The characters on The Devil's Carnival include:
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The Devil's Carnival
Lucifer
- Played by Terrance Zdunich
- Affably Evil: Unless the topic of God and His followers comes up, he's rather soft-spoken and polite. That said, he is still the Devil.
- All-Knowing Singing Narrator/Greek Chorus: Narrates fables that relate to the sinners' stories as part of the films' shared framing device.
- Berserk Button: Do not ever accuse Lucifer of killing an innocent child.
- Dark Is Not Evil: While being in the business of punishing the wicked, Lucifer seems to be more concerned with the fate of innocents and the redemption of sinners than God though this is a very new development.
- Foil: A clear-cut one to God. God is a heavy-set, human man who dresses in white. He's leaner, demonic man who dresses in black. God keeps a constant watch over his kingdom but it's portrayed as sinister while Lucifer gives his carnies near-constant freedom with a few orders in between and he's clearly the one you're meant to root for. God seeks perfection in all his followers and has them wear uniforms, while all of Lucifer's carnies are different and very much disinterested in perfection. The most noticeable difference, however, is in how both leaders treat their second in command: God sends The Agent off to be killed in Hell without hesitation and even mocks him (through the gift), while Lucifer hates the idea of someone sacrificing themselves for him and refuses to let the Ticket Keeper become a martyr in his name.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- He doesn't take kindly to being accused of murdering John's son and insists that he would never murder an innocent child.
- When the Ticket Keeper calls him out on being Locked Out of the Loop for most of the film, he ends up conceding the argument, and also makes it very clear that he would never let the Ticket Keeper die for him.
- The Leader: The Mastermind.
- Villain Song: "Grace for Sale".
The Ticket Keeper
- Played by Dayton Callie
- Affably Evil: Aside from working for the Devil, he's a genteel and polite man. Even when people break the rules he loves so much he only gently reprimands. In the sequel, despite being irritated with Heaven throwing their unwanted down to Hell, he's very gentle with June when she's cast out.
- Berserk Button: Don't break the rules, he won't fly off the handle but will know and admonish immediately.
- Cool Old Guy
- The Lancer: To Lucifer.
- Heroic Sacrifice: While he makes it clear he would be willing to do this for Lucifer if necessary, Lucifer himself shoots it down and says that he would never allow the Ticket Keeper to become a martyr for him.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He grows increasingly frustrated over the course of the film, because Lucifer hasn't told him any of the details of his plan to overthrow Heaven and has mostly been holed away by himself. By the climax, he's had enough and confronts Lucifer on the matter; Lucifer eventually admits that the Ticket Keeper is completely correct, and then offers to explain the plan.
- Only Sane Man: In the sequel, while Lucifer holes himself up in his chamber and largely ignores the carnival and the carnies spend their time drinking and fooling around, he's the only one who seems to understand how serious a war against God should be taken.
- Undying Loyalty: Becomes apparent in the sequel; his persistence at snapping some sense into Lucifer despite the Devil refusing to give him any orders to work with, snapping at the Ticket Keeper just for asking for said orders and generally ignoring the carnival does not go unnoticed by his boss.
The Tamer
- Played by Shawn Crahan
The Painted Doll
- Played by Emilie Autumn
- Ascended Extra: She was the main protagonist of Alleluia!.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: Bad type.
- Depraved Bisexual: Not as an Applicant but certainly as the Painted Doll.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita
- Even the Girls Want Her: Her friend Cora had feelings for her.
- Foreshadowing: Look at Painted Doll's joy when Ms. Merrywood is lynched and remember that she personifies a dog. Her delight materialize in Alleluia! when she sings Hoof and Lap.
- Girly Bruiser
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery
- Ms. Fanservice: To the point that one promotional video spent a few seconds blatantly focusing on her behind.
- Male Gaze: Just ask Scorpion.
- Meaningful Name: Her Applicant name is June which is from Juno the roman Goddess of youth who watch after the young girls' initiation into becoming mothers and housewives. It is quite ironical after what happens to June.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast
- Pink Means Feminine: A lot of her outfits are pink, after her fall in the Carnival.
- Poison Is Evil: In her flask.
- Puppet Transformation: Played with in her backstory. While June doesn't transform into a literal puppet, she does become a servant of Lucifer and The Voiceless. Her movements during and after her transformation are also reminiscent of a puppet on strings, jerky and off-balance.
- Showgirl Skirt: Her outfit in Episode 1.
- The Voiceless: She doesn't say anything throughout the film except for her song.
The Scorpion
- Played by Marc Senter
- Affably Evil
- The Casanova: Tamara, Painted Doll and the Rosy Bayonettes at the moment.
- Greaser Delinquents: The Scorpion looks and acts like a charming version when he is first introduced. He isn't.
- Honey Trap
- Knife Crazy
- Knife-Throwing Act: Much to Tamara's misfortune.
- Meaningful Name: In astrology, one of Scorpio's flaw is being manipulative.
- Mr. Fanservice: He is played by Marc Senter after all.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast
- Ship Tease: With Painting Doll, everytime she sings he enjoys her performance and is quite admirative.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome
- Troubled, but Cute: Pretends to be this, but he's really Knife Crazy.
- Villain Song: "Trust Me".
The Twin
- Played by Nigel Ogre
- Evil Twin: He becomes evil to any sinner who falls in his clutches.
- Fake Twin Gambit: His modus operandi.
- Lizard Folk: He has a scaled skin and hiss when he talks.
- The Mole: Takes the form of a supposedly redeemed Ms. Merrywood to infiltrate into Heaven.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent / Snakes Are Sinister: He tempts Ms. Merrywood during his whole song which cause her lynching.
- Sssssnake Talk: Hisssss sometimessss when he singsssss.
Hobo Clown
- Played by Ivan Moody
- Captivity Harmonica: He can playing harmonica, ironically it's not him the captive but the sinners.
- Hypocritical Humor: One interpretation of 'A Penny For A Tale': it's a warning against being greedy; however, the singer won't continue until you give him some money. (To be fair, though, he is a hobo clown...)
- It becomes more obvious that he's playing it for laughs when he shows off the hole in his hat where people have been throwing coins.
- The Voiceless: He doesn't say anything throughout the film except for his song.
The Magician
- Played by Bill Moseley
- Giggling Villain: Sometimes and in his promo for Alleluia!
- A Dog Named "Dog": His bunny pet is named "Mr. Bunny".
- But in the poster he has a hare named Harry.
- Magic Wand: Apparently.
- Meaningful Name: Is often see with the Fool, like the Tarot cards.
- Minion with an F in Evil: The Magician comes off as a goofy, childish innocent in the middle of the creepy carnies. He still wants to join in the "fun" of punishing sinners, but his disappointment when he's not called up to participate in one of the acts is so sincere and pouty that you kind of want to hug the guy and tell him his time will come. The Disney-pink sparkles from his wand, his goofy dancing, and his habit of talking to his stuffed rabbit don't help.
- Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat: His modus operandi.
The Fool
- Played by Mighty Mike Murga
- Costume Evolution: His costume is a black, yellow and red jester in the first episode. In Alleluia! he is now almost totally white as a Pierrot, and
this episode is focused on Heaven. - Happy Harlequin Hat: Wears a black and yellow one.
- Little People Are Surreal: He can use magic.
- Magical Clown: Funny to the Magician, less for John.
- Meaningful Name: Is often see with the Magician, like in the Tarot cards.
- Regal Ruff: Wears a red one in the first episode.
- Villainous Harlequin: More malicious.
Wick and The Woe Maidens
- Played by Alexa Vega (Wick), Maggie "Captain Maggot" Lally (Woe Maiden), Hannah "Minx" Wagner (Woe Maiden), Beth "the Blessed Contessa" Hinderlifter (Woe Maiden)
- Perky Goth: They are, at least, enthusiastic about their work.
- The Hyena: They are usually seen laughing at something or someone.
- Villain Song: "Kiss the Girls".
Non-Carnies
John
- Played by Sean Patrick Flanery
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: With Lucifer's blessing, no less... but it's all part of Lucifer's plan.
- Driven to Suicide: How he got to hell in the first place.
- Epiphany Therapy: Of the three damned souls, he's the only one who manages to renounce the sin that led him to Hell, uncontrollable grief leading to suicide. It's a bit abrupt, coming at the end of Lucifer's morose song about the fable of Jupiter's water.
- Excessive Mourning: John's motivation for committing suicide, the death of his son. Overcoming this is how he manages to get into Heaven at the end of the movie.
- Foreshadowing: Of a sort. In "666," the only one of the rules specifically mentioned in the lyrics is "No cutting in line." Guess which rule John breaks later.
- Grief Song: John's song is appropriately titled "Grief".
- Kick the Dog: John's tricked into believing he sees his son a couple of times, the first of which turns out to be a doll, another turns out to be the Fool, who literally kicks him in the shin before running away.
- Papa Wolf
Tamara
- Played by Jessica Lowndes
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Tamara's fondness for dangerous men sends her to Hell... and continues to get her into trouble.
- Horrible Judge of Character
- Long Hair Is Feminine
- Nice Girl
- Pimped-Out Dress: Her Frog Outfit.
- The Ingenue
Ms. Merrywood
- Played by Briana Evigan
- The Bus Came Back: The only one of the three sinners from the original film to reprise her role in the sequel. Technically both played straight and subverted. The actress herself returns, but the actual character does not; the "Merrywood" that we follow during the film is actually the Twin.
- Humiliation Conga: When she fails every one of her tests she gets her jewels and clothes stolen and ends up semi-naked and whipped by the Tamer in front of all the Carnies.
- No Name Given: Her first name is never revealed, at least not in the film. At the Chicago showing,
Terrance Zdunich and Darren Lynn Bousman were asked by a fan if they could give her a first name. They agreed, giving Merrywood the first name "Kathleen", after the fan who asked. - Pretty in Mink: She had a gray rabbit jacket.
Heaven
God
- Played by Paul Sorvino
- The Bluebeard: He goes through mistresses a lot.
- Dirty Old Man: He enjoys the company of attractive young women whom he’s created.
- Fat Bastard: Portrayed as a heavyset man and makes it clear he sees his creations as possessions and will not hesitate to throw one out if it shows the slightest "imperfection". The first film has a scene portraying him as a toymaker who throws out any toys he finds with flaws rather than trying to fix them.
- Foil: A clear-cut one to Lucifer. He's a heavy-set, human man who dresses in white. Lucifer is leaner, demonic man who dresses in black. God keeps a constant watch over his kingdom but it's portrayed as sinister while Lucifer gives his carnies near-constant freedom with a few orders in between and he's clearly the one you're meant to root for. God seeks perfection in all his followers and has them wear uniforms, while all of Lucifer's carnies are different and very much disinterested in perfection. The most noticeable difference however, is in how both leaders treat their second in command. God sends The Agent off to be killed in Hell without hesitation and even mocks him (through the gift), while Lucifer hates the idea of someone sacrificing themselves for him and refuses to let the Ticket Keeper become a martyr in his name.
- God Is Evil: Heavily implied and confirmed in the sequel. Not that any of his followers know this as Heaven is littered with propaganda and conditioned to sing his praises.
- Manipulative Bastard: He spends the penultimate scene of the sequel buttering up The Agent so his follower will more willingly go down to Hell and be killed. Then he goes to Heaven's radio station and tells everyone he's allowing Lucifer to send condemned souls back to heaven after we watched him complain about them for an entire movie.
The Agent
- Played by Adam Pascal
- Animal Motifs: As with all ranks in Heaven, though his status as a “lap dog” is heavily referenced. He even wears a collar near the end.
- Undying Loyalty: To God. This ultimately comes back to bite him.
The Librarian
- Played by Tech N9ne
- Even Evil Has Standards: He stops the Translators from beating June in front of the horrified Applicants and more or less tells them to leave and be done with it. Downplayed, since this is immediately followed by him punishing the entire group for what June did.
- Scary Black Man: Despite being a scholarly man, he is still an authoritarian who sees punishment and fear as a way to keep Applicants in line.
- Scary Librarian
The Translators
- State Sec: It's not clear which one they fall under, but it's clear they aren't just keeping the peace.
- Police Brutality: They aren't afraid to resort to it to keep Heaven ideologically pure.
Cora and The Applicants
- Twinkle Smile: Cora sported one in her character trailer.
- Girl Posse
- Last-Second Word Swap: A hint that Cora might have a dirtier mind than she appears is when she states in a trailer that an applicant's fingers are for...praying.
The Watchword
- Played by Barry Bostwick
- Big Brother Is Watching You: His job is to photograph anything incriminating and watch the feeds of the cameras hidden in every room.
- Film Noir: Seems to be his theme.
- Large Ham Radio: His program appears to be modeled on the over-the-top radio dramas/mysteries of the 30s and 40s.
- Smoking Is Cool
The Publicist and His Ladies Of Virtue
- Played by Ted Neeley (the Publicist), Kristina Klebe (Geraldine), Laila Burket (Virginia), Francesca Vannuci (Pearl)
- Affably Evil: Despite being one of God’s inner circle and presumably being privy to all the corruption and brutality in Heaven, The Publicist is overall jovial, enjoys his job, and is never seen directly doing any evil deed.
- Body Horror: The Publicist has a horn sticking out of one of his ears.
- Girl Posse: The Ladies Of Virtue
The Designer
- Played by David Hasselhoff
- Camp Straight
- Large Ham: Even for these movies.
