house?
• All There in the Script: The original script clarifies that Richie killed Wes, since it comments that he tries to kill Sam the same way he did to Wes.
• Ambiguous Situation: Unlike all the other Ghostfaces, it's unexplained why Richie enjoys killing people. But it's clear that he has some mental disorders and is fascinated with violence and murder, and his father encouraging his love of Stab movies probably didn't do favors for his mental stability either.
• Apologetic Attacker: As a big fan of Sidney, Richie apologetically explains to her that she has to die because her survival of yet another Ghostface rampage will break Suspension of Disbelief.
  Richie: I'm so sorry, Sid. We can't let you live, either. I mean, surviving this many times, it'll just be ridiculous.
• Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Scream VI retroactively establishes that Richie had sufficient funds to acquire a truly staggering amount of memorabilia from both the Stab movies and the various Ghostface rampages, up to and including the actual murder weapons and costumes of all his predecessors, which must’ve cost a pretty penny in bribes to get ahold of.
• Arch-Enemy: His betrayal of Sam makes him this to her. Unlike previous masterminds, he has Nothing Personal against Sidney; he just wants a better Stab movie. Even after Richie is dead, Sam isn't free of him; Richie's family target her for killing him, and they repeatedly use his image and memory to torment her.
• Batman Gambit:
  • After Tara gets a trivia question wrong, he makes the threat to kill Amber, luring Tara to the front of the house where he is standing. After failing to break into the house, he knocks loudly on the front door to divert Tara's attention while Amber prepares to enter the house through an alternative entrance. Once Amber is inside, he calls Tara again, distracting her long enough for Amber to ambush her.
  • He pulls the same trick again by telling Judy that he's about to kill Wes in the shower, but in reality, he's hiding on the front porch, preparing to waylay Judy as she tries to rush into the front door.
  • On a larger scale, his murders of Judy and Wes are supposed to draw the police away from the hospital so that Amber can attack Tara without any interference.
• Beard of Evil: Half of the Big Bad Duumvirate, and sports a chinstrap beard.
• Benevolent Boss: The first in the film franchise to be this towards his cohort, never once mistreated nor disposed of her in the film.
• Big Bad: Of the fifth film. He's attempting to revive the Stab franchise by masterminding another killing spree that will inspire a "re-quel". Being the Billy Loomis Expy, Richie is behind most of the phone calls, manipulates things behind the scenes, and his personal relationship with Sam makes him the more climactic Ghostface in the final act.
• Boom, Headshot!: Though Richie is likely dead after the numerous stab wounds inflicted upon him by Sam, she still shoots him in the head to make sure.
• Bullying a Dragon: It's an integral part of his plan to attack the mentally unstable daughter (and granddaughter) of serial killers and her loved ones, while pinning the murders on her. He didn't consider that this might horribly backfire. He even taunts her. Sam lampshades this before she stabs him in a manner befitting a Ghostface, saying you should "never fuck with the daughter of a serial killer".
• The Cameo: He appears in some behind-the-scenes footage of his own Stab Fan Film that plays during the finale of Scream VI.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To all of the previous Ghostface killers, as he is the first besides Jill and Mickey to lack any kind of sad backstory or what they see as a justification for their crimes, being motivated solely by his fandom of the franchise inspired by those killings. He is also the first killer to have no association with Sidney or ties to her past prior to the films, only caring about her part of his scheme, in fact going so far as to be fond of her in his own twisted way. Also, he's less mean-spirited than his predecessors and not a true Hate Sink due to him being Laughably Evil and Faux Affably Evil non-stop, even during his Villainous Breakdown, and being the first mastermind who's a Benevolent Boss towards The Dragon.
  • Specifically, he's one to Billy Loomis. Both are psychotic main Ghostfaces and the boyfriend to the main character, each with a plan in mind to frame somebody for the murders. However, their motives and demeanors are different. The irony is that his girlfriend Sam is Billy's daughter, so whilst Sam, an actual relative of Billy's, ends up not being like him, her boyfriend essentially plays the same role he did. Also lampshaded somewhat when Richie says, "I know it's a bummer that it's me, but it's really what's best for the movie." What better choice for a Ghostface wanting to make a real-life "re-quel" than being the traitorous love interest?
    • Billy was already suspicious and arrogant before the final reveal, whereas Richie is much nicer, more supportive, and far more unassuming.
    • Both manipulated their girlfriends, but Richie is far more direct about it. Billy planned to frame Sidney's father Neil as the cherry on top of his revenge scheme to destroy Sidney's family, the same way he blamed Sidney's mother Maureen for destroying his. Richie, meanwhile, planned to frame his girlfriend Sam directly, using her Dark and Troubled Past and familial connection to Billy to make her look like the real killer. Both also get killed by their girlfriends at the end of the film.
    • Billy's motive was personal, predicated upon Sidney's mother cheating with his father and his mother leaving him, leading to Billy killing Maureen and starting the killing spree with Stu as an elaborate revenge ploy. Richie's motives are not nearly so personal, instead being because he hated the eighth Stab film and wanted to provide new real-life inspiration for the series.
    • Billy reveals that he is Ghostface before Stu does. On the other hand, Richie takes Stu's place in the reveal order and uses the voice changer like Stu does to confirm that he is indeed Ghostface.
    • After they're dead, both Billy and Richie had a parent try to avenge them, but in Billy's case, it was his mother, who was heavily implied to be more motivated by being blamed for Billy's murderous tendencies than genuine grief, and who brought in a stranger to both help her and serve as a fall guy, while in Richie's case, it was his father, who is genuinely motivated by grief and was aided by his two surviving children, to whom he was genuinely loyal and vice-versa.
  • To Mickey from Scream 2. Both make a point of seeming like very charming, perfectly nice guys, and their motives are revealed not to be born from any troubled past, but from petty personal gain. However, while Mickey committed murders for his own benefit, Richie did so (in his own mind, at least) for the good of other fans. And while Mickey was far younger than Mrs. Loomis, who led him on and turned on him as soon as she could, Richie is quite a bit older than Amber, is the leader in their dynamic, and the two never turn on one another. And while Mickey planned on getting caught to gain fame, Richie plans to frame Sam for the killings, and expresses no desire for fame.
• Cop Killer: He kills Sheriff Judy by stabbing her multiple times in the torso.
• Corrupted Character Copy: As the dark-haired, apparently kind-hearted boyfriend to the Final Girl protagonist who is new to Woodsboro and ignorant of the Stab movies, he bears a close resemblance to Derek from Scream 2. Unlike Derek, though, Richie is actually the killer the whole time and is faking his attraction to Sam.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Sam stabs him 22 times, including through both of his cheeks, then slits his throat open, causing him to slowly choke on his own blood. Then she pumps him full of lead to finish him off, just to make sure. His father Wayne claims in the sixth film that seeing a photo of his mutilated body is what convinced him that Sam needed to pay for what she did.
• Didn't See That Coming: His murders of Judy and Wes were supposed to draw the police away from the hospital, allowing Amber to kill Tara without much risk and giving him an easy alibi at the motel. However, Sam quickly realizes that the police aren't guarding Tara and calls on Richie to check on Tara, throwing a wrench into this plan and forcing him and Amber to improvise.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Richie doesn't think of the potential consequences of driving his girlfriend Sam, who has mental illness and a history of murderers within her paternal family, over the edge at the end of the movie, especially after he threatens the life of her younger sister. Unsurprisingly, Sam gets the upper hand, and stabs and slashes him to death when given the opportunity.
  • Richie's attempt at sowing seeds of distrust between Sam and Tara falls through, since he fails to realize that Sam's bond with her sister is far stronger than her bond with him. She has only known him for six months, but she has known Tara her whole life.
• Domestic Abuser: Revealed to be a murderer when he stabs his girlfriend Sam. Worse, he then reveals that their relationship was predicated on Sam being Billy Loomis's illegitimate daughter, which was central to his plan to make her the Fall Girl for his and Amber's crimes.
• Double Tap: Even after Sam stabs Richie to death 22 times and slits his throat with his own knife, she makes sure to finish the job by shooting his corpse three times, ending it with a headshot to top it off.
• Ephebophile: It's implied via dialogue that, in addition to his other crimes, he is in a romantic relationship with his partner Amber, as they refer to each other as "baby" during the climax of the movie. Amber is 17, and Richie is in his late 20s. Sam outright calls Amber Richie's girlfriend in Scream VI.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: Amber is clearly affectionate towards Richie, and after he's dead, his father and younger siblings are hell-bent on utterly ruining Sam for killing him.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: One of his legitimate admirable qualities is not only his Villainous Friendship with Amber is seemingly genuine, but there appears to be Unholy Matrimony Ship Tease between the two.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: What eventually sinks his plans. He tries to manipulate Sam into turning against Tara by believing she could be the killer and was planning to go after her as well. This clues Tara on to the fact that he is really the killer. The idea that Sam would trust her sister over him, her boyfriend of only a few months, seemingly never occurred to him.
• Evil Gloating: Yes, and overly and excessively, since he has highly overestimated the talents he's gloating about.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: While he doesn't actively try to bring out Sam's darkness, he still messes with her, knowing she's mentally unstable, and also tries to set her up as the murderer by invoking nature over nurture for the narrative of his "movie". And when she finally does give in to her nature, she directs it exclusively at him.
• Evil Laugh: Belts one out when he thinks he has the upper hand against Sam.
• Evil Virtues: One of the few admirable things is that his Villainous Friendship with Amber is genuine and is a Benevolent Boss towards her.
• Faux Affably Evil: Even after he reveals himself as one of the killers, Richie retains his friendly and affable demeanor, gently apologizing to Sam, but assuring her it's the best for the "movie", and fanboying over Sidney. His Villainous Friendship with Amber also seems genuine.
• Foreshadowing: In the hospital, he's seen watching a YouTube commentary video bashing Stab 8, indicating his interest in the Stab franchise (and personal dislike of Stab 8), despite professing not to be a horror fan. Additionally, he references Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), despite his claims that he doesn't watch those types of films.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • It's revealed in Scream VI that his father, Wayne, is just as much of a psychopath as him, becoming the next Ghostface. He also used to actively encourage Richie in pursuing his obsession for Slasher Films. While his father clearly loved him, it's safe to say he may be to blame for what his son ended up doing.
  • The fact that his father and both of his siblings end up donning the Ghostface mask lends some credence to the idea that becoming a Serial Killer is In the Blood for the Kirsch family.
• Genre Blindness:
  • Subverted when it comes to horror films. Before The Reveal, he's presented as a total newbie to horror who's never seen any of the Stab films. He's actually a very die-hard fan.
  • Played straight when dealing with Sidney and Gale, who have arguably been in worse positions than their situation with Richie and Amber, but always come out on top.
• Giggling Villain: He can barely contain his glee after outing himself as the second killer, and giggles into the voice changer while taunting Sam about how it "really was the best choice for the movie."
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of Scream VI, on account of the Kirsch family (consisting of his father Wayne, brother Ethan, and sister Quinn) targeting Sam in revenge for her killing Richie in self-defense.
• Hero Killer: Richie murders Judy^note Screenwriter James Vanderbilt indirectly confirmed that Judy's killer was male, implying the culprit was Richie. and Wes. He also would have killed Mindy if not for Sam's intervention.
• Hidden Depths: Scream VI reveals that he actually made his own films.
• Hypocritical Humor: Richie angrily exclaims that Hollywood is running out of ideas even though he and Amber are planning to inspire a requel, a new movie trend that is considered by many to be the very definition of "running out of ideas".
• Impromptu Tracheotomy: He kills Wes by shoving his knife into Wes's throat. Averted in the original script, in which Richie instead puts a bullet in Wes's head after winning a Gun Struggle.
• Informed Flaw: In an interview, Radio Silence stated Richie let Amber do most of the grunt work as he was afraid of getting his hands dirty, and that Amber was the real mastermind but was content to let Richie believe it was his idea. However, nothing in the film supports this, as when the time comes for The Reveal, Richie is shown to be equally willing to get personal and violent as Amber and gives the traditional Motive Rant, with no indication that Amber is the one in charge. The climax more or less depicts them on equal footing. On the other hand, the sixth movie credits Richie as the real mastermind with the 2021 Woodsboro murders referred to as "Richie's movie".
• Inspirational Martyr: He's this to his family and the public who thought he was an innocent victim in the sixth film after his death.
• Karmic Death: Richie murders Judy by pinning her to the ground and stabbing her multiple times. Later, Sam returns the favor by killing Richie in a similar fashion. In both instances, there is a closeup shot of Richie's/Sam's knife hand before Richie/Sam delivers the final blow.
• Laughably Evil: He's pretty entertaining for a depraved killer.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight: In his very first scene in the fifth film, Sam implies via joke that Richie has erection problems. Although Richie is a physically healthy man in his late 20s, there's certainly a lot of reasons he could have erection problems (e.g. lifestyle factors, medications, anxiety, stress) — but the biggest one is that he might not actually be attracted to Sam at all, considering that he just wanted to brag about sleeping with a serial killer's daughter and he's revealed to be in a relationship with Amber. In Scream VI, Sam brings this back, taunting Wayne (Richie's dad) about Richie having a "limp dick" (after Wayne claims that Richie was "virile").
• Loony Fan: With heavy emphasis on "loony". He was such a fan of the Stab franchise, he collected various bits of memorabilia from both the films and the real-life killing sprees that inspired them, and directed some fan films of his own. While he already didn't like the direction the franchise took past the original trilogy, Stab 8 was such a betrayal to him, he embarked on a killing spree.
• Love-Interest Traitor: He openly admits he dated and had sex with Sam to break her emotionally later as Billy Loomis's daughter.
  Richie: You know what the best part of fucking Billy Loomis's damaged daughter was? Making her feel loved, just so I could take it away from her. Pretty fucked up, huh?
• Mad Artist: He happily describes the murders as the "movie" he and Amber are writing and treats the events of the movie like mere plot points instead of real, serious murders.
• Manipulative Bastard: He spent six months earning Sam's trust with the endgame of framing her for one of Ghostface's rampages. He also tries to turn her against her own sister to throw suspicion off himself.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: His death only martyred him, spawning his family to become killers as well in the sixth film.
• Never My Fault: While this is a pretty standard attitude for a Ghostface to have, Richie takes it to pathetic levels. He blames his entire spree on the latest Stab film's negative reception and that people called the fandom's virulent reaction toxic.
• Nothing Personal: How he feels towards Sidney unlike the previous Big Bads, but still needs to kill her to make his Evil Plan work.
• Oblivious to Their Own Description: Richie, without a hint of irony, asks how a fandom can be toxic... while covered in blood after committing or being an accessory to a dozen murders or attempted murders, and while planning to kill the very person he's talking to, all because he didn't like the most recent Stab movie and wants to inspire one more to his liking.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: He's in his late twenties, in contrast to Sidney in her forties and Dewey and Gale in their fifties.
• Playing the Victim Card: During his Motive Rant to Sidney, he tries to cast himself as a victim because he didn't like the latest Stab movie. He also goes off on a long tangent about how angry he is about his section of the fandom being dismissed as toxic for their virulent criticism of the film, blissfully ignorant that he is the epitome of a Loony Fan.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Apart from being literal serial killers, he and his family are also misogynistic. He also refers to Tara as Sam's "gimpy little sister."
• Posthumous Character: Richie plays a small but significant role in VI, appearing in video footage that he made before his murder. As his family are also avenging his death, his shadow looms large in other ways.
• Psychopathic Manchild: To the point that he even makes Jill Roberts look positively mild by comparison. To put that into perspective, it takes a special level of immaturity to commit numerous brutal murders just because you really didn't like a horror film. Sam calls Richie "pathetic" and a "man-baby" to get a rise out of his vengeful family in VI.
• Ruined FOREVER: invoked His motivation in a nutshell. Richie was a huge Stab fan, and hated the direction the franchise took in its later installments, with Stab 8 being the straw that broke the camel's back and made him decide to take the franchise back to its roots by inspiring his own "re-quel".
• Sadist: The attack on Judy Hicks is particularly brutal and drawn out. It begins with Richie calling Judy and threatening the life of her son Wes to the point where Judy is tearfully pleading for his life. Then when Judy arrives home and tries to save Wes, Richie jumps out and stabs her multiple times until she dies. Richie next proceeds to kill Wes For the Evulz even though Sheriff Judy's death alone would have been a good enough distraction for the cops.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: His screams when Sam gets the upper hand and stabs him repeatedly are unusually high-pitched and effeminate.
• Skewed Priorities: Even after he gets stabbed multiple times and is facing certain death with a pissed-off Sam standing over him, he's still concerned about the narrative he's trying to create.
  Richie: What about my ending?
• Slashed Throat: This is how he dies at Sam's hands in the end.
• Slut-Shaming: Richie insults Sam for being a sexually active young woman during the Motive Rant. After having had sex with her himself.
• Smug Snake: Richie thinks himself a murderous mastermind whose foolproof plan will go off without a hitch, but he's not as tough or smart as he thinks he is. He believed Sam would side with him over is own sister, and is genuinely caught off guard when she opts to free Tara instead of suspect her as one of the killers.
• The Sociopath: Aside from being a Benevolent Boss towards Amber out of their Villainous Friendship, he definitely fits this trope, based on his sadistic nature, superficial charm and manipulativeness, his immaturity, his poor impulse control and how he gets off on killing and torturing others for his own amusement.
• Straw Fan: An extreme version of a dissatisfied and entitled fan.
• Stylistic Suck: Revealed in the sixth film to have written and directed fan films of the Stab movies, all of which are depicted as cheap-looking and poorly acted.
• Tempting Fate: "The villain dies at the end! Those are the rules!" Immediately after this, Sam manages to get the jump on him and stab him to death.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Out of all the Ghostfaces' deaths, Richie's deserves special mention for the sheer brutality that Sam inflicts on him; she stabs him a total of 22 times, kills him by slitting his throat, and shoots his corpse three times (the third being a shot to the head) to ensure his death.
• Too Clever by Half: While a lot of Richie's plan to capture the new and old characters and frame Sam for their murders goes fairly smoothly, the one part that ends up derailing his scheme is when he tried to convince Sam that Tara was the other Ghostface and had lured her back to Woodsboro to die. While she briefly hesitates when she sees Tara tied up in a closet, Sam ultimately trusts her sister more than Richie and cuts her bonds. This one mistake ends up derailing the villains' scheme, and ultimately leads to their deaths.
• Villainous Breakdown: While he isn't exactly sane once he is revealed to be one of the killers, Richie seems to be in control once he reveals his plan to kill off the remaining heroes and frame Sam for it. This changes once things go off the rails when it turns out that Sam freed Tara from her bonds and Sam starts fighting back, with him childishly whining that she is spoiling the ending of his "movie". Once he is on death's door, he pathetically whines and asks what will happen to his ending. Sam then gives him the ending he deserves.
  Richie: Stop. Fucking. Up. My. ENDING!
• Villainous Legacy: Like Billy Loomis before him, Richie's actions inspire others to carry on work. The sixth film's Ghostfaces are all fixated on him; Jason and Greg wanted to finish his work by killing the Carpenter sisters, while Bailey, Quinn, and Ethan are all out to avenge his death at Sam's hands.
• Villainous Valor: Not only he's a Determinator like his predecessors to see the success of his scheme go through, but still keeps his Villainous Friendship with Amber up even when their plan is getting foiled.
• Villain Respect: Despite being an accessory to his murder, Richie has to give it up to Dewey for being so Genre Savvy.
  Richie: You really should've listened to Dewey! He nailed it in one! (points to himself) Look at the love interest!
• Villains Never Lie: Richie correctly argues that going back to Amber's house for Tara's second inhaler is a bad idea; he just leaves out that he's part of the reason why.
• Villains Want Mercy: He screams "No!" just before Sam slices his throat open.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Posthumously; thanks to rumors started by his sister Quinn, in Scream VI Richie is seen by some as an innocent victim framed and manipulated by Sam, supposedly the real mastermind of the Woodsboro killings.

Amber Freeman

Amber Freeman

"Welcome to Act Three."

Played By: Mikey Madison

"See, we had to bring the legacy characters back to make it matter. Can't have a bonafide Halloween without Jamie Lee!"

Growing up in the former home of Stu Macher made Amber obsessed with the Woodsboro murders and the Stab films. Just as outraged by Stab 8 as Richie was, she helps bring him to Woodsboro in the fifth film to carry out their murderous scheme to "fix" the franchise.

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• All There in the Script: An early script confirms she killed the security guard protecting Tara as Richie was still in the motel around this time and only went to the hospital because Sam told him to check on Tara.
• Ambiguously Bi: Amber is hinted to be in a relationship with Richie, with the two calling each other "hon" and "baby" multiple times, in a Unholy Matrimony-like situation. However, she is very touchy-feely and close with Tara beyond even being a "best friend", actually naming If I Can't Have You… as a potential reason to have attacked her. In an earlier draft of the film, Tara and Amber were even girlfriends; however, this was ultimately removed, leaving her romantic preferences for either a massive question mark.
• Arch-Enemy: Since she killed Dewey and backstabbed Tara, Amber ends up as one for both Gale and Tara. Sidney acknowledges this while handing Gale the pistol for the final blow. When Amber comes back for one last scare, Tara finishes her off.
• Attack the Injury: When Gale throttles her, Amber jams her fingers into her gunshot wound to get Gale off her.
• Ax-Crazy: Amber commits most of the murders in the film and still tries to kill Gale, Sidney, and Sam even after being burned alive.
• Batman Gambit:
  • Amber lures Tara outside the front door, where Richie is standing, by texting Tara a deceptive video of Ghostface stalking Amber.
  • Amber later leads Chad outside by hacking Liv's phone and sending him a message to have him come find "Liv."
  • After revealing herself as one of the killers, Amber wears the Father Death costume to pretend that she is the second killer, which allows Richie to ambush Sam and take Sidney's gun.
• Big Bad Friend: She pretends to be Tara's supportive friend but is really one of the new Ghostfaces.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Amber appears to be Tara's closest friend, but in reality, she wounds Tara severely, and orchestrates (with Richie) the deaths of several people.
• Blood Knight: She's more openly excited by killing than Richie is.
• Boom, Headshot!: Amber reveals that she is one of the Ghostface killers by shooting Liv in the head. Later, Amber is finally finished off with a gunshot through the head by Tara.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The only reason Tara survives both of Amber's attacks is because she and Richie need her alive but wounded and vulnerable to lure Sam to Woodsboro for their plan, by taking advantage of her Big Sister Instinct towards Tara.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • To Stu Macher, the lead killer's accomplice, a comparison that is capped off by the fact that they lived in the same house.
    • Stu has the outward veneer of a sociable, yet obnoxious, party animal with a serious lack of tact, while Amber presents herself as an empathetic and intelligent Deadpan Snarker who is sensitive to her friends' needs.
    • Both are obsessed with slasher films, though only Amber's motive is directly tied to them (wanting to revive the Stab franchise with new "source material"), while Stu's motive is a combination of For the Evulz (as he claims) and to get back at his ex-girlfriend, while also taking some lesser inspiration from slasher flicks.
    • Stu had an antagonistic relationship with Billy (with possible Homoerotic Subtext within their interactions), while Amber seems to get on well with her partner-in-crime Richie because of their similar motivations (and with confirmed romantic undertones) - even if Amber acts more like the muscle of the operation than Richie does.
    • Both are Ax-Crazy with extremely petty motives and lackluster justifications for their actions. Stu claims to have committed his deeds because of "peer pressure" by Billy, though he is also implied to have had an If I Can't Have You… motive when it came to killing Casey and Steve. Meanwhile, Amber's motives deal with her dissatisfaction with the direction her favorite film franchise was heading, and decided to give the franchise new "source material" to work with, though she later tries to cover her ass by saying that she was "radicalized" by toxic Internet message boards. Regardless, both prove merciless and sadistic towards their victims, whom they either know or are even friends of/lovers with.
    • Whereas Stu reveals his true identity as Ghostface after Billy does, Amber takes Billy's place in the reveal order, even shooting someone just like Billy did.
    • Both prove to be a Dirty Coward when they are confronted with their crimes, and yet both of them are Defiant to the End as they try to kill the remaining characters. However, Stu is still the first of the two between him and Billy to die, whereas Amber ever so briefly outlives her boss Richie.
  • To Charlie Walker, the previous Ghostface accomplice. Both Amber and Charlie play the henchman role to Richie and Jill respectively and are obsessed Stab fans. However, while Charlie likes all of the Stab movies, Amber only likes the first Stab. In addition, it is hinted that Amber doesn't like the contemporary trend of elevated horror whereas Charlie enjoys classic horror movies like Suspiria (1977) and Don't Look Now, both of which would be considered elevated horror in modern times. And while Charlie is disposed of by Jill as a mere pawn, Amber is treated as an equal in her and Richie's scheme, with neither of them backstabbing each other.
• Cop Killer: She murders the lone cop guarding Tara in the hospital. A little later, she successfully kills ex-sheriff Dewey Riley after previous Ghostfaces failed to do so.
• Crazy Jealous Girl: She clearly dislikes Sam, who is dating Richie, but is much warmer around Richie, even though they supposedly hadn't met before. When she's revealed to be Richie's real girlfriend (probably — which is confirmed by Sam in Scream VI) and partner-in-crime, her attitudes towards Sam and Richie suddenly make a lot more sense.
• Crazy-Prepared: She wears a Bulletproof Vest while infiltrating the hospital as insurance against the cops defending the hospital. It later comes in handy when Dewey unloads three bullets into her torso.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: One of the most prolonged, painful, and ignominious in the history of the series. Amber is beaten, shot, and burned alive on an oven stove, melting half of her face. She still survives long enough to try killing the heroes one more time in delirious agony before being killed via headshot. What seals it is that Amber goes down pathetically begging and sobbing for her life, mercy that the heroes empathetically don't grant:
  Amber: Wait, wait, wait, no! I-I'm sorry about Dewey!
  Gale: Fuck you. [guns her down]
• Dark Action Girl: Amber is the Ghostface that kills most of the victims in the fifth movie in brutal fashion, and is distinctly the muscle between her and Richie. She also puts up a fight against Sidney and Gale in the finale, though is eventually overpowered and taken down.
• Death by Disfigurement: By the time she's finally killed, half her face has been burnt off. Her flesh has visibly melted in the shot we get of her charging at Sam, Gale, and Sidney.
• Determinator: Despite being shot several times and being severely burned, Amber still attempts to kill Sam, Gale, and Sidney, only stopped when Tara lands a headshot on her.
• The Dragon: Richie's accomplice in the Requel murder spree, and the more violent of the pair.
• Dragon-in-Chief: If an interview with Radio Silence is any indication, Amber was not only the one who did most of the legwork in the film, but is also the one who actually came up with the idea for a killing spree whereas Richie only believes it was his plan, with Amber being content to lead from behind. Given nothing in the film supports this, it's ambiguous how true it really is.
• Dragon Their Feet: Though she and Richie act more like partners than any Ghostface duo before them, Richie is still the central Ghostface given the bulk of the Motive Rant and the final confrontation with Sam in the climax, referring to their plan as "his" movie and giving Amber orders she follows with little complaint. She still survives him by a few seconds after getting half her face burnt off, attempting one last time to kill everyone before Tara anticlimactically shoots her brains out.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Much like her predecessor Jill, Amber is a pale-skinned, murderous brunette.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: One of her legitimate admirable qualities is not only her Villainous Friendship with Richie is seemingly genuine, but there appears to be Unholy Matrimony Ship Tease between the two.
• Evil Gloating: Amber does this to Gale, taking delight in killing Dewey. Gale responds by punching her out.
• Evil Virtues: One of the few admirable things is that her Villainous Friendship with Richie is genuine.
• False Friend: To Tara who believes Amber is her best friend. It's unknown if the friendship was ever genuine on Amber's part but she is undeniably this by the time of the film.
• Faux Affably Evil: Her Villainous Friendship with Richie is genuine and there is even hints of Unholy Matrimony Ship Tease between the two. She's also a completely ruthless killer who has no problems gleefully mocking Dewey's death to Gale's face.
• For the Evulz: She gloats about Dewey's death purely to spite Gale.
• Framing the Guilty Party: Similar to Roman Bridger, Amber throws suspicion off herself by texting Tara from a cloned phone with her name as the sender. Sheriff Hicks clears Amber as a suspect when she checks Amber's cell phone records and finds them free of any evidence of this.
• Hero Killer: No other Ghostface in the series can say they killed Dewey Riley; Amber even declares that "it's an honor" after doing so. She also puts a bullet in Liv's head during her reveal. Amber almost kills Dewey's ex-wife Gale and Chad as well.
• High-Heel–Face Turn: Parodied. When cornered by the heroes, Amber cries and claims that she was radicalized on the Internet, expressing remorse for her actions. They don't believe her, and it's all an act.
• Hypocrite: Claims that Dewey "died like a pussy," and yet has the gall to plead with Sidney and Gale once they gain the upper hand on her.
• Impromptu Tracheotomy: She sneaks up on Vince and stabs him in the throat, which results in him bleeding out to death.
• Informed Ability: Radio Silence has stated in an interview that Amber was the one who committed most of the murders and was the real brains of the duo, but was content to let Richie believe it was his plan. However, nothing in the film itself actually supports this, as Richie is shown to be the more commanding of the pair and the climax treats him as the mastermind of the duo, with Amber given less focus by comparison.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Amber is aloof at times, but initially seems to be a good friend to Tara and very protective of her, which informs her dislike of Sam (because of her criminal history and her previous abandonment of Tara). Then she turns out to be one of the killers, and is specifically the one who wounded Tara inside her home in the first place.
• Karmic Death: After brutally murdering Dewey and sadistically gloating about it to Gale, she's beaten up, shot by Gale (with Dewey's gun), and catches fire from the stove behind her. When she gets back up shortly after Richie's death, Tara, the first victim she attacked and attempted to kill in the hospital (and the one whose life Dewey died saving), is the one who kills her by shooting her in the head.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Amber mocks Sam and Tara's mother's alcoholism during the Motive Rant towards the end of the film.
  • She also mocks Dewey's death (caused by her), saying that he "died like a pussy", and taunts Gale with the fact that she was the last thing Dewey saw before he died.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: She goes after Tara in the hospital, after she's been left wheelchair-bound and is still recovering from the injuries she sustained from her initial attack (which Amber herself was the perpetrator of) at the beginning of the film.
• Laughably Evil: Acts very obviously deranged following The Reveal, in contrast to her more reserved personality for the majority of the movie. She even jokingly hums "Psycho" Strings while pretending to aim her knife at Sidney.
• Loony Fan: Like Richie, her motive is her possessive fixation on Stab. In Amber's case, it was an obsession that started when her parents bought the house that the Macher family originally lived in.
• Made of Iron: Even after getting burned alive, she's still ready to try and murder the remaining survivors, and is only brought down by a headshot.
• Man on Fire: Sidney smashes a bottle of hand sanitizer on her head, and eventually gets her to accidentally set off the stove, lighting her ablaze. Remarkably, it's not enough to kill her.
• Manipulative Bitch: At the start of the film, Amber makes herself look like a potential victim of Ghostface by sending a video to Tara in order to get her out of the house. Additionally, Amber's suspicions of Sam because of her Dark and Troubled Past are meant to look like concern for Tara's well-being (and to make Sam look like a Red Herring). Overall, Amber makes herself look like a good friend, all the while planting seeds of distrust against Sam to throw attention off herself and Richie and make the intended plan of a Frame-Up against Sam look plausible.
• Miles Gloriosus: Amber brags about killing Dewey, and taunts Gale by telling her she was the last thing he saw before he died, but she begs for mercy once she's cornered by Sidney and Gale, even "apologizing" for Dewey's death.
• Never My Fault: While crying for Gale and Sidney to spare her life, Amber claims to have been radicalized on the Internet, and is not to blame for her actions. Naturally, neither Sidney nor Gale are buying it, and Amber herself probably doesn't believe it and is just saying whatever comes to mind to try and save her own neck.
• Not Quite Dead: Sidney and Gale's confrontation with Amber ends with Gale shooting Amber and setting her on fire when she falls onto the lit stove behind her. After Sam dispatches Richie and shoots his corpse several times, Amber gets back up and rushes towards Sam, Sidney, and Gale with a knife, before quickly being dispatched by a headshot from Tara.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: She's in her late teens and The Baby of the Bunch, in contrast to Sidney in her forties and Dewey and Gale in their fifties.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Like Stu Macher before her, Amber is heavily overshadowed by Richie after her death; Richie is referenced heavily in the sixth film while Amber only gets a few token references. While it's understandable that Richie's family would focus on him over a girl they probably never met, and that Sam would focus on her duplicitous boyfriend whom she personally killed, even Amber's former friends don't really mention her. Even when Quinn as Ghostface is taunting Gale about Dewey's death, she says "Richie and Amber" killed him, when Amber did it by herself.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Amber kills Vince, a creepy man who was stalking Liv and pulled a knife on Chad when he tried to stick up for Liv.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She puts up a solid fight against Dewey and holds her own with Sidney and Gale in the climax. It's also deconstructed in that her smaller build makes it easy for her to be pushed around as Sidney and Gale, both of whom are still injured, show little issue lifting and throwing her at one point.
• Playing Possum: After Dewey shoots her three times, she pretends to be unconscious to get the drop on him when he returns to finish her off with a shot to the head.
• Rasputinian Death: Even by Ghostface standards, Amber takes a lot of punishment before she goes down for good, managing to live through gunshots (albeit blunted by a bulletproof vest), a beating from both Gale and Sidney, a bottle being smashed into her face, a gunshot, and being set on fire before a bullet to the head finally ends her life.
• Sadist:
  • Her attack on Tara in the opening of the film exemplifies her sadistic brutality, as she stabs her seven times, breaks her ankle, impales her palm, and throws her against the ground—all the while tormenting her via phone threats. And Tara was supposedly her best friend. Not to mention that Tara thought Amber herself was in danger, and was coming to rescue her.
  • While choking Gale, she salivates at the idea of being the one to off both her and Dewey.
• Slashed Throat: This is how she takes out the cop guarding Tara.
• Smug Snake: Arguably the biggest example out of any of the Ghostfaces; when she has the upper hand, Amber has a smug grin on her face and gloats about her crimes, but the second she's at a disadvantage, she starts begging for mercy and coming up with hollow excuses for what she's done.
• Teens Are Monsters: She's about seventeen years old, and commits several murders. She might not be the deadliest of all the killers, but like Richie, she is arguably the pettiest and amongst the most sadistic.
• Two-Faced: Amber's not-quite-fatal immolation leaves half her face burnt to a crisp. Thanks to Tara, she didn't have to live with the disfigurement for long.
• Villain Respect: Subverted; as she's killing Dewey, Amber tells him "it's an honor", but once she has Gale at her mercy, Amber brags about how Dewey "died like a pussy".
• Villainous Valor: Not only is she a Determinator like her predecessors to see the success of her scheme go through and does one Last Stand of a berserker charge, but still keeps her Villainous Friendship with Richie up even when their plan is thwarted.
• Villains Want Mercy: She alternates between attempting to kill Sidney and Gale, and then begging them to have mercy on her when they overpower her during their confrontation. Her murder of Dewey makes this a cowardly, futile attempt to save herself from Gale's revenge, with Gale responding by shooting and immolating her.
• Waif-Fu: Amber is only 5'3" with a slender frame, easily making her one of the smallest people to don the Ghostface persona. Nevertheless, she kills at least four people including Dewey, and wounds several others in gruesome fashion. Notably, she's one of only two killers (the other being Jill) to actually seriously wound Sidney.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Amber has Tara dead to rights two times at Tara's own house and at the hospital, yet she instead settles for torturing her. It's justified as Amber and Richie need Tara alive, albeit severely injured, to lure Sam back into Woodsboro long enough for their plan to work.
• With Friends Like These...: Richie and Amber's killing spree commences with Amber attacking Tara, her supposed best friend, putting her in the hospital by stabbing her multiple times and breaking her leg. Later on, Amber also menaces Tara in the hospital as well, when she's vulnerable in a wheelchair, but Dewey fends her off. Plus, her overall plan is basically to kill off her friends in order to "revive" her favorite film franchise with Amber herself killing Liv and seriously injuring Chad.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Tries to pull this on Sidney and Gale. When they see right through it, she pulls out her gun and starts shooting.

Scream VI

The Bailey Family

General

The New York City Killers (2022)

"Frankly, I expected more from the two of you after what you did to us."

"It wasn't until I saw that photograph of what you'd actually done to him that I knew. That I knew you had to fucking die! You had to be punished! Along with anyone else who stands in our way!"

— Wayne Bailey

The Ghostface killers of 2022, who terrorize the Big Apple.

---

• Ambiguously Absent Parent: The matriarch of the Baileys is conspicuously absent, and none of the Baileys talk about her current whereabouts. An early draft of the screenplay revealed that she was murdered by Ethan for objecting to avenge Richie's murder.
• Ambiguous Situation: According to an interview with Radio Silence, it is unknown what the Baileys' real names are.
• Avenging the Villain: The 2023 Ghostface murders are carried out to avenge Richie's death at Sam's hands.
• Ax-Crazy: The trio are among the most brutal murderers in the franchise. For people claiming to be doing this for vengeance, they sure do go all out on anyone who is simply unfortunate enough to be in proximity of Sam or Tara.
• Believing Their Own Lies: They have convinced themselves that Richie was an innocent victim and Sam a brutal and sociopathic killer, the same narrative they've been trying to convince the rest of the world of.
• Berserk Button: They really don't take kindly to Sam talking smack about Richie.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: A family of three serial killers (four, including Richie)? "Screwed-up" doesn't even begin to describe them. Lampshaded by Tara:
  Tara: [to Wayne] Real great parenting job, by the way.
• Breaking Old Trends: The first time there are three killers when there have never been more than two, and they forgo horror movie trivia in favor of straight-up revenge against Sam and anyone even peripherally involved in the death of Richie.
• Brother–Sister Team: Ethan and Quinn are brother and sister. At one point, they gang up on Chad and take turns stabbing him.
• Connected All Along: Quinn and Detective Bailey pretend to not be related to Ethan to avoid a Contrived Coincidence and hide their familial ties with one another. Additionally, the finale reveals they're Richie's family who wants vengeance against Sam for "murdering" Richie a year prior.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike Richie and Amber, an implied couple with an impersonal motive, the Baileys are a family out for a very personal revenge, even if (in true Ghostface fashion) it's a decidedly myopic one. They also have no interest in horror movies beyond respecting Richie's fondness for them, a major contrast with almost every previous Ghostface. Similarly, they are the only killers thus far to be from the same family and the only ones who never encounter or have any association with Sidney. ^note A cut line from the script had them reveal they plan on going after Sidney and her family next, however.
• Disproportionate Retribution: They target Sam because she killed Richie despite the fact she only murdered him in self-defense and after he and his cohort Amber killed several people. Additionally, they also go after the other Woodsboro survivors despite the fact that they weren't physically involved in Richie's death or, in the case of Mindy and Chad, were nearly dead by the time he and Amber were taken out.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They genuinely love one another despite being psychopathic killers.
• Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: They are a family of killers and genuinely care deeply for one another.
• Fall Guy: Sam is yet again the fall guy for the Baileys by playing into the negative media attention that Sam has received since the Woodsboro requel murders, wanting to frame her for the murders in revenge for murdering Richie, the eldest son of the Bailey family. They also plan to blame Sam's death on an angry conspiracy theorist; whether Wayne has a specific conspiracy theorist in mind is unknown.
• The Family That Slays Together: Wayne, Ethan, and Quinn are the first Ghostface team to be related to one another.
• Hypocrite:
  • They constantly deride Sam as a "killer" because she killed a single person to protect herself, despite all three of them being serial killers, as was Richie, who they want to avenge. Not only that, they manage to kill even more people than Richie and Amber did in their murder spree.
  • Sam and Tara accurately badmouthing Richie is a collective Berserk Button for all three of them, yet they have no problem with posting lies about Sam on the Internet to ruin her reputation (Quinn even brags about it).
  • If going by the early script draft, their passionate dedication to avenging a family member becomes ridiculously hypocritical when considering what they did to their wife/mother.
• Irony: Quinn, who wore Stu Macher's mask and considered him her favorite Ghostface, is killed by a gunshot, like Nancy Loomis, whereas Ethan, who wore Mrs. Loomis' mask, is killed by having a CRT TV dropped on his head, like Stu (the very same TV, no less).
• Misplaced Retribution: The Bailey family targets Sam because she (in self-defense) killed Richie, the eldest son of their family. While this alone would already be Moral Myopia, it gets even worse even they start to target the other Woodsboro survivors as well despite the fact that all of them weren't physically involved in Richie's death (and, in the case of Chad and Mindy, were nearly dead as a result of Richie and Amber's machinations), not to mention the many other victims they accumulate that had either had no connection to Woodsboro whatsoever or tangential connections at best.
• Moral Myopia: They all think they have the moral high ground compared to Sam because she killed Richie, despite the fact that they're all serial killers themselves.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Subverted. These Ghostfaces stand out from the usual killers because they're not interested in playing to horror movie conventions or quizzing their targets about their knowledge of horror movies — even though it turns out that they are horror fans, after a fashion, their motive is simple revenge instead of elaborate theatrics. As such, they're among the most dangerous set of killers in the franchise. However, they also fail to kill any of the returning survivors because they neglect to Make Sure They're Dead.
• Revenge: All three share the same motive to avenge their deceased family member, Richie.
• Revenge Myopia: They want to avenge Richie's death at Sam's hands despite the fact that she killed him in self-defense after he orchestrated a murder rampage.
• Siblings in Crime: Ethan and Quinn work together to avenge their brother, Richie.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Ethan is depicted as a dorky, soft-spoken Shrinking Violet who struggles with talking to girls and gets almost no respect from his peers. Quinn is easy-going, brutally honest, has a very active sex life, and seems to be on good terms with the rest of their friend group.
• Sickbed Slaying: In the climax, Wayne mentions that they plan on finishing off the injured Gale and Mindy once Sam and Tara have been dealt with.
• Sucksessor: Zigzagged. The Baileys rack up a body count of at least nine on top of being some of the most ruthless and brutal killers in the franchise. They also fail to kill any of the Core Four or returning legacy characters, and are the first not to kill anyone during the third act final battle. Even Richie and Amber, who also left behind an unusually large number of survivors, managed to at least kill Liv at the start of the third act and succeeded in killing Scream 4 returnee Judy and franchise mainstay Dewey earlier in the movie.
• Terrible Trio: Wayne is the Big Bad and Ethan and Quinn are his Co-Dragons.

Detective Wayne Bailey

Detective Wayne Bailey

"There's a very special bond between a father and his first son."

Played By: Dermot Mulroney

"Have I been a perfect dad? No. Have I maybe overindulged Richie's love of these little movies? Yeah, maybe. For me, they're just a little dark."

An NYPD detective who is revealed to be Richie Kirsch's biological father, and the father of his two accomplices, Quinn and Ethan.

---

• Actor Allusion: This is not the first time Dermot Mulroney plays an imperfect father.
• Affably Evil: Out of all the Ghostface masterminds, Wayne is the only one that genuinely believes in retribution, never allowing his emotions to get ahead of him. Even when it does, it comes across as being sincere, and when both of his children appear dead, he goes ballistic. During his attempt to kill the Carpenter sisters, he acts like a Fun Personified goofy dad having family fun time with his children, laughing it up with them. In his last moments, he even thanks Sam for sparing him with the fatal blow...until she doesn't.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's not explained if the dead body he uses to fake his daughter's death was yet another victim he murdered.
• Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: He acquires an abandoned movie theater and converts it into a shrine to house Richie's massive collection of memorabilia about the Stab franchise and the previous Ghostfaces. It is never established how a police detective is able to fork up the several million dollars such a large property would cost in Manhattan.
• At Least I Admit It: Compared to some of his predecessors, he's more willing to say how he wasn't a perfect parent to Richie and considers it possible that he may have enabled him to become the Loony Fan he was.
• Avenging the Villain: Obviously in regards to Richie. Then he upgrades to avenging Ethan and Quinn after they are dispatched.
• The Bad Guys Are Cops: The head Ghostface of Scream VI is a cop, using his power to go around New York on a rampage.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He wanted to portray Sam as a Ghostface, just like her father and grandmother. When Sam does don the costume, it's to kill Bailey just as savagely as he and his children murdered several other people. Sam even throws the trope name in Bailey's face while she taunts him over the phone.
• Benevolent Boss: Like Father, Like Son, he never mistreats nor disposes his own children who are his accomplices. After his children are killed, he tries to avenge them.
• Big Bad: Of the sixth film. He's behind the revenge plot against the Carpenters, Sam especially, for the murder of Richie in the previous film. He's also the first Ghostface to have more than one accomplice, as well as the first police officer to be one of the killers.
• Big "NO!": Gives an almighty one just before Sam (in full Ghostface costume) turns him into a human pincushion.
• Bullying a Dragon: Bailey knows better than anyone what Sam is capable of when she's pushed too far, yet his plan is to keep pushing her. When things go awry, it costs Bailey his two remaining children and earns him a death even more brutal and bloody than Richie's.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • To Nancy Loomis from the second film. Whereas Nancy was an absentee mother for most of Billy's life, Wayne is more supportive of Richie to the point he enabled his obsession with the Stab movies by helping him create his shrine, despite not fully understanding them himself. Whereas Nancy groomed Mickey to be her accomplice and plotted to have him as the fall guy, Wayne enlists the help of his two remaining children and doesn't betray either of them. Lastly, when the self-righteous mother act is peeled away, Nancy's outrage over Billy's death is really over how Billy's killing spree reflected on her parenting and insists she was a good mother despite running out on him after an affair, while Wayne openly admits to not being a perfect father and his grief, by comparison, is depicted as genuine, if twisted, and motivated by love for his late son. Furthermore, Wayne is more aggressive in costume as he kills three bystanders in the bodega for standing between him and his intended victims, Sam and Tara; in contrast, Nancy is more cautious and immediately backs off from killing Sidney after Derek intervenes.
  • To his own son, Richie. Richie was a horror movie fanatic who carried out a killing spree in the hopes of inspiring a new Stab movie after despising the most recent one, and his accomplice was Amber, with whom he was heavily implied to be in a relationship. Richie also targeted Sam because he thought that, since she was Billy Loomis' daughter, she would make the perfect "villain" for his planned movie. Bailey, by contrast, never really got horror movies and is out to avenge his dead son, a far less petty motive than Richie's, and he's assisted by his two college-age children. His campaign against Sam has nothing to do with Billy (although her parentage does make a convenient weapon to use against her), and instead, Bailey wants her ruined and dead for killing Richie. Both Richie and his father wanted to make Sam the villain of their story, but their motives were completely different.
• Corrupted Character Copy: Of Dewey, a fellow police officer who lost a member of his family in a Ghostface massacre. Unlike Dewey, Bailey's family was the Ghostface in question, and Bailey himself turns to the other side of the law to try and avenge him.
• Crime of Self-Defense: Just like Nancy Loomis before him, Wayne couldn't care less that Sam killed Richie in self-defense, nor does he care that Richie planned to frame Sam for his and Amber's own murders.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Sam tops her efforts in the fifth film with Richie, Wayne's own son, by stabbing him as little as thirty-two times, before stabbing him through the eye for good measure.
• Didn't Think This Through: He wants to avenge his son by going after the justifiably ruthless Sam who killed him. He doesn't think twice about dragging his remaining children into a dangerous revenge plot which inevitably gets them all killed.
• Dirty Cop: "Dirty" is probably the kindest way to describe Bailey, a Serial Killer who is trying to frame Sam for the murders he and his kids committed. He even taunts Sam that his word will be believed over hers, since he's a police officer.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Bailey is motivated by his eldest son's death at Sam's hands, and he works well with his two younger children as well, going ballistic when he sees Sam kill Quinn.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While killing Jason and Greg was for pragmatic reasons, not moral ones, Bailey still expresses disgust for Jason's sociopathic reveling in having murdered an innocent person, throwing Jason's own words in his face while eviscerating him.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kirby Reed. Both are cops who came close to a Ghostface killer and survived (though Kirby was attacked by Charlie, while Richie is Wayne's son). However, Kirby is a hero, while Bailey is the lead Ghostface of VI.
• Evil Old Folks: He's by far the oldest Ghostface yet, considering that all of his three kids are adults. He's also one of the most brutal, as shown with his murders of Jason and Greg, as well as the bodega massacre.
• Evil Virtues: Love and loyalty; Bailey is motivated by grief for his eldest son and is still a loving father to his other two children, and unlike other Ghostface teams (except, fittingly enough, Richie and Amber), they're all genuinely loyal to one another.
• Eviler than Thou: He's confirmed to be the one who disembowels Jason in the opening kill, and his Pre-Mortem One-Liner establishes he's not out to make a movie, nor does he care about doing so.
  Jason: But... We have... To finish... The movie!
  Ghostface: WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT MOVIES?!
• Eye Scream: After viciously stabbing him no less than thirty-two times, Sam finishes Bailey off by driving her knife through his eye.
• Firing One-Handed: He shoots and kills the bodega store owner with a shotgun with one hand.
• Frame-Up: Bailey's ultimate plan is to frame Sam for both his and Richie's killing sprees before killing her, intending to not only end Sam's life, but completely destroy her reputation.
• Hired to Hunt Yourself: He's the lead investigator of the latest Ghostface killing spree, and is actually the man behind the murders.
• The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: After being briefly knocked out while fighting Sam, Bailey comes to to find her gone, only to realize that Sam is now using a Ghostface costume and tactics to stalk and torment Bailey, just like he did to her.
• Hypocrite:
  • He taunts Sam over the phone for being "a liar and a killer", which is pretty rich coming from a Killer Cop who poses as Sam's ally and who viciously kills several innocent people.
  • Despite seeming genuinely disgusted by Jason murdering Laura for a deeply petty reason, Bailey kills multiple innocent people himself just for getting in his way or being peripherally involved in Richie's death.
  • Wayne's aforementioned disgust that Jason is murdering people because he's just a Loony Fan of the Stab franchise rings hollow when his son Richie (who Wayne is dead-set on avenging) was motivated by the exact same reason.
  • He himself is not a fan of the Stab movies, considering them "a little dark". Among other things, he dismembered Greg and stuffed his body into a fridge for Jason to find. Granted, both of them had it coming, but still.
  • Bailey decided to kill Sam when he saw the state Sam left Richie in; Bailey himself murders Jason and Greg with a comparable level of brutality.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He is able to land three headshots in a row, one-handed, with an ankle-sized revolver against the mannequins in the Ghostface shrine in the final confrontation. Unfortunately for him, Sam as Ghostface is able to close into melee range from behind him before he can react, with gruesome results.
• Killer Cop: He's the one responsible for orchestrating the Ghostface killing spree that terrorizes the Big Apple.
• Laughably Evil: After The Reveal, he acts like a goofy dad despite being a killer.
• Manipulative Bastard: Initially convinces Sam that Kirby is the killer by saying that she's not an FBI agent anymore and she's been off the deep end for months.
• Misplaced Retribution: Sam acted alone in killing Richie, but Bailey also wants to kill Tara, Gale, Chad, and Mindy, who never laid a finger on Richie (the latter two spent Richie's death scene barely alive after Amber and Richie nearly killed them).
• Noble Demon: Downplayed, but Bailey is the only Ghostface to ever express any moral problems with one of the people he kills, and he's a genuinely loving, if rather uneven and, by his own admission, imperfect, father, making him the most comparatively noble Ghostface (admittedly a very low bar, but still).
• Outliving One's Offspring: Richie's death is what drove him to kill in the first place. Then, his daughter Quinn gets gunned down by Sam — the very same person who killed Richie (in self-defense) — in front of him. Narrowly subverted by his youngest son Ethan, who dies moments after his father.
• Papa Wolf: Much like Nancy Loomis before him, Wayne Bailey loved his eldest son and seeks to kill Sam in retribution for her killing of Richie in self-defense.
• Parental Favoritism: Bailey clearly favored Richie, saying there is no bond greater than one with the eldest son... right in front of Ethan, his other son. Additionally, for his cover, he treats Ethan like a stranger while not lying about his relationship with Quinn.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: He murders Jason and Greg, two wannabe Ghostfaces who plotted to murder the Carpenter sisters. Bailey even taunts Jason with his own words about how it felt to murder someone.
• Pet the Dog: Despite his hatred of Sam, he seems to sincerely thank her when she nearly avoids giving him the fatal blow.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The main reason he had Jason and Greg killed off, with a touch of genuine disgust for their motives. Despite sharing the same target, their agendas wouldn't have aligned by the end, and Bailey didn't want a pair of bratty film students killing Sam before him and his family could.
• Revenge Myopia: Bailey wants to avenge his son's death, which is fine by itself. However, along the way, he and his children murder several people who are totally innocent, and they conveniently ignore that Sam killed Richie in self-defense.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: As noted here, he was responsible for the bodega attack, making him the first Ghostface to use firearms in-costume. Justified, as he's a police officer and would know how to use a firearm.
• Spear Counterpart: To Debbie Salt/Nancy Loomis. Both are parents in hiding seeking vengeance for their deceased murderous sons, specifically by hunting down and killing their ex-girlfriends and killers.
• Tempting Fate: Bailey repeatedly taunts Sam about her murderous lineage and her own capacity to kill. Once she's been pushed far enough, Sam ends up unleashing that darkness on Bailey and his two remaining children.
• Villain Ball: After he sees Sam kill Quinn, Bailey charges at her despite being armed with a gun that had at least one round in it.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • A teacher giving you a mediocre grade (not even a failing grade; it was a C-) is a ridiculously petty motive for murder, as Bailey rightfully points out to Jason.
  • Bailey and his children insist on calling Sam a killer; given their and Richie's actions, the accusation is laughably hypocritical, but given how savagely Sam killed both Richie and eventually Bailey himself, it's hard to argue that there's not a grain of truth to it.
  • During the standard Motive Rant, Bailey admits that he isn't a perfect father; it's a major understatement, but it's also clearly true.
• Villainous Breakdown: Both Sam's words of mockery towards his children and the fight she puts up against him very clearly get to Bailey's head. He has an offended reaction to Sam's put-down of Richie more closely befitting a child than a police officer, and screams over the phone at her when she calls him as Ghostface, ultimately smashing his phone on the ground for no good reason.
• Villainous Parental Instinct: Bailey admits to not being able to understand Richie, but he still loved him and hates Sam for killing him and became Ghostface for revenge. He also shows no interest in betraying either Ethan or Quinn, which is extremely rare among Ghostfaces. He also notes that it was Sam's extreme measures in killing Richie that convinced him to exact revenge.
• Villainous Valor: He gives it his all to make good on his word to avenge Richie, then immediately upgrades to avenging his other fallen children Quinn and Ethan after they are taken out against Sam.

Ethan Landry

Ethan Landry

"I've always wanted to stick something in you, Tara!"

Played By: Jack Champion

"Mindy was right. It was easy to juke the roommate lottery. I mean, all I had to do to meet you is room with a conceited, condescending alpha literally named Chad."

Chad's college roommate and the brother of the late Richie Kirsch. Ethan is one third of a new trio of Ghostfaces along with his father Wayne and older sister Quinn.

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: Of Tara.
  • He at one point yells that he's wanted to "stick something in [her]" for a while. Tara pays him in kind.
  • At another point, she yells "Fuck you!" at him, and he invites her to "go ahead."
• Affably Evil: Despite being The Unfavorite, he and his sister and father are more akin to a dysfunctional family than a gang of sociopathic killers. They also seem to genuinely care for each other, treating their murder attempt on Sam and Tara as having family fun time.
• The Alibi: Ethan keeps bringing up the alibi that he had economics class when the others point out his absence during the apartment murders. Given the confirmation that he is the one responsible for the apartment murders, it is suggested that either he didn't have an econ class that night, skipped said class, or went to class but still had enough time to act as Ghostface.
• Attack the Mouth: Tara stabs him through the mouth and twists the knife.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Ethan is the youngest of the three Bailey siblings.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Although Mindy immediately pegs him as a suspect, Ethan keeps up a facade as a stuttering, soft-spoken nice guy, the complete opposite of his genuine, sadistic personality.
• Blood from the Mouth: When he comes back for one last scare, he's yelling with blood pouring from his mouth.
• The Brute: Between him and his sister, he's the most eager to indulge in violence following The Reveal. Even his own family seem to regard him as little more than extra muscle in their scheme. Fittingly enough, he is also the tallest of the trio.
• Call-Back: Ethan's characterization provide several nods to Stu Macher, a killer from the first film. He tells the heroic Tara that he's always wanted to stick something in her while trying to kill her, much like how Stu, in a similar struggle with the heroic Sidney, told her, "I've always had a thing for ya, Sid!" He also comes back briefly after the heroes have thought they killed him, and dies once and for all by getting a TV (the same TV used to kill Stu, even) smashed over his head.
• Co-Dragons: He, along with Quinn, are Bailey's accomplices in the sixth film's murder spree.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Tara stabs him deep in the mouth and twists the knife. However, he still has some energy to try and attack Tara and Sam, only for Kirby to drop a television set (the very same set that fried Stu Macher, no less) on his head, crushing it and killing him for good.
• Dragon Their Feet: In franchise tradition, he comes back for one last scare after Bailey is killed.
• Dramatic Unmask: Between him and Quinn, he unmasks himself first, confirming that Mindy's suspicions were right.
• Evil Gloating: After stabbing Tara in the side, he yells out "Gotcha!" before she stabs him through the mouth.
• Evil Is Petty: While stabbing Kirby, he makes sure to aim for exactly the spot where Charlie had stabbed her twelve years prior, even using Charlie's old knife to do it.
• False Friend: He pretends to be Chad's friend, but, in addition to secretly being one of the killers, Ethan admits that he actually hates him, considering him a Jerk Jock (more out of incel-esque jealousy than anything else) and gleefully reveling in having "killed" him.
• Foil: Ethan doesn't have much luck with the ladies and even claims to be a virgin. This is in contrast to his "sex-positive" sister Quinn and brother Richie, who was able to attract the likes of Sam and Amber.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Ethan is constantly undermined by his friends even before The Reveal, and everyone quickly believes he's the likeliest candidate to be Ghostface based on genre savviness. Even his father seems to view him as an afterthought.
• Green-Eyed Monster: The reason why Ethan stabbed Chad nearly to death is, among other things, because he's envious of his success with girls; Tara in particular. Though he eventually goes on to attempt the same thing on Tara.
• Hero Killer: Radio Silence stated in an interview that Ethan was the Ghostface in the apartment, which means he killed Anika and "Paul".^note While Radio Silence are also open to the idea that his father Wayne can be the killer responsible for Anika and Paul's deaths, they remark that Ethan's actor Jack Champion did some of the stunt work during the apartment attack, implying they lean more to Ethan as the Ghostface in said sequence. He also stabs Tara and Kirby, and almost kills Chad.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: Ethan was always considered the likeliest suspect to be the killer, even before The Reveal. He is antagonized and no one particularly respects him, even more so as the body count rises. After the reveal, it's implied that his father favored his late brother more than him.
• Laughably Evil: Acts very overtly deranged following The Reveal in a complete 180 from his "shy and dorky" (in Mindy's words) personality beforehand.
• Made of Iron: Sam hits him in the head with a brick and stabs him five times in the chest, neither of which does much to slow him down. Tara seemingly kills him by stabbing him through the mouth and twisting the blade... but even then he has enough energy for one last scare until Kirby drops a television on his head, finally killing him for good.
• Matricide: An early script for Scream VI reveals that Ethan killed his mother simply because she protested against the rest of the Kirsch/Bailey family's scheme to avenge Richie's death.
• Not Quite Dead: After Tara stabs Ethan through the mouth with the knife that Sam gave her, Ethan is down for the count while Sam shoots Quinn in the head and stabs Detective Bailey to death while wearing the Ghostface costume. After the deaths of both his father and sister, Ethan gets up and rushes at Sam and Tara before Kirby crushes Ethan to death by dropping a television on him - the very same television that Sidney used to kill Stu in the first movie.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: It's implied that Ethan's motivated more by sadism and his own pent-up frustration than avenging Richie.
• Oblivious to Their Own Description: He scoffs that being a psychotic Serial Killer must really run in Sam's family, apparently without realizing the irony.
• Obviously Evil: Mindy immediately describes him as suspicious because he's new to the group, and they all respond negatively to him when he arrives at the crime scene after Anika's death. This time, they're right about him.
• Only One Name: He is one of the very few characters not to have his surname revealed explicitly in the movies. This turns out to be for a good reason - to hide that he's a Bailey, like his sister Quinn and his father Wayne.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Saving Mindy's life after Quinn attacked her was only done to throw suspicion off of him and sow distrust between the others, with he and his family stating their intent to finish her and Gale off at the hospital after killing the rest.
• Psychological Projection: Ethan describes Chad as "conceited [and] condescending", implicitly projecting his own frustration and jealousy onto him.
• Sadist: While he's with his family in a plot avenging Richie, he seems to relish in the killings and doesn't mention Richie like his sister or father. During the ladder scene, Ethan opts to put down his knife and toy with Anika as she tries to cross to the other side, which eventually causes her to fall to her death. While waiting for Tara to fall from a railing, Ethan slashes at her feet, laughing and cheering as he does.
• Screaming Warrior: When he comes back for one last scream, he charges at Sam & Tara, while yelling like a berserker (which is impressive, given how deeply Tara drove a knife into his mouth).
• Slasher Smile: He has several notable ones — when he unmasks himself as one of the killers, when he brandishes a knife to Kirby before stabbing her, when he says he always wanted to "stick something" in Tara, and when he stabs Tara, gloating "GOTCHA!" with the widest smile ever before the former stabs him in the mouth.
• Tempting Fate: At one point, he asks Sam, "What are you gonna do about it, bitch?" She responds by carving him up like she did his brother.
• The Unfavorite: Implied since Wayne gushes over his bond with Richie, while conveniently ignoring Ethan.
• Villainous Crush: He's implied to have a crush on Tara, never mind that he's trying to kill all her friends and her eventually.
• Villainous Valor: Not only is he a Determinator like his predecessors to see the success of his family's vengeance go through, but does one Last Stand of a berserker charge before getting a television set dropped on his head.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Implied in how Wayne treats him about the massacre, while praising Richie, to be at least part of his motive.
• You Need to Get Laid: Implied to be part of his motive; it's heavily implied that he tried to murder Chad out of jealousy for his comparative success with women.

Quinn Bailey

Quinn Bailey

"Yes, you are, you motherfucker! You killed our brother!"

Played By: Liana Liberato

"Do you know how easy it was to turn Sam from the hero of Woodsboro into the villain? How easy it is to convince the world to believe the worst in people rather than the best?"

Sam and Tara's roommate and the sister of the late Richie Kirsch. Quinn is one third of a new trio of Ghostfaces along with her father Wayne and younger brother Ethan.

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• Affably Evil: She and her brother and father are more akin to a dysfunctional family than a gang of sociopathic killers. They also seem to genuinely care for each other, treating their murder attempt on Sam and Tara as having family fun time.
• The Alibi: Invoked. Quinn attacks Gale and Mindy to give Ethan an alibi for both situations since the protagonists are still suspicious of her brother.
• Berserk Button: Insulting her family. She charges at Sam when she brings up Richie's pathetic last moments, and later tries to attack Sam again when Tara stabs Ethan and Sam gleefully tells her she's "down another brother."
• Big Brother Worship: Even before revealing herself as one of the killers, she mourns her brother and can't keep her emotions completely at bay while talking about him to Tara (even though she doesn't say it was Richie). Once she does reveal herself, speaking ill of Richie sends her into a rage.
• Boom, Headshot!: Sam takes Quinn down this way, calling it a very effective way to kill someone in front of Quinn's father.
• Co-Dragons: Along with Ethan for Bailey in the sixth film.
• Daddy's Little Villain: She loves her family and especially loves helping her father in his criminal schemes.
• Dark Action Girl:
  • Downplayed. Her only confirmed kill is Gale's boyfriend which was done with ambush tactics. Outside of that after The Reveal, she's the least threatening of the Ghostfaces and goes down with a single bullet to the brain without doing much to either of the Carpenter sisters.
  • Having said that, Quinn is the one who puts Gale and Mindy out of commission for the grand finale along with nearly killing Chad with Ethan which makes her the Ghostface who does the most damage to the experienced characters.
• Defiant to the End: Even with Sam aiming a gun straight at her face, Quinn just glares at her in overwhelming rage before taking a bullet to the head.
• Determinator: Takes a brick to the face and gets back up because she's so determined to kill Sam and Tara for killing Richie.
• Dramatic Unmask: Quinn is the last of the three killers to reveal herself to Sam and Tara. Her unmasking also reveals that her death earlier in the movie was faked.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She's arguably the most upset about Richie even early on. She gets pissed when Sam speaks ill of him and when Tara stabs Ethan, she gets even more pissed.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In her phone call to Gale, Quinn expresses disgust at how she was willing to use past Ghostface murders as a means to make a successful career and sees it as an ample reason why Gale should suffer a painful death.
• Evil Genius: It was her idea to spread the rumors that Sam was the Ghostface of the third Woodsboro killing spree instead of her brother and Amber. One has to admit that it's very smart tactics to ruin someone's reputation, leaving them even more vulnerable.
• Evil Redhead: Has fiery orange hair and is one of the Ghostfaces.
• Faking the Dead: She staged her murder and used her father's influence as a cop in order to throw off suspicion that she was actually a Ghostface.
• Fiery Redhead: Quinn has red hair and is the hot head of the trio.
• Hero Killer: After the reveal, Quinn takes credit for Gale's and Mindy's attacks; by extension, this means she was the one who killed Brooks, Gale's new boyfriend. Subverted in the case of Gale though as when it looks like that she's killed Gale, the paramedics on site confirm that Gale is still alive, albeit with a weak pulse. Still, it's the closest any Ghostface has gotten to killing Gale Weathers. She and her brother also come close to killing Chad.
• Hypocrite: Much like her brother Richie, whom she admires so much. She claims to be "sex-positive," but after she's revealed to be one of the Ghostfaces, she yells at Tara to shut her "whore fucking mouth."
• Karmic Death: Shot in the head by her former roommate after being revealed as the one responsible for most of Sam's psychological torture.
• Kick the Dog: While taunting Gale, Quinn takes a moment to throw Dewey's death in her face for an extra bit of cruelty.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Quinn allows Ethan to murder her boyfriend as part of a faked attack on her.
• Made of Iron: A brick to the face doesn't keep her down for long - Gale also hits her square in the face with a cast-iron pan and it only slows her down for a few seconds.
• Malicious Slander: Quinn is the one responsible for spreading the rumor that Sam framed Richie and Amber for the 2022 Woodsboro murders, to smear her name in revenge for Richie's demise.
• Mistaken Death Confirmation: She is apparently confirmed to have died in the apartment attack, but is actually still alive. Her father helped her to be inaccurately identified.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: She's the Ghostface who attacks and almost kills Gale, who is in her late fifties.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's the smallest member of the Ghostface trio in this movie, but it doesn't hinder her too much when she's killing someone far bigger and muscular like Gale's boyfriend Brooks.
• Playing Possum: While fighting Gale in her apartment, Quinn plays unconscious after Gale gets the upper hand, even letting Gale take the knife from her hand, only to suddenly spring to life and drive a shard of glass into Gale's stomach as soon as she's within reach.
• Really Gets Around: Apparently. Quinn's promiscuity is commented on by everyone in the movie, though it's unclear if she's really like that or if it's a facade so that no-one will come into her room when she's thought to be having sex/faking a Ghostface attack.
• Sadist: While approaching Sam, who is seemingly helpless trying to save Tara from falling into Ethan's murderous clutches, Quinn approaches her with a smile, strolling casually while tapping her knife on a railing to show how much she's enjoying Sam's helplessness.
• Shared Family Quirks: At one point, she flips her knife in the same way that Richie does.
• Slasher Smile: Gives Sam a blood-soaked one when she confronts her post-reveal. It goes away quickly, and pales to the one Sam gives right back to her.
• The Tooth Hurts: When Tara takes a brick to Quinn's face, she knocks out several of Quinn's teeth.
• Villainous Valor: Doesn't take a brick to face that knocked the teeth out of her mouth to impede her effort to avenge her fallen brother, but a bullet to the head to stop her dead on her tracks. To Quinn's credit, even that impending bullet doesn't get her to show fear.
• Villain Respect: She mentions that Stu Macher is her favorite Ghostface killer.

The Wannabes

General

• Big Bad Wannabe: Jason and Greg want to finish "Richie's movie" by becoming the Ghostfaces to off Sam and Tara, but Wayne, the real Big Bad, has no trouble deducing their identities and outmatching them in combat. Moreover, they only kill one person, meaning they are the Ghostface team with the lowest body count.
• Decoy Antagonist: Jason and Greg are introduced as the new Ghostfaces, literally the Big Bad Duumvirate in any Scream movie. Neither of them live past the Cold Open.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: They live together and have been best friends since junior high.

Jason Carvey

Jason Carvey

"But... we have... to finish... the movie!"

Played By: Tony Revolori

"It was even better than we ever could have imagined. I mean, when the knife went in her, it's like she wasn't human anymore. Just an animal. And every time it went in, she was less and less human. And then, she was just meat."

An Argento-obsessed film student attending Blackmore University in New York. Jason is one of two killers planning to go after the Carpenter sisters. Unfortunately for him, another Ghostface had different plans.

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• Advertised Extra: Despite getting his own character poster, he's only in the prologue of the film and only briefly interacts with one of the protagonists.
• Affirmative-Action Legacy: He's the first non-white Ghostface.
• Asshole Victim: He and Greg are really only taken out by the Bailey family because they were a wrench in the latter's revenge plot against Sam. That said they were plotting their own Ghostface killing spree with Jason murdering his professor over a grade as "practice" and relishing in it so it's hard to feel sorry for them. For bonus points, Mindy even recognizes him as "that chode from our film studies class".
• Bait-and-Switch: You're led to believe he's the killer of VI when in reality, he's the first victim of the actual Ghostface.
• The B Grade: He murdered Laura just for giving him a C- on a paper.
• Breaking Old Trends: Jason is revealed to be the killer right at the beginning of the film, which in addition to being already a big trend-breaker means he lacks any Bitch in Sheep's Clothing facade. He also turns out to actually be the first victim of the movie's actual Ghostface, making him the first introductory Asshole Victim.
• Corrupted Character Copy: He has some similarities to Randy, such as watching a horror movie before being attacked. However, he's a killer.
• Dead Star Walking: The final victim of the opening prologue. Uniquely enough, considering he's one of the Ghostfaces.
• Deathly Unmasking: He unmasks himself for the dying Laura after stabbing her.
• Dirty Coward: He relishes Laura's fear and pain but when the table is turned and he ends up on the receiving end, he quickly panics and is reduced to whimpering with fear.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Jason kills Laura implicitly because she gave him a C- on a report. Even the actual Ghostface of the film seems to find this distasteful.
• Evil Is Petty: He killed his college professor in a drawn-out fashion just for giving him a C- on an essay.
• Expy: Of Mickey, the Scream 2 killer. Like Mickey, he's a film fan who's intentionally providing a "sequel" (though, in Jason's words, he's actually "finishing the movie") to Billy/Richie's actions.
• Faux Affably Evil: He has a laid back demeanor despite being a killer.
• Gutted Like a Fish: He's stabbed repeatedly by Ghostface, to the point where his intestines start to poke out of his wounds.
• Hate Sink: He's the most uncharismatic, wormy and pathetic of any Ghostface killer in the whole film series. Wanting to first test his killing skills out, he catfishes and tricks his film professor Laura Crane—who gave him a low grade—into going out on a date with him so that he can lure into a dark alley and taunting her for the dumb decision, proceeds to brutally stab her to death. Jason and his roommate Greg Brockner intend to start a new spree to not only finish Richie's work—having been part of his cult—and take revenge on Sam and her sister Tara while having already stalked and developed a rapport the latter, only for both Jason and Greg before him to be brutally and easily murdered by the actual Ghostfaces—Richie's family—before they can execute any further designs.
• Irony: Despite Jason's admiration for Richie, he's murdered by Richie's father for being a complication to his own plan to avenge Richie.
• Karmic Death: He's killed in a similar manner to his only victim — though it's taken a step further in that he gets disemboweled. Ghostface, disgusted by Jason's sociopathic bragging, even throws Jason's own words in his face while butchering him.
• Kick the Dog: He brutally and sadistically murders his film studies professor, a perfectly nice and innocent woman, just for giving him a mid-level grade on a paper and brags about it afterwards.
• Loony Fan: Jason's desire to kill Sam and Tara has nothing to do with believing the rumors about Sam being the true mastermind of the previous year's killings; he just wants to finish Richie's "movie" by including the ending he planned.
• Meaningful Name:
  • His first name is a clear nod to another slasher villain, while his last name is befitting of someone who uses a knife as a weapon. Bonus points for watching Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in his apartment mere moments before he's killed.
  • In the Cold Open, he unmasks himself in defiance of the series' traditional whodunnit format just as Jason's debut movie Friday the 13th Part 2 strips out the whodunnit element of the first Friday.
  • It also becomes an Ironic Name since he dies the same way Alice, Voorhees's first victim, does: getting assassinated after finding a corpse in the fridge.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Considering he murdered a teacher for giving him a mid-level grade, he's undoubtedly this.
• Skewed Priorities: At least one thing he shares in common with Richie. Disemboweled and at the mercy of Ghostface, his last words are about how he has to finish the Stab movie. His killer even calls him out on this before striking the killing blow.
  Jason: But... We have... To finish... The movie!
  Ghostface: WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT MOVIES?
• The Sociopath: He's a fairly realistic portrayal of a low-functioning one. He at one point talks up how cool it felt to kill Laura, noting how he specifically felt that it was neat that she felt less like a person and more like meat the more he stabbed her, showing a clear Lack of Empathy. He also shows low impulse control and an incredibly fragile ego, killing Laura for giving him a mid-level grade on a paper.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: He remains laid-back and relaxed even when detailing his first kill, never once hamming it up unlike the majority of the other Ghostfaces.
• Sucksessor: He and Greg by virtue of being killed by the real Big Bad at the beginning of the movie are the Ghostface team with the least amount of kills at only 1. And they're the only Ghostfaces to get caught before their big unmasking — something that even Stu managed to avoid. Of course, the ones that found them out were also serial killers, but still.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Used to creepy effect in when Jason murders his college professor, then removes the costume and blends seamlessly back into the New York city street. He even stops to talk to Tara on the way back to his apartment, with the suggestion that he and Greg planned on killing her and Sam later that evening.
• Unknown Rival: Jason wanted to murder Sam to finish what Richie started. Sam, even after Jason is dead, gives no indication that she even knew he existed.
• Villains Want Mercy: He begs for Ghostface to stop as he's getting stabbed.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He's the first Ghostface to be killed in the prologue of the movie.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He was actually an unwitting pawn in the scheme of the Bailey/Kirsch family and is killed after fulfiling their need to get him out of the way for their plan to kill Sam and Tara.

Greg Brockner

Greg Brockner

Played By: Thom Newell

Jason's roommate and one of two killers planning to go after the Carpenter sisters. Unfortunately for him, another Ghostface had different plans.

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• Asshole Victim: He and Jason are really only taken out by the Bailey family because they were a wrench in the latter's revenge plot against Sam. That said they were plotting their own Ghostface killing spree so it's hard to feel sorry for them.
• Body in a Breadbox: His body is found hacked to pieces in the fridge by Jason in order to bait him before brutally killing him.
• Dismembering the Body: Jason finds Greg's body hacked to pieces and stuffed in the fridge by the real Ghostface.
• The Ghost: Greg is seen only as mangled body parts.
• Informed Ability: Greg never gets the chance to demonstrate his skills as Ghostface on screen unlike Jason, who at least manipulated and killed Laura Crane.
• Killed Offscreen: He's the only Ghostface to never actually appear onscreen alive — or to even be seen in the suit, for that matter — with the only visuals of him being his mutilated corpse or a photo of him used by the police.
• Off with His Head!: His head was cut off and placed alongside his body in the fridge though it's unknown if this was after he died or what killed him.
• Posthumous Character: Given that Greg is killed sometime before Jason, it's not made clear if he is ever alive for the events of the movie, but he is another wannabe Ghostface.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: As true as this is of Jason, it's doubly true of Greg, who never appears onscreen except as mangled body parts. We learn that he was in cahoots with Jason over what was going to be the next massacre, but nothing else.

Other

Billy Loomis (Hallucination)

Billy Loomis

"How you doing, Sam?"

Played By: Skeet Ulrich

Appearances: Scream (2022) | Scream VI

"Sam, Sam, Sam... There's a killer on the loose. He's threatening you and he's threatening your sister. Are you gonna run away from who you are, like you always do, or are you gonna use it?"

One of the original Ghostface killers who has long since died, but exists as a figment of the mind of his illegitimate daughter, Sam Carpenter.

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• Affably Evil: Unlike the real Billy, who was Faux Affably Evil and a massive jerk to boot, this version tries to be something of a dark father figure to his daughter Sam, encouraging her to stand up for herself with The Killer in Me and embrace her murderous impulses, retaining the real Billy's villainous charisma. When Sam is pinned down by Richie, he encourages her to grab a knife, providing a Heroic Second Wind in defeating Richie, and is then shown smiling at her victory.
• Ambiguously Evil: He relishes in pride with what his real self accomplished and goads Sam into darker behaviour, but much of this is rooted in encouraging her to survive and fight back against those tormenting her. He doesn't actually encourage her to act violently towards anyone innocent and his goading taunts of Sam are generally a form of Tough Love, but he's also clearly taking delight in her acting on her violent urges.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • While there's no doubt he's a product of Sam's mental illness, because her exact diagnosis isn't given in either 2022 or VI, it's not clear entirely what he is exactly. Is he an outright hallucination, intrusive thoughts that are visualised for the audience, a dissociative personality, or something else entirely? If he was just a hallucination, he probably wouldn't have the same level of consistency in behaviour nor be her only hallucination, but if he was an intrusive thought Sam reacting to the sight of him and other silent gestures he makes would be unlikely, but then he's yet to induce a Split-Personality Takeover like a dissociative personality alter would. There's certainly more messed up about Sam than merely seeing him (her admitting to enjoying killing, the sheer veracity she has when doing it, her admitted drug use, her issues with depression and latching onto her sister to an unhealthy degree, and history of antisocial behavior), but these don't really sway the possibility of what he is in either direction nor rule any out. On top of that, he's self-aware enough to recognise he is merely a product of her imagination and directly calls out his appearance being the result of her medication not being strong enough, which even for someone who's aware of her illness like Sam is unusual.
  • To a lesser extent, why exactly she sees him looking how he does, namely in the same blood-stained white shirt he died in. Is this purely Sam's overactive imagination going off of photos of him in life and the depiction of him in Stab, or more grisly, has she seen crime scene photos of his dead body after his death, and thus the image of him in such a state is burnt into her mind? The former is a bit too uncannily accurate but if the latter, he should also have the gunshot wound Sidney put in his forehead to ensure he was truly dead. Tying in with the former point, it's entirely possible the physical manifestation of him is for the audience's benefit in which case the accurate mental image of him is just to ensure audiences recognise him, but Sam is clearly reacting to something visual whenever he appears.
• The Corrupter: Billy often tries to prod Sam into succumbing to her murderous impulses, although, playing to her conscience, he mostly suggests that she do so against people who have it coming.
• Enemy Within: Subverted—although he initially seems like a set-up for a Split-Personality Takeover or something to that effect, the murderous instincts in Sam that he represents actually end up saving her life and helping protect her sister.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: In-universe. In life, Billy was a scumbag: he murdered his girlfriend's mother for causing his parents' divorce, and then went on a killing spree nearly a year later to punish his own girlfriend for her mother's sins. Additionally, as revealed in this film, he cheated on Sidney around the events of the first movie, impregnating his mistress, which led to the destruction of his daughter's family after she found out the truth. In her hallucinations of him, Sam sees Billy as a manifestation of her mental illness, but he also gives her advice on how to live her life, and helps her to kill Richie.
• The Killer in Me: Actively tries to get Sam to embrace her killer instinct. Played with, in that he is goading her into confronting and killing the new Ghostface, rather than her friends or family.
• Knight Templar: Playing to Sam's violent tendencies and genuine conscience, he is quick to suggest that Sam solve her Ghostface problems with brutal murder; notably, despite Sam's fears to the contrary, Billy never so much as suggests that she harm an innocent person (at least, not as of the end of Scream VI).
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Although Sam already knows the truth before the movie starts, his sudden appearance as a Mirror Monster figure directly leads into The Reveal that she's his biological daughter.
• Papa Wolf: Sort-of; he's the manifestation of Sam's father, but is by no means the real Billy Loomis who wasn't even aware Sam existed in life and was dead before she was born. Still, much of his behaviour is rooted in trying to protect Sam, or rather, encourage her to protect herself by any means necessary. As he's not real, this protective fatherly instinct is merely Sam projecting onto him these traits, but the result is still the image of Billy Loomis trying to protect his daughter the way he does best.
• Posthumous Character: Billy is still dead for real, appearing to Sam as a hallucination and manifestation of her own psychosis.
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Billy was understandably not part of the marketing of the film, given that his presence gives away his unexpected connection to Sam Carpenter.
• Spirit Advisor: In the form of hallucinations produced by his daughter's unspecified mental illness.
• So Proud of You: He's seen smirking at his daughter after she absolutely butchers Richie in self-defense.
• White Shirt of Death: This Billy is shown wearing the same white t-shirt that the original Billy wore when he died, covered in dried-up blood.

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"Never say 'Who's there?' Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish."