History Characters / TheBlackPhone

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[[caption-width-right:350:''Nighty night, naughty boy.'']]

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!!"The Grabber"

[[folder:Finney]]
!!Finney Blake

!!Max

* LogicalWeakness: He's a terrifying SerialKiller but still an ordinary human and needs to sleep like everyone else. When he tries to stay awake for several nights in a row observing Finney, his endurance fades and he starts falling asleep.

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Beneath his mask, he's a perfectly ordinary looking, middle-aged man who you wouldn't think twice about if you passed him on the street.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Or in this film’s case, someone worse. Sure, Vance is a violent, borderline sociopathic bully who honestly could have been the main villain of another movie, but any evils he had ''pale'' in comparison to the sadistic, AxCrazy kidnapping serial killer that is The Grabber.

--->'''Robin''': I can't kill that hijo de puta. You have to do it for me.

* AWolfInSheepsClothing: Similar to Jame Gumb in ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and real-life serial killer Ted Bundy, he lures in his victims by asking them for assistance, acting harmless and nonthreatening. It doesn't last.
* AxCrazy: Routinely abducts, starves and kills young boys. He's also '''''extremely''''' sadistic and violent. The Grabber's dialogue also implies he may have the same gifts as Gwen and Finney, since as a child he heard the phone ring too but never wanted to believe it was real, which doesn't do wonders for his mental state.

* BrutalHonesty: When Finney's suspicious of the food the Grabber brought him, the man points out that he's already kidnapped him and has no reason to bother drugging him.

* GhostAmnesia: Their memories of their mortal lives tend to be fuzzy at best which does conflict with their attempt to help Finney.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He's introduced beating a much larger boy bloody, setting him up as a good fighter. [[spoiler: Which makes it all the more shocking when he disappears, strongly implying [[TheWorfEffect that he was no match for the Grabber.]]]]
* HandwrapsOfAwesome: A variation. Robin doesn't wrap his hands until ''after'' the fight, winding tape around his knuckles as makeshift bandages.

* LaughingMad: Once Griffin kicks off, however, he's pretty chatty and at times veers off into [[MirthlessLaughter seemingly inappropriate laughter]].

* ShoutOut: His physical appearance and general demeanor are very similar to that of Billy Hargrove from [[Series/StrangerThings Stranger Things]], despite the short story predating the series. However, given the series' popularity and the two media's similarities in setting and style, Vance's look is unlikely to be a coincidence.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Not a single person shed tears for him when Finney killed him at the end.]]

* AssholeVictim: Not a single person shed tears for him when Finney killed him at the end.

* CallingCard: He leaves a handful of black balloons at the location of all his abductions. [[spoiler:It's when Gwen mentions having a dream about them does this get the attention of the two detectives, solidifying their trust in her prophetic visions and inevitably leading to the location of the home where he buries his victims.]]

* LogicalWeakness: He's a terrifying serial killer but still an ordinary human and needs to sleep like everyone else. When he tries to stay awake for several nights in a row observing Finney, his endurance fades and he starts falling asleep.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Of the Ghost Boys, he's the only one unpleasant.

* ShoutOut: His physical appearance and manner is very similar to that of Billy Hargrove from [[Series/StrangerThings Stranger Things]], despite the short story predating the series. However, given the series' popularity and the two media's similarities in setting and style, Vance's look is unlikely to be a coincidence.

* ShoutOut: His physical appearance and manner is very similar to that of Billy Hargrove from [[Series/StrangerThings ''Stranger Things'']], despite the short story predating the series. However, given the series' popularity and the two media's similarities in setting and style, Vance's look is unlikely to be a coincidence.

* ShoutOut: His physical appearance and manner is very similar to that of Billy Hargrove from {{Series/StrangerThings ''Stranger Things''}}, despite the short story predating the series. However, given the series' popularity and the two media's similarities in setting and style, Vance's look is unlikely to be a coincidence.

* ShoutOut: His physical appearance and manner is very similar to that of Billy Hargrove from {{Series/StrangerThings}}, despite the short story predating the series. However, given the series' popularity, the visual similarities are unlikely to be coincidental.

[[folder: The Grabber]]

[[folder: Finney]]

[[folder: Gwen]]

[[folder: Max]]

[[folder: In General]]

[[folder: Bruce]]

[[folder: Robin]]

[[folder: Billy]]

[[folder: Griffin]]

[[folder: Vance]]

* TheSpeechless: His ghost has difficulty speaking like the others, either due to the trauma of how he died or what was likely the injury that killed him, a visible slit throat.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His real name is never stated, "The Grabber" being his only given identification.
* PsychopathicManchild: When he first abducts Finney, he has moments of acting childishly before revealing himself to be truly vicious. He also reacts the way a spoilt child would whenever Finney gets the better of him and even blames him for the terrible things he does throughout the film, such as having to kill his brother or keeping him imprisoned when he was considering setting him free.