Characters / American Horror Story: Hotel

American Horror Story Character Index
Murder House | Asylum | Coven | Freak Show | Hotel | Roanoke | Cult | Apocalyspe | 1984 | Double Feature | NYC

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Hotel Cortez in General

Hotel Cortez

• Expy: The Cortez is clearly drawing influence from the real-life and infamous Cecil Hotel. Notable former residents include serial killers Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger, and Elisa Lam.
• Hell Hotel: On top of being somewhat decrepit in its old age, it was originally built as a playground for a Serial Killer, then inherited by a vampire intent on using the guests as food, and only became more unwholesome as time went on and the ghosts started to pile up.
• Nightmarish Nursery:
  • The Countess keeps a hidden gamesroom at the Cortez for the vampire children she's adopted over the decades; stocked to the gills with video game consoles and candy dispensers, the kids can spend their days having as much fun as they like. The only downside of the place is that the kids are regularly siphoned for blood as a contribution to their "mother's" private stash, usually prompting them to get hungry and go hunting for guests who haven't locked their doors. Fortunately, it's not usually dangerous... up until John's daughter Scarlett pays a visit - and nearly gets eaten by one of the kids. Said kid is actually Holden, her long-lost brother.
  • Later in the season, the Countess is revealed to be concealing another, even more secluded nursery at the hotel. In this case, it's an actual nursery for her biological son, complete with a crib - as he hasn't aged at all since his birth. It's even creepier than the gamesroom, especially since it's kept dark at all times and little Bartholomew isn't above attacking uninvited guests.
• Rich Recluse's Realm: For no less than three owners.
  • James Patrick March designed, built and adopted it as his home from then on and rarely ever left. As it turned out, March was actually a serial killer and built the Cortez as so he could prey on the guests and easily dispose of their remains. After March killed himself to avoid getting arrested, his soul ended up trapped in the Cortez, making it his domain for all eternity.
  • As a vampire, the Countess needs a place where she can sleep and hunt without being disturbed, making the Cortez ideal for her purposes. By now, the staff are either too indoctrinated or too afraid of her to rebel, making her rule totally unchallenged. However, unlike March, the Countess doesn't have anywhere else to live, having been swindled out of all her money by Bernie Madoff.
  • Fashion designer Will Drake eventually adopts the Cortez as his home and headquarters, initially out of a desperate need for inspiration but eventually due to falling in love with the Countess. After being murdered by the Countess, his ghost is naturally unable to leave the building; with help from Liz Taylor, Drake is eventually able to reinvent himself as a Howard Hughes Homage, using the mystery of his absence as a means of selling his newest brands - with the assorted ghosts and vampires of the Cortez serving as models in highly-exclusive camera-free fashion shows at the Cortez.

Staff

Iris

Iris

"At least I care about something."

Played By: Kathy Bates

The manager of the Hotel Cortez. She lives there with her ailing son, Donovan. She has formed a friendship with hotel bartender Liz Taylor and has difficulties with tenant Hypodermic Sally.

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• Arch-Enemy: To Hypodermic Sally.
• Anti-Villain: She's a very bad person, but has no doubt had a pretty bad life, which earns her some sympathy.
• Despair Event Horizon: Crosses it after Donovan makes it entirely too clear that he hates her and wants nothing to do with her. She decides to kill herself as Donovan suggests, Night Sgiving a speech that makes it clear that she is deeply depressed and no longer feels happiness or sees any future for herself. Although Donovan saves her and wants to reconcile, Iris's depression continues until Liz is able to get through to her.
• Character Death: She is suffocated with a bag by Sally, but revived by Donovan turning her into a vampire.
• Dirty Old Woman:
  • Shamelessly makes innuendo at John immediately after meeting him.
  • She admits to enjoy watching porn in a monologue, and states she hates modern-day porn for its lack of good acting compared to the porn of her day.
• The Dog Bites Back: Along with Liz Taylor, she guns down Donovan and the Countess at the end of "She Gets Revenge."
• Driven to Suicide: She decides she has nothing to live for if she can't be Donovan's mother. At his urging and with Sally's assistance, she attempts to kill herself.
• Emergency Transformation: Donovan turns her into a vampire in a desperate attempt to save her life after she tries to kill herself and he realizes she loves him more than anyone else will.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Gives off the impression of someone who has a severe distaste for the nastiness of humanity, and actively calls out aspects of people or society she does not approve of. From the beginning, we see she's no different, as she's aiding The Countess.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: She and Liz, though not initially close despite always being friendly to each other, develop this over the course of the season. Their closeness initially leads to them planning to enter into a suicide pact together before changing tracks and ending up taking over the hotel and running it as partners.
• Holier Than Thou: She's rather judgmental of the Swedish tourists for their drug use; a little too judgmental for someone who partakes in murder on a regular basis. She also judges Gabriel, hiking up the price of his room, then sending him to room 64.
• Hypocrite: Her Holier Than Thou attitude, combined with the fact that she has been a willing accomplice to murder, abduction, torture, rape, and tons of other heinous shit for over twenty years, definitely makes her this.
• Jerkass: Her son gets it honest. Iris is rude to and dismissive of just about everyone.
• Kick the Dog: Her treatment of the Swedish girls in the first episode is pretty cruel, from start to finish.
  • When she brutally stabs the porn star in the heart as she weeps and begs for her life. The girl didn't do anything to her and didn't even want to be there.
• Lack of Empathy: She really doesn't care about any of the victims she helps make for the Cortez, even seeming to enjoy the suffering they endure to a degree. The only one she showed any remorse over was her own son.
• Mama Bear: Heaven help anyone who messes with her son. She threw Sally out a window just for getting him high!
• Meaningful Name: As the manager, Iris sees over everything in the hotel.
• The Mole: Donovan and Ramona decide that Iris is their perfect "inside man" for their scheme to get to the Countess.
• Moral Myopia: Iris sees herself as a good and sensible woman who does not stand for the ugliness of the modern world. But the ugliness she's responsible for tends to get swept under the rug, usually by her.
• My Beloved Smother: How Donovan views her.
• Offing the Offspring: She and Liz shoot both Elizabeth and her son Donovan.
• Odd Friendship: With Liz Taylor.
• Pet the Dog: Her role as governess to the vampire children. She takes care of them while the Countess does her own thing, and admits to loving them in a strange way. Of course, she's admitting this just as she was about to murder them all. Though this still works, since it could be seen as a Mercy Kill.
  • She also seems to care about John, as seen when she realizes that he remembers the years he spent at the Cortez and encourages him to escape the hotel once and for all.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: Look at her actions throughout the season, then look at her tribute video in "She Gets Revenge."
• Rage Breaking Point: An entitled, disrespectful couple who check into the hotel continually, albeit unintentionally, antagonize Iris at a very bad time. She eventually snaps and stabs them both bloody with a corkscrew before slitting their throats and drinking their blood.
• The Renfield: Becomes this to the Countess after her son's overdose and him being saved by the Countess's vampiric virus. She also shares this role with Liz Taylor, as both of them are the ones to deal with the cleanup jobs.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Her son gets it from somewhere. She sees her tribute video as a way of immortalizing herself and as "a beacon of hope for my three followers on Instagram," while also lamenting that no one will be "rushing to extol her virtues" after she's dead.
• Vigilante Man: Or woman. Ultimately subverted: She likens herself to a female Dirty Harry, ridding the world of evil scum. The people she kills are simply those whose personalities and lifestyle choices she looks down on.

Liz Taylor

Liz Taylor (formerly Nick Pryor)

"I'm sorry, lady. This is a no-tell motel."

Played By: Denis O'Hare

A bartender and entertainer who is obsessed with the actress Elizabeth Taylor.

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• Affably Evil: Laid-back, witty, and free with jokes and advice, she can be surprisingly pally to staff-members and repeat guests; she's actually quite helpful to John during his stay at the hotel, even trying to discourage him from his more self-destructive acts. However, Liz is still an accessory to murder and takes a very relaxed attitude towards the crimes taking place at the Cortez.
• Bald of Evil: She is an accessory to the murders performed in the hotel and is bald despite her very feminine clothing.
• The Bartender: Runs the hotel bar and tends to listen to people's stories, but may or may not give a quip to their troubles instead of offering them advice.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's an amicably snarky type with plenty of witty advice for fellow staff and frequent guests... but messing with her is not advisable. On top of handling corpse disposal and possessing an accordingly relaxed attitude towards murder, intruding on her private moments of grief can and will be met with violence. Plus, she opts to take revenge on the Countess via a hail of gunfire.
• Broken Pedestal: Needless to say, Liz loses nearly all respect for The Countess after she murdered Tristan upon finding out that he and Liz were in love.
• Camp Straight: Averted; she outright says she's not gay. She does (or did) have a wife with whom she had at least one kid, but says that she only married her to have ready access to women's clothing in her size and that she had no interest in the woman herself.
• Character Death: Her throat is slit by The Countess.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Liz becomes very bitter after The Countess murders Tristan.
• Deadpan Snarker: Often quips at other characters.
• The Dog Bites Back: Along with Iris, she guns down Donovan and the Countess at the end of "She Gets Revenge."
• Driven to Suicide:
  • Liz decides to end it all partially because she's distraught over Tristan's death, and partially because she figures that the Countess is going to kill her soon anyway. She reconsiders, however, once she meets her son for the first time in 30 years and he tells her that he wants her in his life.
  • Decides to do so again after she gets prostate cancer in the last episode. She rounds up all the ghosts and tells them to kill her so that she can become one herself and remain among them forever. It's the Countess who actually does the deed.
• Go Out with a Smile: Is happy to be killed and smiles in the final episode, surrounded by all her friends.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: She and Iris, though not initially close despite always being friendly to each other, develop this over the course of the season. Their closeness initially leads to them planning to enter into a suicide pact together before changing tracks and ending up taking over the hotel and running it as partners.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Honestly believed that The Countess, who Liz should know as well as anyone, would understand and accept it when she revealed that she and Tristan had fallen in love behind her back. Of course, she might have thought that she would be an exception to The Countess's usual vindictiveness.
• It's All About Me: Not as bad as other characters in this list, but just as guilty. Liz remains at the hotel because it is the one place where she doesn't have to hide who she is, even if it means being The Countess's personal "doll" and routinely disposing of her countless victims.
• Lack of Empathy: Clearly does not care that most of those she checks into the hotel will not ever be checking out. Although this is probably because she has been doing that for years, and has become desensitized.
• Large Ham: Not all the time, but it's Denis O'Hare as "Liz Taylor." So this is bound to rear its head every now and then.
• Odd Friendship: With Iris.
• One-Steve Limit: Subverted. Shares the same first name as The Countess/Elizabeth, but Liz Taylor patterns after Elizabeth Taylor.
• Parental Abandonment: The only form of contact she had with her children after crossing paths with the Countess and embracing her feminine identity was sending them money until they hit 18. She is Driven to Suicide over the loss of Tristan, so she decides to get back in contact with her son. Her son wants her in his life, which renews her will to live.
• Parental Neglect: Seemed to have a distinctly chilly relationship with her son even when he was trying to win her approval.
• The Renfield: Shares this role with Iris, as the both of them are the clean-up pair for the Countess.
• Trans Equals Gay: Liz faces the misconceptions about this trope from Iris in the present and from two of her own old coworkers in a flashback.
• Villainous Friendship: She was fond of Iris through their years working together despite Iris admitting that they didn't talk that much. As of "Room Service", they confide in one another and bond, with Liz later helping Iris dispose of her Asshole Victims without a blink of the eye.

Will Drake

Will Drake

"This place is far enough away that it speaks to me— it sings, even."

Played By: Cheyenne Jackson

The new owner of the hotel. He is a New York fashion designer who sought inspiration and bought the hotel, moving in with his son, Lachlan.

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• Character Death: His throat is slit by Ramona and his blood is drank by her.
• The Fashionista: Rare male example. He is a fashion designer.
• Face–Heel Turn: He becomes a killing ghost after his death, and though he ultimately reforms with Liz's help, he never really feels sorry for any of it.
• Good Counterpart: To James March, as a reclusive millionaire who adopts the Cortez as his home. Though both indulge in murder as ghosts and both ultimately give it up, March does so out of fear of being Dragged Off to Hell, while Drake does so out of a desire to repair his failing company.
• Good Parents: Played with. He's a pretty good dad to his son, Lachlan, getting along well and communicating with him maturely. However, he also lets Lachlan wander around an infamous hotel with a strange woman he (at the time) barely knows. And he apparently hasn't clearly defined to Lachlan what is normal and what isn't, since the kid doesn't see anything wrong with a bunch of creepy children who drink blood and sleep in glass coffins.
• Howard Hughes Homage: After being murdered and returning as a ghost, his inability to leave the Cortez leaves him running his business long-distance through an emissary (Liz), and he ultimately reinvents himself as a reclusive genius who will only occasionally be seen by guests.
• It's All About Me: It turns out this is the reason his business ends up in trouble as he took on all the design work of his company. When he "vanished," his successors had no idea how to keep things going and it's going out of business, which he can't believe. Consequently, his reformation involves him trusting Liz to keep the company afloat in his stead while he focusses on producing new designs.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Oddly Zigzagged with Elizabeth. He initially rejects her saying he's gay then considers sleeping with her. However, in bed, he can't have an erection, saying that even if he's genuinely attracted to her "his cock and mind operate separately". She has to invite Tristan for a threesome. In "She Wants Revenge", he announces to his son that he's bisexual.
• Large and in Charge: He's 6'3 and generally looks like he is towering over people.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Will's huge career and dynamic lifestyle are mostly in the way of him seeing the hotel's dark side. In fact, before he gets a look at Bartholomew (prior to being captured and killed), Will isn't aware that there's anything strange going on at all.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: A light example. His reputation is built on his wealth and taste essentially, and he finds the Hotel Cortez beautiful, stating that "this place is far enough away that it speaks to me. It sings, even." Will's not a bad guy, though. He's just hopelessly seduced by the person who is the bad guy. Or girl.
• Meal Ticket: For The Countess.
• Nice Guy: Probably the nicest guy in Hotel. The worst you can say about him is that he's a bit too privileged and naive.
• No Bisexuals: Averted as of "She Wants Revenge", where he officially identifies as bisexual and explains the meaning of the word to his son.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Doesn't hesitate to release a frightened woman from her bizarre imprisonment. Unfortunately, this woman was Ramona Royale, who rewards this good deed by brutally slashing Will's throat and drinking his blood.
• Satellite Character: Though his character affects the plot offscreen a number of times, Will mostly exists as a plot device for The Countess. Otherwise, he isn't around much.
• Slashed Throat: Courtesy of Ramona.
• Unwitting Pawn: To The Countess.

Miss Hazel Evers

Miss Hazel Evers

"I can take care of every stain there is."

Played By: Mare Winningham

The laundress of the Cortez.

• Cassandra Truth: She tried to warn Will Drake of the Countess's plans to kill him and leaves him at his demands but warns she'll be there watching with a smile as he dies. Later that episode, what she promised happens when a starving Ramona Royale killed him to feed. He even reaches out a hand to her begging for help.
• Character Death: Shot in the head by March.
• Dead All Along: She insisted on being March's last victim before his suicide.
• Death of a Child: Miss Evers’ spiraling sanity and morality could conceivably be linked to the death of her son at the hands of a mass murderer. When the police finally caught up to the killer, her boy had already been killed. It’s actually heartbreaking to see her standing on the property, watching other parents reunite with their abducted children—and she was left alone, her hope slowly dying as she realizes her child isn’t coming with the others to rejoin her.
• The Dragon: Iris states that Miss Evers was March's right hand during his murders.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She's unquestioningly evil, but her evil does come from a place of love and devotion...to her employer, who seems to return that affection (albeit not in a romantic way).
  • She reveals that they were supposed to marry each other but then the Countess popped into the picture.
• Face Death with Dignity: When the police break into the Hotel Cortez to capture March, he offers her a weapon so they could both commit suicide. Rather than do that, Miss Evers asks if she could be his final victim. She makes sure to smile right before he shoots her.
• Get Out!: Is told this by March in the penultimate episode after she reveals that she is the one who called the cops on him. She takes it rather well, actually.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She makes a rather homophobic remark regarding the gay men of her era when talking with Liz, but she does bring up the fact that Liz was irresponsible for walking out of her son's life on her trip of self-discovery when he was in need of a parental figure.
• Love Makes You Crazy:
  • Miss Evers was so head over heels for March that she was his willing accomplice. She was absolutely heartbroken when he wed the Countess.
  • Insists that love helps her get out stains. Unfortunately for her, it isn't enough to get the bloodstain out of her murdered son's Halloween costume.
  • She turns especially unstable around Halloween due to this, as that was when her son was taken.
• Neat Freak: As every ghost in the Cortez needs to finds their purpose, she has found hers in her lifetime, taking care of the bloody laundry created by her boss' murders. The only thing that makes her happier than getting to clean the gore-stained sheets her fellow ghosts regularly provide her with is being gifted modern-day cleansers and washing machines.
• "Not So Different" Remark: She and John Lowe. In 'Devil's Night', they commiserate over the loss of their children and how they are filled with deep regret over not watching them more closely the moment they were taken.
• Outliving One's Offspring: She blames herself for her son’s abduction and subsequent death, chalking it up to her not paying enough attention to him in the singular minute it took for his killer to abscond with him.
• The Power of Love: How she's able to clean up the blood after March's killings.
• Psycho Supporter: To March. She doesn't care that he murders and tortures people as long she can clean sheets.
• Servile Snarker: Towards the Countess, solely because of March.
• Undying Loyalty: To her beloved employer, Mr. James March.
• Yandere: She's later revealed to have call the cops on March but then Subverts it by telling March off and leaving his presence as he demands.

Residents

The Countess

Elizabeth Johnson March/The Countess

"You're only immortal if you're smart."

Played By: Lady Gaga

"We have two selves: the one the world needs us to be—compliant—and the shadow. Ignore it, and life is forever suffering."

A glamorous but deadly creature who sustains on a healthy diet of sex and blood. She kills with her very fashionable and very sharp chain mail glove.

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• The '70s: Of all the eras through which she's lived, this one was her favorite.
• Animal Motifs: Snakes. The Countess has a snake ring and a snake brooch. Iris refers to Elizabeth as a snake in ''Mommy."
• Big Bad Duumvirate: She and her late husband, James March, are the two driving forces of evil in Hotel, alongside the obscure but ever-present Addiction Demon.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's pretty obviously not a good person considering that Elizabeth murders two people in the pilot alone, but she tries to put on a nice face when around Will Drake and his son, Lachlan.
• Black Widow: After Mrs. Ever secretly turned her husband, James March, in to the police. This led to him committing suicide and her inheriting everything. She plans to do this again to Will Drake by marrying him and then killing him. She succeeds in killing him, but unfortunately for her, he dies in the hotel, leading to some complications for her.
• Blood Countess: She's a vampire and the current owner of Hotel Cortez, which is filled with demons and ghosts. She can only sustain herself on blood and uses a clawed glove to cut her victims' throats. She's also a self-widow, which is mostly how she gained so much money. She has also kidnapped some children and raised them as her own little vampires, playing into the trope's matriarchal angle.
• Casting Gag: Like Lady Gaga herself, she's a fashionista and a lover of the arts and in one episode, she's shown enjoying a foot massage which is Gaga's favourite beauty treatment in real life.
• Character Death: Shot by John.
• The Chessmaster: Based on cast interviews and implications on the show, Elizabeth knows all and manipulates nearly every occurrence in her hotel.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mostly toward Donovan.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She shows her first signs of fear and sadness in "Room 33." These emotions grow more pronounced during "Flicker," when she learns that Valentino and Natacha were bricked into the hotel by Mr. March for nearly a century.
• Depraved Bisexual: While she's mostly seen dating and having sex with men, The Countess seems just as attracted to women, having had a decades long romantic relationship with Ramona Royale, was in a polyamorous relationship with a man and a woman, and in the very first episode she has a fourway with two men and another woman. Being a vampire with sadomasochistic tendencies and a penchant for lust murders, she easily fits the depraved part as well.
• Did Not Think This Through: She lampshades killing Will where the murdered has the possibility to become ghost was not entirely smart when Will reappears as a ghost and puts a small hold on her plans.
• Do Wrong, Right: Disapproves of her husband killing DisposableVagrants not because she has any moral objection to killing, but because they don’t have anything worth taking.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • March speculates that she is the one who turned him in to the police, leading to him killing himself to avoid prison. She is forgiven for this because he thinks she's beautiful. As it is later revealed, she wasn't the one who did it.
  • Liz Taylor forgives her in the last episode for killing Tristan. In turn, Liz is forgiven by the Countess for nearly killing her.
• Entitled Bitch: She asks Liz to help her with her wedding with Drake after killing Tristan. When Liz refuses, she comments that the people she trusts repay her with ingratitude.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her abducted, vampiric children. Ramona believes that killing them all is the only way she can reap her revenge on Elizabeth.
  • She also has a baby that she gave birth to while attempting to abort it in the '20s. She even thanks Alex for saving him.
  • It seems that Rudolph Valentino and his wife, Natacha Rambova, are the only people Elizabeth has ever truly loved.
  • She claims later she only loved Rudolph and only tolerated Natacha to stay close with him.
  • It's shown she truly did love her "children" as shown when when her two remaining living kids accept dying to save her. She was upset at this and it caused her to lose motivation for revenge against Ramona and hand her the hotel.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Has a low, husky voice.
• The Fashionista: Her outfits are incredible and numerous.
• A God Am I: Not stated outright, but she sees herself as above everyone else and everyone else sees her as either a goddess or a devil.
• Gold Digger: She plans to marry Will Drake for his money and kill him afterward.
  • There are elements of this in her marriage to James March, though she also claims she was drawn to his darkness.
• Has a Type:
  • Non-sexual example: Judging from the children she's already abducted, she prefers them to be as fair-skinned and fair-haired as herself.
  • Sexual example: She seems to prefer Tall, Dark, and Handsome men, having relationships with Donovan and Tristan, and commenting on Detective Lowe's looks. Donovan even namedrops this trope. In "Flicker," it's revealed the one who turned her was Rudolph Valentino, who matches the Tall, Dark, and Handsome quota and her other lover were Replacement Goldfish for him.
• The Hedonist: A much more twisted example of this trope, but Elizabeth is introed having a foursome with Donovan and another couple before killing them and drinking their blood.
• Hypocrite: She claims to hate betrayal in love and she demonstrates it by killing Ramona's lover and Tristan yet she had no problem dumping Donovan for Tristan.
• Iconic Item: Her chain mail glove.
• If I Can't Have You…: She definitely has a problem being cheated on and will make sure the cheater and their lover pay both emotionally and physically. Though it should be noted she always kills the person she's least close too such as sparing Ramona and Liz Taylor who she knew for years when she killed Tristan, who she made her lover for a couple weeks. Ironically, she has no problem with cheating and dumping others if she feels like they get too boring or unsatisfying.
• It's All About Me: The Countess likes being the center of everything, and will accept nothing less.
• Lack of Empathy: For her victims, anyway. And even for her lovers. However, it seems like she had boundless empathy for Liz Taylor when she was still a confused Nick Pryor.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After spending the entire season of cheating, manipulating, and abusing her lovers and workers, she loses the one person she actually loved after killing her rival and manipulating Donovan into doing her dirty work, who murders her lover out of revenge and jealousy. Then as they begin to make up they're loaded with bullets by Iris and Liz Taylor as revenge for the abuse inflicted upon them.
  • Then John comes and finish the job forcing her to spend eternity with a man she despises.
• Mama Bear: Was actually pissed off when she learned Bartholomew was let out his room by someone and was prepared to torture and kill Iris to find out who did it. It's also the reason she rebuilt the sealed off hallway and trapped Ramona inside.
• Manipulative Bastard: She's attempting to manipulate Will Drake into marrying her so she can kill him and inherit his money.
  • She also seems to have somewhat manipulated Alex into becoming a governess for her vampire children.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's participated in multiple sex scenes without much left to the imagination.
  • However, the context of these sex scenes might also qualify her as Fan Disservice.
• Narcissist: She's self-entitled, grandiose and manipulative.
• Off with Her Head!: Is gunned down by John Lowe in the penultimate episode, who then takes her head to complete his and March's collection.
• Our Vampires Are Different: She has a 'virus' but no fangs, and subsists on human blood.
• Parent-Induced Extended Childhood: A perpetrator of the adoptive variety; Elizabeth is in the habit of "adopting" children and making them into vampires so they can remain hers forever. By now, she has four in total, and all are kept cloistered away in a Nightmarish Nursery concealed deep within the hotel, where they are allowed all the candy, cartoons, and videogames they could possibly want... at the cost of occasionally donating blood to their adoptive mother's private stash. Most of them are chronologically adults by now, and it's implied that some - like Wren - are mature enough to understand adult concepts like self-sacrifice, but the Countess insists on treating them as children. One of them is none other than Holden, the missing son of Detective John Lowe.
• Pet the Dog: Her whole relationship with Liz Taylor is based on this. She encouraged her to be what she wanted to be, even christening her Liz Taylor, killed two of her then-coworkers for bullying her over it, then gave her a job at the hotel.
  • As of episode 6, The Countess has definitely just kicked the dog by murdering Tristan in cold blood for little reason but to hurt Liz.
  • Saved one of her vampire children from dying of heatstroke and from the unwelcome attentions of the child's father.
• Polyamory: She was in a three-way relationship with Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova.
• Ponzi: The reason why she plans to marry Will Drake for his money. She was bankrupted by Bernie Madoff.
• Really Gets Around: She had been intimate with Donovan, Tristan, Ramona, Will, Rudolph Valentino, Natacha Rambova, and James March. She also once kissed Alex.
• Sadist: Oh, yes. It's all about "the hunt."
  • When March places a gag in the mouth of one of his screaming victims, Elizabeth removes the gag, telling him, "I like it."
  • She definitely enjoys tormenting a lovelorn Donovan during his breakdown after learning she's dumped him for Tristan and wants him out.
  • When she first discovers March murdering someone, she scolds him for his poor choice in victims, then seductively tells him that next time she wants to watch.
  • In "She Wants Revenge," she delights in telling Will how much he's going to suffer before dying, then traps he and Ramona Royale in the abandoned wing of the hotel. She has cameras installed so she can watch Ramona kill and feed on Will, treating it like a movie as she sits on the bed of her penthouse eating from a big bowl of popcorn. You can see why she and March made such a great couple.
• Start of Darkness: It's suggested that her violent and malicious personality, as well as her narcissism, developed after the apparent death of Valentino and her subsequent relationship with James March.
• Stealth Expert: She manages to appear in rooms without a hint of her presence. John only had his back turned for a second when she abducted Holden. By the time John noticed Holden was gone, Elizabeth was already walking across the beach with Holden.
• The Stoic: It adds to the intimidation factor.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Her last two remaining "children" die to provide her the blood she needs but is killed because of March's manipulations with John's mind and feelings.
• Not So Stoic: As the series progresses, she displays more emotions mainly when confronted with a situation that affects anyone she cares for. In "She Wants Revenge," she shows a variety of emotions from stress.
• Unholy Matrimony: To Mr. March.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: She has different outfits in nearly every scene (not unlike her actress).
• Vampires Are Rich: She was rich but she lost her fortune when she invested it in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
  • As of episode 9, she has inherited Will Drake's fashion empire and her fortune is restored.
    • Or so she thought, until his ghost turned up.
• Villainous Cheekbones: A rare curvy example, but those cheekbones are striking.
• Wicked Cultured: She's fascinated with art and high fashion.
• Would Hurt a Child: Kidnapping them, but also turning them into vampires to boot.
  • On the other hand, she rescued at least one of them from an abusive parent and the others (apart from Alex, whom she kidnapped specifically to advance March's plan of turning John into a killer) may have been in similarly bad situations.
  • Judging from Miss Evers's warnings about her, she could murder a child in cold blood if she benefited from it.
  • She claims "I don't kill children" but in the same episode she threatens Alex to kill both her and Holden if she does not fix her mistake then has vampire kids locked in the hallway with Ramona.
• Yandere: Didn't take it too well when Ramona left her for a man. However, the Countess became stoic after she left the recording studio, so she might've been faking.

Bartholomew

Bartholomew

The Countess and March's monstrous infant son. His mother tried to have an abortion (in the Murder House), but since she was a vampire he was instead born as an undead fetus and has been that way ever since.

• Humanoid Abomination: He has gray skin, beady black eyes, and a deformed mouth with sharp teeth.
• Made of Iron: John shot him a couple of times, which didn't seem to do much.
• Nightmare Face: Has beady black eyes, and a deformed mouth with sharp teeth.
• Undead Child: Upon being born and thought dead, Bartholomew springs to life and gores the nurse who held him.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: By the final episode, nothing really happens with Bartholomew. It appears as though he was only included as a MacGuffin to help with the plan to drive John Lowe insane, and give the Countess a reason to kill Will faster.

Hypodermic Sally

"Hypodermic" Sally McKenna

"Move me with your tears."

Played By: Sarah Paulson

"Getting high used to be like how you imagine Heaven. Pure light. The perfection of it all. Even in me. Then I got lost. Kept trying to climb higher. Get closer to that light. Like an endless ladder where all you do is get further and further away."

A drug addict and the thorn in the side of her landlord at the Hotel Cortez.

---

• Arch-Enemy: To Iris, her killer. Sally is happy to help with the deeply-depressed Iris's suicide, though not before forcing her to tell her exactly why she wants to die, to cause her more pain.
• Bad Influencer: Reconstructed Character Archetype. Sally is a Serial Killer who keeps sewing people into her mattress so that they can never leave her. At the end of the season, she manages to overcome her desperation for love and validation by becoming an online makeup guru.
• Character Death: Thrown out of a window by Iris.
• Dead All Along: It's revealed at the end of "Checking In" that she's been dead for years and is now a ghost.
• Deadpan Snarker: Particularly when talking to Iris.
• Destination Defenestration: At the hands of Iris.
• Desperately Craves Affection: Sally forces Gabriel into saying he loves her while he's being raped by the Addiction Demon and is moved to tears by the false words. She kisses a seemingly-alive Gabriel while she sews him up into a mattress, while berating him.
  • In her backstory, she was friends/lovers with two musicians whom she sewed to herself in a drug-fueled threeway. She states the she did it out of fear that they would abandon her. The Countess openly states that Sally has issues.
• Disco Dan: Her entire wardrobe is reminiscent of the 90s. Of course this is due to her dying in 1994 and therefore stuck in that time period.
• Hidden Depths: Is shown to be very talented at removing bullets from their wounds and stitching people up, which she does to save the Countess's life.
• It's All About Me: Sally mocks Donovan for dying of an overdose when she handled that much heroin just fine and happily indulges the Addiction Demon because he gives her a captive audience to coerce into saying they love her.
• Jacob Marley Apparel: Sally has been wearing the same outfit since 1994 when Iris pushed her out of a window, though there is one scene where she is wearing what looks like an old-fashioned nightgown.
• Mad Love: With John.
• Mundane Solution: How do you get a ghost with severe dependency issues to stop killing every single guest she comes across in a desperate attempt to find a new soulmate long enough for the hotel to be declared a historical monument instead of it being torn down due to all the deaths that have taken place there, potentially condemning everyone trapped in it to Hell for all the things they've done? Set up free Wi-Fi in the hotel, give her a smartphone and teach her to use social media.
• Pet the Dog: She is the one to free Vendela and tell her to run in the pilot. Although this can be interpreted as wanting to get Iris in trouble.
• Prone to Tears: If one pays attention to Sally enough, her cheeks are often wet with tears, or she borders on the verge of tears. This seems to lessen after she garners a massive following on social media.
• Together in Death: This appears to be her plan for her and John.
• The Vamp: She's good at using her sexuality to lure people in.
• Villainesses Want Heroes: She has an infatuation with the troubled but moral John Lowe, frequently attempting to seduce him and claiming they are meant to be. However, it could be that she sees him as another possible victim for the Addiction Demon...
  • Subverted, once we learn that John is really the Ten Commandments Killer and had been having an affair with Sally while in another persona.
• Woman Scorned: In "She Gets Revenge," when John abandons the Cortez with Alex and Holden, Sally screams that she'll kill him.

Donovan

Donovan

"I was a junkie because I wanted to escape from my mother. You made it so I never can."

'Played By: Matt Bomer

The Countess's lover of 20 years who gets rebuffed when she meets male model Tristan. He is interested in domesticity and is the son of Iris.

---

• Character Death: He overdoses on drugs given to him by Sally, but is revived by The Countess turning him into a vampire. His permanent death is when he is shot by Liz and Iris accidentally and is taken outside of the hotel to die.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Gender Inverted. Not the Crazy Jealous Guy because it's still "played for laughs" (at least in the AHS world) as opposed to threatening and creepy.
• Destructive Romance: Boy howdy. Dono's feud with Tristan and Valentino culminating in Valentino's murder. Also wanting the Countess to kill him because it's the only way she'll "let him love her". Yikes.
• Dirty Coward: Along with being visibly intimidated by The Countess at every turn, he's a pretty weak-willed person anyway. When she dumps him, he prowls Skid Row for easy prey. And instead of ending The Countess's reign of terror with Ramona Royale, he betrays Ramona when he believes The Countess will finally take him back.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Donovan is pretty unnerved by Iris and Ramona's plan to murder a bunch of (vampire) children to hurt the Countess. Subverted in that, as Ramona observes, he doesn't actually care about the children and is just hesitant because he still loves the Countess and part of him doesn't want to hurt her.
• Fool for Love: He cannot bring himself to give up The Countess and refuses to believe she doesn't truly love him. Proven beyond a shadow of a doubt as of "She Wants Revenge."
• Gaslighting: His mother in every conversation they have: "You're such a drama queen."
• The Hedonist: A much more twisted example of this trope, but Donovan is introduced having a foursome with The Countess and another couple before killing them and drinking their blood.
• Heel–Face Turn: Seems to go through this upon Liz Taylor's big "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how he treats Iris (although he agrees Iris isn't the best mother, but she's tried). Upon seeing she tried to kill herself, he immediately goes to save her by turning her. Subverted later when he tells her that he regrets saving her.
  • He also goes back on his plan to take down The Countess with Ramona Royale, betraying her to get back into the former's good graces.
• Hypocrite: Calls Tristan a junkie despite being a former drug addict himself, as the Countess reminds him.
• I Die Free: Iris and Liz honor his request to be carried outside the hotel after he's been badly shot, so he won't be stuck inside for all eternity.
• Incest Subtext: with Iris, of the non-consensual variety. Cf. Liz talking to Donovan at the bar: "You might find someone who (...) screws you better.", Iris saying something along the lines of "Donovan (is my) true love."
• Jerkass: To the point that he's even taking shots at his mother. Though for some audience members who feel sympathy for his description of the way she raised him, he may be right to lash out at her.
• Karma Houdini: After he's killed, he apparently goes to his own personal heaven, where it always smells like Iris's pancakes, and he always gets to watch cartoons on Saturday morning.
• Mr. Fanservice: Bomer noted that he had more nude scenes in the first episode than in both Magic Mike movies.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: In "She Gets Revenge," he murders Valentino so he can have the Countess all to himself.
• Pretty Boy: Pointed out by Ramona, among others.
• Our Vampires Are Different: He has a "virus" but no fangs, and subsists on human blood.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: To resemble the original - Valentino.
• Replacement Goldfish: Discovers that he is one for the Countess' lost love Valentino. He isn't happy.
• Revenge: As of "Room Service," Donovan seems to want this against the Countess and has even teamed up with Ramona Royale to get it.
• Smug Snake: He's Iris' son and Elizabeth's lover, so this trope is pretty much par for the course.
• Spiteful Spit: After shooting Valentino in the head multiple times, tasting his blood, and remarking that he has better cheekbones, Donovan spits in his ruined face.
• Spoiled Brat: Has clearly allowed his years of luxurious living and being the sole focus of the Countess' attention to go to his head.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He plays the trope fairly straight, being defined by his dark and seductive looks.
• Yandere: For the Countess.

Lachlan Drake

Lachlan Drake

Played By: Lyric Lennon

Will Drake's son.

---

• Lonely Rich Kid: He is bored of attending his father's fashion shows and is happy when Scarlett shows up so he has someone his own age to explore his new hotel with.
• Weirdness Censor: Apparently doesn't think that creepy children who sleep in coffins and play video games all day in a hidden room is strange.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Disappeared completely after his father was killed. Didn't even show up in the finale! Liz just handwaves that she took care of him.

Wren

Wren

Played by: Jessica Belkin

One of The Countess's vampire children, she's ultimately revealed to be a partner-in-crime to the Ten Commandments Killer.

• Be Careful What You Wish For: When she was human, she was deeply afraid of growing up and becoming prey to her father's lust; she was spared this fate by the Countess... but after twenty-five years feeding on blood and existing as a living doll to the Countess, Wren realizes that it wasn't much of an improvement, and secretly wishes she'd grown up after all.
• Character Death: Runs in front of a truck to keep John from finding out the truth.
• Creepy Child: Like all the Countess's children, Wren tends to speak in a Creepy Monotone and comes across as distinctly off-putting.
• Disappeared Dad: After abandoning her to get drunk at the Cortez, Wren's father was never seen again - presumably ending up as another victim of the Countess.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • After being left in a boiling-hot car by her neglectful father, Wren seriously considered staying there and dying rather than be rescued, as living would mean eventually being molested by her dad.
  • In the finale of "Flicker," having already grown increasingly depressed with her life as a vampire, she runs into traffic in order to prevent John from learning the true identity of the Ten Commandments Killer and killing him.
• Enfant Terrible: Introduced feeding on a terrified Agnetha alongside one of her brothers. She's also a willing partner of the Ten Commandments Killer, participating in numerous unpleasant acts and slitting the throat of a security guard before he can apprehend the killer.
• Extremely Protective Child: Is fully prepared to kill in order to protect the Ten Commandments Killer, who she regards as a friend. She's also prepared to commit suicide if it means protecting the Killer from discovering the Awful Truth.
• Friendly Enemy: She gets along quite well with John, even agreeing to help him find the Killer; in turn, John treats her with sympathy despite her crimes. Of course, what John doesn't know is that the reason why she gets on so well with him is because he's the Ten Commandments Killer.
• Lying to Protect Your Feelings: She knows full well that John is actually the Ten Commandments Killer but lies to spare him from the Awful Truth; when John sets out to murder the Killer rather than arrest him, Wren takes this as confirmation that he'll commit suicide upon discovering his true identity and runs into traffic rather than help him any further.
• Not Growing Up Sucks: Admits that, after decades of being a vampire without ever growing up or escaping the Countess's thrall, it might not have been so bad to grow up after all. For good measure, this might be one of the reasons why she accepted Sally's mission to protect the Ten Commandments Killer, as Sally was one of the few members of the Cortez staff to entrust her with adult responsibilities.
• Older Than They Look: Wren looks somewhere in the ballpark of about twelve years old, but as she was taken in by the Countess in the 90s, she's actually in her thirties or forties.
• Parental Incest: Her father was grooming her to become "his little lady" once she grew up. Even as a child, Wren understood what this meant enough to feel nausea at the concept and actively dreaded growing up - to the point that she actively contemplated suicide.
• Parental Neglect: On top of the aforementioned incestuous overtures, her dad was also a drunk who left her in his car for hours on end while he got hammered at the Cortez's bar. For good measure, it was a hot summer's day when this happened, and it might have led to Wren dying of heatstroke if the Countess hadn't rescued her.
• Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: Refuses all meals after being arrested by the police and admits that she doesn't want blood anymore. Minutes later, she commits suicide upon realizing that she's going to be forced to give up the Ten Commandments Killer.

The Addiction Demon

The Addiction Demon

Played By: Alexander Ward

A demon who rapes its victims with a drill dildo.

---

• Advertised Extra: He was promoted pretty heavily before the season began and had a minor role in the premiere, but afterwards his total screentime amounts to less than a minute.
• And I Must Scream: This is what you're in for if he gets you.
• Curse: He is a direct manifestation of the evil that exists within the Hotel Cortez.
• The Dragon: Initially he appears to work for, or be an extension of, Hypodermic Sally. It's later revealed that he is actually James March's Dragon, since he refers to it as "his" demon. Still, the episode also makes it clear that the demon is drawn to Sally in particular, perhaps sensing a kindred spirit.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Addiction is Hotel's prime theme. It is brought up in every episode, whether the Demon makes an actual appearance or not. So he's always there, even when you don't see him.
• Our Demons Are Different: It's a frenzied humanoid with large taloned hands and a drill-bit dildo as a weapon. As can be seen in the image above, there are no human features in the grotesque fleshiness of his entire body. Not something you normally imagine.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: He delivers this 'punishment' upon his victims. With a drill-bit dildo.
• Sadist: The Addiction Demon prefers his victims to scream.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: In "The Ten Commandments Killer", it is revealed that the Addiction Demon must be appeased by feeding upon the darkness of those who enter the hotel, drawing power from his victims. March later mentions that, if Sally can't keep the Demon under control, this will be her fate.

Guests

Detective John Lowe

Detective John Lowe

Played By: Wes Bentley

Liz Taylor: [to John] I can see the pain in your eyes. It's very familiar. Oh, you've lost something. And now you're frozen in time. Can't move forward. Can't go back.

A detective investigating the Ten Commandments Killer, his investigation has led him directly to the mysterious Hotel Cortez.

---

• Agent Scully: Does not believe that supernatural events are happening in the hotel, despite some evidence to the contrary.
• The Alcoholic: Believes himself to be this, but Alex disagrees, arguing that he's actually just obsessed with control.
• Carousel Kidnapping: His back had been turned for a minute away from the carousel his son, Holden, was riding; subsequently, the boy was kidnapped and "adopted" by the Countess.
• Character Death: In the final episode, it's revealed that he was killed during the time skip, being shot by the cops before he could reach the Hotel Cortez.
• The Comically Serious: As a rather stereotypical hard-boiled detective, John often comes off like this.
• Defective Detective: John has a lot going on in his personal life; he's struggled with alcoholism and he has marital difficulties stemming from the abduction of his son.
• Even the Guys Want Him: In addition to the female attention he attracts, John also catches the eye of Jeffrey Dahmer.
• Fair Cop: Is a detective, and a highly attractive man, which has been pointed out by many characters.
• Forgets to Eat: His own daughter reminds him that he needs to eat and calls him a liar when he says he has.
• Gaslighting: The victim of it, mostly at the hands of March and Sally, though Alex has joined the fold.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Seems to be his arc, as the darkness surrounding John consumes him more and more with each passing episode.
• Locked Out of the Loop: With his family problems, Sanity Slippage, and investigation into the Ten Commandments Killer, John hasn't had much time to acquaint himself with The Countess or any of the other vampires in the Cortez. He sees so little of the supernatural elements, he starts to believe he's hallucinating when he actually does.
  • Turns out, John has literally been locked out of the loop thanks to March, Sally, and other residents of the hotel manipulating his fragile psyche until he forgets all the time he has spent at the Cortez and becomes a serial killer.
• Occult Detective: Whether he knows it or not, he seems to fit the build.
• Papa Wolf: For his daughter and (missing) son.
• Parental Neglect: Turns out to have become somewhat neglectful to his wife and children since he first discovered the Cortez. Alex even states that he goes missing for days and doesn't show up when he has commitments to his family. Seemingly made worse by the loss of Holden.
• Sanity Slippage: Suffers a mental breakdown that turns him into a raving lunatic. It's also revealed that he's the Ten Commandments Killer.
• Selective Obliviousness: Played straight early on when John refuses to believe that his daughter saw Holden in the Hotel Cortez, despite the fact that he has seen Holden in the Cortez as well.
  • Subverted later on. The reason John doesn't remember committing the Ten Commandment killings or all the time he spent at the hotel is because he's been repeatedly drugged, brainwashed, and manipulated by March and Sally, creating huge gaps in his memory.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: John has a habit of illustrating his thoughts or feelings verbally, perhaps due to his career as a crack detective.
• Tragic Hero: A good man whose strong sense of justice is corrupted by March when he and The Countess kidnap his son, breaking his spirit and twisting his growing complacency with death and darkness into an insane lust for vengeance against those he is led to believe are getting away with evil deeds, driving him mad and turning him into the Ten Commandments Killer.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Dear God, it seems like every villain takes an interest in him! The Ten Commandments Killer, Sally, and March all seem particularly intrigued and each with their own agendas for him.
• Would Hurt a Child: Well, vampire children. He shoots Bartholomew on sight and works with Alex to lure all the infected children into the sealed-off hotel wing with a hungry Ramona Royale.
• You Are What You Hate: John is very passionate about bringing the Ten Commandments Killer, or rather all killers, to justice. As it turns out, he is the Ten Commandments Killer.

Tristan Duffy

Tristan Duffy

Played By: Finn Wittrock

A temperamental model who becomes The Countess's new flare.

---

• Alas, Poor Villain: He falls in love with Liz Taylor only to have his throat slit by the Countess.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: A variation. He falls in love with Liz Taylor after the latter doesn't just assume he's a dumb model and gives him books to read. It doesn't end well for him.
• Brainless Beauty: Certainly attractive, but not very smart. He outright states that he knows this fact, but he was willing to read books recommended by his girlfriend, Liz Taylor.
• Character Death: His throat is slit by The Countess.
• Disco Dan: Tristan's hair and clothes are straight out of The '80s.
• The Dragon: To the Countess. At least, until she kills him.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: He insists that he's not gay while sucking the blood of a guy he passionately made out with in the elevator.
• Jerkass: Tristan is self-absorbed, aggressive, and essentially just downright vile. Yet understandably so, as he is implied to have grown up in the cut-throat modeling industry and had everyone either afraid of him or handing him things on a silver platter.
• Lack of Empathy: Didn't seem to care when Mr. March shoots a tied-up guest from the party going down on the ground floor. Only the fact blood splattered all over his designer clothes. Also inverted, as he is clearly shown to love Liz Taylor. Even when Liz had him meet her and the Countess to tell her the truth of their relationship which had been going on for weeks; he didn't lie.
• Slashed Throat: How the Countess kills him.
• The Vamp: No pun intended, but, for a man who insists he's not gay, he tends to default to seducing men to make them vulnerable enough to murder.
• Would Hit a Girl: He strikes Alex so hard across the face she's knocked off her feet. The Countess didn't even order him to.

Claudia Bankson

Claudia Bankson

Played By: Naomi Campbell

Claudia is a Vogue editor who ends up staying at Hotel Cortez. She's outlandish and thinks she's indestructible and that nothing can hurt her.

---

• Character Death: She is stabbed to death by Gabriel.
• Dead Star Walking: Despite being played by one of the most recognizable members of the cast, she gets next to no characterization before being disposed of by a crazed Gabriel. She does, however, become a ghost due to her dying in the Hotel.
• Rich Bitch: She's quite haughty and smug.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Though she becomes one of the Hotel's ghosts, she isn't seen again after episode 3 and doesn't appear at the ghost meeting in the finale.

Queenie

Queenie

See the American Horror Story: Coven page

"Mattress Man"

"Mattress Man

Played by: Alexander Ward

A man who is sewn into a mattress who Agnetha and Vendela encounter.

• Character Death: He dies somehow, as his corpse is seen in the death chute.

Gabriel

Gabriel

Played By: Max Greenfield

A junkie who checks into the Cortez.

• Character Death: Overdoses at the hospital.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: He's seemingly raped to death by the Addiction Demon.
• Deadpan Snarker: When Iris claims the Hotel has had renovations, he gives a quick look around his surroundings and proclaims it bullshit.
• Dies Wide Open: Not only that, but his pupils are disturbingly dilated.
• Made of Iron: Apparently survived being brutally raped with a drillbit dildo and then being trapped in a mattress for several days with enough strength left to stab Claudia to death and have a heart attack in the hospital.
• Not Quite Dead: Seemingly revived after being raped to death and was later being sewn into a mattress by Sally. His real death comes later, of a heart attack.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He's on-screen for barely five minutes before the Addiction Demon takes care of him.

Mr. Wu

Mr. Wu

A man who checks into the Hotel Cortez.

Played by: Charles Melton

• Character Death: After having a threesome with Agnetha and Vendela, he is stabbed by them.

Agnetha

Agnetha

Played By: Helena Mattsson

A Swedish tourist who checks into the hotel with her friend Vendela.

---

• Affectionate Nickname: Her friend Vendela calls her 'Aggie' for short.
• Character Death: She has her blood sucked by Holden and another vampire child.
• Damsel in Distress: Is held captive in a cage by Iris, her blood being used to feed the Countess's children. Unlike her friend, she doesn't get the chance to escape and dies from blood loss.
• Decoy Protagonist: A good chunk of the first episode revolves around her and her friend arriving at the Hotel Cortez and being unsettled. Vendela has her throat slashed before the first episode is over, and Agnetha is unceremoniously drained of blood by the Countess's children in the second.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: "Afterlife" in this case; on Donovan's advice, they're more than willing to take up killing people in order to keep themselves occupied in their new ghostly existence, at least until Alex convinces them that they can break minds instead.
• Femme Fatale: She and Vendela take up this role following their death, seducing Mr Wu so they can murder him, then luring John into a threesome so they can mess with his head. However, they appeared to have given up this following the time skip in the final episode and have settled down full-time with Mr. Wu's ghost.
• Wandering Walk of Madness: Following their death, Agnetha and Vendela are doomed to wander the hotel for eternity in a futile attempt to reach Universal Studios, seemingly unaware that they've died or that they can't escape the building. Donovan indicates that this "hamster wheel" existence is pretty common with ghosts, explaining that they need a purpose in order to keep them grounded in the real world - and advises them to take up killing.

Vendela

Vendela

Played By: Kamilla Alnes

A Swedish tourist and friend of Agnetha.

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• Character Death: Her throat is slit by The Countess.
• Damsel in Distress: Is held captive by Iris. She is later freed by Sally although she doesn't get very far.
• Decoy Protagonist: A good chunk of the first episode revolves around her and her friend arriving at the Hotel Cortez and being unsettled. She has her throat slit up the Countess before the first episode is over, and Agnetha is unceremoniously drained of blood by the Countess's children in the second.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: "Afterlife" in this case; on Donovan's advice, they're more than willing to take up killing people in order to keep themselves occupied in their new ghostly existence, at least until Alex convinces them that they can break minds instead.
• Femme Fatale: She and Vendela take up this role following their death, seducing Mr. Wu so they can murder him, then luring John into a threesome so they can mess with his head. However, they appeared to have given up this following the time skip in the final episode and have settled down full-time with Mr. Wu's ghost.
• Slashed Throat: Courtesy of the Countess.
• Wandering Walk of Madness: Following their death, Agnetha and Vendela are doomed to wander the hotel for eternity in a futile attempt to reach Universal Studios, seemingly unaware that they've died or that they can't escape the building. Donovan indicates that this "hamster wheel" existence is pretty common with ghosts, explaining that they need a purpose in order to keep them grounded in the real world - and advises them to take up killing.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: She is killed by the Countess in the first episode. She later shows up as a ghost stuck in the Hotel Cortez with her friend.

Justin

Justin

Played By: Darren Criss

Justin, a former photographer for Entrez-vouz magazine, stays at the Hotel Cortez after being terrorized by the kids that go out for candy on Halloween in the past years.

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• Asshole Victim
• Character Death: Iris slits his throat.
• Jerkass: Brings Iris to tears when he asks for a cheeseboard and grilled romaine from Room Service.

Babe

Babe

Played By: Jessica Lu

A bitchy hipster who is dating Justin.

• Character Death: Iris stabs her with a corkscrew.

Serial Killers

James Patrick March

Mr. James Patrick March

"Well then, I guess I'm just going to have to kill God."

Played By: Evan Peters

Appearances: Hotel | Apocalypse

The builder and owner of the Hotel Cortez in the 1930s.

---

• Amicable Exes: His current relationship with the Countess, at least until he reveals what he did to Valentino.
• Art Deco: His preferred aesthetic, as evidenced in the design of the hotel.
• Ax-Crazy: He brutally murdered dozens of people whilst alive, averaging three a week.
• The Bad Guy Wins: In the end, March gets everything he wants. He succeeds in completing the Ten Commandment Killings through John, has The Countess killed and forever trapped within his hotel, and even manages to ensure that the Cortez continues to thrive long into the future by forbidding murder. Since he's a ghost and still seemingly in control of the Addiction Demon, it doesn't appear that anyone had a chance of stopping him to begin with.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: He and his former bride, The Countess, are the two driving forces of evil in Hotel, alongside the obscure but ever-present Addiction Demon.
• Blasphemous Boast: He declares he'll "just have to kill God" to a religious victim. The guy's got some balls, that's for sure.
• The Bus Came Back: In Apocalypse, he's shown tormenting Queenie after her ghost is trapped there, playing cards with her for all time.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: March tries to make light of the fact that he had Valentino and Natacha locked away for nearly a hundred years at the same time he tries to ingratiate himself to The Countess. When she promptly slaps him across the face, he is stunned and asks: "You're still upset about the dago?"
• Catchphrase: "Ahh...yes!"
• Character Death: Slits his own throat to avoid going to prison.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Dandy Mott.
  • To start both are equally psychotic, sociopathic, selfishly obsessive towards a female for their uniquness, and are Serial Killers. However, while Dandy was taught how to be a Serial Killer by someone inadvertently before starting out on his own, March started out as a Serial Killer who taught others how to become killers like him.
  • Both also happen to be very rich and use their wealth to get away with their murders. However Dandy would use his wealth bribe the authorities to turn a blind eye while he commits them out in the open while March would use his wealth to build a hotel and commit all his murders inside it away from the eyes of authority. How they obtained their wealth is also different. Dandy inherited his wealth from his family, while March was a Self-Made Man who started from humble beginnings.
  • Personality-wise Dandy is immature Spoiled Brat who was rude to everyone, while March is Wicked Cultured, and superficially polite to everyone.
  • They also succeeded in getting what they want in the penultimate episode, but they handled things quite differently in the finale. Dandy decides to Bad Boss to his newly found employees, and later killing them off. However, a few survived and decide to give Dandy the Karmic justice he deserves and Dandy ends up losing everything. March on the other hand decides to be pragmatic and agrees with his employees to ban killing from the hotel so that it won't be demolished and he and the other ghosts will continue to survive. In the end this works in his favor and forever escapes Karmic Retribution, all while keeping everything he has.
  • Last mention: Dandy was a living human throughout Freak Show until the finale where he died pathetically begged for his life, while March is a ghost, who was already dead prior to Hotel starting, and was seen in a flashback calmly accepting his death.
• The Corrupter: March is apparently even better at this than he is being a serial killer. He's responsible for The Zodiac Killer, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Aileen Wuornos, Richard Ramirez, Charles Manson, John Lowe, and Tristan becoming murderers just as bad as he. He's even the one who corrupted Elizabeth.
• Dead All Along: March killed himself in the 1930s but continues to reside in the Cortez as a ghost.
• Disposable Vagrant: Preyed on these. His wife, the Countess, disapproved because there was nothing to gain from it and encouraged him to kill people with belongings worth taking.
• Evil Mentor: To many of history's most famous serial killers, including Aileen Wuornos and John Wayne Gacy. At the moment, he may be trying to be this to Tristan and John.
• Face Death with Dignity: After the police arrive, he rather calmly discusses a murder-suicide with Miss Evers before unhesitatingly cutting his own throat.
• Family-Values Villain: He apologizes to Miss Evers after he curses.
• Faux Affably Evil: He's a remarkably genial fellow, even when slaughtering scores of innocent people.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: Sadistic serial killer he may be, but he still enjoys passing the time playing poker and gin rummy with Queenie.
• Graceful Loser: After losing his 56,433rd game of cards against Queenie, he briefly becomes frustrated before recollecting himself and snarking:
  "Only amateurs keep score."
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: March was positively addicted to killing people.
• It's All About Me:
  • March is completely self centered in his desire for the Countess. He shows little to no concern for her feelings, and even arranges for her death so that she will be forced to spend eternity trapped in the hotel with him, even after she has been mentally broken and wishes to leave.
  • His decision to support the ban on killing has nothing to do with him suddenly gaining a conscience and everything to do with the fact that he doesn’t know what would happen to him if the Hotel were no longer standing. As he is not above threatening the other ghosts into following his orders, it can safely be assumed that this concern does not extend to them.
• Karma Houdini: Though his murder spree officially ended when he killed himself in the 1930s, March continued to live on as one of the Hotel Cortez's darkest spirits. He never suffers any justice for the evil he commits.
  • The closest he gets to any sort of comeuppance is being humbled in the face of an opponent he knows he’s no match for during Apocalypse, and having no choice but to let him leave with the person he’d been forcing to keep him company. He’s last seen dejectedly preparing for a game of solitaire, with the implication that he’s got a long, boring, and lonely existence ahead of him. It isn’t much, but it’s something.
• Large Ham: Oh boy, this guy just loves chewing scenery whenever he gets the chance. Whether he be threatening, making plans, or torturing people to death, he's always a delight to watch, and makes much of the season more palatable with his oddly charming and hilarious on-screen presence.
• Laughably Evil: He's one of the most depraved and sadistic characters in the show's history, but that doesn't stop him being darkly funny and ridiculously hammy.
• Lonely at the Top: He's still very much charge of a successful hotel meant to satisfy his murderous urges, yet he implies that he feels this way given how much he desperately tried to keep the Countess at his hotel, and later, he appears genuinely saddened when Queenie (the girl he killed) was freed from the hotel's dark magic by Michael Langdon.
• Love Makes You Crazy: And it also makes you seal off your wife's first love in an abandoned section of your hotel out of sheer jealousy.
• The Man Behind the Man: To many of history's most famous serial killers, and John, the Ten Commandments Killer.
• Manipulative Bastard: Seems to have out-manipulated The Countess herself! It was him who suggested that The Countess kidnap Holden which would lead to John Jumping Off the Slippery Slope.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Wears a sharp 1920s suit. He also freely admits to copying his Exeter professor's Brahmin accent.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: Attempts to do this to Valentino and Natacha by having them sealed away in an abandoned wing of the hotel. Seeing as how they're carriers of the blood virus, they survive.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Is closely based on H.H. Holmes, a real-life serial killer who built an entire hotel to commit murders in.
• Odd Friendship: Forms one with Queenie after killing and trapping her in the hotel, due to her skill at card games and snarky personality.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Michael Langdon pays his hotel a visit to pick up Queenie in Apocalypse, he immediately drops his smug bravado and lets him proceed.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • Agrees with Liz and Iris that the ghosts should stop killing people in the last episode. However, as he even states, this has nothing to do with morals. He simply doesn't want the hotel to get torn down, as he doesn't know what will happen to him and the other ghosts if it were no longer standing.
  • Allows Michael to leave the hotel with Queenie in Apocalypse not out of altruism, but because he knows damn well he’s outmatched.
• Resurrected Murderer: In life, James Patrick Marsh was a Serial Killer who built a Hell Hotel to torture and murder as many as he could. Upon his death, Marsh became an Evil Mentor to other future serial killers (his apprentices include John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Aileen Wuornos, Richard Ramirez, and the Zodiac Killer). Even as ghost, Marsh remains a murderous monster who takes pride in hurting people.
• Sadist: The sheer number of people he's tortured, mutilated, and murdered while laughing maniacally kind of speaks for itself.
• Self-Made Man: March built himself up from humble beginnings; his wealth was earned, not inherited, and so his peers considered him "new money."
• Serial Killer: His reason for building the Cortez was to have his own murder playground.
• Slashed Throat: How he offed himself.
• The Sociopath: Built a hotel solely so he could slaughter innocent people to cure his boredom and indulge in his sadistic desires, all while pretending to be a sophisticated gentleman.
• Shoot the Builder: Did this when the builder questioned the hotel blueprints, and later murdered several construction workers as well.
• Sword Cane: His weapon of choice.
• Unholy Matrimony: His wife, the Countess, told him not to put a gag in the mouth of a woman he was bricking up inside a wall because she liked to hear the screams.
• Villain Has a Point: When he lectures the other ghostly residents of the Cortez to stop murdering the guests, this may appear to be the definition of hypocrisy as pointed out by Sally but the truth is he’s not the least bit wrong that if they keep going on as they do the hotel will almost certainly be closed for good and as undead spirits bound to place they likely can’t afford to lose the Cortez! It’s also worth mentioning that he himself has abstained from killing! If that isn’t O.O.C. Is Serious Business then what is?
• Villainous Rescue:
  • In the past, the Countess was about to jump from a window and end her life, before March rushed to save her.
  • Does this again in the present, rescuing Ramona Royale from Queenie, with the latter's human voodoo doll power having no effect on him because he's a ghost.
• Wicked Cultured: In addition to being a psychopathic murderer, he's well-read and charming.
• Worthy Opponent: Considers Queenie to be this in regards to card games.
• Yandere: In the penultimate episode, he manipulates John into murdering the Countess when she tries to leave, forcing her to spend an eternity with March.
• You Are What You Hate: Or rather, You Build What You Hate. Most of the time, March is very proud of the bloody, grand hotel he built. But when The Countess threatens to end their dinner nights together, he breaks down and begs her not to, saying that seeing her is his "sole comfort in this stygian heap!"

Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Wuornos

Played By: Lily Rabe

A sex worker who killed seven men in Florida, all within a two-year span (1989-1990).

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• Ax-Crazy: She's deeply and entirely insane.
• Character Death: Died in the show the same way as she died in real life.
• Character Tics: She has a tendency to bite down on her lower lip and flip her mullet. She does both quite often.
• Does Not Like Men: She rants about men taking from her. In real life all her known victims were men.
• Historical Beauty Update: In reality, Wuornos was a pretty rough-looking woman (she first started smoking cigarettes as a preteen and abused drugs regularly). Here, she's played by the gorgeous Lily Rabe. All the make-up can't quite disguise Rabe's beauty. Charlize Theron in Monster looked closer to the real-life Aileen.
• Historical Domain Character: Wuornos was, like Elizabeth Short and the Axeman in seasons before her, a real person.

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy

Played By: John Carroll Lynch

An American serial killer and rapist who sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. During his years of killing, he was known in the community for appearing as Pogo the Clown at local charity events.

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• Affably Evil: Truth in Television. Gacy comes across more like a jolly small-town businessman rather than one of America's most infamous serial killers; along with Ramirez, he's one of the most sociable of the dinner guests. Also, when John arrives at the Devil's Night dinner in the finale, Gacy greets him with a massive bear hug.
• Character Death: He died in this show the same way he died in real life.
• Depraved Homosexual: Gacy struggled with his sexuality from an early age, but exclusively targeted young men and boys. He actively jokes about this during his second appearance while attempting to inspire Jeffrey Dahmer to be more outgoing in selecting fresh victims.
• Fat Bastard: Like in real life, the Gacy portrayed here is overweight. And a psychotic whack-job.
• Historical Domain Character: Like Wuornos, Dahmer and Ramirez, he was a real-life serial killer.
• Monster Clown: Quite possibly the most infamous non-fictional example in all of history; the media made much of Gacy's clown persona, a performance character he named 'Pogo the Clown'. Contrary to popular belief, he never actually killed while dressed as a clown; in death, however, Gacy gladly dons his makeup before murdering the evening entertainment.
• Serial Killer: Gacy was a notorious serial killer active in the 1970s.
• Villains Out Shopping: When John arrives at the dinner, Gacy is having a chat with Richard Ramirez about techniques for making a really good subfloor. During the finale, he's trying to get Jeffrey Dahmer to dance with him.
• Villain with Good Publicity: As was the case in reality, he styles himself as a respectable businessman, mentioning the fact that he's the owner of a construction firm and a member of the moose club ahead of the fact that he had thirty dead bodies rotting in his crawlspace.

Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer

Played By: Seth Gabel

Known as the "Milwaukee Cannibal", Dahmer was an American serial killer who raped, murdered, and dismembered of seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

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• Character Death: He dies in this series the same way he died in real life.
• Depraved Homosexual: He was gay, as were many of his victims.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: His nerdy appearance belies the true monster within.
• Historical Domain Character: He was a real-life serial killer of men.
• Literal-Minded: On their first meeting together, March insisted that Dahmer had to study his victims and get inside their heads; to his bemusement, Dahmer took this as a cue to start drilling holes in the skulls of his victims.
• The Quiet One: Rarely says anything unless prompted. In fact, the only point when he really comes alive is when his pre-arranged victim enters.
• Serial Killer: One of the most infamous real-life serial killers ever.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Dahmer comes across as very shy and quiet with a gentle voice.
• Yandere: Once March brings out his victim for the evening, Dahmer starts getting very insistent that the unfortunate man never leave him. In real life, Jeffrey Dahmer was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.
• Villainous Crush: On John.
• Voodoo Zombie: Attempts to turn a victim into one of these by drilling a hole in his skull and pouring acid onto his brain. He is unsuccessful, however, admitting that it “never frigging works, though. They always die, like, ten minutes later.” Note that Dahmer actually did this in real life too.

Richard Ramirez

Richard Ramirez

Played By: Anthony Ruivivar

Appearances: Hotel

"Swear to Satan you won't scream or I'll kill you."

An infamous Satanist serial killer that terrorized the residents of the greater Los Angeles area, and later the residents of the San Francisco from June 1984 until August 1985.

To see the Richard Ramirez that was on 1984 see his section under Serial Killers.

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• The Cameo: Of a sort; Ramirez was a part of the Devil’s Night episodes in Hotel.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He was one even before joining March at his hotel, taking pride in serving Satan and casually admitting to being pure and uncut evil.
• Character Death:
  • In Hotel, he died the same way he died in real life.
  • In 1984, his head is impaled on a tree branch by Mr. Jingles. He is resurrected by Satan. He is also stabbed a bunch of times, and killed many, many times by the ghosts of Camp Redwood in many different ways, but Satan always resurrects him to torture him.
• Faux Affably Evil: Ramirez, when not horrifically killing people in the name of Satan, seems like a remarkably fun guy to be around and also is a nifty dancer; make no mistake, he is still one of the most dangerous serial killers to ever live.
• Historical Beauty Upgrade: Downplayed. Anthony Ruivivar does look a bit closer to Ramirez, at the time of his death.
• Historical Domain Character: Ramirez was a real-life serial killer dubbed "The Night Stalker."
• Hollywood Satanism: His whole shtick.
• Psycho for Hire: He believes to be Satan's personal emissary and serves only his master, but he also offers his skills to other like-minded psychopaths, like James Marsh and John Lowe.
• Serial Killer: Dubbed "The Night Stalker" by the media, Ramirez primarily robbed and killed people in their homes during the summers of '84 and '85, who slept with open windows.
• The Sociopath: Ramirez is a realistic low-functioning example, not even trying to hide his homicidal behavior behind a Mask of Sanity and having to rely on Satan to compensate for his lack of long-term planning. By the time he returns to Hotel Cortez to celebrate his third Devil's Night, 31 years after the Night Stalker murders, Ramirez has already matured into a high-functioning example and manages to come off as the most "normal" member of March's club.

The Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer

Appearances: Hotel | Cult

A serial killer.

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• Historical Domain Character: Like with the other serial killers featured, and also the most mysterious one of the five, as no one knew who this person was.
• Karma Houdini: Was never caught, and in death get to party on Devil's Night.
• Samus Is a Girl: Possibly. Cult states that the Zodiac Killer was actually Valerie Solanas and her SCUM members but because of the nature of that story, it remains to be seen if the Zodiac Killer was in-fact one of them.
• Serial Killer: Probably the most infamous American serial killer ever.
• The Speechless: Never spoke a word in "Devil's Night" or "Be Our Guest."

Ten Commandments Killer

The Ten Commandments Killer

Played By: Wes Bentley

Ths serial killer John investigates.

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• Arch-Enemy: To John Lowe.
• Arc Villain: Of John Lowe's storyline.
• Enemy Within: John's Split Personality, at that.
• Hypocrite: Last time we checked, 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' is definitely one of the ten commandments. Though Sally does point out that the more accurate translation is "Thou shalt not commit murder". Also, hates adulterers but cheats on his wife.
• Serial Killer: (S)he kills people according to the Ten Commandments, hence the name.
• Tomato in the Mirror: John Is The Killer

Gordon Northcott

Gordon Northcott

Played by: Luke Bayback

A serial killer that abducted and murdered little boys.

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• Historical Domain Character: Gordon Stewart Northcott abducted and molested at a chicken farm at Wineville, California. He murdered at least four of them. He was ultimately caught and executed.
• Character Death: He is dead in real life, and probably in the show too.
• Would Hurt a Child: He abducted and murdered a number of kids, including Miss Evers' little boy.

---

Los Angeles

1920s

Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino

Played By: Finn Wittrock

Rudolph Valentino was a famous actor back in the 1920s who had a polyamorous affair with the Countess and his wife Natacha.

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• And I Must Scream: He's sealed off in an abandoned section of the hotel, unable to die or feed, for nearly ninety years.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: He's a carrier of the blood virus. He faked his death so that he could be together with Natacha, and was the person who sired the Countess. Additionally, he was turned by F. W. Murnau, the man behind Nosferatu.
• Boom, Headshot!: On the receiving end, courtesy of Donovan.
• Character Death: Shot in the head by Donovan.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Has difficulty adjusting to how much the world has changed in the time he's spent sealed away in the hotel.
• Guns vs. Swords: Brandishes a sword against Donovan, who just laughs, pulls out a pistol, and kills him with a single shot to the head.
• Historical Domain Character: Rudolph Valentino was a real movie star back in the 20's.
• Identical Stranger: Subverted. Although he is played by Finn Wittrock, who played Tristan Duffy in earlier episodes of the season, neither the Countess nor March mentions or reacts to Tristan's uncanny resemblance to Valentino when they meet him. Though granted, the Countess does soon take a shine to Tristan and turn him into her latest lover, so she probably recognized the resemblance to Valentino.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: March tries to do this to him and Natacha by having them sealed in an abandoned wing of the hotel. They survive on account of being immortal, and spend almost ninety years sealed away. Years later, after he finally gets out, he gets this treatment again, this time from Donovan, who is successful in murdering him.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He fits this description. The fact that he was the Countess's first love is likely why she pursues men of this type. It's why Donovan takes special care to disfigure his face when he kills him.

Natacha Rambova

Natacha Rambova

Played By: Alexandra Daddario

Natacha Rambova was a film costumer and set designer back in the 1920s, who married Rudolph Valentino. They divorced to appease film studios, but Natacha was still involved with Valentino who then brought the Countess into their relationship.

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• And I Must Scream: She's sealed off in an abandoned section of the hotel, unable to die or feed, for nearly ninety years.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Another carrier of the blood virus, sired by Valentino.
• Boom, Headshot!: On the receiving end, courtesy of the Countess.
• Character Death: Shot in the head by The Countess.
• Historical Domain Character: Like her husband, was a real film costumer and set designer back in the 1920s. And unlike the fictional version, her divorce from Valentino was genuine. Needless to say, her turning into a vampire isn't.
• Like a Duck Takes to Water: Adapts to the changed society far better than Valentino.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: The Countess kills her so she can have Valentino all to herself. Only to find out later that while she was murdering Natacha, Donovan was murdering Valentino for the same reason.

Margaret Gibson

Margaret Gibson

Played by: Monica Hewes

An aspiring actress.

• Character Death: She is dead in real life, and probably in the show too.

F.W. Murnau

F.W. Murnau

Played by: Henrik Rutgersson

The legendary German director and vampire who gave Rudolph Valentino the blood virus.

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• Adaptational Sexuality: The flashback depicts him as bisexual, taking part in an orgy with the female vampires who gave him the virus and later seducing Valentino into becoming a vampire; the real Murnau was gay.
• All in the Eyes: Murnau is first encountered staring at Valentino, his eyes thrown into sharp relief by the light cast across them - presumably a shout-out to Bela Lugosi's Dracula.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The director of the first adaptation of Dracula turns out to have been made into a vampire himself while researching for his project.
• Casting a Shadow: In the flashback sequence, the simple act of making his shadow pass over Valentino's sleeping body causes him to awake in a fright. It's not clear if Murnau actually had this additional ability, or if this was just a stylistic shout-out to Nosferatu.
• Light-Flicker Teleportation: Frequently vanishes from sight in between flickers of light during Valentino's flashback sequence.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to him after he recruited Valentino remains unknown, though it's possible that he's still alive.

Present day

Ramona Royale

Ramona Royale

Played By: Angela Bassett

A former movie star who was The Countess' lover, who turned her into a vampire.

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• The '70s: The era she lived in. She was even an actress starring in Blaxploitation films.
• Action Girl: A blaxploitation film star. She's one both on and off the set.
• Anti-Hero: As anti as it gets, considering she takes pleasure in hunting people just as much as any other vampire. However, the fact that she opposes The Countess makes her qualify.
• Blaxploitation: Was an actress in such films.
• Fate Worse than Death: The Countess and Donovan lock her up and seal her inside of the abandoned wing of the hotel.
• Karma Houdini: After Liz and Iris freed her from the sealed wing, she get away with all her crimes. Her last appearance is threatening Billie Dean Howard.
• The Lost Lenore: Not The Countess, but the man she was prepared to leave The Countess for.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: She's based on Pam Grier.
• Pretty in Mink: Wears a multicolored fur coat.
• Off Hand Backhand: In her introductory episode, she tases Donovan in the throat when he tries to shank her from behind.
• Revenge: She kidnaps and tries to ally with Donovan to get vengeance on the Countess, her ex-lover, for killing the love of Ramona's life. She promptly dumps him though when he tells her Elizabeth ended their relationship. Her long-term plan is to destroy Elizabeth's little vampire children.
• Shock and Awe: Wields a taser.
• Ungrateful Bastard: What's the first thing she does when Will Drake releases her from her neon cage? Slash his throat and drink his blood, of course.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • She plans to kill Elizabeth's abducted children.
  • Her reaction to a bunch of kids getting thrown into her tomb of an abandoned hallway?
  Ramona: Mama smells appetizers!
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Pretends to have car trouble in a shady neighborhood in order to lure and kidnap Donovan.
  • She does it again to Will Drake, pretending to be a helpless victim in need only to turn on him as soon as he drops his guard on her. To be fair, she was weak and in need (of blood).

Alex Lowe

Alex Lowe

Played By: Chloë Sevigny

John's wife, and Scarlett and Holden's mother.

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• The Atoner: Possibly. After finding out that she's responsible for the drove of vampire children running rampant in L.A., Alex starts tracking them down in the hopes of containing the situation before they get caught or hurt anyone else.
• Deal with the Devil: In order to spend eternity with Holden, Alex agrees to let the Countess change her into a vampire.
• Driven to Suicide: After a year of mourning Holden's disappearance (and presumed death), a depressed Alex tries to kill herself rather than face more pain. Thankfully, John manages to save her.
• Dr. Jerk: She's cold, distant, and a workaholic. However, she does shows care in her work (she is after all a mother). She doesn't care for neglectful parents.
• Easily Forgiven: To a ridiculous degree, despite being distant towards her husband and daughter, even gaslighting John just to stay with Holden forever and keeping him to herself while abandoning Scarlett in the process, John STILL takes her back and Scarlet holds no resentment towards her.
• Foot-Dragging Divorcee: She wants to divorce because she feels that she and John can't overcome the loss of Holden together and that now their issues are beginning to hurt their daughter Scarlett as well.
• Gaslighting: She insists to John that he's starting to hallucinate and that he's having a breakdown despite the fact that he did indeed see her and Holden sleeping a glass coffin. It's made worse by the fact that she's decided to actually push John over the edge and cause a breakdown.
• Heel Realization: When she finally confesses to John everything that happens the two of them have a moment in which they agree that they are the "worst parents ever". However, Alex does seem to be aware of her favoritism towards Holden even before that.
• Hypocrite: She hates neglectful parents and has a habit of scolding them, and has the gal to accuse her busy husband John of neglecting their daughter, despite being far worse in that category given her favoritism of her son and the fact that she outright abandons Scarlett in favor of being with Holden.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Zig-zagged, Alex is a cold, distant, incredibly-blunt workaholic, and she won't hesitate to chew out a parent that she feels is improperly caring for their kid. But at the end of the day, she really does love her husband and daughter, and she does have the best intentions at heart when she treats kids and lectures their parents. However, she has a fairly selfish mindset, as she has no qualms with pushing her husband and daughter away just so she could stay with her vampiric son Holden.
• Karma Houdini: She faces no punishment whatsoever even after gaslighting her husband, feeding a bunch of vampiric kids to another hungry and stronger vampire and abandoning her daughter, and in fact gets her own happy ending by staying with her dead husband and vampire son.
• Mama Bear: Mainly towards Holden. She's rather neglectful to Scarlett.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Using the blood virus to save a child dying of measles leads to that child becoming a highly-contagious vampire who infects a bunch of other children, leading them on a killing spree of parents and other adults.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Uses the blood virus to save Mrs. Ellison's dying son, causing the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Ellison, a school massacre, and the creation of a whole host of vampire children.
• Parental Abandonment: She abandons Scarlett to reunite with Holden in the hotel.
• Parental Favoritism: She admits loving her son more than her daughter and her husband. She does not seem to be proud of it, however.
• Parental Neglect:
  • Believes this of people who don't vaccinate their children.
  • It's been subtly implied that Alex herself unknowingly did this to Scarlett due to her favoritism towards Holden. The Countess directly calls her out on it. Though it's debatable whether or not this is actually considering the Countess is not the most well-intentioned.
  • It's not even subtle at this point. By the end of 5x04 (and throughout 5x05 and 5x06), Alex has completely abandoned her daughter to spend more time with Holden; with little to no guilt.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Is a workaholic doctor who means well, but doesn't manage to make time for her daughter like her husband does.
• Would Hurt a Child: Well, vampire children. She works with John to lure Max and the other infected children into the sealed-off hotel wing with a starving Ramona Royale. Though, she is technically responsible for their pain and all of the pain that they cause in turn.
• You Are What You Hate: At the beginning of the season, she is vocal about her passionate hatred for those responsible for taking her son. This gets turned on its head when she finds Holden with The Countess and quickly becomes her willing servant just to be with him again. Meaning Alex is actively helping the person who took her son.
  • She also states that she thinks people not vaccinating their children is neglectful and wrong. However once she is given the offer to be with Holden again she immediately abandons Scarlett without any regret.

Scarlett Lowe

Scarlett Lowe

Played By: Shree Crooks

The young daughter of John and Alex Lowe, and sister of Holden.

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• Break the Cutie: Oh dear god. At the start of the show, she's a nice and quirky little girl, but as the show progressed, you can tell everything about her began to fade away when her own mother flat out abandons her for her now vampire son and of course, witnessing John's mental breakdown.
• Only Sane Man: In "Battle Royale" when it appears that her family is finally back together, she is naturally skeptical and considers all the flaws in her parents' plan to conceal her vampiric older brother (who now looks younger than she is), continue to feed his and their blood-sucking mother's addiction, and completely ignore the fact that their father has been acting crazy.
• Outof Focus: Scarlett doesn't appear for quite a few episodes towards the middle of the season.
• The Pollyanna: She manages to stay remarkably upbeat despite all the shit she has to put up with.
• The Un-Favourite: She's this to her mother, Alex, even more so when her brother goes missing. Also occurs when Alex becomes a vampire to be with Holden and John continues his work as the TCK, completely neglecting Scarlett in the process.

Detective Hahn

Detective Andy Hahn

Played By: Richard T. Jones

A detective and John's best friend.

• Character Death: John stabs him
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Jon keeps "the instrument of adultery" when he kills him.
• Groin Attack: Part of his Cruel and Unusual Death.

Max Ellison

Max Ellison

Played By: Anton Starkman

A boy who has measles.

• Character Death: Ramona murders him
• Children's Covert Coterie: After being vampirized by Alex Lowe in a desperate attempt to cure his terminal measles, Max forms his own secret pack of young vampires by spreading the virus to his entire middle school class. Under his leadership, the pack kills their way through the rest of the school, successfully feign innocence when the police investigate, and then begin covertly preying on adults throughout the neighborhood - including their own parents.
• Curse That Cures: Alex turns him into a vampire to cure his measles-related syndrome, thus setting off a mini-epidemic.
• Enfant Terrible: Murders his own parents, his teachers, and several adults around his neighborhood - all without demonstrating so much as a guilty twinge.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: Upon becoming a vampire, Max doesn't hesitate to murder his own parents to feed his hunger and clearly doesn't have the slightest moral concern over the awful things he does over the weeks that follow.
• Kidanova: Already has a girlfriend in middle school. She's the first vampire he creates.
• Self-Made Orphan: His parents are his first victims when he gets out of the hospital. Arguably Karmic Death in the case of his mother at least.

Holden Lowe

Holden Lowe

Played by: Lennon Henry

John and Alex's son who was kidnapped by The Countess.

Marcy

Marcy

see the American Horror Story: Murder House page

Billie Dean Howard

Billie Dean Howard

see the American Horror Story: Murder House page

"Lumberjack"

"Lumberjack"

Played by: Tyler Cook

A man who Tristan hooks up with and murders.

• Character Death: Stabbed in the neck by Tristan.

Mrs. Ellison

Mrs. Ellison

Played by: Mädchen Amick

Max's anti-vax mother.

• Character Death: Max murders her and drinks her blood.

Mr. Ellison

Mr. Ellison

Max's father.

• Character Death: He is murdered by Max and has his blood drank.

Madeline

Madeline

Played by: Ava Acres

Max's girlfriend and a vampire.

• Character Death: Murdered by Ramona.

Jimmy

Jimmy

One of the vampire kids.

• Character Death: Murdered by Ramona.

Other

Mr. Royale

Mr. Royale

Played by: Henry G. Sanders

Ramona's father.

• Character Death: Beaten to death by robbers the first time, but revived by Ramona turning him into a vampire, and the second time he is drowned by Ramona in the tub to end his suffering.
• Cool Old Guy: A good father to Ramona and still doing his best to look after her mental well-being despite his advancing senility. It ultimately makes his fate all the more tragic.
• Despair Event Horizon: Following the death of his wife, Ramona's father falls apart mentally and rapidly succumbs to Alzheimers.
• Emergency Transformation: After finding him nearly beaten to death in a home invasion, Ramona makes him into a vampire in a desperate attempt to save him. It works, but it does nothing to fix his mental health.
• Empty Shell: By the end of his deterioration, he only stirs from his stupor to feed on blood.
• Evil Old Folks: Vampirism combined with Alzheimer's leaves him with no restraint, no moral or ethical concerns, and no hesitation about killing for blood. About the only thing that stops him from being classified as a Fully-Embraced Fiend is the fact that he likely doesn't even know that he's become a vampire.
• Mugging the Monster: Finds himself on the receiving end of this after becoming a vampire when the burglars return for a second try; he kills them both.
• Scatterbrained Senior: Is suffering from the early symptoms of Alzheimer's when Ramona returns home, but he's still keeping it together for the most part... at first. The death of his wife hits him very hard, unfortunately, and he undergoes a very rapid decline - to the point that he can barely recognize his own daughter. And then he becomes a vampire, and things only get worse.

Cassie Royale

Cassie Royale

Played by: Marla Gibbs

Ramona's mother.

• Character Death: She dies of natural causes, which causes her husband's mental health to deteriorate.

Prophet Moses

Prophet Moses

Played by: Jason Scott Jenkins

Ramona's love interest

• Character Death: Shot in the head by The Countess.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Ramona hates The Countess so much because she killed him.

Albert Evers

Albert Evers

Played by: Jack Fisher

Mr. Evers' son.

• Character Death: He is murdered by Gordon Northcott.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His death is this for Ms. Evers'.

Douglas Pryor

Douglas Pryor

Played by: Josh Braaten

Liz's son.

• Calling the Old Man Out: Though he fully accepts Liz for who she is, he still gently chides her for abandoning the family.
• Open-Minded Parent: Generationally-flipped variant; Douglas ultimately reveals that he's already recognized Liz and accepted her without any reservations.
• Parental Neglect: Even when Liz was living with her family, she still was kind of neglectful towards her son.

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