History Characters / TheShining

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: In the novels, Jack was raised by an abusive father who constantly beat his wife and children, and eventually beat Jack's mother to death in front of them. He also struggles against the Overlook's influence and [[FightingFromTheInside repeatedly tries to fight it.]] In the film, his backstory is excised and most of his inner turmoil is downplayed so he comes off as a willing accomplice to the Overlook rather than a tragic victim.

* AccidentalMurder: During one of his fits of rage, Mark beat his wife so badly she died of her injuries.

* InnocentInnaccurate: Throughout the original novel, Danny mistakes very adult thoughts for something perfectly innocent or fails to comprehend what they mean. It's PlayedForLaughs at some points, such as when he accidentally hears an elderly female hotel guest thinking about how she'd like to 'get into [the] pants' of a young, attractive male bellhop, and he wonders why she'd want his pants rather than getting her own. It's PlayedForDrama much more, such as when he winds up terrified of divorce because he believes it's his own fault, not realizing his parents are considering it because Jack broke Danny's arm, which Danny assumed was justified.

* AdorablyPrecociousChild: In the novel, he is described as extraordinary and quite self reliant for a five-year-old.

* TormentedTeacher: Jack Torrance subverts this. Prior to the story, he worked as a teacher until a student slashed his tires and Jack beat him up in a fit of rage. Jack increasingly views himself as having been victimized by the student as he undergoes SanitySlippage, and he had indeed been pranked by him several times prior. However, he ignores that he had viciously bullied the student prior and unfairly cut him from the debate club [[GreenEyedMonster out of jealousy of his wealth.]]

* {{Expy}}: [[invoked]] Stephen King clearly took a lot of inspiration from [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Count Dracula]] when writing her character; Both Dracula and Rose are deceptively intelligent and powerful queer-coded vampiric sorcerers of Romani descent ultimately undone by their hubris and inability to consider basic empathy or humanity from their foes, and mostly hunt after the defenseless dreggs at the bottom of society in their quest to preserve their own immortality. The main difference between the two is that Dracula in Creator/{{Bram Stoker}}'s original novel is actually described as [[{{Gonk}} looking absolutely hideous]], whereas Rose the Hat is more reminiscent of the reinventions of Dracula given by modern pop culture in being a significant example of EvilIsSexy.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: A darker variant than normal. He's a BadBoss and unrelentingly cruel to the people who work for him, but Ullman's methods ''work''. Throughout the Overlook's decades-long history, he's the only manager who prevented it from having any scandals whatsoever.

* SlasherSmile: [[https://www.google.com/search?q=jack+nicholson+shining&biw=1228&bih=763&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI2-XM67qLyQIVhDU-Ch1vXAz- Pick one]].

* HateSink: A rare case of a ''building'' falling into this trope, but the Overlook Hotel is shown in all of the franchise's associated media to be a monstrous and despicable GeniusLoci. It drives its inhabitants to murderous insanity ending with the deaths of the caretakers and their families, and also [[MindRape psychologically tortures]] anyone who stays too close to it for too long. As well, the Overlook has an utterly vile and foul personality; it takes great joy in [[WouldHurtAChild tormenting the five year-old Danny]] and it's gleefully racist and misogynistic, taking particular pleasure in tormenting Halloran by screaming racial slurs at him at deafening volumes with its telepathy.

* AntiVillain: Depending on how much the audience sees him as a bad person to begin with or a good man who was broken by the hotel's influence. Averted in the movie, where his redeeming traits are mostly excised.

* EvilIsPetty: It encourages racism and other petty forms of bigotry in those it possesses/influences out of nothing more than it simply seems to enjoy doing so.

* HateSink: A rare case of a ''building'' falling into this trope, but the Overlook Hotel is shown in all of the franchise's associated media to be a monstrous and despicable GeniusLoci. It drives its inhabitants to murderous insanity ending with the deaths of the caretakers and their families, and also [[MindRape psychologically tortures]] anyone who stays too close to it for too long. In the first film, it compels Jack Torrance into attempting to kill Danny and Wendy and in the sequel, possesses a grownup Danny to force him into going after Abra. It's also worth noting that it inspires those its possesses and corrupts into childish bigotry (i.e., Jack and Grady's racist dialogue in the first film).

* ForTheEvulz: There doesn't seem to be any reason why it drives people insane and murders them, it just does. In the Kubrick film continuity, the Overlook is explicitly interested in harvesting Steam just like the True Knot are, presumably making people attack one another to this end, but even then this is implied to be only part of its ultimate plan to ensure further suffering and misery.

* WickedCultured: In the novel, the Overlook is a fan of Creator/EdgarAllenPoe and frequently quotes "The Masque of Red Death".

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In the novel, the Overlook gradually takes control of Jack by preying on his very real flaws, gaslighting him, and through its supernatural influence. [[spoiler:By the end of the novel, he's left a mindless EmptyShell for the Hotel to control.]] It's downplayed in the film, where Jack is still a pawn of the hotel and manipulated by it, but his homicidal rampage is mostly of his own volition.

* TheCorruptible: Particularly in the original novel. He starts off as a well-meaning if flawed figure, but is ultimately corrupted by the Overlook's malevolent influence and has to be put down.

* TheHeavy: While the Overlook is genuinely dangerous, it and the ghosts it controls aren't able to physically interact with the world enough to kill Wendy and Danny. It relies on the brainwashed Jack to do that, and leaves killing them and Halloran to him. [[spoiler:It's subverted in the book, where the Overlook eventually takes control of him and Danny points out that by this point it's corrupted Jack so much he's simply a mindless extension of the Overlook's will.]]

* MouthOfSauron: What the job of "caretaker" seems to entail in the end.

* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:At the climax of the novel, he's possessed by the Overlook itself.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: After he finally snaps, most notably in his famous "Here's Johnny!" line.

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: It repossesses Dan as a feeble attempt of saving itself from destruction towards the end of ''Doctor Sleep'', and is [[OhCrap visibly freaking out]] when Dan starts FightingFromTheInside and eventually succeeds in burning to the ground]].

* EvilBrit: Yup!

* TheJeeves: Starts off as this. Then his identity is revealed.

[[folder:Mark Torrance]]

* OnTheWagon: Jack quits drinking several months prior to the events of both the novel and the film. He still struggles with alcoholism despite that, which helps the Overlook gradually brainwash him.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Jack loses his temper and gives a vicious one to Wendy when she wants them to leave the Overlook hotel and take Danny to a hospital.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Downplayed. The film as a whole makes Jack a more unsympathetic character, but it leaves out his brutal assault of George Hatfield. As a result, the film leaves out the implications Jack's violent streak is ingrained in him, and instead depicts it as a result of his alcoholism.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the book. Like Movie!Jack, he's a bitter, violent, spiteful alcoholic with a HairTriggerTemper and NeverMyFault tendencies, but he also loves his family and is genuinely trying to change himself for the better.

* TookALevelInJerkass: He starts out as rather friendly and amiable in the book, but the Overlook's influence causes him to become increasingly abrasive and cruel. It's downplayed in the film, where he's a {{Jerkass}} from the start but legitimately horrified at the idea of hurting his family before the Overlook drives him to madness.